Saw this sign in front of one of my watering holes (Cooper Street Tavern) when I lived in Colorado.  Spent many an afternoon and evening shooting pool, throwing darts, and playing shuffleboard for pitchers of beer. Alas, tomorrow never came for that free beer at Cooper Street, but here in Ninerland, tomorrow is nigh. The 2015 offseason is officially over. The team can move forward without the overarching presence of Jim Harbaugh and the baggage he surrounded himself with.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is yet to be determined, but hey, that’s what blogging is about.  I’m sure the players will be happy that the Center of the Universe now resides on Bo Schembechler’s old street instead of Addison Ave, but again, this fact alone determines nothing. Happy players don’t necessarily mean winning players.

Then again, ego-driven coaches are a dime a dozen. The golly-gee-I’m-happy-to-be-here types are not as prevalent, but then again, Tomsula doesn’t strike me as that kind of guy, despite the chattering nabobs. He’s by all accounts a tough taskmaster who has done wonders with various players that are varying shades of fair to great. The overall defense under Fangio has been very good, but the run defense under Tomsula starting with the dark days of 2007, the run D has ranked 22, 13, 6th, 6th, 1st, 4th, 4th, and 5th. The line has always been very strong under Tomsula. And the current crop of defensive coaches is very strong and experienced.

Regardless of how the national (and even local) media portrays the team, the sense that they are going to be worse than last year is laughable. Barring of course another injury-riddled season. The offense was flat terrible. 20th in total offense, 25th in scoring, and 30th in passing won’t get you anywhere in today’s NFL. The defense held its own despite their injuries, so I have hope there. It has been 26th, 11th, 24th, and 20th under Harbaugh/Roman, so there’s a lot of room for improvement.  Scoring has been consistently fair to middling at 11th, but plummeted to 25th last year. Yeah, there were injuries, but the defense was able to overcome them. The offense was left floundering as the injuries mounted.

So there you have it. A guardedly optimistic look at the state of the 49ers. I think 10-6 and the playoffs is possible regardless of the transitory supposed ‘strength of schedule’ nonsense. Like the weekly ‘power rankings’ these are bullshit numbers applied to nonexistent or stale parameters. Half the teams we play could turn to garbage faster than shit through a goose. Still and all, I can’t wait for that free beer.