Some of you might be old enough to remember the famous Thanksgiving game from 1974 where Clint came in early in the 3rd quarter with Dallas trailing the Redskins 16-3, fighting for their playoff lives, and Roger Staubach freshly injured. He scored 2 TDs on his first two drives, and hit a hail-Mary TD with seconds remaining to win the game 24-23. The triumph of the uncluttered mind, indeed.
So, who thinks Gabby Gabbertson can be the next uncluttered mind? Yeah, thought so. So Niners in a nail-biter 28-27. Hah! Either that, or Gabbert punches Kaepernick in the face. This season went from guarded optimism to morbid curiosity in rather a hurry, since we’re going to hell in a bucket, we might as well enjoy the ride.
Forty Niners Forever 
Defense stepped up with no-names playing, i.e., even more no name than the previous no-names that were hurt. Gabbert at least gets balls into guys hands, unfortunately he can’t catch it for them. A feel good win that means the Niners just dropped out of the #1 pick, most likely. Way to go…
The team needed a win and it does feel good. We’ll still probably draft somewhere in the top 5.
You are a Fucking moron, Dennis. I feel bad for whatever your myriad issues are but I’m done with you.
You feel bad for me? That’s mighty white of you. Chuck, you just got added to my Christmas card list. Do you prefer religious and solemn? Or how ’bout something on the lighter side where we might find Colin Kaepernick tossin’ it around with Mrs. Claus and Donder (Don’t you ever fucking dare to call me Donner again) as Rudolph with his nose so bright told Kaepernick to hit the road with his presents in sight.
Indy knocks off Denver…and then there were three…
It’s probably too early, because Atlanta’s D is not too hot. But, I don’t see how Kap stays after the end of the season. Gabbert at QB today at least gives fans and the Niner defense a sense of the offense being able to compete. What a concept — passes actually heading towards receivers in the same area code…
Obviously not looking for a win in Seattle after the bye. And, today’s Atlanta D-line isn’t much of a sack unit. But, if Gabbert doesn’t crater too much under the Hawk rush, and gets some pass yardage up there, that would be nice…
Derek Carr’s emergence in his year 2 shows just what an excellent QB does for a previously dogmeat NFL team. There is no substitute. They need to draft a replacement starting QB and get that process going, along with rebuilding the roster with good players. Gabbert may get clobbered in Seattle, but at least the guy looks like he’ll make the offense somewhat competitive…
Carr is going to be a good one. He’s already better than Kap as a passer.
I love Carr – I’ve consistently and repeatedly lauded him – but he’s not alone. Khalil Mack, Aldon Smith, Amari Cooper – the Raiders aren’t the same team they were two years ago.
The only guy on the Niners in that league is Bowman and he’s not 100%.
So I missed this one. Anyone care to post a quick synopsis?
Gabbert looked good early and at least competent all game. The Niners got off to a 17-6 lead. The Niners D stuffed the Atlanta run all game (leading rusher in the NFL got 12 yards). Niners receivers dropped a ton of passes. Gabbert got slammed and taken out briefly for concussion protocol. Kappy did nothing in minimal time. Gabbert threw what should have been game losing pick late. Atlanta HC kicks FG on 4th and goal from the 1 with 3:00 left. Niners hang on to win.
(Whew, I’m outta breath.)
Thanks rt.
I guess I’m not getting my early Christmas present from the Niners – no firings during the bye week. 2-7 and we had a chance.
That call by the Falcons not to go for the TD near the goal line late is why the NFL is turning to a crap product. No balls by coaches. Play to win the game. College teams would go for it 10 out of 10 times…
So Gabbert looked better than his final numbers would indicate, due to the drops. I see also that he wasn’t sacked. All in all a good start for him and a win for the Niners.
Fair to say. Also, I understated the D’s contribution. Playing without both starting corners against a good Falcon O with Ryan, Freeman and Julio Jones, they were outstanding all game.
And in Kappy’s series, he hit a big gainer to Vance McD except for one thing. Bozo McD was afraid of getting hit, so he alligator-armed the pass and then got hit. Kappy was fine, then Gabbert came back in the next series.
Nipper, good cause for optimism?
You’re the MAN, 12th!
I see what you did there…
How ’bout dem Cowboys!
Right on! Cowsucks lose! 6 straight with most of the next month on the road!
