. . . there’s a bunch of them circling 4949 Centennial Blvd. In yet another game that got away from them, the 49ers squandered a first half lead and could not muster any points in the 2nd half of this season of our discontent. Yes, there’s no shame in losing in the Big Cactus, as it is a tough place to play, but it was the way the 49ers lost that was galling.
The 49ers opened the game going no-huddle. Something that utterly baffled me, as I didn’t think they knew what that was, and it baffled the Cardinals as they couldn’t shift out of their run D. Kappy was 7-7 for 61 yards, and added 19 yards rushing of his own. It worked very well, even though WE burned 2 timeouts in the process. After holding AZ to their 2nd field goal, that Niners embarked on another 80 yard TD drive where Kappy was 4-5 for 37 yards, and he got 25 yards rushing.
So at the half, the Niners are feeling pretty good. They burned a ton of clock and scored two TDs, and they opened the 2nd half with the ball. Well, something happened on the way to their 2nd victory. AZ made adjustments. The Niners? Well, what can you say? They made stops, but when they did they got flagged. They couldn’t mount a pass rush to save their lives, and AZ started going deep on our banged-up secondary at will. The AZ defense appeared to dedicate an LB to shadowing Kappy, as his runs were all of a sudden ineffective, and they started pressuring him more. The short passing game, which had worked so well in the 1st half, was smothered. ASZ quickly scored with some deep balls as we had absolutely no pressure on John Elway, uh Drew Stanton.
Then the flags started flying. Dan Skuta was penalized for a hard but legal hit on Stanton, and Patrick Willis was flagged for trying to tackle Stanton as he threw the ball. Both plays were physical plays, but both were legal. I suppose we’ll get another apology from the league in a couple days. Ooops. Our bad. Here’s 30 yards. Carry on. AZ scores again, and the Niners are down 6. No panic time certainly, but the response now was key to the game. Kappy respondes by going 6-6 for 74 yards, getting the Niners to a 1st and goal at the 6. Uh, wait. Anquan Boldin picks this play to head butt to an AZ DB. Oooops. 1st down from the 21. Here’s where the spying on Kappy worked. He was dropped for a 2 yard loss, then held to no gain on the next play with a J Mart hold thrown in for good measure. So, a 1st and goal turns into 2rd and 23 from the 34 yard line. The kick was blocked, and there’s your blown opportunity to take the lead, or at least cut into it.
AZ milked the clock with a lengthy drive of their own, which resulted in a Larry Fitzgerald fumble as AZ was trying to salt the game away. The Niners hit a couple quick passes, but Alex Boone was late picking up a delayed blitz, and one of their DSB came clean for a sack. Thus ending the game as AZ burned the last 4 minutes off the clock and kicked a field goal.
So, what do we take from this game? Well, the crazy thing to me is Jim Harbaugh has completely shifted the emphasis of the offense to the passing game. Kappy had a much better day than he did vs Chicago, but as the game wore on, AZ adjusted to Kappy’s runs by shadowing him, and blitzed him a lot more in the 2nd half to disrupt our short passing game.
Frank Gore was beside himself in the locker room, wondering what the identity of the team was, and what his role (or the running game in general) is. He and heir apparent Carlos Hyde had 9 rushes for 23 yards. Kappy rushed 13 times for 56. Frank’s right. The Niners passed 37 times, and rushed 24 times. We’re Mad Mike Martz now. Throw early, throw often.
But, I also have to mention the penalties. 9 for 107 puts the total at 27 called penalties on the Niners for 225 yards these past 2 games. And these aren’t false-start or delay-of-game penalties. These are mainly illegal use of hands, Illegal contact, and most stupefyingly bad unsportsmanlike penalties. Yes, the league is cracking down on everything this year. The 49ers either didn’t get the memo, or are refusing to try and stay in the bounds of the rules. No matter how fucked up the system now is, and I can point to about 8 brutal calls that went against us that were either never called before, or were simply blown, that directly altered games.
