1987 Los Angeles Raiders season

1987 Los Angeles Raiders season
Head coach	Tom Flores
General manager	Al Davis
Owner	Al Davis
Home field	L.A. Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	5–10
Division place	4th AFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1987 Los Angeles Raiders season was the club’s 28th season in the NFL. They finished with a disappointing record of 5–10 (the team's worst finish since Al Davis arrived in 1963). It was only the sixth losing season in franchise history.

Offseason

NFL draft

Since he did not sign with a team by the 1987 draft, Bo Jackson's rights were forfeited by Tampa Bay and his name was thrown back into the draft. The Raiders selected Jackson in the seventh round with the 183rd overall pick.^[1] Raiders owner Al Davis supported Jackson and his baseball career and got Jackson to sign a contract by offering him a salary that was comparable to a full-time starting running back but allowing Jackson to only play part-time until the baseball season was done.

1987 Los Angeles Raiders draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	15	John Clay	Offensive tackle	Missouri
2	52	Bruce Wilkerson	Offensive tackle	Tennessee
3	81	Steve Smith	Running back	Penn State
4	110	Steve Beuerlein *	Quarterback	Notre Dame
7	183	Bo Jackson *	Running back	Auburn
9	238	Scott Eccles	Tight end	Eastern New Mexico
10	254	Rob Harrison	Defensive back	Sacramento State
10	265	John Gesek	Guard	Sacramento State
10	273	Jim Ellis	Linebacker	Boise State
11	288	Chris McLemore	Running back	Arizona
11	294	Mario Perry	Tight end	Mississippi
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1987 Los Angeles Raiders staff
	Front office President of the General Partner – Al Davis Executive Assistant – Al LoCasale Personnel Operations – Ron Wolf Senior Executive – John Herrera Head coaches Head Coach – Tom Flores Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Larry Kennan Offensive Backs – Joe Scannella Receivers – Tom Walsh Tight Ends – Bob Mischak Offensive Line – Sam Boghosian Offensive Line – Art Shell Coaches Assistant – Terry Robiskie			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Earl Leggett Linebackers – Sam Gruneisen Linebackers – Charlie Sumner Defensive Backs – Willie Brown Defensive Backs – Jimmy Warren Special teams coaches Special Teams – Ray Willsey

Roster

1987 Los Angeles Raiders roster
	Quarterbacks 11 Vince Evans 12 Rusty Hilger  6 Marc Wilson 17 Scott Woolf Running backs 32 Marcus Allen 47 Jim Browne 21 Rick Calhoun 31 Craig Ellis 28 Rob Harrison 27 Frank Hawkins 23 Ethan Horton 34 Bo Jackson 40 Zeph Lee 20 Chris McLemore 42 Vance Mueller 35 Steve Smith 39 Steve Strachan Wide receivers 83 Carl Aikens 86 Mervyn Fernandez 84 Jessie Hester 81 Greg Lathan 87 Wade Lockett 80 James Lofton 89 David Williams 85 Dokie Williams 88 Chris Woods		Tight ends 46 Todd Christensen 87 Trey Junkin 81 Andy Parker 84 Mario Perry 82 Ron Wheeler Offensive linemen 67 Barry Black G 78 John Clay T 79 Bruce Davis T 64 Andy Dickerson G 54 Paul Dufault C 63 John Gesek G 73 Charley Hannah G 76 Brian Holloway T 51 Bill Lewis G 65 Mickey Marvin G 64 Dean Miraldi G 72 Don Mosebar C 63 David Pyles T 62 Shawn Regent C 77 Chris Riehm G 61 John Tautolo T 63 Dwight Wheeler T 68 Bruce Wilkerson G 66 Steve Wright T 69 Jon Zogg G		Defensive linemen 60 Rick Ackerman NT/DE 79 Brian Belway DE 95 Bob Buczkowski DE 77 Ted Chapman DE 94 Rick Goltz DE 97 Phil Grimes DE 99 Sean Jones DE 75 Howie Long DE 71 Bill Pickel NT 74 Mike Rodriguez NT 96 Malcolm Taylor NT/DE 93 Greg Townsend DE 98 Mitch Willis NT Linebackers 56 Jeff Barnes OLB 96 Ron Brown OLB 51 Keith Browner OLB 50 Darryl Byrd ILB 95 Joe Cormier OLB 58 Jim Ellis ILB 98 Darryl Goodlow OLB 91 Leonard Jackson OLB 59 Jamie Kimmel ILB 52 Linden King OLB 53 Rod Martin OLB 54 Reggie McKenzie ILB 92 Dan McMillen OLB 55 Matt Millen ILB 53 Mike Noble OLB 57 Jerry Robinson ILB 91 Ronnie Washington ILB		Defensive backs 44 Stefon Adams S 33 Eddie Anderson FS 20 Chetti Carr CB 45 James Davis SS 21 Ron Fellows CB 41 Ron Foster SS 24 Lance Harkey CB 22 Mike Haynes CB 36 Greg Hill CB 38 Rod Hill CB 49 Victor Jackson S 26 Vann McElroy FS 43 Sam Seale CB 20 Willie Teal CB 29 Tony Tillmon CB 30 Stacey Toran SS 48 Lionel Washington CB 33 Demise Williams S 25 Ricky Williams CB Special teams 10 Chris Bahr K  3 Vincent Gamache P  4 David Hardy K  5 Stan Talley P Rookies in italics

