By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
There’s no more powerful statement about the endurance of the Raiders brand than the fact the team has not win a playoff game since 2002 yet Raider Nation shows a level of brand loyalty comparable to the allegiance NASCAR fans used to have for legends like Dale Earnhardt, Sr.
The Raiders play the Cincinnati Bengals in a first round wildcard game Saturday at 1:30 PM Vegas time and it will offer an opportunity for this once winning franchise to score a postseason win for the first time since 2002 when the Raiders defeated the Tennessee Titans in the AFC championship game before the Raiders lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a coach by the name of Jon Gruden.
Our Top 10 Raiders nuggets for Saturday’s playoff game.
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Fans assume that the Raiders have played their last game at Allegiant Stadium this season when defeated the Chargers in an epic 35-32 OT win. But if the Raiders and underdog wild card teams New England Steelers and Pittsburgh Steelers all win this weekend, the Raiders would host the Patriots the following week. Unlikely, yes. But it’s been one crazy NFL season, so anything is possible.
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Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is playing in his first playoff game after coping with lots of losing during his Raiders career. The Raiders had an impressive 12-4 record in 2016, but Carr broke his ankle and did not play in the wild card game loss to Houston that season.
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In their first season in Las Vegas with fans, the Raiders averaged 61,185 fans a game for the nine regular season home games. Even though the Raiders’ average game day attendance ranked 26th out of 32 NFL teams, the Raiders filled Allegiant Stadium to 94.1 percent of capacity and generated millions of dollars in ticket revenue because the the Raiders had the most expensive average ticket in the NFL.
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About 3,000 fans used the special RTC Raiders express bus for games per game during the regular season.
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That 2016 season was the sole year that the Raiders won more than they lost since the 2003 season — with the exception of this season’s 10-7 record.
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The NFL dominated the most popular programs on TV, with 23 of the top 25 rated shows and 75 of the top 100 shows, according to several published reports.
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Both the Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals are the number five seeds in their respective conferences, but they arrived at that seed in very different ways. The Cardinals were 10-2 at one time after 12 games, while the Raiders were 6-7 after 13 games. The Raiders won their final four games by a margin of victory of four points are less and zoomed up to the number five seed after not even qualifying for the playoffs after 16 games.
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What a bizarre season filled with adversity for the Raiders all season long. Here were the Raiders’ records at various stages of the season.
3-0
5-2
6-7 (after losing five of six)
10-7 (number five seed).
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Six of the Raiders’ 10 wins came on the final play of the game.
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Spanish language Raiders radio broadcaster Harry Ruiz shared some interesting stats. Nice info, Harry.
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Raiders fans are in the Jungle, including Raider Rita.
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