Raiders, Allen Drop One to the Eagles, 33-27 : Flores Delays a Call for Field Goal, Loses Suddenly in Overtime

Dame Fortune, tempted for a second straight week by those silver and black cavaliers of the AFC West, decided that this act was getting old Sunday and punched their ticket.

She may have let them prevail in overtime after blowing that 31-10 lead over the 2-9 Chargers 10 days ago, but she evidently tired of watching them toy with the 3-9 Eagles at the Coliseum.

Voila! Marcus Allen, last week’s hero, on what Tom Flores thought was a routine carry to position the ball for the winning field goal attempt in overtime, fumbled the ball on a neat hop to Andre Waters. Waters flew 81 yards in the other direction, setting up a four-yard drive for the touchdown that gave the Eagles a 33-27 victory.

The Raiders are now 8-5, with their sights newly lowered to the second wild-card playoff spot. If they don’t like all the ways Fortune can smile in overtime, let them try beating the 11-point underdogs in regulation.

“You say don’t take them lightly,” cornerback Mike Haynes said. “We knew they were talented. Mike Quick, some people think he’s the best receiver in the game. But their offense wasn’t very effective coming into the game. Randall Cunningham was talented but he seemed more of a runner than a passer.”

How did the Raiders wind up in overtime with these guys?

Quick caught three touchdown passes, one on Haynes, two on Lester Hayes. In between getting sacked 10 times, Cunningham passed for 298 yards. The young Raider receivers dropped passes all over the lot, including one by Jessie Hester in the end zone. He caught two others for touchdowns but in this league, .667 doesn’t get it. A holding call on Henry Lawrence wiped out another touchdown pass to Hester. The Raiders couldn’t get a yard on fourth and one at the Eagle five at the end of the first half. Flores then made his controversial decision to let Allen run the ball a last time. That’s the short list but that’s how.

The Eagles even had to help the Raiders get back in it. In what had been allowed to degenerate into a battle of home-run balls, it was the Eagles who appeared to be taking control.

They went ahead, 27-24, with 3:25 left on Cunningham’s 10-yard pass to Quick behind Hayes in the end zone.

They got the ball back when Rod Barksdale, in for the injured Hester who’d already had two drops, dropped one of his own, bobbling a perfect pass at the Eagle 24, handing it right to good old Andre Waters.

They moved to their 49 with 1:54 left in regulation when Cunningham picked up a third and 11 with a 30-yard pass to Anthony Toney.

How could they mess this up quickly? With a first down at the 49, and 1:54 left, Buddy Ryan had Cunningham try another pass. “Unbelievable,” said Lester Hayes. It bounced off the hands of the Eagles’ Ron Johnson, right to Hayes, who returned it seven yards to the Raider 45.

There was 1:43 left. Jim Plunkett drove the Raiders to a first and goal at the Eagle nine, an effort that wasn’t made more difficult when the Eagles called a timeout of their own. At the nine, Plunkett threw three incompletions and Chris Bahr kicked the 26-yard field goal that sent it into overtime.

The way things were going, the best Raider opportunity seemed to entail the Eagles having the ball. Sure enough, on the second Eagle possession, Cunningham, hit by Bill Pickel for sack No. 10 fumbled and Howie Long recovered at the Eagle 42.

Six plays later, the ball had moved five yards backward and Plunkett was faced with a third and 20. He scrambled right and hit Allen crossing the field to the right sideline on cornerback Roynell Young. Young crashed Allen out of bounds but the gain was 27 yards for a first down at the 20.

Allen went four yards off right tackle. On second down, he fumbled.

“There’s no question it’s my fault,” Allen said. “It was a very simple play. I think I just reached for the ball. I didn’t take it the proper way.

“I thought I could get some yardage. I should have been conservative but that’s my style of play. I’ve always tried to give 100%. If I see something, I try to go for it. I should have been a little smarter at that particular time.

“There was a little crease there. I should just have tried to keep the ball in the middle of the field.”

And the decision to run on second down rather than trying the field goal?

“You don’t want to second-guess anybody,” Allen said. “We did the same thing a couple of years ago against Denver (Frank Hawkins fumbled in an overtime loss in ‘84). That’s no excuse. I should have held onto the ball. That’s the bottom line.

“I guess if you play this game long enough, these things will happen.”

As Allen bobbled the ball, Eagle linebacker Seth Joyner came up and knocked it loose. It bounced to Waters, who took it behind the Raider line, with no pursuers between him and the other goal line. Off he went down the right sideline, with several teammates on his bench zooming up to yell encouragement.

“I think you’ve got to give the credit to Seth,” Waters said. “All I had to do was pick the ball up and run.

“When I first got started, the only guy there was Plunkett and I figured I could breaks his tackle.”

Dokie Williams, watching the play unfold from his position near the right sideline, pursued Waters the length of the field. An Eagle tried to block him but Williams got around it. Near the Raider 20, Waters cut back toward the middle of the field but Williams finally dragged him down. Waters, however, had reached the Raider four.

There were no further miracles, surprises, gifts or messups. Cunningham dove three yards and then the final one for the winning touchdown. Raider players screamed curses and headed for the dressing room.

“We just have to go on,” Flores said. “There is a tomorrow.”

Anyone reading today’s newspaper already knows that. The Raiders can now look forward to the rest of the schedule that once seemed so favorable. Next Monday night, they’ll be in Seattle, where they haven’t won in five years. After that, they get the Chiefs and Colts here.

What’s the definition of a Raider cakewalk? A 38-35 overtime victory over a 20-point underdog, but sometimes those dogs bite.

Raider Notes The Raiders are now tied for the second wild-card spot with the Bengals. . . . Howie Long returned after missing two games, played almost the entire game and had a sack. Bill Pickel had 3 sacks, Stacey Toran 2 1/2 and Sean Jones 2. . . . The top sacker was the Eagle prodigy, Reggie White, who recorded four of the six the Eagles got against Jim Plunkett. . . . Frank Hawkins left the game with a bruised knee. Orthopedist Robert Rosenfeld said he’d be OK. . . . Long on Randall Cunningham: “The guy is a tremendous, tremendous athlete. He’s mobile, he can make you miss and he throws the ball 80 yards.” . . . Plunkett, same subject: “There’s an old saying, ‘There are a lot of old passing quarterbacks but there aren’t a lot of old running quarterbacks.’ He’ll learn to stay in the pocket.” . . . Lester Hayes, same subject: “Cunningham takes showers in Vaseline. He’s slippery.” . . .