^[3]

Regular season

Joining the Raiders midway through the 1987 season, Bo Jackson rushed for 554 yards on 81 carries in just seven games. Over the next three seasons, Bo Jackson would rush for 2,228 more yards and 12 touchdowns: a remarkable achievement, in light of the fact that he was a "second string" player behind Raiders legend Marcus Allen.

Jackson turned in a 221-yard rushing performance on Monday Night Football in 1987 against the Seattle Seahawks. During this game, he ran over Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth, who had insulted Jackson and promised in a media event before the game to contain Jackson. He also made a 91-yard run to the outside, untouched down the sideline. He continued sprinting until finally slowing down as he passed through the entrance to the field tunnel to the dressing rooms with teammates soon following. Jackson scored two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown in the game.

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Raiders points	Opponents	Record	Attendance
1	Sep 13	at Green Bay Packers	Win	20	0	1–0	54,983
2	Sep 20	vs. Detroit Lions	Win	27	7	2–0	50,300
–	Sep 27	at Houston Oilers	Canceled			2–0
3	Oct 4	vs. Kansas City Chiefs	Win	35	17	3–0	10,708
4	Oct 12	at Denver Broncos	Loss	14	30	3–1	61,230
5	Oct 18	vs. San Diego Chargers	Loss	17	23	3–2	23,541
6	Oct 25	vs. Seattle Seahawks	Loss	13	35	3–3	52,735
7	Nov 1	at New England Patriots	Loss	23	26	3–4	60,664
8	Nov 8	at Minnesota Vikings	Loss	20	31	3–5	57,150
9	Nov 15	at San Diego Chargers	Loss	14	16	3–6	60,639
10	Nov 22	vs. Denver Broncos	Loss	17	23	3–7	61,318
11	Nov 30	at Seattle Seahawks	Win	37	14	4–7	62,802
12	Dec 6	vs. Buffalo Bills	Win	34	21	5–7	43,143
13	Dec 13	at Kansas City Chiefs	Loss	10	16	5–8	63,834
14	Dec 20	Cleveland Browns	Loss	17	24	5–9	40,275
15	Dec 27	Chicago Bears	Loss	3	6	5–10	78,019

^[4]

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 0 7 7 6 20 Packers 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 13 Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 56°F; wind 9

Scoring summary Q2 LA Allen 1 yard run (Bahr kick) LA 7–0 Q3 LA McElory 35 yard interception return (Bahr kick) LA 14–0 Q4 LA Bahr 40 yard field goal LA 17–0 Q4 LA Bahr 27 yard field goal LA 20–0

• Marcus Allen 33 Rush, 136 Yds

^[5]

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 7 20 10 0 37 Seahawks 7 0 7 0 14 Date: November 30 Location: Kingdome, Seattle, Washington Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 62,802 Game weather: indoors (dome) TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels

Scoring summary 1 SEA Daryl Turner 19 yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick) SEA 7–0 1 LA James Lofton 46 yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick) Tie 7–7 2 LA Bo Jackson 14 yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick) LA 14–7 2 LA Bo Jackson 91 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) LA 21–7 2 LA Chris Bahr 23 yard field goal LA 24–7 2 LA Chris Bahr 47 yard field goal LA 27–7 3 LA Bo Jackson 2 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) LA 34–7 3 LA Chris Bahr 23 yard field goal LA 37–7 3 SEA Mike Tice 3 yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick) LA 37–14

^[6]

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Denver Broncos^(1)	10	4	1	.700	379	288	W2
Seattle Seahawks^(5)	9	6	0	.600	371	314	L1
San Diego Chargers	8	7	0	.533	253	317	L6
Los Angeles Raiders	5	10	0	.333	301	289	L3
Kansas City Chiefs	4	11	0	.267	273	388	W1

Awards and records

• Howie Long, AFC Pro Bowl selection

References

1. Flatter, Ron. "Bo knows stardom and disappointment". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
2. "1987 Los Angeles Raiders draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
3. "1987 Los Angeles Raiders starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
4. http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1987-lai
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-03.
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com

• Raiders on Pro Football Reference
• Raiders on jt-sw.com
• Raiders stats on jt-sw.com