Cover Was Blown Early : Raiders: Lofton took advantage of Lionel Washington in AFC title game. They meet again Sunday at Coliseum.

Some days it doesn’t pay to get up. Raider cornerback Lionel Washington awoke last Jan. 20 in Buffalo, wrapped a very sore hamstring, pretended it didn’t hurt, then set out to cover former teammate James Lofton in the AFC Championship game.

At Rich Stadium, the wily Lofton was already sniffing for clues. In pregame warm-ups, he picked up Washington’s scent and circled his wounded prey.

“I don’t like to say that I was hurt,” Washington said, “but I was, and he knew it. He walked up to me, walked behind me and looked at my leg, and I could see him kind of smirking.”

The result was Bills 51, Raiders 3. A microcosm of that blowout was Lofton vs. Washington. Lofton, who had once been cut by the Raiders, was magnificent in revenge, catching five passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Washington, who covered Lofton every day in practice for two seasons, 1987 and ‘88, was devastated in defeat.

Washington sensed that it would not be his finest hour on the Bills’ first drive, when quarterback Jim Kelly fumbled a center snap, picked the ball off the artificial turf and threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Lofton.

“I had him covered. I thought we were going to get the sack,” Washington said. “I kind of relaxed a second, and once (Kelly) picked the ball up and hit the completion, I said, ‘This is going to be a long day.’ You can feel it sometimes, when it’s going to be a long day.”

The long days stretched into weeks, then months. Finally, Washington will get his rematch against Lofton when the Raiders play host to the Bills Sunday at the Coliseum.

“This year, it’s going to be a totally different game,” Washington predicted.

Since the last meeting, Washington has been on a crusade to redeem himself, lifting his game to a higher level--so high that he has been mentioned as a Pro Bowl selection.

The problem is that Lofton refuses to act his age. At 35, the 14-year veteran has lost nary a step of his sprinter’s speed. Through 13 games, Lofton has 49 catches, 952 receiving yards, six touchdowns and four 100-yard games.

He is 175 yards shy of breaking Steve Largent’s all-time record of 13,089 receiving yards.

Buffalo Coach Marv Levy suspects that Lofton is sipping from a different cup.

“I did say jokingly that some people at 80 are very decrepit, and there are some who get around pretty well,” Levy said. “He’s one of those 80-year-olds that gets around pretty well.”

Washington, 31, could rightfully expect an advantage over a man four years his senior. But Lofton refuses to cooperate with time.

“I’ve got to find out what he’s using myself, because I’m going into my 10th year next year,” Washington said. “I’ve got to find out what he’s doing in the off-season, so I can get on his training program.”

The Raiders, who are reluctant to admit their mistakes, come as close as they get in discussing Lofton, who was released at the roster cut to 60 in 1989.

Did the Raiders think he was through?

“Possibly,” Coach Art Shell said this week. “I can’t remember all the discussions. I’d have to go back into my notes. I’m sure there was probably a feeling that he was possibly finished. But the guy has shown that he’s not finished.”

The Bills took a chance, thinking Lofton would make a nice veteran mop-up man in case someone got hurt. He was in the starting lineup by December 1989. In 1990, he caught 35 passes for 712 yards.

On Jan. 20, 1991, he torched the Raiders.

“I didn’t know if it was over or not,” Lofton said of his career after his release from the Raiders. “The one thing I realized, and a lot of veterans realize, you have to have someone who is willing to give you the chance.”

Washington was surprised that the Raiders let Lofton go, but this was a team loaded with receivers--Mervyn Fernandez, Willie Gault, Tim Brown.

Washington and Lofton battled one another in practice daily.

“I had no problems with him in practice,” Washington said jokingly. “He knew all my little tricks, and I knew all his little tricks.”

Which is why Washington was so frustrated by Lofton at Rich Stadium. Washington had pulled his hamstring near the end of the regular season. He rested it during the bye week, then started in the playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 13. Washington, though, was not the same player. A week later, Lofton was.

“He still has the great speed he always had when he came into the league,” Washington said of Lofton. “That makes him even tougher, because he can still run and he has the strength to outmuscle most cornerbacks.

“Last year, I was bump-and-run most of the time that day on him.”

Lofton’s weapon against bump-and-run is to tug discreetly on a cornerback’s jersey as the two players make contact, launching himself into his pass route.

This ploy was not a revelation to Washington.

“He did it a lot to me in practice,” Washington said. “It’s a real good technique against the bump-and-run; he knows exactly when to grab you and when not to grab you.”

Lofton, not one for keeping track of records and milestones, downplayed his performance against the Raiders. “I caught some passes,” he said.

It was a different story for Washington, who has waited 11 months to write a different ending.

“I was hurt in that last game, but I guess any time you put yourself in that position, you say that you can go,” he said. “Once you set foot out on the field, you should be able to go out and perform. This week is a different story. Thank God I’m healthy. It’s going to be a real tough challenge, but I think I’m up to it this week.”