Wow. Unbelievably tough, gritty, smashmouth performance by the resurgent and real San Francisco 49ers. The 2 biggest weapons out of Deeetroit were rendered null and void. Or at least contained. Ndamukong Suh had 2 tackles, and was not a factor all day. His talk of planting our QB into the ground was prescient in the fact that HIS QB was the one sacked 5 times (Smith twice). Mergatroid had a good game (7 for 113), but was kept out of the end zone, and was not the giant factor he was supposedly going to be. The thing about it, is both were played straight up a lot of the time. Anthony Davis had a spectacular game blocking Suh, and Chris Culliver had CJ one-on-one much of the time.
Offensively, we are in uncharted territory. Alex Smith has led his 3rd 4th quarter comeback on the road this season. Something that hasn’t been seen since (wait for it) the Joe Montana days of 1987. Smith’s numbers weren’t gaudy or spectacular, but he led the team on a 4th quarter drive to seal the deal, hitting Delanie Walker on a 4th and 6 slant for the go-ahead score with 1:51 remaining. Crabs had 9 catches for 77 yards to pick up for Joshua Morgan. Gore slashed and sliced his way for 141 yards, including 2 big chunks of 60 and 44 yards to set up 2 scores. Kudos go to Bruce Miller for keying both runs with key inside blocks. VERY Rathman-esque. That being said, the offense was far from perfect. M0st of the 15 penalties were called on them, with a bunch of false starts, holding calls, and a few illegal formations scattered in there. Crabs made a bone head play when he tried to score after a catch in the 1 yard line was ruled incomplete because he didn’t get his right foot down (2 lefts do NOT equal a left and right). The next play, Delanie Walker dropped a TD pass all alone on the sideline. The Niners also lost the turnover battle. Staley whiffed on the first offensive play, leaving Smith dead to rights on a hit by Kyle Vanden Bosch. The play resulted in a sack/strip (and a FG). Alex also sailed a pass early in the 4th quarter to kill a promising drive.
Enough cannot be said about the defense. Deeetroit’s run game never go going. Stafford was hassled all day. There were 10 hits on him to go along with the 5 sacks. Stafford was forced to check down most of the day as the big weapons of CJ and Pettigrew had their catches, but Deetroit had a hard time sustaining drives due to the D line stopping the run and getting constant pressure. Brooks came clean on a blitz to kill a drive, Aldon Smith had a tackle in the end zone for a safety plus another sack, and Justin Smith was relentless as well. The secondary gave up yards but no home runs as Deetroit did have some success underneath. The D line has to be considered among the top 2 or 3 in the league.
Heady days, indeed. Harbaugh has seemingly made all the right calls in keeping Tomsula, Rathman, and Solari, while replacing the rest of the coaching staff. Their faith in Old McDonald (and jettisoning AF and Clements among others) has paid huge dividends. The biggest call is putting his eggs in the battered, maligned, and seemingly irreparably damaged basket that is Alex Smith. No one (OK, Twin, you get yours) foresaw the change in his game that has resulted in a huge drop in picks, and a much greater understanding of his offense. Lots of people have bemoaned the fact that he’s had too many OC’s, not real offensive-minded head coach, and all that, but I saw this as a placeholder season for Smith. As it is now, Smith likely gets another contract this year from the 49ers. And rightly so.
Shit, take a look at Baalke’s draft. His first without Singletary. 4 guys in the draft played significant roles in the win yesterday in A Smith, Culliver, Hunter, and Miller. I figured they’d be better this year, just not this good this fast.
Forty Niners Forever 
ESPN has had everyone of their “expert” commentators weigh in on this handshake- over and over and over- all the while bitching that we should be talking about the game, not the handshake. As always, the press has blown it up- BFD, two coaches don’t like each other. No punches, just a little harmless milling around, like a baseball “fight”. And now the one playing it up is Schwartz, acting like a choir boy to Harbaugh’s assault on all that is good and right in America. Harbaugh has to be careful this doesn’t turn into a pants down moment, as now the cameras will look for every misstep. This can galvanize the team or it could prove a ridiculous distraction. It’s up to Coach to determine which way it goes. It’s a shame, but that’s how much the media has come to shape events as much as report them.
Just be happy they’re not asking for his birth certificate, Twinnie. The Sports media has nothing on the political pundits on both sides. Vultures, all.
Harbaugh will throw it deep more when he needs to. Right now, he is winning playing the percentages, leaning on his defense, and making sure Alex does not turn it over.
The receivers are a big part of this as you both say. The offense will probably be somewhat different with Braylon back in after the bye. But Harbaugh is not going to go away from the percentages as long as he keeps winning.
Alex hasn’t been turning the ball over going back to the last 7 games last year- he had 11 TD to 3 INTs those last 7 games. People are way overboard on how much Jim has done for Alex- he’s installed a better offense, he’s a kindred spirit, the OL has improved.. but Alex should be getting credit for improved play- he’s not an imcompetent who Jim molded into a good NFL QB. Jim gets credit for what he’s brought to the whole team- that’s enabled Smith to play better,,as it would any QB.
That’s not meant in the least to minimize Harbaugh’s impact- what he’s done to enable Alex and ALL of the team to succeeed is huge and goes well beyond x’es and o’s. Smith thrives on positive reinforcement and providing that has been as important as the WCO in helping Smith succeed. Look at that locker room video after the Detroit game- what did he call Alex, “Mr. Clutch”? And Smith and his teammates were totally digging it. With Singletary, there might have been a sideline confrontation after the INT…and ultimately a loss..
And a QB replacement.
Its the play calling as much as anything. From “We’re not here to fool anyone” to “anyone can stop a play if they know it’s coming” is a 180 degree change.
That’s why JH is 5-1 (and one play made or mot made from 6-0) with the SAME TEAM (mostly) that Singleneuron drove to 0-6.
Harbaugh has Alex making enough plays to win. He is not going to ask him to put it all on his back. He doesn’t need to, with Gore and our defense. Yes, Alex is playing better – he was already somewhat better after Raye left – but the play calling is finally allowing that, keeping him out of the third and forever situations that drove a lot of our miscues in previous years.
You ARE correct that ANY QB would have problems in Singletary’s offense. The only difference might be,a Tom Brady would tell Singletary to sit and spin after about four games , the fans would back him, and Singletary would have been gone. Alex did not have that kind of leverage last year and had to play the hand he was dealt.
Opinions on Brandon Lloyd?
Mine is, don’t do it. I know we need better wideouts (looking at you, Crabs) but serously, Lloyd is a problem in the locker room and has been run out of every town he has played in. A big part of our success right now is chemistry. The soup is good: Don’t fuck with the soup.
Didn’t he already go the Rams or did that get called off?
Grump, Lloyd went to th Rams this morning for a conditional 6th round pick, I think.
Carson Palmer is also headed to the Raiders for next year’s 1st and some other considerations.
Risky, as Palmer is fragile, and will get hit behind that line.
I had not heard about Lloyd. I’m kind of relieved we did not go that route.
I’m hoping Edwards can make a big contribution in the second half and in the playoffs.
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