Here we are at the cusp of another San Francisco 49ers football season. The preseason was a mish-mash of success and failure. The 49ers played badly against good teams (NO and Hou) and fared much better against lesser teams (Oaktown and San Diego). The better teams dominated both sides of the line, while the lesser teams were pushed around by our lines. Good, bad, or indifferent, this trend looks to be followed during the season. better teams (Pittsburgh, Balt) should beat the Niners with relative ease, but they should be able to beat the lesser teams like Cleveland and Cincinnati. Division foes for the most part fall into the lesser category. There are teams that they may be able to beat, but aren’t top tier teams. Detroit and TB fall into that category.
The fact that the Niners were able to put forth a decent offensive effort this preseason has to speak to the coaching staff at least somewhat. The run game was solid, and the run blocking was there for the most part. Hunter was flat great in his reps out there. Gore got a few good runs in. Dixon was likely passed by Hunter, except in goal line situations. Norriss is stil on the team for some unknown reason. He did catch the only ball thrown to him. The passing game was a mixed bag. Mainly due to the all-out blitzing of NO in the 1st preseason game, and the horrible blocking in the Hou game. Against the Raiders and SD, the passing game was decent enough.
The newly aggressive defense inder Vic Fangio looked good at times and looked bad at times. Again, this was more the opponenets they were facing. Even still, number 1 pick Aldon Smith looked like the real deal as a situational pass rusher. Fangio said that A Smith wouldn’t start, but would be in the rotation. This is a very good move on his part. There’s no reason to expose hin in pass coverage this early in his career. 3rd and long, 2nd and long. These are the situations to put him on. The D backs even made some picks this preseason. More than in recent history.
Again, though, all this is taken with a grain of salt as SD didn’t start 14 of their 1st stringers (including Philip Rivers), and preseason is preseason. I don’t think they are as bad as NO adn Hou made them look, but not as good as they looked vs the Raiders or SD’s scrubs. Still and all, this looks like a team that is at least moving in the right direction. Will the personnel losses and shortened preseason overwhelm the strides the team has made? Can Jim Harbaugh save Alex Smith? Is the line going to settle in and pass protect? Can the defense stop teams on 3rd down? Time will tell. This team likely faces a lot of growing pains as it makes its way through the season.
Forty Niners Forever 
Like the new blog, Chuck. As for the Seahags and their QB, the guy is worse than Alex Smith. In fact, he has been worse than Alex Smith with some damn good offensive units around him. The O-line is about what you’d expect from a unit that was pieced together on the fly to begin with and now has to learn a new system without the benefit of OTAs. We might not really see what they’re capable of until week 8. Fortunately they have one of the best in the league at blitz pickups in Frank Gore.
Regarding backup QBs, is there anyone who doesn’t think they’d be completely hosed if they had to rely on McCown to take over as QB? No? Then why keep him on the roster just for the sake of of saying you have a “veteran” backup.
McCown is gone, but apparently on Harbaugh’s speed dial just in case. Stupid QB situation. But then keeping Alex Smith as a perpetual impediment to the offense is not the stuff winning teams are built around.
Nice, Chuck. Thanks for the “personal invite.” I hope you find a place for the schedules/scores.
Apparently drinking coffee in the evening is no longer a “can do” for this kid. Here’s my take on week 1.
The key to this game won’t be the Niners’ O. Harbaugh, Roman, Akres, Gore and Hunter will keep the Niners in the game. This game, like all the rest in the NFL, will be won and lost stopping the pass. Unfortunately for the 49ers, stopping Alex Smith is like being a Nascar fan. Just sit back and enjoy the wreckage. But how Fangio decides to stop Jackson will be interesting. Does he attack Seattle’s battered, mis-match line with blitzes, or does he play zones all day, with a bend but don’t break philosophy forced Tavaris Jackson to pick him apart underneath with CONSISTENT, ACCURATE passes? Both work, but like it or not, protecting against the deep ball, not blitzing and keeping everything underneath would be a smart game plan. Tavaris would miss passes and create opportunities for turnovers. But if Fangio is the guy I think he is, Fangio is going to set the tone for the season, bringing blitz after blitz at Jackson, working his front seven into a feeding frenzy that let’s his D know getting after the qb is job one.
The problem with blitzing TJ is that he’s mobile, and he can escape the pocket. Bring another guy on the blitz, you’ve got one less guy defending the deep ball. The nightmare is when Fangio blitzes, and Tavaris escapes, buying time and throws one up to Rice with the fighting fire hydrant, Donte Whitner trying to out-jump a guy as tall as Rice, or trying to defend Zack Miller down the middle. Fangio needs to be very careful how he blitzes. The Niners are not a quick strike team with Alex Smith unless you consider a pick 6 a quick strike. I anticipate Dashon Goldson starting at FS, and if that’s the case, we need Dashon to bring his Tiger Woods’ A game like he’s going to the brothels in Vegas. It’s a rough start for Dashon – hurt, short pre season due to his free agency, and now he could be the key to a Niner week 1 victory. Watch Goldson’s play. It could mean the difference between a win or a loss. What I’d really like to see is Aldon Smith turning his battles with Okung into Tyson vs Spinx. Get pressure with four and it makes life a lot easier. Jim Schwartz is pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down.