Yeah, not sure how Atl is 6-2, well 3 now, but CromRtie and Johnson played outstanding. The d line had a great game stopping rhe run.
The drops are just getting out of hand though. But for one bad play (Mangini shoulda added DBs), the game would have been more lopsided. And yeah very curious call for Atl not to go for it on4th and goal from down close. On the road you go for the kill.
I called a one point nail biter win, so yay me.
The Falcons snoozed through an easy part of their schedule. I have to change my schedule comments; four of their upcoming opponents (Vikings, Saints, Panthers twice) are far better than I expected.
The Vikings have a brutal half schedule. They have 2 against the Pack, they’ve got the Raiders, Giants, Seahawks… None of their opponents is great this year, but they’ve got their work cut out for them.
Those are the two NFC WC teams as of now. The Seahawks will find a way into the playoffs. If not the division, then the wildcard.
Funny thing is, this game bears no resemblance to Seattle, AZ, or even St Louis. Those defenses are much tougher than What we saw today.
Atl’s defense is not very good, as we saw. When Kappy was protected he did fine. I’m still pissed about all the drops. It has been happening all season. I see so many WRs make their QBs look good. Ours kill drives with regularity.
Still and all a win is a win. With so many teams fair to middling, they could sneal in to a playoff spot if they can win a few in a row.
Hey, it could happen.
Crabby caught over 100 yds in passing today and 2 TDs from Carr. He’s having a good season of getting open, catching balls, This shows how last year’s Niner offense didn’t use him properly at all — the Harbs / Roman “offense”.
Your Snarkk dog pic always looks like he’s high on something.
Even Skeebers isn’t too unhappy today. In a day or two he should be himself.
RTF, I’m not sold on Seattle. They have looked eminently beatable this year. RW isn’t killing it like before, their O line is weaker, and their defense isn’t near as good as last year.
Snarkk, Oakland has Amari Cooper and a couple other decent WRs to go with Crabs. Their line does a better job as well. Plus, they actually can scheme to get guys open consistently.
Irish, I need a game day summary of what went down. I hear tickets are cheap now.
Were there a lot of empty seats yesterday?
Hi Chuck, I don’t know about cheap seats, but yes a lot of empty ones, the band wagoner fans have definitely jumped ship!! Ha ha
Much needed win yesterday. Our defense excelled and it was good to see our offense work for the most part. Gabbert showed that he’s a decent backup. He also showed that Kappy has some serious problems. I am a Kappy fan but if he can’t get the basics down he will have to go. I know he’s a superior athlete but yesterdays game showed quite a few of his flaws. I still feel Baalke should have been fired a week ago and I still hope that happens soon. Also, Atlanta practically gave us that game and I bet their HC is getting raked over the coals at this very moment. As far as draft order I would rather win every game and pick wherever. I still think we will be a top 5 pick though but unless we’re smart it won’t make any difference.
Problem is there are a lot of bottom feeders this year. 21 of the 32 teams are at or below .500. 14 teams at 3 wins or less. We are 29th as it is even with the win but we are just hitting the bye so some teams nay catch us.
What to do?
Run for the hills!
I dunno I just can’t see us tanking any games, to me that’s as low as it gets.
The Niners currently have the 9th worst record. The Chargers could tie them with a win tonight. There are 3 teams at 3-5, 1 of them (KC) a clear dog next week.
The problem is the Niners Strength of Schedule. They currently rank #3 hardest in the league, behind only the Steelers and Brownies.
They would currently draft #9. Factoring in the bye, that could drop to as low as #12 next weekend.
Oh, and the Falcons currently rank #32 in SOS. Can you say overrated?
At least we’ve known about our serious problems for awhile, they must now be sinking in to the team and the fans of Atlanta. I can’t ever remember so many shitty teams in any one NFL season.
What I did like is no scoring in the second half, are you telling me that Atlanta made perfect adjustments and shut down the offense? That is unacceptable!!
Ahhhh.. Shoulda looked up ESPN to determine our spot in the standings. Yes, we are 9th as of now. Guess we either hope for a Chicago loss to stay ahead of them in our faint playoff hopes, or a Chicago win to position ourselves better for the 2016 draft.
Funny thing is, the 2 wildcard teams are, if the season ended today are the Vikings and the Falcons. Teams we beat. 12 wins between them.
Just need to jump 7 teams to get there.
New thread is up.