Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

November 01, 2018 at 1:38 am.

Raiders prepare for final Bay Bowl

In a game that should be tabbed the Fraud Bowl, the OakVegas Raiders visit the Santa Clara 49ers for the last official Bay Bowl between two franchises with great history, but forgettable current events even if they are the star attractions in Thursday Night’s prime-time game.

“I know it means a lot to our fans,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said. He could have added that it says a lot for Raider Nation that the fans continue to show up. It’s a good chance there will be enough of them at Santa Clara Thursday to diminish the 49ers’ lackadaisical following.

“I know it means a lot to everybody,” Carr added. “So of course we want to go out and win this game. That’s every week. But we know how much it means to our fans and how excited they get for it. We’re aware of that, but it doesn’t change anything for us. We have to go out and just play well.”

At least well enough, for a change.

What’s left of the Raiders arrive for this game with a well-deserved, 1-6 record following their most recent fall-from-in-front disaster Sunday against the visiting Indianapolis Colts.

The 49ers aren’t exactly a prime-time draw either with a 1-7 record blamed mostly on the loss of injured quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo who was replaced by C.J. Beathard, and who is probably missing this game due to an injured wrist. The 49ers are expected to go with Nick Mullens in his NFL season debut after being promoted from the practice squad in Week 4.

Despite rampant rumors, the Raiders made no trades Tuesday before the deadline, so Carr – often the only player worth watching on this bedraggled team – will start. Against the Colts he threw for three touchdowns and jumped over the end line for another, his first as a rusher in a five-year career.

It will be his job to score more points than the defense gives up, which he damned near did Sunday with leads of 20-13 and 28-21 before the Colts and Andrew Luck blew it open in the fourth quarter for a 42-28 final.

But Mullens hasn’t been confused with Luck, or anyone considering this is his debut. He inherits a tough job as Beathard’s most notable stats were 18 sacks, seven interceptions, three lost fumbles. But the Raiders aren’t exactly scaring opponents with a defense that rarely gets within screaming distance of quarterbacks and allows freeway access for runners.

This is one reason defensive lineman Bruce Irvin, rumored to be on the trading block Tuesday, didn’t have any takers. He was supposed to step up when the Raiders traded All Pro Khalil Mack. But Irvin apparently misunderstood. He stepped away instead, and his impact, to overstate a word, has diminished every week. On Sunday he played in only 24 snaps, mostly forgettable.

On offense, Carr can throw the hell out of the ball with accuracy despite a front line that features rookies, backups and injured players. Rookie left tackle Kolton Miller finally overcame a knee problem and played up to his first-round draft status last week. But left guard Kelechi Osemele is expected to miss another game with a groin injury.

The Raiders were ripped liberally the last couple of weeks for trading Mack and wide receiver Amari Cooper and even for placing running back Marshawn Lynch on injured reserve with so much of the season left.

But they felt good about their offensive performance against the Colts and hope it carries over for a prime-time showing Thursday.

“I think it reaffirmed in our heads that if we just do our job, we can do this,” Carr said. “Even if we don’t have Marshawn or Coop. If everyone just does our job and wins against the guy they’re going against, we can do some good things. Hopefully guys continue to study and hopefully guys continue to learn and compete their tails off. We want to score some points and win some games. It definitely showed us that if we do those things, we can do it.”

And they probably won’t get a better chance than in this so-called Bay Bowl.

SERIES HISTORY: 14th regular-season meeting. Raiders lead series, 7-6. The home team has won the last three meetings, with the Raiders claiming the most recent 24-13 in Oakland in Week 14 of the 2014 season. The clubs have never met at Levi’s Stadium nor in the postseason.