Kill some fucking quarterbacks. Tavaris’s head would look nice mounted on Harbaugh’s office wall.
It’s time to be the fucking Mongols for a change, instead of the punks who get overrun by the Mongols.
“…with a bend but don’t break philosophy… ”
I understand what your’re saying, but this has been so entrenched here in the last few years as “bend but break anyway” that I want to see aggression. Blitz left, blitz right, from the middle, zone blitz, mix it up but get in the backfield.
This is a very important game for both teams, it’s gonna set the pace for the year. We have to play smarter than they do and that’s all on our new coaching staff. I’m of the “take no prisoners” mindset and would love to see the finesse of the WCO and the smashmouth of a very aggressive D. It has been WAY to long.
We went through this bend and break in the early 90s. Until 1994, when Ray Rhodes (and Deion) came in, the team was good at forcing 3rd and long, but couldn’t stop teams from converting. Ray went max aggressive, and the D played much better. Granted, it helped to have Deion, but still and all the philosophy of fialing up the pressure is the way to go.
As I said, I’d rather give up a quick score than a 16 play, 9 minute drive. Again, predicated on the offense being able to score . . .
Tavaris Jackson is a little better version of Troy Smith. If we can’t beat this guy, we are in for a long year.
I’m working on it NoFear . . .
I for one am amazed at the healing powers of Michael (Practice. Practice? PRACTICE?!?!?) Crabtree. Now that the preseason is done, he’s fully ready to go.
Uncanny.
Thanks for visiting JDR. Got your site on my blogroll . . .
CHUCK
bend and break has been with us for far too long ! fangio imo is the man to end it !
SPITBLOOD ! wassup !
imo tavares jackson sucks and we’ll win this weekend !
i’m thinking we have a shot at 9-7 this year if all goes well !
Crabtree has been healed by the magical powers of the September Fairy.
What’s up, Rob? Are you ready for some football?
Unca has been saying something interesting ….. “I’d rather give up a quick score than a 9 minute drive.” We’ve all hated “bend but don’t break.” But I think it’s a process to get to a point where your D can constantly bring the fire and qbs get happy feet just knowin’ they’re going up against the Niners. You can’t just flip a switch and change a philosophy. You have to earn it with good qb play of your own. I think Unca and I agree because he writes, “Again, predicated on our O’s ability to score.”
If Alex Smith is your qb, regardless if Harbaugh and Roman make Walsh look like Hostler, you can’t win games or really even be competitive in the NFL with a D blitz / Alex Qb formula. I’m no mathematician, but if you fused Goodwill Hunting and Einstein’s brain together to try and solve that formula, you’d get a wet brain….. like Spit, Del, Unca, Grump, Rob, Winder… hell, all of us. You can’t be a team like last year that gave up quick strikes and then takes forever to score. You have to get there over time.
When the qb can escape the pocket and connect downfield, a wide receiver can catch a short pass and take it to the house from anywhere, or a TE can split the middle of the field and score a TD from anywhere, that’s when you can afford to bring the fire at Tavaris. That should be the Niner philosophy for the overall season – earn the right to bring the relentless pain. If the Niners do ever get up by two touchdowns this season, I hope Fangio is the guy who never takes his foot off the pedal, blitzing constantly. But you can’t just come out and do that, not yet. Not if you want to win.
We all want to see blitzes constantly and Tavaris Jackson running for his life because that’s what good teams have earned through a collective scheme that considers the offense’s capability. If Harbaugh and Smith march down on 3 plays and score a TD, blitz ’em. If they don’t, play a shell, don’t break, keep it underneath until Smith is gone. We’ve been playing a shell D not because our coordinators are weak minded, but because Alex Smith’s game forces bend but don’t break.
Now if you want to change the qb, I’m all ears.
Spit, ur making too much sense. The reallity of the situation is: I just hope Smith won’t throw every other pass away, and that he won’t have that terrified look in his eyes that’s usually there. I know we don’t really have a viable option at present, but I have no faith in the skills of A. Smith. I think our D will shine unless they spend 3/4,s of the game on the field.
Winder – Harbaugh and Fangio are an excellent marriage because they both want blood in their own way. I think next year they both come to the conclusion together that Alex Smith can no longer be on the roster. Fangio doesn’t want to be forced to play pussy football.
Chuck’s new blog is too polite and congenial. Someone better tell me to go fuck myself before I start to think I’m living in the Del Bizarro World.
Go fuck yourself, skippy.
The worst part of that insult was being called “Skippy.”
I HATE Skippy.
yeah, what chuck says.
Wrong, Spitty. When Rhodes came in, it WAS flipping a switch. They had the players, just not the aggressive style of play.
The defensive style should NEVER be predicated on how the offense is going. In other words, how does bend-but-don’t-break help a stagnant offense? To keep it off the field? It doesn’t. My point is, playing aggressive may lead to quick scores against. IF that happens, it would be nice to have an offense that can make that occasional quick strike up. By no means am I saying that they shouldn’t be aggressive because the offense is sputtering. It’s not an either or situation. Go balls to the wall on defense, and let the chips fall where they may.
