Divisional Round, 1976: Oakland 24 New England 21

Game information
The Raiders stormed into the 1976 playoffs in dominant form, with an NFL-best 13–1 record. However, their only loss of the season was to New England, a brutal 48–17 thrashing in week 4. New England finished the year with an 11–3 record, a spectacular turnaround after going 3–11 the previous season, to make their first playoff appearance since 1963.

The Raiders overcame an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to win on quarterback Ken Stabler's 1-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds left in the game.

Raiders return man Neal Colzie gave his team an early scoring opportunity by returning a New England punt 24 yards to the Pats' 46-yard line. Oakland was unable to move the ball, and despite a solid Ray Guy punt that pinned the Patriots back at their own 14-yard line, their defense could not stop them from driving 86 yards in 10 plays to take a 7–0 lead on Andy Johnson's 1-yard rushing touchdown. The key plays of the drive were a spectacular one-handed 48-yard catch by tight end Russ Francis on 3rd down and 7 from the Patriots' 33-yard line, and a 24-yard 3rd-down reception by receiver Darryl Stingley. On Oakland's next possession, Stabler's completions to Fred Biletnikoff and Cliff Branch for gains of 22 and 17 yards set up Errol Mann's 40-yard field goal, making the score 7–3 with 1:14 left in the first quarter.

The score would not change until near the end of the second quarter, after Oakland defensive back Skip Thomas made a clutch interception in his own red zone from Francis on an option play, and returned it 18 yards to the Raiders' 24. Oakland subsequently drove 76 yards in 8 plays to score on Stabler's 31-yard touchdown pass to Biletnikoff with 45 seconds left in the half, giving the Raiders a 10–7 halftime lead.

New England regrouped in the second half. After forcing Oakland to punt on their opening drive, Grogan led the Patriots 80 yards in 9 plays to score on his 26-yard touchdown completion to Francis. The Raiders had to punt again on their next possession, and New England got the ball with good field position on their own 45, where they drove 55 yards in 10 plays (aided by an offsides penalty on linebacker Ted Hendricks that allowed them to keep possession after a punt play) to go up 21–10 on Jess Phillips' 3-yard rushing touchdown with 1:13 left in the third period.

Oakland responded by driving 70 yards in 8 plays. Stabler was a perfect 5/5 passing on the drive, including a 17-yard completion to Biletnikoff on the last play of the third quarter, as the team cut their deficit to 21–17 on running back Mark Van Eeghen's 1-yard touchdown run. After an exchange of punts, New England got the ball on their own 48 with a huge chance to increase their lead or run out the clock to win the game. After driving to the Raiders' 28, Grogan appeared to pick up a first down on a QB sneak, but it was nullified by an offsides penalty against fullback Sam Cunningham. Cunningham was then stuffed on a draw during the next play. Now on 4th down, the Patriots decided to gamble on a 50-yard field goal attempt by John Smith, but his kick was no good, giving the ball back to Oakland with good field position and 4:12 left on the clock.

Stabler then led the Raiders 68 yards for the game-winning score. Several key completions, including a 12-yard catch by Branch and a 21-yard reception by tight end Dave Casper, gave the team a first down on the Patriots' 28-yard line. But on the next play, Stabler was sacked for an 8-yard loss by DT Mel Lunsford. After an incompletion, Oakland faced 3rd and 18 on the 36-yard line. Stabler threw an incomplete pass on the next play, but it was eliminated by a controversial roughing the passer penalty called by referee Ben Dreith on nose tackle Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton, giving Oakland a first down on the Pats' 13 with 57 seconds remaining. Following a 5-yard catch by Casper and a 4-yard run by Clarence Davis, a personal foul penalty on safety Prentice McCray brought up first and goal at the 1-yard line. Now with time running out, Stabler faked a handoff to running back Pete Banaszak, who was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, and rolled to the left. Led by guard Gene Upshaw, Stabler dove into the end zone with 14 seconds left to give the Raiders a 24–21 lead. Linebacker Monte Johnson then sealed the win with an interception on the last play of the game.

Biletnikoff finished the game with 9 receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown. Francis had 4 catches for 96 yards and a score. Stabler completed 19/32 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions, and scored a rushing touchdown as well.

Penalties played a huge role in the game. New England had 10 penalties, while the Raiders had 11. "That was one of the worst-called games I have ever seen in my life," said an angry Patriots DE Julius Adams. "I just hope they were right", Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks said about the roughing the passer call against Ray Hamilton on Oakland's game-winning drive. "It looked to me like Ray Hamilton hit the ball first. If he did deflect the ball, it was an incorrect call." Later on, he added "I'm proud of my team and the way we played today. We’re going home knowing we played our hearts out."

"That's what you say," said Raiders Coach John Madden when the Pats' complaints were brought to his attention by a writer. "If you could sit there for 60 minutes and say the officials turned that game around with penalties at the end, you were wasting your time. You were eating a hot dog somewhere instead of watching what was going on. There was some great football out there."

This was the first postseason meeting between the Patriots and Raiders.

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