I know you can’t whine about the officiating, but Culliver stands up real fast, and gets a 15 yard taunting penalty. Willis tackles Stanton as he’s throwing amid 4 other guys and gets a call for unsportsmanlike. Bad calls, and we seem to be under the microscope fore some reason, but the team has to adjust to the new reality.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
I don’t know if this new officiating is going on in the other games. I suspect it is. If so, this is the beginning of the end of the ascent of the NFL. Why would “illegal contact” result in a first down when called? Makes no sense, especially on a 3rd down where a defense has held so far, or even pushed an offense backwards so they have a 3rd and long. That is a ridiculously punitive call, and alters the landscape of a game for no good reason. I can remember clearly when football was fun to watch. Early 70’s Niners, 70’s Raiders and Steelers and Dolphins, 80’s and 90’s Niners and Dallas. If they played now, there would be flags flying constantly, and Jerry Rice TDs would be called back on a regular basis. When Jim Burt came through and leveled Joe in the Meadowlands, Burt would probably have been arrested had it happened today. People claim baseball is unwatchable. Really? At least they don’t call back 3 run homers because the ump heard the batter yell FU at the opposing bench after he hit it…
I don’t care how good or bad Vic Fangio is perceived to be, if you gut your secondary you better get a pass rush while they learn to work together. Would Baalke have dumped Brown, Rogers and Whitner if he knew Aldon Smith would be suspended for 9 games and Dorsey would go down? It’s an interesting question. Fans can be as pissed off as they want at Fangio, but without the players his hands are tied. And the 49ers did blitz in the first half of the game and still nobody got to Stanton. It seems as if Chuck thinks that if you blitz you automatically get home. That’s not the case. You have to blitz talented players who can get past the second level of defense like running backs who are personal qb protectors. Good players like Willis blow those guys up. Fangio blitzing Willis and Bowman is tough to stop. But Fangio blitzing Wilhoite and Willis is another story all together, especially with someone like Tony Jerod-Eddie holding the point and Jimmy Ward and Parish Cox securing the back end. Wilhoite is not nearly the blitzer Bowman is.
On offense, the 49ers suffered from the same thing in the passing attack this week as they did last week – no route depth variance. All the 49er routes are run approximately 10 yards. Why? Jonathan Martin. He’s horrible. The 49ers can’t depend on him for more than 3 seconds when pass blocking so the wide receiver routes are limited. How many deep balls have you guys seen Kaep attempt? How many sideline routes or longer developing plays? Not many. And when you show your hand that your offensive line is limiting your wide receiver routes, there’s not many adjustments you can make in the second half. This is what happened to the 49ers in both games. You have to make a defense defend the ENTIRE field. The run needs to go up the middle and around the edge. Passes need to go short, medium and deep.
The 49ers came out in hurry-up, passing to medium depth routes. That’s it. It was a gimmick to keep the D off balance, but it was only a matter of time before Arians made the adjustment. If you come out with hurry up, to me it means you know you’re limited with your line and you’re trying to cover it up. That’s all Roman and Harbaugh could do. Look at all the passes to Lloyd, Johnson, Boldin and even Carrier. They were all in that 10 – 15 yard zone. The minute Arians and company identified that, their DBs were all over it – aggressive and anticipating throws. This is exactly the reason Kyle Fuller was able to pick off Kaep in the Chicago game. DBs are sitting on our route depth right now because of Jonathan Martin.
But to be fair, it’s not just Martin. Iupati is a shadow of his former self as well. If you take your number one offensive linemen and instead of a rock he becomes a liability while employing Jonathan Martin as a backup, that effects the psychology of the qb and the OC. A bad O line limits the kinds of adjustments you can make at halftime.
