Raiders Have Problems, but So Does the West : Elsewhere in the Division, Seattle and Denver Aren’t Having the Best of Times

Things are tough all over department:

The Raiders are off to a better start in Coach Mike Shanahan’s “second season” than, say Denver, but there is still an unresolved problem here and there in silver and blackdom. Try the rushing defense that has allowed 190 and 147 yards in successive weeks.

Playing the run is where defense starts. The Kansas City Chiefs, with their spooked-looking quarterbacks, couldn’t take advantage of that Raider lack Sunday, but a balanced team that runs well will be able to throw without pressure, freezing linebackers on play-action fakes, and will take you apart.

A team that can stop the run forces opponents to throw on predictable downs, and can then gang up and sack their quarterbacks. Voila! You’ve got a dominating defense, which is what the Raiders had through most of the 1980s.

The defensive line misses Howie Long badly but will probably miss him some more. Out on a “week-to-week” basis with a calf injury, Long has missed 3 games and is listed as doubtful for Sunday night’s game at San Diego. Long has a good reputation for playing hurt among his teammates, who are wondering if the problem was worse than anyone ever let on.

“He’s improving,” Shanahan said. “He kind of got set back last week. He aggravated it a little. I’ll get a better feel later in the week.”

But this is the AFC West, where problems are the order of the day (See Indianapolis 55, Denver 23.)

The demise of this division, the best in football as recently as 1985, when Denver went 11-5, finished third and missed the playoffs, is shocking, but here it is:

--Seattle. Remember the Dome of Doom? The Seahawks are only 2-2 there.

Remember Ground Chuck? Chuck Knox’s star runner, Curt Warner, is averaging 3.8 yards a carry. The only season before this in which his average dipped below 4.0 was 1985, when he was coming off major knee surgery.

Remember Chuck’s rock-ribbed defense? It’s giving up 4.6 yards a rush . Jim Brown only averaged 5.2. The Raiders are giving up only 4.2. The Chargers, no running fools, hit the Seahawks for 136 and a 5.2 average Sunday in the Kingdome.

Remember gritty quarterback Dave Krieg from defunct Milton College? He may be as defunct as Milton. He’ll be back from his injury in a couple of weeks, but the betting in Seattle is that Knox, who has long dreamed of dumping him, bites the bullet and stays with rookie Kelly Stouffer.

Remember Steve Largent? He started the season needing 4 touchdown catches to catch Don Hutson for No. 1 all-time--and is still 4 behind. That’s right, he hasn’t caught any this season.

Remember the Boz? Brian Bosworth? Sunglasses? Funny haircut? Check your local bookstore for his likeness, but you may have to wait if you want to see him in action. He just had arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder. Suffice to say, his impact in the league doesn’t match his cachet on the best-seller lists.

Who are the Seahawks, really?

Check out their next 2 games, in which they will be home against the Buffalo Bills (8-1) and Houston Oilers (6-3).

--And now for that other struggling power.

Even before their Monday night dismemberment by the Colts, the Broncos were sagging. They’ve been too small for years. Dan Reeves and his staff may have pulled off the mirror job of the decade, but the mirror has cracked. The community is now encamped at the throat of its previous idol, John Elway, who threw 11 interceptions and only 7 touchdown passes going into Monday night’s game. But Elway is probably just trying to make up for what’s missing.

What’s that?

Let’s start with half the old offensive staff, including new Raider coaches Shanahan, Alex Gibbs and Nick Nicolau.

Shanahan was traditionally given much of the credit in Denver for smoothing the Elway-Reeves hard feelings left over from Elway’s rookie season.

Last week, there were already signs of disaffection.

“There’s definitely a problem, as far as enthusiasm and enjoying what we’re doing,” Elway told Denver writers.

“I don’t know what it is. We’ve got to find something to light the fire. Right now, we’re going out on Sunday and we’re not enjoying ourselves and it’s not fun. I think right now the guys are burned out, period.

“And I’m probably going to be in trouble for saying that. I’ll probably be in Dan’s office tomorrow for saying that.”

The next day he was in Dan’s office, all right.

Also, Karl Mecklenburg is out, Rulon Jones is only a pass rusher, the Broncos are giving up 4.6 yards a rush and 150 a game, themselves, which puts them last in the league. Denver has only a 2-3 division record--the Raiders are 4-0, the Seahawks 3-1--with remaining division games in Seattle and Los Angeles.

So settle in. This race promises to be with us for a long while.

Raider Notes

Mike Shanahan on Marcus Allen, now the leading Raider in touchdowns: “He’s probably one of the best leaders I’ve been around, one of the toughest, hard-nosed players I’ve been around. He’s a guy you’d like to start your team with. If you had a team full of Marcus Allens, it’d be hard to lose.”

Vann McElroy, Malcolm Taylor and Bill Lewis have all been listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game. McElroy’s injury has been diagnosed as torn rib cartilage, and Lewis went to the hospital for tests on his ankle, which were negative. . . . Cornerback Terry McDaniels’ comeback has been delayed to the Atlanta game in 3 weeks, or 3 weeks later than first estimates. In his absence, however, Ron Fellows, cut and re-signed, continues to play well.