# 1985 Los Angeles Raiders season

The 1985 Los Angeles Raiders season was their 26th in the league. They improved upon their previous season's 11–5 record, winning 12 games. The team qualified for the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Two close victories over Denver towards the end of the year gave Los Angeles the division title, while Denver missed the playoffs despite an 11–5 record. In the AFC Divisional Playoffs, the Raiders lost 27–20 to the New England Patriots.

## Before the season
### Draft

1985 Los Angeles Raiders draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 23 | Jessie Hester | WR | Florida State | |
| 3 | 79 | Tim Moffett | WR | Ole Miss | |
| 3 | 80 | Stefon Adams | DB | East Carolina | Played for Raiders in 1986–89 |
| 4 | 107 | Jamie Kimmel | LB | Syracuse | Played for Raiders in 1986–87 |
| 5 | 135 | Dan Reeder | RB | Delaware | |
| 6 | 143 | Rusty Hilger | QB | Oklahoma State | |
| 7 | 186 | Kevin Belcher | T | Wisconsin | |
| 7 | 188 | Mark Pattison | WR | Washington | |
| 7 | 191 | Bret Clark | DB | Nebraska | |
| 7 | 192 | Nick Haden | G | Penn State | |
| 8 | 220 | Leonard Wingate | DT | South Carolina State | |
| 9 | 246 | Chris Sydnor | DB | Penn State | |
| 10 | 275 | Reggie McKenzie | LB | Tennessee | |
| 10 | 276 | Albert Myres | DB | Tulsa | |
| 11 | 303 | Steve Strachan | RB | Boston College | |
| 12 | 332 | Raymond Polk | DB | Oklahoma State | |
| Made roster ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 8 | New York Jets | W 31–0 | 1–0 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 57,123 | Recap |
| 2 | September 12 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 20–36 | 1–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 72,686 | Recap |
| 3 | September 22 | San Francisco 49ers | L 10–34 | 1–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 87,006 | Recap |
| 4 | September 29 | at New England Patriots | W 35–20 | 2–2 | Sullivan Stadium | 60,686 | Recap |
| 5 | October 6 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 19–0 | 3–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 55,133 | Recap |
| 6 | October 13 | New Orleans Saints | W 23–13 | 4–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 48,152 | Recap |
| 7 | October 20 | at Cleveland Browns | W 21–20 | 5–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,928 | Recap |
| 8 | October 28 | San Diego Chargers | W 34–21 | 6–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 69,297 | Recap |
| 9 | November 3 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 3–33 | 6–3 | Kingdome | 64,060 | Recap |
| 10 | November 10 | at San Diego Chargers | L 34–40 (OT) | 6–4 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 58,566 | Recap |
| 11 | November 17 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 13–6 | 7–4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 52,501 | Recap |
| 12 | November 24 | Denver Broncos | W 31–28 (OT) | 8–4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 63,161 | Recap |
| 13 | December 1 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 34–24 | 9–4 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 20,858 | Recap |
| 14 | December 8 | at Denver Broncos | W 17–14 (OT) | 10–4 | Mile High Stadium | 75,042 | Recap |
| 15 | December 15 | Seattle Seahawks | W 13–3 | 11–4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 77,425 | Recap |
| 16 | December 23 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 16–6 | 12–4 | Anaheim Stadium | 66,676 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| Divisional | January 5, 1986 | New England Patriots (5) | L 20–27 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 88,936 | Recap |

## Season summary
### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Raiders | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
* Dokie Williams 5 Rec, 131 Yds

