Elvis Sees All, Almost Scores Touchdown : Raiders: Special teams star Patterson, noticing punt in the end zone wasn’t downed, takes ball 100 yards. But touchdown is nullified by penalties.

The leftovers from Sunday’s wild, 23-20 overtime victory over the Seattle Seahawks spilled into Monday as the Raiders returned home to count their bruises and blessings.

Viewers who turned off their television sets at halftime with the Raiders trailing, 17-0, missed one of the team’s most exciting rallies in recent history, inspired no doubt by desperation and the play of a patchwork offensive line.

And those who were tuned in during the first half missed one of the most bizarre episodes of the season, starring Elvis Patterson, a Raider special teams star who almost scored a touchdown after the TNT cable network had gone to a commercial.

In the second quarter, after Seattle’s Rick Tuten boomed a 60-yard punt into the end zone, the cameras stopped rolling and the Raider offensive unit headed onto the field, ready to start play at its 20-yard line.

But Elvis had not left the arena. Noticing that no one had downed the ball in the end zone, Patterson wisely picked it up and raced 100-plus yards for an apparent touchdown.

And it would have been a touchdown, officials confirmed later, except that the Raider offense had assumed the play was blown dead and had started for the huddle. Both teams were penalized for having too many men on the field, forcing the punt to be repeated.

“Elvis is a heads-up player,” Coach Art Shell said Monday. “He understands all the rules. That was smart on his part.”

The bungled Patterson Pickup summed up a dreadful first half in which the Raiders committed five turnovers.

Shell, embarrassed by what he had seen, challenged the Raiders’ manhood in what was, by all accounts, an inspired halftime lecture.

The Raiders needed a near-perfect second half to get back in the game, and almost played one. The Raiders scored on five of six possessions in the second half and overtime. The time they didn’t, on their first possession in overtime, Jeff Gossett pinned the Seahawks back on their nine-yard line with a 61-yard punt.

Two plays later, Ronnie Lott intercepted Jeff Kemp’s pass, leading to the game-winning field goal by Jeff Jaeger.

Shell said he never considered running a play to get better field position for his kicker.

“I’ve been in games where you run one more and we paid the price for it,” Shell said. “As soon has he intercepted the ball and I saw exactly where it was, I said, ‘Field goal team.’ ”

With Jaeger this season, it’s almost automatic. He has made 17 of 19 field-goal attempts.

The unsung heroes of Sunday’s victory include members of the Raider offensive line. Already playing without injured right guard Max Montoya, the unit lost Pro Bowl left guard Steve Wisniewski in the second half because of a neck bruise.

The Raiders were forced to play two tackles, Reggie McElroy and James FitzPatrick, in their places. The line never missed a beat. Quarterback Jay Schroeder tied a club record with 52 passes but was not sacked.

The line opened second-half holes for rookie Nick Bell, the heir apparent to Bo Jackson’s spot. Bell gained 75 yards in 16 carries.

“The offensive line was outstanding the whole game,” Shell said.

Bell wasn’t bad either, evoking memories of great Raider plodders of the past, Marv Hubbard and Mark van Eeghen. Except that Bell, at 6 feet 2 and 255 pounds, has a chance to be better.

“He has so much more speed and quickness than those guys we had here,” Shell said.