Post by TheShadow on Sept 8, 2013 8:22:40 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com
By Tim Kawakami
Nick Roach is a new Raider, Vernon Davis is a veteran 49er, and together they provided clear verbal evidence of the historically wide chasm between the Bay Area's two NFL franchises this season.
Same question, asked separately to both last week as the Raiders prepared to open in Indianapolis on Sunday and the 49ers got set to play Green Bay:
What's a realistic goal for your team this season?
"Our goal is to get back where we finished; we want to go back (to the Super Bowl)," the 49ers tight end said.
"That's why we play this game. We play this game to play in the Super Bowl, for no other reason."
Of course, this time, after coming up just short against Baltimore last February, the 49ers would rather win the title, and they are one of the favorites to do it.
OK, Nick Roach, what's an authentic goal for you and your Raiders teammates? A .500 season?
"That would be a prediction," the Raiders middle linebacker said. "I don't have any of those."
Fair enough. If the Raiders don't feel comfortable answering questions about team goals, I can understand that.
And, hey, maybe all the expectations are wrong. Maybe the Raiders will rise and steal a playoff spot, and maybe the 49ers will fall apart after averaging 12 victories in the two-season Jim Harbaugh era.
But it's not likely, and it's all part of the extreme Raiders/49ers dichotomy right now. You can sense it in the area and it's unspoken among the two teams:
Everything is going right for the 49ers, who are lined up for continued success and happy to say so.
And (though I believe the Raiders can, and will, scrap out a few more victories than most are projecting) everything remains more than slightly askew for the Raiders, who are just trying to quietly regain credibility through this major rebuilding phase.
In fact, there's a chance that the 49ers and Raiders will put on an unprecedented tandem performance in 2013.
During the Super Bowl era, no two-franchise NFL region has had one team reach the Super Bowl and the other finish with the worst record in the league in the same season.
Even during the Raiders' Los Angeles sojourn, these two long-related franchises -- with 11 Super trips and eight titles between them -- have never seen one team at the top exactly when the other was at the bottom.
The Raiders were always relatively decent or better during the 49ers' dynasty years; the 49ers were always OK in the years the Raiders went championship-hunting.
Also, the Jets and Giants have never finished best/worst, either.
The closest any region has come to a best-worst combo:
Last year, when the 49ers won the NFC and the Raiders finished 4-12, the NFL's third-worst record, and in the 2007 season, when the New York Giants won the title and the Jets went 4-12, also the NFL's third-worst record.
But best/worst could happen this season and it might make things a little strained between the two local fan bases.
For my part, yes, I'm predicting that the 49ers will play themselves into Super Bowl XLVIII (and lose to Denver, I'm forecasting).
Only five teams have gone from Super Bowl runner-up back to the big game, but I think the 49ers are much more similar to the talent-studded early-1990s Buffalo Bills (the last team to do it) than recent Super-losers who often had a bit of flukiness involved.
The 49ers might not make it back to the Super Bowl, but they are not fluky in any way.
Meanwhile, if the Raiders stumble with Terrelle Pryor or whatever other quarterback, they could finish 3-13 or 2-14.
Really, it's never been like this between these two teams.
Some examples of the disparity:
The Raiders have only five former first-round picks on their roster: Sebastian Janikowski, Charles Woodson, Darren McFadden, D.J. Hayden and Mike Jenkins.
The 49ers have 13: Justin Smith, Nnamdi Asomugha, Vernon Davis, Donte Whitner, Glenn Dorsey, Joe Staley, Patrick Willis, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, Anthony Davis, Aldon Smith, Jonathan Baldwin and Eric Reid.
The 49ers have a new, state-of-the-art stadium set to open in Santa Clara next year.
The Raiders' lease with the old Coliseum expires after this season and they have nothing lined up for 2014, other than an express desire to get a new stadium ASAP.
Yes, it feels odd when these two franchises are on the exact opposite ends of the NFL spectrum. It's not natural.
But it's the way 2013 could turn out to be, unless the Raiders flip every script. Now that would be a goal.
