Raiders, 49ers limp to prime-time meeting
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Jon Gruden’s return to the sideline in Oakland and the prospect of a full season of Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco put optimism at a peak in the Bay Area heading into this NFL season.
That feeling went far beyond the partisan backers of the Raiders and 49ers and extended to the league and television network bosses who decided to put the final Battle of the Bay before the Raiders leave town for Las Vegas in 2020 on Thursday night football.
That battle has quickly turned into a Bay Area Bummer.
The game between the Raiders (1-6) and the 49ers (1-7) this week could be the worst prime-time matchup in NFL history. There have been 784 prime-time games played in the NFL on Nov. 1 or later and the .133 combined winning percentage for Oakland and San Francisco is the worst of all of them, lowering the bar set Dec. 18,
2014, when Tennessee visited Jacksonville in a battle of 2-12 teams.
“I wish the game had two 8-1 or 7-1 teams playing in it,” Gruden said. “Hopefully someday soon you’ll see a game like that, but this is still going to be fun for the fans and both teams.”
Fun is not the word either team would use to describe this season, which has seen both the Raiders and 49ers blow three fourth-quarter leads,
deal with several debilitating injuries and pile up losses.
While few considered either team to be Super Bowl caliber heading into the year, there was hope both could compete for the playoffs. Now the only competition is to determine which team is worse and has the inside track at the No. 1 overall draft pick.
The Raiders’ season turned sour before it even started with the decision to trade holdout star pass rusher Khalil Mack to Chicago just one week before the start of the regular season for a package of draft picks. A defense that came into the season with enough question marks if Mack did play has generated no pressure and offered little resistance to opposing offenses.
Oakland lost the first three games despite never trailing for a second of the first three quarters as quarterback Derek Carr struggled to adjust to Gruden’s offense and the older players Gruden signed in the offseason failed to deliver.
An overtime win in Week 4 over Cleveland provided a brief respite but the Raiders have lost three straight since, getting outscored by 54 points during that span as the season is deteriorating quickly.
Adding to the drama were reports questioning the toughness and leadership of Carr, public complaints from players about how they’re being used and the trade of No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper to Dallas for a first-round pick.