Drew Brees after the hit:
In the woulda, coulda, shoulda game, the Niners barely pulled this one out over the mighty Saints in N’Awlins. If Frank Gore woulda caught the swing pass with 40 yards of shiny plastic turf in front of him, the Niners woulda scored and salted the game away. If the Niners coulda managed the clock and the red flag situation a tad better they coulda scored going into halftime. And, finally, the ref shoulda eaten his flag on the Ahmad Brooks sack of Drew Brees and subsequent fumble recovery by Patrick Willis in the closing moments of the 4th quarter.
As it was, Gore dropped the pass, Mangina, Kappy, Harbaugh and co. wasted all their TOs in the 1st half on a) the 1st series, and b-c) two challenges that were patently obvious to be nowhere near being overturned, and the ref threw the flag on the sack/fumble.
(Insert rant here: At what point do we just declare all sacks penalties? Or make it 2 hand touch on the QB? Brooks did not go for Brees’s’s’ head. He hit Brees across the chest and his arm slid up to Brees’ neck. Savage hit? Undoubtedly. Penalty-worthy? If so, then what do defensive players aim for? Below the waist is off-limits. The head is off limits. You can’t extend your arms to tackle the QB. If the upper chest is off limits, then you basically have an area of 12″ below the armpits and above the waist. You’re better off letting the QB run in circles, I suppose. These defenders have enough to worry about trying just to get to the QB. Now they have to stop and figure out the correct way to properly tackle the QB? Thanks for ruining the game Goodie Goodell. Goodell is all about safety, except where it comes in direct violation of slowing the money train. Can you say Thursday Night Football? Football in England for no particluar reason?)
Anyhow, this game will get dissected, like the last one, as to who f*cked up harder to lose the game. There were some positives around the loss. The play-calling was a little better. When the Niners put 4 WRs in a formation, 3 were actually WRs! An improvement (the downside was seeing Osgood on special teams make a special bus play to give the Saints 15 free yards on their final drive). The Niners took advantage of the NO mistakes. They scored a TD on the muffed punt, a TD on the Brooks pick, and got a FG on the forced fumble on the pick by Kappy. The situation they didn’t quite capitalize on was when NO went for it and failed on 4th and 4 on the SF 40, a play that would have been dissed heavily had NO lost, giving the Niners great field position. As it was they kicked a FG.
After that, it was 3 and out city. The offense did no favors to the defense by going 3 and out their last 2 drives to close out the game. Gore’s drop came after the Saints had closed the gap to 20-17, and he had a good 20-30 yards of clear sailing ahead of him. As I said. Woulda Coulda Shoulda. This is getting eerily rem,inidcent of the Nolan days where we played well eough to lose close games. This used to be a different story. Seattle, for all thier struggles in these recent games, figured out a way to win. Not to lose. Hence their 9-1 record.
My biggest peeve is not only do opposing DBs not honor our non-exisetent deep passing game, OUR OWN WRs don’t honor it at all as well. Jon Baldwin didn’t even bother looking for the deep ball thrown his way late in the game. He half-assed the route and was startled by the UFO that floated past his head.
The good news? Well, seeing as this is our 2nd 2-game losing streak, this team has the wherewithall to rip off 3 or 4 wins at the expense of some upcoming shitty teams. THese guys should be able to win 5 of the last 6 games. 11-5 should get them in.
Forty Niners Forever 
It is a ridiculous way to play what used to be a contact sport. But the initial call was contact with the neck of the QB. Aikman said two or three times it was a too high hit and appeared to be the right call. Whether it was right or not we totally blew the game in the last two minutes, offensively and defensively. And what about the 80 plus yard return on our ST unit and the almost pick-six saved only by the defender losing control of ball while changing hands and inadvertently tossing it through the end zone to give us the ball back on the twenty? How can the players focus on the game when the HC and sidelines are griping about calls all day?
Right you are NoFear49er.
My words of the week….
Frustrating and Regurgitating.
We’re totally out of sync and not getting any infusion of energy from the Coaching Staff.
Everywhere you read about this Team it sounds like us writing these pieces.
The Defense is holding us in games and getting nothing from the supporting cast.
Did you get a look at the interview from Monday Night Countdown regarding the Brooks sack/penalty?
