Hostetler Wiins by Going Deep : Pro football: Quarterback goes deep and digs out a Raider victory over Seahawks, 17-13.

Bombs away.

First play.

Just like that, quarterback Jeff Hostetler silenced all the talk that he had taken it upon himself to trash the Raiders’ long-cherished deep passing game.

On the very first play from scrimmage Sunday night in the Kingdome against the Seattle Seahawks, Hostetler fired a ball deep downfield. It flew harmlessly over the head of receiver Tim Brown, who was double covered.

No matter.

It was worth it to make a point. The Seahawks had been put on notice. The bomb was still in the Raiders’ arsenal.

The next time Hostetler went deep to Brown, the bomb hit its target.

Point made again. Actually six points this time.

And a victory.

Hosteler’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Brown in the end zone in the second quarter proved to be the decisive score in a 17-13 victory before a crowd of 58,836.

From there on, the Raider defense, led by the four-sack effort of lineman Anthony Smith, shut down the Seattle in the second half, holding the Seahawks to a 53-yard field goal by John Kasay.

And now the Raiders are 2-0.

“We want to keep this undefeated thing going,” Brown said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

A good place to start is Hostetler. He came to the Raiders as a free agent in the offseason from the New York Giants with a reputation as a conservative, ball-control quarterback.

And he did nothing to alter that reputation a week ago when he completed a Raider-record 15 passes in a row and failed to go deep once in cruising to an easy opening-day victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Sunday night in Seattle, Hostetler figured it was time to open up.

“This team here,” he said of the Seahawks, “wanted to take away some of the shorter stuff right off the bat. We decided we were going to get after them and use some of our speed. We sent notice to them that we were going to go after them down the field.”

Notice was also sent to Raider watchers around the country.

“We had a big game the week before,” Hostetler said, “and all of a sudden, everybody said, ‘What happened to the long ball?’ We don’t really care what everybody (thinks). We know what we’re trying to get accomplished.”

But the Raiders new attack under Hostetler cannot be boiled down to simply long or short.

He offers all sorts of options, and all sorts of nightmares for opposing defenses.

Take the end of the Raiders’ first scoring drive.

With a third-and-goal at the Seahawk two-yard line in the first quarter, Hostetler found all his options among his receivers covered.

But Hostetler always has another option in his playbook--his feet.

So he simply ducked his head down, took a couple of steps and dove into the end zone to give the Raiders the early lead.

Seattle, with rookie quarterback Rick Mirer at the controls, features an offense still in training.

Mirer learned a lot last week in the season opener against the San Diego Chargers. But he didn’t learn how to get into the end zone.

On Sunday against the Raiders, he served notice of his own that he’s learning fast.

On his second possession, he put together a 12-play, 80-yard drive, culminating in Chris Warren’s six-yard scoring run to tie up the game.

An exchange of field goals (Kasay from 39 yards out, the Raiders’ Jeff Jaeger from 36) kept the game deadlocked at 10-10.

But then Mirer, who completed 14 of 22 passes for 149 yards, made a fatal turnover. Trying to scramble near midfield, he lost the football when defensive back Terry McDaniel forced a fumble. Teammate Aaron Wallace recovered, giving the Raiders the ball at their own 48.

Three plays later, they were back in the Seahawk end zone.

Brown faked an out pattern, gained a crucial step on defensive back Dwayne Harper and raced into the end zone. Hostetler put the ball up perfectly, just beyond Harper’s grasp and just within Brown’s reach.

“He’s pretty good,” said Brown, a broad smile on on his face as he discussed his new quarterback. “He doesn’t miss too often.”

Certainly not to Brown. The Raiders’ premier receiver for several seasons has quickly become Hostetler’s premier receiver. Hostetler, who completed 18 of 33 Sunday for 195 yards, hit Brown for nine passes good for 97 yards, both game-high totals.

“With the defensive backs playing back 10 to 12 yards,” Brown said, “it’s not hard to go five and get open. It becomes a real simple pitch-and-catch game.”

It became a tough game in the second half when the Raiders found themselves unable to pull away.

That’s when the defense took command. McDaniel picked off a Mirer pass. Middle linebacker Joe Kelly, despite an injured foot, refused to stay out. Smith was everywhere. And rookie Patrick Bates intercepted a tipped Mirer pass on the final play of the game.

Raider notes

Although he was activated, the Raiders did not use receiver/return man Rocket Ismail. . . . Linebacker Joe Kelly thought his foot was broken, but X-rays revealed that was not the case. . . . Starting offensive lineman Bruce Wilkerson sat out with an inured knee. Ken Lanier took his place.