The 1969 regular season — the last before the merger — belonged to the Oakland Raiders and to their first-year head coach John Madden. Yep, that guy, whose television persona has dwarfed what made him great in the first place. No team in either league matched Oakland's 12-1-1 record, and only NFL champion Minnesota scored more points (379-377).

To beat Oakland, opponents had to keep pace with its offense, and few could. It was the peak of the Mad Bomber years. Not only did QB Daryle Lamonica lead the AFL in passing attempts (426), but his touchdown total (34) was nearly twice as many as the next closest passer. On what merits the Associated Press used to pick Joe Namath over Lamonica as the league's most valuable player is difficult to say.

The Raiders' newly anointed coach had made a brief stop at San Diego State, where he picked up bits and pieces from Don Coryell, and had spent just two seasons in the league, coaching the Raiders' linebackers. Prior to the start of the 1969 season the 32-year-old Madden was asked to replace John Rauch as the team's head coach. His ascension up the coaching ranks must have seemed an easy climb for the former offensive lineman whose pro career never took flight.

Rauch had been a winner for Al Davis, even took the team to Super Bowl II. His 32-8-1 mark in three seasons speaks for itself. But over a 10-year period Madden managed to continue that level of success — most of those years post-merger — blending the Raiders' downfield attacking-style offense with his own taste of no-holds-barred defense. Madden won 103 games, lost 32 and played to seven ties, giving him a career winning percentage of .763 — better than Lombardi, Halas, Shula, Belichick … the whole lot of them.

It all started in that first season 40 years ago.

After a pair of narrow victories, the Raiders found their way against Boston. Oakland fell behind 13-0 then rattled off 38 unanswered points, and by game's end Oakland had outgained the Patriots, 423 yards to 170. The following week, however, the team suffered a setback when it left Miami with only a tie in Week Four. Oakland then got on a roll, winning its next three, including a pounding of Rauch's Buffalo Bills — the student giving the teacher a lesson. The game was 42-0 at one point in the second quarter, all six touchdowns coming on Lamonica TD tosses. Eventually the Raiders let off the gas.

On Nov. 2 in Cincinnati, the Raiders suffered the only loss of the regular season. The Raiders tripped over their own feet, committing six turnovers (five Lamonica interceptions) in a 31-17 loss to Paul Brown's Bengals. Cincy led 31-3, and the only thing that made the game respectable were two late Lamonica scoring strikes, one to Fred Biletnikoff, the other to the AFL's leading receiver Warren Wells.

The game dropped Oakland to second place in the AFL West standings for the first time all season. It could have discouraged the squad, but instead Madden used it to keep pushing his players. They beat Denver by 31, used an 80-yard bomb to get by San Diego, and went on the road to beat Kansas City and Namath's New York Jets. The following week, Oakland welcomed the Bengals to sunny California and clobbered them, 37-17, outgaining Cincinnati, 309-102 on the ground. A 10-6 win over Kansas City capped a memorable season for Madden, the Pro Football Weekly AFL Coach of the Year.

It was a remarkable debut — arguably the finest first year ever by a pro football coach — and helped to eliminate any transitional concerns Rauch's departure had given Raiders fans.

Madden's first trip to the playoffs, however, was a sign of things to come. After discarding Houston, 56-7, his Raiders fell flat in the AFL title game against Kansas City. Lamonica threw three interceptions, one of which Emmitt Thomas returned 62 yards to give the Chiefs' offense excellent field position. The eventual Super Bowl champs claimed a 17-7 win to end the year for Oakland.