NBC Sports: NFL 1985- AFC Divisional Playoff- New England Patriots @ Los Angeles Raiders

Source:John Morgani- Los Angeles Raiders LB Matt Millen, showing a fan at the game, how much they appreciate the Raiders fans.

"1985 Los Angeles Raiders Playoff vs. New England Patriots. Raiders (12-4) and Patriots (11-5) meet in the first round of the playoffs."

From John Morgani

With all due respect to the 1985 New England Patriots, who did have an excellent team both on defense and offense, as far as personal and what they accomplished: if Los Angeles Raiders QB Jim Plunkett was healthy and played this game, (which is part of the broader point of this post) the Raiders not just win this game, but probably dominate the Patriots as well. 

With a healthy Jim Plunkett playing this game, instead of career, part-time, starter, Marc Wilson playing instead, the Raiders because of their great defense, would know that they just have to play their game, which is to dominate the Patriots offense. But they wouldn't have to try to win the game themselves, because they know the Raiders offense would have what they needed to move the ball and score points, which was their vertical passing game with QB Jim Plunkett and their receivers and their power running game with Marcus Allen and their big, strong, offensive line.

The 1984 AFC Wildcard lost to the Seattle Seahawks and this 1985 AFC Divisional lost to the Patriots, I believe sums up the Los Angeles Raiders of the 1980s. The team that should've taken over the NFL, or at least the AFC in the 1980s, after the Pittsburgh Steelers fell back to the middle of the pack, basically became a team that after they win their only Super Bowl in Los Angeles in 1983, that a good season for them was winning their division and making it to the AFC Playoffs. Or just making the playoffs for them was a good season for in the mid 1980s. 

But under Tom Flores in the 1980s, especially after the Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles at the end of the 1981 season, they led the NFL in talent and great personal pretty much every year. You look at what they had on defense, I would take their personal, especially their secondary, over the Chicago Bears of that era. 

Offensively, the Raiders as far as personal, were better than the Miami Dolphins and perhaps even the San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, and Dallas Cowboys, perhaps just as talented as the Cincinnati Bengals of the 1980s. But the old cliche: talent doesn't win games. Players and coaches do. That probably should've been written for the Los Angeles Raiders under Tom Flores and Al Davis.

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