Well, that’s what one ESPN wonk articulated after the game. Don’t know which, but the 49ers were suddenly lumped in with Detroit, Cincy, and KC as pretenders in the grand scheme of the NFL hierarchy. I (and many other wonks) called bullshit on that. To go 4-1 on the east coast is a pretty big accomplishment, keeping the game remotely close was pretty good in itself. As it was, Flacco played one of his better games of his career, and our O line, already shorthanded without Bruce Miller, lost Adam Snyder to a hammy injury early in the 1st quarter. Chilo Rachal filled in miserably, as he whiffed on his 1st play, and was the guilty party on the chop block (albiet, it wasn’t really a hit than a stumble) on the 75 yard TD pass to Ted Ginn. The rest was a defensive battle all the way. The Niners had a decent 2 minute drive to close the 1st half negated by a pick. Edwards didn’t do much to get to the ball, or even break up the pick, but it was underthrown besides.
The 49ers tied it on the 1st drive of the 2nd half with a nice drive that used up half the 3rd quarter. Balt responded with a drive that ate up the rest of the 3rd and resulted in a TD. Balt stayed underneath the whole time, and hit on too many 3rd down plays. Whitner missed a stop on 3rd down, and the Niners didn’t get ANY pressure on Flacco as he dinked and dunked, and ran for 6 yard chunks to score the game’s only TD. After that, it was jail-break time as Smith and the Niners couldn’t get any offense going. Until a small drive near the end was killed by a terrible drop by Ginn to end the game.
As the Niners stand now, they are a bit beaten up. Snyder needs to get healthy. That much is obvious. Same with Bruce Miller. The line play was shoddy at best, and it can be attributed to their absense. Our wideouts are hurting as well. Edwards just doesn’t have the speed he showed in the preseason or vs Seattle even. Crabs is doing decent, but Walker was a no-show in Balt. VD? He made a brain-dead mistake in the closing minute by not going OB after getting the 1st down on a swing pass. Stupid stupid stupid. Game awareness, skippy. He proves himself to be clueless by not knowing the situational aspect of where he is and what he should do. For all his talk of beinf great, he’ll never get there with plays like that, or the one last week when he didn’t try to get his feet down before he went out of bounds.
Anyhow, this game was going to be tough, even without the fact the Niners had a 6 hour plane ride, and a very short week to prepare for the game. The interesting thing to see is the next game vs the Rams. How the Niners bounce back from this game is going to tell a lot about the spine of this team. I think they are fine, and this’ll be a blip on the radar.
Forty Niners Forever 
Errrrrr hate to ask but I have to….can somebody tell me how to put my own picture/image into the Gravatar space, I forgot.
Thanks
Navigate over here NinereDog:
http://en.gravatar.com/
You can set up your account (or search for your old one?). From there you will be able to upload your own avatar.
Good luck!
It will post here automatically
In the meantime, as the bad taste in my mouth subsides….a couple calls go the other way and the Ravens would have beeen our bitches, but the OLine did not have the Mo and the recievers could not get open quick enough, more prep was probably needed, the 49ers did not embarrass themselves but on that day the Ravens were better….if they think they can beat the 49ers again, they might get more than they bargained for. More prep on blitz packages and healthier lineman and it is anybody’s ballgame. With nine sacks on Smith, and only getting 1 INT and no fumbles, and no cheap TD’s…I’m thinking the 49ers did alright…just sayin’
Sometimes it IS the circumstances. Agree…
Even with those big plays, we would have lost.
Honestly, when your QB is getting the shit kicked out of him on every play, you’re going to lose.
One of two things has to happen there: either your QB gets preternaturally quick at getting the ball out, a la Aaron Rodgers, or your line finds a way to give him the time he needs.
Alex has done a creditable job this year, but he’ll never process and deliver like Rodgers – only one QB in a hundred can. Not much shame there. Except for pinhead Mike Nolan, whose 2005 original sin will haunt us until the day Rodgers is enshrined at Canton.
And our line clearly could not get it done. Not even close.
So we lost, and we will keep losing these very tough games if we do not get the pass pro sorted out.
A lot of it, probably the majority, gets dumped at the feet of Chilo Rachal, whose career, not just in SF but in the NFL, is now in jeopardy.
