Raiders Just Miss Here, Miss There, Fall to Eagles, 10-7

That was nothing less than respectability staring the Raiders in the face, but they kicked it and threw it away and lined up offside on it and in general treated it like the stranger it has been.

So today, they’re still schleppers.

Oh, and schleppers with a quarterback controversy going again. Steve Beuerlein replaced Jay Schroeder for the second consecutive week, and the early line says Beuerlein will be on line next week.

Sunday before an increasingly depressed sellout in Veterans Stadium, a new Raider kicker named Jeff Jaeger won fame at last, missing two eminently makeable field goals, letting the Philadelphia Eagles off the hook with a 10-7 victory.

Jaeger had an early miss from 28 yards--for perspective, that’s fewer than 10 yards longer than an extra point--and pushed it to the right.

He had another chance to tie the score from 42 yards with 1:59 left, as the Raiders rallied from a 10-0 deficit . . . and it went farther right.

So there went Art Shell’s undefeated record, his chance to go 4-3 and show the world the Raiders are already back. He has a resurgent defense but a struggling offense and a starting quarterback who has completed 37% of his passes since the coaching change. He has hooked Schroeder twice in two weeks, suggesting that a more permanent hook awaits.

“I don’t want to think about that right now,” Shell said of his quarterbacks. “I just want to get back on the plane and go home.”

Otherwise, it was sort of a Raider triumph.

They played the Eagles, a quote Super Bowl contender unquote, evenly all day, even if it’s obvious that reports of Eagle greatness might have been greatly exaggerated.

The Eagles got 198 yards total, scoring their touchdown and field goal on drives of 24 and five yards, respectively, both after interceptions.

The Raiders held All-World Randall Cunningham to eight for 20 passing, even if Cunningham was without a running game, as usual, and without receivers Mike Quick and Keith Jackson.

Behind Beuerlein in the fourth quarter, the Raiders rallied from 10-0, closed to 10-7 and drove to the Eagle 15-yard line in the dying minutes of the game.

There, they died, too.

On second and five, they sent Bo Jackson around end . . . and into the arms of Jerome Brown for a one-yard loss.

On third and five, they got the blitz they expected . . . and succumbed to it, linebacker Seth Joyner knocking the ball from Beuerlein’s hand, forcing the quarterback to fall on it.

“We had a perfect play called,” Beuerlein said later. “We had maximum protection. What I should have done was take a quick drop and throw it up in the end zone for Willie Gault, who was being covered man-to-man. What I did, I looked for Mervyn Fernandez, who didn’t have the ideal route for that coverage. I held the ball a little too long. Willie’s the one I should have gone to and we’d have had a real good shot at a touchdown.”

On fourth down, Jaeger missed his 42-yarder and there’s your old ballgame.

“Just missed it,” Jaeger said.

“Worst kick I’ve had all year. Just left it out to the right. Soon as I hit it, I didn’t even look. It missed by a good bit, I know that.

“The first one I missed, I thought I’d hit well. Looked like it just took off right, like a slice when you’re playing golf. On that one, I was more puzzled. The last one was a horrible kick.”

It was a taut finish, preceded by an awful game.

Both defenses were stalwart. Both offenses were tackling dummies.

Cunningham had three yards passing in the first period.

Schroeder missed on his first five passes and was four for 15 at the half.

The Eagles reached the Raider 23 in the second period, setting up Luis Zendejas for a 41-yard field goal . . . which he missed.

The Raiders reached the Eagles’ eight in the second period on a quarterback draw (Mike Shanahan lives!) but Rory Graves was called for illegal motion, nullifying the play. Jaeger wound up trying his 28-yarder . . . which went awry.

Some fun so far, huh?

In the third period, the Raiders reached the Eagle 15 . . . and went holding penalty (Bruce Wilkerson), incomplete pass, sack, incomplete pass, punt.

The Eagles didn’t even get that close until Schroeder tried to beat the Eagle rush by throwing the ball away, and got it only as far as cornerback Izel Jenkins at the Raider 46. Jenkins returned it 22 yards and it only took Cunningham four plays to cover the last 24 yards. Randall dove the final yard, which was only appropriate, and it was 7-0.

Beuerlein entered the game at that point, promptly misread a coverage and threw an interception of his own. Middle linebacker Byron Evans got it at the Raider 32 and returned it to the 17.

This time, the Raider defense didn’t budge.

Zendejas came to atone for his first miss with a field-goal attempt from the 39 . . . and missed again.

Whoops! New Raider bomb squadder Dan Land was detected lining up offside.

Zendejas came back to atone for his first two misses with an attempt from the 34 . . . and finally hit one.

Suddenly the Raiders arose, driving 80 yards for a touchdown. Beuerlein threw a 34-yard pass to tight end Mike Dyal, scrambled for eight yards on third and nine, saw Steve Smith convert on fourth and one, then threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Willie Gault.

The Raider defense shut the Eagles down again, three plays and out.

The Raiders got the ball at their 42 and got as far as the Eagle 15. Beuerlein picked up a third and four with a six-yard pass to Fernandez, a third and one with a six-yard pass to Smith, a third and four with a five-yard pass to Smith.

But on third and six at the 16, Joyner sacked Beuerlein and the rest you know.

To see if it was enough to make Beuerlein a starter again, tune in later.

“You know me well enough to know how I’ll handle that one,” Beuerlein said. “I’ll just come in tomorrow like I always do and if I’m the guy, I’m the guy.”

Said Schroeder: “I wouldn’t be surprised (if a switch is made). I don’t know what to expect. But it’s not going to take away from anything I’m doing.

“I’m struggling in certain areas but I’m trying to make plays. And sometimes there’s some stuff that’s not there. The last couple of weeks, nobody has done anything fantastic in the passing game.

“You never feel comfortable coming out. I always feel I have a chance to win the football game. But it’s the head coach’s decision and you just have to live with it and make yourself better.”

So much for opportunity. The Raiders could have been 4-3 and surging, but instead it’s 3-4 and rebuilding.

“We can play with anybody,” Howie Long said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. Who’s out there that much head-and-shoulders above the rest right now?

“I feel like the better team lost today. Unfortunately, that better-team-losing doesn’t cut the mustard. Look at the scoreboard. We got our butts kicked in those terms.”

Raider Notes

New non-admirers: Buddy Ryan and Bo Jackson: The Eagle coach said earlier in the week that if he was Bo’s father, he would tell him to play baseball rather than face the Eagle defense. Said Jackson Sunday: “That’s why Buddy Ryan’s not my father.” . . . Jackson gained a tough 79 yards and had a 4.0 average. Ryan, asked if Bo impressed him, said: “Oh yeah. He stayed in the ballgame quite a while.” . . . Jackson, asked if this was the toughest defense he’d seen this season, said that he’d only seen two--and the Eagles weren’t as physical as the first team, the Kansas City Chiefs. “To be honest with you, I came in and I expected to leave this game all bruised and beaten to heck,” he said. “But that’s not the case.”

There was also a lot of woofing on the field, highlighted by Steve Beuerlein, the daredevil, going back-and-forth with Eagle rushers after throwing his touchdown pass. Clyde Simmons reportedly told Beuerlein he was going to break his . . . neck. Said Beuerlein: “I’m very competitive but I would hope that the guys don’t judge me by the way I am on the field. I’m thick-skulled . . .”