Oakland, By About An Inch Two Plays Decisive In Seattle’s Defeat

First, Seattle’s offense couldn’t gain an inch. Then, the Seahawks didn’t get an official’s call.

Games between so-so football teams are decided by such minute details.

Oakland proved a tad more mediocre than the Hawks on Sunday, taking a 27-21 victory before 47,506 witnesses at the Kingdome.

Like Oakland, Seattle is 5-7 and appears to be heading nowhere fast.

Which brings us to that fourth-down-and-an-inch play.

Seattle had driven 72 yards in five plays for a touchdown and cashed in on the two-point conversion to pull within three points of Oakland at 24-21 with 11 minutes remaining. The Hawks’ defense held and Seattle got the ball back at its 49 with momentum and the crowd beginning to buy into a possible comeback.

Lamar Smith nudged forward on third-and-one to gain most of the needed yardage. On fourth down, however, quarterback Rick Mirer ran into a stone wall and lost perhaps a foot. No measurement was needed and Oakland took possession.

“It’s about as disappointing as you can get losing a football game,” Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson said. “We had opportunities to win it. We didn’t get it in on fourth-and-an-inch. I thought we could get it, but obviously the quarterback sneak wasn’t the correct call. Obviously, we should have given it to one of the backs, as I look back on it now. It was a critical point in the game. If we get it, we’re down there and probably get it into overtime at worst.”

“That (play) works a lot,” Mirer said. “We go on our cadence, we shove it up in there and get a little surge and you get it.”

One more indignity awaited the Hawks. Oakland drove for a field goal and a 27-21 lead. Seattle had one last possession, beginning at its 16 with 1:49 left.

Seattle moved to Oakland’s 47 and faced fourth-and-two. Mirer rolled out and tried to connect with Joey Galloway, but the pass was broken up by cornerback Terry McDaniel one of the rare battles he won with the Seattle speedster. Galloway immediately sprinted up to an official to complain about McDaniel’s tight coverage. Galloway vented, but didn’t change the official’s mind.

“He had a hold of me,” said Galloway, who had two long receptions earlier to set up Seattle TDs. “I tried to play basketball with him to keep him outside. When Rick threw it, I went to dive and he used me to get leverage.”

In the end, Oakland did everything slightly better than the Hawks. The Raiders ran for more yards (200-130) and quarterback Jeff Hostetler produced more key completions than Mirer. Oakland’s special teams pitched in with better coverage and former Washington Husky Napoleon Kaufman’s 39-yard kick return that aided the Raiders’ second TD drive.

“It’s obviously very satisfying because we’ve lost three in a row that were similar type games,” Oakland coach Mike White said.

The one statistic that wasn’t close - and probably was most telling - was Oakland’s startling 59 percent conversion rate on third downs. Seattle’s was 18 percent.

Hostetler repeatedly made a scramble here, a dink pass there to refuel drives. His slippery footwork sometimes made plays that looked like college intramural plays, but it was effective.

“He’s a player now,” Seahawks defensive end Mike Sinclair said. “We got good pressure on him but sometimes he got out of there and delivered the ball to his receivers. He didn’t used to do that. He used to sit in there and take a pounding, so give him credit.”

Mirer’s numbers - 16 of 25 for 181 yards and one touchdown - were fairly solid. His lone glaring error was a fumble early in the second quarter that led to an Oakland touchdown. Mirer had scrambled to his right and didn’t see Pat Swilling converging from behind.

Oakland took over at the Hawks’ 21. Hostetler caught Seattle in a blitz on third down and hit James Jett on an underneath route for a 17-yard TD.

Galloway’s 40-yard catch helped Seattle respond with a score for a 10-7 lead.

Oakland led 14-10 at half on Hostetler’s three-yard pass to 6-foot-6, 307-pound Rick Cunningham on a tackle-eligible play. The Raiders powered in front 24-13 early in the fourth before Seattle’s promising rally fizzled.

Seattle visits 11-1 Denver next week.

“We’ve got a real tough road ahead of us,” Erickson said.

The Hawks would be wise to take it one inch at a time.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo Graphic: Raiders 27, Hawks 21