Raiders Leave Oilers With Cross to Bear : Pro football: Del Greco’s 52-yard field-goal attempt on the last play of the game hits bar as L.A. escapes, 17-14.

As it made its way on its crucial journey toward the peristyle end of the Coliseum late Sunday afternoon, the ball off the toe of Houston Oiler kicker Al Del Greco seemed to hang forever.

And with it, perhaps, hung the Raiders’ season.

Del Greco’s 52-yard field-goal attempt on the game’s final play was straight enough. But it wasn’t long enough and the Raiders escaped with a 17-14 victory before 40,473.

Had the kick been good, the game would have gone into overtime. Because it missed, the Raiders gained a victory that evened their record at 4-4 and put them in contention for the playoffs.

On the field, Raider defensive lineman Nolan Harrison turned to watch the ball with an overwhelming sense of helplessness. On the sidelines, receiver Tim Brown and offensive lineman Kevin Gogan debated the strength of the soaring football.

“It’s out of his range.”

“No, it’s in his range.”

Fullback Tom Rathman couldn’t watch. He turned and prayed.

The ball landed squarely on the crossbar, bounced up for another agonizing moment, then bounced backward.

No good.

It was close enough that quarterback Jeff Hostetler had to throw to Brown for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 1:50 left to push the Raiders into the lead.

But it never should have been.

Not against an Oiler team that had lost six of seven, led the league in turnovers, had scored three touchdowns in the first three quarters all season and started backup quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver over injured, inconsistent Cody Carlson, the man who was supposed to replace Warren Moon.

But the Raiders did their best to keep the Oilers in the game. They fumbled four times, losing two of those. Hostetler had two passes intercepted.

And a defense that has played brilliantly at times this season continued to show an alarming inability to put opponents away at the end.

The Raider defense was unable to stop Tolliver from driving 86 yards in the fourth quarter for the touchdown that briefly put Houston ahead. The touchdown came on a seven-yard pass from Tolliver to Haywood Jeffires.

Nor could the defense prevent Tolliver from driving 50 yards in the closing minute to put Del Greco in position for his final kick.

But the Raider defense, led by Chester McGlockton, also did enough things right to ensure the victory.

It didn’t allow Houston to drive a 51st yard at the end, which would have been enough to allow Del Greco’s kick to squeak through.

The Raiders forced three Houston fumbles and recorded three sacks. McGlockton forced two of the fumbles and recovered one, recorded two of the sacks and accounted for seven tackles.

While the Raider offense might have sputtered and labored on drive after drive Sunday, tailback Harvey Williams had no such problems.

For the second week in a row, he started and responded, gaining a career-high 128 yards rushing on 29 carries and 38 more yards on four receptions. It was Williams’ second consecutive 100-yard plus effort.

Williams scored the first Raider touchdown on a two-yard run.

But the score was tied by the half when Tolliver ended the second quarter by driving to the Raider six-yard line and scoring himself from there, diving into the end zone after eluding a tackle by Lionel Washington at the three-yard line.

The Raiders took advantage of a Houston turnover in the third quarter to regain the lead. McGlockton knocked the ball out of Tolliver’s hands, Harrison recovering it.

That enabled Jeff Jaeger to kick a 35-yard field goal.

On the first play of the next drive, the Raiders repeated their act.

McGlockton swatted the ball from Tolliver again, and Harrison got it.

But this time, from the Oiler four-yard line, the Raiders couldn’t hold on either. Williams fumbled and Houston recovered on the first play.

It was one of those days.

In the end, it came down to a Raider offense that had one drive left in it at the end.

“It was amazing the offense did it,” Brown said. “We did everything in our power to lose the game. I’m happy it was the offense that did it in the end, because it may have been detrimental to our season if it had not.”

Hostetler drove from the Raider 33 to the Houston 11.

A run was called from there, but, seeing the Oilers poised to blitz, Hostetler changed the play.

At the line of scrimmage.

“I didn’t change it in the huddle,” he said with a big grin on his face, referring to the play-calling controversy in recent weeks. “I know better than that. Don’t get me in trouble.”

Hostetler was in trouble when the ball was snapped. The Oilers poured in and he headed for the right sideline.

Hostetler was desperately looking for his favorite target. Brown had made it to the right corner of the end zone, and had started to cut back. Hostetler spotted him, and threw the ball back across his body and high, beyond the reach of defensive backs Darryll Lewis and Cris Dishman.

“I wanted to put some air under it,” Hostetler said. “I just wanted to get it in Tim’s hands. Once there, it’s pretty safe.”

Brown caught it at the back of the end zone.

How does Hostetler keep finding Brown?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think it’s the beeper I gave him.”

It took a while Sunday, but the Raiders finally got their signals straight.

Raiders Notes

Safety Eddie Anderson, bothered by a groin pull, sat out Sunday’s game, and was replaced by Patrick Bates, who had to leave the game in the fourth quarter because of a deep shoulder bruise.