The 2011 season was the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

' 42nd in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and their 52nd overall. It was also the final season under the ownership of

Al Davis Allen R. Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American professional football executive and coach. He was the managing general partner, principal owner and ''de facto'' general manager of the National Football League (NFL) Oakland Rai ...

, who died on October 8, 2011. The Raiders matched their 8–8 record from

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, finishing in a three-way tie with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

for the

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, ...

division title, but lost tiebreakers to both teams, and missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season. On January 4, 2011, it was announced that head coach

Tom Cable Thomas Lee Cable Jr. (born November 26, 1964) is an American football coach for the Houston Roughnecks of the United Football League (UFL). He served with four National Football League (NFL) franchises between the 2006 and 2021 seasons. Cable ...

's contract would not be extended. Cable would be replaced by

Hue Jackson Hue Jackson (born October 22, 1965) is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia State University, a position he has held since 2024. An offensive assistant at both the collegiate and professio ...

, the team's former offensive coordinator. The Raiders traded their first-round selection in the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

(17th overall) to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. With their eighth win on December 24 over the Chiefs, the Raiders secured their second consecutive non-losing season. Although TV blackouts had been a persistent issue over the years, all eight regular season home games were sold out for the first time since moving from Los Angeles to Oakland in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. The team set the record for being the most penalized team in NFL history, breaking the record previously held by the 1998 Kansas City Chiefs. This season also marked the first consecutive non-losing season for the Raiders since 1998–2002.

Offseason

The Raiders lost guard

Robert Gallery Robert J. Gallery (born July 26, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa and received una ...

and tight end

Zach Miller Zach Miller may refer to: *Zach Miller (tight end, born 1984), NFL tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Chicago Bears *Zach Miller (tight end, born 1985) Zachary Joseph Miller (born December 11, 1985) is an Ameri ...

to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

and cornerback

Nnamdi Asomugha Nnamdi Asomugha ( ; born July 6, 1981) is an American actor, director, producer, and former professional football cornerback who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Fran ...

to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Draft

The Raiders did not have a first-round selection. In September 2009, the team acquired DT

Richard Seymour Richard Vershaun Seymour (born October 6, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders. He played college football for ...

from the

in exchange for its 2011 first-round selection (#17 overall).

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

Schedule

The Raiders' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011.

Candlestick Park incident

The preseason game against the 49ers was marked by brawls in the stands and a major beating in a restroom at

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium located in the Bayview-Hunters Point, Hunters Point area of San Francisco, California, United States. It was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 S ...

. The NFL officially discontinued all future preseason games between the two teams.

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1

The Raiders began their 2011 campaign at

Sports Authority Field at Mile High Empower Field at Mile High is an American football stadium in Denver, Colorado. Its primary tenant is the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). It opened in 2001 to replace the Broncos' original home, the old Mile High Stadium. T ...

, for a Week 1 AFC West duel with the

in the second game of

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

's doubleheader. Oakland trailed early in the first quarter as Broncos kicker

Matt Prater Matthew Phillip Prater (born August 10, 1984) is an American professional football placekicker. Regarded as one of the best long distance kickers in NFL history, he held the NFL record for longest field goal (64 yards) from 2013 until 2021 and ...

got a 28-yard field goal. The Raiders answered in the second quarter as quarterback

Jason Campbell Jason S. Campbell (born December 31, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was selected by the Washington Reds ...

found fullback Marcel Reece on a 3-yard touchdown pass, followed by a 37-yard, a 21-yard, and an NFL record tying 63-yard field goal from kicker

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college fo ...

. Janikowski's leg helped put the Raiders up 16–3 at halftime. Denver answered in the third quarter as wide receiver

Eric Decker Eric Thomas Decker (born March 15, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football and college baseball for the Minnesota Gold ...

returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown, followed by Prater getting a 30-yard field goal. Oakland struck back in the fourth quarter with Campbell's 1-yard touchdown. The Broncos tried to rally with quarterback

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the f ...

completing a 9-yard touchdown pass to running back

Lance Ball Lance Ball (born June 19, 1985) is an American former professional football running back. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins. Ball was also a member of th ...

, yet the Raiders' offense was able to run out the clock. With the win, not only did Oakland begin their season at 1–0, but they also snapped their 8-straight opening day losing streak.

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

A day after owner

died, the Raiders fought back from an early deficit and defensive back Michael Huff made a pick in the end zone in the waning seconds for an emotional victory. On that final play, the Raiders only had ten men on the field on defense, and Huff emotionally stated that he believed the team's late owner, Al Davis, "had his hand on that ball."

Week 6

Week 7

With the loss, the Raiders went into their bye week at 4–3. Also, the Raiders were shut out at home for the first time since Week 1 of the 2006 season when the team was shut out by the Chargers.

Week 9

Week 10

Trying to snap a two-game losing streak, the Raiders flew to

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy (sportswriter), Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 t ...

for a Week 10 AFC West duel with the

on Thursday night. Oakland trailed early in the first quarter as Chargers kicker

Nick Novak Nicholas Ryan Novak (born August 21, 1981) is an American former professional football placekicker. He played college football at Maryland and was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Novak was a member of the Dallas ...

got a 20-yard field goal, yet the Raiders answered with a 2-yard touchdown run from running back

Michael Bush Michael Warren Bush Jr. (born June 16, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft. He p ...

. Oakland added onto their lead in the second quarter with a 23-yard field goal from kicker

, followed by quarterback

Carson Palmer Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the Heisman Trophy as ...

finding rookie wide receiver Denarius Moore on a 33-yard touchdown pass. San Diego began the third quarter with quarterback

Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football for the ...

completing a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Vincent Brown, yet the Raiders struck back with Palmer hooking up with Moore again on a 26-yard touchdown pass. Afterwards, the Chargers closed out the quarter with Rivers completing a 7-yard touchdown pass to fullback

Jacob Hester Jacob Troy Hester (born May 8, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played col ...

. From there, Oakland's defense held on to preserve the victory. With the win, the Raiders improved to 5–4, and took the lead of the AFC West.

Week 11

Week 12

kicked a team-record six field goals and the Raiders took advantage of three interceptions from Chicago's

Caleb Hanie Caleb Jeffrey Hanie (born September 11, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback. He played college football at Colorado State Rams football, Colorado State and was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undraf ...

to beat the Bears 25–20 Sunday.

threw for 301 yards and

iced the game with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter to lead the Raiders (7–4) to their third straight win against a Bears team missing starting quarterback

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. A member of the Chicago Bears for most of his career, he is ...

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

With the loss, the Raiders' season ended at 8–8 and their three-game winning streak over the Chargers was snapped. The loss also allowed the Broncos to win the

Standings

Death of owner Al Davis

On October 8, one day before the team's Week 5 game at the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

, owner

died in his

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

home at the age of 82. The Raiders won the game 25–20.

Acquisition of Carson Palmer

On October 18, 2011, the Raiders acquired quarterback

from the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

for a 2012 first round draft pick and a conditional 2013 first round pick based on incentives. The trade was made two days after Jason Campbell suffered a potential season ending collarbone injury in Week 6 against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Firing of Hue Jackson

On January 10, 2012, the Raiders announced that head coach Hue Jackson would be fired.

Notes and references

{{2011 NFL season by team Oakland Raiders seasons

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...