Bengals Receiving Little Sympathy : Raiders: Esiason’s groin injury doesn’t distract L.A. from today’s task at the Coliseum.

All that stands between the Raiders and their first playoff berth in five years are the Cincinnati Bengals, who limp into town today with a lengthy injury list headed by quarterback Boomer Esiason, who carries his team’s flickering playoff torch but now has a painful groin injury.

The Raiders, though, weren’t listening to Bengal medical updates this week as Cincinnati Coach Sam Wyche bemoaned the condition of his quarterback and assorted others who could barely lace up their shoes.

“We’ve got some legitimate ones,” Wyche said of his injury list. “We’re not playing with anyone’s mind. I wish they were healthy.”

The Raiders, of course, stuck wadded cotton into their ears. Having done some sand-bagging in their time, they weren’t about to become underwhelmed by an opponent. Not this close to breaking the shackles of mediocrity that have bound them since a 12-4 season in 1985.

They know what an easy mark the Bengals are without Esiason, having bruised his lung early in last season’s 28-7 victory over Cincinnati at the Coliseum. The drop-off between Esiason and backup Erik Wilhelm? Go to the top of the Empire State Building and look down.

The Raiders are betting, though, that it will take more than a strained groin to knock Esiason down. They have witnessed his pain tolerance. If it were up to him, Esiason said he would have stayed in last year’s game with his one remaining good lung had it not been for disturbances in his breathing pattern.

“I was spitting up blood after about the fifth or sixth play,” he recalled this week.

Esiason joked about a conspiracy involving Raider owner Al Davis that kept him on the sideline, thinking it curious that a Los Angeles internist was conveniently in attendance to render an immediate diagnosis and order three quarters of bed rest.

“I could imagine Al Davis giving the ol’ call downstairs, saying ‘Ah, ya better not let him play,’ ” Esiason said.

Knowing well the tricks of the trade, the Raiders prepared for Esiason this week as if he were RoboCop. Weren’t these the same Bengals who took the San Francisco 49ers to overtime last week before losing?

Cincinnati certainly needs to win as much as the Raiders, who could lose and still make the playoffs with a victory in either of the next two weeks.

The Bengals are in a three-way tie in the AFC Central at 7-6 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Oilers. Their season is on the line, despite some tough talk from their limping, left-handed quarterback.

“We’re going to win the Central Division,” Esiason said. “I don’t worry about that. We’ve been on top since the first day. I expect us to be on top by the end of the 16-game season.”

But in case you haven’t noticed, this season isn’t shaping into one of Esiason’s finest. He has thrown 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. That’s only one interception shy of his personal high of 19, set in 1987, the strike-shortened season during which Esiason and the Bengals unraveled at the seams.

Someone suggested the word dismal to describe Esiason’s performance.

“It’s not dismal,” he said. “Let’s not make it that bad.”

At the same time, it’s not the stuff of Joe Montana. Experts have concluded after hours of study that the downturn must somehow coincide with the loss of offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet, who left the Bengals after 1989 to become coach of the New York Jets.

The Bengals have become more conservative in turn, in part, Esiason said, to maintain ball control to protect a wounded defense from too much field exposure.

“But sometimes I wonder,” Esiason said. “Even Sam wonders out loud, ‘Do we want this to be a great running team or do we want to be a passing team?’ We want to throw the ball 35 times game, and we want to run the ball 35 times a game. But you can’t when you only have the ball 43 times a game. We have been playing very close to the vest, I think.”

For the Raiders, the playoffs beckon. Bo Jackson is warming up, having strung together two consecutive 100-yard games while pushing Marcus Allen from center stage.

“He’s out of training camp now,” Coach Art Shell said of Jackson. “He’s in the first part of the season. He’s got his legs up under him, he’s feeling pretty good right now.”

Monday night, quarterback Jay Schroeder threw his first touchdown pass in 20 quarters. Tossed three of them in fact. Shell told his team to think of the last five games as a mini-season.

“We’re 2-0 in that season,” he said. “The playoffs will be sitting there, waiting for us. We don’t have to talk about it. If we win, we’re in the playoffs. Bottom line. I don’t think you have to make a big issue of it. I think they already know.”

Raider Notes

The Raiders say they are prepared for Cincinnati’s no-huddle offense, which tries to prevent defenses from changing personnel between downs. “Last year we felt we did a decent job playing against it,” Coach Art Shell said. “It’s within the rules, so you can’t put (Sam Wyche) down for that. He’s just working within the rules, and he’s stretching them as far as he can.”

Solomon Wilcots has replaced Rickey Dixon at free safety for the Bengals. Dixon suffered a broken leg in last week’s loss to San Francisco and won’t return this season. . . . Marcus Allen is tied for ninth on the all-time touchdown list with 91. Jim Brown is first with 126.

The Raiders are 6-1 in games in which Bo Jackson has rushed for more than 100 yards. . . . Marine Corps personnel will be stationed at Coliseum entrances today to collect new, unwrapped toys for “Toys For Tots.”