THE NFL PLAYOFFS : Status Quo Means Raiders Go : AFC semifinals: They will head for Buffalo, after all of the changes they didn’t make pay off in a 20-10 victory over the Bengals.

The Raiders, who didn’t move back to Oakland, replace Jay Schroeder with Bobby Hebert, trade Marcus Allen to San Francisco or give up on Ethan Horton, have landed in another AFC championship game.

Sunday’s 20-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals before 92,045 at the Coliseum proved more difficult than some expected, but that doesn’t change next week’s itinerary, which includes what the Raiders hope will be a one-way flight to Buffalo with a later connection to Tampa, Fla., and Super Bowl XXV.

It’s said that the best trades are the ones that are never made, and maybe that goes for cities, too. Spurred on by the largest crowd to see an NFL game this season, the Raiders scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 41-yard pass play from Schroeder to Horton with 8:52 remaining.

You could have retired on wagers won for predicting at the end of last season that Schroeder, Allen and Horton would all be on the 1990 Raider roster, let alone end up leading the Raiders to headlines in the biggest game the team has played since before all the gravel-pit talk in Irwindale.

If it was comeback stories you wanted, this was the place, because things had turned sour on the Raiders in Sunday’s fourth quarter.

The Bengals, remember, entered the game in various stages of hacking and wheezing. The left side of their offensive line didn’t suit up. Their tailback’s left thumb was dislocated last week. In the huddle, their quarterback was working his way through the cold and flu season.

Yet with 11:49 remaining, this team of all-prones tied the Raiders, 10-10, with a 71-yard scoring drive that lasted nearly nine minutes and took 13 plays, 11 of which were runs. It doesn’t get much more gallant than that.

The Raiders sensed an off-season approaching when they took over at their own 20 with 11:44 left. Bo Jackson, the man whose shoe company bought up all remaining tickets and brought you local television coverage, became a spectator after straining his left hip on a 34-yard run in the third quarter.

The injury launched Allen to heights not known since two-sport Jackson took over Los Angeles. Allen, who hadn’t chalked up a 100-yard game all season, finished with 140 yards in 21 carries. He began the winning series with a 12-yard blast around end. Later in the game, Allen would time-kill the Bengals with runs of 20 and 18 yards. For an instant, it was 1985 all over again.

It didn’t seem fair that a team’s running game should get better after a Bo Jackson gets knocked out.

But Allen kicked his game up a few notches and moved those around him.

“Marcus is one of the most inspirational guys on the team,” guard Steve Wisniewski said. “He hasn’t gotten the ball as much this year, but he doesn’t complain about it. He has to block, and he doesn’t complain about it. It’s definitely exciting to see him do well.”

Allen, as usual, downplayed his impact.

“I don’t care if I carry the load,” he said. “I don’t care about yardage. I just care about winning.”

And Allen couldn’t do it alone. On second and 10 at his own 32 in the key series, Schroeder was sacked for a 10-yard loss by linebacker Carl Zander. Faced with third and 20, Schroeder retreated again and this time threw a pin-point sideline pass to Tim Brown, who eluded corner Eric Thomas and gained 26 yards in all, preserving Raider hope.

“The ball was right there,” Brown said. “All I had to do was catch it.”

The Raiders marched onward. Allen rushed seven more yards to the Cincinnati 45. Fullback Steve Smith pushed for four more yards to the 41.

Then up stepped Horton.

On the game’s crucial play, he moved in motion from left to right and broke up field at the snap of the ball.

Cincinnati’s Leon White, a linebacker, was left to cover Horton in the open field. Horton, a former running back, liked his chances.

“I don’t think too many linebackers or safeties can run with me,” Horton said.

Horton broke past White down the right sideline. Schroeder lofted the ball softly down the right sideline, “a perfect pass,” Horton said. He bobbled the ball momentarily in full stride but held on and ran in for the touchdown.

“No way I was going to drop it,” Horton said.

After sitting out two entire NFL seasons waiting for second and third chances, Horton could not escape a flood of emotions, though he tried his best.

“I made a play,” he said. “I’m happy. I’ll cherish the moment. But I want us to go on.”

The game wasn’t over, but defensive end Greg Townsend would take care of that. In one of the biggest football mismatches in recent history, Townsend was pitted against rookie tackle Kirk Scrafford, making his first NFL start in the place of All-Pro Anthony Munoz, who did not play because of a shoulder injury.

Scrafford was in over his head. Townsend made that clear when he sacked Esiason for a seven-yard loss on the game’s first play from scrimmage. But Townsend’s third and final sack that mattered most.

Working from his own 43 on first down, Esiason attempted to sucker Townsend on a play that appeared to be moving away from him. Esiason, instead, rolled to his left, but Townsend was waiting. With one hand, Townsend tossed Esiason to the ground for a 15-yard loss. The Bengals were forced to punt. The Raiders took over on their own 30 with 5:32 and ran out the clock, with three Allen runs for 39 yards doing most of the damage.

Jeff Jaeger added a 25-yard field goal with 19 seconds left. The Coliseum crowd of 92,045 rocked with delight, knowing this was the last home Raider appearance this season. To think the Raiders almost gave this up for Oakland.

“I don’t think they realize what they can do for a team,” nose tackle Bob Golic said of the fans. “I don’t think they realize we feed off the electricity of the crowd.”

The Bengals put up a better fight than might have been expected.

“It came down to two plays, one on offense and one on defense,” Cincinnati Coach Sam Wyche said. “The third and 20 when they made the long completion (to Brown) and the nice run. Townsend getting the sack on Boomer put us in a tough situation, and we couldn’t get out of the hole. Those two plays basically decided the game. Congratulations to the Raiders. Nobody has to be ashamed walking away from this one.”

Now it’s on to Buffalo for a rematch with the Bills, who rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Raiders at Rich Stadium in October. Of course, the seasons have changed since that last meeting. So have the stakes.