By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The ghost of John Madden.
In some cases Sunday, Madden’s presence was obvious like the “JM” sticker on the back of the helmets worn by Raiders players in their playoff game-esque showdown with the Colts in Indianapolis. Madden, the NFL and Raiders legend, died Tuesday at the age of 85.
The TV game broadcasters were telling Madden stories throughout the Raiders-Colts game like how the former late, great Raiders coach told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell he had neither salad nor salmon on the Madden cruiser for Goodell’s preferred lunch.
Madden is a Mount Rushmore figure for the Raiders, which won 76 percent of their games during Madden’s 10 years as head coach. He retired at the young age of 42 and went on to help the NFL grow in popularity as a TV broadcast analyst and video game moniker.
It’s been nearly 20 years of dismal seasons for the once-proud franchise with a national brand awareness that exploded during the Madden coaching era. So many of the Raiders colorful characters like the Violator, Parking Lot Jack and Raider Rita are of a certain age that they can appreciate and remember the days when the Raiders terrorized the NFL and when the animated Madden prowled the Raiders sidelines with his arm gyrations.
Madden must have smiled down on the Raiders Sunday when the Las Vegas team took an early lead against the tough Colts team, which lost its first three games of the season only to reel off nine wins in its last dozen contests.
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The Raiders had 10-0 and 13-3 leads after a touchdown run by Josh Jacobs and field goals by Daniel Carson.
The second Carson field goal happened after the Raiders had a third down and one yard to go in the Red Zone. But instead of moving forward with a touchdown, the Raiders had a false start penalty and quarterback Derek Carr was then buried in a Colts sack before Carlson nailed his three-pointer.
But a Raiders’ 13-3 lead transformed into a Colts’ 17-13 advantage in the third quarter.
The Colts then scored a touchdown with literally seconds left in the first half on a one-yard plunge by all-world running back Jonathan Taylor.
And Colts quarterback Carson Wentz tossed a touchdown pass to receiver T.Y. Hilton after the Raiders defenders had a good chance to intercept the pass.
After three quarters, Madden’s Raiders trailed, 17-13.
But then Carr came to life. He hooked up with Zay Jones on a 42-yard pass.
And then with the Raiders’ season in the balance, Carr threw a dart to 1,000-yard receiver Hunter Renfrow for a go-ahead touchdown.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Raiders led, 20-17.
A Colts field goal locked the score at 20 apiece and the ball was in Carr’s hands with about two minutes to go.
He connected with passes to Jacobs, Jones and Renfrow and the Raiders let the clock run to only two seconds for Carlson to boot the game-winning kick from 33 yards.
Final: Raiders 23 Colts 20. The Raiders improved to 9-7 during their crazy, wild season and the Colts dropped to 9-7, too.
If the Raiders defeat the Chargers at Allegiant Stadium next Sunday, the Raiders are in the playoffs.
The cheapest Ticketmaster ticket on NFL Ticket Exchange is $277 to get into the Jan. 9 Raiders vs Chargers game: