# 1997 Oakland Raiders season

The 1997 season was the Oakland Raiders' 28th in the National Football League, their 38th overall, their 3rd since their return to Oakland, and their first under head coach Joe Bugel. They failed to improve upon their 7–9 from 1996 and finished with a 4–12 record, the worst finish for the Raiders since 1962; when they won only once in the final season before the arrival of Al Davis. The Raiders missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

* 1 Darrell Russell DT
* 3 Adam Treu C
* 3 Tim Kohn OT
* 4 Chad Levitt RB
* 6 Calvin Branch CB
* 6 Grady Jackson DT

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 31 | at Tennessee Oilers | L 21–24 | 0–1 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | 30,171 |
| 2 | September 8 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 27–28 | 0–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 61,523 |
| 3 | September 14 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 36–31 | 1–2 | Georgia Dome | 47,922 |
| 4 | September 21 | at New York Jets | L 22–23 | 1–3 | Giants Stadium | 72,586 |
| 5 | September 28 | St. Louis Rams | W 35–17 | 2–3 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 42,506 |
| 6 | October 5 | San Diego Chargers | L 10–25 | 2–4 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 43,648 |
| 7 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 8 | October 19 | Denver Broncos | W 28–25 | 3–4 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 57,006 |
| 9 | October 26 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 34–45 | 3–5 | Kingdome | 66,264 |
| 10 | November 2 | at Carolina Panthers | L 14–38 | 3–6 | Ericcson Stadium | 71,064 |
| 11 | November 9 | New Orleans Saints | L 10–13 | 3–7 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 40,091 |
| 12 | November 16 | at San Diego Chargers | W 38–13 | 4–7 | Qualcomm Stadium | 65,714 |
| 13 | November 24 | at Denver Broncos | L 3–31 | 4–8 | Mile High Stadium | 75,307 |
| 14 | November 30 | Miami Dolphins | L 16–34 | 4–9 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 50,569 |
| 15 | December 7 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 0–30 | 4–10 | Arrowhead Stadium | 76,379 |
| 16 | December 14 | Seattle Seahawks | L 21–22 | 4–11 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 40,124 |
| 17 | December 21 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 9–20 | 4–12 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 40,032 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 7 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 38 |
| Chargers | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

## Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Kansas City Chiefs | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 375 | 232 | W6 |
| $^{(4)}$ Denver Broncos | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 472 | 287 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 365 | 362 | W2 |
| Oakland Raiders | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 324 | 419 | L5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 266 | 425 | L8 |

## Awards and records

* Tim Brown, single game record, 14 receptions, achieved on December 21
* Napoleon Kaufman, single game record, 227 rushing yards, achieved on October 19
* Harvey Williams, single game record, 4 touchdowns (tied club record), achieved on November 16
* Napoleon Kaufman, single game record, 24 points, (tied club record), achieved on November 16
* Jeff George, single season record, most passing yards in one season, 3,917
* Tim Brown, single season record, most receptions in one season, 104
* Tim Brown, single season record, most receiving yards in one season, 1,408

### Milestones

* Tim Brown, 1st Raider to have 100 receptions in a season