Raiders fixed a symptom, not the source

This is my Tuesday column on the firing of Dennis Allen. WARNING: This is a Raiders column. 49ers fans — feel free to skip this. ALAMEDA — Unfortunately, Dennis Allen was not the Raiders’ biggest problem. Yes, he is a bad head coach. And, yes, he deserved to get fired. But he didn’t deserve to get hired in the first place. Allen had been an NFL defensive coordinator for one…

September 30, 2014
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Raiders overmatched even against lowly Texans

This is my column on the Raiders’ upcoming game against the Texans. WARNING: This is a Raiders column. 49ers fans, feel free to skip this. You know what Sunday’s Raiders’ game is? It’s the Raiders’ best chance to win a game until late October. They are playing the downtrodden Houston Texans. If the Raiders lose this one, they’ll be 0-2 and their next three opponents will be the Patriots, the…

September 13, 2014
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Five key questions for the Raiders

This is my Sunday article on the Raiders. 49ers’ fans — feel free to skip this. For the Raiders, training camp is about becoming mediocre. The Raiders have been plain bad since Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen took over in 2012. Back-to-back 4-and-12 seasons. Win one, lose three. That pattern needs to end this year. McKenzie’s job and Allen’s job are on the line. With that in mind, here are…

July 20, 2014
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Raiders go all in to win now

This is my Friday column on the Raiders. 49ers fans — feel free to skip this. I wrote off the Raiders 15 minutes after free agency began, wrote them off as soon as general manager Reggie McKenzie let franchise left tackle, Jared Veldheer, sign with the Cardinals. The Raiders will be lucky to win five games next season, I wrote. Since then, the Raiders have signed 11 new starters. All…

April 4, 2014
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New code of behavior for NFL fans flies in the face of game’s violence

Here is my Tuesday column on the wave incident at Candlestick Park last Sunday, October 13. SANTA CLARA – You and I are supposed to feel contempt for certain football fans in San Francisco and Houston this week. Last Sunday in Houston, some Texans fans cheered when Matt Schaub, their own quarterback, sprained his ankle in the third quarter and limped out of the game. Cold. A few hours later…

October 15, 2013
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49ers-Texans prediction

There is no way the 49ers lose to Matt Schaub this Sunday. I don’t care that the 49ers are missing Aldon Smith and possibly Patrick Willis. I don’t care how many good players the Texans have – they have a lot. There is no way the 49ers lose to Matt Schaub this Sunday. Schaub makes Sam Bradford look good. Schaub is built to throw play-action passes. He is not built…

October 4, 2013
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Cosell on the 49ers: “I think they learned they can’t quite take all the training wheels off of Kaepernick yet.”

Greg Cosell broke down the 49ers’ upcoming matchup with the Texans Tuesday morning o KNBR. Here is a transcript. Q: How does the 49ers’ 27th-rated passing offense match up with the Texans’ top-rated pass defense? COSELL: If the 49ers go to three-wide-receiver personnel with Vernon Davis at tight end, the Texans are a Dime team – six defensive backs. Very often in that Dime package they line up a rookie…

October 3, 2013
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Kubiak says the Texans must stay in their pass rush lanes and keep Kaepernick in the pocket

Gary Kubiak spoke on a conference call with Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning. Here is a transcript. Q: Can you talk about the challenge that faces your staff and your team after such a disappointing loss on Sunday? KUBIAK: Yeah, that makes it tough. When you go out and play pretty darn well and you don’t finish the product at the end of the day, that’s pretty hard to swallow….

October 2, 2013
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Kaepernick vs. the QBs on the 49ers’ 2013 schedule

49ers fans and Bay Area residents are hyper-aware of Colin Kaepernick’s excellent 2012 season. He took Alex Smith’s starting job Week 10, started the final-seven games of the regular season and was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL over that stretch. I thought it would be interesting to compare Kaepernick’s final-seven regular season games to the final-seven regular season games of each of the quarterbacks the 49ers will…

May 20, 2013
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