They say that game three of the preseason is the biggest indicator of the upcoming season. Well, at least they used to. The 1s looked very poised and confident on both sides of the ball, and Brian Hoyer especially looked smooth and polish as he stood in the pocket and hit a myriad of passes. The fake-and off-end-around deep ball to Goodwin being especially sweet as he had beaten the coverage easily and was wide open. Hoyer hit him in stride for an easy score. The 2nd TD drive came on a pass over the middle to the 3rd option, Carlos Hyde on a short post (I think) and he took it the rest of the way up the middle for the TD.
The 1 defense pitched a shutout and looked very solid with a couple of sacks from Arik Armstead and the new guy Elvis Dumerville, Eric Reid continues his strong play at strong safety this preseason, and the defense as a whole is playing worlds better than last year. Even Rashard Robinson had a nice coverage on a deep pass. Our corners are fairly underwhelming at this point, but coverage was decent, and only 1 or 2 deep balls got through.
The 2s and 3s were another deal entirely. CJ Beathard looked terrible till he settled down and hit Raheem Mostert on a swing pass that turned into an 84 yard TD. Mostert also added a 4 yard TD scamper in the 4th quarter to end the Niners scoring.
So, sure, we lost. Sure, it’s preseason, But the overall consensus, to me anyway, is that the 1st team is playing well and is rounding out nicely heading into the season. The run game isn’t hitting on all cylinders yet, and despite the TD, Carlos Hyde may be facing the same fate as the recently-traded Vance McDropsy, and jettisoned Ahmad Brooks, but things look pretty good at this point. The pass rush has yet to look formidable, but things are getting better incrementally, and I’m fairly optimistic at this point.
Forty Niners Forever 
Well, if you think I can’t see the truth, then you can’t read, skippy. I’ve been behind Kappy’s position since the beginning.
The practice is now spreading, albeit slowly, across the sports landscape. Well, the NFL and NBA landscape. lt’ll never fly in baseball for obvious reasons. Hockey? Who knows. Chris Long joined the protest as the first white NFL player to do so this preseason. Kudos to him. The country in general is behind the thought that blacks are targeted, and to say sports and society don’t mix must have missed Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s protest in the 1968 Olympics, Muhammad Ali’s draft protest in 1969, Carlos Delgato’s refusing to stand for God Bless America in 2004, or even Branch Rickey’s drafting and playing of Jackie Robinson way back in 1947. ALL these protests at the time were wildly unpopular, and the people protesting were vilified (Robinson, Rickey, Delgato), stripped of their medals (Smith, Carlos, Ali), and blackballed from their respective leagues (Rahim and Kaepernick).
I really don’t want to go down this road on this blog, but hey, it’s preseason.
And spitty, let’s try not to call out others for their positions on things.
I’m not trying to change the world here, just providing 49er info.
Chuck – I think you can see the truth regarding most issues. I understand the purpose of your blog. But others against Kaep can make the same case – The NFL isn’t a platform for protest. We’re all trying to make the world a better place to live.
He doesn’t play for the Niners…The End.
Does Eric Reid play for the 49ers? Here’s to new beginnings.
The politics need to be left off this board. Your interpretation is one thing, spit, but it is only your opinion. Berger has his stance, I have mine, Chuck has made his clear. Everyone believes what they believe. This has happened before here and it leads to no good. Feelings get hurt and people get angry. Shelve your bullshit politics and let’s all stick to football.
The Niners received a pretty severe backlash from fans around the league with the Kap anthem thing. At the end of the day, I think that’s what has been keeping Kap from getting a job. No owner needs to unnecessarily piss of his fan base, not with skyrocketing ticket prices and a game that you rightly noted is getting harder and harder to watch.
This blog is much more enjoyable when we focus on the Niners and what they do on the field. I can’t count the number of times I’ve bit my tongue here and on Craig’s blog when this stuff arises. Years worth. But every once in a while I read a really dumb post and can’t help myself.
Chuck and Craig are very knowledgeable about the Giants and 49ers and a lot of smart, die-hard fans post on both blogs. That’s what brings me back, not politics.
Kap is not longer on the team and won’t be again. Let it go.
I by no means have any desire to converse with 99.9% of the people on this blog or Skeeber’s blog, but here Lurker John is trying to plead for no politics on this board, offering that my stuff is just my opinion, but then he wants to slip in his own opinion and his own take on the issue (doesn’t matter if he agreed with me or not). If Lurker John didn’t like the politics or Kaep topic, you’d think he wouldn’t respond or at least not be a hypocrite when responding.
Like I said, spittie it leads to no good. Thanks for confirming your stupidity.