Hot Topic and Player Notes: Raiders

The Oakland Raiders and quarterback Kerry Collins hope to get back on good terms with their own fans when they host the Miami Dolphins at McAfee Coliseum.

The standings say the Raiders are a pretty good team outside the vicious infighting of the AFC West. Oakland is 0-4 within the division and 4-2 outside after a 16-13 road win against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field.

When last seen in Oakland, the Raiders were booed off the field following a 31-17 loss to Denver, with quarterback Collins getting the brunt of the fan abuse.

"Most people checked us off after the Denver game, and we said, 'We ain't dead by a long shot,'" defensive tackle Warren Sapp said.

Collins had a horrible first half at Washington: 4-for-15, 53 yards and an interception returned for a touchdown. But he recovered to finish 19 of 36 for 289 yards and a touchdown, giving him a much-needed boost of confidence heading into Oakland's game against Miami.

"I've been around this thing long enough to know if I keep the right approach and the right frame of mind, I'll play through it," Collins said. "It's hard. It's not easy. I care about what goes on. I care about how I play. I care about the things I do when I hurt the game.

"At the same time, I know that guys are counting on me, and I want to come back and do things to help us win ballgames. I was able to do that today through a lot of support from my teammates."

The Raiders seem to be behind Collins. Sapp said there was no need to give him a pep talk after the interception against Washington.

"He understands sometimes stuff like that happens," Sapp said. "It was nothing he did on purpose."

Running back LaMont Jordan said it was Collins' job to put the Denver loss aside.

"Not every quarterback is going to play a spectacular game," Jordan said. "Sometimes a quarterback is going to come out and play one of the worst games they ever had. It's how you bounce back from it. The way Kerry Collins bounced back from it is, he led his team to victory."

REPLAY

The Raiders' 16-13 win over the Redskins at FedEx Field was their best overall defensive performance since a 24-0 shutout over Kansas City to close out the 2002 season.

With Washington scoring the game's first touchdown on a 17-yard interception return by Lemar Marshall, Oakland's defense limited the Redskins to 24- and 45-yard field goals by John Hall the rest of the way. The Redskins had just 246 yards of total offense and averaged 4.0 yards per play.

The Raiders, trailing 13-3 at halftime, got their offense started when Kerry Collins hit Jerry Porter for a 49-yard touchdown pass on Oakland's first possession in the second half. Sebastian Janikowski had field goals of 30, 25 and 19 yards after missing his first attempt from 45 yards.

PLAYER NOTES

--DE Bobby Hamilton played against Washington after being inactive the two previous weeks with an ankle injury. He had three tackles and recovered a fumble.

--P Shane Lechler had a 50-yard punt to extend his streak of games with a punt of 50 or more yards to 31 games. Lechler pinned the Redskins inside the 20-yard line three times.

--WR Jerry Porter, who had the second-best yardage game of his career with 142 yards against Washington, now has 663 yards receiving -- just 6 shy of Randy Moss' team-leading total.

--DE Derrick Burgess had two sacks, including one on the last play of the game to force a Mark Brunell fumble. Burgess has nine sacks on the season.

--SS Reggie Tongue had three tackles against Washington in his most extensive playing time since joining the Raiders Nov. 2.