Well, we keep up the string of L-W-L-W-L-W-L with the W. 7-4 is worlds better than 6-5, but it looks like we lost Bethune to injury. Not to worry for this game as AZ managed to shoot themselves in the feet about 20 times, I think they los 4 TDs to turnovers and penalties.
But, Brock Purdy looked pretty solid and Shanahan has seemingly come up with some actual plays in the red zone that don’t involve running up the middle repeatedly until Piniero comes in.
Speaking of Dinero. even he might be hurt after fielding a blocked PAT that resulted in him getting crushed when he recovered it.
Another day in Niner-land, eh?
Still a VERY anemic pass rush that resulted in zero sacks, but lo and behold, 2 picks!!! Demo Lenoir had a hell of a game and his pick and return really sealed the victory as the only thing at the time stopping AZ was AZ.
Hey, a win is a win, but wow. Saleh really has to abandon the soft zone 4 man rush. Trust the coverage as this pass rush did nothing all game. We have to rush 5 all the time. Otherwise we will get chipped to death like last week. And 3 weeks ago. And 5 weeks ago . . .
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
Lots of highs and lows this year but the reality of our OL, and defense due to injuries doesn’t put us as real contenders. Hopefully we can stay somewhat healthy for the duration and give next year a jump start.
We played fairly well but the Cardinals gave us that game. Our lack of a pass rush is the opposing QBs best friend.
Well history tells us that a great defense wins Super Bowls. The Niners have an average defense, so even if they get to the playoffs the other team is going to win. It seems like the Niners can never catch a break concerning injuries. They get the kicker they needed and boom down he goes. And man they crushed him on the tackle.
Yeah, AZ had 488 yards. 452 through the air. It’s not like WE stopped them. But we are back in the playoffs per the standings now.
With the weak schedule and the tiebreakers we stand a good chance of getting the 5 or 6 seed. But the defense is in serious need of a pass rush. We did kinda OK yesterday, and Brissett is likely a starter next season, but 452??? Christ. That’s how LA beat the shit out of us. 2 games in a row giving up over 400.
All in 1st place.
KC and Balt 5-5 and out of the playoffs as of now.
Things I didn’t think would be.
Hard to draw many conclusions from yesterdays game. Cards were a mess, so bad its fire the coach time.
Rookies S Sigle, LB Martin, and DT Valdez all got some snaps on D and all 3 did ok, no worse than the guy they replaced. Sigle prevented a TD, Martin had I think 6 tackles in limited reps and Valdez (Hulk) got some nice push in the pocket.
I think it was enough of a showing to get them in the rotation and in the case of Sigle I really think he should still be starting over Brown, lumps and all.
The Niners play much better as a front running team yet the only reason they started on O on Sunday was they lost the coin toss. Shanahan really needs to change his view on deferring when they win the toss, take the ball and score early.
The Niners D is not playing well and although it should improve over the next few games as the new players gel it will not be the reason they win games. Take the first possession on O whenever possible and score over 30 points is going to be the right formula IMO. Fall behind in games and they likely lose and to illustrate, Shanahan is 0-40 when down by 8 points or more in the 4th quarter. He believes in his sytem so strongly that there is almost no hurry up O when he should cut the QB loose. 0-40!
They need to win 3 more games to probably make the playoffs, 4 wins make it a certainty, which means they have to break the win/loss/win/loss routine to do it.
Panthers, Browns, Titans, bye week, Colts, Bears, Seahawks is what’s left.
On paper the Colts and Seahawks are the toughest teams and more so for the Seahawks since they lost to the Rams which means they will needs every game so no resting players the last game of the season.
4 wins is tough but doable if the Niners O keep putting up 30+ points
Do does not matter what quarter it is, if the Niners are losing and there is 2 mins, I am screaming at my TV, go no huddle, go no huddle. For some reason Kyle can’t hear me. Kyle finally realized they were going to have to score and score easily and often. When the D is healthy, Kyle becomes a clock watcher, that’s why he loves the run. Hopefully next year when the D is healthy (fingers crossed). He will now have a more balanced offense, and if he sees the passing game is doing better than the run he will pass more like yesterday
I’m with you on the 2 min thing Kevin, Shanahan never speeds up at the right time in IMO, its always a last ditch effort.
I do think the O has already become more of a passing attack. CMC is just as much a slot receiver as he is a RB now and B Rob gets his 8 carries a game.
I think the O is just about the right balance for the players he has now.
I just wish Shanahan would react to the situation on the field and trust his players more when time and the score is against them.
His system is elite in close games or when ahead but when time is short and they are behind, huddling up, long playcalls and lots of motion is way too longwinded.
Put it in the hands of the QB and let him cook. If it doesn’t work, well you were going to lose anyway, as 0-40 clearly proves.
I hope Pearsall was just rusty. He had 2 targets and no catches. Purdy tried to force one to him that was almost picked when he had the under outlet open.
