Last week I finished running the Distribution/Concentration of Power (DCOP) numbers for 2007 and mentioned that while the 2007 New England Patriots were great, the Oakland Raiders had set the all-time record by holding 8.16% of league power in 1967. I fancy myself a bit of a football historian, and the 1967 Raiders weren’t anywhere near the top of my mental list of best teams ever. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen that particular team on anyone’s list of best teams ever.

1967 was Oakland’s eigth year of existence in the fledgling AFL. They had never appeared in the playoffs at that point, although they were coming off consecutive 8-5-1 seasons. Al Davis had built the team into a contender in just a few years. The addition of Daryle “The Fireman” Lamonica from Buffalo gave the offense a significant upgrade at QB. All of the pieces came together that year, and the results were truly astounding.

In the first game of the season the Raiders thrashed the Denver Broncos 51-0. Oakland’s defense held Denver to -5 total yards while tallying 388 on offense. The next week they battered New England 35-7 by intercepting the Patriots three times and recovering two fumbles. The Raiders were clicking on both sides of the ball but had yet to face a real test. Their next two games were against contenders; first at home against Kansas City, then on the road against the dangerous New York Jets.

Oakland staked an early lead and staved off a late rally by the Chiefs to win the game 23-21. The Chiefs exposed some weaknesses in the Raiders’ defense with a solid offensive attack. Oakland was on a winning streak, but their margins were quickly shrinking and the game at New York was the culmination of several weeks of downward momentum. Joe Namath’s day wasn’t particularly impressive but the Jets took advantage of Oakland on the ground, rushing for 151 yards on 37 carries. The game was over by halftime and New York won the game by 13, 27-14.

That was the Raiders’ last hiccup of the year. Over the next 10 games they averaged 34.5 points per game and only allowed 17.8. Oakland put together four games of 40+ points during that stretch, including 92 points in their two games against 8-5-1 San Diego. Not even the Jets could stop their hot play, losing in Oakland 38-29 in week thirteen.

The rest, as they say, is history. Oakland rocked Houston in the AFC Championship game 40-7 but lost to Green Bay in Super Bowl II, and that loss seems to have launched one of the greatest teams in football history right off the radar. They certainly aren’t the first team that this has happened to, nor will they be the last (note the fact that the 2007 New England Patriots team wasn’t even a candidate for the “Best Team” ESPY award last night…had they won the Super Bowl they would have been the obvious favorite). A breakdown of the vital statistics shows that the 1967 Raiders truly do belong among the greatest teams of all time.

Oakland’s average lead was 20.85 points, which is .09 less than the known WTM record set by New England last year. Their average close was 16.57 points, not far off from another record (18.61) set by the same Patriots team. If they had to have a weakness it would have been their defense, but even then they only trailed by about 4 points per game. In eight of their games they didn’t trail at all. In terms of DCOP they held approximately 8.16% of league power, a record that hasn’t been broken since. Considering the fact that Oakland was part of the much smaller AFL, it’s not a reach to assume that their DCOP among just AFL teams would have been drastically higher. There were 25 teams in the NFL and AFL that year, so perfect parity would have given each team 4% of the power. The fact that Oakland held more than double that figure is a testament to their true strength.

It may be a stretch to say that Oakland assembled the best team in NFL history in 1967, but it’s not far off. The next-best DCOP score goes to the 1991 Washington Redskins who captured 7.94% of league power. Last year’s incredible Patriots squad only held 7.43% of league power, thanks in part to the fact that it is much more difficult to capture that much power in a league with 32 teams. Parity centers around 3.125% now instead of 4%.