Well, the good news is we’ve avoided the, uh nevermind. Don’t want to tempt fate. Word out of camp is that the defense is ahead of the offense. Which to me is a good thing because our defense has been a problem these last few seasons.
Granted, they are practicing against us so it’s hard to gauge how bad the offense really is, or how good the defense really is. This is akin to the 49ers back in the day when they were preparing for Super Bowl XXIV. Sure, Miami was a juggernaut on offense, but we were pretty damn good ourselves.
Miami’s defense however, was not very good, so for the Dolphins to be practicing against a subpar defense i felt, put Miami at a disadvantage as the 49ers were practicing against a top 5 defense. So, if our offense could move on our defense in practice, we would smoke the Dolphins in the game. Which we did.
Does that apply now? Well, the hope is that our defense has raised its game to the point where the offense really needs to get better to be able to hold its own against our improved defense.
Either that, or our offense is so inept that the defense isn’t really special, just playing against a bunch of stiffs.
I doubt that is the case, because even with Nick Mullens and The Beater, the team wasn’t wholly inept on offense last year, but the defense sure was. Anyhow, onward to the preseason!
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
Yesterday, Jimmy G. was 5-14. Not good. Word from the scribes is that our DLine is deep and it is awesome. It’s been owning our OLine. Not good and good. Our secondary looks much improved from last year but there are still some serious holes. Sherman looks awesome. More good than not good. Greenlaw, our 5th round pick, has been playing SAM with the first team and has impressed. Surprise player of camp so far? Richie James, on the bubble, who one scribe called the best receiver in camp so far.
It’s early so I’m not gonna take too much from this. If Rick James can make the team. . . .
I’m glad we didn’t trade Bum, at least we are gonna give it a shot.
Jesus. Farhan got Atlanta to take ALL of Melonhead’s contract. That alone is amazing, and he got a couple players out of it. Scooter Gennett should be fine once healthy, and the kid they got from the Brewers could be a stud.
They loaded up the high minors with a lot of talent, and gave up very little. Dyson is the only one who I’m a little bummed to see go, but really, the Giants have enough arms to cover for him. Outstanding job by Farhan.
RIP Nick Buoniconti. Dolphin mainstay passes way too soon.
Son Marc paralyzed and spawned the Miami Project. CTE being suggested with Nick.
Brain donation to research as well. Quite an amazing football journey, including an undefeated season.
Yeah, very sad, but that foundation is the leading spinal injury treatment center in the world.
Grew up watching the Dolphins, mainly because Paul Warfield (along with Otis Taylor) was one of me favorite players.
Ahhh, that’s too bad. 78 is a pretty good run though. That no-name defense ended up being pretty solid. The ageless Dick Anderson at safety. Those teams were excellent. Run the ball all day and get a 3-and-out. Repeat. Repeat.Repeat. Greise averaged like 15 passes a game.
Dolphins just had the right balance of speed with Paul Warfield&Mercury Morris, a stud
bruising Fullback in Larry Csonka and just a smart if not flashy QB combo of Bob Greise &Earl Morrall .
Nice secondary also in Dick Anderson&Jake Scott
Jimmy G. 10-14. 2 TDs in redzone drills. Buckner and Ford out today giving him more time.
From Rob Lowder’s twitter:
#49ersCamp 11-on-11 red zone session:
-Garoppolo 5 of 6 with four TDs
-Pettis caught three total TDs, two from Jimmy
-Pettis x3, Breida x2, Dwelley, Taylor and Kittle scored
-Day with two sacks, big run stop
-Kittle’s TD drew a PI call on Greenlaw
-Bourne had a rare drop #49ers
More from Lowder:
#49ersCamp Notes – Day 5:
-Garoppolo 5 of 8 during team, 5 of 6 during red zone, four TDs
-Run game got going: Coleman, Breida, Mostert all solid
-Big plays from Bourne, James, Goodwin
-Mullens good, Beathard not so much
-Coleman got payback, leveling Sherman after a catch #49ers
And from Jennifer Lee Chan (paraphrasing):
McKinnon not removed from PUP, will reassess next week.
Garnett out 3 weeks for surgery on chronically dislocated finger.
Red zone success is desperately needed by this team.
Jake Scott. He was a damn good safety and a fearless punt returner.
Cool story about him these days.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sports-columns/ron-kantowski/jake-scott-super-bowl-forgotten-hero-resurfaces-at-las-vegas-drag-race/
I swear to God, I don’t think McKinnon plays a meaningful down for this team. I wouldn’t let him play in ANY preseason games.
