Bo Lasts 2 Plays, Raiders Done After 1st Half, 20-6

The few, the proud, the Raiders got fewer Sunday, losing Bo Jackson after 2 plays, by which time he had run for 45--count ‘em, 45--yards.

Nothing that happy happened for the silver and black after that. Mike Shanahan relieved Jay Schroeder again. The Superdome-on-Legs, rookie fullback Craig (Ironhead) Heyward, broke up the game with a 73-yard touchdown run and the New Orleans Saints cruised to a 20-6 victory.

Could it have been different?

Ask the principals.

“These people missed a natural disaster,” Jackson mused later, surveying more than 60,000 seats at the Superdome as he walked across the field.

“I would have brought the house down.”

Achilles had his heel.

Bo, a mythic figure in his own right, has his right hamstring.

He pulled it during the baseball season, or that game would probably have had another 30-30 man.

He felt it tighten Sunday after he jumped off to that stupendous start, 25 yards around right end on his first carry, 20 around left end on the next play, against what was supposed to be a top-notch defense that was set for him.

And he left.

“I felt it knot up,” Jackson said later. “The leg wasn’t feeling too comfortable during warm-ups. I came in and talked to the trainers. They did some work on it, but I had this eerie feeling that something was going to happen this afternoon, as far as my right leg was concerned.

“Luckily I stepped out of bounds when I did. If I’d taken a couple more steps, I probably would have torn it.”

If laymen should guard against presuming themselves to be fit judges of others’ pain, it is also true that great backs are judged by another standard. Jim Brown and Walter Payton missed one game in their combined careers, a fact that was widely noted last season when a sprained ankle forced Bo to miss two.

“Those are two very fortunate people,” Jackson said. “And I don’t give a damn what people say about them missing one game.

“I’m going to do what Bo can do. The hell with what people say, because they don’t have to live with my injuries or my pain. I’m looking out for No. 1.

“If I went out and got hurt and couldn’t play, where would all those people be then? I wouldn’t have anyone to turn to but my family.

“That doesn’t bother me. I do what I can to help the team and that’s it.”

Even with Jackson gone, the Raiders tore off another 98 yards on the ground in the first half.

Their four-man defensive line stuffed the Saints’ running game. At the half, they had outgained their hosts, 245-110. Bobby Hebert was sacked 9 times before Sunday, when the Raiders got him twice before halftime.

The Raiders even took the lead, 6-3, when Schroeder, 1 for 8 late in the second period, hit Mervyn Fernandez with a long pass Fernandez turned into an 85-yard scoring play.

How long could they make it stand up?

On the first play of the second half, Heyward, who had only two previous (short) carries, tried left tackle. Bill Pickel filled the hole, but he was being blocked and Ironhead bounced off him.

Ironhead then executed a reverse pivot, something a baby elephant isn’t supposed to be able to do on such short notice, spinning away from three Raiders, including Linden King.

He bolted into the Raider backfield where he encountered diminutive cornerback Ron Fellows.

He ran over Fellows like a Cadillac crunching a tricycle left in the driveway.

He galloped the last 65 yards into the end zone. Watch for the replay on many TV shows.

“I was just trying to hang onto him and hope somebody else helped,” Fellows said.

How much was Fellows giving away?

Well, Heyward is listed at 253, which would be a 75-pound difference.

“I think he’s 300,” Fellows said. “They’re being nice to him.”

The Saints had the lead back, 10-6. With the crowd awake once more, their defense began devouring the Raiders’ offense.

The Raiders went three-plays-and-out twice in a row, with their running plays going for no gain, minus-9, minus-4.

The Saints launched a 48-yard scoring drive, with Dalton Hilliard going the last 7 yards for the touchdown and a 17-6 lead.

Shanahan went one more series with Schroeder. The Raiders reached the New Orleans 36-yard line and went for it on 4th and 7, but Schroeder misread James Lofton’s route and threw the ball harmlessly into the end zone, making him 5 for 20.

The problem continues. Schroeder, the late arrival, doesn’t have command of the offense.

And his confidence isn’t all it might be, either.

“There’s no possible way it would be all you’d like it to,” Schroeder said.

“You’d like to be on top, winning every football game, making every read and throwing the ball just where you want to.

“That doesn’t happen (right away). That’s not a realistic goal. That’s fantasy football.

“You’ve got to deal with reality. There are going to be ups and downs. This is one of the downs, obviously. Don’t get too down. Come back fighting and see what happens.”

What might have been is not. . . .

“I’m not trying to take anything away from the Saints,” Jackson said. “I’m not trying to say that I would have made the difference. But they weren’t getting on the corners fast enough. We would have given them a run for their money.”

What might have been is nothing. An unhappy band of Raiders went home to deal with grim reality.

Raider Notes

Left guard Charley Hannah broke his left ankle in the first period and will be lost for the season. He’ll be the 11th starter (Vann McElroy, Don Mosebar, Todd Christensen, Terry McDaniel, Stacey Toran, Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Steve Smith, Willie Gault, Bill Lewis) to miss a game because of injury. This doesn’t include players such as Tim Brown and Jerry Robinson, who saw only spot duty Sunday because of injuries. John Gesek takes Hannah’s place. . . . You had to see ‘em to believe ‘em: Mervyn Fernandez made another circus catch on a 49-yard play to go with his 85-yard scoring play. Allen, broken wrist and all, ran for 102 yards and a 5.1 average. . . . Steve Beuerlein’s numbers: 5 for 11, with an interception that he called “stupid.” . . . Raiders are 3-5, still one game behind 4-4 Denver and Seattle. They will play host to the Kansas City Chiefs next week.