Raiders Finally Get Offensive, 34-7 : Pro football: They pile up 527 yards and rout the Chargers as Schroeder throws two touchdown passes in final exhibition.

As the Raider offense floundered in the exhibition season, Coach Art Shell maintained that the offensive concept is sound and the offense would be productive if it corrected its mistakes.

It appeared Saturday that Shell’s assessment was correct after the Raider offense awoke in a 34-7 victory over the San Diego Chargers at the Coliseum before a crowd that appeared much smaller than the announced figure of 25,071.

“Hopefully, we’ve arrived,” Shell said after watching his offense accumulate 527 yards in total offense. “I felt as a team we played well, special teams, offense and defense. But most importantly we came out and we were aggressive and we played hard.

“It’s hard to carry over from one week to the next, but I felt that we made a lot of progress today, which I think is going to help us next week when we play the defending AFC champions.”

After winning their last four exhibition games, do the Raiders (4-1) think they can maintain their momentum for next Sunday’s regular-season opener against Denver at the Coliseum?

“It’s just a preseason game,” cautioned defensive tackle Howie Long. “I don’t think anyone should get too excited about it. I don’t.”

Unable to mount long drives in their first four exhibition games, the Raiders’ first string offense drove 88, 87 and 80 yards for touchdowns. And Vince Evans directed a 94-yard fourth-quarter drive by the second-offensive unit.

Quarterback Jay Schroeder, who completed only 33% of his passes in the first four games, connected on 12 of 22 passes for 161 yards, including touchdowns of 33 and 35 yards.

Schroeder was at his best when the Raiders went to a no-huddle offense in their first possession of the second half, directing an 80-yard, 10-play drive that concluded with Greg Bell’s 27-yard touchdown run.

After Schroeder departed, Evans completed nine of 11 passes for 111 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown pass.

Eschewing the long pass for a ground game, the Raider running game was also productive, accounting for 267 yards.

After sitting out the last three seasons while completing his Naval commitment, Raider running back Napoleon McCallum doesn’t appear to have lost his running instincts. McCallum rushed for 88 yards in 15 carries, including 69 yards in the first half. McCallum helped to set up the Raiders’ second touchdown by gaining 39 yards in seven carries in an 11-play drive that ended on Schroeder’s 35-yard touchdown pass play to running back Vance Mueller.

“It’s been four years since I had that many carries and it felt great,” McCallum said. “Coming back it’s going to take some time, but my instincts are coming back.”

Fighting to survive Monday’s roster cut to 47, Mueller gained 86 yards in eight carries. Mueller gained 32 yards on an option play to set up a 25-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger at the end of the first half. And he turned a 15-yard dump pass into a 35-yard touchdown pass play. Because of a mix-up in coverage, the Chargers (3-1) left Mueller wide open in the flat.

“I was all alone in the wilderness,” Mueller said. “When you turn that corner and see that green grass in front of you, you just say ‘Throw me the ball, please.’ ”

Displaying the form that enabled him to rush for 2,349 yards and 31 touchdown for the Rams over the last two seasons, Bell had 43 yards in eight carries and had a 20-yard run nullified by a penalty.

While the Raider offense got into sync, the defense continued to play well, limiting the Chargers to 278 yards, of which 69 yards came on a touchdown pass play from Mark Vlasic to Anthony Miller.

Confounding the Raider secondary, Miller accounted for most of the Charger offense, catching seven passes for 158 yards.

The Raiders registered three sacks, dumping Vlasic twice for 17 yards in losses.

One Charger didn’t go down without a fight.

Linebacker Junior Seau, San Diego’s No. 1 draft choice from USC who signed last week, lasted two plays in his NFL debut before he was ejected for fighting Raider guard Steve Wisniewski. After being blocked by Wisniewski, Seau hit Wisniewski in the chin and was ejected.

“I acted just like a little kid,” Seau said as he stormed past reporters after the game. “It was my fault. It was probably a good lesson.”

What triggered Seau?

“It was just a basic run straight ahead and I looked up and saw (Seau),” Wisniewski said. “I didn’t even know who it was. I blocked him and knocked him back a few yards and let him go.

“I was looking forward to my next breath of air because I was kind of fatigued. Then I turned around and started walking back to the huddle and I felt a shove. He threw a punch that got me under the chin. It didn’t hurt, but I was more surprised by it than anything. He didn’t say a word to me. I didn’t even know who he was until I went to the sideline.

“I was kind of surprised that someone on one play just by getting blocked would start a big fight. I blocked him OK, but I think he must have been a little too excited and a little too keyed up for his first game.”

The Raiders drove 88 yards on their first series, with Schroeder capping the drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mervyn Fernandez.

With McCallum doing most of the work, the Raiders drove 87 yards to take a 14-0 lead when Schroeder and Mueller combined on a 35-yard touchdown pass play.

After the Chargers scored just two plays later on Miller’s 69-yard touchdown pass play, the Raiders closed the half with Jaeger’s 25-yard field goal to take a 17-7 halftime lead.

Using a no-huddle offense, the Raiders drove 80 yards on their first series of the second half, with Bell capping the drive with a 27-yard touchdown run.

After taking over for Schroeder, Evans produced a 94-yard touchdown drive and a drive that resulted in Jaeger’s 47-yard field goal.