Raiders : Offense Needs to Start Cashing In 6-Pointers

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It’s still slow going, reassembling that Raider powerhouse. They’ve switched to Steve Beuerlein . . . they’re cranking out 150 yards a game on the ground . . .

And where are those old Raider 6’s?

In their 3-game winning streak, they have scored 3 touchdowns. Luckily for them, they’ve held their opponents to 1.

The Raiders scored none Sunday after being turned back at the San Francisco 1 in the first quarter on Marcus Allen’s fumble; being turned back on fourth and 1 at the San Francisco 32 in the second quarter, and being twice denied at the 49ers’ 1 in the fourth quarter, after which Chris Bahr kicked his third field goal.

Not good enough, you say?

Mike Shanahan agrees.

“It better alert everybody on our football team that we can’t pass up these opportunities and expect to win,” Shanahan said Monday.

“But at the same time, I think our football team sees, ‘Hey, we’re not far away.’ We’re making some strides, but we’re able to win because our defense is playing extremely well. But in order for us to win down the stretch, we’re going to have to get the football in the end zone.”

Another opportunity awaits.

The Atlanta Falcons, whom the Raiders will play here Sunday, are 27th in overall defense, 26th against the run, 22nd against the pass, 26th in points allowed.

Shanahan, who gave game balls to his entire defense, singled out end Mike Wise and strong safety Russell Carter for praise.

For Carter, this is as much a come-from-nowhere story as it is for Wise. The former New York Jets cornerback and No. 1 pick was cut earlier this season and re-signed when Vann McElroy and Stacey Toran were hurt. Now Toran, last season a budding Pro Bowl candidate, is healed and can’t get back into the lineup.

It’s a common theme in this secondary.

Ron Fellows, the left cornerback, was cut, then re-signed after rookie Terry McDaniel broke a leg. McDaniel is coming back slowly, but Fellows is playing so well, the Raiders are no longer counting it down by the second.

Mike Haynes, the right cornerback, came perilously close to getting his great neck axed in camp, too, but got a late reprieve. He has played so well that Sunday they turned Jerry Rice over to him, sending him to whichever side the 49ers’ all-world receiver lined up. Rice wound up with 5 catches for 61 yards, and on 1 of them, Haynes stripped the ball for a fumble the Raiders recovered.

Who’s been saying those bad things about the AFC West?

This proud division went 5-0 against outsiders Sunday, which was a little surprising seeing as how they’d beaten only four other outsiders all season.

This Sunday, the Raiders will be at home, while both their co-leaders travel. Seattle will be at Kansas City, where Chuck Knox is 0-5 as Seahawks coach. Look for the Seahawks to break through, since the Chiefs have had their celebration for the month. With the Raiders winning at San Francisco, the Seahawks need this game.

Did Denver’s blowout of the Cleveland Browns mean the Broncos are over the hump? Hardly. They’re at New Orleans this week. After that, they play the Rams at home, the Raiders in the Coliseum, the Seahawks in the Kingdome and the New England Patriots at home. Count the number of sure victories in there.

Also, the Broncos have the worst division record of the three, and have already lost home games to both the Raiders and Seahawks. Unless they can turn that around--they’d have to beat both in their homes for a start--they’ll lose on all tiebreakers. As things stand, the Broncos will have to win outright to prevail, and they have the toughest schedule.

Consolation possibilities: With the Browns’ slide, the three AFC West teams at 6-5 are also tied with Cleveland, New England and Indianapolis in the race for the last wild-card spot.

Raider Notes

Mike Wise leads the team with 5 sacks. He’s gotten all of them in the last 5 games, or since Howie Long was lost. Greg Townsend is stuck at 4 1/2, having lost 2 to a penalty call and an instant-replay review in the last couple of weeks. Rookie Scott Davis has 4 1/2. . . . Mike Shanahan: “That probably was as excited as I’ve ever been after a game. I went in to (trainer) George Anderson’s room and I didn’t see anybody out (for) 1 week, 2 weeks. There was no bad news. I hugged George. George wasn’t really sure what I was doing.” . . . In their last 3 games, the Raiders have allowed 208, 216 and 219 yards. Until then, they had given up an average of 349.