San Francisco 49ers and 8 NFL Teams Who Are Not Who We Thought They Were

The San Francisco 49ers-Seattle Seahawks game likely opened a lot of eyes on the West Coast.

Most of those were in Seattle. I'm guessing most of the eyes in San Francisco were tightly shut by the fourth quarter.

But regardless of location, it's hard to find an NFL fan who wasn't a little bit surprised at what they saw Sunday afternoon, as the dark horse favorite to win the NFC West traveled to Seattle and found themselves on the wrong end of an ugly 25-point blowout.

Now the 49ers look more likely to challenge the St. Louis Rams for position than the Arizona Cardinals.

Of course, it's one week we're talking about. Seasons are determined in months, not within a few days of the first regular season game.

At the same time, every team enters the season with expectations about its first game, and every fan enters the season with expectations about its team.

After one week, some teams are who we thought they were.

Others... well, they let 'em off the hook.

Dallas Cowboys

Alex Barron, actually, IS who the St. Louis Rams thought he was.

This was supposed to be a glamour team. The Cowboys were everybody's Super darling two weeks ago. Theirs was a complete football team, ready to jump that last hurdle and make a deep playoff run.

Therefore, Sunday's was a simple warm-up game against the cellar-dweller Redskins, who boasted a new coach, a new quarterback, and a $100 million man sitting the bench.

Nobody counted on Alex Barron.

After a horrendous performance over the course of the game, Barron did the one thing that would ensure that the Cowboys had absolutely no chance to win the game.

Had he stayed in his stance for the entire play, allowing Brian Orakpo to simply run by, he would actually have given the Cowboys a chance. Instead, he held Orakpo three different ways, effectively turning a touchdown pass into a kneel-down.

The Cowboys were supposed to post four or five touchdowns on the Redskins, and embarrass them all over the field. Instead, they posted seven points and lost by six.

San Diego Chargers

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KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 13: Quarterback Philip Rivers #17 of the San Diego Chargers audibles during the 1st quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs on September 13, 2010 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squir

Here's your other candidate for Upset of the Week.

Heading into Monday night, was your question "Will the San Diego Chargers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs," or was it "Will the Chargers cover the spread?"

Don't feel bad. The Chiefs weren't supposed to win this game. They weren't supposed to be able to.

That's because they were up against the Chargers, the mayors of the AFC West. The offensive juggernaut was going to steamroll the hapless Chiefs, with the help of Phillip Rivers and Ryan "I-know-I'm-a-rookie-but-I'm-still-a-first-round-Fantasy-pick" Mathews.

Except they didn't. The Chiefs, despite only earning 197 yards on offense, won the game by beating the Chargers' offense down.

The Chargers were supposed to be one of the offensive teams of the year, and while they earned a lot of yards, they were frequently unable to turn that into points.

And a Chargers team unable to produce points is a Chargers team unable to produce wins.

San Francisco 49ers

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SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 12: Running back Justin Forsett #20 of the Seattle Seahawks rushes during the NFL season opener against the San Francisco 49ers at Qwest Field on September 12, 2010 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

The 49ers had a lot of backers thinking they could do big things this year. To do that, many things had to come together.

Alex Smith was finally supposed to come into his own. Didn't see that happening.

Frank Gore was supposed to establish himself as a top-five running back. Nope.

Michael Crabtree had himself a preseason in which his primary concern was (probably) football, not his contract, so that was good, too. Good for two catches and 12 yards.

The defense was supposed to solidify under motivational speaker/head coach Mike Singletary. Nothing there, either.

Even if the 49ers weren't going to challenge for the division crown as some suggested, they weren't supposed to be quite so ugly, were they? Certainly not against a team that picked sixth overall in the draft?

The biggest problem, if you're a 49ers fan, is that they came out looking almost dominant in the first quarter, at least defensively. Then the clock struck 3:57 in the second quarter, and the Seahawks began their run of 31 unanswered points.

Food for thought on this game. Marcus Trufant returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter of this game. That would have been enough offense to beat the 49ers.

Oakland Raiders

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NASHVILLE - SEPTEMBER 12: Head coach Tom Cable of the Oakland Raiders prepares to throw the red challenge flag against the Tennessee Titans during the NFL season opener at LP Field on September 12, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Rai

Okay, maybe some expected the Raiders to be mercilessly slaughtered by the Tennessee Titans.

Indeed, the Titans look like they're pulling it together around Vince Young, who also appears to be pulling it together.

But come on, 31-6 by the fourth quarter? That wasn't the New Orleans Saints out there, that was the Titans.

