Raiders Seek to Add to the Saints’ Decline : Pro football: New Orleans will try to end slump. L.A. will try to keep pace with Broncos.

Fate appears to be pulling another rug from under the New Orleans Saints.

Who could have believed a month ago that the Raiders would enter tonight’s game at the Superdome having secured a playoff berth while the Saints would still be fighting for one?

Believe it now.

The Saints (9-5) were seconds from clinching their first division title Nov. 24, but now, incredibly, need two victories and an Atlanta loss next week to claim the championship.

The Saints, who started the season 7-0, have lost four in a row and five of their last seven.

“A few weeks ago they wanted me for governor,” New Orleans Coach Jim Mora said this week. “Now, I don’t know if I could make street cleaner.”

There were arguments this week over which team needed this game more. New Orleans presented a more convincing case.

The Raiders (9-5) didn’t help their chances of defending their division title with last Sunday’s 30-27 loss to Buffalo, but they did clinch at least a wild-card berth.

They almost got back into the division race Sunday, when Phoenix gave Denver a scare before losing, 24-19.

Had Phoenix won, the Raiders could have retaken the division lead with a victory over the Saints.

To win the AFC West, the Raiders must defeat the Saints tonight and Kansas City next week, then hope the Chargers can beat the Broncos in San Diego next Sunday.

“New Orleans has got more on the line because they’re trying to clinch the division,” Raider Coach Art Shell said, “but we’re trying to stay in the hunt for the divisional title. There’s a lot at stake for both teams.”

Few here seem to remember that Mora led the Saints to their first winning season in 1987.

“I’m sure some people at home are saying, ‘Get rid of that jerk,’ ” he said.

The team’s collapse took root in a Nov. 24 overtime loss to Atlanta at the Superdome, a game in which Mora did not allow Morten Andersen a chance to win it in overtime with a 55-yard field goal. This is the same Andersen who made a 60-yarder against Chicago on Oct. 27.

Mora, a conservative coach, boxed himself into a defensive corner with the Falcons in the critical moments of that game, preferring to pin Atlanta back near its goal line with punts rather than allow his suspect offense the chance to decide the game for itself.

The Nov. 24 disaster seemed a temporary setback. The Saints would get ‘em next week. The division was still theirs.

Next week hasn’t come.

The loss to Atlanta has sent New Orleans into a tailspin.

The Saints are in worse shape now than ever, so bad that they’re calling in players off the street. Last week, starting right cornerback Toi Cook broke his arm and is lost for the season, joining starting left cornerback Vince Buck, who is on injured reserve because of a bulging disk in his neck

The team’s No. 3 cornerback, Reginald Jones, is sidelined because of a separated shoulder.

So, the Saints signed free agent Stan Petry, waived by Kansas City in September, and 12-year veteran Mark Lee, claimed off waivers Dec. 2 from San Francisco.

The team also recalled Milton Mack, who had been on injured reserve since Week Six because of a hamstring injury.

“Our three corners, two weeks ago they weren’t on our roster,” Mora said. “We’re going to teach them our system and go from there.”

Other Saint maladies:

--Craig (Ironhead) Heyward. The bruising tailback has been on injured reserve since Nov. 6 because of a broken foot. Last Thursday, Mora suspended Heyward for the rest of the season for violations of club policy. Heyward reportedly has been eating his way back into shape.

--Dalton Hilliard. The versatile runner returned last week after sitting out five games because of an arch injury, but he played only one snap against Dallas.

--Bobby Hebert. His name was Mississipi mud after holding out the entire 1990 season because of a contract dispute, but he now appears the Saints’ last, best chance to salvage the season.

Hebert has not played in seven weeks because of a bruised rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder, but he is expected to start tonight.

“We’re not the same football team now than we were the first half of season,” Mora said. “We’re just not, but, hey, other teams are not either. You’ve still got to find ways to win football game, that’s my approach. You work through injuries and you win. We don’t make alibis because of injuries.”

Steve Walsh has been an adequate replacement for Hebert, but he lacks the arm strength to keep NFL secondaries honest.

“If he’s well enough to be our best, then he would be,” Mora said of Hebert. “It’s not like he’s been beaten out or anything.”

The Raiders will be without Pro Bowl left guard Steve Wisniewski, who suffered strained knee ligaments last week against Buffalo. Defensive end Howie Long, who suffered a knee injury two weeks ago against San Diego, might attempt a return tonight in a limited role.

Raider Notes

New Orleans Coach Jim Mora has not announced that quarterback Bobby Hebert would make the start against the Raiders, but Hebert worked with the first-team offense all week. . . . Raider quarterback Jay Schroeder is not convinced the Saint defense has been decimated by injuries. “They’re still ranked No. 2 on defense,” he said. “They can’t be that banged up.” . . . The Saint defense is behind only that of the Philadelphia Eagles. . . . The Raiders own the NFL’s best record on Monday nights, 29-7-1. “I don’t have to address it,” Mora said. “Everybody knows about how successful the Raiders have been on Monday night. Our players will read about it in the papers, hear about it on television. I don’t have to remind them.” . . . In terms of crowd noise, Raider Coach Art Shell ranks the Superdome on a par with Seattle’s Kingdome. . . . Vencie Glenn, traded to New Orleans last summer, is backing up Gene Atkins at free safety.