The crazy thing about football as opposed to baseball is the urgency of EVERY game. In baseball, you can go on a 6 game losing streak, and still come out of it fine. In baseball, there’s always tomorrow. In football, you drop 2 games in a row, and 3 teams can pass you up on the way to the playoffs. Parity being what it is in the NFL these days, there is NO room for error. If you look at last year’s games, there were maybe 3 plays that kept the team from being 9-7 instead of 6-10. Look at Sunday’s Eagles win. There were missed FGs all over the place, fumbles, and drive-killing penalties. But the game hinged on the pursuit of Justin Smith to strip the ball from Jeremy Maclin, and Dashon Goldson having the wherewithall to simply fall on the football and not try to do too much and be the highlight hero (hello Nate Clements).
So, here we sit, atop the NFC West with a 2 game lead 4 weeks into the season. I sure as hell didn’t think we’ll have a lead like this at this point in the season. I knew the other teams were weak, but I figured it would take the 49ers time to get acclimated to the new systems and schemes they are all learning. I guess we should all be thanking the scheduling Gods, because the Rams, on paper at least, the best team in the west, has a brutal schedule, and looks like they’ll end up 0-7, with Green Bay, Dallas, and NO as their next 3 games. Seattle and AZ certainly aren’t doing very well, and all my thoughts on getting Kevin Kolb (talk about Checkdown Charlie. AZ fans are blasting his signing now) were unfounded and silly.
TB is one of those fair to middling teams that, when on can be scary, but watching that game last night, they spent 3 quarters shooting themselves in the feeet repeatedly. They must have had around 10 holding penalties. Freeney was unstaoppable, but Curtis Painter kept Indy from doing much offensively. But, as the thread says, this is a big test for your 49ers. And one where the head coach has to REALLY stress the importance of staying focussed. They are coming home after their best road trip in probably 15 years. They are getting press (albeit it’s more of the ‘how the fuck did the Iggles give it away?’), but Harbaugh is already getting praise from the talking heads around the media-sphere. The threat is very real that these guys come in with swelled heads, and thoughtsw of prime-time glory. This is where your coach HAS to beat on these guys to remond them that it’s all about hunger. All about not reveling in the recent past. It’s about pushing forward and not believing the hype. Matt Maiocco interviewed Harbaugh after returning from Philly, and it gives me a good feeling regarding just this fact. The gist of the interview is:
Is part of your task this week to sort of gauge the pulse of the team and make sure they don’t get too high after this win?
Harbaugh: “Yeah, that’s one. It comes back to – you’re getting better or you’re getting worse, you never remain the same. We’ll keep that blue-collar mentality.”
His experience as a head coach at Stanford defintely gives him an edge that the previous head coaches didn’t have. Even more so, when you consider that keeping college football players from going to the moon after big wins (say beating USC in LA), is tougher than doing that with professional football players. Still and all, these guys, as a team, are winning games that they had previously lost. The difference is the coaches back then would praise the team for close losses (GB, Minn, Atl, NO, Colts, Titans, ring a bell in the last couple years?), and then come up short down the road becasue they would rest on their laurels and fall flat. I can’t count how many times the Niners had (to steal a phrase from Skeebs) GPS games. Statement games. Ones that would show the team’s mettle. Invariably they’d fall flat, lick their wounds, and have to rebuild themselves from scratch. The problem came from the coaches building up the team needlessly and not putting in the work. Nolan would regularly give the team Monday off if the team won the previous Sunday. While that may sound good from a player standpoint, it doesn’t drive hiome the point that you need to keep working to get better, not take time off. There plenty of time to rest in the offseason.
Here’s the entire interview with Harbaugh. It is an excellent study in motivation techniques, self-deprecation, and the ‘us-vs-them’ mentality that Bill Walsh always drove into his players.
Harbaugh understands what to do to keep these guys moving forward and not looking back. Well, the proof will be in the pudding this weekend, but he seems to have a much better grip on this than his predecessors.
Forty Niners Forever 
Everything Dennis posts is a schtick, he’s our very own Rex Ryan. I doubt that he dislikes Alex Smith at all- just as with Eli Whiteside, Denny developed a routine and he thinks both spiels are funny ( my Vern and Vera Whiteside bit is a classic, he might be jealous- or perhaps he’s never had Vera’s 3 Soup Chicklen Casserole…)
. He once posted that if I ever uttered the words “Alex Smith” again, I’d regret it untti the day I die…now that’s either a threat or just going over the top on his comedy routine. I hope it’s the latter.
