Backed by Voodoo, 3-Game Win Streak, Saints Take On Raiders

A high tide is rolling in from New Orleans, seeking a slew of firsts: first four-game winning streak in Saint history; first winning season; first victory over the Raiders; first coach to last out his contract.

Also on the line at the Coliseum today are some unofficial marks, like best performance by a voodoo woman. She’s Macumba, nee Ellen Hendrick, who kicked things off for the Saints, so to speak.

Macumba arrived at a New Orleans radio station three weeks ago with an entourage that included Guido, her bongo player, and her two daughters, one of whom wore a nine-foot Burmese python. The Saints were 0-2 and allowing 40 points a game, so it looked like a good time to get goofy.

She laid down an incantation. The Saints won, even if it was only over 0-2 Tampa Bay and in the Superdome. They also lost both offensive guards and their center, and their next game was at San Francisco against the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers, who were invincible again after their 34-10 whipping of the Raiders.

The stage was set for Macumba II. She laid down another spell. She sent a gris-gris bag, which has all sorts of potent things in it, to the Saints with instructions that it be handed personally to Coach Bum Phillips, who was to hang it in the locker room.

“No, we didn’t,� said a Saint official, laughing. “We didn’t even ask Bum about it. He’s not particularly superstitious.�

Anyway, the Saints stunned the 49ers, 20-17.

Last week was a gimme, the Eagles, who dropped the ball all over their half of the Superdome. The Saints took a 20-0 lead and held on to win, 23-21.

Excitement? Whooee!

“It doesn’t take much to get ‘em excited,� Phillips drawled last week from New Orleans. “One in a row excites ‘em.�

Welcome back to reality. The Raiders are 9 1/2-point favorites. That voodoo doesn’t cut much ice in Las Vegas.

Nor do the Saints, obviously. Phillips holds the franchise longevity record--62 games--but he’s battling, too.

He took the Saints from 1-15, the season before his arrival when their fans invented the bag-head, to 8-8 in 1983, when they were nominating him for canonization, or at least the Country Music Hall of Fame.

But then there was the Earl Campbell-George Rogers debacle. Last season, Phillips acquired his star back from his days at Houston, Campbell, for a first-round draft choice. The two Heisman Trophy winners shared time in the backfield until Rogers was traded to Washington in the off-season.

This season, new owner Tom Benson signed a new USFL quarterback, Bobby Hebert, whether Bum wanted him or not.

They already had Richard Todd and Dave Wilson. Wilson stomped in to say that anyplace they wanted to trade him was fine.

“I was very, very upset,� he said. “I welcome competition, but with three guys like that, somebody has to be the odd man out. I didn’t think it showed any confidence in me as a leader.�

Anywhere else, there would have been turmoil. In New Orleans, they called it preseason.

After the 0-2 start, New Orleans was swept with rumors that LSU’s Bill Arnsparger was on his way to the rescue from Baton Rouge. Phillips grew snippy with the local press but doesn’t exactly deny that he needs to produce to stay.

“I feel like personally I need to get in the playoffs,� he said last week. “We’ve been there (in New Orleans) five years. You ought to be able to do it in five.�

How have they been doing it?

“Well,� a Saint official said, “that’s kind of a challenge.�

Since the start of the season, they’ve lost not only the middle of their offensive line, but also two starting linebackers and their strong safety. With what remains on defense, they’ve gone from last season’s No. 26 ranking against the rush to No. 12.

They’re supposed to be a running team, but not with half their offensive line down. They’ve benched Campbell, who may actually be No. 3, behind last week’s starter, Wayne Wilson, and Hokie Gajan.

But they’re throwing the ball better with Wilson, a graduate of Anaheim Savanna High, replacing Todd, the NFC’s lowest-rated passer last season. Wilson went 2 for 22 in the opener, was sacked 3 times and threw 2 interceptions. Since, however, he is 64 for 109, with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, all of which is making him feel much better.

Wilson now refers to Hebert as the quarterback of the future.

What does that make him?

“I meant the long-term future,� Wilson said.

You could ask Phillips. The future had better be now.

You could ask Macumba. Nothing is easy. She interceded on behalf of Tulane last week, but the Green Wave lost to Vanderbilt.

Raider Notes For the Raiders, winners of two in a row, today’s game is another test of their offense. Marc Wilson was 18 for 29 for 241 yards last week, and Marcus Allen gained 126 yards, but the offense scored only one touchdown. In the last three games, it has scored four. . . . The Raider defense has allowed seven touchdowns and scored four, itself. It starts the day with the NFL’s best average against the rush per game, 87.8 yards, and per carry, 3.2. The Raiders are second in sacks. They have 25 to the Giants’ 26. Leading the Raiders are Howie Long with 5 and Rod Martin with 4 1/2. Leading the Saints is linebacker Rickey Jackson with 5 1/2.