Steelers, Raiders Hope for Playoffs
S E A T T L E, Dec. 16 -- The Oakland Raiders’ dream of a division championship were dampened by a loss in soggy Seattle today, while the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a decisive win over Washington in their farewell to Three Rivers Stadium.
Blame the rain, the refs or anybody named Williams, but theRaiders had to curse their luck for their 27-24 defeat after acontroversial safety set the stage for Seawhawk quarterbackJohn Kitna to throw a nine-yard touchdown to Darrell Jacksonwith 28 seconds remaining for the winning score.
The loss cut playoff-bound Oakland’s lead over Denver inthe AFC West to just one-half game. The Broncos (10-4) own thetiebreaker and can take the division by winning their final twogames, whatever the Raiders (11-4) do next week againstCarolina.
Seattle’s Winning Drive
With 2:24 remaining, Raiders defensive back Charles Woodsonappeared to make a game-saving play, knocking the ball out ofthe hands of Seahawks running back Ricky Watters, who hadbroken into the secondary and was racing for the end zone.
Oakland safety Marquez Pope recovered the fumble at the 2but slid along the wet field into the end zone. Officials ruledit a safety after Pope was downed by the Seahawks’ JamesWilliams. The two-point safety brought Seattle within 24-21.
“The interpretation of it was that it was a safety,”Oakland coach Jon Gruden said. “We protested to no avail. Thecall stood. We can talk about it all day. It’s obvious wethought it should have been our ball on the 1-yard line.”
“Either you down me where I recovered the ball or it’s atouchback and you bring our team out to the 20-yard line,” saidPope. “It’s a call I’ve never heard before but like they say, you always have your first.”
After the free kick, the Seahawks (6-9) took over at their31. Kitna, who was knocked out of the game briefly in the thirdquarter, drove Seattle 69 yards in nine plays for the score.
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