Raiders-Lions First Met on Thanksgiving 1970

As the Las Vegas Raiders (3-4) head to face the Detroit Lions (5-2) on Monday Night, we look back at a history that started over 50 years ago.

The Las Vegas Raiders have an extra day to get over their embarrassing defeat to the Chicago Bears last Sunday because their next game is Monday Night Football against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit.

The Lions (5-2) are coming off something of a surprising defeat themselves, 38-6, to the Baltimore Ravens after they had won four consecutive games compellingly following a tough loss to the Seattle Seahawks, 37-31.

The Raiders (3-4), who had won two straight games to get back to .500 before being blown out by the Bears, 30-12, at Soldier Field in Chicago, are getting ready to play another NFL North team that they rarely see.

This is only the 14th time they will meet in the last 52 years, with the Raiders holding a 7-6 lead in the series after claiming a 31-24 victory over the Lions in 2019 at the Oakland Coliseum when rookie running back Josh Jacobs rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Derek Carr passed for 289 yards and two scores, including the game-winner to wide receiver Hunter Renfrow with 2:04 remaining in the game.

the first game between the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions in 1970 / © Malcolm Emmons | 1970 Nov 26

The Lions have traditionally played a home game on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1945, and the first time they faced the Silver and Black was on Thanksgiving in 1970, after the merger of the established National Football League, the upstart American Football League was completed.

“We were really excited to play the Lions on Thanksgiving Day before a national television offense,” Raiders Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw recalled several years ago. “We came out all fired up and scored the first two touchdowns of the game, but it all went downhill from there.

“I’m not exactly what happened, if we let down or what, but we didn’t score again, and our defense gave up four touchdowns as we lost the game, 28-14. That was so disappointing because that was a team we believed we should have beaten.

“Raider Nation was already established and we let them down.”

Quarterback Daryle Lamonica, the Raiders’ famed “Mad Bomber,” completed only 7-of-20 passes 104 yards in the game. Still, he threw touchdown passes of 23 and 21 yards to future Hall of Fame wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.

However, the Lions shut the Raiders’ offense down after that, as Detroit held running back Charlie Smith to only 58 yards and fullback Hewritt Dixon to 36 yards.

Quarterback Greg Landry of the Lions completed 10-of-15 passes for 176 yards despite being sacked four times by the Raiders and threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to running back Altie Taylor and a 20-yard score to future Hall of Fame tight end Charlie Sanders in the second quarter as Detroit tied the game, 14-14, at halftime.

Landry hit Sanders for a six-yard touchdown pass to break the tie in the fourth quarter, and running back Mel Farr, who rushed for 104 yards, put the finishing touches on the Lions’ victory with an 11-yard scoring run late in the game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

Even bringing on miracle worker George Blanda at quarterback late in the game didn’t turn things around in a season where his passing kicking led the Raiders to five last-minute victories, as he passed for only 60 yards and threw Oakland’s second interception.

The Raiders won the AFC West title that season with an 8-4-2 record, while the Lions were 10-4 and finished second to the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North, so these were two of the best teams in the NFL that season.

This year’s Raiders team is trying to show it is one of the better NFL teams, and a victory on Monday night in Detroit would go a long way.

The Silver and Black will stay on the road to take on the Detroit Lions on Monday night, Oct. 30, at 8:15 p.m. EDT/5:15 p.m. PDT.

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