Raiders Gasp Into Playoffs

By SAM FARMER

Jan. 7, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND —

As the Oakland Raiders reluctantly begin their Super Bowl run, they might want to weld rearview mirrors to their helmets. They lost their third consecutive game Sunday--24-22 to the New York Jets--and are moving so rapidly in reverse they should be beeping.

“We didn’t want to limp into the playoffs,” receiver Tim Brown said. “But that’s the way we’re going to do it.”

Each team had enticing incentives. The Jets (10-6), who were0-8-1 against the Raiders on the road, needed to win to guarantee a playoff spot. The Raiders, who clinched the AFC West with a Dec. 15 victory at San Diego, would have gotten a week off had they won.

Instead, the Raiders (10-6) will host the Jets in a wild-card game if Baltimore beats or ties Minnesota tonight. If the Ravens lose, Seattle will play at Oakland. Either way, the game will be Saturday.

Raider Coach Jon Gruden was in no mood to discuss the possibilities, not after watching the Jets return a blocked punt for a touchdown and seeing fill-in kicker Brad Daluiso miss an extra point and a 28-yard field goal.

“Right now,” Gruden said, “I’ve got to stick my head in an ice bucket.”

The true ice man was Jet kicker John Hall, whose 53-yard field goal with 59 seconds to play clinched the victory and left anguished Raiders scattered all over the turf. It was Hall’s longest kick in three seasons and helped ease the sting of an especially painful miss last season.

In Week 15 of the 2000 season, the Jets had a chance to secure a playoff berth but lost to Detroit, 10-7. Hall was wide on a 35-yard attempt with 12 seconds to play, blowing a chance to tie.

So, when Hall was asked Sunday if it helped that the Raiders didn’t call a timeout before his kick and he didn’t have to think about it, he said: “I’ve had a year to think about it.”

Now, the Raiders are left to replay this loss in their minds. They led three times, the last coming when Daluiso made a 37-yard field goal with 6:05 remaining for a 22-21 edge.

The Jets got the ball back, went nowhere and had to punt. That meant the Raiders had possession and a chance to burn the final three minutes. Instead, they mustered a three-and-out, culminating with Rich Gannon overthrowing a wide-open Roland Williams. A successful connection might have gone for a 63-yard touchdown.

“I don’t think anybody checked me on that,” said Williams, who earlier found himself all alone on an 18-yard touchdown.

Presented with another opportunity, the Jets took full advantage. Relying on the arm of Vinny Testaverde, who threw two interceptions earlier, they moved to the Oakland 35. On fourth and six, with the sellout crowd of 62,011 on its feet, Hall hammered his kick down the middle.

“I looked at the distance and thought it was either going to be wide left, wide right or short,” cornerback Charles Woodson said. “But he nailed it. That’s the way it’s gone the last few weeks.”

Each Raider loss this season has come down to a decisive drive or play in the game’s final moments.

“We haven’t been beaten,” Brown said. “In the six games we’ve lost this year, we gave every one of them away.”

No wonder Gruden felt the urge to soak his head.

Watching in street clothes on the Raider sideline, his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his coat, was kicker Sebastian Janikowski. He is said to be suffering from cellulitis on his kicking foot, didn’t practice all week and was only released from the hospital Saturday.

Daluiso, the former UCLA kicker, reached the Super Bowl with the New York Giants last season, and, although he was committed to staying in shape this season, figured his career was over. He was happy to get the work when the Raiders called last week, but he has a financial-consulting job lined up in San Diego and sees this as his last hurrah.

That it wasn’t an especially successful hurrah didn’t seem to bother him much. He was uncertain Sunday night of his future with the team, though he knows he’s gone when Janikowski returns.

“I’d like to have made that 28-yarder, and I don’t like missing extra points,” Daluiso said. “But I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

Then again, he’s an accidental tourist in this whole affair. The Raiders, who have more invested, will be losing plenty of sleep, particularly if they are unable to solve the mystery of their missing ground game (Oakland and Arizona are the only teams without a 100-yard rusher this season), their turbulent kicking situation and their sudden inability to slam the door on teams.

“I guess you could say we’ve hit a wall,” Woodson said. “Right now, we’re at the top of the wall and maybe we can jump on over.”

Gannon, who took heat from teammates and coaches last week when he said the Raiders lack discipline, was far more guarded in his comments Sunday.

He was disappointed, clearly, but hardly critical.

“Despite what people think, we’re a confident football team,” he said. “We believe we can win the whole thing.”

With that, Gannon ended his postgame comments. He pushed back his chair, stood and walked off the dais with a blank expression. Probably in search of Gruden’s ice bucket.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NFL PLAYOFFS

AFC WILD CARD

N.Y. Jets or Seattle at Oakland

Saturday, 1:30 or 5 p.m., Channel 7

N.Y. Jets or Baltimore at Miami

Sunday, 1 p.m., Channel 2

Note: If Baltimore defeats or ties Minnesota tonight, New York visits Oakland and Baltimore visits Miami; if Baltimore loses, Seattle visits Oakland and New York visits Miami.

NFC WILD CARD

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia

Saturday, 1:30 or 5 p.m., Channel 7

San Francisco at Green Bay

Sunday, 9:30 a.m., Channel 11

SCOREBOARD

Cincinnati 23, Tennessee 21

Detroit 15, Dallas 10

Green Bay 34, N.Y. Giants 25

Chicago 33, Jacksonville 13

Indianapolis 29, Denver 10

Miami 34, Buffalo 7