When: 4:25 p.m. ET, Sunday Where: O.co Coliseum, Oakland TV: Fox
A Bay Area rivalry is rekindled this weekend with the San Francisco 49ers taking a 30-plus-mile bus ride from Santa Clara to Oakland to face the Raiders. With so much drama and white noise surrounding the Niners and their head coach and the Raiders en route to the No. 1 overall pick, many see this as the Dysfunction Bowl.
ESPN 49ers reporter Paul Gutierrez and Raiders reporter Michael Wagaman break down Sunday’s game.
Gutierrez: Mike, we’ve both covered the Raiders for a number of years, and while neither of us thought this was a playoff-caliber team heading into this season, it did appear as though the roster was upgraded for since-fired coach Dennis Allen. It’s an open-ended question, obviously, but what, in all that is holy in Silver And Blackdom, happened to this team from being one of promise to one that should get the No. 1 overall draft pick?
Wagaman: Paul, I’m not sure there’s enough space to list everything that has gone wrong with this team, so I’ll keep it brief: They simply just don’t have the talent. With few exceptions, the roster is filled with guys who would have a tough time making it onto most other teams’ rosters. General manager Reggie McKenzie once again swung and missed in free agency with guys such as Matt Schaub, Maurice Jones-Drew and LaMarr Woodley. All have been huge disappointments, and in the case of Schaub, he’s lucky just to get on the field in mop-up time or as the highest-paid holder in the NFL. Offensively, they’re one dimensional and easy to defend. Defensively, they’ve played well in short spurts, but that’s about it. Come on, man, this team made Shaun Hill of the Rams look like Joe Montana. That says it all right there.
The 49ers signed Colin Kaepernick to a surprisingly fat contract over the summer and yet, with few exceptions, he's looked very mediocre this season. He can't seem to make the touch passes and isn't very accurate for a guy getting paid as much as he is. And it's not like he doesn't have good receivers, either. What's been the biggest stumbling block for him this year?
Gutierrez: That’s long been the knock on Kaepernick -- that he’s missing a certain touch on passes. Otherwise, if he completes a pair of fades to Michael Crabtree, you’re looking at the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Still, you’re right, there have been flashes, just not enough. And it seems as though the Niners’ desire to turn Kaepernick into more of a pure pocket passer is working against him. Yeah, he still has the ability to break off a long run, it just seems as though the read-option is a thing of the past, and defenses don’t have to worry about it. Then again, maybe it’s just that the Seattle Seahawks have his number. Per The Associated Press, quoting Pro Football Focus, Kaepernick and Andrew Luck are tied for having the most passes dropped by receivers with 29.
Reggie McKenzie missed by letting Carson Palmer go. He and his staff missed on Matt Flynn and Tyler Wilson. They missed on Matt Schaub. Small sample size, obviously, but did McKenzie & Co. finally get it right at the most important position in team sports with rookie quarterback Derek Carr?
Wagaman: My first inclination is to say yes, though I always hedge with young quarterbacks until I’ve seen them play for two to three years. Carr has had moments in which he’s looked extremely good and others in which he’s played very much like a kid out of college. What seems to separate Carr from the long list of other quarterbacks the Raiders have tried over the years is confidence and poise. Although the Rams gave him fits with their pass rush, Carr has been able to keep cool despite all the problems around him. It’s worth noting that he’s just the 12th rookie in NFL history to pass for 2,000 yards in his team’s first 10 games. He still has a lot of growing to do, and it would certainly improve things if Oakland could run the ball consistently, but Carr seems to have finally settled the team’s search for a long-term answer at quarterback.
The Rams were able to pressure Carr better than any other team has this season, and they did it with a variety of blitzes and dominant play by the defensive line. St. Louis is a lot like San Francisco in that way. Do you see the 49ers trying to follow the same blueprint, knowing the Raiders have no running game to speak of?
Gutierrez: Aldon Smith, Derek Carr. Derek Carr, Aldon Smith. Yeah, I expect Smith to be in Carr’s grill quite a bit Sunday afternoon. Since joining the 49ers at the end of his nine-game suspension, Smith has made life easier for the rest of his front-seven mates, commanding extra attention. And if the Raiders have no running game to speak of, that just allows Smith to pin his ears back and attack. But if Latavius Murray is back from his concussion, the Niners have to at least think about being burned, no? The Niners defense has been the team’s bright spot this season, no doubt, save for that night in Denver. I expect a handful of sacks for the Niners, especially if the Raiders fall behind early and cannot run the ball.
Oakland. Santa Clara. Concord. Dublin. Los Angeles. San Antonio. Portland. Where will the Raiders be playing in two years? Oh, and: Jon Gruden. Jim Harbaugh. David Shaw. Mike Holmgren. Monty Brewster, aka None of the Above. Which of these guys will be coaching them at that time?
Wagaman: In two years? A more pressing concern is where the Raiders will be in 2015. The lease at O.Co Coliseum expires at the end of the current season, and owner Mark Davis has said he won’t ask for an extension. Davis might have to rethink that because he might not have any other choice. San Antonio is a smokescreen and nothing more than that. Los Angeles would seem the logical choice if the Raiders move, but the Chargers and other teams eyeing that market might have something to say about that. Ideally, Davis would prefer to keep his franchise in Northern California, but there’s the whole stadium issue. The current digs in Oakland are incredibly outdated and very much an eyesore. There have been suggestions from Roger Goodell that the Raiders should think about renting Levi’s Stadium from the 49ers. That doesn’t make much sense, either, from a logistical standpoint. As for who will be the coach, it’s really anybody’s guess. Davis would love to have Gruden return, but that seems to be a pipe dream at this point. If I have to pick one, I’ll go with Holmgren. He met with team officials after the Allen firing, and something tells me there was more being discussed than just the overall state of the Raiders.
There has been a lot of discussion about Jim Harbaugh possibly being the Raiders' next head coach. Why would this job interest him and would it make sense from his perspective?
Gutierrez: A few reasons. One, he cut his NFL coaching teeth in Oakland, as you know, serving on Oakland’s staff in 2002, which also happens to be the last time the Raiders had a winning record and went to the playoffs. So there’s some symmetry there. Two, he adored Al Davis and what he meant to the game of football. I’m not sure if the same feeling exists between Harbaugh and Mark Davis, though. And three, Harbaugh is a Bay Area guy now, having coached at Stanford before going to Santa Clara in 2011. And, if you’re reading between the lines, and listening to national reports, his wife also loves the Bay Area. The family, then, could stay put. From a football perspective, Harbaugh likes rebuilding projects, and the Raiders are obviously in the midst of a massive reconstruction. I just don’t see the Raiders parting with badly needed draft picks to get Harbaugh, and I don’t see the Niners letting him go up Interstate 880 and making good with an area rival. Especially if the Raiders already have someone else in mind. All this Harbaugh-to-Oakland talk might be just as surprising to the Raiders as everyone else.
