NFL Old School Game of the Week: Raiders "Just Win, Baby" as They Nip Bears in Windy City Thriller

Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler would throw for 234 yards and three touchdown passes in the Raiders' win over the Bears.

 "Just win, baby" was the motto of former Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis as it didn't matter how it looked as long as his Raiders won.

That was such the case in Week 9 of the 1976 NFL Season when the Raiders traveled to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears.

The Raiders came into the game with a 7-1 record with five of their seven victories coming by seven points or less as Oakland once again established itself as a Super Bowl contender under head coach John Madden and his cast of characters which included Ken "The Snake" Stabler and a stellar receiving corps which featured Fred Bilentkioff and the speedy Cliff Branch.

Oakland was hoping to earn the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs in hopes to exorcize their postseason demons as the Raiders had lost in three straight AFC Championship games and had not returned to the Super Bowl since their only appearance following the 1967 season despite winning at least eight games in each season since then.

The Raiders' Week 9 opponent was the Chicago Bears, who came in with a 4-4 record and they just hoping to have a winning season as the franchise had not had one since 1967 and not play in the postseason since their 1963 NFL Championship season.

Chicago was led by head coach Jack Pardee, who was in his second season as the Bears' head coach and was overseeing the birth of a legend in second-year running back Walter Payton, who had rushed for 802 yards and scored eight touchdowns up to this point in the season.

But if the Bears were going to upset the Raiders they would need some help from the passing game as quarterback Bob Avellini had thrown for just 794 yards and one touchdown in the team's first eight games and just 88 yards in the previous two games.

Another factor would be the wind as it swirled Soldier Field from the northwest at 17 miles per hour, wreaking havoc on the kicking game as many punts into the wind would be short and result in either team often starting drives in their opponent's territory.

After forcing the Raiders to go three-and-out to start the game, the Bears would get the ball at their 46-yard-line as it would take them nine plays to get into the end zone as Payton would run it from five yards out, which was set up by a 32-yard pass from Avellini to James Scott, to give Chicago a 7-0 lead with 8:21 left in the first quarter.

Bears quarterback Bob Avellini would complete 10 of 18 passes for 204 yards.

The two teams would trade punts for the rest of the first quarter until the Raiders would drive 59 yards in seven plays as Stabler completed all four of his passes on the drive as he hit Branch twice for 15 yards, then running back Clarence Davis for seven yards, and finally tiight end Dave Casper for a 17-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7 with 12:11 to go in the second quarter.

Following a Chicago punt, the Raiders had the ball at their 26-yard-line when running back Mark van Eeghen fumbled the football which was recovered by linebacker Waymond Bryant to give the Bears the ball at the Oakland 32-yard-line.

However, the Bears could not convert the turnover into points as they punted the ball back to the Raiders, who took over at their 25-yard-line when Stabler went deep for Branch, who made the catch at the Chicago 35-yard-line and then outraced Bears cornerback Virgil Livers for a 75-yard touchdown to put Oakland on top 14-7 with 5:53 left in the second quarter.

The Bears would begin their ensuing possession at their 40-yard-line as passes of 10 yards to Steve Schubert and 11 yards to Brian Baschangel help Chicago drive to the Raiders' 16-yard-line to give Bob Thomas a shot at a 33-yard field goal before the end of the first half.

But Thomas' kick would sail left of the uprights and no good to keep the score 14-7 in favor of the Raiders as the first half came to an end.

The Bears got the ball to start the second half but it would turn over on the second play of the drive as Avellini was sacked by Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano and lost the football which was recovered by nose tackle Dave Rowe to give Oakland the ball at the Chicago 20-yard-line.

The Raiders would run four straight running plays with the last run being a two-yard touchdown run by Davis to increase the Oakland lead to 21-7 with 12:28 left in the third quarter.

After an exchange of punts, the Bears had the ball at the Raiders' 36-yard-line when Avellini connected with Scott for a 36-yard touchdown to cut the Oakland lead in half to 21-14 midway through the third quarter.

That is when Pardee, with the winds at the Bears' back in the third quarter,  decided to surprise the Raiders with an onside kick which was recovered by Baschangel at the Bears' 49-yard-line.

