PRO FOOTBALL / WEEK 1 : There Will Be No Easing Into This Season : Raiders: The Oilers’ run-and-shoot offense, led by Warren Moon, awaits them in the Astrodome in opener.

HOUSTON —  Eight months after their run-and-hide performance against Buffalo, maybe run-and-shoot isn’t what the Raiders had in mind to bolster their confidence and christen a new season.

What the Raiders needed today was a tug-of-war brawl in the dirt and dog bones of Cleveland.

What the Raiders get on the rock-hard floor of the Astrodome are the Houston Oilers, who averaged 300 yards passing last season.

A recap of gadget offenses as they relate to the Raiders: Their last encounter with the run-and-shoot came on Dec. 10, 1990, in Detroit. The Raider defense surrendered 31 points and 370 yards to the Lions. Because Detroit’s defense was worse, the Raiders escaped, 38-31.

It was a different story against Buffalo’s no-huddle offense Jan. 20, when the Raiders gave up 502 yards and seven touchdowns in the AFC title game.

The Lions have since junked the run-and-shoot. The Oilers, though, have lifted it to higher ground with quarterback Warren Moon and receivers Drew Hill, Haywood Jeffires, Curtis Duncan, Ernest Givens, each of whom caught 60 or more passes last season.

How do you stop this? The most effective method is to somehow disable Moon, who threw for 4,689 yards and 33 touchdowns in 15 games. Moon suffered a dislocated right thumb in Week 15, and down went Houston’s hopes as they were bounced from the playoffs, 41-14, by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Short of injury, run-and-shoot antidotes are few. The Raiders think that facing it in the opener is an advantage. How often do you get 223 days to prepare for a game?

“We started working a little bit on it during the off-season and a little bit in training camp,” Raider Coach Art Shell said of the run-and-shoot.

“It does help. If (the game) comes in the middle of the season all of a sudden, you’ve only got a couple of days to work on it . . . it isn’t the same.”

Unlike Detroit’s version of the run-and-shoot, Houston’s offense lacks balance because it lacks Barry Sanders.

“It’s more shoot than run,” nose tackle Bob Golic said.

The Oilers averaged 88.6 yards on the ground in 1990 and spent the summer without Lorenzo White, the team’s leading rusher with 702 yards, who remains a holdout.

The Raider man on the spot today is defensive coordinator Dave Adolph, who lived to coach another day after the Buffalo debacle. He can’t afford many more wipeouts.

Adolph reviewed the film of last year’s Detroit game and found some of it salvageable. The Raiders gave up 21 points in the first quarter but only 10 in the next three. The coaches thought it was a matter of Raider defenders getting over the initial shock and finally assimilating what was taught in practice.

“I think it takes a little while to get settled in,” Shell said. “You can watch it on film, you can talk about it, but until you get out there on the field . . . “

The first rule of defense against the run-and-shoot is to throw out your middle linebacker. Has the game changed? Imagine the Chicago Bears telling Dick Butkus to take a seat.

“One of the them is not going to play,” Adolph said of his linebacker strategies.

“There’ll be an adjustment of him standing on the sideline next to me.”

That Raider someone is middle linebacker Riki Ellison, whose strength is run support. He didn’t play in the regular defense last year against Detroit and he won’t see much action today. An extra defensive back will replace Ellison in an effort to stem the flood of Houston receivers. And that’s on first down.

The Oilers might stop themselves. They have at least slowed in a training camp disrupted by injuries, holdouts and disharmony.

Leading rusher White; the Oilers’ top quarterback rusher, and punter Greg Montgomery remained holdouts late into last week.

Former starting safety Terry Kinnard was cut after he left camp in a contract dispute.

Defensive tackle Ray Childress is returning from a stress fracture of the right leg, and defensive tackle Jeff Alm is out with a knee injury.

Linebacker Chris Dishman didn’t sign until Aug. 18, linebacker Johnny Meads not until last week.

Defensive end Lee Williams, acquired Aug. 22 in a trade with the San Diego Chargers, is still unpacking his luggage.

Because of the no-shows, 10 of Houston’s 14 draft choices made the final roster.

The Oiler plan was to build on last year’s momentum, not destroy it.

“That’s why I thought this was such an important camp for us,” Moon said.

“Because of the type of schedule we start out with--the Raiders, Cincinnati and Kansas City right off the bat--you want to come out of the (exhibition) season at full strength. But we’re not going to have that luxury.”

Raider Notes

Pass-rush specialist Lee Williams is expected to be activated by Houston for today’s game. The Oilers had received a roster exemption for the defensive end. “We’ll wait and see how much he progresses,” Oiler Coach Jack Pardee said. “We might start him. Maybe we’ll use him as a pass-situation guy.” . . . Pardee’s impression of new Raider safety Ronnie Lott? “He still looks like Ronnie Lott,” Pardee said. “He’ll step in and hit you. He’ll help the Raiders’ secondary, no doubt about that.”

Raider Coach Art Shell is tired of talking about last January’s 51-3 AFC title-game loss to the Buffalo Bills. “That thing is forgotten,” he said. “We’re moving forward with our lives. We can’t get that back. It’s over. We could beat Buffalo 100-0, but we’ll never get revenge for that particular game.” . . . The Oilers led the league in penalties in 1990, but Pardee said it is not a carry-over from former Coach Jerry Glanville’s days in Houston. Pardee said most of the penalties could be attributed to procedure penalties related to the run-and-shoot offense.

The Oilers averaged 25.3 points a game last season and finished second in points scored to Buffalo with 405. . . . The Raider defense allowed only five touchdowns in the exhibition season and recorded 15 quarterback sacks. . . . The Raiders are 19-12 in season openers, 8-1 since moving to Los Angeles in 1982.