But he wasn’t alone. Anthony Davis plays a lot better with Snyder next to him, and did not play well in Baltimore.
And Joe Staley, the line’s ‘so-called leader’, is really starting to piss me off. He gets beaten too often to be leading anything, IMHO.
Anyway, all we can do now is reload, kick shit out of the Sorry-Ass Rams, get healthier, and brace for the Steelers to approach us the exact same way the Ravens did. Jimbo had better do some hard thinking next week about how he is going to avoid the same kind of result.
Smith has one head to head with Rodgers- the infamous game where they fell behind 23-3 in the first half while the Raye offense called 7 passes. Smith came out smoking in the second half (NOT against a prevent) and nearly pulled it off. They pulled within 30-24 on his 3rd TD of the half and,as was often the case, with 5 miunutes left, never saw the ball again..Now, unless they fix the pass protection issues and get Edwards back on track, it would be awfully hard to win a shootout with Rodgers but Alex is totally capable of it. Since 2009, he’s been at his best when turned loose, not “prortected” .Recently, the third quarter against Philly is the best example.
This is what Bilick meant when he said “Can Mike [Singletary] give himself over to the so-called dark side?” Billick said. “Can he say, ‘I saw a style of play that can suit my quarterback, and we may have the complementary players to make that offense work,’ and then embrace it? Or do they shove him in the I-formation and ask him to play that style? Because I’m not sure Alex Smith can prosper in that system any more than Warner did in New York, where you limit his options and ask him to make the big throw. I don’t know that’s who this guy [Smith] is, and he hasn’t been to date.”
The WCO is ideal for Alex because it doesn’t limit his options. Anyway, I’d love too see Smith vs. Rodgers…if they can protect him, he can burn that defense big time.
Trust me. You don’t want to see Smith vs. Rodgers. Having your testicles hooked up to some jumper cables would be less painful.
Already saw it and he out played Rodgers when they opened up the offense.
Green Bay is a one-dimensional team. Nothing special on defense, no running game. Unfortunately, it’s a hell of a one dimension. Rodgers is too accurate, and gets the ball out too fast, and his receivers are too good. You can’t play cover and you can’t get to him before he throws. It’s a tough problem for any defense. I think in that previous game, GB thought it was over and let up at halftime. You can bet McCarthy will remind them of that if we see them in January. Alex will have to score on every drive to keep up.
The teams that have beaten GB (and it hasn’t been recently) have gotten a lot of pressure on Rodgers. He hasn’t lost a game (without getting hurt) since week 6 vs Miami last year. They sacked him 5 times. Washington beat Rodgers the week before the same way. 5 sacks, lots of pressure.
There;s no reason to look that far ahead, but this team needs to get Snyder and Miller back. They need to get better backups on the line. Chilo isn’t cutting it.
Denny-STFU, I’m cutting you slack because of your mental condition, but don’t push it.
My mental condition? Dr. Sigmund Freud said, “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
So take this Cuban and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
I thought you’d made a break through when you fessed up to it after the Raven game, but sometimes it’s one step forward,1 back. Try to keep at it, you may yet have a shot.. and don’t worry about your little cigar- make up for it with technique..
Aaron is a fine QB but I don’t buy that he went from a middle of the pack guy in the first half of 2010 (12 TD 9 INT 85.3 QBR) to God. I think he’s on a streak like no other but I also think he’ll come back to earth. Maybe not, maybe he *is* God.. if it’s not Tebow..
And aren’t “you people” getting a little ahead of yourselves with this Smith vs. Rodgers talk? That game would only take place in the NFC Championship which implies that the Niners won their Divisional playoff round. Which at this point (should they remain the #2 seed) would likely be either New Orleans or Dallas.
Alex Smith vs Brees or Alex Smith vs Romo in the playoffs. Judge Mills Lane would stop those fights before they even started. “Let’s get it on!”
You continue your simplistic approach to breaking down a game by looking at nothing but qb vs qb– literally, you look at nothing else. And then you scratch your head and wonder why we’re 9-2. Don’t worry, I’m not wasting pixel space on explaining it to you anymore.
