1965 Oakland Raiders season

The 1965 Oakland Raiders season was the team's sixth in both Oakland and the American Football League. The campaign saw the team attempt to improve upon the prior year's disappointing 5–7–2 record, and finished at 8–5–1.^[1] While the effort was a definite improvement, it was not enough to win the division and secure a postseason berth. This was the third and last season for Al Davis as head coach, as he became the AFL commissioner in April 1966, and offensive backs coach John Rauch was promoted.^[2]

1965 Oakland Raiders season
Owner	F. Wayne Valley
General manager	Al Davis
Head coach	Al Davis
Home stadium	Frank Youell Field
Results
Record	8–5–1
Division place	2nd AFL Western
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1964 Raiders seasons 1966 →

This was the first of sixteen consecutive winning seasons for the Raiders. It is also notable for the debut of Hall of Fame wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff, the first of several legendary Raiders drafted in the mid-1960s to early 1970s. The eleventh overall selection of the AFL draft out of Florida State, he was an integral part of the team's 1967 and 1976 Super Bowl runs.

It was also the Raiders' last year at Frank Youell Field;^[3] they moved to the new Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in 1966.

Roster

1965 Oakland Raiders roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Tom Flores 18 Dick Wood 19 Cotton Davidson Running backs (RB) 33 Billy Cannon 22 Larry Todd 30 Roger Hagberg FB 37 Alan Miller FB 33 Clem Daniels Wide receivers (WR) 84 Art Powell 14 Fred Biletnikoff 40 Bo Roberson Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL) 76 Bob Svihus T 79 Harry Schuh T 00 Jim Otto Defensive linemen (DL) 83 Ben Davidson DE 77 Ike Lassiter DE/DT 87 Rex Mirich DE/DT 53 Dan Birdwell DT

Linebackers (LB) 48 Bill Budness 34 Gus Otto 49 Dick Hermann 60 Dan Conners Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}} Special teams (ST) 10 Mike Mercer K/P

Rookies in italics

1965 Oakland Raiders Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	3	Harry Schuh	T
2	11	Fred Biletnikoff	WR	Florida State
3	19	Bob Svihus	T
4	27	Gus Otto	LB
9	67	Rich Zecher	DT

Season

Main article: 1965 American Football League season

Regular season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 12	Kansas City Chiefs	W 37–10	1–0	Frank Youell Field	18,569	Recap
2	September 19	San Diego Chargers	L 6–17	1–1	Frank Youell Field	21,406	Recap
3	September 26	Houston Oilers	W 21–17	2–1	Frank Youell Field	18,116	Recap
4	October 3	at Buffalo Bills	L 12–17	2–2	War Memorial Stadium	41,246	Recap
5	October 8	at Boston Patriots	W 24–10	3–2	Fenway Park	24,824	Recap
6	October 16	at New York Jets	T 24–24	3–2–1	Shea Stadium	54,890	Recap
7	October 24	Boston Patriots	W 30–21	4–2–1	Frank Youell Field	20,585	Recap
8	October 31	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–14	4–3–1	Municipal Stadium	18,354	Recap
9	November 7	at Houston Oilers	W 33–21	5–3–1	Rice Stadium	35,729	Recap
10	November 14	Buffalo Bills	L 14–17	5–4–1	Frank Youell Field	19,352	Recap
11	November 21	at Denver Broncos	W 28–20	6–4–1	Bears Stadium	30,369	Recap
12	Bye
13	December 5	Denver Broncos	W 24–13	7–4–1	Frank Youell Field	19,023	Recap
14	December 12	New York Jets	W 24–14	8–4–1	Frank Youell Field	19,013	Recap
15	December 19	at San Diego Chargers	L 14–24	8–5–1	Balboa Stadium	26,056	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	7	0	3	0	10
• Raiders	0	10	10	17	37

• Date: September 12
• Location: Frank Youell Field, Oakland, California
• Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), wind 8 mph (13 km/h)

Scoring summary

1		KC	Curtis McClinton 20 yard pass from Len Dawson (Tommy Brooker kick)	Chiefs 7–0
2		OAK	Art Powell 14 yard pass from Dick Wood (Mike Mercer kick)	Tie 7–7
2		OAK	Gene Mingo 40 yard field goal	Raiders 10–7
3		OAK	Gene Mingo 28 yard field goal	Raiders 13–7
3		KC	Tommy Brooker 34 yard field goal	Raiders 13–10
3		OAK	Art Powell 5 yard pass from Dick Wood (Mike Mercer kick)	Raiders 20–10
4		OAK	Gene Mingo 28 yard field goal	Raiders 23–10
4		OAK	Dick Wood 3 yard run (Mike Mercer kick)	Raiders 30–10
4		OAK	Claude Gibson 58 yard punt return (Mike Mercer kick)	Raiders 37–10

^[4]

Standings

AFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
San Diego Chargers	9	2	3	.818	4–1–1	340	227	W3
Oakland Raiders	8	5	1	.615	3–3	298	239	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	7	5	2	.583	4–1–1	322	285	W1
Denver Broncos	4	10	0	.286	0–6	303	392	L4

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.