ELWAY AGAIN IS FOURTH-CLASS : DENVER 22, OAKLAND 21.

Byline: Rob Gloster Associated Press 

It took the king of comebacks to beat the lords of Monday night.

John Elway led the 33rd fourth-quarter game-winning drive of his career Monday night, throwing a 49-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith with 4:14 remaining to rally the Denver Broncos to a 22-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Elway, who had just 108 yards passing heading into the game's final five minutes, finished 16 of 33 for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a career-high 70 yards, breaking the personal record he set last week.

``I'm always relieved,'' Elway said of his fourth-quarter heroics. ``Surprised? No. If there's clicks on the clock left, we have a chance.''

Elway, who had a 10-yard scoring pass to Shannon Sharpe in the first quarter, also has led the Broncos on seven fourth-quarter game-tying drives during his career. Denver went on to win six of those games, and one ended in a tie.

Jason Elam had field goals of 36, 43 and 28 yards for the Broncos (8-1), whose defense shut down the Raiders until the final quarter.

The Raiders (4-5) lost for the first time ever in a Monday night home game. They came in 8-0 in Oakland and 4-0 in Los Angeles. Overall, they are now 32-14-1 on Monday nights.

Elway grabbed his left hamstring after being sacked by Pat Swilling a series before his game-winning TD pass, and Denver coach Mike Shanahan said he wasn't even sure if Elway would be able to continue playing.

Shanahan, now 3-0 against the team that fired him in 1989, said he's gotten used to Elway's comebacks.

``There's a look in his eye with five minutes to go,'' he said.

Swilling, who sacked Elway twice in the game, put it simply: ``Elway does it best down the stretch.''

Jeff Hostetler threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to give the Raiders a very short-lived 21-16 lead. Hostetler was 22 of 34 for 250 yards, but the Raiders' offense was hurt by 86 yards in penalties.

The first Monday night game in Oakland in 15 years attracted the Raiders' first sellout of the season. With the Oakland Coliseum expanded to 62,500 during an offseason $129.4 million renovation, it was the largest crowd ever in Oakland.

``It's a little more special because it's a tough place to play,'' Elway said. ``When you get in these situations, you don't hear the noise, you just figure out a way to get it done. We worked on a silent count (on the final series).''

The Raiders used a no-huddle scheme in the fourth quarter to turn a tedious game into a battle. The Broncos led 16-7 when Hostetler rallied the Raiders with scoring passes of 15 yards to Derrick Fenner and 42 yards to Tim Brown with 5:01 left.

But it took Elway just 47 seconds to drive the Broncos 73 yards to victory. Smith beat Lorenzo Lynch and Larry Brown by three steps to catch the touchdown pass from Elway, who pump-faked and then lofted the ball to Smith.

``He had a lot of time left when he got the ball back,'' said Raiders defensive tackle Russell Maryland. ``He's Mr. Fourth Quarter. We knew all about him. We just couldn't stop him.''

The opening minutes of the game were not as smooth for Elway.

Lynch intercepted Elway on the game's second play, returning the ball to the Denver 27. Four plays later, Hostetler ran 5 yards through a gaping hole for the touchdown.

The Broncos responded with an 11-play drive kept alive by an 18-yard scramble by Elway on third down.

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Photo

Photo: (color) Broncos quarterback John Elway lets fly in the first quarter at the Oakland Coliseum. He rallied his team in the fourth quarter - again.

Associated Press