Raiders 'dangerous'

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 12, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:40 a.m.

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Sean Payton didn’t spend any time this week thinking about the emotional state of the Oakland Raiders, who have a new coach, or even the fact they’re well-rested after not playing since Sept. 28.

If you look past all the turmoil created by a 1-3 start and the inevitable firing of second-year coach Lane Kiffin by Raiders owner Al Davis two days after their last game, Payton says you’ll find a dangerous team.

That was the only thing on Payton’s mind this week as the New Orleans Saints, who had a short week after a disappointing loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night, prepared for today’s noon matchup against the Raiders in the Superdome.

The reason for Payton’s concern? After being thrashed by the Denver Broncos in the season opener, 41-14, the Raiders have at least been competitive in their last three outings.

They won handily at Kansas City (23-8), then blew second-half leads in losing at Buffalo (24-23) and back home against San Diego (28-18). They led the Chargers 15-0 at halftime before everything became unraveled.

“I think they are a dangerous team,” said Payton, whose 2-3 team is desperate for a win since they won’t be back in the Superdome until Nov. 24. “They’re physical, and they have been very consistent and played very hard. Aside from their opening game, they have played extremely well.

“We have to be mindful of what we’re doing, and on a short week be ready to play and understand that they’re coming off of a bye. I can’t control their schedule. What I can control is our schedule and making sure we’re ready to play coming off a short week. That’s what we have to be mindful of.”

While Payton can’t control the Raiders’ schedule, neither can he control the whims of Davis, who, in an embarrassing news conference on Sept. 30, fired Kiffin and replaced him with offensive line coach Tom Cable.

Even with a bye week to work with, Payton said he thinks it would be difficult to make a lot of changes in the wake of Kiffin’s dismissal.

“I think it’s hard to do that in stride,” he said. “There will be points of emphasis I’m sure you’ll pay attention to, but I think they’ll do a good job.”

“I really don’t think it’s about change,” Cable said. “I think it’s improving where we’re at and evaluating if that’s the best thing to be doing in those circumstances and this situation.

“If it’s not, you might tweak it. But for us, it’s about getting better and executing better — and staying the course. The bottom line is you hope to keep getting better. You hope to improve because 1-3 isn’t good enough.”

At least Payton knows something about Cable, the Raiders’ fifth coach since they went to the Super Bowl in 2002. Payton and Cable were graduate assistants at San Diego State in 1989 and have been friends since.