Well, this improbable season got even more improbable as the out-manned 49ers overcame a tough Philly defense, Saquan running all over us, Kittle being lost for what looks like a long time, and two flat awful picks by Purdy.
CMC had proved his worth 2x his weight in gold as he caught 2 passes, one an absolute stud play on the Jennings flea flicker that stunned the Philly crowd. The run game wasn’t there, but they did enough late to keep the chains moving.
Purdy? Well, losing all your weapons, and not having Kittle for most of it, proved to be tough. His picks were simply poor throws. The line actually played fairly well, and gave him time. But in the end he made the throws, Robinson had his best game as a Niner, Jennings had his one big 45 yard play, and an absolute dime thrown to CMC, and the offense started out on fire with a couple huge gainers to take the early lead.
It was a little hard for me to enjoy this as the 1st half went on seeing the soft zone give up 3rd downs. Yet another 3rd and 15 was given up. Well 14 yards and a tush push, but Saleh adjusted, putting 5 on the line in the 3rd and slowed the run game. Nick Sirianni obliged by trying to run against our adjustment and we slowed them down through most of the 2nd half, outscoring them 13-6.
Stick a feather in Shanahan’s cap for overcoming a 1st half deficit, and overcoming a 16-10 Philly lead in the 4th quarter.
Back we go to Seattle. Gonna be a dogfight.
Forty Niners Forever 
Fuck Harbaugh, but I’m still rooting for the Chargers!
What an all around amazing and gritty win. Some key tackles by our linebackers and db’s were nice to see. I didn’t think we had much of a chance when Kittle went down but this team just stepped up everywhere. Definitely a memorable game.
Kendrick and the LBs had a much better game when Saleh put 5 on the line and brought the LBs closer.
Sirianni got schooled.
Amazing game. Frankly, I am quite surprised that we beat last year’s SB winners at their home. Niners can savor this win and use it as motivation against the Seahawks.
New England is absolutely beating the fuck out of Herbert.
This is awesome if it’s not some AI shit, looks real though:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1403250234799500/?mibextid=9drbnH&s=yWDuG2&fs=e
Who’s got it better than the Chargers?
The Patriots! and Herbert knows it,he can file assault charges for bodily harm..
Complain all you want about Saleh, but he coached these scrubs to be winners, doesn’t matter what game plan he put together, the players have to get the job done. Does not matter who got hurt, next man up showed he could play. They seemed to always make the play when needed, with Al that has happened to the defense it is quite surprising to see the Niners in contention for going to the SB. So far it is “what a long strange trip it’s been”
He finally made adjustments in the 2nd half.
He brought 5 to the line and brought the LBs up to stop the Philly run game. it worked.
Saleh is the guy that wants to play “all gas, no brakes”.
He can’t, he doesn’t have the horses. He has had to play schemes that in the big picture give the team the best chance to win.
Its not pretty, it’s not exciting, it’s not sexy, but it is as effective as it can be given the circumstances.
If you pay attention, even when he puts 5 or 6 on the line he very rarely brings them, the extra player drops back at the snap. If he is really blitzing he does it mostly with a safety.
Just by bringing 5 up slowed Barkley to a crawl. They did a MUCH better job on 3rd down in the 2nd half by showing blitz and actually doing it a few times.
All I want from Saleh, and we didn’t do it vs Seattle, was SHOW blitz. Put 5 on the line. Bring pressure on 3rd down. Show different looks.
And yeah, we gave up ANOTHER 3rd and 15 on cover 2 soft zone.
Firdt time I’ve really watched NE and they have a fucking dangerous defense.
Fuck the schedulers. We play Saturday.
Tig Brown got hurt and they were forced to play the rookie Sigle again. Sigle tied for the most tackles at 7, in very limited playing time, and he had zero missed tackles.
Wtf, maybe they can let the kid play?
The team has Stout and Sigle in the backfield and Williams, Collins and West on the D line all as starters moving forward.
Martin, Watkins and James are relatively unknown but have raw talent, James has so far earned the coaches trust.
Rourke and Colby are developmental pieces and only Bergen has not made the grade so far.
Its still too early to grade but what a home run draft so far. Saved the Niners bacon this year.
It seems like when Collins and West are in the game, we are much better against the run. Collins will even get a little pressure on the QB now and then.
I think that’s why Miami wants to talk to 3 of our top scouting guys.
Colin Cowherd said Saleh kept the defense together with Bondo and duct tape.
If D Robinson has a game against Seattle like the the Eagles he will replace Pearsall! That is my prediction, especially if Pearsall does not play in at least 15 games next year.
Robinson is 31. He’s not a long-term guy.
A lot of sports analysts think Kyle should be considered for coach of the year.
Respectfully disagree with them. I think Shanahan still has a lot to prove. Specifically, as AK pointed out over a week ago, Shanahan was 1-38 going into the 4th quarter trailing. Now, he is 2-39 . . . Meh.
In my mind, he is a brilliant coach, but ONLY if his “scripted” game plan works out. Throw a little bit of chaos into the game, particularly late in the game and he has few answers. Okay, that’s looking backwards – I hope what I wrote is not “his future” and he can bring us a Superbowl win 9 seasons at the helm.
*after 9 seasons at the helm.
My guess is Vrable(sp). What he has done with the Pats is phenomenal. And that will be guaranteed if they win the SB.play calling this year
Shanny has done a way better job of play calling this year. But he didn’t call the play where Jennings tossed the TD Kubiac did. And pretty much everyone knows that without Saleh we wouldn’t be here.
Salen had me very angry in the 1st half when the defense yet again gave up a 3rd and 15 (well, 14 yards and a tush push) playing soft zone and dropping the LBs.
Saleh gets a LOT of kudos though for changing up the defense to start the 2nd half. Barkley went 15 carries for 81 yards on the ground after the 1st drive of the 2nd half, and only had 10 carries for 25 the rest of the way. Saleh showed a lot more 5 man fronts, threw in a couple zero blitzes, and he showed a lot of 6-7 man fronts. Not really sure why the Eagles stopped attacking us deep. If not for the drops, the game would have been different. And shit was working pretty well. That’s on Sirianni and whoever calls their plays.
Shanahan’s biggest adjustment was getting Juice involved a lot more for checkdowns. And Demarcus Robinson finally had a big game. Maybe Shanny got in Purdy’s ear after that Seattle debacle, but those checkdowns to CMC and Juice got a lot of yards. Coach of the year? Pretty sure Shanny couldn’t give a fuck.
Maybe Saleh finally trusts his LBs to make the right reads and is giving them more responsibility. They sure did move closer to the line in the 2nd half. And they really played well down the stretch. Wallow had 11 tackles and Kendricks 10.
A vast improvement over the Seattle game.
Getting Wallow from the Broncos may be the biggest steal of the season.