49ers vs. Raiders
The Battle of the Bay: 49ers and Raiders have never met in the postseason.
The 49ers–Raiders rivalry, once commonly known as the Battle of the Bay, is a professional American football rivalry between the National Football League (NFL)'s San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders. This rivalry is unique in that both teams are members of different conferences within the NFL and have never met in a postseason game. The rivalry stems from the proximity of Oakland and San Francisco in the northern Bay Area, and was formalised the first time the teams met after the AFL–NFL merger in the 1970 season. The geographic aspect of the rivalry ended in 2020, when the Oakland Raiders relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Quick Facts
- Also known as
- Battle of the Bay
- Teams
- San Francisco 49ers (NFC West), Las Vegas Raiders (AFC West)
- Formalised
- 1970 season, after the AFL–NFL merger
- Raiders relocation
- Las Vegas, 2020
Facts from the source article.
Background
Currently, the 49ers are in the NFC West division, while the Las Vegas Raiders are in the AFC West division. As a result, the two teams only meet in the regular season once every four years and once every eight seasons at each team's home stadium according to the NFL's current scheduling formula. The only way the two teams can currently play each other in the postseason is in the Super Bowl.
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