Raiders, Headed Upward, Try to Avoid Letdown vs. Falcons

Will success spoil the Raiders?

Who would have believed 3 weeks ago that success, much less contention, not to mention actually being in the driver’s seat, was going to be an issue?

Surprise, it is.

Winners of 3 games in a row, the Raiders are 8 1/2-point favorites over the young, promising but mostly porous Atlanta Falcons.

Meanwhile, the other AFC West co-leaders are playing on the road. Denver is a 5-point underdog at New Orleans. The Seattle Seahawks are 2-point favorites at Kansas City, but they’ve never won there under Chuck Knox, losing by scores of 20-41, 7-27, 7-28, 7-34 and 13-17. Who knows what heights the Raiders might attain today?

Not that they don’t have a lot to prove:

--Can they keep their defense going?

They’re up to No. 8 in the league, from a low of 26th after the fifth game, the entire climb having been achieved without Howie Long. Youngsters Mike Wise, with 5 sacks in the last 5 games, and Scott Davis, with 3 in the last 4, have blossomed in the new 4-man line.

--Can they get their offense going?

They’ve scored 3 touchdowns in the winning streak, just 1 in the last 2 games.

The pieces seem to be falling, slowly, into place. Bo Jackson is averaging 4.6 yards a carry, and the Raiders haven’t run for fewer than 149 in a game for the past month. Steve Beuerlein has been an improvement over Jay Schroeder, though he struggles now and then himself--he started 6 for 12 last week, finished 2 for 10--which should only stand as a reminder of how hard it is to be a contender with a first-year quarterback.

Beuerlein, however, has had the virtue of learning on the job without making a lot of mistakes. His interception statistic is 2.7%, second-lowest in the AFC to the New York Jets’ Ken O’Brien.

Among first-year starters, Beuerlein, at 73.7, is ranked above Chris Miller, 71.9; Chris Chandler, 71.3; Kelly Stouffer, 69.2; Bubby Brister, 64.7, and Vinny Testaverde, 50.2. Beuerlein trails only Washington’s Mark Rypien, who leads the National Football League at 98.8.

The Falcons, meanwhile, rank 27th in defense and haven’t kept a team under 100 yards rushing all season, so this is a day for the Raider offense to show what it’s got.

However, the Falcons did shock the 49ers in San Francisco, 34-17; they did stun the Eagles in Philadelphia, 27-24; they did lead the Giants, 16-6, with 4 minutes left before losing . . . But let’s face it. The Raiders are better than the Falcons.

Still, you’re only as good as you play.

In their years of greatness, the Raiders were famous for playing down to their opposition. In the ensuing years, they’ve been famous for winning a game or two, lapsing into self-congratulation, letting down and getting knocked off.

Remember the loss to the Eagles that started the 1986 losing streak, which knocked an 8-4 playoffs-bound team down to 8-8?

This team hasn’t earned the right to take anyone lightly.

The Falcons were supposed to be coming in here on the uptick.

In 3 weeks, they scared the Giants, beat the Eagles, shut out the Green Bay Packers and then with the San Diego Chargers in Atlanta and a 3-game winning streak looking attainable, lost, 10-7.

Their defense has the bluest of blue-chippers--Tony Casillas, second overall pick in ‘86; Rick Bryan, ninth in ‘84, and Aundray Bruce, first in ‘88--but none has been as great as advertised.

Miller, the Falcons’ quarterback, has weathered an incredible baptism of fire and has done well. He is described as a macho Jim McMahon, a let’s-kick-rear-ends type who is said to have won everyone over in his first huddle when he told guard Bill Fralic, a perennial All-Pro, to zip it up.

The Falcons have run especially well for a bad team in recent seasons, first with Gerald Riggs, and now that he’s banged up, with John Settle, a rookie free agent from Appalachian State.

Throwing? You had to ask.

Their top wide receivers are out, forcing the move-up of former Raider Jessie Hester and rookie Michael Haynes. The Chargers ganged up on the line of scrimmage, dared the Falcons to pass, and the new wide receivers totaled 2 catches. Hester had a drop and was ripped for not making a play on a pass that he didn’t see in the end zone.

The tide of euphoria washed away. Now they’re the Raiders’ problem, and vice versa.

Raider Notes

Bo Jackson practiced last week, despite the groin pull he reportedly suffered while getting out of uniform in San Francisco--honest--and is expected to go. . . . Falcon Coach Marion Campbell, laughing at the theory that teams now protect their corners and turn Jackson upfield: “I’ve seen people (who) tried it. I tell you what, I haven’t seen the film where they’ve caught up to him. I better order it. I just see that this guy’s something special.”

Falcon owners Rankin Smith and his sons, likened recently by Sports Illustrated to TV’s Clampett family, are said to be showing patience in Campbell this time. They fired him in his first tenure, but the Clampetts, er Smiths, were embarrassed in their search for a coach in ‘87, when Dick Vermeil and Terry Donahue turned them down and Howard Schnellenberger wouldn’t interview.

How tough was Chris Miller’s rookie season a year ago? He held out for 9 games. His first appearance, against the Rams, ended in a sack on which he had his helmet torn off. He started the next week against the 49ers, was sacked 3 times and threw 4 interceptions. In the season finale a week later, the Detroit Lions intercepted 4 of his passes. . . . Rookie linebacker Marcus Cotton, the No. 2 pick from USC, leads the Falcons with 5 sacks but will miss today’s game with a knee injury.