Maybe the GREATEST REGULAR SEASON WIN in long and glorious Raider history. If not, it's close. As such, it's much overlooked. 1993, Hoss' first year here, and Timmer's first full time year as starting FL. 1993 appeared ruined after week 11. In week 11 of 1993, Art Shell's Raiders lost in snowy CN to a Bungle squad that came in 0-10. Jeff Jaeger missed 4 FG's in the 10-16 loss. And David Klingler operated Boomer Esiason's play action O, running and throwing to Harold Green and Derrick Fenner. Which all spelled domination of the fast sinking S&B. Everyone laughed. However, late in that game, too late to help much. Hoss (I saw it) unclogged our thoroughly constipated O by: Running it in himself. After Hoss ran that Q4 TD in snowy CN, Raider O in 1993 began once more to click. And Hoss ran for a TD in 4 of our last 5 games. Yeah, dead is how we looked. 6-5 in the ripping West, 2 back of KC, 1 behind DN. Trailing BF and NY for the last WC, tied with PT for #7 in the AFC. 1993 was as suddenly and surprisingly saved the ensuing Sunday. In windy BF. This would be the 4th of Levy's SB losers, 1993. That stellar cast---Kelly, Thurmal, Reed, Ballard, Bruce Smith, Jeff Wright, Cornelius Bennett, Darryl Talley, Odomes. We'd lose to Levy in January, a game short of the AFC Title, when Nick Bell got stuffed on 3rd and 1. And then Howie Long and Townsend failed to get heat in the crucial closing seconds. Critics of that critical 3rd down failure, the play call---Bell outta the I---carpers pointed to BF's complete lack of answer for Hoss and Timmer Brown. Which showed up even more so in that season saving week 12, by Lake Erie, a game after the humiliation in CN. In BF, week 12, Hoss and Timmer lit it up: 10 grabs, 183 yards. Including the game winning TD (you remember), 4:58 to go. 29 yards, R corner, a bullet thru the gust off the Lake, barely between 3 converging Bills, caught over the INSIDE shoulder, like an out and up. Then, less remembered, 2:49 to go, Nolan Harrison smacked the ball from Thurmal, recovered himself, the Bills already in FG range. We won, 25-24. Beat SE in week 13, TB in 14. Week 15: shut out loss, 0-24, in GB, 22 below zero, huge WR Sterling Sharpe (Shannon's older brother) ran over the great McD. Which brings us here: The 1993 Finale. As exciting, as important, as any regular season game we ever played. Vs DN. In LA. Shell's 26-11 on the Black Bottom. Very simple: win and we're in, lose and recuse. Ironically, a win would earn us an instant rematch, WC round---on the road, however, a Mile Hi. We fell behind early, trailed by as much as 10-27 and 13-30 (early Q3). Elway and Sharpe killed us. DN scored its first 3 possessions: 2 Elam FG's and a 27 yard TD to slot WR Cedric Tillman (set up by a Randy Jordan fumble). Hoss answered with a Timmer TD (4 yard look in), for 7-13. But Golden Boy bounced back, 56 yard TD bomb to emerging star TE, burning S's Derrick Hoskins and Eddie Anderson. The game, Daytona fast so far, sped up the last 2:00 of Q2. A pair of Jaeger FG's sandwiched another Sharpe TD. Hoss beat :26 after Sharpe's score, moved 37 yards in :26. And Jaeger FG'd from 50. For tuff 13-27 at HT. Playoffs dimmer than in snowblind CN. Pretty Boy opened Q3 with another march to a FG, and 13-30. D pitched shut out, starting now. McG broke his leg, a cut block in Q1. Townsend, Anthony Smith, Long and Harrison stepped up. McD and Washington always did well vs Elway's little guys. And the S's finally figured out the TE. Neither team had a RB. We used tiny Ty Montgomery, DN HC Wade Phillips ran ex Ram Robert Delpino. Throwing to Timmer madly, like in BF a month ago, Hoss got on it. #81, gains of 21, 15. To the 24 yard line: Tim Brown, post, TD. Score: 20-30. Early Q4, our first year QB found our first year FL for 25, setting up Jaeger, 23-30. Elway, pressured, gave up on his 3rd down screen, grounded it. Our ball, 30 yard line. I don't have the exact time. But it's very late. As attested to by our tying, OT-forcing TD at :00. 70 yards. 10 to 12 yard hooks, 4 of em: Timmer, Jett and Alexander Wright. 7 yard run by the tall, tuff, running gunner. To DN's 4 yard line. Missed Timmer on a slant. It was BOTH 4th down and inside :05. Do you remember yet? If not---PROOF this game is underplayed. Hoss back, looks L, decisive, backpedals once, comes back R, hard. Fires. Alexander Wright, much abused in S&B history (pretty fairly). Outside comeback: Freddy Flag. Same play vs MN in XI. Drive in, hard, to the post. Break down. Work back, hard, aggressive, accelerate. Elbows extended to the fingertips, pointing imploringly, directly at QB's eyes---throw it RIGHT here. Perfect rope. Falling, safe, catch. R flag. The endzone on TV's L. HOLY TOLEDO!!! This might be the single most exciting S&B moment I ever saw. OT. Elam had us. Would-be 40 yarder. Wide L!!! (Remember?) TWO PLAYS!!! Hoss back, sees quick, huge lane, L sideline, all his. Pushed outta bounds 19 yards later. Then: bullet, 12 yard cross, R to L, OUR TE, Ethan Horton, runs free up the same L sideline, another +19! Jaeger: 47 yards. Sweet! Timmer: 11-173-2. Sharpe: 6-115-2. Most recall the ensuing WC Round demolition of Wade's DN in DN the following week. The Nation remembers the wild H1, which ended 21-21. Hoss' 3 H1 TD passes, the short one to Horton, the bombs to Timmer and Jett. Goldie answered with scorers to Sharpe, TE Reggie Johnson and WR Derrick Russell. The Nation, tho, has mostly forgotten our awesomely studly and totally different H2. Nap McCallum's THREE rushing TD's. The first, on 3rd and 1---tuff, super-emerging McCallum blasted thru a hit at scrimmage, ignored it, just like Riggo vs MI---boom---then, free to the L sideline, an impressive 26 yard score. And even fewer remember the play that turned that game. Early Q3. 3rd and 4 for Media's Darling. Shotgun. He tries to fool us, gives wide to Delpino. Thrown for a huge loss by once great Greg Townsend, decisively now on the downside of his near HOF career. Coach Wade flooded his field with slow, stiff DB's. We ran. Super-emerging McCallum, meanwhile, went on to score 2 more TD's in H1 of the ensuing playoff loss in BF. H1, which we owned, running and passing at will. But then Nap got hurt. Had McCallum been tailback on that vital 3rd and 1, instead of extremely slow starting Bell, we'd'a probably won. Torin Dorn was our hero in that WC win in DN---7 tackles, 1 pick. Surely a big part of shutting down Sharpe in S&B H2. That WC game is the day James Trapp in street clothes got hyphy on the sideline, after Hoss took a cheap shot. Professor Eyepatch

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