Here we are, the 49ers have finally reached the Harbaugh Challenge Turkey shoot mano-a-mano raven-pluck extravaganza. What the NFL schedulers viewed as a cute idea when thay sat down at the scheduling table in February suddenly becomes must-see football. Older brother John gets to host younger brother Jim in what is being touted as the Harbowl. I prefer a Raven Thanksgiving dinner but whatever. Baltimore is a very well-coached team, and minus a couple major faux paus’s’s’s, namely losses to Jax and Seattle, they’ve been playing pretty well. Cincy was a battle for them, but they closed it out in the end with a lot of pressure on Dalton.
Ray Lewis is a game-time decision for Thursday’s game. He has been limited in practice, as has Anthony Davis and Crabman. I keep hearing that Bruce Miller is fine, but I haven’t heard if he’s been cleared to play. I’d be surprised, but we’ll see Moran (whiff) Norriss if Miller doesn’t go.
Baltimore’s defense is very stingy in giving up either rushing or passing yards, and is 3th in points allowed. The Niners are 8th in yards given up per game, Balt is 4th. Their offense is simlar to the Niners in the fact they have a strong runner in Ray Rice, much like our Frank. They have a tough WR corps in Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, and Anquan Bouldin. Smith is averaging over 20 yard per catch, so the Ravens will look to go deep early and often.
Like the Giants before them, I’m not truly sold on how good Baltimore is. They’ve beaten Pittsburgh 2x (are they as bad as the 1st beating?), but how good is Pissburgh? AZ almost beat Balt in their own house. Yes, wins are wins, but what about the losses to JAX and Seattle? The Jax game was uuuuuuuuuuugly. Flaccid Flacco was dogshit that night. He’s thrown 12 TDs and 8 picks for a pedestrian 77.8 QBR. The Niners need to dial up the pressure against Flacco. Their offensive numbers pretty much line up. In fact they both average 25.6 points/game. The thing is, Flacco has a big arm, and Balt has hit a lot of deep passes, so I think the Niners may break out some blitzes if the coverage works early. Deep passes take time to develop, and the Niners should send a corner or LB when given the opportunity.
These teams really are pretty much mirror images of one another. Well coached, and quality players on both sides. The offenses and defenses give and take just about the same points. Balt has the advantage when it comes to not having to travel for 6 hours. The 49er advantage? Well, turnovers. Balt’s defense has 21 total takeaways. The Niners D? 26 takeaways. Giveaways? 18 for Balt, compared to 9 for the Niners. The 49ers take care of the ball better, and they create more turnovers. As in last Sunday’s game, the Niners didn’t get the sack numbers I’d like to see, but the consistent pressure caused the interceptions. So, this looks to be a defensive battle. Watch it turn out 35-31 . . .
Niners win a close one. 20-17.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
Flacco is a bit of an enigma- but he’s definitely shown he beat a good team with his arm. However, in a shocking development, both Mikes of M and M in the morning have said they’d take Alex ( that’s a very good show when they stick to football)..BTW, Phil: are you really Skip Bayless? 😉
Well, he certainly isn’t Lowell Cohn . . .
LOL, you guys….
Who the hell is this Cohn guy? Never heard of him…
Bayless, isn’t he Mr Grumblemeister of the Bay Area or is he just given to wild claims and exaggerations which we know I would never do? Maybe Ratto is the grumblemeister? Help me here.
Cohn? I’ll try to research that one…
Lowell Cohn still writes for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat I think. Along with his son.
Back in the day he was a pretty annoying guy who just wrote outlandiish things to garner reactions.
Bayless used to be a sprtswriter for the Merc but has become a full-blown ESPN wonk who is in love with everything he says. Even if it is a direct contradiction of something he said 10 minutes ago.
Lowell Cohn and Glenn Dickey were 2 of the more rabble-rousing writers for the Chronicle sporting green back on the 80s.
The Sporting Green! Glenn Dickey….Lowell Cohn….it’s coming back to me now. Coupla rabble rousers, oh those guys, yep I remember now.
Back in the days of the old Dynasty I, got it thanks
Bayless- that’s show biz. Guess it doesn’t have to make logical sense!
Yep I was happy to see Grant follow along in the footsteps of his Pops, doing a great job. Prolly never be the crazy ass wild man his old Dad was but maybe that’s ok. Well Chuck if you ever see Mr. Cohn please wish him a Happy Thanksgiving for us fans from way back and from way over here.
Flacco is good but Alex is having a better year, in spite of the 49ers WR Corps being inconsistent due to injuries.
The only guys I’d exchange Alex for right now are the young, proven Super Bowl winners: Rodgers, and Brees. Not Rapistberger as we don’t need his OTF antics. And Peyton is done and Brady is getting close.
McKlown to the Bears, and Orton to the Chiefs . . .
Well, if the Broncs and Bears had some secret deal to get Orton to Chicago, it just blew up…
The reference to Bayless was because he’s a rabid Tebow fan,,,
FYI, Miller travelled with the team, but is listed as doubtful.
Everyone else is probable. . . .
I like Tebow because he is a spirited underdog from my previous hometown near Manila. And as Greg Cosell recently said he has gained some positive attention similar to AS as they both have had some success this year. He was making the point people like winners.
I’m just razzing you about Tebow now. But employment wise, I hope he has a Plan B..
😉
Yeah we’re over it already. I’m sure he does have a Plan B if he needs one. He may be a shitty passer but the dudes got charisma!
Game time here is going to be 9:20 AM local time Friday the 25th. A decent hour for a change, hallelujah!
I hope to be thankful by the end of the game that the Niners have put another sock in the mouths of the East Coast media. Even so we got their attention now, those shameless homers!
Cook the Rav birds Niners!
Cheers
Ravens have a better shot at a long strike TD or two via Flacco to WRs. So, Niner secondary needs to look for a few bombs being thrown, cuz Niner front 7 will stuff the run. I see that as Ravens’s only potential on-field advantage over SF…
Yup. Flacco will take more than a few shots deep. Which is why the Niners may actually blitz some tonorrow. If Flaccid holds the ball waiting for a deep route he’ll get smacked around. . .
Looks like Miller traveled, but unlikely to play. Lewis doubtful, but could play. But if he does, probably not even close to 100% mobility. So Norris blocking on a hobbled Lewis — could have been worse…
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Should be a fantastic game today, U know neither of these coaches want to be on the losing end.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone except my ESPN FF team. They top my list of things I’m definitely NOT thankful for. And believe you me. That’s one goddamn long list of things I’m not thankful for.
Have a great day with family, food and most importantly — football.
27-6. Quoth the Raven(s) nevermore.
Alex Smith will get sliced and diced more times tonight than the turkeys at Glide Memorial.
Obviously the negative is the short week and travel. On the other hand, these guys love Jimbo and will be psyched to help him beat his brother.The teams are very close defensively- Ravens have the edge against the pass, SF against the run. On paper our huge edge is QB play- this is the game they really do want a “game manager”, not a gun slinger. Alex has 4 INT and 4 fumbles to Flacco’s 8 and 8. In a game that figures to be close, not making mistakes would be the diff. 17-14 49ers.
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I expect a tight, physical game – Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis and all the rest will want to prove some things to each other. Very unlikely either team can run away with it. If we win the turnover battle, we likely win – I expect the game to turn on the last mistake. I expect a little more scoring than Twin, though, albeit lots of FGs – I’ll take 23-22, Niners.