The National Football League's Week Nine of the 2006 regular season is upon us here in the Bay Area, as well as the first tinge of wet weather. Curl up on the couch with a mug o' soup and a blanket: it's time for American football....

O, the pain. Not so much a piercing pain, more of an overall pain, as though Half Dome's other half had fallen on top of of us while napping. Our 49ers were destroyed by the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 41-0. Forty-one to nothing! At least now The Raider Nation has something to gloat about. It was the most complete loss by the Niners in recent memory. And the worst part was how dispassionate the Chiefs seemed as they went about their business of rackin' up the points. Almost a soft dictation of game tempo. A laugh here or there on the sideline, but the KC team was merely getting things done. No big deal to them. ...

So, along comes Week Two of the 2006 NFL Regular Season for our Bay Area teams. Here's what to look for, and when. ...