Raiders Fall Flat in 24-20 Loss : Krieg Leads Seahawks’ Fourth-Quarter Comeback

Raider tradition lives and breathes, but it’s upside down. Sunday featured that old favorite, the fourth-quarter rally, except that it was the Seattle Seahawks who overtook the rapidly stiffening Raiders.

The Raiders led, 17-7, when the quarter started but the Seahawks won, 24-20. The Raiders have given up at least 156 rushing yards in every game, have lost three in a row in the division and are in the cellar, tied with the Chiefs. Hello darkness, their old friend.

Unless a miracle intervenes, or at least a road victory, they’re headed for bigger trouble--this was the easy part of the schedule, remember?--and questions about Mike Shanahan’s future, which were heard minutes after Sunday’s game.

“This game is not really one where you’re looking for a vote of confidence,” Shanahan said. “I only know one way to go when your back’s against the wall, work a little harder.”

Since Shanahan already works 18-hour days, how could it be possible to work harder?

“It’s not,” Shanahan said. “The only thing you can do when your back’s against the wall is keep going.”

The game marked the return, or debut at middle linebacker, of Jerry Robinson, back after missing eight weeks with a groin pull. Jackie Shipp slid to the inactive list, with Ricky Hunley promoted to Robinson’s backup, and the Raiders had a decent first half against the strong Seahawk running game, holding it to 69 yards.

Of course, Dave Krieg torched the Raiders’ young secondary, picking up 70% of his third downs, so that of the first 23 minutes 56 seconds, the Seahawks had the ball for 18:25. So far, the Raider defense has more problems than it can name, much less address.

Surprise, at halftime the Raiders . . . led?

It took some big plays, but they did. The Seahawks had a 7-0 lead when they drove 86 yards to the Raider four-yard line, only to be turned away with no points. On third and one, Mike Wise and Eddie Anderson swallowed up John L. Williams on a sweep and the Seahawks opted for a field goal that they didn’t get. The snap was low and Tim Rother blocked Norm Johnson’s chip shot.

It was 7-3 when Hunley hit Williams who had just caught a swing pass. The ball flew out, right to Lionel (Touchdown) Washington, who had returned a John Elway interception for six points the week before. With this one, he sprinted 37 yards untouched. The Raiders led, 10-7.

Then they actually started playing well. Jay Schroeder, who had started two for six, drove them 76 yards on the first possession of the second half, the last 36 yards on a pass to Mervyn Fernandez, who shook off one safety, Nesby Glasgow, sidestepped the other, Eugene Robinson, and dashed into the end zone. The Raiders led, 17-7?

The last Seahawk possession of the third period began at their 20, the Raiders having already sacked Krieg four times, their season high. The Seahawks had only 80 rushing yards. Their first two plays, runs by Warner and Williams, gained a scant five yards, making it third and five. The Raiders seemed in charge.

Oops! Krieg hit Williams in the left flat and John L. skirted the last starting Plan B linebacker, Thomas Benson, for 16 yards.

After that, the Seahawks did another of those walk-on-their-chest numbers the Raiders have experienced so much of: a seven-yard pass to tight end Robert Tyler; Williams for eight, Warner for 16; a third-and-seven pass to Tommy Kane for 19; Warner around right end untouched for six and the touchdown.

The drive started with Hunley playing and finished with Robinson. Robinson, who had the flu and groin pull, said by this time he was weak and light-headed.

His teammates didn’t seem so robust themselves.

The next time the Seahawks got the ball, they eased 42 yards to a touchdown. Krieg threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Brian Blades over the injured Washington’s replacement, the venerable Mike Haynes. Haynes got a hand on the ball and argued that it had come out too quickly to be a completion, but he didn’t insist on it.

“I don’t know,” said Haynes later, “those officials are on top of it. They were right there.

“It was just a good throw and catch. I might have been able to play it a little better by not looking back but I don’t know. I don’t remember too much of that game.”

The Seahawks led, 21-17.

Schroeder promptly whipped the Raiders from his 20 to the Seattle 10, passing for 80 yards (another 10 were required to make up for a holding call). But there on third and five, he couldn’t find a receiver and threw the ball away.

“They had everybody jammed up inside,” Schroeder said. “There was a slim chance so I threw it over the top, where only Mervyn could get it.”

Not even Fernandez could get this one. Jeff Jaeger kicked a 28-yard field goal and it was 21-20.

Now the Raiders had to stop them . . . but couldn’t. They got a bad break when a Krieg pass bounced off the hands of the tight end, Tyler, right to Blades, 16-yard gain.

The rest of the time, they just got pushed out of the way as they have been all season. The Seahawks drove to the Raider 30, where with 1:15 left and the Raiders out of timeouts, Norm Johnson kicked a 48-yard field goal.

The Raiders ran three plays and found themselves with a fourth-and-21 at their three. Schroeder lofted a pass but Eugene Robinson caught it.

Shanahan said later he was “very, very disappointed.”

Al Davis, who rarely says anything on the record, paced the dressing room, shaking off interviewers. He didn’t look too happy, either.

Raider Notes

The Raiders may also have lost three starters. Vann McElroy and Lionel Washington pulled hamstrings and Don Mosebar reinjured his bad knee. “Disheartening’s not the word, man,” said a downcast McElroy. “That’s not the word for it.” . . . Mervyn Fernandez caught seven passes for 113 yards, giving him his second 100-yard game in a row. He has now caught a touchdown pass in each game and leads the team in scoring. “It doesn’t matter how well I’m doing if the team isn’t winning,” he said. “This isn’t a track meet.”

Greg Townsend had two sacks, and forced a fumble. After a slow start, he has a team-high three sacks in two games. . . . Left tackle Rory Graves, whistled for three straight holding calls plus an earlier illegal motion at Denver and beaten for three sacks in his first three games, was called for three more holds Sunday (one accepted, two declined). The Raiders have shifted him from right tackle, where he did well last season, to the left side where quick feet are more important and there is at least a question whether he can handle it. . . . The crowd of 44,319 was the Raiders’ largest in five Coliseum appearances this season, including exhibitions.