Virtual playoffs-'99 Rams vs. '76 Raiders

#13 1999 St. Louis Rams 24
# 4 1976 Oakland Raiders 14

OAKLAND (CA) - One of the stranger games of the Classic Sim Super Bowl Tournament took place at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum where 1999 ST. LOUIS (16-3, #13 seed) upset host 1976 OAKLAND (16-1, #4 seed) 24-14. The two teams put up nearly identical numbers in virtually every statistical category, including exactly the same total of 356 yards. Ultimately, it was the uncharacteristically high number of five interceptions that Oakland QB Ken Stabler delivered to an undistinguished St. Louis secondary that proved to be the Raiders' undoing.

You would have certainly gotten high Vegas odds against a scoreless first half in this game but that's just what the rabid Raider faithful witnessed. The Silver-and-Black D shut down the vaunted Rams offense, sacking MVP QB Kurt Warner three times. Meanwhile, St. Louis' defense overachieved in stopping that Raider attack, with Stabler aiding the cause by pitching three INTs. But he got his team going on the first possession of the second half, and RB Pete Banaszak broke free on a 35-yard TD gallop to give Oakland a 7-0 lead. Not to be outdone, all-purpose RB Marshall Faulk took off on a 31-yard TD dash of his own to knot the score. This began a St. Louis onslaught of 24 straight points that stunned the proud Raiders as the Rams explosive offense had done to NFC defenses all year. After a 34-yard FG by PK Jeff Wilkins put the Rams up 10-7, Oakland took possession and Stabler tossed his 4th INT of the day to St. Louis CB Dre Bly. This set up a 17-yard TD run by Rams FB Robert Holcombe. When Holcombe scored his 2nd TD of the game on a 21-yard pass from Warner with six minutes left in the game, the dazed Raiders were looking up at a 24-7 deficit, too much even for two-minute drill master Stabler. He did manage to hit WR Fred Biletnikoff with a 5-yard scoring strike at the two-minute mark, but that was all she wrote as the infamous '76 Raiders were eliminated in the first round.

Boxscore

Tuesday, January 16, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA
ATTENDANCE:   64,428
99 ST.LOUIS         0  0  7 17 -  24
76 OAKLAND          0  0  7  7 -  14
76 OAKLAND-     13:32 OF 3RD - 35 RUN BY BANASZAK
                 (KICK BY MANN)
99 ST.LOUIS-     9:46 OF 3RD - 31 RUN BY FAULK
                 (KICK BY WILKINS)
99 ST.LOUIS-    13:33 OF 4TH - 34 FG BY WILKINS
99 ST.LOUIS-    12:29 OF 4TH - 17 RUN BY HOLCOMBE
                 (KICK BY WILKINS)
99 ST.LOUIS-     6:05 OF 4TH - 21 PASS BY WARNER TO HOLCOMBE
                 (KICK BY WILKINS)
76 OAKLAND-      1:56 OF 4TH - 5 PASS BY STABLER TO BILETNIKOFF
                 (KICK BY MANN)
                               TEAM STATISTICS
              99 ST.LOUIS                        76 OAKLAND
                    21           FIRST DOWNS           20 
                  23 - 117       RUSHING YDS         24 - 137 
                    266          PASSING YDS           236 
                    356           TOTAL YDS            356 
                22 - 37 - 0         PASSES         19 - 39 - 5 
               6 - 36.8              PUNTS        3 - 39.2 
                  1 - 1            FUM/LOST          0 - 0 
                  10 - 82         PENALTIES          10 - 76 
                  4 - 27            SACKED           3 - 18 
                 30:23        TIME OF POSSESSION    29:37
                6 - 14         THIRD DOWN EFF      7 - 15 
                RUSHING STATISTICS
99 ST.LOUIS       TC   YDS   AVG   LG   TD
FAULK             14    69   4.9   31    1
HOLCOMBE           6    43   7.2   17    1
WATSON             2     5   2.5    3    0
WARNER             1     2   2.0         0
76 OAKLAND        TC   YDS   AVG   LG   TD
VAN EEGHAN         7    14   2.0    5    0
C DAVIS            3    61  20.3   52    0
BANASZAK           4    44  11.0   35    1
GARRETT            5    10   2.0    7    0
MOORE              1    -4  -4.0    0    0
STABLER            3     9   3.0    6    0
KUNZ               1     4   4.0    4    0
                RECEIVING
99 ST.LOUIS       TC    YDS    AVG   LG    TD
PROEHL             8     82   10.3   26     0
FAULK              7     82   11.7   28     0
HOLCOMBE           1     21   21.0   21     1
HAKIM              2     44   22.0   23     0
BRUCE              4     37    9.3   14     0
76 OAKLAND        TC    YDS    AVG   LG    TD
CASPER             7     74   10.6   26     0
BRANCH             2     50   25.0   29     0
BILETNIKOFF        6     80   13.3   33     1
KWALICK            1     14   14.0   14     0
VAN EEGHAN         1      5    5.0    5     0
C DAVIS            1      5    5.0    5     0
GARRETT            1      8    8.0    8     0
                PASSING
99 ST.LOUIS       ATT  COM COM %  YDS  Y/A  Y/C  TD  TD%  I    I%  LG
WARNER             37   22  59.5  266  7.2 12.1   1  2.7  0   0.0  28
76 OAKLAND        ATT  COM COM %  YDS  Y/A  Y/C  TD  TD%  I    I%  LG
STABLER            39   19  48.7  236  6.1 12.4   1  2.6  5  12.8  33
                KICKOFF RETURNS
99 ST.LOUIS       KR   YDS   AVG   LG  TD
CARPENTER          2    49  24.5   28   0
76 OAKLAND        KR   YDS   AVG   LG  TD
GARRETT            2    35  17.5   19   0
JENNINGS           1    30  30.0   30   0
MOORE              1    17  17.0   17   0
                PUNT RETURNS
99 ST.LOUIS       PR   YDS   AVG   LG  TD
HAKIM              3    38  12.7   16   0
76 OAKLAND        PR   YDS   AVG   LG  TD
COLZIE             1     0   0.0    0   0
MOORE              1    50  50.0   50   0
                PUNTING
99 ST.LOUIS       PNT   AVG  LG  TB  BLK  20
TUTEN               6  36.8  38   2    0   3  
76 OAKLAND        PNT   AVG  LG  TB  BLK  20
GUY                 3  39.2  42   0    0   2  
                KICKING
99 ST.LOUIS       EPM EPA   EP% FGM FGA   FG% LG  0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49  50+
WILKINS             3   3 100.0   1   3  33.3 34  0- 0  0- 0  1- 1  0- 1  0- 0
76 OAKLAND        EPM EPA   EP% FGM FGA   FG% LG  0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49  50+
MANN                2   2 100.0   0   1   0.0  0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 1
STEINFORT                         0   1   0.0  0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0
INTERCEPTIONS
99 ST.LOUIS    IR   YDS   AVG   LG  TD
BLY             2    31  15.5   16   0
ALLEN           1    17  17.0   17   0
BUSH            1    15  15.0   15   0
COADY           1     9   9.0    9   0
76 OAKLAND     IR   YDS   AVG   LG  TD
SACKS
99 ST.LOUIS       NO.   YDS LOST
CARTER              1        4
J.WILLIAMS          1       10
FLETCHER            1        4
76 OAKLAND        NO.   YDS LOST
MATUSZAK            1        4
PHILYAW             1        5
SISTRUNK            1       12
BARNES              1        7