Happy Holidays from the Forty Niners
Well, the Niners weathered the game they desperately needed to win to keep their tenuous grasp on the #2 seed, and maintained their 1.5 game lead on the resurgent Seattle Seahawks. Now they hit the road for their next challenge. New England. On the road. In December. Usually that means terrible weather, but strangely enough, the game time temp was 59º last night in Foxborough. Somehow I don’t think the Niners will get that lucky next Sunday.
Most of the punditry out there is giving this one to NE. And rightfully so. This team made the Super Bowl last year, and was a Hail Mary (and 2 feet) from winning it with a crappier defense. Even still, NE is 29th in pass defense, and 8th vs the run (26th in the league). Similar to what they just faced vs Miami. The biggest difference being NE leads the league with 34 takeaways (15 picks, 19 fumbles) and has only turnovers themselves (5 picks, 5 fumbles). NE isn’t great at getting sacks, but their D line is stout and hard to run on.
Offensively, well . . . NE is #1 with a bullet. A whopping 425 yards per game. The big difference from last year is NE is running very well with Stevan Ridley. he’s already over 1,000 yards. Of course the Niners are #2 overall defensively and very tough on the run. Since this is a roadie, I think the Niners need to come out max aggressive on defense. The Niners have been very good at disguising their blitzes at times, so they really need to come out and take some chances early. Brady hits passes under pressure. Imagine letting him sit in the pocket. A recipe for a quick deficit. The point being, if Brady is going to beat you slowly and painfully, then try to force the issue by getting in his face early and often. It may not work, but neither will playing the 4 man rush and dropping the coverage.
So, is this game winnable? Sure. Any game is. But the Niners have to do a few things. Do NOT turn the ball over. Create one or two over their own. Limit the penalties. Especially the costly ones like roughing and unsportsmanlike. Pressure Brady and try to knock down passes. Come out aggressive on both sides of the ball to start the game. There’s no reason to play this safe. Try to get on top early, and force the pace. NE will do what they do and that’s play fast, run no-huddle and force THEIR pace. Got to slow them down. If the Niners can come out throwing successfully and get some points, then they can start the ground and pound. Otherwise, if NE gets on top early, it’ll look a lot like last night’s game.
One thing about Belichick is he doesn’t let up. He’s about pedal to the metal all the time. The Niners need to control the pace.
Forty Niners Forever 
It certainly was a weird looking formation. It worked sometimes and not others.
You have to throw deep to make it work.
Peyton runs a pick ’em apart offense that infuriates defenses.
The Niners haven’t had that accurate a passer since Steve.
You play the dice that you’ve got in your cup.
The Niners have Frank. Kappy. Crabtree. Stone Hands (just kidding). Delanie Walker.
You run that offense.
Ok, Chuck. Pat’s try #2.
I get to watch a lot of Broncs games on local TV without messing with European feeds.
Brady I didn’t watch this year until MNF, but they are similar QBs in some ways.
No-huddle. Calling out the defense before the snap.
Seeing a young guy coming on the blitz and fake “Huts”. Going 20-30 down the field.
No-huddle. Nobody on the bench is allowed to come on the field without giving up 5 quick free yards.
That’s reality in the NFL today. My observations from watching only.
The Niners weren’t getting the time, or the separation most of the time vs Miami. They did a better job of covering than I thought, but again, Kappy didn’t have a lot of time either.
No-huddle running offense with the deep game as a threat.
Frank goes down, the Pats can rest the D-line but that’s OK.
But wear those guys out with the no-huddle.
Don’t let them breathe or know what hit them.
Get them tired, then let Frank go.
We can win this one by playing mistake free football and it starts with a solid coaching plan. Turnovers, lackadaisical play(tackling), will kill us with a team like NE. One thing for sure is we need to put some serious pressure on Brady, I don’t care how good our coverage is if we give him time he will pick us apart. I think you hit it on the head nofear about holding on to the ball. This game won’t be so much about playmakers as it will be about the OL and DL. I think this will be a true trench game.
I’m not worried about lack of fire or turnovers. The Niners are 2nd in the league in giveaways. And they are the best tackling team in the league.
Penalties and 3rd down conversions are a BIG concern. They HAVE to do better at converting 3rd downs. The Niners are 21st at 36%.
NE? 1st at 52.5% They are the only team over 50%
2nd in the league in giveaways? You mean 2nd least?
Yeah…. 2nd least at 12. Problem is NE is 1st with 10.
There’s a lot to be worried about going into Sunday night. This will be the biggest test for our D this year. They’re firing offensively on all cylinders. Based on how we’ve played (or not played) against the slot receiver, they better have an answer for Wesley or it is going to be a frustrating night. I have to think that despite their improvement in the run game, we have to dare them to run and try to mess with Brady from the get go. Al-Don has shown a proclivity to be a freak in prime time. If he brings the multiple sack Smith version, then it could go well. No pressure on Brady and it’s lights out. I have trouble seeing our offense in any way matching in a shoot out. Keep Brady on his back, or off the field.