Wilhoite, Dobbs, Ian Williams, Skuta, Jimmy Ward, Perish Cox, Jonathan Martin, Bathea and others aren’t as good ….. aren’t nearly as good as last year’s starters. Last year’s starters in place of these guys were Bowman, Dorsey, Aldon Smith, Carlos Rogers, T Brown, Anthony Davis and Donte Whitner. You lose all of those guys and it’s hard to make the halftime adjustments Unca’s been crying for… probably because the players aren’t able to adjust both physically and mentally. Put another way, we’re limited by our personnel. And I don’t care what anyone says, I like Whitner over Bathea.
This year the 49ers will do exactly what I predicted in the pre-season – they’ll go 9-7 and miss the playoffs. They’ll struggle to play .500 all year long, and then when Aldon comes back they’ll make a push, but it won’t be enough. Seattle wins the division and the Cardinals are the wildcard. But if Carson Palmer comes back, the Cards might win the division.
The question then becomes what happens to the 49ers team during the season? I wrote last week that the 49er veterans like Frank Gore and Justin Smith are going to have a difficult time facing the fact that this roster isn’t as stacked as people have been saying it is, and a loss to Drew Stanton will certainly wake the veterans on the team up to this fact. It’s going to be hard for Frank Gore and Justin Smith to face the fact that they won’t win a ring with this 49er team. And then what happens? The minute this team goes into “rebuilding mode,” and it’s identity is one of “building” instead of a Super Bowl contender, that’s the minute Jim Harbaugh’s contract becomes a huge issue because then he’s a lame duck coach on a team that’s rebuilding – and that’s a bad combo Jed York should have foreseen and avoided. You can’t rebuild with a head coach who can take his entire coaching staff with him when he leaves in two years. I mean, you can but it’s a long way from ideal. Harbaugh’s coaching staff is designed to go after championships, not rebuild a team.
There is no way to fix all of this. It’s unfixable. Coaches can only do so much. Unca and Del and NJ are hypocrites. They want Harbaugh to fix something unfixable, and while doing so give Harbaugh the ultimate compliment (that he can fix the unfixable), and when they’re left disappointed, they blame Harbaugh. Maybe hypocrites isn’t the right word…. maybe the word I’m looking for is foolish. Coaching is everything in the NFL. Good coaches can hide or cover up weaknesses. But this year the NFL with its 49er suspensions, Jesus with his 49er injuries, and Trent Baalke with his cost cutting moves (while we have Blaine Gabbert on the bench making 2 million) have created an impossible situation for this 49er team. And when you throw in a lot of yellow laundry that I think is the result of Jim Harbaugh acting like a child on the sidelines, it’s going to make this season a tough one to watch. I just hope Harbaugh continues to develop chemistry between Kaep and Hyde. But even that won’t matter if Harbaugh’s replacement in two years is Jim Tomsula.
In conclusion: BLEEP It!
What?! You mean to say you blame Baalke?! Never saw that before.
BTW, how many penalties did he rack up yesterday? I lost count around the third quarter..
Just so you know, I don’t blame Baalke regarding the big picture. I wrote last year, after the Seattle game, that our championship window had closed. This is a transition period, or rebuilding period, 49er fans just aren’t used to yet. But they’ll get use to it. Right now everyone’s screaming for answers.
Now when you start looking at Baalke draft picks, that’s a horse of a different color. I don’t think his draft picks are matching up with hype. I also don’t think he’s doing a good job rebuilding by gutting entire units and trying to rebuild those entire units all at once. Ward, Reid, Bathea, Cox, Cook, Brock and Culliver aren’t nearly as good as Brown, Rogers, Goldson and Whitner. Baalke had to see that if he was gutting his secondary, he’d need a pass rush. Put another way, if you gut your secondary, you better be damn sure you have a pass rush. Baalke definitely failed in this department, but again, big picture, rebuilding was inevitable.
The Niner offense has done a complete 180 from what it has been in recent years.
9 rushes by the RBs yesterday. 13 the week before, 25 the first week. 50-50 is a big enough change from their usual 60/40 run pass ratio. but they are at 47/53 run/pass.