### Week 10 at Chargers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Raiders | 7 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
| Chargers | 7 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 40 |
at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California
* Date: November 10
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. PST
* Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), relative humidity 56%, wind 10 mph (16 km/h)
* Game attendance: 58,566
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
SDG – Wes Chandler 10-yard pass from Dan Fouts (Bob Thomas kick), 4:29. Chargers 7–0. Drive: 2 plays, 16 yards, 0:43.
RAI – Jessie Hester 35-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick), 3:03. Tied 7–7. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 1:26.
Second quarter
SDG – Bob Thomas 34-yard field goal, 10:11. Chargers 10–7. Drive: 7 plays, 24 yards, 3:07.
RAI – Frank Hawkins 1-yard run (kick blocked), 1:57. Raiders 13–10. Drive: 4 plays, 32 yards, 1:30.
Third quarter
SDG – Bob Thomas 23-yard field goal, 11:32. Tied 13–13. Drive: 9 plays, 61 yards, 3:28.
RAI – Marcus Allen 1-yard run (Chris Bahr kick), 7:11. Raiders 20–13. Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards, 4:21.
SDG – Lionel James 34-yard pass from Dan Fouts (Bob Thomas kick), 3:08. Tied 20–20. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 4:03.
RAI – Jessie Hester 54-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick), 0:59. Raiders 27–20. Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:09.
Fourth quarter
SDG – Gary Anderson 21-yard pass from Dan Fouts (Bob Thomas kick), 7:07. Tied 27–27. Drive: 10 plays, 79 yards, 5:07.
RAI – Todd Christensen 24-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick), 1:49. Raiders 34–27 Drive: 12 plays, 84 yards, 5:18.
SDG – Charlie Joiner 14-yard pass from Dan Fouts (Bob Thomas kick), 0:53. Tied 34–34. Drive: 5 plays, 71 yards, 0:56.
Overtime
SDG – Lionel James 17-yard run, 11:16. Chargers 40–34. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 3:44.
Top passers
RAI – Marc Wilson – 18/32, 297 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
SDG – Dan Fouts – 26/41, 436 yards, 4 TD, INT
Top rushers
RAI – Marcus Allen – 28 rushes, 119 yards, TD
SDG – Gary Anderson – 16 rushes, 70 yards
Top receivers
RAI – Todd Christensen – 7 receptions, 112 yards, TD
SDG – Lionel James – 11 receptions, 168 yards, TD :

### Week 14 at Broncos

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Broncos | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
* Date: December 8
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 31 °F (−1 °C)
* Game attendance: 75,042
* Referee: Fred Wyant
* TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
DEN – James Wright 5-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick), 1:27. Broncos 7–0. Drive:
Second quarter
DEN – Sammy Winder 1-yard run (Rich Karlis kick), 0:30. Broncos 14–0. Drive:
Third quarter
LA – Todd Christensen 3-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick), 8:31. Broncos 14–7. Drive:
LA – Marcus Allen 15–yard run (Chris Bahr kick), 4:45. Tie 14–14. Drive:
Fourth quarter
No scoring
Overtime
LA – Chris Bahr 26-yard field goal, 10:05. Raiders 17–14. Drive:
Top passers
LA – Marc Wilson – 13/28, 93 yards, TD, 4 INT
DEN – John Elway – 18/36, 158 yards, TD, 3 INT
Top rushers
LA – Marcus Allen – 25 rushes, 135 yards, TD
DEN – Sammy Winder – 14 rushes, 41 yards, TD
Top receivers
LA – Todd Christensen – 6 receptions, 53 yards, TD
DEN – Steve Watson – 5 receptions, 56 yards :

## Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Los Angeles Raiders$^{(1)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–3 | 9–3 | 354 | 308 | W6 |
| Denver Broncos | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–3 | 8–4 | 380 | 329 | W2 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 349 | 303 | L2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 3–5 | 7–7 | 467 | 435 | L1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 3–5 | 4–8 | 317 | 360 | W1 |

## MVP

Running Back Marcus Allen earned the 1985 league MVP with Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears finishing as the runner-up. Allen started all 16 games and caught 67 passes for 2,314 total yards (1,759 rushing yards) and 14 total touchdowns (11 rushing touchdowns). His longest run was 61 yards, his longest reception was 44 yards, and he ran for 4.6 yards per carry. He also completed 1 of 2 passes for 16 yards for zero touchdowns.

## Pro Bowlers

The 1985 Raiders had four players make it to the Pro Bowl. They were Marcus Allen, Todd Christensen, Mike Haynes, and Howie Long.