NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl XV played on January 25, 1981, was won by the Champions of the AFC the Oakland Raiders who defeated the NFC Champions the Philadelphia Eagles at the Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Oakland Raiders had finished level top of the 1980 AFC West Division coached by Tom Flores with a regular season record of 11-5-0. Their point scoring average was 22.8 per game putting their offense 7th best of 28 in the NFL. The Raiders points allowed average was 19.1 per game conceded and made them 10th best overall in the league.

The Raiders only progressed to the playoffs as a Wild Card team and realistically should not have been expected to achieve much. Their first playoff was in the AFC Wild Card Game where they played the Houston Oilers who had finished level top of the AFC Central Division coached by Bum Phillips with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The two teams had not met each other in regular season and therefore it was debatable which had achieved the better level of form. The Houston Oilers had been good in defense and were ranked second best in regular season but they had been poor at scoring and probably overall, taking offense and defense into account, the Raiders would have been favorite.

Anyhow, as for the game itself I should think the Houston Oilers defense never showed up and whilst still finding it difficult to score they were made very short work of by the Raiders who won 27 - 7.

In the AFC Divisional Playoffs the Oakland Raiders opponents were the Cleveland Browns who had finished level top of the 1980 AFC Central Division with a regular season record of 11-5-0. Likewise, the Browns were not a highly ranked team in regular season, 8th overall in offense with a point scoring average of 22.3 and they were 12th best overall for their defense with a points allowed average of 19.4 per game conceded. The two teams had not met in regular season but using average figures for offense and defense as a guide line, the overall balance of form was just about tipped towards the Raiders.

The Oakland Raiders won a very tight, low scoring game by 14 points to 12.

In the AFC Championship Game the Raiders played the San Diego Chargers who had finished level top of the AFC West Division coached by Don Coryell with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Chargers were ranked quite highly in offense after regular season with a point scoring average of 26.1 per game and had finished 4th best of 28 in the NFL but they had been mediocre in defense with a points allowed average of 20.4 per game conceded which made them 18th overall in the league. The two teams had played each other twice in regular season with one victory apiece. Each had won their home tie.

There was not much to choose between them, maybe the Raiders had the nod on overall form but the Chargers had home field advantage.

Like in regular season when the Raiders and Chargers met it was another fairly high scoring encounter with the Oakland Raiders winning by 34 points to 27.

The Oakland Raiders opponents in Super Bowl XV were the Philadelphia Eagles who had won the 1980 NFC East Division coached by Dick Vermeil with a regular season record of 12-4-0. Their points scored average of 24 per game put the Eagles offense 6th best of 28 in the NFL and their points allowed average of 13.9 per game put the defense 1st in the league overall.

The Eagles postseason games began with the NFC Divisional Playoffs in which they met the Minnesota Vikings who had finished level top of the NFC Central Division coached by Bud Grant with a regular season record of 9-7-0. The Vikings were not a highly ranked team and had easily been brushed aside by the Eagles in a regular season fixture by 42 points to 7.

The result had a similar outcome in the Divisional Playoffs with the Eagles winning as they liked 31 - 16.

In the NFC Championship Game the Philadelphia Eagles played the Dallas Cowboys who had finished level top of the NFC East Division coached by Tom Landry with a regular season record of 12-4-0. The Cowboys point scoring average of 28.4 points per game put their offense 1st in the NFL whilst their points allowed average was 19.4 per game conceded and made their defense 13th best overall.

The Eagles and the Cowboys had played each other twice in regular season with one victory apiece They had both won whilst playing at home and for the Conference Championship Game Philadelphia had home field advantage.

This game saw the top team in offense versus the top team in defense. If they had been from different Conference′s this game could have quite easily have passed as the Super Bowl itself. Overall, taking offense and defense into account the Eagles ranked higher and were favorites. They won like a good thing by 20 points to 7.

Super Bowl XV looked to have a clear favorite in the Philadelphia Eagles as they were supposedly better in both offense and defense than the Oakland Raiders, although it is worth pointing out that the two teams had played once in regular season when the Philadelphia Eagles had won a very close game by 10 points to 7. It had been the lowest total all season that the Eagles had scored. Was it possible that the Raiders had the game to "clip" the Eagles wings?

In the game it was the Raiders who got away the quickest and were 14 - 0 up by the end of the first quarter. The Eagles managed only a Tony Franklin field goal in reply during the second quarter and were 14 - 3 down at the halfway stage.

Oakland basically killed off the tie as a contest in the third when scoring another 10 points with no reponse from the Eagles.

The fourth quarter was "won" by the Eagles but the 7 points they scored against the 3 that the Raiders got was no more than scant consolation.

The Oakland Raiders won Super Bowl XV by 27 points to 10.

Super Bowl XV Most Valuable Player was the Oakland Raiders Quarterback Jim Plunkett who completed 13 of 21 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns.

Note
The Oakland Raiders playoff averages (including the Wild Card Game) were 25.5 points per game scored (22.8 regular season) and they allowed 14 points per game conceded (19.1 regular season).

The Oakland Raiders playoff averages (not including the Wild Card Game) were 25 points per game scored (22.8 regular season) and they allowed 16.3 points per game conceded (19.1 regular season).

The Philadelphia Eagles playoff averages were 20.3 points per game scored (24 regular season) and they allowed 16.7 points per game conceded (13.9 regular season).

In Conclusion
The Oakland Raiders became the first Wild Card team to win a Super Bowl. They did not have a difficult passage through the playoffs and played teams that really were not formidable opposition. It wasn′t until Super Bowl when they faced the Philadelphia Eagles that they had to play one of the so called top teams of 1980.

It is possible however, putting aside the Eagles overall better level of form and by using the scoreline of their regular season clash as a guide that there was not much between them and therefore a result like this was entirely possible. Don′t forget the Raiders limited the Eagles to scoring only ten against them in regular season and on the right day could have the beating of them.

In contrast, the Philadelphia Eagles had to play a top team to reach Super Bowl XV when playing the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game. Whilst not making excuses for them, the Eagles would have had to raise their game to beat the Cowboys, a feat they obviously found beyond them to repeat again for Super Bowl.

The Raiders, having already shown during regular season that they could limit the Eagles in offense, were proved more than capable of exploiting any weaknesses the Eagles defense had to easily win Super Bowl XV.

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Oakland Raiders (AFC)	14	0	10	3	-	27
Philadelphia Eagles (NFC)	0	3	0	7	-	10