Forty Niners Forever

Week 3 is coming up already and we are already into our back up QB, TE, WR, LG, and numerous other bump and bruises. Mac Jones comported himself pretty well and hit the plays he needed to as he threw 3 TDs and led the team past the New Orleans Saints. Jones missed some opportunities, and held the ball too long, which led to the fumble and sacks, but he got the job done in the end. He was a lot more safe than Purdy, but the big chunk plays were missing for the most part. As it was, a win is a win is a road win. Always tough in the NFL.

Folks say this schedule is easy, but there ain’t nothing easy what with parity and whatnot. Look at KC for a good example. They were on the winning end of 11 close games last year. Now? 0-2 as they can’t close out those same types of games. Seattle should really be called the Phoenixes as they continually rise from the ashes to be competitive. This year is no exception as they are a tough team that likely is in a dogfight for the NFC West. Or 6-11 last year could have easily been 11-6 with just a few flipped plays.

Which brings us to week 3 and the Cardinals. They have also eeeked out a couple wins against what is considered lesser opponents in the Saints and the Panthers. Thing is, the Panthers and Bryce Young (35-55!!!) put up 330 passing yards on them. That’s a LOT of throwing. NO and the Rattler threw for 215 yards on 27-46. Both outgained AZ and lost. The runs against were low. 102 and 86. But not sure if that’s because the airways were free and clear or AZ stuffed the run games.

AZ is one of those teams though that always seems to be a thorn in our side. They WILL try to run the ball, and John Connor plays us tough. Kyler? I don;t know. He’s a mobile threat, but we’ve been pretty good at containing him. His numbers are pretty pedestrian, but if you look at QBR and rating, the numbers are way off.

QBR, Murray is 18th at 56.3. Rating, he’s 9th at 101.1
Purdy? 7th in QBR at 78.8. Rating, he’s 15th at 92.2
Jones? 11th in QBR at 66.9. Rating he’s 5th at 113.1

Add the two together and low score wins?

Jones – 11 + 5 = 16
Purdy – 7 + 15 = 22
Murray – 18 + 9 = 27

I don’t even want to throw PFF scores in here as those are even wonkier.

This ‘easy’ sched sure isn’t looking easy. But still and all, these were two very strong games played by the defense. Games that last year surely would have been losses given how soft the defense played these last 2 seasons.

And it really isn’t anything spectacular that Robert Saleh is doing. It is mainly by identifying and attacking the opponent in crucial situations. 4th and 2 late, and we brought the house. It caused a strip-sack-fumble-loss-of down that ended the Saints challenge to take the lead.

The Seattle game was even better. 2nd and 5 from the 9 as the Seahawks were poised to take the lead late, we brought pressure and Nick Bosa forced the strip-sack-game sealer.

These scenarios all came up last year. And more often than not the Niners failed. One thing about Saleh is he does very well at making in-game adjustments. Norlins did well early running, so Saleh changed the fronts and slowed down their run game. But where the defense shined was keeping Rattler in check. For the most part. Color me impressed by the game he played. Rattler hit a lot of passes in very small windows, and hit on 3 TDs, and the coverage was fairly solid. But the Saints only got 207 in the air as most of the throws were check-downs.

Also have to say, Seattle looks like they will be on our heels all year. Their team is no slouch on either side of the ball, and they pretty handily took care of Pittsburgh in their house.

Well, we go off to N’Awlins for game 2 of this injury-plagued season. No Purdy, no Kittle, a banged up O line? No prob!

Still think we can pull this off. I’m thinking 20-9 or some shit. The defense will only improve as the season goes along, and this should be shake rattle and roll.

Hmmm. The season is starting out just like the preseason. Everyone is getting hurt. Purdy looks to miss at least the next couple games, if not the Rams game. Kittle is out for 4 more than likely as well. Jason Bourne is back on the team. He’s a nice possession guy.

That is the one I’m hoping for. Jac Mones or not, the 49er should be able to go 2-1 in the next 3, if not run the table. No, nothing is easy in the NFL, but NO, AZ, and Jax are definitely in the bottom 1/4 of the league. Trevor Lawrence notwithstanding.

