Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers Form Bay Area's Overrated Duo

No team west of the New Meadowlands Stadium received as much as hype as the Oakland Raiders did during the off season.

The Raiders were followed very closely by San Francisco, their Bay Area counterparts when it came to preseason hype.

The San Francisco 49ers have been the choice of nearly every media pundit in the country to win the NFC West this season, as they seemed to be the only choice in the league's "worst" division.

The Raiders rid themselves of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, perhaps the biggest draft bust in NFL history, opting instead for Jason Campbell.

The Raiders went 3-1 during the preseason and the Niners finished as the only undefeated team in the league at 4-0, which only increased the hype surrounding both teams. 

But today the regular season started, and both teams and their fans came back down to Earth.

The Raiders were beaten soundly in Nashville as they fell 38-13 to the Tennessee Titans. The offense looked nearly as incompetent with Campbell at the helm as it did when Russell was calling the shots. The Oakland offensive line failed to block for their new franchise quarterback, yielding four sacks to the Titans defense.

The Raiders finished the game with just 286 total yards, while Campbell threw for just 180 yards through the air.

The lone bright spot for the Oakland offense was Darren McFadden who accounted for more than half of the Raiders' total offense, finishing with 150 yards and the team's only score on the day.

The Raiders' defense kept Titans' star running back Chris Johnson in check for most of the game, but that was due largely to the fact that Vince Young is not much of a threat to throw the football down the field.

The Raiders played very aggressively on defense, which allowed them to come up and stop Johnson, but it also lead to easy completions for Young and the Titans offense on play-action plays.

San Francisco also suffered a major setback as they opened their season today in Seattle losing 31-6.

The Niners opened the game strong against the Seahawks, looking like the team that was predicted to win the NFC West this season.

San Francisco took an early 3-0 lead after Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was picked off on the first play from scrimmage.

The 49ers dominated play for the entire first quarter and into the second quarter as they led 6-0, while controlling the clock to the tune of 17 minutes of possession compared to just three for the Seahawks.

The Niners had many chances early in the game to take an even bigger lead, but quarterback Alex Smith overthrew fullback Moran Norris on a potential touchdown in the second quarter that would have given the team a 10-point lead.

Instead the Niners walked away with no points for their efforts and the Seahawks remained feeling good despite trailing in the game to that point.

San Francisco and Oakland are carbon copies of each other so far this season, teams with potentially strong defenses, but plenty of question marks on the offensive side of the ball.

Neither team has a quarterback that is better than average, and both teams have young offensive lines who showed their youth in Week 1.

Oakland has a long way to go if they are going to make some noise in the AFC West this season, while the Niners will still be the team to beat in the NFC West according to most pundits.

The Raiders' loss shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone, but it was the fashion in which they lost that should have Oakland fans worried.

The Niners' loss, on the other hand, was shocking in both the fact that they lost, and the fashion in which it occurred. No one saw a 25-point blowout loss coming, especially to a team like Seattle that has had more roster turnover in the last two weeks than any team in recent history.

It's only one week so in the big scheme of the NFL season, today will not make or break these teams seasons, but it was not the start either franchise and their fans were hoping for.

Both of these teams need to show they are who the media thought they were in Week 2, or both teams could be in trouble this season.