Monday, September 28, 1998

Raiders escape Sanders' late bid

By Sam Farmer

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - The Oakland Raiders sauntered out of Texas Stadium on Sunday with a 13-12 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, a defensive masterpiece to savor and the relief of knowing Deion Sanders didn't ruin it all.

Sanders had a chance to.

Unable to run out the clock with their offense, the Raiders had to kick the ball back to the Cowboys with two seconds to play. Everyone knew the ball would wind up in the hands of Sanders, and it did. The Cowboys lateraled four times - twice to Sanders - but the fourth was grabbed by Oakland's Terry Mickens. Only then did the stunned crowd of 63,544 head for the exits.

"All I could see was California-Stanford all over again," Raiders Coach Jon Gruden said, referring to Cal's five-lateral, trombone-smashing finish in 1982.

Raiders safety Eric Turner, whose interception turned out to be the game-clincher, begged to join the kick-coverage team for the final play. Request denied.

"It just feels better to feel like you have an opportunity to tackle him yourself," Turner said. "It's harder to watch from the sideline. If he would have run it back, that would have been like a knife through the back, heart, stomach, everything."

Instead, the Raiders (2-2) came through unscathed and, with a game against wobbly Arizona in Phoenix coming up Sunday, are looking at establishing their first winning record since the 1995 season.

"Has it been that long?" Tim Brown asked, "Wow....Arizona is a formidable opponent, but it's a team we think we can go down there and beat. I'm sure that everybody's going to enjoy this win (Sunday night), but (today) everyone's going to be talking about going one up. It's been a long time."

For the first time this season, the Raiders limited their penalties (four for 20 yards), did a good job of protecting Jeff George (sacked twice), and established something of an inside running game. Napoleon Kaufman finished with 116 yards in 24 carries, and was spelled by Harvey Williams, who carried the ball seven times for 27 yards.

The strangest play of the day was the only one that carried the Raiders across the goal line. George, under heavy pressure from a blitz, heaved a long pass in the direction of James Jett, shadowed stride for stride along the sideline by cornerback Kevin Smith. The ball bounced off the shoulder pads of an unwitting Smith and into the hands of Jett, who glided the final 25 yards to the end zone. In all, the play covered 75 yards.

"I felt it hit my arm and instead of bouncing off to the side, it went straight up in the air," Smith said. "And there was no catching him after that. It was a lucky bounce."

George might not have thrown the pass had Sanders been covering Jett, as he did for most of the day.

"We have a lot of respect for Kevin Smith, too," George said. "But whenever you have a Deion Sanders on your team, people are going to go at the other guy whether he's an all-pro every year or not. You're talking Deion Sanders."

As defensive backs go, Sanders was no bigger star than Oakland's Turner or rookie Charles Woodson, each of whom pulled down a pivotal interception.

"With all the talent we have on our secondary, we feel we can play with anybody once they start throwing the ball," said Woodson, whose shades and diamond-stud earrings ensure he will not be outdone in the prime-time department.

Woodson's interception could not have been better timed. The Cowboys, trailing 10-3 in the third quarter, relied on pounding runs by Emmitt Smith to drive deep into Raiders territory. On second-and-goal from the 7, Dallas quarterback Jason Garrett tried to connect with Michael Irvin. But Woodson made the interception at the goal line and returned it 24 yards before Irvin knocked him out of bounds.

"I thought I was gone," Woodson confessed.

Clearly, the Cowboys wanted to test Woodson. They threw directly at him on their first play from scrimmage, an underthrown pass for Irvin that fell incomplete. An on-target toss would have been a touchdown, because Irvin had two steps on Woodson, who later said he was going for the interception.

In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys made Woodson pay for his aggressiveness. While Woodson darted in on a cornerback blitz, Garrett whizzed a pass to his side of the field. Billy Davis caught the pass, dodged Turner, and dashed 55 yards to the 1. A play later, Emmitt Smith scored.

"We had that route called perfectly for the blitz," Davis said. "Jason got the ball to me quickly, and I just tried to make a play. When we get into a position to close the deal, we close the deal."

Well, almost. After the Raiders' offense stalled, the Cowboys got the ball back trailing by three with 3:15 to play. They twice converted third downs to move into Raiders territory. But on first down from the 43, Garrett tried to go deep to Davis. Oakland's Eric Allen and Turner converged on the pass, and Turner made an over-the-shoulder catch to collect an interception for the third consecutive game.

The game was not over. The Raiders got the ball with 1:31 remaining but were unable to expend the clock by taking a knee three times and having punter Leo Araguz run out of the back of the end zone for a safety. They had to give one more shot to Sanders, who already had burned them with a 60-yard punt return.

"You try to think positive in those situations," Brown said. "But the last couple years, whatever could happen did. So you never know."

(c) 1998, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).

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