Looks like your probably right. He’s had a long time to heal and the type of cut runner he is probably doesn’t do your knee any good.
Pettis way up, Bourne up, Witherspoon up, and this
From MM:
Nick Bosa had third-down “sacks” to end the final two possessions of 1s vs. 1s in #49ers practice. Bosa was so good today that six-time Pro Bowl LT Joe Staley sought him out after practice to tell him just that.
FULL REPORT:
https://www.
nbcsports.com/bayarea/49ers/
49ers-camp-report-rookie-nick-bosa-finishes-day-drive-stopping-sacks
…
For the receivers, Taylor’s been killin’ it, Goodwin’s looked good. Pettis has been awesome. Deebo is a lock. Now, Hurd/Bourne/James/Matthews… Somebody is going on IR or PUP with a sore toe, and somebody is going to get cut – maybe Hurd goes to PS, though I doubt it.
It’s too bad we can’t carry over the 53 man limit at the start of the season. It’s hard to evaluate when the games don’t mean much and most of the talent is just sitting.
With the way teams get injired now, they should increase the active roster to 55.
That new Giants’ bullpen already showing its stuff. Pfffft. The guys they traded away were the guys winning for them during their hot streak. I sure hope a second baseman is worth it in the long run. That trade made me think they’d cashed out this season.
They NEED to get rid of contracts like Melonhead’s. The the rest? Whatever, These moves were made with the future in mind. What they have has to work.But uib the end the team needs to hit more consistently.
I like the new GM the Giants were a train wreck when he got here and there does seem to be a plan. Whether we do anything the rest of the year I really don’t know but we do seem to have a spark going on
Dickerson can’t stay on the field, and Yaz can’t carry the team all August. The vets are for the most part sucking. Vogt is doing well. Im surprised they haven’t DFAed Panik.
Whoa..WR Cliff Branch dies today at 71
Man that guy could fly, such a huge contributor for the Raiders..RIP#21 Cliff Branch you will sorely missed..
My brother told me about him when he was drafted by the Raiders, said what a stud he was for the Golden Buffaloes. That was my brother’s frosh year at Colorado (when they opened all the windows in the basement of his dorm and turned it into a skating rink). Geez, that was a long time ago.
Wow. That’s pretty young. Great wideout. 3 rings. Averaged an astounding 24.2 yards per catch in the 76 super bowl season.
The Raiders were one tough football team during branch’s years there. Never was a fan but I used to wish we could play like em.
Should be a Hall of Famer.
Agree Branch should be in the Football HOF!
Big mentor he said was Fred Blintekoff (sp) who helped him adjust to the NFL starting out, not a bad dude to have as a mentor in a HOF clutch receiver..
Chuck, This sums it up pretty succinctly IMO – The Miami Project was born because of the injury to Marc. I don’t think Nick ever took a day off – RIP Sir.
“We lost one of our greats with the passing of Nick Buoniconti. He was a great football player, a true Hall of Famer, but he was much more than that. He was a lawyer and a successful business leader. Most of all he was a family man. The work he did with the Miami Project following the tragic accident with Marc will never be matched.”
—Nat Moore, the former Dolphins receiver and current team VP of Special Projects and Alumni Relations, on the death of Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, who also raised million for spinal cord research after son Marc was paralyzed in a college football game.
Nat Moore. Another great 70s WR. He was a precursor to Mark Clayton and Mark Duper a few years later as a small fast WR who could burn. He even played with them for a couple years iirc.
We also got Freddie Solomon from Miami and he was a little speedster too.
Played some QB in 79 when the team was wasted by injuries. Back when I went to tryouts at Sequoia.
To think, I coulda been smoking buddies with Fred Dean and Freddie Solomon.
Salomon was 6’1 iirc. Moore was like 5’9″
He probably was that tall but he always seemed a little small to me maybe because he was so fast and a lot of other receivers were much bigger(Clark)
I bumped into Dwight Clark and Joe Montana at the Hillsdale shopping center like 3 months after first Super Bowl. Said how they saved the city and made hundreds of thousands of people happy when they beat the Cowboys in the NFC Championship. The Super Bowl was gravy. Funny thing was, no one was really paying any attention to them. I was pretty pumped.
But yeah, Clark was a big dude. Joe on the other hand was tiny. I was amazed seeing him in street clothes. Same with Ronnie Lott.
New thread is up.