Houston Causes Raiders No Trouble : Wilson-to-Christensen Combination Beats Oilers, 28-17

HOUSTON —  As a football game, this left something--suspense, precision or an ending occurring within 3 hours 30 minutes of the opening kickoff--to be desired.

As a tuneup that counted in the standings, which is what it was for the Raiders, it was OK. They rested Marcus Allen and Mike Haynes, took a 28-7 lead as Marc Wilson threw for four touchdowns and Todd (I’m Open) Christensen caught three, and managed to keep their eyes open long enough to ease past the Houston Oilers, 28-17, Sunday.

The Raiders are 5-3 after their 0-3 start and can finally say the word out loud they’ve been thinking for two weeks: Denver. The Broncos, who started their misery with that 38-36 victory in the opener at Mile High Stadium, will visit the Coliseum next Sunday.

“Honest to God,” linebacker Matt Millen said, “I was surprised. Nobody talked about them last week.

“We prepared like we weren’t thinking about Denver. And we played like we were thinking about Denver.”

The Oilers are 1-7 after their 1-0 start. Sunday, they played like they were thinking about the Raiders, all right, and had been doing too much thinking. They fled before they saw the whites (reds? blacks? silvers?) of the Raider eyes, abandoning the running game with which they’re supposed to be battering people.

Instead, Warren Moon passed on the first six Oiler plays, and 40 others after that. He finished 18 for 46, saw his passes intercepted four times and was sacked six times. Raider linemen and linebackers batted down seven of his passes. For counterpoint, the Oilers ran Mike Rozier 10 times and the Raiders batted him down at the line, too. His day’s work totaled 31 yards.

Raider nose tackle Bill Pickel had three of the deflections, a sack and a fumble recovery. Haynes’ replacement at the right corner, Sam Seale, again drew a lot of fire but he intercepted two passes and has three in his two starts. Rod Martin had an interception and a sack of Moon, his old Hamilton High teammate, and so did Jeff Barnes.

Christensen caught seven passes, which is the way he thinks more Sundays ought to be. He toasted linebacker John Grimsley on a 14-yard pass play for a touchdown in the second period. He left nickel back Jeff Donaldson for dead with an out move on a 32-yarder just before the half.

And he got his nemesis, strong safety Keith Bostic, who seemed to be trying to beat some sense into him with an attack that featured a shot to Christensen’s face mask after each snap. But Christensen caught a three-yarder on Bostic in the end zone, too. Then the self-described “cool cat” thunderously spiked the football in front of Bostic.

“He hit me in the head a couple of times,” Christensen said. “The thing is, Ray Chester once told me, ‘If they get away with it, it’s a good play.’

“My job is to tell the official and let him rectify it. I’m not notorious for being pugilistic or a tough guy. My game is concentration, quickness and a little funk. Success is the best revenge.”

Said Wilson: “Their style is to blitz the heck out of you, and their strong safety (Bostic) is a big, huge guy, a linebacker-type guy. It’s awful tough for a guy like that to cover Todd.”

Christensen, of course, is famous for informing his quarterback that he’ll be open on the next play. Since he was open so often Sunday, had he been heard more?

“It’s impossible to hear any more from No. 46,” Wilson said.

Whatever competitive charm this day held disappeared early. The Oilers did hold the Raiders on their first possession but then Moon and Co. tried out Jerry Glanville’s new offense against the Raider defense.

Moon completed three passes for gains of 11, 13 and 9 yards before his line took the first in a long series of false-start penalties. It got four in all Sunday, two caused by Pro Bowl alternate Bruce Matthews. The Oilers are crying about their inexplicable raft of weekly penalties, but until their huge, young, rich offensive line learns to do something fundamental, like wait until the ball is snapped before taking off, they’re in trouble.

So, with second and six at the Raider 46, Moon dropped back once more and was laid out by the blitzing Raider strong safety, Stacey Toran. Moon got off a floater that Martin intercepted and returned to the Houston 39.

On the very first play, Wilson scrambled for 11 yards and fumbled--after he was down, the officials ruled. But wait! The instant replay boys were on the case. . . .

Meanwhile, NBC-TV and the Astrodome scoreboard began showing their own replays, which suggested that Wilson had, indeed, fumbled before his knee touched down.

Back came the decision from the replay official, Mike Lisetski. The play stood. There was more conversation for several minutes but the play still stood.

“Somebody made the comment they thought they’d ordered out for pizza,” Wilson said. “They could have ordered out for a seven-course dinner.”

Three plays later, the Raiders stalled and Chris Bahr kicked a 49-yard field goal. However on the play, Houston’s Robert Lyles was detected holding and Tom Flores took the three points off the board.

Two plays later, Wilson arched one for Rod Barksdale, streaking down the left sideline into the end zone. Cornerback Patrick Allen went up with, or into, him, and the ball fell incomplete. Another official behind the play threw a penalty flag. The first official, who had signaled incomplete, then threw his own flag.

The call was pass interference on Allen and a Raider first down at the one. Two plays later, Wilson threw a scoring pass to tight end Andy Parker.

After that, the Raiders worked on their Moon landings and Wilson played 21 points worth of catch with Christensen. That did it, even though it took a while for the final returns to be posted.

“How long was that?” Millen asked. “Seven hours?”

Raider Notes

Howie Long left in the third period with what a team physician said was a slightly pulled right hamstring, though Long said he could have played if needed. Rod Martin dislocated his right middle finger, but the physician said Martin should be able to play next week. . . . The most impressive Oiler was rookie receiver Ernest Givins, who streaked 43 yards on a reverse for the first Oiler touchdown, after taking a handoff from Mike Rozier, who was being tackled by Matt Millen. Millen: “I got to Rozier and I thought, ‘Something’s wrong. He hasn’t tried to make any moves.’ Then his hand went out and I thought, ‘Ooh, reverse.’ ” . . . Givins, a 4.34 sprinter out of Louisville, was matched against returning Houston native, Lester Hayes. Givins caught two passes in the first half for 28 yards, but left with an upset stomach. . . . Napoleon McCallum ran for 84 yards, his pro high. . . . Ray Guy’s fourth punt was the 1,000th of his career. He knocked it out of bounds at the Houston 4. . . . Millen, asked if the Oiler defense bore any resemblance to the that of the Raiders: “Yeah, they go out there with 11 guys.”