A Race To The Playoffs When Seahawks Face Raiders Today, There’ll Be Much More At Stake Than Typical Fat Lips And Gouged E

Ignore for a moment those giant paychecks they pick up every week.

“This is what players play for,” Seattle Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson said. “This is what it’s all about.”

He’s talking about the importance of today’s 5 p.m. game between the Seahawks and the Oakland Raiders - two teams with more at stake than the customary gouged eyes and fat lips that result from their clashes.

“It’s a big game for both teams, both of us have our backs to the wall,” Erickson said. “It’s huge for us in a lot of ways; we’ve got a national TV (ESPN) game against one of the better teams in the NFL, so it’s time to see where we’re at.”

So, where are they?

At 7-7, the Seahawks have to win their final two to sustain playoff hopes. Oakland, now 8-6 and on a four-game losing streak, isn’t in much better shape.

This is a rivalry rich in history, back to the great Steve Largent-Lester Hayes battles, back to when Brian Bosworth was merely a bug splattered on Bo Jackson’s windshield, back to the 1988 finale that allowed the Hawks to win the divisional title.

But the games have lacked relevance in recent years during the Seahawks’ slump - taking much of the lustre off the rivalry.

This, however, is a truly meaningful game. In fact, it’s probably the biggest for the Seahawks in several seasons.

“It’s an opportunity to be in it in December and an opportunity to get people in the stands,” Erickson said. “I know one thing that needs to happen, we need to play good. If we have success, then we can get some emotion going and (the Kingdome) is a pretty hard place to execute. Homefield advantage is when guys are at the line and they can’t (call audibles) because they can’t hear.”

By so many criteria, the Raiders should be expected to cruise.

They’ve won 10 of the past 11 meetings and have taken five straight inside the Kingdome.

But they’ve dropped four in a row, while the Hawks are headed in the other direction, having won five of their last six games.

The Raiders started Seattle on a bleak, four-game tailspin in October, rolling to a 34-14 win at home.

Where do the Seahawks have to improve with regard to that game?

“Everywhere,” Erickson said. “We stunk. It was about as ugly as it could get. They just did everything against us, they ran it when they wanted to, and we couldn’t run it. It was total domination in every aspect of the game.”

He’s not exaggerating. The Raiders gained 531 yards in that game as Harvey Williams rushed for a career-high 160 yards, Jeff Hostetler passed for 333 and Tim Brown stretched five catches into 143 yards and touchdowns of 77 and 80 yards.

After that embarrassing defeat, the Hawks lost consecutive games to Buffalo, San Diego and Arizona before reviving.

“I knew we had a good football team,” Erickson said. “But you have to get things going and you have to believe in yourself. The biggest thing for us was turnovers - we were making them and not forcing any from the other team. That’s been the most important thing in our turnaround.”

The Hawks are plus-6 in turnovers in their last five games, although they still stand at a league-worst minus-9 for the season.

Oakland has good reason to expect to fare better than in the preceding three weeks because of the return of starting quarterback Jeff Hostetler.

Hostetler went down with a shoulder injury and his replacements, Vince Evans and Billy Joe Hobert, have been human turnovers.

“I think he’s ready to go now,” Raiders coach Mike White said of Hostetler. “I’m sure he might have some pain, but there’s not many players in the league that are playing without some pain at this time of the season.”

In the first meeting between these teams, Hostetler controlled the second half by calling plays almost exclusively at the line of scrimmage.

With his play-calling and deep-ball abilities on the shelf, opponents have been jamming the line of scrimmage to throttle the Raiders rushing attack.

Against Pittsburgh, for instance, Oakland mustered just 28 yards rushing.

“When the starting quarterback isn’t there, people do different things,” White said. “Our running game hasn’t functioned well without Jeff. Hopefully, that combination of having Jeff back and the (defense’s relaxed) attitude toward the run will give us a chance to get back on track.”

While Hostetler’s replacements have faltered, the Seahawks may be seeing the opposite effect as backup John Friesz played far better than starter Rick Mirer when Mirer went down last week with a shoulder separation.

Friesz led the team on a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives in Sunday’s upset of Denver and will again be at the controls as Mirer should be healed enough for backup duty.

“We know that John has good NFL experience and has proven he’s a good, solid quarterback,” White said.

Mirer had only 15 completions and two interceptions in the first meeting.

But White’s primary concern with the Seahawks, one which opponents echo every week, is trying to stop running back Chris Warren - the second-leading rusher in the AFC.

“He’s such an excellent runner; he has power as well as elusiveness,” White said. “We know that’s our No. 1 responsibility because he’s made a lot of yards against everybody.”

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HAWKS VS. RAIDERS The game: 5 p.m. in the Kingdome. Coaches: Seattle - Dennis Erickson, 7-7, first season. Oakland - Mike White, 8-6 first season. The records: Seattle 7-7. Oakland 8-6. The series: Raiders lead 20-15, having won 10 of the last 11 meetings. Last week: Seattle scored the biggest comeback in team history with a 31-27 win over Denver. Oakland lost its fourth straight game, a 29-10 defeat to Pittsburgh. The line: Raiders by 3.

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