These games as usual come down to the line play. Can we give the Moaner enough time to complete passes? Can we keep HIM healthy? Getting to the 3rd option at QB would be big trouble. Mainly because we don’t currently have one. Kyle Juice-chick, come on down!

Can the defense pitch another solid game? AZ always worries me, but they are a train wreck heading toward a mining disaster. None of these teams should see 6 wins.

3-1 and then the Rams, if not 4-0 if the defense shines and the offense goes mistake free.

I just hope the season ends like the preseason. With everyone getting healthy for the playoff run.

If not, we have a great shot at improving the O line next draft!

Well, they did it. Jake Moody was given his walking papers. And not minute too soon. After his usual struggles once again on the simplest of kicks, he was jettisoned and they signed back Greg Joseph. I know it ain’t that easy, but it also isn’t that hard. What sucks is a guy like Matt Prater was cooling his heels on the couch a week ago, gets a call from the Bills, and boots 3 FGs and 4 XPs to help Buffalo with their epic comeback.

I was VERY baffled by the pick when they made it. A 3rd rounder on a PK? And I was even more baffled they stuck with him after last year’s awfulness. Even though he was ‘rushed back’ due to his injury after getting hurt tackling someone. I was done with him after his first year and his Super Bowl XP failure.

Other than that, yeah, Purdy’s out for at least a game. Kittle is out for at least a month. Bartch is day-to-day with a sprained knee. Jennings is day-to-day with his shoulder.

I’m sure I’m missing 5 other guys who are hurt.

Holy shit. This game looked a lot like last year where we’d hang around, take the lead, lose the lead, screw up on special teams, and watch the defense sag and fail. Well, this game the Niners had a 38 to 22 TOP advantage, 384 to 230 yardage advantage, 72 plays to 50, on and on, it shoulda been a laugher.

But no, despite the stats, the 49ers were down 17-13 with 3:24 left. Purdy came up big on a 49 yard bomb to Pearsall on the last drive, and threw a very wild and dangerous TD pass to Jake Tonges to take the lead with 1:34 left.

Sam Darnold sealed the game by fumbling off his lineman’s butt under pressure from Nick Bosa, who recovered the ball to seal the game.

Lots of heroes and goats.

Good: The defense is light years better than the last 2 seasons. They won this game. Ricky Pearsall had a strong game. Purdy came up with the game-winning drive. Kittle was off to a hot start. CMC played very well, and wonder of wonders, Shanny spelled him with some strong running by B Rob. The Niners won! A game that we would have lost last year.

Bad: Defense was soft early. Purdy missed the LB not covering CMC when he fell down and that caused the 1st pick. He forced a pass into triple coverage. Kittle got hurt. 5 trips to the red zone got us 17 points. Shanahan once again HAS to hand the ball to CMC on 1st and goal. He does NOT grasp the concept of play-action in the red zone.

Ugly: Jake Moody. Jake Moody. Special teams. Kickoffs are a complete mystery as to how and where and what yard line the ball goes to. And Hennessey was blasted to oblivion on the blocked FG.

Despite the ugliness, the defense rounded into form as the game went on. Purdy ended up winning the game. On the Road. Against a division foe. And Shanny dodged a bullet for losing yet another close game.

All in all, most excellent.

It is hurt? Is it not hurt? Either way, the the calf, uh cat will be out of the bag tomorrow once the game starts, if not earlier. Not sure if this is gamesmanship on the part of the 49ers, or simply nothing, as CMC said himself yesterday, or a bigger problem like last year.

Hearing ‘calf’ send alarm bells in my head given the achilles issues, but hey, that’s me. Anyhow, this should be a good test for our offense. Regardless of CMC, Seattle has a soft interior line, so we look to run. Then again, Seattle has a solid run game themselves so they look to do the same.

Their defense isn’t spectacular in any stretch, but they are decent. We don’t know what we are on D. To win this game it may just come down to who makes the mistakes on offense. With or without CMC our offense should be able to move the ball. Red zone? Well, that’s where we missed CMC the most.

Seattle? They have Slinging Sourdough Sam Ginger Darnold. But they don’t have DK Metcalfe. We need to get on top early and pressure Darnold. He’s not gonna run like Wilson, or even Geno, so just force him to fuck up.

