Escape artists/ Broncos pull out another close victory

SEATTLE - Al Wilson sat in the middle of jammed locker room, one of about 70 naked men elbowing their way into dry clothes, in a hurry to get on the bus and to the plane and out of Seattle. But he paused just long enough to cast one of his luminous smiles.

"They say we are entertainers," Wilson said in his baritone voice. "Fans don't want to see a blowout. Know what I'm saying?"

Oh, yeah. We know. And so do the legions of Broncos fans, some surely retrofitted with pacemakers over the past month watching games not decided until the final minute.

The result, for the fourth game in a row, was the same - a Denver win. This time the Broncos beat the Seahawks, 38-31, as a low and angry sky spit a steady drizzle onto Husky Stadium.

It was like playing in a sneeze. But while the setting was a new twist, the result was formulaic. For the second week in a row, the Broncos (8-4) turned over the ball five times, did their best to keep television viewers in their seats, and escaped with their playoff hopes solidly intact.

"It's something we definitely don't want to make a habit of," safety Eric Brown said.

Too late. Four in a row makes a habit. Denver has now come back from halftime deficits to win two weeks in a row. Before that, the Broncos hadn't won after trailing at halftime since Nov. 1, 1998.

The Broncos did tinker with this week's script. They had rookie running back Mike Anderson rush for 195 yards, breaking his own franchise single-game rookie rushing record and putting his name fourth in the history of all Denver backs. The Broncos rushed for 301 total yards, the third most in team history.

Eighty of those yards came with 3 minutes, 46 seconds left in the tied game, when Anderson took a pitch to the left, watched receiver Rod Smith knock out two Seattle defensive backs, and outran everyone down the left sideline for the deciding touchdown.

The Seahawks didn't die until they ran out of downs at Denver's 40-yard line a few minutes later.

"(The players) figured out the only way to get rid of me is by killing me out there on the field," Denver coach Mike Shanahan said.

It didn't have to be this way. The Broncos racked up 538 yards, their best performance of the season and third-best in franchise history, just 10 yards off the record. That bumped last week's 536- yard performance to fourth on the list - giving Denver its best back- to-back offensive performance in history.

"Man, if we don't make mistakes, we're going to put 600 or 700 yards on people," said quarterback Gus Frerotte, who completed 15-of- 31 passes for 244 yards.

As opposed to last week, when Frerotte single-handedly kept San Diego in the game with five turnovers, the Broncos spread the gift- giving. Frerotte had two interceptions and a fumble, but was an innocent bystander when the strangest turn of events occurred after Anderson's go-ahead touchdown midway through the third quarter. The score gave Denver a temporary 17-14 lead, its first of the game.

As the rain came harder, there were four turnovers in a 2- minute, 11-second span, including three giveaways in a row by the philanthropic Broncos. Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna, playing because the Broncos had knocked starter Brock Huard out of the game, led a retaliatory march. But Kitna was intercepted in the end zone by Brown. On Denver's next play, Anderson coughed up a fumble that Seattle linebacker Chad Brown embraced andreturned 23 yards for a touchdown.

When the Seahawks kicked off, Deltha O'Neal fumbled the ball on the return. The Seahawks turned that into a field goal and a 24-17 lead.

"We're not happy with turnovers," Denver receiver Ed McCaffrey said. "I'd like to think we've got them all out of the way."

Oops, one more. On Denver's next play, Frerotte threw an interception. But Denver's defense, despite continuing a disturbing habit of allowing the occasional huge gain, held on a fourth-and-1 at Denver's 28-yard line.

The Broncos didn't squander the momentum. Receiver Rod Smith, playing a few snaps at running back - this stuff isn't made up - took a pitch left and ran 50 yards for a touchdown, tying the game.

Broncos cornerback Jimmy Spencer, filling in for injured Ray Crockett, gave Denver another temporary lead by returning another Kitna interception 21 yards for a score. As if the game would end there. Kitna and the Seahawks tied it again on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Sean Dawkins, a play set up by a 59-yard screen pass to Ricky Watters, with 4 minutes to go.

The Broncos had the Seahawks exactly where they wanted them - thinking they might win.

"I can't say we do it on purpose," Wilson said with a shrug.

Anderson went for his game-winning romp, the Broncos sideline erupted, and the players ran into the locker room in search for warmth and dry clothes and a bus out of town.

"I think that we always knew on the sidelines that somehow we were going to pull it off," linebacker Bill Romanowski said.

Sure. Just as sure as the sun shines in Seattle.

- John Branch may be reached at jbranch@gazette.com

Edited by Larry McFarland. Headline by Scott Gremillion

Kicking himself

Kickoff specialist Steve Lindsey didn't have a good day, failing to reach the end zone on any of his kicks. One third-quarter kick came down at the 18-yard line and was returned into Denver territory. But his final kick, with Denver leading 38-31 late in the fourth quarter, reached the goal line.

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