What I don’t get is, they’ve had leads in all these games, yet they have completely abandoned the run game. I wanted change. but not Mike Martz change. Kappy had the most rushes yesterday on the Niners. Gore may or may not be what he was, but he got the ball ONCE in the 2nd half. A half that started out with the Niners leading by 8, and possessing the ball to start the 3rd quarter.
It’s like the Niners are trying to bail out the defense since it isn’t as strong as it will be when A Smith and NaVorro Bowman return. Problem is, they had the damn lead and teams adjusted to our offense and stopped it. WE became one-dimensional and here comes the blitz.
I just heard on CSN that Ray McDonald’s house was broken into on Saturday night and some of his shit was stolen. I find that fucking funnier than shit on a stick. Karma, baby. It’s a bitch.
BLEEP!
The only DB they lost worth a damn was Brown. Rogers isn’t good, he’s scrap-heap material right now. Whitner isn’t as good a cover guy as Bethea. Reid is WORLDS better than Gioldson. You are wrong by a ton there, Spitty. Sure, Rogers in his prime is better than what they have now. But Rogers left his prime 3 years ago. Why does Goldson look like shit now? Because TB doesn’t have the guys around him like he did here.
You bemoan keeping vets too long and then pine for Rogers and Whitner? Duh. If you didn’t contradict yourself every other post, I might believe something you wrote. The Niners made their bones daring teams to beat them by sticking with their 4 man rush and dropping into coverage. It used to work with Bowman and Smith out there. It isn’t working now because there’s absolutely no pressure on the opposing QBs. Even Dorsey (who I didn’t think we’d miss that much) has shown to be much better than Ian Williams, which contributes to the ineffectiveness of the defense. Piss and moan about the drafts, but not too many teams would be hot to trot if you took out their best CB, best ILB, best OLB, and best NT. They are going to flounder for a while til they get healthy, it looks like.
You blather about Justin Smith being old, but without him, we’d have NO sacks.
IMO, two main things have killed the Niners so far.
Lack of pass rush. 3rd down defensive penalties giving the oppo a first down.
The first one looks like it will continue until Aldon Smith returns, and I’m not sure even his return can fix it.
The second one can be fixed to some extent with more discipline by the Dbacks. The idiotic, random nature of officiating in this can’t be eliminated, but the Dbacks have to contain their hands, or it will continue to be hanky heaven, automatic first downs and unwatchable…
Now I have to come up with a credible alibi and get my story straight.
You were drunk, feeding the ducks, tearing-up yet another disappointing pony ticket with a tear in your eye, game-planning how best to recruit NoFear so you both could make a frontal assault on the Harbaugh compound when no kids were home.
12 million dollars. It’s something for you guys to think about. 12 million dollars.
Think about what Unca just wrote – 180 degrees, 9 rushes by running backs yesterday. And then think about 12 million dollars.
The 12 million dollars is 6 million to Frank Gore, 4 million to Stevie Johnson and 2 million to Blaine Gabbert. That’s 12 million dollars right now going towards this year’s salary cap for a guy holding a clip board, Frank Gore who’s clearly done, and Stevie Johnson who could have been replaced for cheaper by guys like Patton and Ellington if the 49ers wanted to develop rookies.
Right now, and this isn’t just Monday morning arm chair quarterbacking…. right now I’d much rather have Whitner, Brown and Adam Snyder. The difference between Whitner and Bathea was a couple million a year – there’s two. The difference between Adam Snyder and Jonathan Martin was a million, there’s three. T Brown signed for one year, 3.5 million with the Raiders, that’s 6.5 million in Baalke cost cutting moves.
In my world, I would have cut Frank Gore, never ever would I have brought in Gabbert, and my secondary would be solid. I wouldn’t have “clear cut,” my secondary.
