2000-12-17 04:00:00 PDT Seattle -- The Raiders yesterday played another of those games that will live a long time in the team's already colorful folklore.

The Seattle Seahawks ostensibly beat the Raiders 27-24 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jon Kitna to Darrell Jackson with 28 seconds left, doing untold damage to the Raiders' prospects of postseason success.

But that play, Kitna's second touchdown pass of a game played in near monsoon conditions, was merely the culmination of a series of events that surpassed the bizarre and turned into the surreal.

The game turned on a clutch play made by one of the Raiders' Pro Bowl players, followed up by a teammate trying to do the right thing. Nothing odd about that until you realize that is what turned the game against the Raiders, not in their favor.

"Weird things happen in this game," said wide receiver Tim Brown, "and that was one of the weirdest."

The play in question happened late in the fourth quarter with the Raiders holding a 24-19 lead. The Seahawks were in deep trouble -- the ball was inside their own 20 with fewer than three minutes left. Then Ricky Watters, who was trouble all day for the Raiders, broke free on a long run and seemed headed, if not for a touchdown, at least for a destination close to the Oakland goal


But Charles Woodson not only tracked Watters down, he hammered the ball out of Watters' grasp at the Oakland 28. The ball bounced crazily forward and Oakland's Marquez Pope fell on it, wisely choosing secure possession over any chance of running with it. But on the wet, slippery surface he slid into the end zone, coming to rest there.

The Raiders thought they would either:

A. Have the ball on their 2 with the ball being ruled dead there.

B. Be given a touchback and possession on their 20.

After a long huddle, the officials chose the third of the two choices. They ruled that Pope supplied the momentum that carried the ball into the end zone and awarded the Seahawks a safety. Not only did Seattle get a two-point bonus, but the Raiders had to kick them the ball.

The ensuing 61-yard drive, brilliantly engineered by Kitna, was almost anticlimactic. It took Seattle just 1 minute, 56 seconds to get the ball into the end zone.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden had argued loud and long about the call, but could not persuade referee Bernie Kukar that the safety was not the proper resolution.

"The call that was made was not the call that I saw," Gruden said. "But I'll live with it.

"We had lots of chances to win that game, but we just couldn't get it done."

By not getting it done, the Raiders are now in something of a pickle regarding the postseason. They still will be in the playoffs, but now it is more likely as a wild card than as division champion. The Broncos now hold the advantage in the AFC West, and if they beat the Chiefs today and the 49ers Saturday they win the title.

Not only that, but if the Broncos, Ravens and Dolphins all go 2-0, the Raiders would go into the playoffs as the fifth seed and not only have to play the weekend of Dec. 30-31, but would have to do so on the road.

"We have got to work hard and improve on a lot of things this week," said linebacker Greg Biekert. "Or we are going to have a very short postseason."

And the news doesn't get any better on the injury front. Already playing without running backs Napoleon Kaufman and Jon Ritchie, the Raiders lost Tyrone Wheatley, who had a superb day anyway. "He's got a knee sprain, ankle sprain, I'm not exactly sure," Gruden said.

"I'm fine," said Wheatley, who looked anything but as he limped out of the locker room.

Also, quarterback Rich Gannon hyperextended his right knee, trying to make a tackle on his first-quarter interception. He continued, but admitted he was "pretty sore."

But with Wheatley running for 146 yards on 26 carries, including one for 67 yards, and Gannon passing effectively enough, the Raiders seemed to be in control. They spotted Seattle a 7-0 lead, set up when Gannon's pass went off the hands of Andre Rison and was intercepted by Marcus Bell, who returned it to the Oakland 11.

The Raiders would tie the score on a 14-yard pass to Rison, fall behind again, but eventually take an 11-point lead four minutes into the final period on two touchdown runs by Randy Jordan, who also was limping with a painful turf toe.

The Seahawks scored to cut the lead to 24-19, but when Kitna's pass fell incomplete on the 2-point conversion try they seemed dead with five minutes left.

But the Raiders could not earn the first down that might have made the whole issue moot. The Raiders kept the ball on the ground because of the miserable conditions. "It was an adventure every time we threw the football," Gruden said.

But Jordan gained just 8 yards on three cracks and they had to punt. Seattle had the ball on its 19 with just 2:45 remaining. Then Watters broke loose, Woodson acted, Pope pounced and the officials made their ruling.

"Our official down on the field says to me the defensive player recovered the ball on the 1-yard line, virtually took it into the end zone and then stayed in the end zone. . . . And he made no attempt to get it out of his own end zone," referee Kukar said. "Therefore, it is a safety. That's the only thing we can do with it."

Gruden told him what else he could do with it. "He said it was a safety, that's the call he made. Do I agree? Of course, I don't agree with it," Gruden said. "But it is over. There are a lot of crazy plays in this league and that was one of the craziest."

Brown said that if the rule is correct, "then they should change the rule."

Pope was unaware of the outcome until he saw the officials huddling. "Had I known I would have gotten up," he said. "I just wanted to secure the fumble and didn't want to risk turning it over to them. . . . That turned the game around. It gave them life. When we recovered they didn't have any life."

But the Raiders still had a chance to stop the red-hot Kitna and couldn't. He completed 12 of 16 passes in the final quarter, including four of six in the final drive.

And Watters, who finished with 168 rushing yards besides catching four passes for 37 more, was also a big contributor. "It seems like every series they had one big play," said linebacker William Thomas. "When we started to buckle down a little bit they would break loose."

So their own shortcomings did in the Raiders as much as the officials' call did. "We've got to take the game out of the officials' hands," Wheatley said. "So that they don't have to huddle to make a decision that decides the game."

Brown said the Raiders will get over it. "I'm glad we have an extra day to digest this and put it behind us," he said. "It would be tough to have to go back to work tomorrow."

And if the officials are later found to be in error on that notorious call, it won't make Brown feel any better. "I just hope they don't issue some kind of apology," he said. "If they're wrong, let them be wrong, but I don't want to hear about it."