Silver and Black Is Better With Brown Raiders: Receiver makes big plays in 25-24 victory over Bills, keeping team in playoff race.

Sputtering offense?

Dropped passes?

Missed opportunities?

Not the Raiders.

Not Sunday.

One week after playing their worst game of the year against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Raiders came up with perhaps their best, considering the place, the opponent and the circumstances, coming back in the fourth quarter to defeat the Buffalo Bills, 25-24, before a stunned sellout crowd of 79,478 at Rich Stadium.

After struggling offensively for much of the season, the Raiders scored their highest point total of the year against a Buffalo defense that hadn’t given up more than 23 points to any opponent.

It was a game the Raiders (7-5) desperately needed to win to stay in the race for a playoff spot after their offense had collapsed in a loss to the Bengals that featured a critical fumble and six dropped passes.

One of those passes sailed out of the hands of Tim Brown and resulted in a crushing interception.

But nothing sailed out of Brown’s hands Sunday.

He caught 10 passes for 183 yards, both career highs, and also caught the game-winning touchdown pass.

“I try not to get too ball-happy,” Brown said, “or too much of a ball-hog, because I know there are other guys who want to make plays, but it got to the point today that everybody was saying, ‘Hey, get the ball to Tim.’ ”

Sound advice.

Yet for all Brown’s heroics, this game had the look of disaster for the Raiders with a bit more than 12 minutes to play.

Running back Thurman Thomas, from the Raider one-yard line, had just eluded linebacker Joe Kelly, the only Raider with a shot at him.

Ahead of him lay a clear path around left end to the end zone. He could trot in.

Instead, Thomas chose to walk in.

Raider defensive lineman Nolan Harrison watched and fumed.

It was bad enough that the Raiders were eight points behind the Bills, 24-16, with 12:12 left in a stadium in which they hadn’t won in a decade.

It was tough enough to know they would have to somehow find a way to put points on the board without injured Greg Robinson and Gerald Perry.

But now this. Harrison told himself Thomas’ time would come. He didn’t have long to wait.

First, defensive back Terry McDaniel came up with a big play, winning a battle for the football with Buffalo receiver Bill Brooks to come away with an interception that McDaniel returned 35 yards to the Bills 11. From there, the Raider offense, which had accounted for only one touchdown in 10 quarters coming into the game, stalled.

Actually, self-destructed might a be better description. How else to explain a four-play drive that loses 18 yards thanks to two penalties and a sack?

The Raiders salvaged a field goal out of it, a 47-yarder by Jeff Jaeger, to close to 24-19.

Then Harrison got his revenge. Bill quarterback Jim Kelly was driving his team down field, trying to gain a cushion in the closing minutes. He got as far as the Raider 41-yard line, where he handed the ball to Thomas.

Up came Harrison.

Down went the ball, stripped loose and spinning on the artificial turf until Eddie Anderson recovered for the Raiders.

“The Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs . . . strut around and get cocky,” Harrison said. “Eventually, it will come back to bite you. Things have a way of coming back at you in the NFL. . . . You kind of deserve it when you act like a jerk.”

Hostetler completed three consecutive passes, 18 yards to Nick Bell, 10 to James Jett and the game-deciding, 29-yarder to guess who.

Brown ran what the Raiders call “a seam route.” He found an opening in the seam at the goal line, turned and the ball was there. Before linebacker Keith Goganious, the nearest Bill, could reach him, Brown tumbled into the end zone.

“He’s the guy I look for when I really need to get something going,” Hostetler said. “The more time we spend with each other, the better we are going to become, and the more I know what he’s thinking, even before he comes out of his cut.”

Hostetler completed 18 of 31 passes for 289 yards and scored the Raiders’ first touchdown on an 11-yard scramble.

Jaeger was another Raider enjoying a big day. He had one field goal blocked, but made four, from 37, 34, 26 and 47 yards, after missing four the week before.

The Raider offense wasn’t the only one sputtering. The Bills have lost three of their last four to fall to 8-4. The finger for the slide has been pointed at the offense, by media, fans and even players. Receiver Andre Reed was fined by Coach Marv Levy for criticizing the offense. Kelly criticized teammates. There was talk that the old Bickering Bills were back.

The offense seemed reinvigorated Sunday. Kelly completed 20 of 30 for 276 yards and hit Don Beebe with a 65-yard touchdown pass. Thomas scored twice on short runs and Steve Christie kicked a 36-yard field goal.

But when the game was over, Thomas lashed out at the media.

“I don’t know anything about controversy,” he said. “There is no damn controversy around the Buffalo Bills. Let’s straighten that out right now. We were a frustrated offense, we wanted to put up some points, things weren’t working well for us and all you . . . want to talk about controversy. I’ll give you controversy.

“We’re a good team and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to write about it. There’s no bickering Bills going on.”

And with that, Thomas walked out.

But he wasn’t strutting.

Raider Notes

Running back Greg Robinson suffered a knee injury, but the severity of it won’t be known until today. Offensive tackle Gerald Perry sprained a knee but said he would be back by next week. For the Bills, receiver Andre Reed dislocated an elbow, defensive back Mark Kelso suffered a concussion and running back Nate Turner injured a knee.

* MARCUS ALLEN: AFC’s leader in touchdowns scores three more for Chiefs in victory over Seahawks. C11