PRO FOOTBALL : Warner Brings Seattle Back With Him, 28-24

It all came back on one play for Curt Warner.

Warner, who missed virtually all last season with a serious knee injury, broke free on an 11-yard touchdown run with 7:07 left Sunday to give the Seattle Seahawks a 28-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Warner made a sharp cutback and evaded three tacklers on the run.

“When you get out there to play, you just let a whole year of waiting out,” said Warner, who carried 17 times for 66 yards. “That’s what I did today. I let it out.”

Warner’s run came after the Seahawks had wasted a two-touchdown lead.

“When he cut back, it looked like the Curt of old,” Seattle quarterback Dave Krieg said. “He’s a great natural runner.”

Krieg passed for three touchdowns to give the Seahawks a 21-10 halftime lead.

Krieg threw scoring passes of 28 yards to Byron Walker, 6 yards to Daryl Turner and 19 yards to Charlie Young. He has thrown touchdown passes in 19 consecutive regular-season games.

But the Seahawks saw their lead wilt in the 100-degree heat. Quarterback Turk Schonert replaced Ken Anderson, who left with stomach cramps, and rallied the Bengals into a 24-21 lead late in the third quarter.

Schonert roused the crowd of 51,625 by connecting with Cris Collinsworth for a 71-yard gain on his first pass. That set up Jim Breech’s 22-yard field goal just before halftime.

Schonert hit running back James Brooks with a 17-yard touchdown pass on Cincinnati’s first possession of the second half, then directed a 75-yard scoring drive that put the Bengals ahead, 24-21, with six seconds left in the third quarter.

Larry Kinnebrew carried 6 times for 43 yards in the go-ahead drive, including the nine-yard scoring run. He finished with 101 yards on 18 carries, the second 100-yard game of his career. The other was a 119-yard effort last year, also against Seattle at Riverfront Stadium.

“That comeback was encouraging,” Schonert said. “We didn’t give up against a very good football team. But we fell a little bit short, and that takes away a bit of the glamour.”

Krieg brought the Seahawks back two possessions later, leading a 45-yard march in five plays. He hit wide receiver Steve Largent for a 21-yard gain to get within scoring range, and Warner took it the final 11 yards for his first touchdown since his 1983 rookie season.

Krieg finished with 16 completions in 24 attempts for 236 yards. Largent caught 5 passes for 81 yards, giving him a string of 108 consecutive games with a reception, the longest among active players.

Schonert hit on 9 of 16 passes for 169 yards, and put the Bengals in position to win with less than a minute to play. His 12-yard pass to receiver Mike Martin on a fourth-and-four play moved the ball to Seattle’s 21-yard line. But the Seahawks then pressured Schonert, causing his next four passes to fall incomplete.