With all the postseason baseball going on in the San Francisco Bay area, about the only people paying attention to Sunday's game between the Raiders and the 49ers are, well, the Raiders and 49ers.
The Athletics opened their playoff series against the New York Yankees in Oakland, and the Giants played host to the New York Mets, bringing baseball fever to the bay area.
Any other time of year a Raiders-49ers game at 3Com Park could have trouble living up to the hype.Instead, Terrell Owens returned to 49ers practices this week without a whole lot of fanfare. Owens was suspended for a week by coach Steve Mariucci for his over-the-top touchdown celebrations against the Dallas Cowboys.
And Raiders receiver Andre Rison quietly slipped out of town Wednesday to attend a court hearing in Missouri on charges he wrote $158,000 in bad checks to an Atlanta jeweler.
The two teams went about their jobs, readying for the Battle of the Bay without many distractions.
The Raiders are 3-1 and atop the AFC West, coming off a bye week. They have not started 4-1 since 1995. The 49ers (2-3) beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-20 last Sunday for their second straight victory.
San Francisco hasn't played the Raiders in the regular season since 1994, a memorable Monday night matchup. Jerry Rice scored three touchdowns to reach 127 for his career and top Jim Brown's NFL record. Needless to say, the 49ers beat the then-Los Angeles Raiders 44-14.The game is remembered by the Raiders because of a gruesome third-quarter hit on running back Napoleon McCallum.
McCallum's knee was dislocated and he was rushed into surgery for two hours. His career was over. McCallum was released by the Raiders that spring.Still, the Raiders hold the series lead 5-3 since the two teams first played each other in 1970.But neither team looks at it as a rivalry, pre se, given the infrequency of their meetings and the fact they are in different conferences.
"We don't play each other enough to be a true rivalry. It's more of a thing for bragging rights in the bay area than anything else," Oakland tackle Lincoln Kennedy said.
The 49ers have the momentum. Their own offense is clicking with Jeff Garcia, who has a 99.5 quarterback rating, second in the conference only to the Rams' Kurt Warner. He has thrown for 11 touchdowns, matching his total from last year. The 49ers are averaging 30.6 points over their last three games.
The Raiders defense broke out in a 36-10 win Sept. 24 against Cleveland. William Thomas intercepted Tim Couch twice, including one he ran back 46 yards for a touchdown. The performance earned Thomas the AFC defensive player of the week honors. Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon proved he could spread it around, hitting six receivers.
Sunday's game is a sellout, but the focus in the San Francisco area remains for now on baseball, not football. The A's could be at the Coliseum - also the Raiders' home field - on Sunday if they stretch their best-of-five playoff series against the Yankees to a final game. Even Raiders coach Jon Gruden has gotten into the playoff spirit. He took his sons to last Saturday's A's game against the Texas Rangers. The A's won 23-2, and second-year pitcher Tim Hudson earned his 20th win.
"How about those A's?" he said. "I'm pulling for them."
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.