Elway Still Has Finishing Touch

Denver quarterback John Elway, the NFL’s most exciting and dynamic performer with the game on the line, might get one more opportunity to strut off toward the Hall of Fame with the Lombardi Trophy tucked under his arm if the Broncos continue their dominating charge to the Super Bowl.

Elway, who had clutched his hamstring moments earlier in pain prompting backup Bill Musgrave to warm up, returned to the field to throw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith with 4:14 to play to give the Broncos a 22-21 come-from-behind victory before 61,179 in the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum.

“When you get into that situation, you don’t hear the noise,” Elway said. “You have to figure a way to get it done. That’s all.”

The winning play, called “slug-go” in Bronco terminology, gave the Broncos (8-1) the best record in the AFC. And Elway, who has thrown for 14 touchdowns with five interceptions in Denver’s last five games--all victories--finished 16 for 33 for 182 yards.

“I think John really sees a great opportunity to get what he really wants,” said Pat Bowlen, Bronco owner. “John Elway is good for the game, and a lot of cities where they don’t sell out the game, do so when John comes to town--just like they did here.”

The Broncos, as intimidating as the Raiders pretend to be with the No. 1 offense and No. 3 defense in the NFL, went national with their pitch for respect in the first Monday night game here since Dec. 12, 1981, and dealt owner Al Davis another marketing blow in his team’s troubled move back to Oakland.

Although it had been 15 years since the last Monday night game here, the crowd lacked the passion shown by Monday night crowds in Philadelphia, Indianapolis and San Diego earlier this season.

In addition to the darkened luxury boxes ringing the $129.4 million renovated stadium that remain unsold, the Raiders, who have failed to market their product successfully, went out of their way to quiet the faithful by introducing their special teams. Hard to get noisy about the appearance of Paul Butcher and Kenny Shedd.

The Raiders (4-5) spent much of the evening waving their arms and shaking towels to incite the crowd, but their performance for three quarters was both lethargic and mistake-prone.

But then quarterback Jeff Hostetler, who became enraged in the locker room later at the game’s officiating, completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Fenner midway through the fourth quarter, and 2:19 later, threw to wide receiver Tim Brown for 42 yards and another touchdown.

The fans were screaming, and it was just like the old days for the Raiders--yeah, like last year in this stadium in the season finale against Denver. Needing a victory to advance to the playoffs, Elway led his team to 14 fourth-quarter points to win, and now Elway, who according to Bronco officials has 40 game-saving or game-tying drives in his career, had 5:01 on the clock to strike again.

“When we’re put in a position like that, as a team we just believe the man is going to pull it out,” said Shannon Sharpe, Denver tight end. “He was hurting, but I’m telling you he’s the toughest quarterback to ever play the game. And if we can keep him healthy, there’s no telling how far we can go.”

On third and 10 from the Raider 49-yard line with Denver losing, Elway threw his arm forward and Raider safety Lorenzo Lynch chomped on the pump fake. Smith, who caught a 43-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game to beat Washington a year ago for his only other NFL score, kept on running and left Lynch and two other Raider defenders behind to contemplate a Tuesday morning lecture from Davis.

“I’ve seen John Elway play so well for so many years, but he’s playing right now as well as anybody can play,” said Denver Coach Mike Shanahan, who is now 3-0 against Davis, who fired him after going 8-12 as coach of the Raiders.

The Raiders, penalized 11 times and getting away with another obvious infraction allowing Lynch to intercept an Elway pass and eventually take a 7-0 lead, had their opportunity to electrify Oakland. Given 4:14 to play and needing only a field goal to grab the lead, the Raiders ran four plays and on fourth and six from their own 47, they called a timeout to decide whether to punt or go for it.

They punted, and never got the ball back, with Elway dropping to his knee three consecutive times to finish off the Raiders.