Conservative Raiders Play It Safe and Win : AFC: Williams rushes for 134 yards and a touchdown to lead Raiders to 20-17 victory over Bengals.

The Oakland Raiders weren’t brilliant or flashy, merely brutally effective.

The Raiders scrapped their short passing game in favor of something more suited to the weather Sunday in Cincinnati, and showed they can still win with brute force. Harvey Williams rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown in a conservative offense, and Oakland’s punishing defense took it from there for a 20-17 victory over the Bengals.

Living up to their reputation for aggressive football, the Raiders (7-2) dominated from the first snap.

“We did what we thought we had to do,” Oakland Coach Mike White said. “We needed to run. The weather was a little cool, and we’re Californians and all that--our state of mind.”

Their mindset locked in early on a 32-degree afternoon. The Raiders took it to Cincinnati (3-6) on both sides of the ball, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

“When we’re running like we did today, we get in that mode of just trying to stuff it down people’s throats,” said Jeff Hostetler, who returned after missing a game because of a throat injury. “That’s basically what we got into. We were running the ball and were just scattering a couple of passes when we had to.”

A rusty Hostetler completed 17 of 29 for 178 yards between hand-offs. The Raiders blew big holes in a defensive front missing its leading tackler, linebacker Steve Tovar.

“It’s nice when you don’t get hit until you get into the secondary,” said Williams, who became only the second runner to top 100 yards against the Bengals this season. “It’s difficult to stop our team on [artificial] turf because our offensive line is so massive.”

Williams had 73 yards in 13 carries in the first half. He carried five times for 31 yards in a 57-yard drive capped by his two-yard touchdown run up the middle late in the first quarter.

The Raiders took control a few minutes later when Rob Holmberg deflected Lee Johnson’s punt, which rolled 17 yards to the Bengals’ 43. Two plays later, cornerback Corey Sawyer stepped in front of a pass for Tim Brown but failed to make the interception. Brown took the throw knee-high, bobbled it, headed upfield, sidestepped safety Darryl Williams and went 34 yards untouched for a 14-0 lead.

“Corey had a very good break on the ball,” Brown said. “The pass was low. Actually, I just put my hands down there. I thought he was going to knock it down. That’s why I sort of bobbled it up and knocked it back to myself. I always feel if there’s one guy between me and the end zone, I’ve got to get there. I sort of gave Williams a little move, and he went for it.”

The way the Raiders’ defense was playing, the lead was plenty big. Oakland reduced the NFL’s top-ranked passing game to a shambles despite playing with a short-handed secondary.

Free safety Joe King made his first start for the Raiders in place of injured starter Eddie Anderson, and safety Derrick Hoskins and cornerbacks Albert Lewis and James Trapp were limited by injuries.

Jeff Blake, operating behind an injury-ravaged front line, was sacked four times and completed 16 of 31 for a season-low 159 yards. Pat Swilling had three of the Raiders’ sacks and Terry McDaniel intercepted Blake on consecutive passes in the second quarter.

“It took us two quarters to find out what they were doing,” Blake said. “And when we did, it was too late.”

Blake’s four-yard pass to Carl Pickens with 35 seconds left in the game and his option run on the two-point conversion moved Cincinnati within a field goal, but Derrick Fenner recovered the onside kick to end it for the Raiders.