Then don’t. What you should use your pixel space on is explaining to me and others how the hell the Giants are going to win with an outfield of Belt/Huff, Melky and Shitholtz.
That outfield is going to give Alex Smith a run for his money in suckitude.
Mills was one helluva boxing ref, but he sucked as a TV judge. He couldn’t hold Judge Wapner’s jock. Just asked Raymond Babbit. The Rain Man not only knew the deal, he knew the schedule.
If Washinton holds on against Seattle, I think 1 more win clinches the West…
Should make for a good game against the Rams next week then. Got a feeling our guys will be playing pissed after the Ravs
Jesus Christ, I mean Tim Tebow won the OT coin toss. If he pulls this rabbit outta his hat…
Didn’t you say he was your new boyfriend ? What will the Choker say?
Believe you me, you don’t want to play the “Choker” again. Especially in the playoffs. We all know what happened the first go around. And that was when the “Choker” had a couple of busted ribs and no running game. Both of those maladies have been remedied. They’ll be no need for OT the second time…
All BS aside, I appreciate your kind sentiments from the other night. Frank and I are chugging along the best we can. Here’s wishing you and Zeke an even more pleasant path…
Okay my man (don’t get any funny idears) Tim Tebow goes on the road to the lifeless (?) Chargers and lays his 5th victory on ’em. today. Guy can’t pass for shit but the Bronks manage what the 9ers of recent vintage could not: beating the Bolts. Why, how is that?
I’m not here to provide explainations, analysis, or pigskin prognostications. I am here for one simple reason: to gloat, gloat, gloat at ya! Capice? Neener-neener-neener….
Hey, Phil. I see you’re leading your current FF matchup. I don’t want to call your lead tenuous, but I have (and need) Eli in our yahoo! league. Let the chips fall where they may…
How’s my ESPN team doing? My leading scorer thus far is the Meathead kicker from the Raiders. If Archie Bunker were here, he’d call me the “dumb Polack.”
I’ll check hold on:
Team Alex projected to win by 2 points; you have 168 minutes yet to play and are trailing by 10.
My Crocs holding slim lead but think Spit’s guys are going to win on strength of E Mannings game Monday night. See that’s my problem- my first move was to pass on him and select Bradford, dang. Live and learn. What was I thinking??
Well, Phil and Skip (Bayless) your guy did it again. Amazing. This is a guy who ranks 37th by QBR among all QBs- yet he has a 107.0 rating in the 4th quarter. At some point Elway is going to have to embrace him or take out a hit on him..
Either that or spend a fortune at the dry cleaners, haharhar
Tim Tebow is the Lamb of God. There is no denying 5-1 as a starter. Norv Turner? He should be slain and made to be a sacrificial lamb. Norv’s teams crumble easier than the straw house made by the first Little Pig.
I can sum up Norv and his Bolts in one word: oink!
Some, my dear friend Dennis, WILL deny 5-1, 10-2, 50-3. SO?
Vengeance is ours watching Norv’s guys crumble Again. Lucky we didn’t get this guy as our HC! Yeah we know what Turner’s ceiling is by now but doubt he ever had an 8 game win streak. Harbaugh and the Niner’s still TBD but looking good.
I believe!
Believe? Naw jus sporting with twin there, lol
Maybe some don’t understand the quandry for Elway- how the hell do you build an offense around Tebow? And he can’t install two different offenses. Go find two more guys to run the spread option and commit to it long term as they draft, acquire FAs, good luck…
This was one of his better games throwing the ball, but he is going to have to learn to be a respectable NFL passer or he’ll get replaced regardless of his record. They’re not giving the kid any hope of long term success by running that offense because they WILL scrap it, as early as next year. IMO.
Or Elway buys a new sports coat every fucking week while he suffers through another damn TT win. Oh my!
Agree he needs to improve his passing to succeed. As he does maybe the Bronks will start to sprinkle in more pro set offense? Convert over to that more and more as TT skills develop. How will Elway manage getting personnel to match? Dunno, guess they will have to analyse TT development as a passing QB and the needs of the team for drafting and acquiring FA purposes.
I thought the idea of getting a good QB coach for him was excellent.
Mugshort of phil fan gloating…