Here’s the link in case you’re interested –
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9995458/ahmad-brooks-san-francisco-49ers-fumes-flag-drew-brees-hit
Here’s an interesting take from Fangio on the Brooks sack also –
http://tinyurl.com/kefxlge
Okay, thanks for the links.
Nobody likes it. And as was discussed, they all know that the officials are going to call it. Harbaugh gave them the excuse to lay down and lose after that and that’s just what they did. That’s shit for leadership.
Even as it played out we easily could have won but for the pity party and it’s still going on. No wonder people like to call us the forty whiners. Bad calls hit every team and so do the undeserved good ones. Win the game despite the obstacles then the complaints have some meaning. Lose and it just sounds like so much whining.
These guys like to compare themselves with soldiers in battle? Disgraceful. Maybe seven year olds playing marbles in the schoolyard. No, that’s probably not totally fair and regulated enough either. No instant replays or reviews either.
Sad but true NoFear49er.
Football is fast becoming a No Contact Sport.
I’m all for protecting the guys from cheap shots, don’t get me wrong, it’s a rough sport.
Agree with the Leadership aspect of your opinion also.
Harbaugh has to find a button to push to get these guys motivated and focused on the tasks at hand.
Pretty obvious that the status quo is going to see us lose a Playoff slot if not corrected post haste.
Good Teams function under adversity. I see this group losing confidence in crunch time Offensively.
Changes of some sort need to be implemented.
Something is clearly wrong when you can’t move the sticks when it counts.
Too much wasted time and motion.
Have to hang that on the Coaching Staff.
How about instead of getting everyone on the sidelines to scream at the officials…
Harbaugh, standing like Landry, loud enough for all around to hear,
“Tough break number 55. Life’s a bitch and then you die. Now get back out there and play your ass off son. We’ve still got a game to win.”
I’d buy that suggestion, LOL.
For all the things I hate about Pete Carrol, he keeps his guys loose and playing with passion.
We’re certainly missing something in the chemistry category.
Gotta get back to focused aggression and get this Offense clicking.
You know, having rewatched enough clips from the game, our breakdowns on those final plays had to do with the Secondary covering (or not covering), the crossing routes.
Carlos and Whitner over there on the right side especially.
They did an adequate job until crunch time.
Hard to figure if it’s fatigue or lack of focus?
But…Get the damn Offense to contribute and we’d be onto something.
Seeing as the Niners went 3 and out on their last 2 drives, and this seems to happen every game late, fatigue is defintely a factor. The offense got what, 8 yards in the 4th quarter?
The killer to me is 2:06 left in the game, 1st and 10 from their 20, and Kappy gets sacked on a missed block. 2nd and 20 from the 10. You are getting the clock stoppage. Why not run there? Thast basically killed that last drive from the get-go.
NoFear, you say Harbaugh and the coaches gave up since they had an excuse after the Brooks call? You don;t know any such thing.
Nor did I say any such thing. WTF? You trying to be the bullit on your own blog?
Good job. You’re like freakin twins,
Brooks has been fined $16,000 for his hit on Brees.
I guess we’ll see if Ray Lewis gives him $8,000 as promised . . .
The must’ve determined it to be the proper call in that case. So much for three days of whining.
Your words, NoFear:
“Harbaugh gave them the excuse to lay down and lose after that and that’s just what they did. That’s shit for leadership.”
What part of that doesn’t mean what I said?
Like I said, I’m calling for plays like that to be reviewable, as in college. But yer right. They probably wou;d have called that anyway. Even though Brooks goes put of his way (as much as possible) to avoid contact with Brees’ head.
PS. Go check the NE blogs for their reasoned take on bad calls.
http://www.patspulpit.com/2013/11/19/5120832/patriots-vs-panthers-final-score-pats-lose-on-questionable-call-24-20
Actually, they are reasoned. Much like the comments here.
These guys are a little more vehement:
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2013/11/watch_nfl_official.html?comments=all#aComments
It’s clear to me that the Panther’s backer was holding Gronk in a dance move while the ball was in the air. This is clear. The announcer even thought and said when he saw the flag that it might be a holding call. I don’t know whether Gronk could have caught it, it was underthrown and he had momentum towards the back of the EZ, but if a LB puts a bear hug on the receiver and he’s the intended receiver, isn’t that a penalty if the ball is anywhere near the guy? Hell, they call holding against cornerbacks when they hold the guy at the line before the throw is even made. Well, they call that except on the last play of the Superbowl…
Right. Guys get called for holding even if the pass isn’t going their way. ANother bad call. ANother reason to make these guys full time employees of the NFL.
