Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Merry Christmas to my favorite forum that I have found in 2025, love this place.

But watching through the Super Bowl highlight films starting last week I made it to XV, Oakland dominating the Eagles 27-10(a game that my family famously tells the story of my papaw gambling away all the families money betting on the Eagles). I can't help but feel like this Super Bowl is missing something. No disrespect to the Raiders but man I feel like this should have been the Earl Campbell Luv Ya Blue Super Bowl and it would have been way more fondly remembered? What happened to this 1980 Oilers team and why did they fall short? How would they have done in the AFCCG and/or Super Bowl XV had something changed history and they got out of Oakland in the Wild Card round? What a season though with all the top dogs of the AFC all finishing 11-5, must have been a fun season to live through.

ShinobiMusashi wrote: ↑Thu Dec 25, 2025 1:58 pm Merry Christmas to my favorite forum that I have found in 2025, love this place.

But watching through the Super Bowl highlight films starting last week I made it to XV, Oakland dominating the Eagles 27-10(a game that my family famously tells the story of my papaw gambling away all the families money betting on the Eagles). I can't help but feel like this Super Bowl is missing something. No disrespect to the Raiders but man I feel like this should have been the Earl Campbell Luv Ya Blue Super Bowl and it would have been way more fondly remembered? What happened to this 1980 Oilers team and why did they fall short? How would they have done in the AFCCG and/or Super Bowl XV had something changed history and they got out of Oakland in the Wild Card round? What a season though with all the top dogs of the AFC all finishing 11-5, must have been a fun season to live through.

What killed Houston were their road losses to KC and the Jets. That cost them a division title and homefield advantage throughout, let alone hosting Oakland.

The Ken Stabler trade was a mistake (13 TD, 28 INT). He should have hung up the cleats after the Raider WC game.

Also, they were without Ken Burrough for 14 games, and they didn't have Curley Culp as the starting NT for the last eight games and the playoff game in Oakland.

In addition, they had Hollywood Henderson for seven games, but he was cut.

I wonder what that 1980 Oiler team does with Pastorini at QB, a healthy Burrough and Culp, and a reformed Hollywood.

The Snake would have been better with a healthy Burrough. His stats were better with him in 1981 but the defense and offensive line regressed. Like 78,79 and 80, Campbell was worn down by playoff time. The team needed another decent halfback to help with the load. Carpenter was tough but limited.

When watching the highlight film for XV all I can think of is the white Oiler uniforms against Philly would have looked gorgeous in this Super Bowl in the Superdome, this lame Superbowl needed Houston, it was like it was their destiny to be there but something messed up the timeline we are living in.

Stabler was such a fun fit with the team but when yall point it out like that yeah, probably not the best move. The guy couldn't have been older than 38 39 and looked 50's from the drinking. The story I heard about him partying all night the night before the Jets game in New York, throwing 4 interceptions hung over in the first half, then coming back to tie the game with 4 touchdowns in the second half after sobering up. Then they lose it in OT. Stabler having good times at Gilleys cost us this Oiler Superdome Superbowl fantasy.

Brian wolf wrote: ↑Thu Dec 25, 2025 4:58 pm The Snake would have been better with a healthy Burrough. His stats were better with him in 1981 but the defense and offensive line regressed. Like 78,79 and 80, Campbell was worn down by playoff time. The team needed another decent halfback to help with the load. Carpenter was tough but limited.

Also, another guy that was out for the WC game was LT Leon Gray, which was critical. They had a rookie (Angelo Fields) start in his place.

11-5, the Oilers were, as they were in '79. However, still a drop-off from the year before. Reasons for that already given in the previous comments. Not just Stabler, but two other Raiders coming onboard (I didn't know Hollywood was acquired), gave this 1980 edition of LYB a different identity. A shame that Oilers/Raiders game was just a Wild Card one with it also being lopsided. Both meet in an AFCCG match at Alameda, and it being a close one, would indeed have made it Historic for the obvious reasons.

It's a shame we didn't get a peak-'Luv Ya Blue' Bum Phillips Oilers squad square off against a peak-Vermeil Eagles squad in a high-stakes meaningful game. Thanks to Pittsburgh taking care of their biz over Buffalo, 28-0, in the early game, that Eagles/OIlers 4PM EST game in the Astrodome suddenly made for a meaningless '79 finale.

That Campbell-led rushing attack against Bergey and that LB core...I don't know, Wolf, maybe you're right about Carpenter being "limited". Skatebo IS reminding me of him, Rob was tough and proved his worth in '81 with the G-men (WC-win at Philly especially), maybe it was simply #34 running simply too hard. Looking for tacklers to run over instead of simply trying to dodge them enough times/conserve himself for later on.

I think Raiders stopping them in Alameda is, sadly, how it should have ended for Houston in '80. Oilers were good, but simply not good enough; not as good as '78 either. Just imagine if Houston (or Cleveland) had to play against the Bills, Chargers, and Raiders during that regular season (as Pittsburgh had to)?? But if the Oilers somehow DO slip into New Orleans for that showdown vs Philly, given the uptight nature the Eagles were in, Bum's "fun" bunch certainly would have been allowed to enjoy the town thus have quite a chance in their (yes, it would have been) white jerseys!


PS - if SOMEONE had to play Han Solo instead of Harrison Ford, SOMEONE, it would have been Kurt Russell if however such a distant-2nd-place (there is no 3rd-place at all here), if the Raiders HAD to play somewhere else instead of Oakland, HAD TO, it would be LA which did happen (distant-2nd as well, and there IS no 3rd-place either; no Vegas at all), and as I said already, if the Snake HAD to play for another team other than the Raiders - if he HAD to - it would be for Bum Phillips in that "fun" environment!