Raiders Still Pained By Loss
What makes Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Jerry Ball so sought after for interviews is he’s friendly but blunt, someone who claims to speak from the heart, often tapping his chest for emphasis.
The chest-thumping that Ball is doing this week concerns a need for pride and unity leading to Sunday’s long-awaited rematch with the Seattle Seahawks at the Kingdome.
There isn’t a Raiders coach or player, Ball included, who will debate the most embarrassing, damaging defeat of 1995. To a man, they’ll point to a 44-10 loss to the Seahawks in the next-to-last game of the regular season.
Indeed, when Raiders coach Mike White showed his team films of that debacle this week, no volume was necessary.
“Nothing really needs to be said,” White said. “It was just a very, very poor performance in a situation where all we needed to do was win to make the playoffs.”
Ball and other players say the memory of that game still haunts the team.
“Without a doubt, it was our worst game of the year,” Ball said. “We went in there knowing we’d dominated those people (34-14) earlier in the year, that we could still make the playoffs by beating them again, and then had everything go wrong for us.
“After the first play of the game (a 46-yard kickoff return that set up a Seattle touchdown), I said to myself, ‘Something’s very wrong here.’ There was no intensity to our team, and I can’t tell you why except that they must have wanted the game more.”
Several Raiders have said they suspect the team never recovered from the loss to Seattle.
The following week, at home against Denver, Oakland let a fourth-quarter lead of 11 points slip away and lost 31-28. The playoff opportunity was lost.
What bothers the Raiders this season is that, with six of their losses coming by a touchdown or less, they feel they are a better team than a year ago.
They would have to win four of their last five games to match the 1995 club’s record of 8-8.
As a result, the Raiders have only a slim, mathematical chance of reaching the playoffs this year.
Health sidelines Cooke
Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke, recently hospitalized with osteoarthritis, will not attend Sunday’s game at RFK Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers.
It will be the first home game Cooke has missed since he moved to Washington 18 years ago.
The 84-year-old Cooke began to feel ill as he sat in the owner’s box at RFK Stadium on Nov. 10 during the Redskins’ overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He spent five days in Georgetown University Medical Center undergoing treatment for the degenerative arthritis condition before returning home a week ago.
Around the NFL
San Diego rookie receiver Charlie Jones will miss Sunday’s game at Kansas City because of bruised ribs… . A bad back ended defensive end Jeff Cross’ eight-year career with the Miami Dolphins, who released him Friday… . Detroit’s Barry Sanders is only 18 yards away from an NFL-record eighth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. The Lions play at Chicago on Sunday.