Raiders in Good Hands Against Broncos : Pro football: Davis blocks extra-point attempt and FitzPatrick gets a piece of last-second field goal attempt as L.A. gets back in race with 17-16 victory.

With volunteers desperately needed to hold off the charging Denver Broncos, two Raiders raised their hands Sunday in the fourth quarter and changed the course of a season.

Scott Davis and James FitzPatrick blocked two kicks by David Treadwell in the last 8:37 to preserve a 17-16 victory over the Broncos before a crowd of 75,896 at Mile High Stadium.

Davis, a starting defensive tackle who saved a Raider victory here last season with a last-second block, threw up a hand in the fourth quarter and caught a piece of a Treadwell extra point attempt that should have tied the score, at 17-17.

FitzPatrick, a 300-pound reserve offensive tackle, finished the Broncos off by swatting away a 48-yard field goal attempt by Treadwell as time expired.

The FitzPatrick block extinguished a fourth-quarter Denver rally that was ignited by--of all things--a blocked Raider field goal attempt with 1:55 left.

There were no immediate plans to have the hands of Davis and FitzPatrick plaster-molded and mounted, but 10 meaty digits may someday take their place in Raider lore.

The game-saving plays shook the standings in the AFC West. If Treadwell’s final kick had sailed through, the Raiders would be 5-5 and three games behind Denver with six to play.

“We don’t have to think about that,” defensive end Howie Long said, “because it didn’t happen.”

Instead, the Raiders find themselves one game behind the Broncos with a series sweep. Instead, Coach Art Shell savors his fifth consecutive close-shave victory over Coach Dan Reeves, by a total of 15 points.

Instead, Davis and FitzPatrick are stars who could speak afterward of plotting in detail their deeds, as if it were so simple.

Instead, Reeves would not understand how Davis and FitzPatrick, two 6-foot-7 behemoths, could crash a line of protection and ruin a coach’s evening.

Or how his kicker, Treadwell, who was having trouble making contact all day, could hit a one-iron instead of a sand wedge on the potential game-winner.

“It was just a low kick,” Reeves said. “The guy that blocked it didn’t penetrate at all. He was actually standing behind the line.”

FitzPatrick tells a different story. You see, he could smell the opportunity coming.

“It was something that we talked about all week,” he said.

FitzPatrick’s job, normally, is to push the snapper on his backside and let the experts do the rushing. But he was getting a good push on the snapper all night. And it didn’t take a college degree to recognize that Treadwell was having trouble on his kickoffs, or that his kick on Davis’ blocked extra point was low.

FitzPatrick calculated the wind, then the trajectory Treadwell would need to get enough distance on a 48-yarder. Knowing this, he plowed into center and threw up his arms.

“I just felt it smack pretty good in my left hand,” he said.

It was a pretty good smack in the face to the Broncos, who had a 10-7 lead at the half and the home crowd, and quarterback John Elway to fall back on.

The Raiders, though, bullied back into the lead, despite an initial setback.

They thought they had overtaken Denver on a 43-yard scoring run by fullback Steve Smith in the third quarter, but the play was nullified because of a holding penalty on receiver Willie Gault.

Later in the quarter, though, quarterback Jay Schroeder threw a 23-yard scoring pass to Tim Brown and the Raiders were in business.

Once again, the Raiders relied on their superb kicking game. Late in the third quarter, Jeff Gossett, who averaged 50 yards on six kicks, buried Denver at its one-yard line with a 55-yard coffin-corner drive.

On first down from there, Denver tailback Robert Perryman fumbled it back to the Raiders, with safety Eddie Anderson recovering at the three.

The Raiders didn’t score a touchdown, but neither did they botch the entire opportunity, as Schroeder had done against Kansas City two weeks ago.

Instead of forcing a play on second down, with the ghost of Lloyd Burruss lurking, Schroeder wisely heaved an incomplete pass into the stands.

“You learn from your mistakes,” he said.

The Raiders settled for a 20-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger and took a 17-10 lead into the fourth quarter.

But Elway brought the Broncos back, leading a 13-play, 80-yard drive to begin the fourth quarter.

The Broncos scored with 8:37 left on a six-yard scoring pass from Elway to Vance Johnson. They were poised to tie the game until Davis brought back memories of 1990, when he blocked a 41-yard attempt by Treadwell to preserve a 23-20 Raider victory in Denver.

“I thought about that once or twice,” Davis said. “Mr. (Al) Davis brought it up. He put it in the back of my mind in the middle of the week.”

After the block, the Raiders were determined to take advantage of their good fortune. They took over with 8:34 left and held the ball until the two-minute warning with a methodical, time-consuming march. When the drive ended abruptly at the Denver 23, the Raiders called in Jaeger to extend the lead to four points.

But his 37-yard attempt was blocked by Karl Mecklenburg, allowing Elway the challenge of moving his team into last-second field goal range.

This is like gum-chewing to Elway, who used every trick toward the rousing finish, including throwing the ball out of bounds at the end of a nine-yard scramble.

Wasn’t this tactic banned by the league after Raider tight end Dave Casper once fumbled the ball forward to his team’s advantage?

Ah, but the officials claimed Elway actually fumbled the ball backward, which is no violation.

The other crucial play came when Elway threw a six-yard pass to Mark Jackson on fourth and one at the Raider 36 with six seconds remaining.

This set the stage for Treadwell, then FitzPatrick.

Thanks to the good hands people, the Raider season has new meaning.

“Oh, it was huge,” Schroeder said of the victory.

Raider Notes

Marcus Allen returned to the lineup and threw a seven-yard scoring pass to tight end Andrew Glover in the second quarter. It was Allen’s fourth career touchdown pass. Allen had not played since the season opener because of a knee injury and was used sparingly, rushing four times for 15 yards. “I felt great, like I was a kid,” Allen said. “I was glad to be back in there.” . . . Tailback Roger Craig ran for 58 yards in 12 carries before leaving with a rib injury that is not believed to be serious. . . . Guard Max Montoya started after missing five consecutive games with a groin pull but was removed in the fourth quarter after feeling a twinge. . . . Denver tailback Gaston Green rushed for 103 yards in 18 carries. It was Green’s fourth 100-yard rushing day of the season.

Bronco quarterback John Elway completed only 13 of 31 passes for 191 yards. He had one touchdown but threw two interceptions. . . . Raider quarterback Jay Schroeder completed 12 of 19 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown. More important, he did did not throw an interception.

* EDDIE ANDERSON: Raider safety finally hangs on and gets an interception and fumble recovery in second half. C10