PRO FOOTBALL / Week 7 : Raiders Hope to Break Dolphin Hearts Again : Miami Is Struggling as It Tries For First Win in This Rivalry Since ’78

It’s a big Raider farewell to the Orange Bowl, where the palm trees sway behind one end zone and Flipper used to frolic in his tank and Don Shula still roams the sideline, scaring officials.

The Miami Dolphins are due to move into their new stadium out by the Broward County line next season, a facility described in a Dolphin press release as “America’s premier open-air complex . . . just another in a long line of promises made and kept by Joe Robbie to the sports fans of south Florida.” Who’s writing this stuff, Joe Robbie?

The old Dolphin home was no small advantage, a tropical paradise that was one step removed from hell for a visiting team. Unfortunately for the sports fans of south Florida, it has turned into Paradise Lost.

The Dolphins have already lost one game here this season, and three on the road, making them 2-4. The Raiders are one-point favorites today, making this the fourth time in six years that the Dolphins have been underdogs in the Orange Bowl.

That’s no favor to Raider fans, since the Dolphins won the first three.

The Dolphins have earned their new humble estate, though. After Shula delared that he felt “100% better” about his defense, the San Diego Chargers torched it for 50 points in the opener.

The Dolphins came home and beat Indianapolis, which is the equivalent of a test to determine whether you’re legally alive.

The New York Jets lit bonfires all over Giants Stadium. Every time the Dolphin defense got to third-and-long, the Jets dropped the big one.

On third and 14 just before the half, Ken O’Brien threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Walker. With 40 seconds left in the first half and everyone aware of what was on O’Brien’s mind, he threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Walker. With the Dolphins ahead by seven points, O’Brien threw to Walker for another touchdown pass on the last play of regulation time. In overtime, O’Brien found Walker for another touchdown pass, this one covering 43 yards.

Remember when Bill Arnsparger was coaching the Dolphin defense and it was called the Killer B’s? Well, Arnsparger is at LSU now, Chuck Studley has the Miami defense, and it’s known as Stud’s Duds.

In came the San Francisco 49ers, who won, 31-16, in the Orange Bowl while the fans even booed St. Daniel, Dan Marino, who threw four interceptions amid chants of, “Vinny! Vinny!” a reference to the city’s new hot quarterback, Vinny Testaverde of the University of Miami.

Then came a 34-7 pasting in New England, dropping the Dolphins to 1-4.

Wasn’t there someone out there they could beat? Who made out this schedule, Al Davis?

Oh yeah, the Buffalo Bills. Marino was cheered last week while leading the glorious 27-14 victory. Of course, there were fewer people doing the cheering. The crowd of 49,467 was the lowest at the Orange Bowl in five seasons.

Beating the Raiders, though, would be something else.

The Raiders have been breaking hearts locally ever since the boys in aqua and orange first lined up against counterparts in silver and black.

The first game the Dolphins ever played was a 23-14 loss to the Raiders at the Orange Bowl.

The Raiders lead the series, 14-3-1, and have inflicted some losses Dolphin fans will remember until the seas run dry: the 12-7 game at Berkeley in 1973 that ended Miami’s NFL-record 18-game winning streak; the 28-26 playoff decision in ’74 that the Raiders won on Ken Stabler’s late, falling lob to Clarence Davis, eliminating the Dolphins after three straight Super Bowl appearances, and the ’84 game here in which Dan Marino threw for 470 yards as the Dolphins lost, 45-34.

You want more?

The Raiders are 5-3-1 here. Against the rest of the NFL, the Dolphins are 105-30-2 at home.

Tom Flores is 5-0 against Shula, as the Dolphins haven’t beaten the Raiders since John Madden was coach in 1978.

If the Dolphins win, they can dream of getting back into the playoff race.

If the Raiders win, they’re in something resembling good shape after their 0-3 start, with a winnable game coming up in Houston next week, and then--thump thump--the Denver Broncos at home.

So here come the matchups, classic and otherwise:

CLASSIC--The world’s greatest passing attack with Marino, who according to Lester Hayes is “the second coming of Joe Namath,” throwing to Mark Clayton, who has a 21.1-yards-a-catch average and 4 touchdowns, and Mark Duper, whose numbers are 18.0 and 3.

They’re matched against Howie Long, Bill Pickel and Sean Jones but not Greg Townsend, who is suspended. Townsend wondered if it wasn’t because NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and Shula are “good friends.”

Clayton and Duper line up against Hayes and Mike Haynes, who were much whispered about in the off-season but who are still formidable.

OTHERWISE--The Raider offense, with Marc Wilson expected to take the helm again, meets Stud’s Duds, 27th in the league in defense. The Raiders have rallied, but mildly. Against the Chargers, who have the NFL’s No. 28 defense, they scored two touchdowns. In the last five weeks, they have a grand total of seven.

Are the Raiders going quietly into the night on this Townsend thing? Aren’t they Raiders?

Rod Martin said some type of protest is coming.

Flores said he’d prefer if they all just put it behind them.

Martin said that whatever they do won’t be hard to spot.

“They think they’re trying to hurt us, the league office,” Martin said. “It’s only going to help us in the long run. It’s another adverse time for the Raiders.”

Marcus Allen aggravated his sprained right ankle in Thursday’s practice and may not play today. Napoleon McCallum will start, as he has for the last two weeks.