Yes, the O has to hold up their end, but for once I’d rather be the hammer and not the nail.
I also know what you mean about the D staying on the field too long and the O losing rhythm, but to suggest Harbaugh, when choosing between a long drive or “let ’em score” for the sake of the O’s rhythm, should opt for “let ’em score,” is madness. The ideal of actually stopping someone isn’t apart of this debate. You’ve been watching too much Alex Smith football. Overcoming a long offensive drive to quickly create rhythm for your O is one of the many hallmarks of good quarterback play. Ray Rhodes had Jerry Rice and Steve Young. Fangio is chained to Alex Smith, and as we speak that anchor is taking Fangio’s blitzing style to the bottom of the abyss.
For my money, even with Alex Smith as the team’s starter, Fangio needs to consider his opponent when deciding how much he’s gonna bring the pain. If the guy is a pocket passer without much mobility or athleticism outside the pocket, bring the pain. However, Tavaris Jackson’s skill sets don’t include the ability to sustain long drives by slowly, methodically going down the field, taking what the D gives him, picking apart the D underneath. If the Niners force Jackson to complete short, quick passes, the Niners win. If the go for broke blitzing him all day, it’s literally a toss up. Why take the chance on a first game that is so important for Harbaugh momentum and credibility?
Unca: Ray Rhodes was able to “flip a switch” because he had Young. Period.
SPIT
lol
thanks for the video !
imo the best and most promising thing about having harbaugh is the way he took the lesser (not as talented ) team and beat carroll and his all world USC team so completely with it !
imo since carroll is a pretty good (but not upper echelon ) NFL caliber head coach , maybe the guy that whooped his ass , our new guy harbaugh is better
… and therefore our first real head coach in years !
here’s to the next few years !!!
Rob,
I think we can expect a better team gradually over the next few years. I think Baalke can draft, and I think the Baalke / Harbaugh marriage looks to be a good one. So, yes, here’s to the next few years! How aggressively Harbaugh and Baalke work to find our franchise qb is everything. So far, I’m encouraged that they drafted a qb and brought in Tolzien, dumping a worthless pile in McCown. But Harbaugh and Baalke need to get even more aggressive. Jake Locker was the pick this year. I love Aldon, but qb play is everything and Locker was the guy to select and develop. I see what the Niners are doing, though, buying time for their O and spending picks on the D, and I think Harbaugh can develop a qb faster than any other hc in the league. The problem is whether or not Harbaugh and Baalke aggressively improve the qb position. Evaluating Kaep while simultaneously developing him leads to emotional attachment. Who knows about Kaep? But if they don’t get really aggressive finding their franchise qb, the team will never compete for Super Bowls.
ray rhodes kicks ass
Likewise your opponent Week 1 in our ESPN league.
Chuck, not to be a nitpicker, OK, I guess I am nitpicking, but could you please at least consider a different photo for your home page? It prominently depicts both Alex Smith and Moran Norris. Two of the most, if not the most under performing, scrutinized and downright loathed of all the current 49ers. It puts me in a foul mood each and every time I look at it.
Thank you,
Skippy
There ya go, Dennis. I got a pic of Brooks sacking Stanton? Who the fuck is that? This was the pre-Hill Lions.
Thanks, Chuck. You’re a gentleman, scholar and a mook.
If Jackson is allowed to get outside the pocket, he can definitely hurt the Niners. I wouldn’t underrate him. Hard to fathom Jimbo’s QB strategy, though. No matter who QBs, they’re not bad enough to get Luck, but if Smith goes down, they just don’t have an NFL QB..
With that said, 24-10 this week, 10-6 season with Smith..
“If Smith goes down, they just don’t have an NFL QB.” Hmmm. This sentence perplexes me in so many ways.
I know what you are attempting to infer, haha, so cute. We’ll see how good an NFL QB Alex is this year, but he’s certasinly an NFL QB.
Obviously the plan is to go with Smith through at least most of the year. If Alex goes down we sign McCown or Garcia or Buddy the Wino off the street and play out the string. Kaep might get some looks late in garbage time if we fall out of contention, or if Smith goes down towards the end. Next spring, we lay out our QB cards and Harbaugh evaluates what we have.
Incremental progress is enough to keep me grumpily satisfied for now. Just so we don’t reek AGAIN. Don’t make me angry; you wouldn’t like me when I’m drunk and angry, Jimbo.
Madieu “I have a blue placard hanging from my rear view mirror” Williams will be starting at FS in place of the injured Goldson Sunday. This will be fun. We’ll have a mentally challenged Seattle QB throwing to avoid the physically challenged SF safety.
Free wheelchairs to the first 20,000 fans attending the game at the ‘Stick.
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The President is starting his speech 2 hrs. early tonight to avoid going head-to-head with the football game. He’s not thatstoopid. He’s knows more people would watch the NFL than listen to his drivel. What does that say about our country? We’re pretty goddamn sick.
I’m proud to be a goddamn sick American. Go NFL and USA!