Editing Las Vegas Raiders (section)

==== Super Bowl XVIII champions (1983) ====
The [[1983 NFL season|following season]], the [[1983 Los Angeles Raiders season|Raiders]] finished 12–4 to win the AFC West. Convincing playoff wins over the [[1983 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Steelers]] and [[1983 Seattle Seahawks season|Seattle Seahawks]] in the [[1983–84 NFL playoffs|AFC playoffs]] propelled the Raiders to their fourth Super Bowl. Against the [[1983 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]] in [[Super Bowl XVIII]], the Raiders built a lead after blocking a punt and recovering for a touchdown early in the game. A Branch touchdown reception from Plunkett put the Raiders up 14–0 with more than nine minutes remaining in the first quarter. With seven seconds remaining in the first half, linebacker [[Jack Squirek]] intercepted a [[Joe Theismann]] [[swing pass]] at the Washington five-yard line and scored, sending the Raiders to a 21–3 halftime lead. Following a [[John Riggins]] one-yard touchdown run (extra point was blocked), [[Marcus Allen]] scored from five yards out to build the lead to 28–9. The Raiders sealed the game with Allen reversed his route on a Super Bowl record run that turned into a 74-yard touchdown. The Raiders went on to a 38–9 victory and their third NFL championship. Allen set a record for most rushing yards (191) and combined yards (209) in a Super Bowl as the Raiders won their third Super Bowl in eight years.

[[File:1985 Police Raiders-Rams - 01 Marcus Allen (crop).jpg|thumb|230px|Raiders' Hall of Famer [[Marcus Allen]] is considered one of the greatest goal line and short-yard runners in National Football League history.]]
The [[1984 Los Angeles Raiders season|team]] had another successful regular season in [[1984 NFL season|1984]], finishing 11–5, but a three-game losing streak forced them to enter the playoffs as a wild-card, where they fell to the [[1984 Seattle Seahawks season|Seahawks]] in the Wild Card game.

The [[1985 Los Angeles Raiders season|1985 Raiders]] campaign saw 12 wins and a division title as Marcus Allen was named MVP. A loss to the [[1985 New England Patriots season|Patriots]] derailed any further postseason hopes.

The Raiders' fortunes declined after that, and from [[1986 Los Angeles Raiders season|1986]] to [[1989 Los Angeles Raiders season|1989]], they finished no better than 8–8 and posted consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1961–62. Also in 1986, Al Davis got into a widely publicized argument with Marcus Allen, whom he accused of faking injuries. The feud continued into [[1987 Los Angeles Raiders season|1987]], and Davis retaliated by signing [[Bo Jackson]] to essentially replace Allen. Jackson was also a [[left fielder]] for [[Major League Baseball]]'s [[Kansas City Royals]], and could not play full-time until baseball season ended in October. Even worse, another [[1987 NFL strike|strike]] cost the NFL one game and prompted them to use substitute players. The Raiders achieved a 1–2 record before the regular players returned after the strike. After a weak 5–10 finish, Tom Flores moved to the front office and was replaced by Denver Broncos offensive assistant coach [[Mike Shanahan]].

Shanahan led the team to a 7–9 season in [[1988 Los Angeles Raiders season|1988]], and Allen and Jackson continued to trade places as the starting running back. Low game attendance and fan apathy were evident by this point, and in the summer of 1988, rumors of a Raiders return to Oakland intensified when a preseason game against the [[1988 Houston Oilers season|Houston Oilers]] was scheduled at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.<ref>Dickey, ''Just Win, Baby''. p. 234.</ref>

After starting the [[1989 NFL season|1989 season]] with a 1–3 record, Shanahan was fired by Davis, which began a long-standing feud between the two.<ref name="feud">{{cite news |first=John |last=Czarnecki |title=Raiders, Broncos renew rivalry |url=http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/949168 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014708/http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/949168 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |work=Fox Sports |access-date=January 29, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://losangeles.sbnation.com/2011/10/10/2481973/raiders-al-davis-mike-shanahan-history|title=Raiders History: Al Davis And Mike Shanahan, Best Friends Forever|last=Kunnath|first=Avinash|date=October 10, 2011|website=SB Nation Los Angeles|access-date=May 31, 2017|archive-date=January 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108062656/https://losangeles.sbnation.com/2011/10/10/2481973/raiders-al-davis-mike-shanahan-history|url-status=live}}</ref> He was replaced by former Raider offensive lineman [[Art Shell]], who had been voted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] earlier in the year. With the hiring, Shell became the first African American head coach in the modern NFL era, but the [[1989 Los Angeles Raiders season|team]] still finished a middling 8–8.<ref name="shellhiring">{{cite news |first=Jarrett |last=Bell |title=Coaches chasing Super Bowl – and history |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-01-16-dungy-lovie_x.htm |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=January 17, 2007 |access-date=January 29, 2007 |archive-date=February 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206024436/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-01-16-dungy-lovie_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[1990 NFL season|1990]] Shell led the [[1990 Los Angeles Raiders season|Raiders]] to a 12–4 record. Behind Bo Jackson's spectacular play, they beat the [[1990 Cincinnati Bengals season|Cincinnati Bengals]] in the divisional round of the playoffs. Jackson suffered a severe hip and leg injury after a tackle during the game. Without him, the Raiders were blown out 51–3 in the AFC Championship by the [[1990 Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills]]. Jackson was forced to quit football as a result of the injury, although surgery allowed him to continue playing baseball until he retired in 1994.

The [[1991 Los Angeles Raiders season|Raiders]] finished with a 9–7 record in [[1991 NFL season|1991]], but struggled looking for a reliable quarterback and lost to the [[1991 Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs]] in the Wild Card game. The struggle for a quarterback continued in 1992 as the Raiders started two different quarterbacks and stumbled to a 7–9 record, two other playoff appearances during the 1990s, and finished higher than third place only three times.

The [[1993 Los Angeles Raiders season|Raiders]] rebounded well in 1993 with [[Jeff Hostetler]] as the everyday quarterback, finishing in second place in the AFC West with a 10–6 record. A win over the [[1993 Denver Broncos season|Broncos]] in the wild card game means a rematch against the [[1993 Buffalo Bills season|Bills]] for the right to go to the AFC Championship game. The Raiders, led by two [[Napoleon McCallum]] rushing touchdowns took a halftime lead, but could only manage six points in the second half losing to the Bills again 29–23.

Following a 9–7 record in the [[1994 Los Angeles Raiders season|1994 season]] that resulted in the team missing the playoffs, Art Shell was fired.