The competition between the Oakland/Los Angeles/Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers dates back to the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League in 1970.
The Raiders have an overall 17-13 lead in games played but lead the series 11-5 when the Steelers travel. Even in the glorious seventies when the rivalry was at its most intense, the Raiders edged the wins 6-5.
The hero of many of those Steelers’ games, Terry Bradshaw, played his final game for the team in a 34-7 triumph over the New York Jets in 1983. At the end of the season Bradshaw retired and his replacement, Cliff Stoudt, jumped to the USFL.
When the 1984 preseason began, the quarterback debate in Pittsburgh revolved around their three-year veteran Mark Malone and David Woodley, recently acquired from the Dolphins.
Woodley was given the starting job for the season opener, but Malone took over the lead role for game 9. Malone led the team to four wins in seven games as they stumbled their way to an 8-7 record. When the Steelers faced the Raiders in the regular season finale, the division title was within the Steelers’ grasp, but only a win would guarantee success.
The Raiders were already assured of a playoff wildcard spot although they needed to win to have the all-important home game in the first round. Raiders’ coach Tom Flores decided to put his team’s chances in the hands of 12-year veteran Jim Plunkett, who hadn’t seen much playing time in the previous weeks.
The (8-7) Steelers at the (11-4) Raiders; December 16, 1984
The Steelers gameplan revolved around stopping the running of Marcus Allen. In this, they succeeded, restricting the AFC’s leading rusher to 38 yards. To win the game, the other part of the plan would be to put points on the board, and this proved to be a struggle.
For both teams, the task of scoring proved difficult. After Gary Anderson’s 26-yard field goal broke the deadlock in the first quarter, the Steelers would take that slender lead into the final period as both defenses controlled the exchanges.
The Raiders would forgo a chance to tie the game in the third quarter when Coach Flores decided to go for it on a fourth and one on the Steelers’ 21. Allen was stopped for no gain as the Raiders’ spurned the opportunity to put points on the board.
When the game entered the final period, Mark Malone led the Steelers on a drive of 5 plays and 79 yards. The series included a short pass to Walter Abercrombie that he would turn into a completion of 59 yards before he was tackled on the Raiders’ one. Frank Pollard’s 1-yard touchdown run would give the Steelers a 10-point advantage after Anderson kicked the extra point.
Anderson would add a field goal from 37 yards extending the Steelers lead to 13-0.
The Raiders were now facing a surprise defeat at the hands of their old adversary. Plunkett finally began to string some passes together and moved the chains to the Steelers’ one. Facing a stiff Steelers’ defense, Plunkett took four downs before he found Dokie Williams with a 2-yard touchdown pass that gave the home crowd thoughts of a fightback.
Their optimism rose when they forced the Steelers to go three and out. The momentum was with the Raiders, but Donnie Shell would bring it to an abrupt halt. His interception of Plunkett’s pass, intended for Todd Christensen, allowed the Steelers to run out the clock and take home the victory.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 13 at the Los Angeles Raiders 7
The win gave the Steelers their ninth division title since 1970 tying the Miami Dolphins record for the same period. It also put a $10,000 reward into the players’ pockets for making the playoffs.
Coach Noll on his pregame pep talk. “I didn’t say anything. Do you know how long words last on a football field? Until you get knocked on your fanny.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Steelers Louis Lipps was denied an NFL punt return record when one of his returns drew a penalty flag. Coach Noll commented, “He (back judge) said he gave an invalid fair catch signal. Whatever that means.” Lipps had called for a fair catch in only one of his previous 53 returns.
Lipps finished the game with two returns for 38 yards giving him 656 return yards on the season. Lipps’ total was ten short of Greg Pruitt’s record. Lipps’ consolation was breaking Neal Colzie’s return record for a rookie by a yard.
The Steelers went to Denver for the divisional game where they won 24-17 before losing the Conference Championship in Miami 45-28.
Mark Malone would serve the Steelers on and off for the next three years when they produced only one winning season at 8-7.
