Wild Card Round: Houston Oilers at Oakland Raiders (Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum), the bracket opens here. Kickoff: Sun December 28, 1980 at 5:00pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.[1][2]
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. Houston Oilers at Oakland Raiders at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
Houston Oilers versus Oakland Raiders in the Wild Card Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of Houston Oilers-Oakland Raiders cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 11-5 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers | 11-5 | W3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 9-7 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 6-10 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 11-5 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 10-6 | W2 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8-8 | L1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 7-9 | L3 |
| New York Jets | 4-12 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | 11-5 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 11-5 | W2 |
| Denver Broncos | 8-8 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 8-8 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-12 | L9 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 12-4 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 11-5 | W2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 6-10 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1-15 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | 9-7 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9-7 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 7-9 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 5-10-1 | L4 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-10-1 | L3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 12-4 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 12-4 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6-10 | W3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5-11 | L2 |
| New York Giants | 4-12 | L2 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Raiders | Chris Bahr 47 yard field goal | 0-3 |
| Oilers | Earl Campbell 1 yard rush (Toni Fritsch kick) | 7-3 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Raiders | Todd Christensen 1 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick) | 7-10 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Raiders | Arthur Whittington 44 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick) | 7-17 |
| Raiders | Chris Bahr 37 yard field goal | 7-20 |
| Raiders | Lester Hayes 20 yard interception return (Chris Bahr kick) | 7-27 |
Oakland Raiders defeated Houston Oilers 27-7 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in the Wild Card Round. The final scoring play was Raiders: Lester Hayes 20 yard interception return (Chris Bahr kick). Top line of the day: Ken Stabler: 243 pass yards on 15-of-26, 0 TD, 2 INT. Oakland Raiders advance to the divisional round.[1][2]
Oakland Raiders walked out of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum as the team that survived a Wild Card Round Houston Oilers will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 27-7. The final scoring play came from Raiders: Lester Hayes 20 yard interception return (Chris Bahr kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Oakland Raiders advance to the divisional round.
Oakland Raiders 27, Houston Oilers 7.
Round: Wild Card Round.
Q1: 2 scoring plays.
Q2: 1 scoring play.
Q4: 3 scoring plays.
Top performers:
- Ken Stabler: 243 pass yards on 15-of-26, 0 TD, 2 INT
- Earl Campbell: 91 rush yards on 27 carries
- Mike Barber: 4 catches for 83 yards
Wild Card Round, played at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Final: Houston Oilers 7, Oakland Raiders 27, with Oakland Raiders taking the result by 20.
First quarter
- Raiders: Chris Bahr 47 yard field goal
- Oilers: Earl Campbell 1 yard rush (Toni Fritsch kick)
Second quarter
- Raiders: Todd Christensen 1 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick)
Fourth quarter
- Raiders: Arthur Whittington 44 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick)
- Raiders: Chris Bahr 37 yard field goal
- Raiders: Lester Hayes 20 yard interception return (Chris Bahr kick)
Top performers
- Ken Stabler: 243 pass yards on 15-of-26, 0 TD, 2 INT
- Earl Campbell: 91 rush yards on 27 carries
- Mike Barber: 4 catches for 83 yards
| Oilers | Raiders | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 18 | 12 |
| Total Yards | 275 | 250 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 1 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 15/27 | 8/23 |
| Pass yards | 243 | 168 |
| Pass TD | 0 | 2 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 1 |
| Sacks taken | 7 | 3 |
| Sack yards lost | 65 | 29 |
| Net pass yards | 178 | 139 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 33 | 35 |
| Rush yards | 97 | 111 |
| Rush TD | 1 | 0 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 1 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 0 |
| Penalties | 8 | 14 |
| Penalty yards | 64 | 91 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | |||||
| Ken Stabler | 15/26 | 243 | 0 | 2 | 57.1 |
| Earl Campbell | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| OAK | |||||
| Jim Plunkett | 8/23 | 168 | 2 | 1 | 72.4 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | ||||
| Earl Campbell | 27 | 91 | 1 | 14 |
| Rob Carpenter | 5 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| Tim Wilson | 1 | -3 | 0 | -3 |
| OAK | ||||
| Kenny King | 13 | 55 | 0 | 27 |
| Mark van Eeghen | 14 | 46 | 0 | 9 |
| Arthur Whittington | 5 | 11 | 0 | 7 |
| Derrick Jensen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Plunkett | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | ||||
| Mike Barber | 4 | 83 | 0 | 33 |
| Mike Renfro | 3 | 69 | 0 | 39 |
| Dave Casper | 3 | 31 | 0 | 12 |
| Rob Carpenter | 3 | 26 | 0 | 14 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 1 | 23 | 0 | 23 |
| Billy Johnson | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| OAK | ||||
| Arthur Whittington | 2 | 64 | 1 | 44 |
| Kenny King | 1 | 37 | 0 | 37 |
| Cliff Branch | 1 | 33 | 0 | 33 |
| Mark van Eeghen | 1 | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| Raymond Chester | 2 | 12 | 0 | 10 |
| Todd Christensen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Find or start the canonical thread for this game on r/49ers. The thread title is deterministic so anyone running this Rewatch lands on the same place.
Find the thread Start the threadCanonical title: [Rewatch Party] 1980 Wild Card Round - Houston Oilers at Oakland Raiders - Game Thread
![1980 AFC Wildcard Game - HOU @ OAK [FULL GAME]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tIukiESor_k/hqdefault.jpg)