My team would be JJ as our backup qb, Jeremy Hill and Devanta Freeman as our running backs, Adam Snyder and no Jonathan Martin, and our secondary would be Whitner, Brown, Reid, Culliver and Brock. The only area we’d have seen some fall off in the first three games would have been with Stevie Johnson’s 3rd receiver position, but we’d be developing either Patton or Ellington, and with my secondary we wouldn’t need to score as many points…. and with Snyder we’d have more time.
So far, regarding this rebuilding process you all are so unkeenly aware of, I give Baalke an F. I could honestly do better.
Then do it. Call next year’s moves.
Sure…. I’ll play your twisted little game but only because I’m a secret NFL GM that just hasn’t been given my shot…
My first move would be to retain Jim Harbaugh and pay him whatever he wanted and sell him that in order to coach in the Super Bowl with this team again he’d have to develop talent. I’d entice him to sign by dumping Trent Baalke and signing yours truly as the GM. Then I’d promise Jim there’d be no “clear cutting” of units like our wide receivers last year and our secondary and special teams coverage units this year. I’d tell him on my team guys like Frank Gore would never see their “last contract” in the NFL. My team would be young.
I’d tell Justin Smith and Frank Gore it was time to hang ’em up or find another team. In the draft I’d draft two new running backs to compliment Hyde (something I said last year). I wouldn’t resign Hunter. I’d dump Lattimore. I wouldn’t draft injured guys who suck up valuable resources.
With the first overall pick in the draft I’d either draft a SS or a NT – best player available between the two positions. Bethea’s days would be numbered. My draft choices wouldn’t be smaller guys like Jimmy Ward. I’d blend the two philosophies of Scot McCloughan and Bill Walsh – dump old players before their time is up, and draft bigger dudes who can hold up to the rigors of the 16 game season. I’d let Iupati walk (something I’ve been saying for years). In free agency I’d look for another guard who can pull and trap and is agile.
My draft would be….
1.) NT or SS
2.) NT or SS
3.) Tallest WR available.
4.) Rb
5.) TE
6.) Rb
I’d resign Crabtree for 8 million per year. When rebuilding, Crabtree’s value is less. When you’re competing for Super Bowls you pay Crabtree upwards of 10. If Crabtree walks it’s not a big deal because unlike Baalke, I can find and draft wide receivers (see my man crush on Alshon Jeffrey over AJ Jenkins). Again, not hindsight.
I’d trade Vernon Davis and Vance McDonald to different teams. I’d build with Derek Carrier and Cleveland from Family Guy.
You can either do what Baalke and York are doing – trying to fool the fan base that we aren’t rebuilding with talk of “the best roster in football” so the stadium is packed and the mortgage gets paid down, OR you tell it like it is… the timing of the 49ers’ window for Super Bowls didn’t match-up the timing of the building of our new stadium. Tell it like it is. Don’t try to fool the fans. This roster simply isn’t very good anymore. It’s not good because of philosophies (drafting smaller players and keeping older ones) and the pressures of extending the championship window around the stadium. Fix the marketing line to the fans and the philosophy around re-building the team will improve…. especially if York hires me…. but it’s hard to hire someone who thinks you’re an idiot. That precludes me from returning this team to its former glory.
Oh, and I’d take Jim Harbaugh to task for acting like a child on the sidelines. I’d lecture and berate the fool to a point of making him cry. Then if he still wanted to coach for me, we’d be gettin’ somewhere.
What moves would you have made? Pay everyone?
Right. The game don’t work like that anymore.
I’d save 12 million not paying Gore, Stevie and Gabbert.
Why is it that Bathea is better than Whitner (according to some on this blog) but Whitner made more money on the free agent market? 49ers fans on this blog who prefer Bathea are stupid. Bathea isn’t as good as Whitner. Whitner got paid more because Whitner is better. The only criticism of Whitner anyone can offer is that Whitner covered better, but I’ve already seen Bathea get beatin’ a lot this year in a 49er uniform, and Bethea isn’t nearly as good against the run or delivering the big hit. Whitner is better. And Whitner is younger.
