It’s a Big Game for One of the Teams : Raiders: Largest Coliseum crowd of the season expected for Broncos as L.A. tries to keep wild-card hopes alive.

Is this their last hurrah?

The Raiders have an advance sale over 70,000 and are hoping for a crowd in the 80s today when they play the Denver Broncos. Who knows if we’ll ever see it again: the Raiders in the Coliseum, a big game, a big crowd?

Raider sources have been talking for two weeks about an announcement after the Denver game that the team is moving north.

The usual news silver-and-blackout continues here, but in the Bay Area, Raider partner Jack Brooks said that a decision was near.

There are more subplots going here than in a Russian novel. The Raiders are playing for their lives. So does anyone care that they’re facing their ex-coach, Mike Shanahan, now remembered as the outsider who wouldn’t let them sit on their helmets?

Despite complaints about his non-Raider style, Raider players say they had nothing against Shanahan personally and discount his presence as a factor in anything.

“My ex-coach?” Howie Long said. “My ex-coach is Earl Leggett (also on the Bronco staff now).”

So who needed another factor, anyway?

“I think every Raider game you play is a grudge match,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said. “There’s no love lost between either team and there never will be. Regardless of who’s coaching, it’s always going to be the Raiders and Broncos and that’s not going to change.”

Of course, this is a grudge match that the Broncos want . . . but the Raiders need.

The Raiders are fighting six teams in a wild-card race, trailing three of them, counting potential tiebreakers.

Meanwhile, the Broncos are 10-2, have already clinched the AFC West, and are two victories away from wrapping up the home-field advantage for the playoffs.

The Broncos’ big problem?

Overconfidence?

What we’ve got here is a minor miracle.

A year ago, the Broncos were No. 19 in rushing and No. 25 against the rush. Their lack of strength and speed showed whenever they got out of friendly Mile High Stadium and onto artificial turf in a string of utter humiliations: 39-21 at Pittsburgh; 55-23 at Indianapolis; 42-0 at New Orleans; 42-14 at Seattle.

After the season, they sacked longtime defensive genius Joe Collier for Wade Phillips, Bum’s son, who had been running Buddy Ryan’s defense in Philadelphia.

They said they were going to unleash their players.

A question sprang to mind: Just what was it they thought they were unleashing?

A new coordinator? A new system? Three new starters, two of them Plan B free agents? It figured to take years to work, if it ever did. There was as much enthusiasm before the season for the Kansas City Chiefs as for the Broncos. Don Heinrich’s Pro Preview had the Raiders first, the Chiefs third and the Broncos fourth.

Today, Denver is No. 6 rushing; No. 9 against the rush; No. 5 in overall defense; No. 4 in sacks; No. 6 in scoring; No. 2 in points allowed.

The Broncos’ offensive line is 10 pounds per man heavier than the one that lined up in San Diego for Super Bowl XXI.

With the draft, the supplemental draft and Plan B, they acquired five new starters, including the red-hot No. 1s, safety Steve Atwater and halfback Bobby Humphrey.

Bottom line: If anyone but the Broncos gets a vote for top organization this season, the competition is a farce.

There’s one little problem . . . or is it a problem?

Nobody seems to be picking up on it.

Maybe it’s Denver’s two recent Super Bowl wipeouts--42-10 by the Redskins, 39-20 by the Giants. Maybe everyone thinks it’s still John Elway, Karl Mecklenburg, Three Amigos and the usual mirror job, with Reeves’ flea-flickers and Collier poring over his Polaroids.

The 8-2 Broncos were underdogs when they went east to play the 5-6 Redskins. They held the Redskins to 77 yards rushing and won, without John Elway.

The 10-2 Broncos are slight underdogs to the 6-6 Raiders today.

“Every week is just like this week,” safety Dennis Smith said. “This is no different than the others. We’re underdogs. People don’t fully believe in the Broncos.

“We play with a chip on our shoulder anyway. We know how people look at us.”

If they’re smart, they’ll think about it first.

Raider Notes

Bo Jackson is listed as probable with a sore knee. Nagged by injuries, he has been held to 54 and 64 yards in his last two outings. . . . The Broncos haven’t allowed 100 yards to any back this season.

Wild-card picture: The Raiders have two more games against other contenders, including this one. The Bengals, Colts and Oilers have three; the Dolphins and Steelers one. A Pittsburgh victory today at home against Houston would make the Steelers more than a darkhorse. . . . Matchup: Dan Reeves says Howie Long is playing “as well as I’ve ever seen him play.” The Bronco running game ranks No. 6, led by rookie Bobby Humphrey, who has 803 yards and a 3.9-yard average per carry.

Marcus Allen was activated Saturday so his Raider career isn’t over yet. The Raiders also activated cornerback Dennis Price, cut Vince Evans and placed Timmy Ware on injured reserve. . . Vann McElroy says he’s ready but has been held out of drills. The new free safety, Eddie Anderson, is an Al Davis favorite. Also, McElroy was persuaded to renegotiate his contract last summer, agreeing to take less money for any game he misses because of injury.

John Elway, who started slowly--five touchdown passes, eight interceptions--has revived since Mike Shanahan’s return and those numbers now read nine and six. Said Dennis Smith: “Just having (Shanahan) back gave Elway a boost. You saw it as soon as he came back.” . . . Smith, who once played safety opposite Ronnie Lott at USC, is doubtful with a groin pull. Smith has been to the Pro Bowl twice and Denver officials say he deserves a third trip. “The AFC defensive player of the year will probably go to someone with 13 sacks but he’s been phenomenal,” Bronco publicist Jim Saccomano said. Smith is credited with causing six fumbles.

The Broncos’ free safety is even bigger than Smith. He’s 217-pound No. 1 pick Steve Atwater. “When he hits someone, I expect the ball to come out,” Smith said. “When it doesn’t, I’m disappointed.” . . . This remains the only series that has been swept each year since the current scheduling format began in 1978. The Broncos won the first meeting this season, 24-21. Last season, the Raiders swept, taking the Monday night game in Denver after trailing, 21-0 at halftime; winning here, 21-20, with Greg Townsend’s 86-yard interception return for a touchdown the key play.