Raiders to Play Bears in Another Terror Bowl

Finally, an exhibition football game to keep you awake, say, until halftime: The Raiders and the Chicago Bears, two teams, to paraphrase ABC’s Keith Jackson, who are indistinguishable from each other, meet today at the Coliseum.

Each likes to consider itself unassailable as a purveyor of terror. The real distinction seems to be that between old intimidators and new intimidators, the Bears having gained an edge in the last two seasons by winning 12 more games, including a Super Bowl. Not to mention that fearsome ’84 beating they visited upon the Raiders in the ’84 Intimidation Bowl at Soldier Field.

Nevertheless, each team sniffs at the other.

In Chicago last week, Bear Coach Mike Ditka said he thought the Raiders would play this one like a regular-season game.

In Oxnard, linebacker Rod Martin said it wasn’t the Raiders who had anything to prove, bad-wise.

“They want our reputation,” Martin said. “We were the front-runners. Everybody thinks of intimidation, they think of the Raiders first. They wish they had our reputation.”

And this is just for practice. Since the teams will meet in a real game this season, everyone will probably find a way to hold something back today.

But there are those who can’t afford to, such as:

Rusty Hilger--It’s commencement time for the kid quarterback who comes in with a 39.1% completion average in three exhibitions. Whether it’s his fault, his dropsy receivers’ or his still-evolving line’s, he’s going to have to suffer for the sins of his unit, as did Marc Wilson and Jim Plunkett before him. Today, he gets the ultimate graduation exercise, the Bear rush.

Last season, it appeared that the Bears had reined in their marauders, but in this exhibition season, they’re back on the warpath. Last week against St. Louis, Wilber Marshall spent as much time in the Cardinal backfield as Neil Lomax.

“We’d like to play a little more of a Bear defense (the new name for Buddy Ryan’s old 46),” Ditka said last week. “We’re blitzing more, but we don’t blitz anymore than the Raiders, or Dallas, or anybody does. A couple years ago, we blitzed pretty much wholesale and forgot about covering people sometimes.”

Doug Flutie--He’s starting for the Bears, perhaps for the last time. Mike Tomczak is the No. 1 quarterback, Jim Harbaugh the No. 1 pick, Jim McMahon is pointed toward injured reserve and Ditka says he may not keep any more quarterbacks. Guess which smurf loses out?

Ironically, the 5-foot 9-inch Flutie is a Ditka favorite, which may be why Iron Mike is giving Bambi a last chance to prove something with the No. 1 offense.

Ditka shot Flutie up to No. 1 last season in a matter of weeks after his signing and started him in the playoff loss to the Redskins, but now says, “He’s the one who’s probably on the bubble, more than anybody else.”

McMahon, meanwhile, paid a visit to Dr. Frank Jobe after the Bears arrived in Los Angeles Friday, and team trainer Fred Caito later said McMahon is a candidate for injured reserve.

That means McMahon, who had a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder operated on last Dec. 12, probably will miss the Bears’ regular-season opener against the New York Giants Sept. 14.

For sure, he will not play against the Raiders tonight.

Of course, why any quarterback would dare to play in this game is another matter. The ’84 meeting claimed three of them. Bill Pickel knocked out McMahon, whereupon the Bears banged Wilson’s thumb, broke David Humm’s jaw, blew out his knee, and ended his career. They were trying to figure out which part of Ray Guy they were going to dismember when Wilson emerged from the dressing room and played the rest of the carnage.

“It was the most physical football game I’ve ever been around,” Ditka said. “ ‘Course, they lost some players. We lost a lot of players, too. It was the hardest hitting game I’ve ever been near on the sidelines. They went after each other.”

Oh good, just what everyone needs, a fight to the death in an exhibition? What about the real season?

It starts in a week. The Bears will open with the Giants, which is one reason they were giving the Raiders scant thought last week.

Also, there’s that rematch Dec. 27.

“We play again in December,” said Martin. “That game, shouldn’t nobody miss.”

Raider Notes Barring a miracle diet, William Perry probably won’t play on offense. Mike Ditka has vowed to keep him off the goal-line offense until he gets down to 315 or so. Ditka is threatening to fine Perry, too, and is only upset that he can’t tackle more of Perry’s money. “The fines are nothing right now,” Ditka laments. “You’ve got to live within the structure of the fine schedule. Fines start at 25 bucks. That’s what it was when I played football, and then we didn’t make anything. I can double the fine each time. You figure it out, when it goes from $200 (per pound) to $400 to $800 to $1,600 to $3,200, it’s going to mean something, and I plan to do that. I’m not going to back off. I think it’s that important for him.”

The (latest) Raider line: Bruce Davis at left tackle, Charley Hannah at left guard, Don Mosebar at center, with the two newcomers, rookie Bruce Wilkerson at right guard and journeyman Steve Wright at right tackle. This isn’t likely to be the final entry, since Brian Holloway is expected to ultimately become the left tackle. If that happens, it will probably be between Davis and Wright on the right side, with No. 1 pick John Clay now likely to be relegated to No. 4 tackle.