You got it: over the top, that’s all
“he’s our very own Rex Ryan”
Nailed. To the cross.
As chuck would say; “Yahuk” or some such
hyuk
OK then chuckster
A horse named “Praying For Mike” just ran 4th in the 6th at Belmont. I guess the people didn’t pray hard enough. Either that, or God was too busy to listen as he was at the window betting on the winner.
Haha, good one Del
When you consider our difficulties moving the ball at times this year, we have done remarkably well at the field position game. Part of that is Andy Lee booting us out of some holes. But it’s also our defense. Our secondary is still shaky when teams start throwing the ball, but we’re pretty solid against the run. Justin Smith, Willis and Bowman are playing at an all-pro level right now. McDonald has done a hell of a job, and Sopoaga has been very solid on the nose. Brooks is okay and Aldon is coming on. By next year we could have the best front seven in the NFL. Now if we can find another CB and a free safety… guys who can run and cover.
Nice. You think Harbaugh and brain trust will Not get the right guy?
We’ll see. Culliver has good physical tools, but is still learning to play cornerback, let alone CB in the NFL.
Free safety is a bigger problem. We have several credible strong safeties. Whitner and Goldson both play the Tim McDonald style well – short zone, extra LB in run support. Ask them to play centerfield and run and cover, that’s a problem. Not their skill set. I think the next draft will have to offer up a solution. Too bad we wasted a pick on Taylor Mays.
We could stock an NFL roster with alternates to our many wasted picks of the last few years!
Dennis is going to have to get used to Alex Smith. He is the only show in town for now – I think Kaep is still a year and a half away from even competing for a starting job. Same for Tolzien, at best, regardless of what he did in pre-season. And quite frankly, it is far from impossible that Alex Smith signs a three-year contract to stay here after the season. We are very likely to win the division with him. Whatever his limitations, he is better than anything you are likely to find on the free agent reject pile. Most of those guys are too old or too unproven. For his part, Alex has to really appreciate having a real coach and will likely be very cautious in considering any moves. No one would have believed it a year ago, but it’s not altogether impossible that Alex Smith finishes his career a 49er. Or that he stays at least until someone can wrest the job away.
Yes, sadly for our Del Mar, this is very likely to be the case. Alex will flourish, I mean DEL will adjust.
Could be worse, Dennis? Yeah, we could be the Cowboys. The team is 3-1. You expected 1-3. Quit yer whining.
Phil, yeah, I’m with Grump. not knowing how fast these guys could come together in the shortened preseason raised a lot of quaetions. For me it was the defense. They tossed a lot of guys, and while that was needed (Clements and Lawson were dead wood), I thought losing AF would hurt, and I thought it would take a while to integrate the new guys into a new (albeit similar) system under Fangio. As of now the Defense is playing better. They have forcd a lot more turnovers than in presious seasons. It wasn’t that long ago that our CBs would get NO ints in a season. Now, we’ve already got 4 among the CBs.
The offense is the same deal. The Niners started pretty conservative, and have integrated a little more each game. Smith had done well in not throwing picks, and has directed the offense given to him by Harbaugh well. He has a little more to do each week.
Frankly they are about 6 weeks ahead of where I thought they’d be. That being said, they have a tough schedule. TB may not be easy, and Deetroit on the road won’t either. But they’ve won 2 road games, beat a tough Philly team, and almost beat Dallas. 4-2 at the bye, and they are ahead of what I thought. There are tons of talking heads out there that picked the Niners to win the division, and thought 9-7 was doable. There are a ton of local scribes (hello Comcast tools) who picked them to go 5-11. I tought 8-8 was realistic. This game is a big one from the standpoint of who they are and what they can do. A setback here isn’t remotely the crushing defeat it may be made to seem, but a win would really put these guys on the map as an unp-and-coming team. At least in the outside world.
Team way ahead of what I thunk they be 2. And that’s why I humbly (or not) say
FUCK THE BUCS!!!
Of course, a team is going to have a good record against the run when teams aren’t trying.to. I referred to Andy Reid’s stupid game decisions and he prooved me right last week- other than Vick’s scrambling he only ran the ball 12 times- you have to make a better effort at running the ball when you get a 3 TD lead.Other than Vick, they ran 3 times in the 3rd quarter.