Whitner is better that Bethea because that fits your narrative. Plain and simple. They both are solid SSs. The rest is hindsight bullshit. Anyone can call moves after the fact. Bully for you.
Here’s a summary and quiz for you, Chuck. I know a commie, pinko bastard such as yourself doesn’t understand the nuances of a capitalistic, free market economy, but let me educate you. I know living in Russia you don’t understand capitalism but generally speaking free markets dictate value. If one commodity is in less demand than another commodity, value is dictated accordingly.
Donte Whitner got paid 2 million dollars more per year on the open market than Bethea.
This means…
A.) Chuck’s in denial about the 49ers and the talent on their current roster.
B.) Bethea is better than Whitner
C.) Whitner is better than Bethea
D.) Spitblood’s a geneous.
E. All the above except B.
F. Cleveland overpaid for him.
Your bather about the draft a couple days ago flies in the face of this pablum. Your blather about overpaying for vets also flies in the face of this. If we had overpaid for Whitner, you’d be bitching about that.
As usual, you talk out of both sides of your ass. The right cheek don’t know what the left one is saying. Your scattershot approach to football analysis is entertaining to say the least.
Carry on, skippy.
F wasn’t even an option. Putin’s been too soft on you guys lately. You think you can makeup new rules. Get Stalin back in charge of Russia and I guarantee you wouldn’t be picking F, making a mockery of the system . You’d pick B and proudly display your choice so your fellow countrymen could see you defy capitalism. Putin: The pussification of Russia. I bet Putin wasn’t even born in mother Russia.
Wow. That means Tony Romo is a Hall of Fame QB, based on his salary.
Your logic is stupefyingly retarded, skippy.
But I certainly get a chuckle out of it.
Did Tony Romo hit the open market? I’m confused.
Tony Romo’s situation doesn’t apply. Romo didn’t hit the open market like Alex Smith did when even the lowly Dolphins didn’t offer Smith a contract and he was forced to sign for 8 million a year. Chuck’s analogies are worse than marrying a tall blonde virgin who can’t smell, loves doing the laundry, and who’s father owns a non-alcoholic liquor store. Oh wait, I’m channeling my inner Chuck because this analogy doesn’t work either. That would mean Chuck was good at analogies. I’m so confused.
Hey, at least we aren’t the Lions . . .
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/sports-general/20140922/Lions/
Working your way toward oblivion yet again, Spitty.
Not even close. Taking an online test all day and full of caffeine and this blog is a distraction / procrastination. If it wasn’t for this blog, I might rule the world.
Tell me something, Charles. John Brown and Drew Stanton went through our secondary like Patton through the Siegfried Line. What makes you think Bethea’s any good? Just because he was sold as good to 49ers fans doesn’t make it so. Just curious. Have you seen something I haven’t?
Siegfried line? I believe that dissects through the Roy Bathhouse in The Castro.
So that’s where you met Spitty. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Look, Chuck. Let Del and I do the funny. You stick with what you know…. the insane.
Lets face it …….the Niners so far suck no matter what the reasons. Dallas doesn’t count….Romo was generous. Off the field they suck……on the field they suck ……on the streets the traffic sucks. Prices are ridiculous and the next game at home is a sure loss coming up. Ouch!
Season slipping away? From the MMQB: http://mmqb.si.com/2014/09/22/san-francisco-49ers-loss-arizona-cardinals-week-3-trouble-ahead/
“The 49ers haven’t scored a fourth-quarter touchdown since Kaepernick hit Davis with 10:31 left against the Packers in last year’s wild-card game. That’s five-plus games without a fourth-quarter score.”
Nipper, that’s a big ouch!
