Here's a roundup of today's sporting news...

If there's anybody in the city taking more heat than Mike Nolan, it's his quarterback, Alex Smith. Smith stands accused by the Faithful of not very being good. The evidence? Overthrowing Receivers. Underthrowing Receivers. Not seeing open Receivers. The numbers back up the evidence-- he has a preposterously low QB rating (57.2) and completion percentage (48.7). He is also 11-19 as a starting QB. In the games we've watched, Smith looked like the same QB he was when he first started-- skittish and inaccurate-- so much so, the Faithful are muttering that Smith, as a #1 draft pick, has been a bust of Lucy Pinder-like proportions (sort of NSFW-y). ...

Now that the National Football League's 2007 schedule has been released, let the carpin' in Oakland begin....

* Houston vs. Oakland Sunday, December 3, 2006. 1:15 PM, PST. Week 13 The Battle Of The Trough After losing four straight games to every team in the AFC West and one franchise that used to be in the division for good measure (@SEA; DEN; @KC; @ SD), the Raiders limp home. In uglier times early on this season before the wins versus ARI and PIT, this Week 13 game against the flailing Houston Texans had been projected as the Raiders' best chance to get a win....

Doesn't look good for our two Bay Area teams in this Week Six of the NFL's 2006 regular season. Both the 49ers and the Raiders seem outmatched against the two most powerful squads in the AFC West. Let's take a look. ...

Weekly football recap....