The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 49

GAMES EVENTS PEOPLE SECTION nin MONDAY Cos AnfleUs Slimes DECEMBER 19, 1994 CCft Raiders Win by a Whisker, 17-16 HIGHLIGHTS PRO FOOTBALL Pro football: Seahawks come close but Kasay's missed field the difference in the victory for L.A. ft RAIDERS SEATTLE 17 16 By STEVE SPRINGER TIMES STAFF WRITER The playoff picture for the Raiders became a little clearer after a 43-yard field goal attempt by Seahawk kicker.John Kasay went wide right with 4L. Si If 1 nine seconds remaining. CI xx fifl ft; SEATTLE Raider quarter-' back Jeff Hostetler has decided he won't shave until his team loses. He still has his beard this morning, but only by a hair.

1 When John Kasay's 43-yard field-goal attempt sailed just wide right with nine seconds to play, the Raiders were finally able to celebrate a 17-16 victory on SunV, day that left them at 9-6 and left a Kingdome crowd of 53,301 stunned and silent for the first time all evening. 1 "We don't tend to make things' easy," said Coach Art Shell, the sweat from the tension -filled ending still on his face after the game. It took a 77-yard, fourth -quar- ter touchdown pass from Hoste tier to Tim Brown to finally put the Seahawks away. It wasn't supposed to be this way. After all, the Seahawks were coming into the game with a 6-8 record.

They were coming in with 16 injured players, including eight starters. They were coming in with a green quarterback who was making only his fourth ca- reer start in four years. They were coming in with an offense built around a running back playing with two broken ribs, who was limited even further as the evening wore on by a twisted ankle. Some green quarterback. Some injured running back.

Chris Warren, broken ribs and twisted ankle and all, rushed for Please see RAIDERS, C14 (wW i T7 iff T1': CHICAGO 27 RAMS 13 Jerome Bettis, who needed 30 yards to reach 1,000, was held to seven yards in eight carries before leaving with a finger injury as the Rams lost their sixth consecutive game. CI OTHER NFL SCORES N.ew England 41 Buffalo 17 Green Bay 21 Atlanta 17 Diego 21 New York Jets 6 Tampa Bay 17 14 'Arizona 28 Cincinnati 7 Indianapolis 10 Iiami 6 'Kansas City 31 Houston 9 New York Giants 16 'Philadelphia 13 Pittsburgh 17 Cleveland 7 Spotlight: C4 Coverage: C4-15 Summaries: C18 Pholos: STEVE DYKES Los Angeles Times Seahawk John Kasay (4) watches in disbelief as his potential game-winning field goal sails wide, to the relief of Raider Patrick Bates (24). MIKE DOWNEY How's This For Picture: Even Ryan May Be in It A Jekyll-and-Hyde Outfit Gets Kick Out of Ending Postseason Possibilities The two Raider playoff scenarios going into their final regular-season game on Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseumr If the Raiders win, they qualify for the playoffs and would play host to a first-round game if the Cleveland Browns lose to the Seattle Seahawks. If the Raiders lose, they sti qualify for postseason play if the New England Patriots lose to the Chicago Bears on Saturday. If New England wins, the Raiders would be eliminated, STEVE SPRINGER cloudy to confusing to downright scary Sunday when Eagles fell, Bills were driven off and football's grizzled predator remained standing.

That would be Buddy Ryan. With one week remaining in the regular season, the only thing certain is that if Ryan's Arizona Cardinals complete their improbable stretch run by making the playoffs, that sound you hear will be the rest of the league cringing. And it could happen. Please see PLAYOFFS, CI Pro football: After 49ers, Cowboys, Stealers and Chargers, postseason spots are mostly up in the air. And don't count out Buddy's Cardinals yet.