Sure, the Raiders aren't the first team to give up a big day to Chris Johnson. And Darren McFadden had a decent day for the Raiders' offense.

But last year's Raiders were at least competitive most of the time, and that was with JaMarcus "Delicious Cake" Russell. Jason Campbell, for all his faults, is at least an upgrade from that.

Besides I thought the Raiders supposedly locked Al Davis in the film room, played the tape of Super Bowl XVIII to keep him occupied, and had a great draft?

Is this really the end result? 38-13?

We almost believed you were better than that.

Indianapolis Colts

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HOUSTON - SEPTEMBER 12: A fan of the Indianapolis Colts holds up a sign for Peyton Manning during the NFL season opener against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on September 12, 2010 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Fun fact: The Indianapolis Colts have now lost their last three consecutive regular season games.

Hey, hey, quiet down Colts fans, one at a time. Yes, I know they started last season 14-0 and clinched home field advantage by Week 16. I know they played those last two games like preseason contests, to make sure they were rested for the playoffs.

I also know none of that applies to Sunday's potentially power-shifting loss to the Houston Texans.

The Colts entered the season as Super Bowl favorites. Not with that defense, they're not.

I should mention, though, that two members of the Colts were exactly who we thought they were on Sunday.

Bob Sanders played one game, needed surgery, and may now be finished for the season. And Peyton Manning threw for 433 yards and three touchdowns, and still managed to lose a big game.

Minnesota Vikings

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NEW ORLEANS - SEPTEMBER 09: Quarterback Brett Favre #4 of the Minnesota Vikings takes a hard hit from Roman Harper #41 of the New Orleans Saints at Louisiana Superdome on September 9, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Image

The Vikings are in a tough spot.

Brett Favre came into the season hobbled. It makes him unable to get around like he used to, and it's taking some of the zip out of his throws.

And I guess he has that ankle injury, too...

If Favre turns in one of his vintage "Favre's Having A Down Year" seasons, then Vikings fans are looking at either sticking it out, or Tarvaris Jackson.

Of course, the Vikings wouldn't be in this situation if not for Brad Childress' refusal to address the situation.

And really, it's less a refusal to address the situation. It's more like anytime someone says "new quarterback," Childress covers his ears and locks himself in his office saying "LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU BRETT FAVRE BRETT FAVRE BRETT FAVRE!"

Anyway, the Saints didn't win the Super Bowl last year on the strength of their league-leading defense. And yet the high-powered (though admittedly shorthanded) Vikings were unable to post a double-digit score.

To be honest, that was a little surprising. Though perhaps not quite as surprising as Favre only throwing one ill-advised interception.

Cincinnati Bengals

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FOXBORO, MA - SEPTEMBER 12: Adam Jones #24 of the Cincinnati Bengals talks from the sideline in the second half against the New England Patriots during the NFL season opener on September 12, 2010 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by

I still think the New England Patriots are a great football team, and as such, I give the teams they embarrass a pass.

Still, wasn't this supposed to be the Bengals' 2010 coming-out party? Certainly enough of their players were on Twitter talking about it.

So the Bengals took all that excitement and energy... and translated it into a 24-3 halftime deficit.

Good job on winning the third quarter and only losing the game by 14, I guess, but I thought this game was supposed to be marginally competitive? Or watchable?

The Bengals were supposed to be a "team to watch" in 2010.

None of that happening in this game, unless you're a Patriots fan.

The Bengals showed some flashes of the team we thought could challenge for the AFC North, but their statement game clearly lies elsewhere in the season.

New York Jets

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 13: Ray Lewis #52 of the Baltimore Ravens talks to Mark Sanchez #6 of the New York Jets after defeating the New York Jets in their home opener at the New Meadowlands Stadium on September 13, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Je

Okay New York Jets. Good news, bad news time.

The good news is that you only lost by one to a team that appeared to be far, far better than you. And LaDainian Tomlinson appears to have some gas left in the tank, after all.

The bad news is that your "Sanchise" quarterback looks terrible. And that the Ravens were a far better team than you. So were the Patriots. And that you're not going to the Super Bowl this year. Probably not next year, either.

Seriously, I thought the Jets were picking everybody's pocket in free agency and putting together some kind of unstoppable Superteam? Based on the media coverage, you'd think it was the football equivalent of the Miami Heat putting a team together.

So what happened? The Jets' defense showed up, which was expected, but the offense apparently decided every trip inside the red zone was time for a bathroom break and a special "Fans Take the Field" event.

Maybe the offense would be a little more fluid if Mark Sanchez didn't look like a kid drafted fifth overall after one halfway decent year at USC.