Looked as though his job was to be a diversion, just run off the CB or S.
Probably playing it safe, less chance of a collision and give him a chance to get his legs under him. Hopefully next week he gets some ops.
Shout out to the Niners fanbase, another stadium take over, best fans in the NFL by far and that’s after last years losing record.
Faithful indeed!
That was my thought as well. Just get Ricky out there running routes and avoiding a lot of contact.
Yeah, kinda hard to see with both teams being red, but the cheering was loud for the Niners.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46994190/cardinals-qb-jacoby-brissett-sets-nfl-record-completions
we got in the record books on Sunday
The Rams are still in first place. Congratulations on your Super Bowl win against AZ yesterday.!
LA LA LAND, the difference between a dollar and the Rams is that a dollar os good for 4 quarters . . . Superbowl??? In your fucking dreams buddy.
The Rams defense is down there with ours. You may get one playoff win, hey we might too, but you ain’t doing shit either.
The one thing I will say is the O line does look better. Not spectacular but they are getting the job done. The run game is improving, and even with Mac getting beat up, they’ve only given up 3 sacks in the last 3 games.
Quinnen already paying dividends for Dallas..
Pissed the Niners didnt go after him.
I don’t think the soft zone is going anywhere whilst the Niners have no pass rush to speak of. The only viable alternative is to put more 5 man fronts and blitz.
They tried that big time against the Rams over 50% of the time and paid a heavy price since if it doesn’t get home it leaves the middle of the field is easier to exploit.
A busted play when blitzing or using a 5 man front means a bigger potential gain, the other team scores more quickly and the game gets away fast.
It doesn’t look pretty, but strategically it’s better to play cover and make them go down the field slowly, even if they score, than to allow quick strike after quick strike.
They are banking on their O scoring faster and more often than their D allows a score.
Saleh doesn’t really have much of a choice. Without the horses to go all gas no brakes he has to play soft cover and occasionally get game changing plays from individual player effort. Get a stop a few times a game and if the O is scoring like they think they can, the Niners will win enough to make playoffs.
That philosophy changes with even an average pass rush which could still happen. They have new players settling in like White, they also are being forced to play high energy rookies who have barely seen the field so far.
CJ West, Nick Martin and Sebastian Valdez are all high motor guys that played snaps on Sunday. They will make some mistakes learning on the job, but there is also the potential for game changing plays, something they don’t currently have with the existing D line rotation.
I watched the Cards game a second time, the D wasn’t as terrible as I at first thought. Certainly not great, but in reality adequate, it’s just painful to watch.
450 air yards to a guy like Brissett is fairly galling. Plus an NFL all-time completion record.
I get the trade-off, but Stafford had 250 in the air. PLus 130 on the ground.
If you don’t pressure, you get shit like that where it is simply pitch and catch all day. If not for their stupid mistakes, it’s a whole different game. AZ left 3 TDs on the field.
Bryce Young is the type we struggle against anyway. Mobile. So we will likely play short zone.
Yippee. I’d rather see him moved off his spot.
Our hope is to pile up as many points as possible without making any mistakes.
Then again . . . i guess that’s true even when healthy. We just have no margin for error. As the Ram game showed. We were moving up and down the field on their defense. Just kept fucking up.
Yup,
Rams game the D just got beat. I doubt soft zone would have made much difference against Stafford right now.
Niners O with Mac against the Rams was very much dink and dunk and self inflicted wounds all around. Ineffective.
Cards won time of possession, yards and completions but much of it came when the game was over and none of it was very relevant since a team that’s down multiple scores has to throw the rock and lets not forget the bad Niners D got 3 turnovers, 2 of which probably saved Cards scores and the other directly led to Niners points.
The problem for Saleh is that they simply are not able to pressure and blitzing isn’t getting there in time. All that’s left is the soft coverage, keep it in front style prevent D.
I would bet big money Saleh hates it just as much as we all do but it is what it is right now.
All that matters is will it yield more wins than losses?
I hope they start to get pressure with the new mix of rotational guys and they get back to playing Robert Saleh, Niners Defense.
Any word on Gross- Matos? Shades of Crystal Todd Shell. We got too many guys who are constantly injured.
He’s on IR with a hammy. If my math is correct he could return for MO day night panthers game if healthy
So who’s going to be the FG kicker since Steady Eddie Money Pinero is out for atleast 2 weeks and with the week 14 bye probably will be his return..
So the Stiffs have arrived for a tryout are Tanner Brown?? Parker Romo?? Are my leader in the gate Andres Carlson who played last year for the 49ers a few games and was pretty solid.Long shot maybe Justin Massages his way in Tucker? He’s eligible to sign anywhere but …
They are looking at some kickers as we type.
And no, Tucker and fuck ‘er ain’t signing here or anywhere.
New thread is up.