Raiders Give the Game to the Patriots, 27-20 : 3 Interceptions and 3 Fumbles Result in Loss

The New England Patriots found a simple formula to advance to their first AFC title game ever: When in doubt, kick off.

On Sunday, the Patriots upset the Raiders, 27-20, getting the winning touchdown on the same play they’ve used to score twice before in the last month--a fumbled kickoff return recovered for a touchdown.

In this case it was rookie safety Jim Bowman who fell on the ball in the end zone to cap a 10-point burst in 14 seconds that began with 1:11 left in the third quarter. It was Bowman’s second fumble recovery of the game.

“You go down there with the idea of trying to strip the ball out of his hands,” Bowman said. “We’ve scored six touchdowns just from trying to strip the ball this season.”

It was typical of a day in which the Patriots forced six Raider turnovers--three fumbles, two interceptions by Ronnie Lippett and a third by Fred Marion. They led directly to 20 of the 27 points by Patriots, who will try to qualify for their first Super Bowl next Sunday against the Miami Dolphins in the Orange Bowl, where they have lost 18 straight games dating back to 1966.

“Our main objective in training camp this year was to increase the number of takeaways,” Coach Raymond Berry said.

“We could get away with turnovers in a regular-season game and always come back the next week,” Raider linebacker Rod Martin said. “But this is a playoff game. We had to do it today.”

Takeaways weren’t the whole story as the Patriots, who looked in the second quarter as if they were about to be blown out, rebounded from a 10-point deficit to win it.

Craig James ran for 104 yards in 23 carries, the first 100-yard rushing game against the Raiders this year, and the opportunistic defense held Los Angeles scoreless in the second half.

The Patriot defenders have allowed two touchdowns in a game just twice in the last 13 games, and the Pats have won 11 of them. New England hadn’t won a playoff game in 22 years until they beat the New York Jets in the AFC wild-card game last week.

“It’s unbelievable to come out here into Raider territory and come out with a win,” Berry said. “It’s a tribute to this club. It has true staying power and it never quits.

“These guys have really paid the price this year. They are consistent and they don’t let things get them down. Our coaches have taken a good defense and made it great.”

Then there was the matter of New England’s 156 rushing yards against a defense that had surrendered an average of just 100 yards a game.

“I felt it was going to be a low-scoring game but I didn’t count on the turnovers,” Raider defensive end Howie Long said. “But there’s no excuse for the loss. They ran the ball down our throats.”

And then there was that twist of fate--or, as the Patriots have come to believe, their secret weapon: the kickoff.

The biggest play in the mistake-filled game came late in the third quarter after Tony Franklin’s 32-yard field goal had tied the score at 20-20.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Raiders Sam Seale fielded the ball at his own nine, dropped the ball, picked it up, then fumbled when he was hit by Mosi Tatupu. The ball rolled towards the goal line with a covey of players chasing it until Bowman, a rookie safety, fell on the ball for what proved to be the winning score.

The play was nearly identical to two previous touchdowns scored by the Pats. One, in Miami, tied the game that New England finally lost--and with it the AFC title. And, in last week’s wild-card game against the Jets, they scored 10 points in 15 seconds to break open what turned out to be a 26-14 victory.

The Raiders, who won the AFC West title with a 12-4 record and had won six games in a row, did themselves no good on this overcast day before 88,936 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Not only did they have those half-dozen turnovers, but they squandered two of their three second-half timeouts on the first drive of the second half.

The first came on a first-down-and-20 play after a holding play, the second two plays later on a third-and-17, both to avoid a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty. That cost them when they finally got the ball back with 1:56 left.

In fact, even Marcus Allen, who gained 121 yards on 22 carries, contributed, fumbling on the New England 32 midway in the third period. It was only Allen’s fourth fumble this year and the Patriots went from there to Franklin’s tying field goal, and then to their game-winning score.

Quarterback Marc Wilson completed just 11 of 27 passes for 127 yards while New England quarterback Tony Eason threw just 14 times, completing seven for 117 yards.

It took New England just 4 minutes, 34 seconds to take advantage of the Raiders’ first turnover and grab a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Eason to Lin Dawson. The score, the first touchdown against the Raiders in more than 10 quarters, came two plays after Fulton Walker fumbled Rich Camarillo’s punt and Bowman recovered at the Raider 21.

It appeared New England would get more when Lippett picked off Wilson’s pass at his own 36 and Eason passed to Derrick Ramsey to the Raider 36.

But the Raiders held, and on fourth down Greg Townsend blocked Rich Camarillo’s punt, propelling the ball to the Patriot 18. That led to Chris Bahr’s 29-yard field goal that cut the New England lead to 7-3.

Fifty-six seconds into the second quarter, Bahr missed a 44-yard attempt. But on the next Raider possession, all he had to do was kick the extra point following Wilson’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Hester at the end of a 52-yard, six-play drive.

Less than two minutes later, it was 17-7 on Allen’s 11-yard touchdown run following Long’s recovery of Tatupu’s fumble on the first play after the kickoff.

But just when it looked as if the Raiders had taken control of the game, the Patriots bounced back, driving 80 yards in 10 plays to make it 17-14.

The key plays were a 24-yard pass from Eason to James and an offsides call against Long after the Raiders had stopped the Patriots at the Los Angeles 9. Then James took an inside handoff from Eason on third-and-goal from the two and swept in for the touchdown with 3:38 left in the half.

Less than two minutes later, New England tied it on Franklin’s 45-yard field goal that followed Lippett’s second interception of the day, at the Raider 28.

But Bahr’s 32-yard field goal with six seconds left in the half made it 20-17 in favor of the Raiders at intermission.

The Raiders got another chance when James fumbled at his own 39 and Vann McElroy recovered for Los Angeles. But Allen dropped the ball on the next play at the 32 and Marion recovered.