By Tim Kawakami
Nick Roach is a new Raider, Vernon Davis is a veteran 49er, and together they provided clear verbal evidence of the historically wide chasm between the Bay Area's two NFL franchises this season.
Same question, asked separately to both last week as the Raiders prepared to open in Indianapolis on Sunday and the 49ers got set to play Green Bay:
What's a realistic goal for your team this season?
"Our goal is to get back where we finished; we want to go back (to the Super Bowl)," the 49ers tight end said.
"That's why we play this game. We play this game to play in the Super Bowl, for no other reason."
Of course, this time, after coming up just short against Baltimore last February, the 49ers would rather win the title, and they are one of the favorites to do it.
OK, Nick Roach, what's an authentic goal for you and your Raiders teammates? A .500 season?
"That would be a prediction," the Raiders middle linebacker said. "I don't have any of those."
Fair enough. If the Raiders don't feel comfortable answering questions about team goals, I can understand that.
And, hey, maybe all the expectations are wrong. Maybe the Raiders will rise and steal a playoff spot, and maybe the 49ers will fall apart after averaging 12 victories in the two-season Jim Harbaugh era.
But it's not likely, and it's all part of the extreme Raiders/49ers dichotomy right now. You can sense it in the area and it's unspoken among the two teams:
Everything is going right for the 49ers, who are lined up for continued success and happy to say so.
And (though I believe the Raiders can, and will, scrap out a few more victories than most are projecting) everything remains more than slightly askew for the Raiders, who are just trying to quietly regain credibility through this major rebuilding phase.
In fact, there's a chance that the 49ers and Raiders will put on an unprecedented tandem performance in 2013.
During the Super Bowl era, no two-franchise NFL region has had one team reach the Super Bowl and the other finish with the worst record in the league in the same season.
Even during the Raiders' Los Angeles sojourn, these two long-related franchises -- with 11 Super trips and eight titles between them -- have never seen one team at the top exactly when the other was at the bottom.
The Raiders were always relatively decent or better during the 49ers' dynasty years; the 49ers were always OK in the years the Raiders went championship-hunting.
Also, the Jets and Giants have never finished best/worst, either.
The closest any region has come to a best-worst combo:
Last year, when the 49ers won the NFC and the Raiders finished 4-12, the NFL's third-worst record, and in the 2007 season, when the New York Giants won the title and the Jets went 4-12, also the NFL's third-worst record.
But best/worst could happen this season and it might make things a little strained between the two local fan bases.
For my part, yes, I'm predicting that the 49ers will play themselves into Super Bowl XLVIII (and lose to Denver, I'm forecasting).
Only five teams have gone from Super Bowl runner-up back to the big game, but I think the 49ers are much more similar to the talent-studded early-1990s Buffalo Bills (the last team to do it) than recent Super-losers who often had a bit of flukiness involved.
The 49ers might not make it back to the Super Bowl, but they are not fluky in any way.
Meanwhile, if the Raiders stumble with Terrelle Pryor or whatever other quarterback, they could finish 3-13 or 2-14.
Really, it's never been like this between these two teams.
Some examples of the disparity:
The Raiders have only five former first-round picks on their roster: Sebastian Janikowski, Charles Woodson, Darren McFadden, D.J. Hayden and Mike Jenkins.
The 49ers have 13: Justin Smith, Nnamdi Asomugha, Vernon Davis, Donte Whitner, Glenn Dorsey, Joe Staley, Patrick Willis, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, Anthony Davis, Aldon Smith, Jonathan Baldwin and Eric Reid.
The 49ers have a new, state-of-the-art stadium set to open in Santa Clara next year.
The Raiders' lease with the old Coliseum expires after this season and they have nothing lined up for 2014, other than an express desire to get a new stadium ASAP.
Yes, it feels odd when these two franchises are on the exact opposite ends of the NFL spectrum. It's not natural.
But it's the way 2013 could turn out to be, unless the Raiders flip every script. Now that would be a goal.