Good morning and happy game day TT readers! Today marks the beginning of a four game season in which the San Francisco 49ers have to go undefeated to have a chance at the playoffs. First up is the 1-11 Oakland Raiders, but if you’ve been following the Niners (well, you’re reading this so you’ve probably been following the Niners), you know they can’t take anything for granted. To pump you up for the 1:25 pm PST match-up, I present you with Five Fun Facts About the Battle of the Bay.
- Jim Plunkett, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and Roger Craig all played for both the Raiders and the 49ers. Man, put them together, and that’s a really good football team!
- Both Jim Harbaugh and Bill Walsh coached in Oakland – Walsh began in 1966 as the running backs’ coach and Harbaugh in 2002 as the quarterbacks’ coach. Walsh went on to lead the 49ers to three Super Bowl wins and is regarded as probably the best coach ever. After success at the University of San Diego and at Stanford, Harbaugh became the Niners’ head coach in 2011. He took a 6-10 team turned it around, and has led the Niners to three NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl. But he might be traded. Wait, what?
- One of the many Harbaugh trade rumors involves…you guessed it, the Oakland Raiders.
- San Francisco and Oakland are tied 6-6 in overall head to head match ups, with the 49ers scoring 278 points to the Raiders 216.
- For the season, Colin Kaepernick has 314 more passing yards than Raiders’ QB Derek Carr. I really want that differential to be bigger. Hopefully, around 4:30 pm, it will be. Go Niners! #BeattheRaiders