1995 Oakland Raiders: A Return Home & A Collapse

The Raider franchise spent 13 successful years in the city of Los Angeles, from 1982-94, a stretch that included a Super Bowl title in 1983. But the team never stopped being identified with their original home of Oakland. They came back in 1995. After going 16-16 the final two seasons in L.A., the Raiders got a new coach, Mike White, to go with their new home. For much of the year, it was good times in Oakland and they were a Super Bowl contender. Then, an untimely injury undid it all and they missed the postseason entirely.

A defense that ranked 10^th in the league for points allowed led the way. Chester McGlockton anchored the middle and was an All-Pro defensive tackle. On the edge were pass rushers Pat Swilling and Anthony Smith, who combined for 20 sacks. Terry McDaniel was a Pro Bowl corner who intercepted six passes.

Offensively, Harvey Williams ran for over 1,110 yards and caught 54 passes out of the backfield, giving Oakland a versatile threat. Napoleon Kaufman was a reliable change-of-pace back, gaining nearly 500 yards at 4.5 a pop. Fullback Derrick Fenner played a role in the passing game and caught 35 passes. The backs did their work behind an offensive line led by veteran Pro Bowl guard Steve Wisniewski.

The great Tim Brown was the top receiver, enjoying a Pro Bowl year where he caught 89 passes for 1,342 yards. Daryl Hobbs and Rocket Ismail were both field-stretchers in the deep passing game and combined to catch 66 passes.

Jeff Hostetler was the starting quarterback. The statistics for the 34-year-old signal-caller don’t jump out at you. His completion rate of 60% and yards-per-attempt of 7.0 were decent, narrowly in the top half of starting QBs. He was also mistake-prone, with a 3.1 interception rate ranking 22^nd. But it was Hostetler’s injury that proved the clear demarcation point in the 1995 Oakland Raiders’ season.

Oakland opened the season at home against the San Diego Chargers, who had gone to the Super Bowl in 1994. The offense struggled, with Hostetler getting sacked five times. But the Raider defense shut down the Charger running game, won the turnover battle 3-0 and turned a 7-7 halftime tie into a 17-7 victory.

A road game with the subpar Washington Redskins followed a similar pattern. It was tied 6-6 in the third quarter. But Hostetler was playing efficient football, going 22/29 for 205 yards and no mistakes. Williams ground out 84 yards rushing. Oakland pulled away down the stretch to win 20-8.

The Raiders went to Kansas City to face a good Chiefs team. This time, the script reversed. Oakland led 17-7 in the third quarter behind a pair of rushing touchdowns from Williams. But K.C. tied it 17-17 and the game went to overtime. The Raiders were getting close to field goal range when Hostetler threw the second of his two interceptions—and this one came back 64 yards the other way. Oakland suffered a crushing 23-17 loss.

Playoff-bound Philadelphia came west and jumped all over the Raiders early, putting them in a 17-0 hole. Then Oakland unloaded. Hostetler went 22/32 for 272 yards. Hobbs caught seven balls for 135 yards. Swilling cut loose and got three sacks, while the defense scored a pair of touchdowns. The game turned into a blowout the other way, as the Raiders routed the Eagles 48-17.

The offense kept surging in the Meadowlands against a bad New York Jets team on Sunday Night. Hostetler showed his big arm, turning 14 completions into 261 yards. Brown’s eight catches went for 156 yards. Williams and Kaufmann combined to rush for 192 yards, and the final was 47-10.

Oakland’s attack kept humming at home against the Seattle Seahawks. After two early drives bogged down and ended in field goals, Hostetler just went over the top. He hit Brown on an 80-yard touchdown strike, on his way to 20/33 for 333 yards passing  and no mistakes. Williams had a huge day, his 19 carries going for 160 yards. The Raiders routed the Seahawks 34-10.

They were on a three-game winning streak where the combined score was 129-41. Perhaps a letdown was inevitable, although the Monday Night crash against rival Denver was pretty hard. The Raiders were held to 21 yards rushing. Hostetler was an erratic 14/31 and those completions only produced 111 yards. They turned the ball over four times. In an ominous foreshadowing, Hostetler had to leave the game with a shoulder injury. The Broncos handed Oakland a 27-0 embarrassment.

