Raiders Lost at Sea: When Was the Last Time They Were Relevant in the NFL?

Relevancy.

While it’s impossible to play in the Super Bowl every year unless you’re the New England Patriots or the Kansas City Chiefs, being a main character in the epic that is the NFL is important for maintaining a positive fanbase.

You might not be making it to a title game every year, but you’re a perennial contender, getting to circle marquee games on the schedule as important. When the talking heads talk about football on television or in a podcast, your team is often brought up in the hustle and bustle of the league.

When were the Las Vegas Raiders last relevant?

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To be honest, the Las Vegas version of the team has never been more than a footnote.

So, going back to when they were in Oakland, when were the Raiders truly an actual main character in the NFL?

Although they went 10-7 in 2023 in Las Vegas, they weren’t relevant to the overall grand scheme of the season. At best, they were a side character with a few funny plot lines, like almost tying with the rival Los Angeles Chargers for both teams to make the postseason.

Could it be back in 2016, a full decade ago?

The Raiders appeared to be a possible dark horse for the Super Bowl that year, before starting quarterback Derek Carr broke his fibula and missed the rest of the season. Oakland limped into the playoffs and watched Connor Cook complete fewer than half his passes in a wildcard weekend loss to the Houston Texans.

If relevancy means that they need at least a playoff win alongside an above-average regular season, then the last time the Raiders were truly relevant was in 2002, when they lost in the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Their starting QB, Rich Gannon, is now 60.

Fernando Mendoza doesn’t need to bring the franchise a Super Bowl right away in the first few years, but he does have one job.

Make the football community at large care about the Raiders again.

Relevance is the first step to the Lombardi Trophy.

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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 8:10 PM.