New England Patriots

Fun Facts for Patriots-Raiders Matchup

Published

7 months ago

October 15, 2023

Later today the New England Patriots (1-4) hit the road to take on the Las Vegas Raiders (2-2). Both franchises were original AFL teams in 1960. Week six will mark the thirty eighth meeting between the two franchises, including three memorable games in the postseason. Aside from their many mathups, what do these teams have in common? Time for this week’s edition of Fun Facts…

Common Players

There have been 92 players to play for both the Patriots and Saints. Among them are New England’s starting left tackles Trent Brown and tight end Pharoah Brown. It also includes reams of current Raiders, including wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.

There were five players to play for both the Boston Patriots and Oakland Raiders by the end of the 1961 season:

DT/OT Harry Jagielski (BOS 1960-1961; OAK 1961)
RB Billy Lott (OAK 1960; BOS 1961-1963)
RB Alan Miller (BOS 1960; OAK 1961-1965)
QB Babe Parilli (OAK 1960; BOS 1961-1967)
DT Hal Smith (BOS 1960; OAK 1961)

Twenty-nine players have played in multiple seasons for each franchise, including Pro Football Hall of Fame players CB Mike Haynes and DL Richard Seymour.

Mike Haynes is the only player to play in at least 90 games for both the Patriots and Raiders. Haynes played his first seven NFL seasons for the New England Patriots. From 1976-to-1982 he appeared in 93 games (including three playoff games). Haynes won the 1976 Defensive Rookie of the Year and was named to six Pro Bowl teams. After joining the Raiders he played his final seven seasons in silver and black. He helped the 1983 Los Angeles Raiders win the Super Bowl. Haynes made three more Pro Bowl teams for the Raiders and was twice named first-team All Pro.

Mike Haynes pick 6#Patriots pic.twitter.com/VwbcWJ21iI

— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) August 20, 2022

Quarterback Jim Plunkett was the number one overall pick by the Patriots in the 1971 NFL Draft. He would start over 60 games for each franchise under center. Although he never played in the postseason with the Patriots, he did impress with the Raiders. Plunkett was the starting QB on both the 1980 and 1983 Super Bowl Championship Raiders teams. He remains the only quarterback with multiple Super Bowl wins that is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but not yet elected.

Among the other notable NFL players to play for both the Patriots and Raiders are Nelson Agholor, Brandon Bolden, Rich Camarillo, Andre Carter, Jimmy Garoppolo, Carl Garrett, Bob Golic, Brian Hoyer, Jakob Johnson, Chandler Jones, Randy Moss, Cordarelle Patterson, Jarrett Stidham, Mark van Eeghen, Ted Washington and Marc Wilson.

Head-to-Head Meetings

In the 37 previous meetings between the Patriots and Raiders, Boston/New England owns a 20-16-1 advantage. They have met in the playoffs three times, with the Patriots winning twice.

Their first game was on Oct. 16, 1960 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. Head coach Eddie Erdelatz led the Raiders to a 271-14 win over Lou Saban’s squad from Boston. Future Hall of Fame coach Tom Flores was the starting quarterback for Oakland. As is still the case in 2023, turnovers were key. Patriots QB Butch Songin threw three interceptions in the loss.

The most recent meeting took place last season, on Dec. 16, 2022. In one of the strangest endings in memory, then-Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers attempted a lateral across the field in a tie-game with time running out. It was snatched by Chandler Jones, who steamrolled Mac Jones and scored the game-winning touchdown.

All three playoff meeting between the teams have been very memorable:

1976: Raiders beat the Patriots 24-21 just two months after New England had dominated their regular season game, winning 48-17. A very questionable roughing the passer call against Patriots DE Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton kept the Raiders hopes alive, and Oakland took advantage of it. The Raiders would go on to easily defeat the Steelers and Vikings on their way to their first Super Bowl title. Referee Ben Dreith’s name would not be forgotten in New England anytime soon.
1985: ThePatrios won their second of three road games on their way to a Super Bowl XX appearance. Jim Bowman’s special teams fumble recovery in the end zone proved the winning score in the 27-20 game. But the game is perhaps best remembered for Raiders LB Matt Millen hitting Patriots GM Pat Sullivan in the head with his helmet following the game.
2001: Patriots beat the Raiders 16-13 in overtime in a snowy field in Foxboro on Jan. 19, 2002. Adam Vinatieri tied the game with arguably the greatest kick in NFL history, then won it in overtime. The game will best be remembered for the “Tuck Rule” that negated a Tom Brady fumble caused by Charles Woodson. Referee Walt Coleman’s name would not be forgotten in Oakland anytime soon.

Trade History

The most notable, and surprising trade came onn Sep. 6, 2009. The New England Patriots traded All Pro DL Richard Seymour to the Raiders. The trade was surprising for a number of reasons. Seymour an incredibly productive player in New England. In his eight seasons with the Patriots (2001-to-2008) he was a five-time Pro Bowl selections, three-time first. team All Pro, and won three Super Bowl championships.

It was also surprising because it was only a week before the 2009 regular season was to begin. The Patriots were just won season removed from a 16-0 regular season, so trading away an anchor on their defense was a bit of a head-scratcher. Furthermore, New England got nothing of immediate value back in return. The Raiders sent back a first round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Fortunately for Patriots fans that pick turned out to be valuable. It was used to select OT Nate Solder from Colorado, who would go on to win two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots himself.