New Strategy Weighing Heavily on Craig : Raiders: With Allen out, the former 49er has 46 carries in the past two games. That’s not helping his injured knee.
No doubt, the Raiders are wearing down opponents with a relentless barrage of offensive flesh and muscle, stacking extra linemen and force-feeding the ball downfield.
Call it “Medicine Ball,” “Tiltball,” “Shellball,” it’s taking its toll . . . on both sides. While the Raiders have pounded out low-scoring victories over Denver and Indianapolis, they have taken their share of hits.
In the past, the Raiders have had the luxury of rotating tailback Marcus Allen with Bo Jackson, or Allen with Greg Bell.
But with three runners--Allen, rookie Nick Bell and Vance Mueller--on injured reserve, the rushing burden has been largely Roger Craig’s. He has rushed 46 times in two games, far more than anyone could have expected.
The question is, how long can Craig keep up the pace? Last week against Denver, he took a pounding in a career-high, 27-carry effort, requiring four stitches to close a gash over his right eye.
Against the Colts, Craig was forced from the game in the second half after 19 carries when he banged his tender left knee against the Coliseum turf.
Craig first bruised the knee in the Tokyo exhibition and has aggravated it every week since. A protective pad has cushioned the blows, but only to an extent. After Sunday’s game, Craig’s knee was so stiff that he had trouble putting on his sock.
For now, though, he is the Raider running game.
“We had Marcus and Greg (Bell), we had Marcus and Bo (Jackson), it’s a little different,” Raider Coach Art Shell said Monday. “Not to take anything away from the guys we have, but it’s early in the year now and Roger Craig can carry more of the load. But I want to get someone else more involved in what we’re doing, because I don’t want to wear him out.”
Relief may be two weeks away for Craig, with rookie Bell eligible to come off injured reserve next Monday. He suffered a hamstring injury in Tokyo.
“He’s been running well and looking good,” Shell said of Bell, the team’s second-round draft choice from Iowa. “Hopefully, next week he’ll be ready to go for us.”
Bell, in fact, seems the perfect back for the Raiders’ stacked formations on the offensive line. At 255 pounds, he has thick, powerful legs and enough speed to play tailback.
The Raiders are the winningest team in professional sports. They dominate the sports apparel market. They are defending champions in the AFC Western Division.
Yet Sunday, they drew the smallest crowd of the weekend in the NFL, 40,287, the eighth-smallest in team history since moving to Los Angeles from Oakland in 1982.
The Raiders were outdrawn by the Chargers and Atlanta Falcons, a matchup of winless teams in San Diego.
There are plenty of explanations for low Raider turnouts: The nice weather drives people to the beaches, a key Dodger game was televised locally, ticket prices are too high, the Indianapolis Colts were a bad draw, the Raider offense is too boring, people are afraid to watch games at the Coliseum. . . .
If the Raiders are worried, they are not letting on.
“Obviously, you can come with a lot of other things that took place,” Executive Assistant Al LoCasale said. “I’m obviously interested in filling the place, but I don’t want to bad-mouth the people who were there. They’re a lot different than the people they were painted to be when we first got here (in 1982).
“This is not a crowd that leaves early. They’ve been very vocal, and very positive. I’m very happy with the fans that are there. I’d like to see more of them.”
Raider crowds have a history of getting off to slow starts. The best example is their annual game against Denver. A Dec. 3 matchup with the Broncos in 1989 drew 90,016 at the Coliseum. Last week, the Raiders and Broncos drew 48,569.
LoCasale expects attendance to increase dramatically for such opponents as San Francisco, the Rams, Buffalo and Kansas City.
