Painful truths of the NFL

By Kurt Wagner

It's officially past the midway point in the NFL season.

But for those of us on the west coast, the end of the season can't come soon enough.

The NFL's four west coast franchises, the San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders, the San Diego Chargers and the Seattle Seahawks, are a combined 10-26 this season while playing in the NFL's two worst divisions.

All but the Chargers are ranked in the bottom half of the league in both the overall offensive and overall defensive categories. The four teams have an average offensive rank of 23rd and defensive rank of 25th. Picking the best of the bunch is like asking a six-year-old to decide between peas or brussels sprouts -- all choices are just plain gross.

Although it is too early to officially eliminate any of these teams from making the playoffs, the potential for any of these franchises as a division champion or even a wild-card team are unlikely.

This wasn't the case at the start of the season. According to ESPN.com, 14 out of 16 NFL analysts predicted the Seahawks to win their division. The Chargers were a unanimous pick to win theirs.

Almost a third of these analysts even predicted the Chargers to be Super Bowl champions.

These teams are also no strangers to success.

The Seahawks entered 2008 having won their division four years in a row. The Chargers won theirs three of the past four seasons. Both the 49ers and the Raiders are two of the league's most accomplished franchises, with eight Super Bowl championships between them.

All four west coast teams have appeared in the Super Bowl at least once since 1995. The Seahawks were the last to do so in 2006.

Fans aren't the only ones wondering if this situation is going to turn itself around anytime soon. The teams themselves seem to be asking the very same question.

Both the Raiders and the 49ers have fired their head coaches this season, and the Seahawks are guaranteed a new top dog next season, as Head Coach Mike Holmgren has already announced his retirement.

The 49ers can't seem to find a quarterback who is of NFL caliber, and the Raiders' quarterback of the future, JaMarcus Russell, has the worst completion percentage of any starting gunslinger in the NFL.

So what is a west coast football fan to do?

As we head down the home stretch toward an NFL playoff absent of any West Coast representation, I find myself saying something I never thought I would: Thank goodness for the NBA.