Raiders Rescued by Brown, Upshaw

The sight of Tim Brown returning punts again couldn’t obscure another ugly performance by the Oakland Raiders.

Brown ran 88 yards for a touchdown on his first punt return in three years, and Regan Upshaw forced Trent Green to fumble on a two-point conversion with 1:38 to play as the Raiders kept stumbling toward the playoffs, beating the Kansas City Chiefs, 28-26, Sunday..

For the second consecutive week, the AFC West-leading Raiders (9-3) looked nothing like the team that won the division last season and rolled up 10 straight regular-season home victories--most of them blowouts--before last week’s overtime loss to Arizona.

The offense moved sluggishly against Kansas City, Priest Holmes became the latest running back to shred Oakland’s defense, and reliable Rich Gannon made a potentially disastrous fumble in the final minutes.

Only Brown’s 100th career touchdown and Upshaw’s big hit allowed the Raiders to survive their mistakes.

“We’re still not where we need to be, and it’s very late in the season,” Raider linebacker Greg Biekert said. “We’re almost in the playoffs, and we need to get going.”

Though Holmes outgained the Raiders’ offense, 277 yards to 264, Oakland Coach Jon Gruden is most concerned by his defense, which allowed 447 yards and needed last-gasp stops to win.

“We didn’t play our best brand of football in any phase,” Gruden said. “We’re concerned about it. Our players are frustrated.”

The brightest spot was one exceptional play by Brown, the younger half of the Raiders’ venerable pass-catching duo. Brown first gained fame as a kick returner while winning the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame. He returned more than 300 punts for the Raiders before giving up the job.

He got it back when the Raiders cut David Dunn for the overtime fumble that led to Arizona’s winning field goal. Gruden was worried about his star receiver’s health in that dangerous role, but Brown couldn’t get injured if the Chiefs didn’t touch him.

The Raiders were clinging to a four-point lead late in the third quarter when Brown sped down the sideline for a touchdown, his first on a punt return since 1991.

Leading, 28-20, Oakland stopped the Chiefs (3-9) at the four with 3:03 to play when Charles Woodson broke up a fade pass to Derrick Alexander in the end zone.

But Gannon, one of the game’s least mistake-prone quarterbacks, fumbled with 1:49 left while stretching for a first down that would have allowed the Raiders to run out the clock.

Trent Green, who passed for 253 yards and two scores, hit Tony Gonzalez for a 24-yard touchdown 11 seconds later. But Upshaw beat the line around the left side and hit Green, causing a fumble.

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Plundered Ground

A major weakness in the Raiders’ run defense was exposed by Shaun Alexander’s 266-yard performance in a 34-27 loss to Seattle Nov. 11. Including that game, the Raiders have been shredded for an average of nearly 200 yards a game in winning three of their last five:

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Rush yds. allowed Avg. Poss. Record FIRST SIX GAMES 92.0 3.9 31:35 6-1 LAST FIVE GAMES 194.6 5.8 28:16 3-2

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Most of the recent Super Bowl champions have had notoriously stingy run defenses:

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Season Super Bowl champ Rush yds. allowed Avg. 2000 Baltimore 60.6 2.7 1999 St. Louis 74.3 3.5 1998 Denver 80.4 3.6 1997 Denver 112.7 4.7 1996 Green Bay 91.3 3.5 1995 Dallas 110.8 4.0 1994 San Francisco 83.6 3.6 1993 Dallas 103.2 3.9 1992 Dallas 77.8 3.6 1991 Washington 84.1 3.9

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Roy Jurgens