Everett Out of Time, Saints Out of Luck : Pro football: Quarterback leads New Orleans to two fourth-quarter touchdowns, but he can’t beat the clock.

Timing has never been Jim Everett’s strength and it wasn’t Sunday in the Raiders’ 24-19 victory over New Orleans at the Coliseum.

In his first game in Los Angeles since being traded by the Rams to the Saints during the off-season, Everett struggled for three quarters before leading New Orleans to a furious comeback in the final five minutes.

Everett, who began the game with 14 touchdown passes, passed for two scores and came close to a third only to run out of time on the Saints’ final drive.

Did Everett feel added pressure returning to Los Angeles after spending eight seasons with the Rams?

“No, because we had enough pressure as a team to win,” said Everett about the Saints, who dropped to 4-7 in the NFC West. “We needed this game so badly that it didn’t matter whether we were playing here or in Alaska.”

Everett completed 28 of 44 passes, but his final three drives of the game showed why he is a quarterback not to be overlooked.

With the Raiders ahead, 24-7, Everett completed 12 of 18 passes for 135 yards, including two touchdown throws to Torrance Small in the final 3:49.

“I thought that Jim played very well in the second half,” New Orleans Coach Jim Mora said. “He’s a good football player who competes right down to the last second. His problem today was that he didn’t get much help from our running game.”

In the Saints’ last three possessions, Everett completed passes underneath, downfield and in between against a Raider secondary that played without Lionel Washington and Albert Lewis.

“We just started executing better and moved the ball,” Everett said. “We are a team that just keeps fighting, but we didn’t score enough at the end to win the game.”

It was clear the Saints wanted to throw away from Pro Bowl cornerback Terry McDaniel and at inexperienced covermen James Trapp and Donald Frank.

“It’s true that we wanted to throw at the other guy instead of McDaniel,” New Orleans offensive coordinator Carl Smith said. “But (Trapp) did a good job on us. He allowed some plays in front of him, but he made plays when he needed to early.”

So why did the Saints have success late in the game?

“We just blocked better, caught the ball better and I threw the ball better,” Everett said. “But the Raiders also played a little more zone without so many different looks at the end.”

In the first half, Everett completed 11 of 17 passes for 96 yards. His problem came on the scoreboard as the Raiders kept the Saints scoreless.

“They came out and shut us down--not so much that they stopped us from moving the ball, but we just didn’t execute well enough to put points on the board,” Everett said. “The Raiders had a great game plan and they have a great defense.”

Saint rookie running back Mario Bates gained a season-high 141 yards and scored two touchdowns in a victory over Atlanta last week.

Against the Raiders, however, New Orleans’ rushing game was stuffed by linemen Chester McGlockton, Nolan Harrison, Jerry Ball and Anthony Smith.

“We felt going in that it would be difficult running the ball against the Raiders because of their defensive front,” Mora said.