I think we’ll bring much more of a fight than HOU. But I think the home field is going to mete some crucial plays for them and I think we fall, not in a shootout, but a let down on D at the end. 23-17, Patriots.
And more hand wringing about our offense. Meh.
check
49ers have a couple spots open on the 53 man roster.Heard they are bring back LB Eric Baklatri(sp?) back.
Yes, they signed OLB Eric Bakhtiari. For his special teams work. With Dobbs out, he takes his spot.
Also, Kevin Kolb IRed. Has there been a team that has sunk so fast as the Cards? 4-0 then 0-9? Crazy.
And Frank Gore needs 30 yards to become the all-time leading rusher of the 49ers.
At least Gronk is out. He’s a big part of their passing game and their running game. Hopefully the Niners can stop Ridley with their nickel defense.
Chuck, in the last thread I commented that I didn’t notice Vernon, or anyone else for that matter, kept in to block much. You said you thought Vernon was doing a lot of blocking.
I was, of course, talking about in protection on passing plays and I thought you were, too.
I looked at every passing play in the MIA game. Vernon blocked only once, on the flea-flicker to Moss. Otherwise, he was out in the pattern on every pass play and open on quite a few of those routes.
Even though Kaep didn’t have a lot of time to go through his progressions I don’t think Davis was a big part of the game plan. He didn’t draw double coverage and after the past, what, six or seven games, his decoy value is not outstanding.
I thought at the beginning of the year when Moss and Manningham were added there would be a shortage of balls to keep the receivers happy. I just didn’t think Vernon would be the guy starved out and it still doesn’t make sense to me.
Maybe I only noticed on the run plays.
Well, it baffles the shit out of me as well. Fricking Walker is getting a ton of balls thrown his way compared to VD.
I’m still waiting for Moss to be used a lot more than he has. With all these other guys down, I don;t get that either. Every time he comes in he gets a 12-15 yard cushion. They could run slants with him til the cows come home. Or fricking 10 yard outs.
I understand he’s old and would wear down, but he can go 25 plays instead of the 10-15 he runs now.
Home Shopping Network has these big Sherpa throw rugs right now for $45 including S&H.
I have no place the hang my new Niners one, so I’ll have to store it.
But my new Cowboys one is going right in front of the front door so I can wipe my feet on it on a regular basis.
Maybe that’s the idea, Chuck. That diamond set puts the two wideouts in single coverage and keeps Wilfork guessing about which way the runs go. It puts eight blockers in the tackle box and they need nine to keep their blocker advantage. A few good power runs from that formation and both safeties bite on the play action instead of dropping immediately. And Moss in single coverage isn’t a bad matchup anytime.
I read that Gronk might play Sunday night.
Gronk couldn’t practice today.
24-20 Niners in a rockin-sockem battle.Want to see Dashon Goldson’s dreadlocks flying as he lays the wood on their recievers.Pats have won 20 straight games at home in December,they won’t get their Blackjack 21st.Niners will be Fucking “FIRED UP” for this game.They get up for the Huge games,like taking down Double-Check Rogers on the road in Green Bay 1st week!!
Nice, hope yer right Kat
Really? Heard he was still out, but knowing Belichick, he’s pretty fast and loose with the med reports.
Yeah, that diamond formation was strange.They mostly ran out of it IIRC, but there were a few times they went to this and faked what they did before. I think you noted early in the game where they ran Gore to the right side andfaked the QB reverse. Later in the game, same formation, Kappy faked the handoff to Gore going right and went for 50 down the left side.
Ten years since the Pats lost at home in December 2002. That tells you what sort of challenge lies ahead. This one will be one of the toughest games we play in this decade. We will need something very close to a perfect game to win.
Brady checks off on almost every play so moving people around, showing blitz and dropping back, anytthing to not tip what the defense will be, can be effective,..
NE is pretty tough against the run but they give up a bunch in the air-seems a good day to air out a few. IMO. 27-24 Niners.
Roger
True dat chuck, penalties will be something we have to be careful of. I don’t know whether it’s a soft defense we’ve had since the Ram game or opposing offenses have figured us out, the time of possesion in our games say that we aren’t really stopping anything. We do buckle down in the Red Zone, but against a team like NE we will have to really change up what we have done recently. I have seen quite a few missed tackles coming from us lately. But you are right about the motivation, no doubt we will show up. I think we win this one. 16-13 niners
Noted above
Chuck, I’m still chuckling over your “Merry Christmas from the Smith’s stockings picture.” That is one fine picture depicting Alex’s big lumps of coal. The only other picture that features bigger and better lumps is the “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” that I’m currently watching and enjoying for the fourth time on TV at the moment. Their models are simply gorgeous. I love those girls.
The “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” and Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” are my two favorite Christmas shows to watch each and every year. There’s just something about the Victoria’s Secret models and “The Nutcracker” that go hand-in-hand.
Lol good one