Raiders Need to Win to Keep Hopes Alive : Pro football: They will have to stop Atlanta’s run-and-shoot offense, led by quarterback Jeff George, today.

Whether the recent unpleasantries between quarterback Jeff Hostetler and Coach Art Shell have blown over or not, one thing is certain about today’s game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Coliseum.

The Raiders must win or they can probably kiss their playoff hopes goodby.

“We’re a 2-4 football team that can’t be concerned about how many games are left on our schedule,” Shell said. “I’ve told the team that we have to look at the Atlanta Falcons as the only game left this season. We have to start (playing well) this week.”

The Raiders are coming off a 20-17 overtime loss at Miami, in which they blew a 10-point first-quarter lead. The Raider defense made a strong showing, but the offense struggled, prompting a sideline shouting match between Hostetler and Shell.

During the week, Shell declined comment on the matter, saying that as far as he was concerned, the incident was over. Hostetler, on the other hand, defended his questioning of the team’s play calling under offensive coordinator Tom Walsh.

“What happened between them is over with,” guard Kevin Gogan said. “Two people got in a little argument and that was it. Stuff like that happens all of the time.”

But is it really over?

Although Shell refused to talk about what happened with Hostetler this week, he did respond to a question about the Raiders’ game plan for play calling.

“If our plan is a problem, then we would change plans, but that has not been the case,” Shell said. “Our (game plans) are not the problem, so we have to get the players to make plays.”

In an effort to get the right players on the field, the Raiders made three offensive lineup changes this week.

Harvey Williams, who gained 72 yards against the Dolphins, will get his first start at tailback since signing with the Raiders from Kansas City during the off-season. He replaces Tyrone Montgomery, who will become the backup.

Another player getting his first start as a Raider will be left tackle Robert Jenkins, who signed as a free agent from the Rams during training camp. Jenkins, who has played mostly as a right tackle in his nine-year career, will replace Gerald Perry, who will be sidelined because of a broken ankle for at least four games.

The third new starter is Greg Skrepenak at right tackle. Skrepenak, a 1992 second-round pick from Michigan, gets his first start, replacing Bruce Wilkerson, who had trouble pass-blocking several times against the Dolphins.

Were these moves made out of desperation by a losing team?

“I don’t think that we’re just grabbing for straws because we’re desperate,” said Williams, who leads the team in rushing with 227 yards and has 12 catches for 121 yards. “We just have to do something different to start winning again.”

Two weeks ago, the Raiders made a couple of changes on defense, inserting Rob Fredrickson at linebacker and Albert Lewis at cornerback. The moves worked, and the Raiders won their next game, defeating New England at Foxboro, Mass.

Now, they’re hoping for the same results against Atlanta, but it won’t be easy.

Under first-year Coach June Jones, the Falcons (4-3) are second in the NFC West behind the San Francisco 49ers. They are coming off a 42-3 loss to the 49ers last week.

They are led by quarterback Jeff George, who has completed 69% of his passes for 1,773 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first season with Atlanta after playing four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

“Jeff has done a great job and has a pretty good feel for our offense,” Jones said of George’s command of the Falcons’ run-and-shoot attack. “But I’ve always felt that it always takes a quarterback somewhere like seven, eight or nine games before they really get comfortable in what we do.”

With George spreading the ball around, the Falcons’ wide receivers--they use four at a time--have caught a lot of passes and two players are on pace to catch 100 this season.

Terance Mathis leads the team with 51 catches and needs to average 5.4 receptions a game the rest of the season to reach 100.

Pro Bowl player Andre Rison is the team’s big-play receiver with 49 catches and six touchdowns. Rison needs to average 5.7 catches for the rest of the season to reach 100.

The other starting wide receivers are former Washington Redskin Ricky Sanders and rookie speedster Bert Emanuel, formerly of UCLA. The four starters have caught 152 passes for 1,698 yards and 12 touchdowns.

A slim-downed Craig (Ironhead) Heyward, who has three touchdowns rushing, and Erric Pegram, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, handle the running duties.

“They have a tough offense to stop and their quarterback is the key,” Shell said. “Rison is their main guy, but they distribute the ball well.”

Defensively, the Falcons have had their problems, giving up 103 points in their three losses.

Their defensive line has been a weak link, with former 49er Pierce Holt being the most experienced player. Opponents are averaging 3.7 yards per carry.

Former USC standout Clay Matthews is in his 17th season in the league and starts at inside linebacker next to veteran Jessie Tuggle, who’s in his eighth season.

D.J. Johnson, who is tied with Terry McDaniel for the league lead in interceptions with five, and Vinnie Clark, who has four, start at cornerback for the Falcons.