NFL Recap (Seattle-Oakland)
Posted: Sun November 15, 1998 at 9:17 p.m. EST
OAKLAND 20, SEATTLE 17
OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Greg Davis kicked a 38-yard field goal
with 21 seconds left to lift the Oakland Raiders past the
Seattle Seahawks,
20-17, in a matchup of teams jockeying for AFC wild-card position.
With the score tied at 17-17 with 57 seconds left, Donald Hollas drove the
Raiders 74 yards, aided by a roughing the passer penalty against cornerback
Fred Thomas that put
the ball at the Seattle 35. One play later, Hollas hit Tim Brown on a quick slant
to the 20, setting up the game-winning kick.
"(Cornerback) James
Trapp came up to me right before I kicked it and said, 'It's going to
be you, baby,'" Davis said. "I wouldn't want it to be any other way."
Most of the action took place in the final five minutes. Oakland took
a 17-10 lead with 3:50 to play when Harvey Williams scored on
a 25-yard run. Seattle, guided by Warren Moon, answered with a
65-yard scoring march that culminated in a 12-yard TD catch by tight end Christian Fauria that
silenced a boisterous crowd.
The Raiders improved to 7-3 and now own the best record among AFC
second-place teams. Seattle fell to 5-5.
"We had it but it wasn't enough," said Fauria. "And how we lost it I
have no answer for."
Starting for the injured Jeff George, Hollas
completed 20-of-31 passes for 266 yards and two interceptions. Williams
had 79 yards on just 12 carries, but it was the Seahawks that beat
themselves.
"Don Hollas continues to find ways to win for us," said Oakland coach
Jon Gruden. "He's become a viable option for us to continue to use."
Seattle was penalized 14 times for 141 yards and was 0-for-13 on
third-down conversions. Moon hit on 17-of-33 for 220 yards with a
touchdown and three interceptions. He was sacked five times.
"You can't make dumb plays like this and expect to win," Seattle coach
Dennis Erickson said. "We keep piling up the penalties. We did dumb things
that cost us the game."
Hollas improved to 4-0 as a starter for Oakland with little help from
Napolean Kaufman. The explosive halfback was hobbled by a lingering ankle
injury and limited to 22 yards on 14 carries and two catches for 35 yards.
Williams did his best to pick up the slack.
"I used to be the top dog here, but now I'm not, it's that simple,"
Williams said. "It's not like there's a competition going on. They needed
me, I responded."
Oakland still outgained the Seahawks on the ground, 131-101. Ricky Watters led Seattle
with 85 yards on 27 carries.
Defensive tackle Darrell Russell had two
sacks and end Lance
Johnstone had one, tying them for the team lead with nine sacks apiece.
The Raiders started their final drive on their 26 and Hollas
immediately went to work. He hit rookie running back Jon Ritchie for 12 yards,
then scrambled for 12 more to midfield and called for time. His next pass
fell incomplete, but Thomas came on a blitz and forearmed Hollas in the
head then pulled him down with an arm around his neck.
The win was the Raiders' sixth in their last seven games.
Seattle got on the board first when Joey Galloway returned a
punt 56 yards for a touchdown 64 seconds into the game. But Galloway, a
dangerous receiver was held to three catches for just 30 yards.
A 22-yard field goal by Todd Peterson gave the
Seahawks a 10-0 second-quarter lead. But Oakland also got a big
contribution from its special teams when return specialist Desmond Howard brought
back a punt 63 yards for a score with 90 seconds left in the first half.
"I really thought that my return would silence the crowd and we could
use that momentum, but we didn't hold onto it," Galloway said. "We let
them off the hook in the first half and that came back to haunt us."
After a sluggish third, Davis knotted the score with a 26-yard field
goal at 6:43 of the final quarter.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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