ALAMEDA, Calif. — The days of shoddy quarterback play, overmatched coaches, wasted draft picks and free agency blunders appear to be over in the Bay Area.

For eight years, the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders had far more than their share of each of those to contribute to a playoff drought in what had for decades been one of the NFL’s most successful regions.

Led by energetic first-year coaches in San Francisco’s Jim Harbaugh and Oakland’s Hue Jackson, the 49ers and Raiders finally appear ready to escape a nearly decade-long stretch of losing and compete for championships, which used to be so routine around here.

The 49ers (5-1) have been the surprise of the NFL with a fast start that has included three wins in the Eastern time zone and a 2½-game lead in the NFC West.

The Raiders (4-2) are in the thick of the race in the AFC West with quality wins over the Jets and Houston and now have a potential big-time quarterback in the fold after trading for Carson Palmer.

“There’s an excitement that the Raiders and 49ers are back,” said NFL Network analyst and former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci, who still lives in the Bay Area. “I hear more of that now. There should be an excitement. It’s well deserved. This is good for the entire league and obviously it’s good for the Bay Area because the Bay Area loves its football.”

There was plenty to love in the past, from the dominant teams of the 1960s and ‘70s that Al Davis built in Oakland to the 1980s dynasty started in San Francisco by Bill Walsh and Joe Montana.

In a 19-year period starting in 1976, the Raiders and Niners combined for eight Super Bowl titles, including one for the Raiders in Los Angeles; 16 division championships; 22 playoff berths and 33 postseason wins.

But since both teams made it to the playoffs in 2001 and ‘02, with the Raiders winning the AFC title that second season, there has only been failure.

The teams combined for an 83-173 record the past eight years, with Oakland ranking 31st in the league with 37 wins and San Francisco only slightly better at 29th with 46 victories.

Neither team posted a winning record in that stretch and there were four seasons where the teams combined for nine or fewer wins — a total already reached before the halfway point this season.

“Well, we’re both off to good starts,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know how much it means right now. … We’ll look up in December, see how many we have and see how many we need.”

For most of this stretch of losing, the only time the national spotlight shined on the Bay Area was for ridicule: bizarre news conferences in Oakland to fire old coaches; sideline fights between players and coaches in San Francisco; coaching and personnel decisions that bordered on the ridiculous.

Both teams made their share of big personnel mistakes that led to this losing, from the Raiders using the No. 1 overall pick to draft JaMarcus Russell in 2007, trading for DeAngelo Hall and then cutting him after eight games, and signing Javon Walker to a $55 million contract.

John Lucas is no longer serving as JaMarcus Russell’s “life coach,” Yahoo! Sports reported Thursday.

Lucas and Russell, who was released by the Oakland Raiders in May, had been working together since September in an attempt to get the quarterback into shape to return to the NFL. But the 6-foot-6 Russell lost motivation after initially working hard, and Lucas tired of working with an unresponsive Russell, the website reported.

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley — who, like Russell, is from Alabama — also tried to motivate the quarterback to no avail.

“The title of your article should be, ‘It’s Over,’” a source told Yahoo! Sports. “It’s just amazing that you could say that about somebody who is 25 years old and just got drafted four years ago. But it’s been almost a year since he got cut and there’s no interest. Even before the lockout, nobody wanted to get near the kid.”

That was evident in January, when, according to the website, Baltimore Ravens president Ozzie Newsome, who was in Mobile for the Senior Bowl, refused to meet with Russell, a Mobile native who was there at the time.

He also had two unimpressive workouts in November. Russell, whose playing weight was listed at 260, weighed 288 at a workout for the Washington Redskins on Nov. 2; two weeks later, he showed up for a workout with the Miami Dolphins weighing 292.

“It’s such a waste of talent,” a source told Yahoo! “It’s hard to believe a guy with that much ability could let it just waste. It’s sad. … It’s like they say, you can’t coach desire.”

Russell, the top overall draft pick in 2007, lost his starting job prior to his release and was arrested in July for possession of a controlled substance.

FOX Sports Exclusive

Updated Apr 14, 2011 4:03 PM ET

Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who was selected first overall in the 2007 draft, no longer has former NBA player John Lucas working with him, according to a Yahoo! Sports report.

Lucas, who had been working with Russell as a “life coach” since last September, has aided troubled professional athletes over the years. The report attributed the split to Russell’s apparent lack of effort in getting in shape.

“The title of your article should be, ‘It’s Over,’ ” an unnamed source told the website. “It’s just amazing that you could say that about somebody who is 25 years old and just got drafted four years ago. But it’s been almost a year since he got cut and there’s no interest. Even before the lockout, nobody wanted to get near the kid.”

Russell, who was waived by the Raiders in May 2009, still has not signed with a team since his release.

The Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday hired former Raiders coach Tom Cable to be their offensive line coach/assistant head coach at just about the time Raiders managing general partner Al Davis ripped Cable for his on- and off-field actions the past two years.

Cable joined the Raiders in 2007 as offensive line coach. He replaced the fired Lane Kiffin as head coach four games into the 2008 season and posted a 17-27 record.

Davis informed Cable two days after this season ended that the Raiders weren’t going to pick up the two-year, $5 million option on his contract.

When asked about Cable’s coaching ability, new head coach Hue Jackson said: “What Tom Cable is as a football coach is an exceptional line coach. He will go on and do great.”

• Davis addressed the departure of JaMarcus Russell for the first time, saying the former Raiders quarterback’s personal problems were too much to overcome.

  “We had a big investment in this guy,” Davis said. “Basically, he’s a good person, but he’s got personal problems. I decided that it was time that we were not going to fight it anymore.”

