Jeff George had four scoring passes for the Raiders, but the play that turned the game around was a poorly thrown pass while he was being knocked down.
Oakland was trailing 14-0 and getting booed by its own fans midway through the second quarter when George’s ill-advised pass was intercepted by Keith Lyle at the St. Louis 10. But Rams defensive tackle Jeff Zgonina, who pounded George after he threw the pass, was called for roughing the passer.
George scrambled for 11 yards on the next play and threw a scoring pass to James Jett two plays after that. That began a 28-point run by the Raiders (2-3), who dominated the rest of the game against the Rams (2-3).
“It probably rattled some cobwebs. It woke me up,” said George. “It was a late hit, but looking back now I’m glad he did it.”
“It definitely changed the momentum of the game. It was hard to come back,” Lyle said.
George had scoring passes of 14 and 8 yards to Jett, and 34 and 5 yards to Rickey Dudley. Napoleon Kaufman, who also had a 65-yard run, added a 1-yard scoring dive.
