Washouts on Both Sides of Bay

Long considered polar opposites as NFL organizations go, the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders at last have something in common: They’re in the same boat.

And it’s sinking fast.

“This is the year the bottom has fallen out in the Bay Area,” said Brent Jones, a former Pro Bowl tight end for the 49ers who works as a TV analyst for CBS. “The biggest concern for most people is, nobody sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The only thing we’re going to have is high draft choices.”

High picks aren’t much consolation for the low spirits of Bay Area fans enduring one of the worst seasons in memory. The 49ers (1-8) might be the worst team in the league, and the Raiders (3-6) aren’t much better. For more than two decades, at least one of those teams could be considered a playoff contender each year. Not now.

The Raiders, still smarting from a 42-14 throttling in San Diego in Week 8, play host to the surprisingly tough Chargers on Sunday and are in danger of being swept by them for the first time since 1992.

Lester Hayes, the legendary Raider cornerback, said losing twice to the Chargers “would be a slap to each and every old-school Raider. In days of old, as I look at the Super Bowl rings on my left and right forefingers, both of these Super Bowls went straight through Jack Murphy Stadium. It would cause deep pain to us old-school Raiders if they lost this one.”

That said, it would be an upset Sunday if Oakland won. Quarterback Kerry Collins is off to the second-worst start of any Raider quarterback -- better only than Billy Joe Hobert’s 0-5 start in the mid-1990s -- and Oakland’s running game is on the fritz. The Raiders averaged 114.5 yards rushing in their first four games, but only 51.4 in their last five.

Hayes said he was confident that Raider owner Al Davis would right the ship, even though Davis is on his fifth head coach since 1996.

“I trust Mr. Davis,” he said. “If there’s a malfunction in Silver-and-Blackdom, Mr. Davis will seek it out and fix it.”

The Chargers, meanwhile, are back to playing the type of smothering defense they did when since-departed Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison were in their prime. According to STATS Inc., San Diego’s defense has made greater strides than any other when it comes to stopping the run. The unit that surrendered an average of 138.6 yards a game in 2003 is now giving up 78.6, a league-best 60-yard improvement.

“Improved” is a word seldom uttered around the 49ers these days. In a conference call Wednesday with Bay Area writers, former 49er tackle Derrick Deese said the franchise was “without a doubt” facing more losing seasons under owner John York and General Manager Terry Donahue.

Deese said the 49ers blew it by purging so many experienced players at once, among them receiver Terrell Owens, quarterback Jeff Garcia, running back Garrison Hearst and guard Ron Stone.

“If you’re going to release seven, eight or nine starters from one year, come on, who are you fooling?” said Deese, now starting at left tackle for Tampa Bay, which plays the 49ers on Sunday. “In three or four years, they might be a great team. You never know.

“But with Terry, you read where he says, ‘We are cap-strapped, and we’ll be OK next year,’ and then when next year comes he says, ‘Oh, we might not be out of this for another two years.’ ”

Since the Raiders moved back to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995, they’ve had trouble selling out their stadium. Not so the 49ers, who remained a hot ticket through the 1990s and into this decade. Now, though, there are a lot more empty seats at Candlestick Park -- recently renamed Monster Park -- and fans are much quicker to head to their cars when things start looking hopeless in the second half.

Even in the 49ers’ only victory, when they came back from a 16-point deficit to defeat Arizona in overtime, about half the crowd had already left.

Six years after his career with them ended, Jones remains a 49er fan. He was working in New Orleans on Sunday and, before he boarded a plane home to the Bay Area, checked the score of the San Francisco-Carolina game. The 49ers were up in the second quarter, 17-0.

“I thought, ‘OK, we got one in the bag,’ ” Jones said. “When I landed I turned on the radio and found out they lost, 37-27. That was probably the low point right there.”

Ah, but there was a silver lining for at least one die-hard Bay Area football fan.

“The only upside,” Jones said, “is that I’ve got [Carolina’s] Muhsin Muhammad on my fantasy team.”

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Six days after returning to Texas Stadium, where he once danced on the midfield star, Philadelphia’s Terrell Owens will stand across the line of scrimmage from Washington’s Shawn Springs, the cornerback victimized in Sharpie-gate.

Springs was playing for Seattle in 2002 when Owens, then a 49er, caught a touchdown pass against him on “Monday Night Football,” pulled a pen from his sock and signed the ball.

“That was a funny deal, and T.O. made the play,” Springs said this week. “They talk about how they’re going to fine these players for doing that, but everyone loves it. I love it. That’s what the league wants. As defensive players, you can’t get mad. You’ve just got to stop him from making plays.”

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The Green Bay Packers play at Houston on Sunday, and Texan quarterback David Carr said this week that Brett Favre is the only quarterback he’d pay to see.

Considering Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning threw for five touchdowns against the Texans last Sunday, what would Carr pay to see Manning on the bench next time?

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Bucs Stop Them Here

San Francisco is 13-3 (including postseason) all-time against the Buccaneers, their opponent Sunday. But the 49ers have not scored a touchdown in their last two trips to Tampa Bay (* playoff game):

*--* REC PPG TD First four trips (through 1993) 4-0 30.0 15 Last two trips (1997, 2002*) 0-2 6.0 0

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Leading Them Astray

With Kerry Collins starting, the Raiders have lost five of six games. Worst records for Raider starting quarterbacks since 1971 (minimum of five starts):

*--* PLAYER REC. PCT. BILLY JOE HOBERT 0-5 000 KERRY COLLINS 1-5 167 RICK MIRER 2-6 250 VINCE EVANS 2-5 286 JEFF GEORGE 7-16 304

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Source: Stats Inc.