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2B Daily News – Tuesday, November 27, 2012 NFL 49ERS QBs still in limbo after win MCT photo Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen, white hat, stands on the sidelines Nov. 18. Raiders playing out string of another lost season ALAMEDA (AP) — The Oak- land Raiders are desperately in search of some sort of positive news. The Raiders (3-8) just finished perhaps the worst month in fran- chise history by losing all four games in November, capped by three straight losses by at least 21 points The team's first four-game skid since 2008 assures Oakland of a 10th straight season without a win- ning record and has turned the focus to the future rather than a playoff run. ''It's been mind-blowing,'' defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said. ''I would have never, in my wildest dreams, thought we would be 3-8 right now.'' including himself. But he has worked to improve.'' Starter Carson Palmer struggled Sunday in his homecoming to Cincinnati, throwing for a season- low 146 yards and turning the ball over twice in a 38-17 loss to the Bengals. But he has been far from the biggest problem on a Raiders team that has struggled to generate a consistent run game all season and been historically bad on defense. If Pryor gets a chance to play down the stretch, it would most likely be in a limited role that took advantage of his mobility. The situation at quarterback the thing. Some of the plays we're beating ourselves and giving them plays.'' Coach Dennis Allen said every- one is accountable for the problems that have turned a team that was one win away from a division title last season into an also-ran this year. He said he will look at all options to get things back on track, including possibly finding a role for third-string quarterback Terrelle Pryor. won't matter much if the Raiders can't get better play defensively. They have allowed 169 points over the last four games, the second most in a four-game span since the merg- er in 1970. With the offense struggling to Pryor has been inactive all 11 games this year and has been on the field only once in two seasons since being taken in the supplemental draft last year. He committed a false start before his only snap last year against Kansas City and then got limited duty in the preseason. ''He's working to get better and he's working to improve,'' Allen said. ''I've seen improvement in Terrelle. He's gotten better as a quarterback. He's continued to work. I don't think any of us feel like he's the finished product, MLS Beckham 'overdelivered,' commissioner says NEW YORK (AP) — Don Gar- ber says David Beckham did every- thing Major League Soccer asked of him to grow the sport in the Unit- ed States during his 5 1/2 seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The 37-year-old former England captain plays his final competitive match for the Galaxy on Saturday in the MLS Cup against Houston. When Beckham left Real Madrid in 2007 to sign a $32.5 mil- lion, five-year deal with the Galaxy, Beckham said he wanted to win and increase the league's popularity both domestically and abroad. The Galaxy won last year's title and are in the final for the third time in four years. ''I don't think anybody would doubt that he has overdelivered on every one of those measures,'' Gar- ber said during a telephone confer- ence call Monday, his annual state of the league session as commis- sioner. ''There's arguably not a soc- cer fan on this planet that doesn't know the LA Galaxy and Major League Soccer, and David played a significant role in helping us make that happen. He was an unbeliev- able ambassador for the league, for the Galaxy.'' The league's regular season attendance average increased from 15,504 in 2006 to 17,872 in 2011 and a record 18,807 this year. After Beckham's arrival, the league announced expansion teams that started play in San Jose (2008), Seattle (2009), Philadelphia (2010), Vancouver and Portland (2011), and Montreal (2012), increasing the total to 19. Following Beckham's arrival, ground was broken for soccer-spe- cific stadiums in Houston, Kansas City and Philadelphia, the long- delayed venue in New Jersey was completed, and extensive renova- tions took place in Montreal, Port- land and Vancouver. Television exposure improved, but only slight- ly. ''We needed David Beckham in 2007 to help drive our credibility, to help grow our popularity and to show the world really that the Unit- ed States ... was ready to support a division one league,'' Garber said. ''We don't need anything today to get us to the next level. It's a wide variety of initiatives, from player development, from continued investment in our overall player pool, to better and more focused marketing, to smart expansion to a transformation into a digital world where our games are even more available than they are today.'' Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Robbie Keane and Tim Cahill have followed Beckham to MLS. Given a chance to leave, Beckham stayed for 2013 in a deal that guaranteed him another $4 million. He said last week he is departing ''to experi- ence one last challenge.'' ''I don't believe we're going to be hurting when David leaves,'' Garber said. ''The Michael Jordans and Wayne Gretzkys of the world, the Magic Johnsons, they have a great impact on taking a league to a higher level. And then if managed properly, the league and the clubs and the players that are still in the league are able to take that mantle and take it even higher.'' Beckham's deal included the right to buy a future expansion team at a discounted price. Garber said only the New York market was excluded. Denver-based Anschutz Co. said in September it was starting a process to sell its Anschutz Enter- tainment Group subsidiary, which owns the Galaxy and several other sports properties. ''There is a possibility for him to work with the league office to find ways to transfer, I guess, that option into an opportunity in LA,'' Garber said. ''Way too premature to talk about that or even speculate about what that would look like, but that opportunity does exist if it meets the approval of the league, who in essence holds that value; David, who holds the option; and the Los Angeles Galaxy, who would have to be part of that discussion.'' The Galaxy also face the poten- tial loss of American star Landon Donovan. The 30-year-old mid- fielder isn't sure he wants to play after this season. move the ball consistently the last few weeks, the Raiders have been blown out each time. They have been outscored by 70 points in the losses, falling by at least 21 points in three straight games for the first time in franchise history. The Raiders have allowed 51 plays that have gone for at least 20 yards, including an NFL-worst 13 touchdowns on those big gainers as they have struggled to follow their assignments and tackle downfield. ''I feel like if we could just focus in and execute not 99 percent of the time, not 95 percent of the time, 100 percent of the time, we'd be a lot better on defense,'' cornerback Joselio Hanson said. ''That's just the way it has gone right now. We're not at 100 percent out there. If we get beat doing our job, that's The frustration of losing has started to boil over as evidenced by a scrum that led to the ejections of defensive linemen Lamarr Houston and Tommy Kelly in Cincinnati. Houston tackled quarterback Andy Dalton after the whistle for a false start penalty, leading to a fight with offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth. Both players got eject- ed as did Kelly, who joined the melee as he was coming onto the field for the next play. ''Once you're on the field and you see something going on, you want to help your teammate,'' Kelly said. ''You always want to help your teammate when you think he's in the kind of situation that Lamarr was in. You can't lose your cool because you get kicked out of the game, you hurt your team. You can't have that happen.'' One bit of good news for the Raiders is they get the next three games at home, starting Sunday against Cleveland (3-8). They also could get a boost if injured running backs Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson (sprained right ankles) and defensive tackle Richard Sey- mour (hamstring) are able to return. The trio has missed the last three games but Allen said he's hopeful they will be able to practice Wednesday. ''We're starving for a win right now,'' Hanson said. ''Can't look in the past right now. Just have to move forward and look forward to this next game against the Browns.'' SANTA CLARA (AP) — Jim Harbaugh has watched each of his two quarterbacks lead the San Francisco 49ers to big wins in hostile, road envi- ronments — Alex Smith in the season opener at Green Bay's Lambeau Field back in September among oth- ers, and Colin Kaepernick on Sunday at the New Orleans Superdome. Which one gets the ball on Sunday when the 49ers travel to St. Louis? Har- baugh is still mum on that, though he did say Monday he will formally announce his starting quarterback by mid-week so the players don't have to face constant questions about what they know about the situation. Kaepernick said he was told late Saturday in a team meeting ahead of Sunday's start against the Saints. Then, on Monday, Har- baugh offered this for thought: Yes, he's keeping everybody guessing again. Sort of. ''Alex Smith is our starting quarterback. He has not done anything to lose that