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In truth, the “Battle of the Bay” isn’t looking so spectacular this time. The 9th week of the NFL regular season will kick off when the struggling Oakland Raiders (1-6) pay a visit to Levi’s Stadium to do battle with the similarly troubled San Francisco 49ers (1-7) at 8:20 pm ET. This Bay duel isn’t perhaps what fans had hoped for at the beginning of the season, but it will have to do. The Raiders are fighting to keep their heads above water and will seek to end that 3 game losing streak, while the 9ers haven’t been near a victory for nearly 7 weeks.
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Despite QB’s Derek Carr’s best efforts, the Raiders are going through a very rough patch, most recently suffering a defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts (42-28). It could be argued that Carr is singlehandedly keeping the Raiders afloat; during this tough last Colts match, Carr threw for 244 yards, 3 touchdowns and had a praise-worthy interception count of zero. While San Francisco had yet another embarrassing loss to add to its long-running stint of setbacks; Kyle Shanahan’s team lost to the Arizona Cards 18-15 on the road.
The opinion of odds makers about Thursday Night Football’s match is somewhat divided, but most agree that the 9ers are still the most likely to succeed. Our friends at YOUWAGER.eu currently list the San Fran at -2½ point spread, with a total of 45 pts.
Troubled Comeback
Sadly for head coach Gruden, his return to the Oakland fold has not necessarily turned out in successes, but the San Francisco match could offer an opportunity for a comeback unlike most others. To start off, the natural rivalry between these two Californian teams has endured for a long while, and both squads could take advantage of their rival’s deficiencies to step one up in their own groups. At this point, the 9ers and the Raiders are at the very bottom of the NFC and AFC West divisions.
At the other side of the bay, the 49ers haven’t had much luck throughout this season. Just starting off, during week 3 proper, Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a knee injury that’s kept him out of his team’s lineup, and replacement starter C.J. Beathard has seen his performance decrease in quality as of late, with his completion percentage dropping to only 53%. San Francisco ought to find a way to strengthen their defense, if they plan to take a win this Thursday; they’ve been allowing 263 yards per game and rank second in permitted most passing touchdowns in the league, with a total of 18.
*As of the last report, Beathard has been listed as injured and it remains unclear if he will join his teammates for TNF.
One-man Army
Oakland’s hopes are embodied by Carr, who in the last few days was provided with sufficient encouragement to keep up the good work. Despite the hearsay about his possible trade-off, Raiders management has made a clear statement that no such thing will come to happen, and that the quarterback will continue to spearhead his team’s offense.
My Prediction: As long as Beathard is able to make it, the 9er are still the –slightly- better team. Few other aspects will matter more for both teams than their reputation; those people who’ve paid the costly tickets to watch the show will want a true showdown and will take nothing else in return. Expect a hard-fought match in which the 9ers rise in the end to cover the spread.
