It’s Jolly Bad Loss for Raiders, 17-10 : NFL: With Schroeder and then Evans at quarterback, offense fails to generate excitement during exhibition at London.

The British, wowed when pro football was introduced to their isle four years ago by the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears, showed Sunday that they have become more sophisticated about the game--once the impact of the once-a-year show wore off.

It did, quickly.

Wembley Stadium’s 63,106 screamed, cheered and waved their way through the early moments, then had to be exhorted by a public address announcer to awaken to watch the rest of the New Orleans Saints’ 17-10 victory over the Raiders in the first exhibition game of the season for both teams.

It was dubbed the fifth annual American Bowl Classic, a misnomer.

To many of the fans, some of whom paid the equivalent of $75 each for Raiders’ and Saints’ jerseys and wildly applauded even five-yard penalties and timeouts, it hardly mattered that they never saw Marcus Allen, Willie Gault, Steve Beuerlein, Bobby Hebert or other famous names who either are holding out or were not physically ready.

For fans who get just one game a year, it was easy to find new, instant heroes: second-string talents such as Raiders’ defensive back/special-teamer Elvis Patterson and Saints’ quarterback Dave Wilson; and rookies such as Charles Arbuckle, a former UCLA tight end who caught five passes in his first game for the Saints.

The Britons saw dropped passes, bad passes, fumbles and interceptions. But they also saw a blocked-punt touchdown by Patterson, a picture-book 54-yard pass completion from Wilson to Brent Perriman and place-kicking by Morten Andersen, the Saints’ Dutch-born converted soccer player who probably felt more at home than anyone in Wembley Stadium, the world’s historic headquarters for what Britons call football.

As subdued Raider Coach Art Shell put it: “There were a couple of exciting moments. I think the fans enjoyed it.”

Which is not to say that he did.

“We had a lot of opportunity, and we just didn’t put the ball in the end zone,” Shell said, looking grimmer than a head coach with simple jet lag after four quarters of watching his offense.

Each time the Raiders drove into Saints territory, Shell said, “Something would happen. We’d stop ourselves.”

Or be stopped by the Saints, in the viewpoint of New Orleans folk who made the trip and likely confused proper Britons with the usual Superdome sign: “Who Dat?”

The Saints’ Kim Phillips intercepted a Vince Evans pass in the end zone in the third period. And Gene Atkins picked off another to end a fourth-quarter drive. Who Dem?

Designated Raider starting quarterback Jay Schroeder had his own problems, hitting only seven of 18 passes for 74 yards in the first half. He moved them no deeper than the Saints’ 22-yard line until Jeff Jaeger connected for a 31-yard field goal to cut a deficit to 7-3 as the first half ended.

Schroeder’s counterpart, John Fourcade, was more impressive, completing nine of 18 passes for 85 yards, including six of eight--two to Arbuckle--on a 16-play, 83-yard second-quarter drive that ended with Reuben Mayes’ touchdown from three yards out.

By then, the British had wised up, becoming subdued at the performance they had paid to see. Their memories were jogged, though, with mention of the teams that became their first love. A resounding cheer greeted the announcement that the Bears had beaten the Cleveland Browns in Saturday’s Hall of Fame game. So keen was the Britons’ understanding of the game that, nearing the end of the painfully dull first half, the British announcer had to cajole, “Let’s pick up the noise!”

After halftime, it didn’t take long.

With No. 1 quarterback Steve Beuerlein unsigned, Evans replaced Schroeder in the second half and began to hit short passes.

“It’s nice to see we’ve got a crowd out there,” the announcer shouted after a 12-yard Evans bullet to receiver Stefon Adams brought the audience to its feet.

Then came the interception by Phillips--one of two critical bad passes by Evans.

The Saints, by then under the stewardship of Wilson, soon converted the turnover into their second touchdown, scored by Gil Fennerty from a yard out after key passes to Perriman: the first for 27 yards and the second for 54.

A 27-yard field goal by Andersen made it 17-3.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Raiders fans--there were thousands of Britons sporting the silver and black in flags, jerseys and giant fingers--had something to cheer. No, not the offense.

With 10:14 to play, and the Saints at their 11-yard line, Patterson stormed in untouched from the left side, squarely blocking a Kevin Brown punt and recovering it in the end zone for the Raiders’ only touchdown. It wasn’t clear whether the British fans understood what had happened, but 63,106 of them rose as one and screamed with delight anyway.

After the game, as the convoy of buses were being loaded for the two teams’ long trip home--”This is the longest road trip I’ve ever been on,” one player was overhead saying as he started the bus trip to the airport--Shell was not entirely negative in his assessment of his team’s debut.

“We learned a lot,” he said. “We found out about our people. And it was a hard-fought game. . . . We still have a good football team. . . . Our team is going to improve. It’s there.”

And even though Shell may not have enjoyed the game nearly as much as the fans, he did conclude that there was a feeling of mutual appreciation--the fans, for the game; the team, for the fans and their town.

“I can’t say we didn’t enjoy it,” Shell said with his first smile of the night. “Our players got a chance to come to London, see the sights and mingle with the people.

“We enjoyed it, and now it’s time to go back home.”

Saint Coach Jim Mora echoed the sentiment: “We’ve had a good time, spent a fantastic week. But we’re ready to get back to a regular training camp routine. It’s always nice to win, and the whole purpose of our coming over here was to play this game (to win).”