I have to say I was a little skeptical by all of this
”
Battle of the Bay
”
nonsense. I endured, ad nauseam, the publicity surrounding
Saturday night’s preseason battle between the San Francisco 49ers
and the Oakland Raiders at Monster Park, which had the buzz of,
dare I say, a regular season game.
San Francisco – I have to say I was a little skeptical by all of this “Battle of the Bay” nonsense. I endured, ad nauseam, the publicity surrounding Saturday night’s preseason battle between the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders at Monster Park, which had the buzz of, dare I say, a regular season game.
Of course, the 49ers and the Raiders don’t actually play a regular season game until 2010, so I guess you’ll just have to be satisfied with this preseason exhibition. If it helps, the “Bay” was at stake!
In case you were wondering, the 49ers eked out a 26-21 win over the Raiders, which means they keep control of said “Bay” for at least one more season. Also, in case you were wondering, the “Battle of the Bay” was actually a half-decent battle of preseason proportions.
“It always feels good to beat the Raiders. It’s the ‘Battle of the Bay,'” said 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, who caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Smith to put the Niners up 13-0. “We won so we’re going home to celebrate and know that we’re the best in the bay.”
“Oh, it’s always nice. It’s nice to win, period,” Smith said. “It’s always nice to beat (the Raiders).”
On Saturday, the Raiders battled the 49ers; the 49ers battled life without starting running back Frank Gore, as well as battling the fact that they’re everyone’s favorite sleeper team this year (never a good sign); and the Raiders continued to battle, heck, even run away from, the word that defined their offense last season: inept.
With contract negotiations surrounding the Raiders No. 1 draft pick JaMarcus Russell almost nonexistent, a 6-of-8 performance for 75 yards and two touchdowns from Daunte Culpepper had to be a welcoming sign.
Culpepper’s play was definitely rough – he fumbled and recovered the snap twice and bobbled another – but his work appeared to put him at the top of the depth chart, if he wasn’t already, ahead of Andrew Walter and Josh McCown.
Granted, he played against the Niners’ second-string defense, but Culpepper even showed glimpses of his old self with three rushes for 13 yards. While it wasn’t much, it was a step in the right direction that he might be fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered back when he was quarterbacking the Minnesota Vikings.
He won’t be a pull-it-down-and-take-off type of quarterback anymore, but it was nice to see that he can still do so if need be.
Culpepper had a pair of red zone touchdowns on Saturday as well, including a 12-yard score to back Zack Crockett, and a 5-yard touchdown in the third quarter to tight end John Madsen.
“He played really well, obviously he threw a couple touchdowns, he did things right,” Raiders Coach Lane Kiffin said of Culpepper. “He’s unique to watch on game day. He’s a dynamic competitor … we had heard that, but you don’t know until you really see it.”
Oakland, though, will most likely rely upon LaMont Jordan to carry the ball this season, especially with newcomer Dominic Rhodes suspended the first four games of the regular season after violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Jordan, the running back with the bad back, made his preseason debut on Saturday after being sidelined with the injury. He carried the ball eight times for 67 yards and a touchdown, including a well-timed misdirection that went 32 yards, his longest rush of the game.
“It felt good. I went out the other day and I prayed that God has allowed me to use my natural talent because I’ve missed a lot of practice, and I was able to do that,” Jordan said. “For the first time since I’ve been here, we’ve had some play calling that has stuck with the run game.”
While the Niners, who were down 21-20 late in the fourth quarter, mounted the comeback win, staying true to their sleeper team status, the Raiders looked better – night and day better – from their 2-14 record last season.
They won’t be competing for a playoff spot just yet, but with a healthy Culpepper, a new zone blocking scheme where the offensive linemen gave Jordan admittedly more room to run, and an already strong defense, who knows, maybe the Raiders are a team that could be battling not only the Niners in 2010, but would be strong enough to carry the sleeper team status from experts and anaylists.
Of course, they’ll need to reclaim the “Bay” first.