job,'' Harbaugh said. ''In fact, he's playing at a very high level. Also, Colin Kaepernick, you can't categorize him as a backup quarterback, because he's started games and played very well in those games.'' Clearly, Harbaugh is growing tired of all the talk about his quarterback situ- ation, even if much of the drama is of his own cre- ation — and he refuses to categorize it as a ''contro- versy'' with two capable guys in the mix each week. He said again Monday that anything is possible this week, even using both quarterbacks in the game. ''The guys will be ham- a completely wrong mes- sage, to me, for young ath- letes out there, or high school quarterbacks, where their coach is trying to tell them it's about the team and all of us working together. So that one gets me upset. That's not what our two guys are about.'' The NFC West-leading Niners (8-2-1) now own the second-best record in the NFC behind Atlanta as they head to face the Rams in a game that will mean plenty for both teams after their 24-24 tie Nov. 11. In recent weeks, Har- baugh has vowed to go with the ''hot hand'' as his quarterback. Now, he has two guys who fit that mold, yet Kaepernick has won back-to-back games in his first two NFL starts — the first last Monday night against the Bears before Smith was medical- ly cleared from his concus- sion. For now, Harbaugh seems to be playing both sides. He wouldn't say when asked whether he has already made a deci- sion for Sunday. ''I think it starts with this week, this game, what gives our team the best chance to win this game, like it would at any posi- tion,'' Harbaugh said. ''So in a unique situation, you have two quarterbacks that are playing at a very high level. One's your captain, your starting quarterback. The other has played great football the last three foot- ball games.'' NFL AFC West WL T Pct PF PA Denver 8 3 0 .727 318 221 San Diego 4 7 0 .364 245 237 RAIDERS 38 0 .273 218 356 Kansas City 1 10 0 .091 161 301 East mered,'' Harbaugh said. ''You go to Colin, you go to Alex, 'Should you be the starter?' He's got no good answer for you. He says, 'Yes, I should be the starter' — we're talking either one — and you look like you're just building up yourself. If you say no, then they hammer you because you don't think you should be the starter. Then the people, so-called subject matter experts, who talk about, ''You should be making a fuss about it or a stink about it, you shouldn't be that accommodating,'' it sends N. England 8 3 0 .727 407 244 Miami WL T Pct PF PA Houston 10 1 0 .909 327 211 Indianapolis 7 4 0 .636 230 273 Tennessee 4 7 0 .364 238 335 Jacksonville 2 9 0 .182 188 308 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 9 2 0 .818 283 219 Pittsburgh 6 5 0 .545 231 210 Cincinnati 6 5 0 .545 282 247 Cleveland 3 8 0 .273 209 248 NFC West WL T Pct PF PA 49ERS 82 1 .773 276 155 Seattle 6 5 0 .545 219 185 St. Louis 4 6 1 .409 205 254 Arizona 4 7 0 .364 180 227 East WL T Pct PF PA N.Y. Giants 7 4 0 .636 305 226 Washington 5 6 0 .455 295 285 Dallas 5 6 0 .455 242 262 Philadelphia 3 7 0 .300 162 252 South WL T Pct PF PA Atlanta 10 1 0 .909 294 216 Tampa Bay 6 5 0 .545 310 254 New Orleans5 6 0 .455 308 304 Carolina 2 8 0 .200 184 243 North WL T Pct PF PA Chicago 8 3 0 .727 277 175 Green Bay 7 4 0 .636 273 245 Minnesota 6 5 0 .545 248 249 Detroit Week 12 Results Thursday's results Houston 34, Detroit 31, OT Washington 38, Dallas 31 New England 49, N.Y. Jets 19 Sunday's results Denver 17, Kansas City 9 Chicago 28, Minnesota 10 Cincinnati 34, Oakland 10 Cleveland 20, Pittsburgh 14 Indianapolis 20, Buffalo 13 Jacksonville 24, Tennessee 19 Atlanta 24, Tampa Bay 23 Miami 24, Seattle 21 Baltimore 16, San Diego 13, OT St. Louis 31, Arizona 17 San Francisco 31, New Orleans 21 N.Y. Giants 38, Green Bay 10 Monday's result Carolina at Philadelphia,late Week 13 Schedule Thursday's games New Orleans at Atlanta, 5:20 p.m. Sunday's games Seattle at Chicago, 10 a.m. Minnesota at Green Bay, 10 a.m. San Francisco at St. Louis, 10 a.m. Carolina at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Houston at Tennessee, 10 a.m. Arizona at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at Detroit, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Buffalo, 10 a.m. New England at Miami, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Denver, 1:05 p.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 1:25 p.m. Cincinnati at San Diego, 1:25 p.m. Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 1:25 p.m. Philadelphia at Dallas, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game N.Y. Giants at Washington, 5:30 p.m. 4 7 0 .364 267 280 —————————————————— WL T Pct PF PA 5 6 0 .455 211 226 N.Y. Jets 4 7 0 .364 221 290 Buffalo 4 7 0 .364 243 319 South