It’s an abbreviated week of football for us here in the Bay, especially on the weekend.
The Raiders get their annual Thursday night game that they hate, although it’s at least at home this year. Jack Del Rio used a lot of breath last year complaining about having to travel two time zones to play on Thursday night at Kansas City; now it’s the Chiefs doing the same thing. At least this game won’t be in near-freezing temperatures like last year’s Thursday game and Derek Carr won’t be playing with a broken finger (but he does have a broken bone in his back).
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Stanford has the week off, which is a good thing considering Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Loveleft the Cardinal’s win over Oregon with a seemingly minor injury. San Jose State is also on a bye after losing in Hawaii last week. That would sure make it tempting to skip the flight back home and enjoy a little vacation and maybe try to forget about its 1-7 record.
Chiefs (5-1) at Raiders (2-4)
Thursday, 5:25 p.m., CBS/NFLN
Line:Chiefs by 3
What I’m watching:Can Jack Del Rio finally match wits with Andy Reid?
Del Rio is probably sick of hearing about Reid, how he’s yet to beat him in his first two seasons with the Raiders, how Reid continually outcoaches him. Well, he’s going to hear about it until he beats him. That’s just the deal.
The weird thing about this recent series is this will be the fourth straight time they’ve met with at least one of the teams on short or longer rest. Obviously, we’ve got this on a Thursday night, just as their meeting last December was. The first matchup last season, the Raiders’ ugly 26-10 loss, came when Kansas City was fresh off a bye— and Reid’s teams are a ridiculous 16-2 coming off a bye.
Going back to 2015, when the teams met in the season finale with the Raiders playing in Charles Woodson’s send-off game looking to notch an 8-8 season, the Raiders had extra time to prepare for that one, having played in a Thursday night game the week before. Still, no matter the scenario, they’ve lost them all recently.
Del Rio’s likely response to that, “Ignore the doubters.”Not sure Twitter is the best place for a struggling coach to be hanging out.
The Raidersneeda win here. If they fall to 2-5, the playoffs became very unrealistic. But more than just getting a win, Del Rio and his staff needs to show it can outsmart a coach or two. Reid’s among the best and schemes very well against the Raiders. Can Del Rio, Todd Downing, Ken Norton Jr. and all those guys bury their heads into film and come up with something on Thursday night? They better.
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I like the NaVorro Bowman signing because it’s a minimal risk deal to bring in an experienced player at a position of need. Worst-case scenario, Bowman is a player who knows where he’s supposed to be on the field even if he can’t always physically get himself there. But he’s not going to revitalize this whole team.
Downing needs the best scheme he’s had all year, Carr needs to show patience in the pocket and Amari Cooper needs to catch everything that comes his way. If they do that, Del Rio can maybe get that monkey off his back.
Cowboys (2-3) at 49ers (0-6)
Sunday, 1:05 p.m., FOX
Line: Cowboys by 6
What I’m watching:Can C.J. Beathard and Reuben Foster provide another spark?
Remember those 11 snaps Foster played in the season opener? Here’s to hoping he’s out there Sunday for more than 11 plays.
When a season isn’t going well, you want to see the prospects. The 49ers aren’t winning games, so you want an idea of what the future will hold.
This feels like we could be close to reaching a breaking point for the 49ers. They’ve had this record streak of five straight losses by a field goal or less that’s going to end at some point — either with a win, or a blowout loss. Odds would probably favor the latter.
So Sunday’s game with the presumed return of Foster and the first career start for Beathard is that semi-last stand before fans start losing interest in the season. The main drama to this point has been to see when coach Kyle Shanahan would dump Brian Hoyer in favor of Beathard.
Now it’s here. After this, there’s really nothing else you can lean on to deliver excitement. All the chips are in on Beathard. If he stinks, you don’t really have anywhere else to go this season. It’ll just be time to ride out until the finish until you can bring in a new QB next season.
The beauty of this for Beathard and Foster is they don’thaveto deliver a win. It’d be nice. But at least just deliver some hope. Some excitement. Some reasons to keep watching. Because eventually it gets tough to just keep watching a team lose, no matter how close the games are.
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Arizona (4-2) at Cal (4-3)
Saturday, 5 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
Line: Arizona by 3
What I’m watching:Can the Bears defense be even half as good as last week?
I had sort of reached write-them-off mode with Cal after the Bears lost three in a row. OK, maybe they aren’t going to get to six wins and a bowl in Justin Wilcox’s first year. That’s fine, they’ve got something to build off.
But then they delivered us such a great treat … a 37-3 beat down of Washington State that allowed us the pleasure of a Mike Leach postgame rant.Seriously, by the fourth quarter of that game, I was simply still watching to wait for the rant. Cal won the turnover battle 7-0, recording five interceptions off Cougars standout quarterback Luke Falk. Chantel Jennings broke down the whole Cal defensive performance here.
Now Cal will try to slow down Arizona, the nation’s 10th-ranked offense. It’s a different challenge for the Bears. Arizona runs the ball twice as much as it passes and quarterback Khalil Tate has been ridiculous the past two games. He ran for 327 yards — an FBS record for a quarterback — on just 14 carries two weeks ago against Colorado and backed that up with 230 yards on 15 carries in a win over UCLA last week.
So this is certainly a much different challenge for Cal. If they can ace this one, this defense could really be on to something.
(Top photo:Charlie Riedel/AP)
Jimmy Durkin is a deputy managing editor, NFL for The Athletic. He joined The Athletic in 2017 and initially served as the managing editor overseeing Bay Area coverage. He previously spent 10 years at the Bay Area News Group, where he covered the Raiders, San José State and high school sports as well as assisted on the region's other professional and college sports teams. Follow Jimmy on Twitter @Jimmy_Durkin
