'76 Raiders move into Greatest team of All Time quarter-finals

The fans have spoken once again and the '76 Raiders have beaten out the '78 Steelers to move into the quarter-finals of the NFL.com bracket to decide the greatest football team of All Time. They will now face off against the '99 Rams to try to move into the semi-finals.

NFL.com is asking fans to cast their votes to help them determine the greatest team of all time. They picked the 64 best teams of the Super Bowl era, and throughout the month of March they are asking fans to cast their votes as they go round by round through their NCAA tournament style bracket to determine the fans' selection as the greatest team of all time.

Voting for the quarter-final round ends on Sunday, March 25 at 2pm PST.

The '76 Raiders came in as a 5 seed and have already beaten out the '08 Steelers and the 93 Cowboys and '78 Steelers. The bracket began with all three Super Bowl winning Raiders teams but the '80 and '83 Raiders were both knocked out in the first round. The '80 Raiders lost out to the '04 Spygate Patriots and the '83 Raiders lost out to the '66 Packers. So the '76 Raiders are the only team left in the tournament.

The '99 Rams were known as "The greatest show on turf" for their juggernaut offense led by Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk. But their defense was nearly non-existent. It appeared to be decent only because the offense kept the opposing team in desperation mode much of the game.

The '76 Raiders beat their rival Steelers on their way to their first Super Bowl. They had a complete team on both sides of the ball with several Hall of Fame players as well as players who should have been Hall of Famers. They ran it down the opposing team's throat with Mark Van Eeghen, Clarence Davis and Pete Banaszak and then throw it over their heads with Kenny "The Snake" Stabler, Fred Biletnikoff, Cliff Branch and Dave Casper.

The run lanes were opened by Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw while Stabler's blindside was protected by Hall of Famer Art Shell. The man snapping the ball was Dave Dalby who won three Super Bowls with the Raiders.

On defense there were legendary players who struck fear into opposing offenses. Guys like John Matuszak, Phil Villapiano, Ted Hendricks, Willie Brown, George Atkinson, and Jack Tatum. And then you can add in All Pro punter Ray Guy. The '99 Rams defense had Kevin Carter and not much else worth mentioning.

There is really no contest here as far as I can see. The Rams fans are coming out en masse to try and get an undeserving squad with a high-powered offense in as the greatest TEAM of all time. This should not happen. To see to it the Raiders take this contest easily, Raider fans need to get over there and vote (again, if you voted for the previous rounds).

Click here to head over to NFL.com and vote.