  The Raiders selected Russell with the first pick of the 2007 NFL draft and won only seven of the 25 games he started. They released him in May, soon after trading for current starter Jason Campbell.

  Russell didn’t play this past season. He was arrested in early July for possession of a controlled substance (codeine cough syrup),

  although charges later were dropped.

• It sounds as if the Raiders had no intention of picking up the option year on the contract of three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, whose deal voided anyway because he failed to meet performance incentives.

  Davis acknowledged Asomugha’s skill as a cornerback and his worth in the community but noted “that $17 million can bring you two or three players that can help you win.”

  When there were stories that Asomugha wanted to play with the New York Jets and Darrelle Revis, Davis said he asked Asomugha point-blank if he wished to be traded.

  “He said, ‘No. I want to stay. I don’t want to go,’ ” Davis said.

• Davis on the 2009 trade that sent a 2011 first-round draft pick to the New England Patriots for defensive tackle Richard Seymour: “You may not think it was a good trade. I thought it was a great trade. Still do.”
• Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey still has the owner in his corner, although it’s notable that Davis didn’t use the word “great” when evaluating the second-year wide receiver.

  “He’s going to be good,” Davis said. When asked why, he added: “(He has) explosion. He can catch, he’s getting better, and he’s a good guy. He’s going to be good.”

• Raiders offensive line coach Jim Michalczik is being considered for the Cal offensive line coach vacancy. He joined the Raiders in 2009 after spending the previous seven seasons as Cal’s offensive line coach.

  Staff writer Jonathan Okanes contributed to this report.

ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders have spent years acquiring speedy players they hoped could deliver touchdowns from almost any spot on the field.

Those speedsters finally delivered the game-breaking plays this season that have been lacking so much the past few years as Oakland finished up a seven-year run of losing at least 11 games a season.

Darren McFadden has developed into the big-play back Oakland expected when they selected him fourth overall in the 2008 draft, putting together one of the most productive seasons ever for a Raiders running back.

Rookie Jacoby Ford has flashed his sprinter speed on three kickoff returns for touchdowns, long passes and a 71-yard score on a reverse on the opening play two years ago.

Receiver Louis Murphy has three plays of at least 40 yards, and even fullback Marcel Reece has gotten into the mix with a couple of big plays from a position that usually focuses on blocking.

That has all added up an extremely productive offensive season for the Raiders (7-8), who despite the marked improvement will still miss the playoffs for an eighth straight year.

“We showed how strong we can be, how many points we can put up and how explosive we can be,” said tight end Zach Miller, who leads the team with 55 catches for 654 yards and five scores. “We didn’t do it consistently enough, but I thought when we did we had the capability of putting a lot of points on the board.”

The Raiders are seventh in the league in scoring with 379 points and need just 15 in the season finale at Kansas City on Sunday to double last year’s scoring output. They are on pace to finish in the top 10 on the franchise list in points and yards per game since the 1970 merger.

Oakland has scored more than 20 points 10 times already this season compared to just once a year ago when JaMarcus Russell spent the majority of the season as the starting quarterback.

“We’ve made leaps and bounds with this offense,” Murphy said. “We put up some big numbers, 500-plus yard games. We just weren’t able to come out with enough wins, which is the most important part. I think we can get much better with the guys we have on this team.”

While there is plenty to praise with Oakland’s offense this season, there is one involved party who is not exactly patting people on the back.

Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson was brought in during the offseason to take over play-calling duties from coach Tom Cable and immediately instilled the unit with energy and creativity that had been lacking. But he still sees so much more improvement needed.

“We didn’t improve fast enough,” Jackson said. “We want perfection. That’s what I expect from our football team. We expect to be challenging for the playoffs, challenging for our division year in and year out and we’re not getting that done. So to me, that’s a disappointment. There’s either first place or there’s last place and there’s no in between.”

Jackson points to a lack of consistency and potential big plays that were not executed as the biggest flaws on the unit. The Raiders failed to score a touchdown in a loss at San Francisco, sputtered against Pittsburgh and Miami, and had problems in the red zone for much of the season.

The Raiders have committed a league-worst 64 penalties on offense, including 28 false start penalties that too often led to stalled drives.

“It’s very frustrating,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to be a more disciplined offensive unit. We’ve had a lot of penalties in key situations, whether it be the scoring zone, or to start a series that all of a sudden puts you in second-and-15 or second-and-20 and you can’t play that way and be a very good offensive football team. I know that it is something we will address.”

The Raiders are hoping for improvements from a unit filled with young players. The three most productive running backs have all played three or fewer seasons, the top three wide receivers are all in their first or second year and Miller is just finishing up his fourth season at tight end.

Quarterback Jason Campbell is the old man of the skilled position players, celebrating his 29th birthday Friday. It’s been quite a year for Campbell, who was acquired from Washington during the draft to replace Russell as the Raiders’ quarterback of the future. He was officially given the starting job at training camp only to be benched six quarters into the season.

He returned after Bruce Gradkowski went down with a shoulder injury. After a rough first start back in San Francisco, Campbell led the Raiders to their first three-game winning streak since 2002 and briefly into first place in the AFC West.

Oakland has lost four of six since then, including one more start by Gradkowski. Campbell has completed 58.9 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a passer rating of 83.9 this season.

“It wasn’t the type of year you expected,” Campbell said. “I did feel like I’ve grown a lot this season having faced a lot of adversity and to still get in there and keep playing. I take the positives. We turned things around. I think we’re going in a positive direction and we’re just glad to be a part of it.”