Raiders Looking, Feeling Super

If the question was how the Oakland Raiders would respond to a game with huge playoff ramifications, their 31-7 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday qualified as an overwhelmingly positive response.

The larger issue at hand here is whether NFL, the Oakland Police Department and perhaps even the National Guard can prepare for 62,000 rabid Raider fans convening at a game with even more at stake.

Not only did the Raiders earn a spot in the postseason Sunday, they put themselves in position to get a first-round bye and host a second-round game at Network Associates Coliseum if they win their two remaining games at Seattle and against Carolina.

That’s why NFL officials after the game were discussing added security measures, including cameras and--jokingly--snipers. The way the Raiders looked Sunday, it could be time to have the SWAT team on standby, because the Silver and Black will be back here in January.

The Raiders (11-3) held the Jets to only 10 rushing yards, and didn’t yield a point until Wayne Chrebet caught a touchdown pass with 24 seconds to play.

“If we can play like that every week, it’s unlimited how far we can go,” Oakland linebacker Elijah Alexander said.

Consider that a warning to the city of Tampa, Fla.

If you plan to book a trip to the Super Bowl, it helps to have a solid defense on your side. Sunday, the Raider defense did it all.

Cornerback Eric Allen scored the first touchdown of the game when he intercepted a tipped Vinny Testaverde pass and returned it 50 yards. He picked off another pass in the fourth quarter and linebacker William Thomas had two interceptions.

The Jets (9-5) could have effectively taken over the AFC East with a victory. They could have matched the Miami Dolphins’ 10-4 record, and the Jets hold the tiebreaker edge because they beat the Dolphins in both meetings this season.

Now they could be without Testaverde, who injured his groin during Sunday’s game and is uncertain about his status for Sunday’s game against Detroit. That would put even more pressure on running back Curtis Martin, who managed only 11 yards in 17 carries.

The Raiders got 88 yards and a touchdown from running back Tyrone Wheatley, while James Jett caught two passes for 77 yards to give the Raiders the big plays owner Al Davis loves so much.

Allen, 34, is playing cornerback as well as he did in his Pro Bowl days in Philadelphia. He has three interceptions and two touchdowns in the last two games.

With Charles Woodson on the other side, how are opponents supposed to throw against the Raiders?

“They’re not,” Woodson said.

The old veteran on offense, Tim Brown, keeps chugging along as well. He caught his 85th career touchdown pass Sunday, which tied him for seventh place in the NFL history books.

It also was a showcase game for the fans. This was an ESPN Sunday night game. That meant national attention. It also meant the fans had an extra 4 1/2 hours of pregame “preparations.”

Perhaps they were lulled to sleep by a first quarter that contained eight punts and no scoring. And with the game’s outcome decided by the start of the fourth quarter, when the Raiders went ahead, 28-0, some fans even left early.

That included a face-painted, spiked jersey-clad man named “Violator”, who put down his sword and vacated his spot near the tunnel in the fourth quarter. (A guy in a vintage Howie Long No. 75 jersey--complete with white collar pad--took his place.)

Although police did make some arrests, they considered the crowd relatively well-behaved. That’s because Raider fans have learned their lessons. Now, instead of beating up opposing fans in full view of the public and television cameras, they beat them up in the restroom.

When the Jets had to spend a timeout huddled in the south end zone in close proximity to the stands, the only object to fly onto the field was a Nerf football. Nice and soft.

Make no mistake: The fans give the Raiders a huge home-field advantage. They were yelling at the Jets during warmups three hours before the game, and were screaming for the Raiders to preserve the shutout in the final minute.

“If that’s not extra incentive to play our playoff games at home, I don’t know what is,” Raiders Coach Jon Gruden said.

“These are the greatest fans,” Wheatley said. “These people will follow you to Alaska if they have to. It got so loud, my helmet was rumbling. It just feels good to have that type of support, faces painted and everything else. All the negative stuff that’s said about our fans, they can wash that out. We have fanatic fans, loyal fans.”

And put it this way: If the Raiders can secure a home playoff game, at least we know where those fans will be on the first weekend in January, making us all feel a little bit safer.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: ja.adande@latimes.com.