American Football Spectacular: The 2006 Battle Of The Bay Preview

So where have things gone to? Well, as even the most casual Raider fan could tell you in 2006, the franchise toils ever on beneath a terrifically flawed front office, and a stupendously incompetent coaching staff. If you handed this set of players off to any other current head coach in the National Football League, they would absolutely have more success than under owner Al Davis' unchanging edict to play the vertical passing game. Any coach. Bless his heart for being loyal, but current Coach Art Shell is merely being a good soldier in this morass -- his orders come from the top. All things Raider begin and end with Al.

Terrible case in point: last week's game against the winless Cleveland Browns. Down by eighteen points, the Browns changed their gameplan and attack. Oakland did not adapt, and were handed a comeback loss in their own house. Can't believe no local sportswriter referred to the game as a "brownout." But there it is. Cleveland adjusted. Oakland could not or would not. And the results were as condemning as could possibly be.

For the long-suffering Raider Nation, there is no light at the end of the tunnel for this season, or further down the road for that matter! The beloved Oakland franchise will not meet any success in its current incarnation. A pathetic copy of a copy of a copy of a copy, like a well-loved mixtape or hemophiliac royalty -- the further you get from the source, the more dated and fuzzier the details seem. Regime change. The Raider Nation must have a decisive regime change to gain any measure of momentum back towards excellence.

On the other side of the coin, The Niners of this year have distinguished themselves through good sustained effort and oftentimes botched execution. Overmatched against Kansas City last wknd, our Niners were able to stop fearsome RB Larry Johnson somewhat effectively. Yet backup QB Damon Huard was able to dissect SF's faulty pass defense as no Niner pass rush materialized. The Chiefs' notoriously porous defense managed to thump the Niners into a shutout. But to their credit, these boy have learned how not to quit. That's something at the very least. The culture of this team has fundamentally changed since the give-up Erickson regime. So in spite of everything, this much is positive.

All of which brings us to this Sunday's meeting of our two local teams.

Be sure to check out our SFist comparison of key OAK/SF talking points.

On paper, the Raiders have far more talent and far more polished performers. Yet the Niners don't know when to stop fighting -- even with Norv Turner on their side! Under Coach Nolan II's tutelage, the Niners just plain don't know when to stay down. They gutted out a victory over the Rams and continued to fight against overwhelming odds versus Philly and Kansas City. They punch, they fly to the ball, and just plain keep on grapplin' even when all hope is spent. These qualities lead the American Football Spectacular column to assume the 49ers will claim victory in this 2006 Battle Of The Bay.

There are two storylines to be written. Either the Niners will seize the tempo, gutting their way to victory, or the Raiders will win through pure dumb talent in spite of their braintrust's utter stagnancy.

This Sunday only one of these stories will be written, and by its writing, The San Francisco Bay's best American football team will be rise. That's when the cell calls will begin.

Next up on your American Football Spectacular: Win or lose, this Sunday night, the streets of Oakland burn.