Unless Kaep can start connecting on the deep ball, we’re done. When your secondary is made of straw, and you get no pass rush, you better score points in a hurry. And five to eight yard passes ain’t fast enough. It’s time to deep….. to I don’t know who.
throw deep*
Spit the difference in the $12M had a LOT to do with getting Kaep inked long term.
In this game the trick for any GM is weighing aging/expiring Contracts against future Contracts.
Baalke has stock-piled Picks to provide a foundation of developmental players to eventually replace the aging Vets.
Where you and I differ in opinion isn’t the point with Baalke.
He knows full well that College Picks are risky.
By having additional Picks and more margin for error, he allows for some cheaper guys to fizzle or rise to the top.
Bethea is a stop gap until the next kid emerges.
Picking up Gabbert for $2M is nothing more than an insurance policy.
No team figures to survive more than a few games when relying on a backup QB.
Shanny had the foresight to hedge the bet against RG III by grabbing Cousins.
IMO, Gabbert at $2M is a better option than Colt McCoy.
Injured Draft Picks are also a smart gamble IMO.
NFI them, oversee their rehabs, allow them to have benefit of Coaching and film work without tying up the active roster.
Stevie Johnson for a 4th can also be seen as hedging against the possible loss of Crabtree too.
Nothing is automatic in the NFL in terms of injury and player production.
Frank is done after this year.
Money back on the positive side of the ledger for next year and going forward.
Use it to retain guys like Iupati/Crabtree/Aldon or whomever else.
For all your kvetching about Baalke, you overlook the Picks of Aldon and Bowman and poo-poo the cheaper contributors like Wilhoite, Lemonier and Skuta.
At least there’s depth to fall back on.
Jury is still out on Moody, Aaron Lynch is looking to have an inside track to upstage Lemonier and on it goes.
For me, having all those options still trumps an occasional whiff on a AJJ.
Lattimore, Marcus Martin, Brandon Coleman and the stockpile of DBs-in- waiting all came cheap.
Time will tell.
If they don’t pan out, more Picks will be used to try again.
Very few Picks walk into a locker room, direct from College and, pay dividends in their 1st year.
We’re getting Ward and Bethea up to speed on the fly, and paying for it with some errors in communication right now.
As you said, the pass rush directly impacts their ability right now.
Baalke couldn’t do much about the Aldon suspension or the Ian Williams/Dorsey situation.
However, both Williams and Dorsey came to be because Baalke found ways to get them onto the team for just that reason, depth.
What’s galling to me is the lack of a deep threat. Still. This has been an issue for years that they just can’t figure out.
No home run hitter.
I agree Chuck.
Just said as much a second ago, Johnnie Morton?
Hoping we’ll see something positive from Patton or Ellington very soon.
Can’t rely solely on Vernon for too much longer either.
Lloyd has had his years of production there but, he’s no Spring chicken anymore.
Lets at least get singles.
Many expect Tank to replace Justin.
Not sure at the moment if that will happen but, he and Dial were injury Picks who may provide some younger depth going forward.
RayMc and Justin could move on after this year so, we’ll have these guys Coached up and ready to take a shot at replacing them.
And yes Spit I agree with you regarding a potential NT Pick.
I’ve wanted a Fat Man in the Middle for a very long time, going back to the year Wilfork came out.
One thing I will say regarding the DLine though.
Tomsula has found production from guys like Ian Williams,TJ-E and Dobbs among others, all of which came very cheaply in terms of Draft value.
Says a lot about Tomsulas value as a position Coach.
I think both he and Rathman earn their weight in spades for us.
Can’t say the same for Johnnie Morton unfortunately.
What’s wrong with the Niners? Harbaugh claims he doesn’t know. You believe him?
Here’s something I called for last year. These game-altering penalties should be up for review. They focus on the Skuta and Willis nits.
The Niners have been inordinately hit by these penalties. Shit, they review them in college. How about the NFL try to get it right?
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dan-skuta-patrick-willis-penalties-140813979.html
New thread is up.