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-'.'VL
Continued from page 9
party, Shell reviewed the season on
film. Few people thought they
would go^as far as they did. And
except for the Buffalo blow-put, ~
Shell was very pleased With what he
_^L_saw. In his mind, the NFL's "Pride
and Poise" franchise has recaptured
its persona as intimidatOTs who ask
for nothing and give nothing in
- ? return.
True enough, the Raiders aren't
likely to have super-duper running
back Bo Jackson available for duty
because of a hip injury, and Marcus
Allen isn't a young colt anymore.
4 But Allen won't be a solo act in
the backfield. Rookie Nick Bell,
free agent Roger Craig and former
Pro Bowler Greg Bell are very
capable of compensating for the
loss of Jackson. Quarterback Jay
Schroeder is coming off one of his
best-ever seasons. Willie Gault,
Mervyn Fernandez and Tim Brown
are as dangerous as any pass catch
ing trio in the league.
Defensively, Howie Long and
Greg Townsend are among the best
around. The addition of Ronnie Lott
to the secondary means that the
Raiders will be as vicious as ever.
That's a frightening prospect for
the opposition. During the regular
season in *90, the Raiders defense
/, allowed just six TDs when oppo
nents got inside their 10-yard. line.
Even more revealing is that enemy
offenses scored only 26 percent of
the time when they got in four
down territory.
The AFC West figures to stage
its usual duel 'til December for divi
sion supremacy. Kasas City looks to
be the team to beat and Denver is
. eager to atone for its cellar finish in
'90. San Diego has the talent to
move up in the standings and Seat
tle is always competitive, even
though the finart record doesn't
always show it.
"It doesn't matter who we play,"
Shell said. "Teams always seem to
play over their heads when they
play us. It's been like that all
through the years. We found out last
year that we were a good team who
can play with anybody.
"What a lot of people forget is
that we had a lot of young players
who had never been to the playoffs
before. You can talk about post-sea
son, but once it starts, it's a differ
ent situtation. You have to play at a
higher level to win. Now our people
understand what it takes to get to
the playoffs. They also know what
it takes to get over the hump once
you get there."
The pre-season magazines pick
the Raiders to finish second behind
Kansas City in the division racfe this
year. Schroeder's reputation of not
^producing in big games is the Tea
son why. Shell dismisses the notion
that Schroeder ljtfflHlMfeiiLto Put
the Silver and Black in the title^
game for the Vince Lombardi tro
phy. Critics point to Schroeder's
five interceptions against the Bills
as ample proof of their assertions._
They don't see him improving.
Shell believes thai the critics
are off the marlc.
"Jay was among the top passers
in the league last year," he said.
"All we needed was to get to the big
game and win it, then people
would've said that he had a I
year?'? ? ?
Even so, it's clear that LA h^s
- an eye on the^ future^ To enhance
that future, the team picked South
ern Cftlifornia^quaxterback Todd
Marinovich in the April draft. Mari
' /
J? X
novich, who wouUTve been a junior
this fall, had his share of problems
at USCV including his highly publi
cized arrest for drug possession.
The Raiders became one of the
NFL's elite by taking chances on
teams won't
touch. The Silver and Black have
reached the pinnacle of the sport by
embracing so-called "problem play
ers" who help win championships.
Please see page 11
_ ... . Photo courtesy vf Los Angeles Raiders
Shell's ability to communicate with his players is a prime reason why the Raiders have resurfaced as a too con
tender in the NFL.