Misery Loves Monday Night : Raiders and Seahawks Look for Port in the Storm

SEATTLE —  Oooh, everybody’s unhappy.

The Raiders are miserable. They just lost to the Atlanta Falcons. Forget “man bites dog,” that was “ hors d’oeuvre eats man.”

Tonight they have to seal up their eardrums and play in the Kingdome, site of 37-0 and 33-3 whippings in 1986 and ’85. If they had won last week, they could have mailed this one in and stayed in control of the AFC West.

Now they have a young quarterback, Steve Beuerlein, trying to regather his poise in the din, and what if he can’t?

What if the odds--the Seattle Seahawks are 2 1/2-point favorites--hold up? Will the Raiders be able to pull out of their funk for Sunday’s Denver Bronco invasion? If not, say goodby to the division title that wouldn’t go away.

The Seahawks are miserable.

Last season the Raiders waxed them here in Bo Jackson’s version of “Monday Night Football,” 37-14, ending a 5-year drought. And if you think the Seahawks’ rushing defense was bad a year ago, wait till you see this year’s. It will be like waving at Bo with a butterfly net.

A week ago, the Seahawks threw out a unit that had two players heavier than Kansas City fullback Christian Okoye. The Chiefs, No. 25 in the league in rushing, tabbed 162 yards on them, and ran for 2 touchdowns--their second and third of the season. The Houston Oilers got them for 237 the week before.

Linebacker Brian Bosworth has had worse reviews for his play than he had for his book, a development once deemed impossible.

And how about poor ABC-TV?

You think this is all they wanted in a matchup? Brian Bosworth won’t start because his surgically repaired shoulder hurts so there goes Bo-Boz II. How many times can they replay Bo running over Boz last year?

Tune in tonight and find out.

It’s time for that long-awaited stretch run in the AFC West.

The great thing about this division is that everybody controls his own destiny. That’s what the coaches say and it’s true, since the three contenders are going to play each other twice.

Of course, there is only one whose destiny it will be to win and reach the playoffs, however briefly, so “control” seems destined to prove a fleeting consolation in two cities.

With the contenders so evenly matched, there is nothing you can count on and that isn’t a compliment, either:

--Didn’t the Seahawks used to be invincible in this building?

They’re 3-3 this season.

--Surely the young, improving Raiders can win their 2 home games, which might be enough?

They’re 2-4 in the Coliseum.

--But the Broncos, having already lost every tiebreaker, can’t stay in it, can they?

Hey, they still have John Elway, Three Amigos and Joe Collier, their defensive coordinator, who is used to doing without. They’ve been flimflamming people for 3 years, so why not another 3 weeks?

There’ve been some changes made here, though obviously not enough.

Whatever happened to . . .

Bosworth?

Remember when someone thought he was refreshing, gifted, fun, good to have around?

Since his final game at Oklahoma, he has tested positive for steroids, called the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. “communists,” got dumped by Barry Switzer, signed an $11-million contract, got run over by Jackson--”He just flat freight-trained my . . . “ wrote Boz in “Boz”--came back all business this season, got hurt, returned and got his . . . freight-trained again last week--twice.

He fell off Okoye on 1 touchdown run. He got blocked--”through the other end of the end zone” said a Seattle writer--by Chief guard Byron Ingram on James Saxon’s touchdown, after which Ingram sneered, “I think the guy operates on a lot of hype.”

Boz was so bad, NBC’s Jimmy Cefalo, who was doing the game, recommended pulling him and putting in backup Darren Comeaux, a waiver wire pickup.

Fredd Young?

He’s in Indianapolis. The aggressive, young inside linebacker was a fine run defender, but he got mad because Boz got all that money, held out and had to be shipped out.

Steve Largent?

He started the season needing 4 touchdown catches to catch the immortal Don Hutson--and still needs 4. He’s playing with an eyeball dilated from having been poked, but maybe he has just gotten old, too. He’s 34.

Curt Warner?

Mr. Seahawk, he’s averaging 3.7 yards a carry, the lowest mark in his career, lower than his 3.8 in 1985, when he was coming off knee surgery. Fullback John L. Williams is starting to get more carries.

Jacob Green?

The defensive end who used to run those relay races around Henry Lawrence has 1 sack in the last 10 games. The Seahawks as a team have 2 in their last 7. Green, at 254 pounds, is lighter than Okoye, which is part of the problem against the run.

Kenny Easley?

He retired.

Dave Krieg?

He missed 6 games with a shoulder injury. There was speculation that Coach Chuck Knox, who has been trying to dump him for years, hoped rookie Kelly Stouffer could retire the competition, but when the Seahawks went 5 weeks without scoring 20 points in a game, Knox was forced to bring back his gritty little veteran.

Raider Notes

Will Seahawk defensive coordinator Tom Catlin bring eight men up on the line, as recent Raider opponents have done, shutting down their running game and daring Steve Beuerlein to pass? Perhaps not, because it’s not Catlin’s style. He’s a more conservative bend-but-don’t-break type, who stresses stripping the ball--the Seahawks are plus-8 in turnovers, fourth best in the league--and he’s worried about his suspect cornerbacks against the fleet Raider receivers.