Turned out to be a fun game, as the juggernaut 49ers offense rained down points galore on the used-to-be upstart Colts who started the season an impressive 8-2, only to lose their 5th straight. Which follows along with the Niners 5 game winning streak. The defense even got into the act with a pick 6 from Old Man Winters, who beat Old Man Rivers to the spot on a toss to his TE for a pick 6.
Funny to hear Aikman blame the TE for the stick route he ran. Winters obviously had position on the play, and Rivers shouldn’t have thrown it, but hey old QBs stick together I guess.
Still and all a frustrating game for the defense as they did a fantastic job stuffing Jonathan Taylor but were continually beat by the quick dump offs to a trailing RB or TE for 3 quarters. Rivers threw for 277 yards and 2 TDs and Indy kept pace with the Niners scoring machine for most of the game. Rivers obviously struggled with passes over 15 yards, and the deep shots were pathetic, but that didn’t stop them from scoring 17 firdt half points.
Biggest play of the game was the fumbled KO return after the first Niner score. Not sure how the game would have changed had tht not happened, but the dramatic improvement of the special teams has a lot to do with the 11-4 record.
For all the guys coming back from injury on defense, none of them are DEs that can get home. We did manage 2 sacks of Ichabod Rivers, but we need a ton more pressure than we are getting.
But, hey a win is a win and we are still on track for the #1 spot. Improbably. And we passed the Rams in the playoff standings.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
Couple things about this year’s 49ers.
Penalties are WAY down after a rough start to the season.
Special teams has become a huge force after the ditching of Nick Moody, and the emergence of Skyy Moore (he of the nice 23 yard catch yesterday) as a P/KO returner.
The forced fumble on the KO return was huge.
Shanahan gets huge kudos for that as well as the vastly improved red zone efficiency numbers since Purdy ha come back.
That being said I STILL think we should run play action on EVERY 1st and goal play. Unless we are inside the 2.
He won;t win coach of the year, and who the fuck really cares, but he has done a very good job with a rotating cast of injured players.
Don’t know how we keep Saleh, but if we could get one more season out of him, I’d be thrilled.
I don’t think there is any way to keep Saleh unless the only head coaching jobs offered are the Browns or Raiders and even then he’s probably gone. But it sure has been fun having him around. Have no idea who might be available to pick up where he left off but the whole organization should know they cannot just pick anyone to take his place.
idk, some coaches are just better being the assistant than head guy. Nowadays head coach seems like one of worst jobs to have, especially if you have to dumpster dive and take over lousy team.
Given all teams now have co-ordinators for everything, zillion position coaches and GM in charge of making roster moves for draft/trades/salaries that have often doomed some of the bottom feeders for awhile, maybe Saleh would feel better off staying right where he is.
willedav Idk either and I sure hope he stays but I still don’t think he will. After the Jets fiasco I would think he’d want another chance to prove that he can a success as a HC. Probably more for himself than any other reason. Anyway we will find out soon enough.
Saleh learned that bad teams may not respond to new coaching staffs.
The Jets are a gigantic mess and will remain so. Cleve, AZ, Vegas, and a few others are death knells for coaches.
Love that song. Saw Bowie with Adrian Belew on the Sound and Vision tour way back when.
My wife saw Belew’s tribute to Bowie in Nashville a couple years back with Joe Satriani and the wonderfully named Scrote.
Hmm, getting my shows mixed up. Satriani was on the Beat tour. The other guitarist was Todd Rungren.
Never saw him but his shows looked like a real fun time.
you can hear the disco, good stuff
I don’t know what they were playing at first, but it wasn’t Sound and Vision. The Low album side is one of the most underrated albums ever.
About 2 years after my 2000 divorce, I was dating this woman regularly and both of us decided to attend the all-day 4th of July celebration at Idaho Springs. Unca, you likely have attended it or are at least familiar with the city, off of HW 70 . . .
Anyway, we got to Idaho Springs at around noon and decided to walk down the main street, called Miner Street. It was unbelievably crowded and after about 5 minutes of walking, I had a distinct feeling that most everyone was watching me. I was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, along with sunglasses. I checked my zipper and it was up. No holes in my shirt either. WTF?
We slipped into this bar/restaurant that was packed and we were lucky getting a table. Again, it seemed like many of the patrons were staring at me. My GF even noticed this.
We got tired of waiting for a waitress, so she decided to go to the bar and order. She was there for about 5 minutes laughing her ass off with a few customers and bar staff. She finally came back with a grin on her face and said, “The entire town thinks Joe Satriani is going to be part of the live music at the town square later today . . . and guess what? They think that’s you.”
Holy shit! I had previously gotten comments about looking like Vin Diesal, but never Satriani.” Anyway, we had a blast that day and evening.
Yeah, been to Idaho Springs a couple times coming down the mountains. Never did 4th of July there tho. Hah!!!!! That’s too funny!!! Great story.
Robert Redford’s character in Downhill Racer was from Idaho Springs. Great old movie from like 1969.
Update on Kittle, it’s not the dreaded high ankle sprain.
Apparently he has a mid to low ankle sprain, and it’s a wait and see deal as to when can he play.
I can’t figure out why they don’t use many 2 or 3 TE sets, especially since Tonges has such sticky pass catching hands. With Kittle being able to block like Trent Williams and pass catch like Jerry Rice the D would not be able to cover both Kittle and Tonges effectively.
I don’t think Farrel has been effective enough based on the contract value they gave him but he can also block and catch.
They also have Juice who can be used in a TE role.
The Rams went 3 TE sets initially out of necessity but then have used it quite a bit and most notably in game 2 against the Niners who had no answers for it.
The Niners TE room is superior to the Rams so what gives? Shanahan doesn’t want to copy McVay maybe?
I know these last 2 games are important, but Tonges has proven himself, sit Kittle for the Bears game so he is good to go for Seattle and the playoffs
Jake has 4 TD’s in very limited opportunities so I just can’t fathom why he is not utilized more.
The Niners had 2 great TE before in Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker who were very hard to defend when on the field together and it looks to me like Kittle and Tonges are today’s equivalent to them but rarely used together.
Shanahan prefers to use Kittle and Farrel I presume because he only wants 1 pass catching TE while the other blocks.
Speaking of Farrel, he missed the block on the DE and Purdys arm got hit while throwing. Now Farrel did end up catching the ball as it went straight up and down and turned it into a couple of yards play but that is shades of the Eagles play that cost Purdy his elbow injury.
So far this year I think Farrel has been Meh. Let’s get Tonges on the field Kyle, you owe him one since you didn’t challenge the circus catch TD he caught and was denied.
If the Niners beat the Bears without Kittle that would be huge
Pearsall and Renardo Green are back at practice (limited)
Bethune is a full go today and Shanahan says Kittle has a chance to play on Sunday night.
Gross-Matos, Williams and CMC are no practice today, resting and prevention for YGM.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all your families