Raiders-Colts Have a Ghost in Their Past

The Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders have an interesting history, including one of the greatest games ever.

The Las Vegas Raiders will have to reverse the result of last season’s game against the Indianapolis Colts when they play on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis if they hope to retain a realistic chance to make the NFL playoffs.

Quarterback Philip Rivers passed for 244 yards and touchdowns of seven and 44 yards to wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, and running back Jonathan Taylor rushed for 150 yards and touchdowns of 62 and three yards as the Colts registered a 44-27 victory in the 13th game of the 2020 season at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Derek Carr of the Raiders passed for 316 yards and touchdowns of 47 yards to tight Foster Moreau and 21 yards to wide receiver Nelson Agholor, in addition to running five yards for a score but also threw two interceptions—one that safety Khari Willis returned 50 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to break the game open.

The Raiders still lead the all-time series, 10-9, which includes a Ghostly past, but the Colts have won six of the last eight games including four in a row from 2004 to 2013.

The last time the Raiders and Colts played in Indianapolis, Carr passed for 189 yards and touchdowns of 16 yards to Moreau and 19 yards to Tyrell Williams, wide receiver Trevor Davis ran 60 yards for a touchdown on a reverse, and safety Erik Harris returned an interception 30 yards for a score in a 31-24 victory by the Silver and Black two years ago.

The first time the teams played came in the first season after the AFL-NFL merger in the initial 1970 American Football Conference Championship Game when the Colts were still in Baltimore.

Running back Norm Bulaich ran for touchdowns of two and 11 yards, and the great Johnny Unitas hit wide receiver Ray Perkins with a 68-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter to clinch a 27-17 victory for the Colts at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

Defensive end Bubba Smith of the Colts, who later played for the Raiders, knocked quarterback Daryle Lamonica out of the game with a big hit, and even though backup George Blanda threw for 271 yards and touchdowns of 38 yards to Fred Biletnikoff and 15 yards to Warren Wells, in addition to kicking a 48-yard field goal, it wasn’t enough as he also threw three interceptions.

Of course, for Raider Nation and other longtime NFL fans, the greatest game in the Raiders-Colts series came in AFC Divisional playoff game at Baltimore, one of the famed “Games With Names” in the history of the Silver and Black on Christmas Eve in 1977.

The Colts held a 31-28 lead in the final minutes when quarterback Kenny Stabler sent tight end Dave “The Ghost” Casper down the field on a post pattern, but with the strong safety Bruce Laird, who already had a 61-yard interception for a touchdown in the game, waiting for him in the middle of the field Casper, broke to the outside.

Stabler read Casper’s move perfectly and hit him with a 42-yard bomb to the Baltimore 14-yard line and Errol Mann kicked a 22-yard field goal with 29 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime at 31-31.

Mann had a 48-yard field goal attempt blocked in overtime, but eventually, Stabler, who passed for 345 yards and three touchdowns in the game, hit Casper with a 10-yard scoring pass 43 seconds into the second overtime of sudden-death to give the Raiders a 37-31 victory.

Even though Casper, who his nickname from “Casper, the Friendly Ghost, changed his route on the decisive play, that game has been known ever since as the “Ghost to the Post Game.”

Both of those games were coached by Raiders legend John Madden, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 85.

The Raiders could use some more of that old-time magic on Sunday against the Colts.

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