Yes twin, that’s inexcusable, few runs. well we got JH and THAT is a blessing that we will be thankful for for one hella long time God willing
As I mentioned- the first two plays in the game winning drive were a short pass to Crabtree out of the gun and the 23 yard run by Gore out of the gun.For the rest of the drive Philly had no idea what we’d run…the sweetest had to be Hunter’s 14 yard run on 3 and 7. Lke the defensive stop that followed, that knid of drive just never happened in recent years. I liken it to a baseball pitcher not throwing fastballs in fastball counts…
I’m off to go get an MRI on my back and hip. God forbid they ever have to do one on my head. That image would lit up like a 40 ft. Christmas tree. Be back in a little while…
If they’re doing an MRI they already did a CT and it wasn’t good. What did the CT show?
I had a Bone Mineral Density Test (DEXA) just now. I guess they’re looking to see if I have early onset osteoporosis. The test itself was a breeze. No enclosure, didn’t have to take off any clothes and was in and out of there in 15 mins.
What the hell happened to you, Dennis? Fall off a horse?
I mean, I’m in bad shape, but you sound like you’ve been ground up and spit out by a meat grinder.
Really?
Yep I’m getting in game shape for the Bucs at 4 AM Monday (1 pm sunday yours) Here it’s 5 AM Friday morning. You think I don’t take this shit serious? You think I’m just blowing off the old lady (sweet young thing actually) drinking rum and fucking around on the internet, blowing hard?? Actually yes, you would be correct goddamit but hey a man’s gotta support his team, gotta hang wid his buds, gotta finish that fucking bottle of White Tanduay Rum.
Late, gentlemen
Hey dennis, good luck at the doc’s today, my back and hip act up on occasion and it certainly isn’t fun. I still feel that I am not that old but at times my body tells me different.
–
Pf – Sounds like you have your game plan in order and I am with u on stuffing the F-ing Bucks.
Sounds like A.S. is in the running for the Willie Mac award…O wait.
Hang in there, Dennis. Hope the MRI does not come out too bad.
I’m hangin’, Grump. Talking Niner football helps. Thanks. I’d be more concerned for our buddy Rob in Florida. He must be crestfallen after hearing that his girl, Sarah, won’t be running next year. I think he has three boxes of Sarah Palin buttons.
Hey, Rob. I know what you could do…put those buttons on your Bonsai trees as ornaments, and you could pawn those suckers off as Christmas trees. 😀
No more crestfallen than the Democrats.
American female politicians and crazy go together like baseball and hot dogs. Like pretzels and beer. Like Cheech and Chong. What’s up with that?
The Brits at least had Maggie. Love her or hate her, you couldn’t underestimate her. She had more balls than any of their male PMs since Winston the Bombastic. In a street fight between Maggie, Bush I and Gorby, you know Maggie would have left them both dead on the ground.
Good luck Dennis
Shit, Shirley Chisolm could more than hold her own.
She may go medievel on your ass . . .
Can hardly remember her anymore. Now Hilary, there’s a highly strung bitch waiting to snap. Especially after decades of Bill. Hope he sleeps with one eye open if she is around, lest he get a Bobbitt.
Hey, I just saw Pulp Fiction again.
Sorry, Dennis. Not Pulp Friction . . .
Will Bikini Cinema Pulp Fiction style suffice? Now that’s what I call “acting.”
Twinfan, whatever is exploiting your address book lives still .
When did you get the last one? It must have been yesterday, I closed that account when I saw that more scam E-Mails had been sent
I just got another one myself within the hour…
I don’t know how. Can you forward it to
mscott050@gmail.com
Is that the second or third?
There’s some nasty little viruses out there. I’ve gotten really careful about opening anything, even from people I know. Particularly if it has no subject, or has a blind link.
Turns out it was deleted within Live Mail but not on the Web. Should be taken care of now. Apologies
Interesting article on the P-D.
http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2011/10/inside-the-49ers/greg-cosell-on-the-niners-comeback-the-player-they-exploited-was-nnamdi-asomugha/
Harbaugh has some balls, going after Nnamdi like that.
Singleneuron on offensive football: “We’re not here to fool anyone.”
Greg Roman: “I think you’ve got to look at the players you have when you design your attack. I think you want to have a multidimensional attack that can’t be shoved into a box. Because, really, the way we look at it, anybody can stop a play if they know it’s coming, really, with numbers or stunts, etcetera. So, you want to have a diverse attack that accounts for different defenses and then it comes down to what your own team is good at and can be good at. We’re still figuring that out, I think that’s a work in progress, but it all comes down to execution. A power running game allows you to wear people down over the course of the game, probably more so than a zone running game does. It also probably gives you more opportunity to complement the play action.”
Quite a difference from last year.
“We’re not here to fool anyone.” Man we are light years ahead of last years clueless crew. Not sure I could handle another crappy coaching regime. Love the football IQs of the present staff!