The Oakland Raiders will travel to Florida this weekend to begin a two game stretch against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Raiders haven’t had much recent success in the Sunshine State — just 2-8 in their last 10 trips — but have experienced their share of memorable moments. The Raiders caught a bit of a break this time around, in that their two Florida games are adjacent on the schedule; the team will stay in Florida for the week to avoid the strain of multiple cross country trips.
Florida Trip Carries History, Emotion for the Oakland Raiders
Florida Connections
The next two weeks will be a homecoming of sorts for the many Raiders with Florida connections. Jack Del Rio will make his first visit to Jacksonville as an opposing head coach after filing that role for the Jaguars from 2003-2011. Also returning are offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who held the same position in Jacksonville from 2003-2004, and Mike Tice, who was the assistant head coach to Del Rio from 2006-2009.
There is a long list of players with Florida connections as well, including natives Nate Allen, Amari Cooper, Jon Feliciano, Johnny Holton, Sebastian Janikowski, Karl Joseph, Khalil Mack, Reggie Nelson, and Clive Walford.
Mario Edwards, Rodney Hudson, Janikowski, and Menelik Watson all played their college ball at Florida State. Latavius Murray played at Central Florida, where he was teammates with Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles. Donald Penn spent the first 7 years of his career in Tampa Bay. Walford attended Miami, and Nelson played at Florida before spending his first three years in the NFL in Jacksonville.
The next two weeks should be full of emotion for the Raiders, as is usually the case when the team visits Florida.
Week 14, 2010: Jaguars (-3.5) 38 – Raiders 31
Believe it or not, the Raiders last trip to Jacksonville featured a contest with major playoff implications. With a 6-6 record, the Raiders were flirting with their best chance at a playoff berth in years, while Jack Del Rio‘s Jaguars entered the game at 7-5 and in first place in the AFC South.
The Jaguars would eventually get the better of Oakland after facing a ten point second half deficit. The game featured over 800 yards of offense and six touchdowns of 30-plus yards. It was also a career performance from Darren McFadden, who had 123 yards rushing and 86 yards receiving, including touchdowns of 67, 51, and 36 yards (disclaimer: these clips are a reminder that, at least for a moment, McFadden was very, very, good at football).
Unfortunately, the both team’s seasons ended in disappointment — each finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.
Week 17, 2008: Raiders 31 – Buccaneers (-10.5) 24
The Raiders most recent trip to Tampa had its share of emotional storylines, and proved to be a franchise altering moment for Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers, lead by Jon Gruden, had lost their last three games after starting the season 9-3, but had the chance to secure a playoff berth with a win. In addition, legendary defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin had announced his plans to leave the Buccaneers after 13 seasons to join his son Lane, who the Raiders fired earlier in the season, at the University of Tennessee. Meanwhile, the man who replaced Lane Kiffin on the Raiders sideline, Interim Head Coach Tom Cable, was fighting to keep his job.
The Buccaneers were 10.5 point favorites over the 4-11 Raiders, and their Win Probability reached as high as 97% after a Cadillac Williams touchdown run gave them a 24-14 lead with 11:27 remaining.
But the Raiders stormed back to complete one of their biggest upsets in recent memory.
The outcome secured the fate of the game’s two head coaches: back-to-back wins to end the season contributed to Oakland’s decision to retain Cable, while four consecutive losses were enough for Tampa Bay to part ways with Gruden.
The game was the culmination of a historic late season collapse, and proved to be a pivotal moment in the history of the Buccaneers franchise. In addition to moving on from Gruden and Kiffin, Tampa Bay fired General Manager Bruce Allen (formerly an executive with Oakland). Later that offseason, the new regime cut ties with mainstays Derrick Brooks, Joey Galloway, and Warrick Dunn.
The Buccaneers have yet to return to the playoffs since this organizational purge.
Expectations
The next to weeks should be a valuable test for the Raiders. They already have proven themselves capable of winning as an underdog, winning on the road, and winning on the East Coast, but wins in one or both of their next two games will be critical towards ensuring their place in the AFC playoff race.
At the very least, we can expect to see some memorable moments.
