Dr. Jekyll Raiders Make Shell Want to Hyde : Pro football: Coach can’t figure out why team has faltered after halftime.

What can a team do when its quarterback is inconsistent? Try to find a better one.

What can be done when the linebacking is weak? Try to make it stronger.

How about a hole in the secondary? Try to fill it.

The above questions are obvious problems with obvious solutions. The Raiders faced them in the off-season and solved them.

Now comes the tough question. What do you do when you have the talent, the execution in the first half, but can’t perform in the second half?

That is not so easy to answer. This is one intangible that has caused more than one coach to seek a new line of work.

Raider Coach Art Shell isn’t at that stage yet, but he is frustrated and angry after spending long hours in the film room trying to find out what happens to his team during intermission. The Raiders have been outscored, 113-58, in the second half of games this season, 72-41 in the fourth quarter.

“It’s baffling,” Shell said. “We’re trying to come up with the answers. It’s mind-boggling.”

What’s really mind-boggling is that it has been going on for much of the season:

--In their second game, the Raiders led the Seattle Seahawks, 17-10, in the first half before being shut out in the second and holding on for a 17-13 victory.

--In their third game, the Raiders led the Cleveland Browns, 13-0, at the half, then collapsed after halftime, blowing a 16-3 lead in the last 2 1/2 minutes to lose, 19-16.

--In their sixth game, the Raiders had a 13-0 lead over the Denver Broncos at the halfway point, then needed a 53-yard field goal from Jeff Jaeger in the closing seconds to win, 23-20. --In their seventh game, the Raiders had a 17-10 lead over the San Diego Chargers midway through the third quarter, but couldn’t hold it, losing, 30-23.

--In their eighth game, the Raiders had yet another 13-0 halftime lead, this time over the Chicago Bears, but needed usually-reliable Bear kicker Kevin Butler to miss two short field goals in the closing minutes to pull out a 16-14 victory.

--And Sunday, in their ninth game, the Raiders gained a 14-0 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs and enjoyed a 17-7 halftime edge, only to collapse and lose, 31-20.

Shell insists it’s not one factor.

“You look at the films and you see a team is executing very well in the first quarter, the first quarter and a half, then the execution kind of disappears somewhat,” Shell said. “Little things add up to big things--missed tackles, a missed block, missed assignments.”

“Some of the same things we did well in the first half (Sunday), we (also) did in the second half, but there might have been a missed block.”

Shell denies that teams are somehow adjusting to the Raiders in the second half. They gained 94 yards rushing in the first half Sunday, but only eight after halftime. The only difference Shell could find in the defense in the second half was a repositioning of the nose tackle.

In their first and last series of Sunday’s game, the Raiders looked like two different teams. On their first series, the Raiders drove 57 yards on six plays, Napoleon McCallum cruising into the end zone from four yards out through a huge hole.

On their last series, the Raiders got to the Chiefs’ two. From there, Ty Montgomery was thrown for a loss, Jeff Hostetler was sacked and James Jett dropped a pass.

Same team, different halves.