California Sports Fan Blog

As the NFL season reaches it’s mid-point we can look at the teams from the great state of California and analyze what they’ve done so far and speculate how the rest of their seasons will shape up. Odds are that the the 49ers are going to be the team of California.

49ers
One of the most promising and favored teams to win it all, going by the NFL Spread, at the start of the 2012 season, the San Francisco 49ers have one best overall defensive units in the with a strong front composed of pro bowl defensive lineman and ageless wonder Justin Smith. Along with Smith two All-Pro middle linebackers in NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis. The offense is led by once thought to be bust quarter back Alex Smith now flourishing under the tutelage of head coach and ex NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, and workhorse running back Frank Gore. The second half of the season looks to be favorable as the 49ers take on mostly NFC West rivals, en route to what will likely be a trip for the second year in a row to the playoffs.

Chargers
Moving over the to the AFC West the 4-4 San Diego Chargers have a shaky grasp on 2nd place. After a Monday night debacle which saw the Chargers blow a 24 point lead against division rival Denver I n which quarterback Phillip Rivers threw 5 interceptions, coupled with a lowly loss to the Browns 7-6 where they were unable to get into the end zone. These losses put head coach Norv Turner on the hot seat which was cooled for the time being as they whooped the Kansas City Chiefs 31-13. If Rivers can keep the turnovers to a minimum and the defense continues to play stout and force turnovers there is reason why the Chargers shouldn’t be able to challenge the favored Broncos to win the AFC West and make some noise in the playoffs.

Raiders
The Oakland Raiders also of the AFC West have been coming on strong as of late after getting off to a 1-3 start they have been able to win two of their last four losing to only the currently and only undefeated team, Atlanta Falcons by a field goal. If it were not an outstanding effort by Tampa Bay rookie sensation Doug Martin racking up 251 rushing yards in what turned out to be an offensive shootout the Raiders would be in great shape. Not be over looked is the play of quarterback Carson Palmer who has been able to find talented receivers Denarius Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bey early and often to give the Raiders a feared passing attack which they will need in order to make up for the loss of their main rushing threat Darren McFadden. With favorable matchups in the second half of their season it is more than possible to see the Oakland Raiders clinch a Wild Card birth.

The Oakland Raiders released former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell on Thursday, ending a three-year tenure marked by his high salary and unproductive play on the field.

Senior executive John Herrera told The Associated Press about the move and said that “we wish him well.”

The decision came less than two weeks after Oakland acquired Jason Campbell from Washington to take over at quarterback and signifies that owner Al Davis finally lost patience with the immensely talented but unproductive player he drafted first overall in 2007 against the wishes of former coach Lane Kiffin.

Russell will now likely be considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, joining Ryan Leaf, Ki-Jana Carter, Akili Smith and others on that list. He will have been paid more than $39 million by the Raiders, while producing only seven wins as a starter.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

If there were any doubts about the type of offense Mike Singletary and the 49ers will run this season, they were swept away – no, stomped away – Thursday evening.

Fearing the offensive tackle they coveted and badly needed would be stolen in front of them, the 49ers traded up two places to snag Anthony Davis, a 323-pound junior tackle from Rutgers. Six picks later, they added even more beef to their offensive line with 331-pound Idaho guard Mike Iupati.

That’s 654 pounds of power-blocking offensive linemen added in less than an hour. Davis will line up at right tackle and Iupati at left guard, the position he played with the Vandals. Singletary cautioned that both players might not start in Week 1 – Davis is one of the youngest players in the draft at age 20 – but he made it clear he expected both to start at some point this season.

Click here to read the full article – By Matthew Barrows of The Sacramento Bee

LaDainian Tomlinson says he believes he has played his last game with the San Diego Chargers.

His comments come after more than a month of saying he did not know what would happen.

The NFL’s most valuable player in 2006 has two years remaining on his contract. He is due a $2 million roster bonus March 5 and would be paid $5 million in total salary in 2010.

Tomlinson tells the newspaper he doesn’t know when the Chargers will release him and that his agent, Tom Condon, might call the club to expedite the process.

Condon didn’t immediately respond to a phone message from the AP.

“All discussions about the future will take place later this month. No decisions have been made,” Chargers spokesman Bill Johnston wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Tomlinson has become one of the most beloved athletes in San Diego history during a nine-year career but his production and speed have been decreasing.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable met with owner Al Davis on Thursday to discuss his status with the team.

Raiders senior executive John Herrera said the two men could meet again Friday, and a team official confirmed they would. Cable has been spending the 10 days since the season ended evaluating the team with his assistant coaches.


Cable’s status is in question after he went 5-11 in his first full season as coach and failed to develop JaMarcus Russell into a legitimate NFL quarterback. Cable is 9-19 since replacing Lane Kiffin early in the 2008 season, leading the Raiders to their NFL-worst seventh straight season with at least 11 losses.

Cable has pointed to the team’s improvement after Russell’s midseason benching as proof that he deserves another year to get the Raiders back to the playoffs.

Cable provided some positives this season by beating playoff teams in Cincinnati and Philadelphia and knocking off contenders Denver and Pittsburgh on the road in December.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

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To a man, Raiders players and coaches say their inability to stop the run isn’t because of poor talent, coaching or a lack of effort. They blame it on execution.

Just keep your butt in that chair and everything will be fine,” said coach Tom Cable, referring to defenders not straying from the area for which they’re responsible. “It’s up to each man to do that, and we didn’t do a very good job of it.”

Cable was speaking mostly about the 316 yards rushing the New York Jets amassed on Sunday in a 38-0 shellacking of the Raiders at the Coliseum.

Cable could have been speaking about the first seven games in general.

The Raiders have allowed an average of 169.7 yards rushing and a league-high tying 11 rushing touchdowns. The franchise worst is 171.2 yards per game allowed in 1962. They are 30th against the run, one spot higher than they were each of the past two seasons.

“It is such a basic thing and, obviously, we need to do a better job in practice,” defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “Maybe we make practice live (tackling).”

Cable said the disastrous results against the run come from players trying to do too much and abandoning their responsibilities too often.

By his count, the Raiders


Click here to read the full article – By Steve Corkran of Contracostatimes.com

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