by By STEVE CORKRAN MediaNews , Monterey County Herald

To that end, Cable's attention during his team's 31-10 win in the exhibition opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night at the Oakland Coliseum centered on things such as his passing offense and run defense.

Those two facets of the game were primary causes in the Raiders' winning only five games last season. They also received inordinate time and effort from the coaching staff during the offseason.

On Thursday, the Raiders provided Cable and his staff ample video for dissection in the coming days as a means of gauging the progress.

Suffice to say, it won't take much for this year's team to clear the bar set by the 2008 Raiders .

The Raiders featured the league's worst-ranked passing attack and the 31st-ranked run defense last season. Johnnie Lee Higgins led all Raiders wide receivers with 22 receptions for 366 yards and four touchdowns.

The early returns are encouraging for Cable and the Raiders . Quarterback JaMarcus Russell completed five of his first six passes, with four secured by second-year receiver Chaz Schilens. Another pass intended for Schilens resulted in a 47-yard pass interference penalty.

The Raiders lacked a go-to wide receiver last season, in large part because of a season-ending injury to Drew Carter, Ronald Curry losing a step and his once-reliable hands, and Javon Walker battling injuries and uncertainty over whether he wanted to play anymore.

That enabled Schilens to develop quicker than expected of a seventh-round draft pick in his rookie season.

Schilens showed Thursday that he has what it takes to be a No. 1 receiver, which takes pressure off tight end Zach Miller to be focal point of the passing attack and gives Russell the comfort of knowing he has other reliable options.

On one play, Schilens slipped as he fielded a low throw from Bruce Gradkowski, jumped to his feet as the defender arrived and sprinted 9 yards for a first-and-goal in the second quarter.

Rookie receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey started opposite Schilens on Thursday. He caught only one pass for 8 yards, but he showed his value by forcing the Cowboys to commit two defenders to his side.

The ripple effect manifested itself in running back Darren McFadden ripping off a 45-yard run on the final play of the first quarter.

That's the kind of give and take Cable envisions in an offense that features three front-line backs. Yet, it works that well only if the defense is forced to respect the passing game.

Cable won't be as pleased with what he saw by his run defense when he plays back the video today.

The Cowboys shredded the Raiders defense for runs of 8, 14 and 12 yards within a four-play span midway through the first quarter.

Each of the runs netted a first down and pointed out that new defensive coordinator John Marshall has work left before anyone deems the problem area fixed or improved.

The Raiders run defense showed glimpses, but it's the overall package by which it will be judged.

Cable and Marshall remain convinced that improved technique is all that's needed to bridge the gap, that the talent is in place and it's a matter of time.

If so, it's evident that it's going to take awhile longer before the defense gets the results against the run that the offense did with its new-look passing attack.

Raiders 31, Cowboys 10 ?Aug. 22: at San Francisco, 5:15 p.m.

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