After two plays picked up zero yards, Avellini completed a 22-yard pass to tight end Greg Latta for a 1st down at the Oakland 29-yard-line when the Bears went to the ground as they ran the ball three straight times with the last run by a 12-yard touchdown run by Payton to bring Chicago to within a point of tying the game.

Bears running back Walter Payton carried the ball 36 times for 97 yards and scored three TDs.

However, holder Gary Huff would mishandle the snap from center Don Neal on the extra point which resulted in the extra point not being attempted to keep the score 21-20 in favor of the Raiders with 5:57 left in the third quarter.

Despite the botched extra point, the Bears kept the momentum going as they forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at the Raiders' 44-yard-line with a chance to take the lead.

Following a three-yard run by Payton, Avellini connected with fullback Roland Harper for a 36-yard pass to give the Bears a 1st & goal at the five-yard-line where Payton would get the ball on the next two plays with the latter being a two-yard touchdown run to give Chicago a 27-21 lead with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter.

The two teams would trade punts as the game moved into the fourth quarter with the Bears still ahead 27-21 as the Raiders had the ball at the 50-yard-line when controversy struck.

That is when Bears defensive tackle Wally Chambers sacked Stabler who lost the football as he went to the ground, which was recovered by defensive end Roger Stillwall who scooped up the ball and ran for an apparent 39-yard touchdown.

However, referee Chuck Heberling inadvertently blew the whistle right after Stillwall recovered the football to stop the play and negate the touchdown.

So instead of having a 34-21 lead, the Bears had the ball at the Raiders' 39-yard-line when on the first play after the fumble, Avellini had a pass deflected by Oakland defensive end Otis Sistrunk and landed in the arms of linebacker Ted Hendricks to give the Raiders the ball at the Bears' 47-yard-line.

The Raiders would go three-and-out to give the ball back to the Bears who took over at their 13-yard-line when they decided to lean on the running game as they drove into the stiff Chicago wind.

Chicago would run eight straight running plays for a total of 35 yards before they punted the ball back to the Raiders, who took over at their 20-yard-line with 5:33 left in the game.

Disaster almost struck on the first play of the drive when Bears free safety Chris Clemons dropped a potential interception that would have given Chicago the ball in Raiders territory.

Stabler would make the Bears pay for that mistake as he completed a seven-yard pass to Clarence Davis, then connected with Branch for 24 yards to give Oakland a 1st down at the Bears' 49-yard-line.

That is when Stabler threw deep as his pass would bounce off the hands of Livers and into the hands of Branch for a 49-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a 28-27 lead with 4:33 to go in the game.

The Bears would begin their next possession at their 34-yard-line as Payton would catch a four-yard pass on 1st down, then ran for three yards to set up 3rd & 3 when Avellini connected with Baschangel for 28 yards and a 1st down at the Raiders' 31-yard-line.

From there, the Bears would stick to the ground as they drove into the wind as three straight running plays picked up nine yards to set up 4th & 1 when Chicago went for the 1st down which they got as Payton two yards to give the Bears a fresh set of downs at the Raiders' 20-yard-line.

Three more running plays gained six yards to set up 4th & 4 at the Oakland 14-yard-line when Pardee sent in the field goal unit to try and win the game as Thomas would attempt a 31-yard field goal with 20 seconds left.

However, Thomas' kick would bounce off the right upright and no good, allowing for the Raiders to take a knee to run out the clock as Oakland would escape with a 28-27 win.

Raiders wide receiver Cliff Branch catches would be the game-winning touchdown as he finished with 163 yards on five catches and two TDs.

The Bears would go on to finish the season with a 7-7 record as Payton finished with 1,305 yards to finish as the NFL's 2nd leading rusher which was a prelude to his 1977 season where he led the league with 1,852 yards and 14 touchdowns in leading Chicago to the playoffs for the first time since 1963.

As for the Raiders, they would not lose a game for the rest of the season as they won their remaining five games of the regular season to finish with a 13-1 record to earn home field advantage throughout the playoffs as they narrowly beat the New England Patriots 24-21 in the Divisional Round(To read about that game, click on the link highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/nfl-old-school-game-of-week.html) and then the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-7 in the AFC Championship Game.

Oakland would travel down to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to face the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI where the Raiders complied 429 yards of total offense as the Silver & Black won 32-14 for the franchise's first Super Bowl title.