Raiders Finally Find Opponent That They Can Look Down On : Seahawks: Seattle is the worst team in what might be the worst division in the NFL.

Tim Brown stood at his locker stall last Sunday in Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, surveyed the rubble of another crushing loss for the Raiders, and told reporters, “Thank God we’re in the worst division in football.�

That’s great news if you are at the top of that division. Or close enough to fight for the top. Or at least close enough to fight for a playoff spot.

But Brown’s words, intended as a message of hope, don’t say much for his Raiders, who are one of the worst teams in the worst division.

Only the Seattle Seahawks (1-8), today’s opponent at the Coliseum, have a worse record in the AFC West than the Raiders (3-6).

With the playoff picture starting to come into focus, the Raiders still talk bravely.

“As long as we have five games with teams in our division, there’s hope for us,� Raider Coach Art Shell said. “But it’s coming down to sudden death.�

And the Raider pulse feels faint. Trailing the division-leading Denver Broncos by three games with seven to play, the title appears out of reach for the Raiders, especially because two other teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers, are ahead of them.

That leaves a wild-card spot.

Or does it?

Discounting the division leaders, there are seven teams ahead of the Raiders for those three spots.

A 9-7 record might be good enough to earn one of those spots. An 8-8 mark looms as possible, but that would mean winning any tiebreakers involving other 8-8 teams.

So in the best-case scenario, the Raiders can lose only one more game, perhaps two.

They are favored to win today against the Seahawks. But the Raiders might not be favored again after that.

They will have home and home games against the Chargers, winners of four of their last five.

The Raiders will play host to both the Broncos and the Chiefs, a team that has beaten them six times in a row.

Besides all that, the Raiders must also play the Dolphins in Miami on a Monday night and the Redskins in Washington the day after Christmas.

As if that weren’t difficult enough, the Raiders will play their final three games in 13 days.

But the Raiders haven’t given up. The best evidence of that is last week’s decision to bench second-year quarterback Todd Marinovich in favor of veteran Jay Schroeder.

The Raiders could have stuck with Marinovich, their quarterback of the future, and given him a chance to get some much-needed experience the rest of the season. He has started only nine games.

But Raider management figures the best chance at that seemingly unreachable playoff spot is with the seasoned Schroeder.

Asked if he would go back to Marinovich if the Raiders were mathematically out of it, Shell replied, “I’m not willing to concede that.�

Marinovich isn’t happy about returning to the sideline today, but he can take some comfort from the knowledge that at least Cortez Kennedy can’t reach him there.

Kennedy, Seattle’s 6-foot-3, 293-pound defensive linemen and the biggest name remaining on this injury-riddled squad, sent Marinovich to the sidelines when these teams played a month ago.

Kennedy sacked Marinovich, who suffered a sprained left knee. Schroeder came on and led the Raiders to a 19-0 victory.

Nothing unusual for the Seahawks. With their top two quarterbacks--Kelly Stouffer and Dan McGwire--sidelined because of injuries, along with wide receiver Brian Blades and tight end Paul Green, they have scored only 56 in nine games.

Overall, the Seahawks have had a dozen players on the injured-reserve list this season. The two latest additions are guard Andy Heck because of an ankle injury and linebacker Terry Wooden because of a knee problem.

Seattle has been shut out twice and has scored a total of five touchdowns all season. Stan Gelbaugh, the Seahawks’ third quarterback this season, has thrown only one touchdown pass and five interceptions.

Stouffer, recovered from a shoulder injury, has been activated and might play today.

Seattle Coach Tom Flores has returned to the scene of some of his greatest seasons in the midst of his worst.

He spent nine years as the Raiders’ coach, winning two Super Bowls, before turning in his headphones. He returned to coaching this season and it would have been a much more pleasant comeback if he could have brought an offense with him.

“We can usually play most teams pretty tough for two or three quarters,� Flores said. “But when you don’t score any touchdowns, you are going to have trouble beating anybody.

“We have had all the injuries, but you can’t use those as excuses because nobody gives a damn about injuries. One o’clock Sunday afternoon, all people care about is whether you play well or whether you don’t. That’s the nature of this business.�

In the AFC West this season, business has not been good.