Raiders Hoping to End Slide With Monday Night Magic : AFC: The goal is to avoid being 0-4, but they have not had much recent success against the Chiefs, who have a new quarterback in Krieg.

It has been their personal showplace, the stage from which they have launched some of their best performances.

But if the Raiders don’t win on Monday Night Football, where they have a league-best 29-8-1 record, it could prove to be their final act on center stage this season.

If the Raiders (0-3) can’t find a way to upset the Chiefs (2-1) in Kansas City tonight, the Raiders could be reduced to the role of bit players as the drama of the 1992 NFL season unfolds.

Though 0-3, the Raiders can’t be counted out of anything. They proved that in 1986 when they lost their first three games, then reeled off five consecutive victories en route to an 8-8 season. That mark could still win a postseason berth.

But 0-4? That seems to be a hole too deep to crawl out of, especially considering a Raider schedule that still includes teams such as the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys at home and the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins on the road.

“Whatever it is we need to get back,” Coach Art Shell said, “we need to get it back right now.”

What the Raiders need is:

--To find a healthy mix between the pass and the run. In the season opener, with their confidence in quarterback Jay Schroeder shot, the Raiders tried to force the run into an eight-man Denver Bronco front and came up short. Behind early last week against the Cleveland Browns, the Raiders allowed Todd Marinovich to pass 59 times, a club record.

“I don’t want to throw the ball 60 times,” Shell said. “If you do that, you’re struggling, unless you’re a run-and-shoot team. And we’re not a run-and-shoot team.”

--To find a way to put pressure on the opposing quarterback. The Raiders, once known as the terrors of the NFL, do not have a sack in the last two games.

--To find a way to put the emphasis back on the special in special teams.

The Raiders’ special units have been guilty of blown kickoff returns, fumbles, missed field goals, blocked field goals and mental lapses.

With Tim Brown not expected to play tonight because of a pulled hamstring, the Raiders have re-signed Napoleon McCallum to return punts and, perhaps, kickoffs.

--To find a way to turn around the turnover situation.

This has been the most crucial element of the Raiders’ slide. They have 13 turnovers in three games. They have recovered only two fumbles and intercepted only one pass, giving them a giveaway/takeaway ratio of minus 10, worst in the league.

If the Raiders are ready to put the brakes on this disastrous start, they will have to do so against an opponent they haven’t beaten in the past two seasons. They have lost five in a row to Kansas City, including last season’s 10-6 defeat in an AFC wild-card game.

The two clubs also met last year on a Monday night, the Chiefs coming back from an 11-point deficit in the second half to pull out a 24-21 victory.

There have been some changes in Kansas City since then.

The biggest is at quarterback, where Dave Krieg, after a dozen years with the Seattle Seahawks, has become a Chief via Plan B.

“He brings an ability to throw the ball upfield that we didn’t really have the last couple of years,” Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “And he’s got some mobility, which presents problems to the opposition.”

But it has been a slow learning process for Krieg, after 12 years under a different system. “Each week,” Schottenheimer said, “he gets a little further along in the understanding of what we’re trying to do.”

It’s been a process welcomed by Krieg, 33, who has completed 60.8% of his passes for 562 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

“It’s been a rejuvenation,” he said of the switch in teams. “It helps you refocus. You concentrate on something new. You’re learning something new. It’s been good from that standpoint.

“It’s made me work out harder because you feel you have to prove yourself to a new set of guys again. So, it’s been good.”

Which is something the Raiders certainly can’t say three discouraging games into 1992.

Raider Notes

With Tim Brown expected to sit out, Sam Graddy will start at wide receiver. . . . Tonight might finally mark the long-awaited debut of Raider defensive lineman Chester McGlockton, the team’s No. 1 draft choice, who has been out with a foot injury since the opening series of the opening exhibition game against San Francisco. . . . Dave Krieg needs three touchdown passes to reach 200. If he should throw all three tonight, he would have accomplished the feat in 133 games. Only Miami’s Dan Marino (89 games) and Baltimore Colt John Unitas (121) have done it faster.