Hostetler had to miss a home game with the Indianapolis Colts, who were in the playoff mix themselves and ultimately made the AFC Championship Game. Vince Evans, the strong-armed veteran backup came in and didn’t miss a beat. Evans went 23/35 for 335 yards and found a rapport with Ismail, hitting “The Rocket” on touchdown passes from 46 and 73 yards. Oakland won 30-17. They were 6-2, going into their bye week, Hostetler was coming back, and life was good.

The good times kept rolling on the far side of the bye. The Raiders traveled to mediocre Cincinnati for a late afternoon game. They got 134 yards rushing from Williams, jumped out to a 17-3 lead and hung on for a 20-17 win. More power running from Williams carried them on another Meadowlands trip, this one to face the lowly Giants. It wasn’t easy, and Oakland trailed 13-10 in the fourth quarter. But they won rushing yardage 153-76 and that paid off, as a Williams TD run produced a 17-13 win.

Oakland was 8-2. The mighty Dallas Cowboys were coming  west. The Cowboys were seen as the top-heavy favorite to win it all, an expectation they fulfilled. This game was seen as a possible Super Bowl preview. Hostetler struggled early on, throwing two interceptions. More damaging was that he re-injured his shoulder. The Raiders lost a 34-21 decision in a game where they trailed by as many as 24 points. But the bigger problem is that this time their starting quarterback was gone for several weeks.

Not only was Hostetler gone, but the schedule was getting tougher. The final five games were against teams that would finish .500 or better. The brutal closing push began with a trip to San Diego on the final Monday Night of November. While Williams ran for 101 yards, Evans was an erratic 17/32 for 192 yards and he threw three interceptions. Neither team found the end zone, but Oakland was the wrong end of a field goal battle, losing 12-6.

The Raiders were still 8-4, so it seemed like the worst consequence of all this was simply losing ground in the race with the Chiefs for both the AFC West title and the #1 seed in the playoffs. Kansas City was now 10-2 and had taken control of both races going into season’s final quarter. But the Raiders led the race for three wild-card spots. The Colts were 7-5, while the Broncos and Miami Dolphins were tied at 6-6 for the final spot. It would take a lot for Oakland to miss the postseason.

But a home game with Kansas City was next. The Raiders were dominated in the line of scrimmage and lost rush yardage 187-8. Evans played poorly and was removed for third-stringer Billy Joe Hobert. Oakland fell behind 29-10. Hobert tried to rally the troops, but they still lost 29-23.

Indianapolis lost, so the Raiders stayed on top of the wild-card race. But the Broncos and Dolphins both won, so there were now three teams within a game of Oakland. Moreover, the Chargers and Seahawks (an AFC West team prior to 2002) were up to 6-7. The playoff picture was getting more chaotic.

Another home game with a top contender, this time the Super Bowl-bound Pittsburgh Steelers was next. Hobert got the start and threw four interceptions. The Raiders were outrushed 144-28. They were handed a decisive 29-10 loss. The Colts and Dolphins both won, putting them even with Oakland at 8-6 for the three playoff spots. The Broncos, Chargers, and Seahawks were all 7-7.

That made Sunday Night in the old Seattle Kingdome a virtual must-win. Hostetler tried to play, but he was ineffective and so was Hobert. Oakland quickly dug themselves a 14-0 hole and suffered a 44-10 pounding.

On the following Saturday, the Raiders watched as San Diego and Indianapolis concluded late-season surges with wins that took two of the wild-card spots. There was only one berth left, and Oakland had given up control of their own destiny. On Christmas Eve Sunday, they would need Seattle to lose in the early afternoon. If that happened, the Raiders could claim the final berth if they won their home game with the Broncos.

The good news was that Seattle had to go to Kansas City. The bad news was that the Chiefs had already secured the #1 seed. But K.C. played to win, and they did, easily knocking out the Seahawks. Oakland had a chance to redeem themselves.

Quarterback uncertainty lingered throughout the game and Hobert and Evans both played well. They combined to go 20/30 for 240 yards. Brown caught eight passes for 127 yards. Williams ran for 87 yards. The Raiders led 28-17 in the fourth quarter. It was all right there for them to take.

Instead, the defense took their turn falling apart. They were carved up by John Elway and lost 31-28. The finale with Denver had proven a microcosm of the season—everything looked promising and then it all collapsed. Oakland finished the season 8-8, and in a competitive AFC West, were officially the last-place team by the time the tiebreakers were calculated.

This edition of the Raiders never recovered. They went 7-9 in 1996, a season that ended White’s short-lived tenure. It took a few more years, with Jon Gruden at the helm in 2000, for Oakland to finally return to the playoffs.