Raiders Hope to Avoid Playoff Cold : Pro football: L.A. has a key game today at frigid Green Bay, where on a December day 26 years ago the Ice Bowl was played.

It is an image frozen in time.

Everyone in the image is frozen at a bone-chilling 16 degrees below zero.

The time was New Year’s Eve, 1967. The place was Green Bay, Wis. The occasion was the NFL title game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys back in the days when the NFL and the American Football League held their respective championship events before meeting in the Super Bowl.

This particular Packer-Cowboy game would forever be known as the Ice Bowl.

Twenty-six years later, it remains vivid, kept alive by constant replays whenever the NFL’s greatest games are chronicled.

The linemen are hunched over the line of scrimmage, steam coming out of their mouths, icicles on their helmets, looking, with the stark background behind them, like creatures roaming another planet.

By the time Packer quarterback Bart Starr, behind guard Jerry Kramer, tumbled across the goal line at the end to win the game, 21-17, there were players suffering from frostbite.

And there was a picture the viewing nation would not forget.

Some players could not forget the experience of playing in Green Bay in the dark of winter. After his career was over, Packer defensive end Clarence Williams still had a blackened, bruised finger, stark evidence of frostbite that would not fade.

Now comes another December game in Green Bay. This time, it’s the Raiders who have packed their warm gear and come here.

Despite the fact that today’s weather is not expected to be that bad for this time of year--low- to mid-20s with snow flurries--and the game could be critical to the playoff hopes of both sides, it was weather talk that dominated at the Raiders’ El Segundo training headquarters last week.

That image of the Ice Bowl is hard to shake.

Did Coach Art Shell plan on addressing the issue with his players?

Shell replied: “I may say, ‘Look, it’s going to be cold. We know it’s going to be cold. Let’s go play football. It’s going to be cold for them, too.’ ”

Veteran defensive lineman Howie Long, who grew up in Massachusetts, isn’t concerned about today’s temperature.

“I made a living shoveling snow as a kid,” he said. “I may have to use a cattle prod to get Chester (McGlockton, fellow defensive lineman) out of the locker room, but then I had to use a cattle prod to get Chester out of the locker room in Cincinnati and he played a hell of a game.”

McGlockton had 12 unassisted tackles and two sacks that day in the first of two consecutive cold-weather games for the Raiders.

They reacted poorly to the first, despite McGlockton’s performance. Unable to hang onto the ball on a 33-degree Cincinnati day, complete with a light snowfall in the first half and moist conditions all afternoon, the Raiders lost to the previously winless Bengals, 16-10.

But just a week later, on a 37-degree day in Buffalo, the Raiders upset the Bills, 25-24.

While everybody talks about the effect today’s weather could have on the Raiders, keep in mind that quarterback Jeff Hostetler played in New York, receivers Tim Brown and Rocket Ismail played their collegiate ball at Notre Dame and fellow receiver James Jett played his college ball at West Virginia, none of those places known for their warm winter weather.

Keep in mind also that merely because the Packers play in Green Bay doesn’t mean they like it or are used to it.

“I don’t like the cold, I don’t like to play in it,” said Packer quarterback Brett Favre, who grew up in Mississippi. “I don’t think anybody likes to play in it.

“It’s going to be very cold and the field’s going to be icy. That’s going to be a big factor in this game, unfortunately. I like to play in 70- to 80-degree weather, but that’s not the case. Your toes are just completely frozen, you can’t feel your face and it’s hard to talk. It’s just two (more likely three) hours out there in that cold and whatever you’ve got to do, do it.

“The offensive linemen, I kind of think they enjoy it. You hear them say sometimes this is what football’s all about. Where the hell they get that at, I don’t know. Far as I’m concerned, they can have it. Those are the tougher guys on the team--the offensive linemen and your running backs--those are the guys who can handle it. They can roll their sleeves up and look tough and have the veins poking out of their stomach. They like that type of stuff. Now us weenie little quarterbacks, I’d much rather be playing indoors.”

Normally in cold weather, teams get conservative and avoid passing. But that might be far more dangerous for the Raiders (9-5) today than testing the stormy skies. With fullback Steve Smith out of the backfield last week because of an ankle injury, the Raiders, without Smith’s blocking skills and struggling to replace injured tailback Greg Robinson, netted only 17 yards rushing. Smith’s status is questionable for today.

The Packers (8-6) will have no fear of passing. Sterling Sharpe has caught a league-leading 99 passes for 1,122 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Today’s loser might miss the playoffs--and end up left out in the cold.

RAIDERS / TODAY’S GAME

* Opponent: Green Bay Packers.

* Site: Lambeau Field.

* Time: 10 a.m. PST.

* Records: Raiders 9-5, Packers 8-6.

* TV: Channel 4.

* Radio: KFI (640), KWKW (1330), KMEN (1290).

* Rosters: C22.