Chuck,
I said he gave them an excuse to lose the game and they played into it. You claim I said the coaches gave up. Does that sound like the same thing to you?
After the penalty the Saints kicking the tying field goal was almost a given. Then their OLB beats Snyder for a sack on CK7. Then their four man rush beats our six man protection and CK7 doesn’t even look for the outlet man, Gore, wide open over the middle and throws the ball to nowhere and damn near gets a grounding penalty in the EZ. Then CK7 runs out of bounds short of the first down. Then we hit the punt returner after a fair catch. Missed easy tackles on Sproles’ run up the middle, Whitner gets beat on the outside pass, Colston beats Carlos on a cross and they’re back in FG range, then Graham beats everybody, like Whitner, Willis and Cox? to the 15YL and they kick the game winner.
You don’t think something happened to the attitude on the field? Maybe you saw a different game than I did.
Whether the call was the right one or not it cost us the game only because we played like shit afterwards. It didn’t have to cost that much.
I saw a quote of Belichick about the call they got to end the game. Something like, we played hard, let’s move on with the rest of the season.
Actually it does, NoFear. Through inaction, the coaches let it happen. Splitting hairs. Whatever. As far as the whining about Harbaugh’s whining, EVERY coach does that to a greater or lesser (well mostly lesser) degree. Gruden was as whiny as they get.
The reality is the Niner D was on the field the entire 4th quarter minus 6 plays. Around 20 of the 30 2nd half minutes. Was the play a let-down to the defense? Sure. But the biggest play after the Brooks call was the 9 yard sack on 1st down. Going 3 and out was a foregone conclusion at that point, but Kappy made things worse by a) going OB, and b) not fighting for the 1st down on that 3rd down scramble. He stays in bounds, NO has to use their last time out.
Harbaugh’;s reaction was something like “I thought it was clean, but I’m biased. There’s nothing more to say about it.”
Brooks point is vlid though. THe NFL goes out of their way to protect WRs and QBs, but still allows cut blocks liek the one that broke Ian WIlliams’ ankle. No flag there? No fine?
Worrying about the refs is a losing cause. In the end it’s performance that usually wins out and rises above adversity. The Niners offense must be more productive at all costs. And beating shitty teams is a requirement or else one’s team becomes one of them. BEAT SHIT!
FWIW, Brooks is appealing the fine.
They had to fine him. If not, it’s an admission the penalty was BS…
I’ve read in numerous articles over the years that many Teams have a ‘Fine Fund’ set up within the Locker Room.
Might be accurate, who knows?
Read that Brooks won’t accept Ray-Rays’ offer anyway.
Plus, the League doesn’t allow it.
Not sure how that process works anyway.
Does player mail a check or, does Team handle it by docking the game pay?
Who knows?
Just pisses me off in principle.
Refs and Goodell are taking away too much of what the game was intended to be.
Tougher, faster, smarter Teams playing physical.
Focus on the cheapshot players.
Tedi Brusci offered to cover 1/3 of the pending fine also, to back up Ray-Rays’ offer.
It’s a LB thing I guess.
No matter the outcome, the flag was thrown, the game changing play nullified and what have you.
All I have to say is that was not a dirty nor malicious hit to the head and I’ll rest my case.
Good ‘ol hard-nosed football play IMO.
The game as I’ve come to know it is fast becoming a No Contact Sport.
Sad.
sniff……
And to the whiney explanation from Brees, about his bloody mouth being the evidence of the ‘illegal’ hit.
Ahmad smacked him so well that his head snapped forward into his arm, which was wrapped around his shoulders.
Quite the crash test dummy Drew.
I give him credit for getting up though.
Perhaps this will inspire Aldon to pick it up a notch on Monday night?
I see his him on the field, I just don’t see him doing much.
Grind the meat!
Snarkk, the fines go to a general fund that the NFL gives to various charities.
New thread is up . . .