Raiders Sack It to the Jets, Spilling O’Brien 10 Times in a Redeeming 31-0 Win

That wake-up call the Raiders left for the Sept. 8 opener arrived Sunday morning, to the horror of the New York Jets, who wouldn’t have minded tiptoeing in and out of town with less fanfare.

Tough luck. What they got instead was piecemeal destruction at the hands of the Raiders, who opened both eyes at last, spied the hapless tourists from Noo Yawk and fell upon them with gusto, winning, 31-0, before a crowd of 57,123 in the Coliseum.

The Raiders may have been 1-3 in exhibitions, but that doesn’t count. They’re 1-0 in the regular season, and that does.

The Jets, who had enough problems of their own, added scheduling to the bargain. The Raiders wanted to look good after their sad second half of last season and their customarily casual exhibition season and someone had to be on the other side.

You wanted to know what the Raiders have left?

--Quarterback Jim Plunkett, 37, completed 14 of 21 passes for 242 yards and 1 touchdown, a 41-yarder to Dokie Williams. He completed two more 33-yard bombs, to Williams and to Todd Christensen. After slipping away last season, the Raider deep game was back.

--The young wide receivers, who had a combined NFL total of 38 receptions before Jim Smith was activated Saturday, added six catches. Five, for 131 yards, belonged to Williams, a budding star who started to happen Sunday.

--The defense, which gave up rushing yardage late last season, almost took Freeman McNeil home. A 1,000-yard rusher last season, McNeil got 44 Sunday. The Jet total was 62.

--Here comes the fearsome part. The Raider pass rush, No. 1 in the AFC in sacks last season, spent the afternoon dropping in on the unfortunate Ken O’Brien, who went down 10 times.

The Raiders also had two interceptions off O’Brien, including one that second-year safety Stacey Toran returned 76 yards for a touchdown. O’Brien demonstrated his courage when he didn’t retire from football at the half.

“I feel very bad for O’Brien,” Raider defensive end Howie Long said. “Not only did he have so many sacks, that poor kid got banged up. They were giving out tickets. He was open game today.”

The Raiders were coming off an exhibition season that had been a little on the slow side, with the No. 1 offense scoring two touchdowns. Less would have been made of it had the offense not struggled in the second half of last season.

“The games we lost last year,” linebacker Rod Martin said later, “you look at the scores: 13-7, 7-6, 16-6. We had to shut them out to win. It left a bitter taste in all our mouths. We felt if we’d averaged 17 points a game last year, we’d have been (deeper) in the playoffs. But we had our quarterback problems last year (Plunkett and Marc Wilson were injured), and that’s a key position. Our offense did a great job today.”

The Raider defense started on its destruction early. The Jets’ first two possessions were three-plays-and-punt, after which the Raider offense was rolling, too.

The third Raider possession was a standard Marcus Allen-does-everything number. He threw a 16-yard option pass on third-and-one, caught a 17-yarder from Plunkett two plays later, and vaulted over from the one-yard line a moment after that. Chris Bahr’s kick made it 7-0.

After that, the hits started coming in a hurry.

On their next possession, the Raiders went 80 yards, 74 of them in two passes to Williams. On the second, Plunkett stepped up in the pocket, pump faked toward Christensen, who was running deep up the middle, and hit Williams, who was flying up the right sideline behind Bobby Jackson. Williams caught the ball at the two and stepped into the end zone. Bahr’s kick made it 14-0.

The next possession was highlighted by Plunkett’s 33-yard pass to Christensen. On third-and-six at the Jet 13, Plunkett crossed up the Jets by sending Allen slicing off right tackle for 10 yards and a first-and-goal. On the next play, Allen went the last three.

At the half, it was 21-0 and the Raiders had outgained the Jets, 257-48. O’Brien had completed three passes, all to tight end Mickey Shuler.

The Raider offense flattened out in the second half. And the defense flattened O’Brien in the second half.

Late highlights included the famous Jet defensive end, Mark Gastineau, getting a sack with his team trailing, 28-0, and brandishing his bandaged fist in the air. The crowd booed.

What little there had been for pre-game drama had come in exchanges between the rivals, Gastineau and Long.

The two played alongside each other at the Pro Bowl last January, and Gastineau was reportedly miffed when Long wouldn’t return his high five, leaving Gastineau with a high two-and-a-half. Last week, Gastineau told New York writers that it hadn’t bothered him, although he said his friend, rock singer Eddie Van Halen, who he pointed out was married to actress Valerie Bertinelli, was hacked off about it.

Long must have had a big Pro Bowl. He also stole Gastineau’s helmet and wore it to a Raider practice last week.

“You hear what Gastineau said about you?” someone asked Long late Sunday afternoon.

“That I should drop dead?” Long said. “Whatever. The score was 31-0. Send that back to New York.”

Raider Notes

Accounting for the Raider sacks: Sean Jones (3), Lyle Alzado (2), Brad Van Pelt (2), Rod Martin (1 1/2), Greg Townsend (1) and Bill Pickel ( 1/2). . . . That pass rush was vintage Raiders, right? Kind of. Rod Martin: “That was the same kind they played in Chicago last year. We just picked it up and called it Raider.” . . . The defense was the Bears’ so-called 4-6, and the Jets were trying to play it, too. Whenever Jim Plunkett saw it coming, though, he called audibles for short passes. Plunkett: “We got to know that defense pretty well. Our coaches watched it all off-season.” . . . Jet nose tackle Joe Klecko on Plunkett: “He hasn’t been around this long for nothing. He does have his qualities. One of his qualities, you can be right in his face and he’ll still throw it. And he’ll throw it on the button.” . . . The shutout was the Raiders’ first since 1977. It was also their first under Tom Flores. . . . And Todd Christensen, for perspective: “To be quite honest, they (Jets) were out-manned. Two starting tackles holding out, numerous injuries. It’s nice to get the win, but I don’t think we can say we dominated one of the best teams in the NFL.” . . . The Raiders’ next game will be all the test they need. It’s Thursday night at Kansas City. They’ll have no off-day, practicing today and Tuesday, flying out Wednesday.