Immaculate Reception one of many fanatical finishes for Raiders
There’s something about the Raiders and fantastic finishes to football games.
Be it Sunday in a 30-24 victory over the Patriots at Allegiant Stadium. Or Dec. 23, 1972, with the play the NFL is honoring Saturday when the Raiders visit the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
The Immaculate Reception.
“I mean, there’s a handful of I would say iconic plays, and they all have a nickname — and they’re going to be unforgettable forever,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said.
The Raiders have played in at least three of them.
The Immaculate Reception — Dec. 23, 1972: Steelers 13, Raiders 7
Or the Immaculate Deception, depending on the perspective. The play is perhaps the most famous in the NFL’s 103-year history — hence the celebration Saturday amid its 50th anniversary.
The Raiders played the Steelers that afternoon in an AFC divisional playoff game at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium, beginning a rivalry between the franchises that would come to define the decade.
A scoreless halftime morphed into a 7-6 Raiders lead after quarterback Ken Stabler’s 30-yard touchdown run with 1:17 to play.
Facing a fourth-and-10 from his 40-yard line on the ensuing possession with 22 seconds to play, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw dropped back to pass. Pressure from Raiders rushers Horace Jones and Tony Cline collapsed the pocket, forcing Bradshaw to roll right as he scanned the situation down the field.
As Jones closed, Bradshaw fired a pass toward running back Frenchy Fuqua, who was leveled by safety Jack Tatum as the ball arrived. But it caromed backward several yards and into the open arms of Franco Harris, who ran 43 yards for a touchdown as time expired.
Officials deliberated, ruling that the ball hit Tatum first — thus legally allowing Harris to score based on the rules at the time that prevented offensive players from advancing deflections from teammates. Had the referees ruled that the ball first touched Fuqua, the reception would have been nullified and the Raiders would have forced a turnover on downs.
The Raiders would play the Steelers in five consecutive postseasons, still an NFL record for most consecutive playoff matchups between two franchises.
They are 3-3 in postseason matchups against Pittsburgh, which won four Super Bowls in the decade compared with one for the Raiders.
The Holy Roller — Sept. 10, 1978: Raiders 21, Chargers 20
Also known as the Immaculate Deception, depending on the perspective.
Trailing the Chargers 20-14 at San Diego Stadium with 10 seconds to play at the opposing 14-yard line, Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler looked to pass before backpedaling out of the pocket and into a sea of rushers. Instead of firing a pass into the end zone amid pressure, Stabler meekly flipped the football forward and onto the grass while being tackled — allowing running back Pete Banaszak to recover it.
If only for a moment.
Banaszak, too, fumbled the football toward the goal line, where tight end Dave Casper recovered it while tripping into the end zone — and sealing a dramatic victory.
NFL rules bar ball carriers from intentionally fumbling forward, but without tangible proof that the fumbles were intentional, the ruling stood. New league rules were passed the ensuing offseason that restrict offenses from advancing fumbles in certain situations, ensuring a similar play could not occur.
The Tuck Rule Game — Jan. 19, 2002: Patriots 16, Raiders 13
Raiders fans are still bitter about this particular loss, bringing signage to Allegiant Stadium on Sunday that shared their viewpoint:
“It was a fumble.”
But officials ruled otherwise in the fourth quarter of a game the Raiders led 13-10 amid a blizzard in the Boston area.
With 1:50 to play and the ball stationed at Oakland’s 40-yard line, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dropped back to pass but lacked an open receiver as cornerback Charles Woodson blitzed off the edge. Woodson collided with Brady as he finished a pump fake, dislodging the ball from his right arm and forcing what appeared to be a fumble that the Raiders would recover.
Officials initiated a review and overturned the call, citing a rule passed in 1999 that stated the following: When (an offensive) player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his arm starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if the player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.
Within a matter of minutes, the fumble became an incompletion, and Brady completed a 13-yard pass to wide receiver David Patton — setting the stage for kicker Adam Vinatieri to force overtime with a 45-yard field goal with 32 seconds to play.
The Patriots won the coin toss and drove 59 yards in 14 plays, allowing Vinatieri to kick the game-winning 23-yard field goal and beginning the dynasty that Brady would guide the ensuing two decades.
The Loopy Lateral — Dec. 18
Our own Ed Graney suggested this nickname for Sunday’s game, but time will ultimately tell if it sticks. Semantics aside, the Raiders found themselves on the winning end of this particular miracle and salvaged their faint playoff hopes.
After turning a 17-3 lead into a 24-17 deficit, the Raiders mounted a nine-play, 81-yard drive that required some goodwill independent of pass rusher Chandler Jones and his game-winning fumble recovery. Officials declined to overrule quarterback Derek Carr’s game-tying 30-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole in the final minute, even though a foot appeared to land out of bounds.
Albeit, barely.
Instead of settling for overtime, the Patriots ran three pass plays and two running plays — including the final play. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson ran 32 yards toward the right sideline, then inexplicably pitched the football to Jakobi Meyers, who lofted a pass toward quarterback Mac Jones.
Er, Chandler Jones.
En route to the game-winning touchdown, the Raiders’ Jones ran through the Patriots’ Jones, frenzying Allegiant Stadium more and more with each step toward the end zone.
“At first, I thought, ‘Who’s around me?’” Jones said. “I felt myself stumble a little backward, and then I was thinking, ‘Who do I pitch it to?’”
Said McDaniels: “It’s probably the most insane ending I’ve ever been a part of.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
