PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Safety Hoskins Grinding It Out Now

This has been the longest season starting strong safety Derrick Hoskins has ever played and he’s feeling the wear and tear physically.

“This has been a long, long season for me,” said Hoskins, who replaced Ronnie Lott before the start of the season. “We’re going into our 18th game, not counting preseason, and my body is starting to wear down.”

Hoskins, a second-year pro from Southern Mississippi, realizes that he can’t run as fast or jump as high as he did two months ago and that he walks with a slight limp that wasn’t there in November.

But he is not ready to call for help yet.

“You just have to be strong mentally,” said Hoskins, who has started all 17 games and has two interceptions. “But I’ll know better now when it comes to keeping myself ready for an entire season next year.”

Hoskins’ improved play has been a key in the Raiders’ ability to stop teams in the second half over the last month of the season. In the Raiders’ victory over the Broncos on Sunday, Hoskins helped the secondary make a statement with a sideline hit on Denver tight end Reggie Johnson early in the second quarter.

One strength the Raiders have going to Buffalo is the play of their secondary. Although Denver moved the ball in the air against them the last two weeks, the Raiders feel that they have an advantage against the Bills, whose air attack is not as strong as in the past.

“Once teams move the ball against us, we try to iron things out on the sideline,” Hoskins said. “I think the last two weeks, we’ve done a good job at that and shut down people in the second half. We know that we can’t stop teams on every play. We just have to keep playing hard.”

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The AFC has not won a Super Bowl in 10 years and Raider Coach Art Shell feels that it’s time the losing streak ended.

“I’ve always felt that the Raiders belong in the Super Bowl,” Shell said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been there, which was the last time the AFC won.

“It’s not going to be easy but it’s time for us to go back and win the darn thing.”

The Raiders won Super Bowl XVIII and are the last AFC team to do so. Since then, Buffalo and Denver have each lost three times, while Miami, Cincinnati and New England have lost once.

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Defensive tackle Chester McGlockton, who suffered a broken fibula in the first quarter against Denver, was put on injured reserve. He was replaced on the roster by Warren Powers, a fifth-year pro from Maryland, who was with the Rams in 1992.