Oakland Raiders Clinch Playoff Spot
O A K L A N D, Calif., Dec. 11, 2000 -- This was exactly how the Oakland Raiderswanted to go to the playoffs.
“It makes a difference when you don’t sneak in the door but you kick the door down,” receiver Tim Brown said after the Raiders beat the New York Jets 31-7 Sunday night to clinch their firstplayoff appearance since 1993.
“Man, it’s great,” Brown said.
The Raiders (11-3), who last made the playoffs in Oakland in1980, remained one game ahead of Denver in the AFC West after theBroncos (10-4) beat the Seattle Seahawks earlier Sunday.
Raiders Look Strong
Oakland, which has lost only one game at home this season,scored on Rich Gannon’s passes to Brown and Andre Rison, Tyrone Wheatley’s 1-yard run and Eric Allen’s interception return. RookieSebastian Janikowski added a 32-yard field goal with 1:50 left inthe game.
The Jets (9-5), who would have clinched a playoff spot with avictory, have to play the waiting game. They remain one game behindMiami in the AFC East after the Dolphins (10-4) lost 16-13 to TampaBay on Sunday.
Oakland coach Jon Gruden was hoarse, but it was worth it.
“I don’t know how to describe it,” Gruden said about his first playoff berth as a head coach. “It’s thrilling.”
Vinny Testaverde, who didn’t play in the second half because ofa groin injury, could not get the Jets going against the Raiders.He finished 14-of-25 for 149 yards and was intercepted twice.
His backup, Ray Lucas, went 6-of-14 for 99 yards and twointerceptions before he was replaced by Chad Pennington, who threwa 5-yard scoring pass to Wayne Chrebet with 24 seconds left in thegame.
Curtis Martin, who last week went over 1,000 yards rushing forthe sixth straight season, was held to 11 yards.
“The Raiders are very good,” Testaverde said. “They seem tobe able to stop the run, the pass, create turnovers and get ingreat position.”
When Gannon hit Brown with a 4-yard scoring pass early in thefourth quarter, Brown jumped to embrace fans beyond the end zone asGannon pumped his fist.
Gannon was 11-of-23 for 161 yards and two touchdowns. He wasintercepted once.
The Slow Start Game
The Jets finally got going just before the close of the firstquarter, when Testaverde completed four straight passes, includinga 34-yarder to Chrebet. Martin added a 19-yard run to the Oakland20.
Oakland linebacker William Thomas picked off a pass meant forRichie Anderson to kill the drive — but the Raiders couldn’t movethe ball.
Gannon was just 2-of-8 for 14 yards in the first quarter.
On the Jets’ ensuing drive, Allen intercepted another pass fromTestaverde and ran it back 50 yards to put the Raiders up 7-0 tostart the second quarter.
Allen and Thomas each had two interceptions.
“We played a great game all the way around,” said Thomas, whohas six interceptions this season. “[If] we play like this in theplayoffs, we’re going to be in great shape.”
About the only player unhappy with the Raiders’ performance wasGannon, who was concerned about the slow start.
“I felt in the passing game we were a little rough around theedges,” he said.
The passing game came together on Gannon’s 7-yard pass to Risonmidway through the second quarter. Rison held the ball up for therowdy fans in the “Black Hole” in the Raiders’ end zone.
Before halftime, Gannon hit speedy receiver James Jett with a49-yard pass, and Wheatley polished off the drive with a 1-yarddive.