By BILL PLASCHKE TIMES STAFF WRITER ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. The NFL playoff picture went from SEATTLE "I don't care if it hits the upright or if a bird falls out of the sky," Raider tackle Chester McGlockton said of the football that could have been the downfall of the Raiders, had a kicker from Seattle kicked it straighter. Escaping by the hairs of their chinny-chin-chins, the Raiders ran their winning streak to three, defeating the Seahawks, 17-16, Sunday night in a game at the Kingdome that they were very lucky to win. When a perfect spiral from Hostetler went right through Andrew Glover's fingertips on third down with scarcely two minutes to play, forcing the Raiders to punt, even Al Davis sat in the press box pounding his fist and saying, "That was the game! That Please see DOWNEY, C14 DEELITEFUL VICTORY: Afternoon Deelites, owned by Burt Bacharach, sailed past two horses on the far turn en route to winning the $500,000 Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park. C16 CANTON OF SOCCER: Oneonta, N.Y., has seen better days.

Its nickname is "The City of the Hills," indicates there isn't much else there. Except for the soccer hall of fame. C17 NHL STILL FROZEN: Three informal meetings between representatives of the NHL and its players' union last week focused on two solutions to the lockout and sources on both sides said the group made some progress. C17 MAJOR VICTORY: The citation the Silver Star said Lt. Ralph Houk deliberately exposed himself to the withering fire.

That's how baseball and war veteran Houk spent his December 50 years ago during the Battle of the Bulge. C19 i NBA Bettis Can't Run and Rams Can't Hide in Chicago Pro football: Bears hold the running back to seven yards in eight carries in 27-13 victory. A Utah 101, Milwaukee 98 New Jersey 103, Miami 102 Portland 111, New York 87 Roundup C16 INDEX Morning Briefing C2 Allan Malamud C3 Horse Racing C16 Day in Sports C18-19 Newswire C19 i Buffalo Reaches Endofline Pro football: Fumble-prone Bills are overwhelmed by New England Patriots, 41-17, and are certain to miss the playoffs. By BILL PLASCHKE TIMES STAFF WRITER ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. The rain had turned to snow when Andre Reed turned his face to his hands.

He was sitting on a wet stadium floor, alone, five yards from a touchdown, the football resting 26 yards in the other direction. The crowd groaned. Teammates dropped to their knees. The snow poured across the Buffalo Bills like salt onto a wound. An era had ended.

For the first time in five years, the Bills will not be going to a Super Bowl, their playoff hopes having being dashed Sunday with a 41-17 loss to the upstart New England Patriots. After trying sports fans' patience with four consecutive losses in this nation's biggest sporting event, America's villains finally collapsed under the strain of age, Please see BILLS, CU By TJ. SIMERS TIMES STAFF WRITER CHICAGO Present woeful results suggest' Red Grange has a better chance than Jerome Bettis of gaining the 23 yards Bettis needs, to reach 1 ,000, and, like the Rams, he's dead. Against a Chicago defense that surrendered 247 rushing yards to Green Bay a week earlier, Bettis, who set a preseason goal of 2,000 yards, piled up seven yards in eight carries in his poorest NFL performance. The Bears (9-6) not only grounded Bettis, but pulled away from.the Rams with 163 rushing yards of their own in a 27-13 victory before 56,276 at Soldier Field.

Bettis, who carried a club-record 39 times against the Bears in a 20-6 victory to close out the 1993 season, has averaged 2.3 yards per carry during the Rams' six-game losing streak and has 977 yards in 304 carries for the season. "It's to the point Bettis said, "that if we were just by ourselves facing no defense) it would be hard to execute 'the plays." Bettis' day began with a dropped pass, included a serious finger injury that sidelined him late in the third quarter, and ended with a reportei accidentally popping him in the head with a (ape recorder. "Just kill me, why don't you?" Bettis said in jest. "Things are rough, all right. As an offense I think it's to the point where we have lost Please see RAMS, C13 Sports Updates By Phone Call TimesLine, 808-8463, and enter one of the codes below.

Latest News 3000 Latest scores 3010 British soccer 3600 Online Sign on to TimesLink for: Daily Sports Trivia Quiz Running and Biking Guides More on SoCal Teams Details on using Times electronic services, page A 10 JTX -J, Associated Press Ram quarterback Chris Chandler, being upended by Bears' Barry Minter and Shaun Gayle during the second quarter, suffered a bruised kidney and was replaced by Chris Miller..