Raiders Kick in the Nick of (Over)time : Football: Jaeger’s 26-yard field goal, his third of the game, beats Broncos, 16-13, to keep L.A. in wild card playoff race.

There was a party Sunday in the Coliseum for what might have been and for what might still be.

A crowd of 87,560 danced in their seats and the Raiders gave them a game to remember them by. Behind some embattled warriors such as oft-tested cornerback Lionel Washington; unknown tight end Mike Dyal and almost-ridden-out-on-a-rail placekicker Jeff Jaeger, the Raiders rallied to tie the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter and won in overtime, 16-13.

What might still be?

The Raiders at 7-6 are playoff contenders, in a three-way tie for the second wild-card spot.

What might have been?

The organization awaits a decision on its future home. Only time will tell if this was like the last grand ball on the Titanic.

It was the first Raider overtime victory since one at San Diego in 1986.

It was their last great game before a big house here since. . . .

Since?

“I haven’t seen a crowd like that in a long time,” Howie Long said. “I remember the playoff game against Seattle (the ’84 AFC championship, en route to the Super Bowl). I’ve got a picture of it in my house--kind of with a distorted lens. It’s an awesome picture. The Coliseum’s pretty nice when it gets filled up. That’s about the only time it’s nice.”

It was a long, hard day’s journey to a terrific ending.

The Broncos controlled the game (44:03 to 22:59 in time of possession, 26-11 in first downs) and led it almost throughout, before the Raider quarterback . . . and his one good leg . . . with his running game once more missing . . . pulled it out again.

The Broncos had a 13-6 lead midway through the fourth quarter--and the Raiders had minus-one yard in second-half offense--when Steve Beuerlein hooked up with Dyal, the almost perfectly anonymous answer to a trivia question, on a 67-yard scoring pass

Question: Who replaced Todd Christensen?

Hint: Don’t ask Marc Munford.

Munford was the Bronco linebacker assigned to pick up Dyal going up the middle, but Dyal went right by him, took Beuerlein’s pass at the Denver 35, bounced off lunging safeties Steve Atwater and Randy Robbins and ran free into the end zone.

“The middle linebacker bit for some reason,” Dyal said. “I just ran straight up the middle of the field. There was a play-action fake and he bit on something.

“I knew Steve saw him bite because I shot by him up the middle and I was wide open.

“It was great. I’ve been waiting for that a long time. It’s been eluding me for a long time.”

Said Beuerlein: “The way the Broncos play that, they leave the middle of the field wide open. It puts a lot of pressure on their linebackers to cover the tight end up the middle. We saw on film the safeties were getting a lot of width.

“If Mike ran his route correctly, we’d get a nice matchup down the middle with nobody back there to stop him. It worked to a ‘T.’ The pass wasn’t as pretty as it was supposed to be but it got there.

“I had a rough day, there’s no doubt about it, as far as completing passes and moving the offense. But I’m not going to sit there. As long as there’s time on the clock and we’re in the ball game, I’ve gonna keep coming after you.

Before that possession, Beuerlein had completed four for 12 passes. His last previous attempts had resulted in two sacks and 22 yards in losses.

It was 13-13, but there was 7:59 left in regulation, more than enough time for a John Elway special. Elway marched the Broncos to the Raider 33, but was thrown back.

He got another chance when Ricky Nattiel broke a punt return 38 yards to the Raider 34 with 52 seconds left.

There, on second-and-eight, Elway tried to gun a sideline pass to Mark Jackson, who was guarded by Washington, the man who replaced Lester Hayes, for better or worse.

Washington is a soft-spoken man who was torched or hurt for much of his first two Raider seasons but he’s rallied in this one. Sunday, he had stepped up on two other sideline routes Sunday . . . only to watch Elway--”John Goose Gooden Elway,” Hayes called him--buzz an amazing fastball right past his earhole and into the receiver’s chest.

Both times, Washington made the tackle, looked at the sky and threw his arms heavenward.

The third time was his charm.

“I just baited him (Elway) a little,” Washington said. “I just held a little on the inside, waited ‘til the receiver turned to the outside. I broke in front--and there was the ball. Just thank God, I was in the right place at the right time.”

Regulation time ended.

The Broncos won the overtime toss. Elway moved them from their nine to their 49, but there, on third-and-eight, the Raiders caught him with a blitz, Mark Mraz chasing him into Thomas Benson’s grasp.

Beuerlein at the bat again.

On second-and-eight at his 31, he threw a 26-yard pass over the middle to Dyal.

On second-and-seven at the Denver 40, he hit Dyal again for 15 yards.

On first down, Steve Smith ran 16 yards off the right side of the Bo Jackson-conscious Bronco defense.

The ball was at the nine. Art Shell sent in Jaeger.

Jaeger is a free agent whose miss from 42 yards cost Shell the only loss in his first five games.

Before Sunday, Jaeger had never hit anything longer than 45 yards.

The Broncos called time out to make Jaeger think about it. By the time the last commercial was shown, Jaeger seemed to have been practicing his stroke and wandering around the Coliseum field for 15 minutes.

“You’ve got to kick it sooner or later anyway,” Jaeger said, “so you might as well enjoy yourself.”

So he did?

“No,” he said, laughing, “I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it. I’d be lying if I said I was.

“I just kept saying to myself, ‘Head down and attack, don’t be lazy.’ Like in Philadelphia, I was telling myself, ‘Head down, relax.’ I was so relaxed, my legs were like jello.”

Jaeger attacked. His 26-yard kick rocketed through the uprights.

Someone asked Long later to sum it up in a few words.

“Win of the year,” said Long. “Win of the year.”

Raider Notes

The Raiders are tied with Cincinnati and Miami at 7-6 for the second wild-card spot. The Browns, 7-5-1, have the first. . . . Bo Jackson was held to 44 yards in 14 carries, a 3.1 average. Since he was hurt in Houston, he’s been held to 64 yards or fewer in three straight games, after three straight 100s. Art Shell: “He’s never complained, not one time. He wants the ball.”. . . Bronco linebacker Karl Mecklenburg: “Bo didn’t run too well, but Steve Smith did--and that tight end killed us.” . . . Howie Long had another monster game, with a sack and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. “My goose was almost cooked in the second quarter,” he said. “I was tired. You just had to hang in and hang in and hang in. I was telling myself, ‘You’ve got to suck it up, Howie. I know they’ve got the ball a lot, but you’ve got to suck it up.’ ” . . . Long on Steve Beuerlein: “He’s a gamer. Beuerlein’s a very optimistic guy. He’s the type of individual, he throws a pass behind someone, he throws a pass over someone’s head. Sure, he’s upset with himself but I don’t think he gets rattled. It’s like a great hitter. You miss and you miss and you miss. Babe Ruth led the league in homers, but he led the league in strikeouts, too. You got to be swinging and I think he’s going to be swinging for it.” . . . The Raider special team problems continue, with Ricky Nattiel’s 38-yard punt return almost breaking up the game. A special commendation goes to Vance Mueller, who just managed to drag down Nattiel with a last-man, game-saving tackle.