Badasses by Peter Richmond

Author:Peter Richmond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Hubbard, Uppy, and the Saga of 1973

The Raiders’ five-game winning streak under Stabler in 1973 came to an end in the ninth week with a 17–9 loss to the Steelers in the coliseum, in a duel between backup quarterbacks.

Bradshaw was out with a shoulder injury, and Terry Hanratty played for the Steelers. Joe Greene fell on Stabler’s bad left knee early in the second quarter, a blow that would lead to off-season surgery. Lamonica came in and threw for 236 yards—and four interceptions. The Raiders outgained the Steelers by a wide margin, but the four picks—two by lineman Dwight White—snuffed their scoring chances. Later reports, quoting a “friend” of Lamonica, suggested that Madden had taken off on him in a team meeting. The veteran quarterback was clearly displeased with the situation. You could hardly blame him. Lamonica was coming off that Pro Bowl year—his second—and three years earlier had been the AFL’s MVP.

But this was Stabler’s team now. The following week, playing the Browns with a brace on his knee, Stabler was ineffective. The Raiders lost 7–3, which meant that the team would have to win its remaining four games to make the playoffs. They routed the Chargers at home. They beat the Oilers in a close game, behind Hubbard’s 121 yards rushing, and came home for the penultimate game against the Chiefs, in the coliseum, with the division title still up for grabs.

“It’s still the two of us, when you get down to it,” Davis said that week. “That’s still our season. Oakland and Kansas City.” As usual, Kansas City came into town with an intimidating defense. Madden decided that he would challenge that defense with the simplest strategy of all, straight at them: size against size.

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