Raiders Wouldn’t Miss Elway : Pro football: Bronco starting quarterback is not expected to play, opening the door for Maddox.

Elway?

No way.

Unless Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway wakes up this morning feeling a lot better than he has in a week, he won’t be playing today when his team faces the Raiders at the Coliseum.

Short of a dramatic recovery from the bruised throwing shoulder he suffered last week against the New York Giants, Elway will give way to 21-year-old rookie Tommy Maddox.

A star for UCLA until he left college after his sophomore season, Maddox will try to duplicate some of the magic he performed for the Bruins during his short, but sometimes spectacular career.

“I’m excited,” Maddox said. “I think I have almost a complete grasp (of the Denver offense). I was fortunate coming out of a system like (assistant coach) Homer Smith’s at UCLA. He expects a whole lot out of his quarterbacks. So it wasn’t like I had a whole lot thrown at me, and I didn’t understand it and hadn’t been through it. I think I picked up the basic part of it pretty quick. And then, week by week, I’ve just learned as much as I could about the intangibles of it.”

No matter how much Maddox has learned--if he plays, he will be appearing in only his third NFL game--Elway’s absence would be a big break for the Raiders.

“We just prepare for the best and the rest is gravy,” Raider defensive lineman Greg Townsend said. “I feel we’ve got the upper hand with the young guy.”

Actually, the Raiders appeared to have the upper hand the last time they faced Elway.

That was 11 weeks ago, when they took on the Broncos with high hopes. It was the opener of a season the Raiders envisioned as ripe with promise.

And that promise was realized in Mile High Stadium that Sunday afternoon--for 58 minutes.

The Raiders, with new tailback Eric Dickerson, rushed for 157 yards and shut down Denver, holding the Broncos to 47 yards on the ground and limiting Elway to 10 completions in 24 attempts.

And the Raiders had 314 yards to Denver’s 200.

Although all the flashy numbers translated into only a 13-10 Raider lead heading into the closing minutes, that was nearly enough for the victory.

Almost, but not quite. Instead, Elway wrote yet another entry in his amazing list of fabulous finishes, another drive destined for NFL Films to save and savor on highlight shows into the next century.

On second and 10 at his 44-yard line, with two minutes to go, Elway needed a big play.

When Raider cornerback Terry McDaniel blitzed for the only time all day, Elway had it.

He sidestepped McDaniel, found the hole the blitz had opened in the pass defense and connected with rookie Arthur Marshall for 48 yards.

That play led to the game-winning touchdown.

So much for the season of promise.

The Raiders never seemed to recover from that defeat, tumbling with frightening momentum, going 0-2, 0-3 and 0-4.

It wasn’t only that key play that did them in, though. Some of the problems that have plagued the Raiders all season were in evidence that day as well--an inability to avoid turnovers, a failure to make the big play, inconsistency at quarterback and indecision at running back, a position where the Raiders have yet to find the right mix.

Today, with a 4-6 record, they find themselves at the brink of elimination from postseason play.

And once again, they find their fortunes hanging on their ability to get past Denver.

The Raiders trail the Broncos, the AFC West leaders at 7-3, by three games with six to play, and a loss today would end any lingering hopes of a divisional title.

A defeat would also severely damage any hope of a wild-card spot, although that would remain an outside chance.

Even though it would seem to be good news for the Raiders if Elway does not play, the bad news is that the Broncos are much better than when the Raiders played them in September.

Back then, Elway, Dennis Smith, Karl Mecklenburg and a few other veterans must have felt more like camp counselors than football players.

They were the leaders of a young team. Nineteen of the Broncos’ 45 players have less than two full years’ experience. Ten are rookies.

So it is not surprising that Denver got off to an shaky start, with Elway carrying an even greater load than normal. Although the Broncos won four of their first six games, each was a struggle, especially with the revamped offensive line.

The difference over the last four games has been striking.

Denver gave up 25 sacks in the first six games, four in the last four.

The Broncos scored an average of 12.2 points over the first six games, 25.5 over the last four. And they averaged 213.8 yards of offense over the first six games, 356.8 over the last four.

“We probably played better last week as a team in all three phases than we have all year,” Coach Dan Reeves said. “So it’s encouraging to be in first place, knowing that we haven’t played as well as we are capable of playing.

“We can get better, but the true test is doing it on the road.”

No, the true test, if it comes to that, will be doing it without John Elway.

Raider Notes

The local Pass, Punt and Kick championship, involving youngsters 8 to 13, will be held before the game. Each NFL team holds its own area competition with the top five scorers nationally in each age group advancing to the finals, to be held at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii in February.