Raiders Take a Shot at the Oilers, Not at Moon

Al Davis has a dream . . .

The Raiders steal a victory here and there . . . and Jay Schroeder is ready by Game 3 or 4 . . . and Bo Jackson shows up around Game 6 or 7 . . . And guess who’s back in the playoffs?

Now, it’s not impossible. Of course, with a new coach, a new scheme, an offensive line with three players changing positions today and a newly acquired quarterback who’s attending training camp in the middle of the season, it might rank with the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, but it’s not impossible.

The Raiders might well have set the franchise back on its feet, but how fast they arise, we may learn today, even if fate has been kind enough to deliver up their next two foes with key losses:

--The Oilers, without Warren Moon.

--The Rams, without Charles White.

The Raiders, facing young Cody Carlson, the veer quarterback from Baylor who will be making his first pro start--Steve Beuerlein is the veteran today, get it?--are going off as two-point underdogs.

Why?

The Oilers are stacked.

Their offensive line is built around Mike Munchak, eighth overall pick in the 1982 draft; Bruce Matthews, ninth in ‘83, and Dean Steinkuhler, second in ’84. The prodigy at fullback is Alonzo Highsmith, second in ’87. Then there are Mike Rozier, who probably would have been ‘84’s top pick, coming off his Heisman season at Nebraska, had he not chosen the United States Football League, and Moon, the million-dollar free agent who auditioned a wide circle of teams when he left Canada.

What, besides disaster, could ever stop this team?

“You don’t like to lose two, three top-quality athletes,” said the native of Detroit with the imitation Texas twang.

“Unfortunately, this happened to us two years ago. We were undefeated in preseason, we blew out a team in the opener. Then we went out and lost five, six players. All of a sudden, I’m not as good a coach as I used to be.

“So I look for myself to . . . “

Oiler Coach Jerry Glanville, regarded in some circles as pro football’s answer to Bozo the clown, left the thought unfinished.

Was he just about to predict hard times in the wake of Moon’s broken shoulder blade, a downturn that would give the Houston press a chance to wax him anew?

Just when he thought he’d lived down his last embarrassment, that 20-yard lateral he had Moon throw Rozier in his own end zone on the very first play of the playoff game at Denver.

Rozier, of course, dropped it, as is his wont, and the Broncos had a 1-yard drive facing them.

The Broncos cruised to victory amid laughter. Glanville later produced fan letters begging him to stay just the way he is--no doubt from opposing coaches, skeptics said. He inaugurated a hug-a-writer-a-day program in camp. He got his name in the papers by leaving a ticket for Elvis Presley before a Memphis exhibition and one for James Dean at Indianapolis.

Let him leave one for Tom Flores or Forrest Gregg or someone who can coach, skeptics said.

And now, a real test for the Raider defense:

With Moon out, Glanville will probably keep it simple and pound away, as he did last week, with Rozier, who gained 100 yards in 25 carries; Allen Pinkett, who ran for 63 in 14 tries, and Highsmith. Of course, Rozier has a sprained ankle and a bruised shoulder.

“The trainers would say no but Rozier is the type of guy, he really plays with pain,” Glanville said. “He’s beat up all the time. You have to be here and coach here to realize how tough this guy is.

“He did his ankle in the first quarter. All he’d say when he came out, he’d go over to Pinky (Pinkett) and say, ‘Keep an eye on me. Keep an eye on me.’ What he’s saying is, ‘Any time now, I might not be able to go another play.’

“Well, in the fourth quarter, he’s sticking it down their throat. And that’s the way he is. He loves to compete. He hates practice. This is great for him. He’ll be on crutches. Him and I won’t argue. We’re liable to have our best week, me ‘n’ him.”

With a beginner at the controls, Glanville isn’t likely to start off with any 20-yard laterals into his end zone either, so who knows, it might be a net gain.

Raider Notes

From the Jim Everett deal, the Oilers have Sean Jones, William Fuller, Haywood Jeffires and Spencer Tillman--none starting--but Jerry Glanville says he’s thrilled to death. “Everett said he wanted to go out there (to the Rams) so he could get some good coaching. I’m happy for him. The last time I saw him, he needed some.” . . . A clarification: Raider center Bill Lewis says he has no personal knowledge of any player at Nebraska or anywhere else taking steroids, nor did he intend to suggest in quotes in a Times story last Wednesday that the Cornhusker situation differs from any other school’s.

Will Glanville be surprised if new Raider quarterback Jay Schroeder plays? “Nothing in this league surprises me,” he said. “They didn’t make that deal for him to have him watch. They’ll probably give him a couple plays.” . . . Ex-Raider Sean Jones was subdued in a conference call with the Raider press corps, but told the Houston Post’s Ray Buck: “Al (Davis) has to be kicking himself. He could have had Doug Williams for Bill Pickel last season but he wound up having to trade the best tackle in the NFL (Jim Lachey) for a quarterback who couldn’t even start for a team. Washington initiated that trade (Williams for Pickel). Al thinks when somebody else initiates the trade, something’s wrong.”

Steve Beuerlein faces an Oiler defense that blitzes often. Last season, the Oilers ranked 24th in sack percentage while allowing 22 touchdown passes in 12 non-strike games, but they got 5 sacks last week. . . . Missing cornerbacks: The crack Oiler duo of Steve Brown and Patrick Allen is gone. Brown pulled a hamstring while running back an interception for a touchdown--and pointing back at the pursuing Colts--last week. Allen held out and has been relegated to nickel back. The Oilers are starting rookie Cris Dishman and Richard Johnson, their 1985 No. 1 pick who has failed all previous tries.