Niners 28-20. No fucking FGs.

And I fucking love it. Football is still my favorite sport to watch, no matter how hard they fuck with it. Kickoffs are still a mystery to me. And I bemoan the loss of the onside kick. That being said, just watched my first NFL Network season kickoff show, and the 49ers have fallen off the radar. Which to me is excellent news.

All the talk of course is about an old and washed Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh. He has got all the wonks wet in their chairs. Guess what? They will still suck. Rodgers is no answer to Pittsburgh’s offensive problems. Sure, Tomlin just might reach 9-8 to preserve that blessed winning season streak, but the fact remains they haven’t won a playoff game in 9 seasons. For whatever reason, their offense stinks on ice, and once they fall behind, they are doomed. Kenny Pickett? Russell Wilson? Justin Fields? Mason Rudolph? Nopes across the board. They are looking like the Bears of the last, oh 110 years in their desperate search for a quarterback.

The other orgasm-fest is the trade of Micah Parsons from Dallas to Green Bay. The talking heads all jizz over how this now puts Green Bay over the top and they are SERIOUS Super Bowl contenders now. Please. They wont even win their division. If ever a trade hurt both teams involved, it’s this one. Green Bay WAY overpaid for a guy who is 3/5 hype, and 2/5 talent. Generational guy? Ehhhhhhh. Parsons is a good solid pass rusher. Run defender? Nope. Can he drop and cover? Nope. 0 picks in 4 seasons. Consistent? Nope. The bigger the game, the smaller the output. Green Bay’s defense has been notoriously soft, and adding an end that provides no run support doesn’t help the cause. Jordan Love will spend most games on the sideline hoping he sees the ball eventually.

Dallas on the other hand has to do something with the two 1st round picks. But for now they are toast on a biscuit. Prescott is getting ungodly money to be a fairly pedestrian guy, and Jerry is Jerry, so nothing good comes from them this year. Except the relentless hype coming out of the media and Jerry Jerk-off.

It’ll be fun as fuck to see Philly beat the living shit out of Dallas. No love for the Eagles and the Sirianni Experience of dumb luck, but the made me happy beating the fucking Chiefs, and it’ll make me laugh to see Dallas go down in flames amid the perpetual hype machine that is Jerry Jones. _________________________________

Anyhow, here we are on the cusp of the season. What do you guys think? We have most of our team back from injuries. hild-outs, and offseason signings. JJ is in the house. The only big piece missing is Brandon Aiyuk. Ricky Pearsall looks to shine, and CMC is healthy, so there’s no excuse for this offense to be flat.

Purdy stands to look a hell of a lot better not having to chase the scoreboard all game. I mean we had better improve from 28th in points allowed. Right

I have us at what I originally thought a couple weeks ago.

12-5.

Our time is now. I think the Rams fall of the table, and I also think Deetroit does as well.

Another Old Fave. . .

T minus 5 days and counting before the season starts. Everyone is slowing crawling out of the training room, and the team is as healthy as it has been since I don’t know. 2021?

And wonder of wonders, Jauan Jennings calf magically healed itself as the 49ers were mulling over signing Kendrick Bourne to take his spot. At a much cheaper price of course. Leaving JJ with the option of missing the season, or quitting entirely. Neither of which he wanted to do. Whatever leverage he thought he had with all the injries in the WR room were pretty much vaporized by the spinning door of WRs that came and went at a dizzying pace.

Looks to me that they are set to move on from JJ. Unless he really does become the Super Bowl MVP he should have been (sob) a couple years ago. But we will see how things go with Ricky Pearsall, Demarcus Robinson (in 3 weeks), and BA, (eventually), rookie Jordan Watkins, and the Skyy Moore/MVS/Chosen practice squad guys.

As a 10 year old kid who was a huge Niners fan, this thrilled the shit out of me when I got this issue. Wish I still had it.

Here we are 54 years later, and I’m cautiously optimistic about this team. I’m positive was are gonna be worlds better on defense.

I’m fairly sure we are better on special teams, Moody Nick notwithstanding.

But I’m not sure what is going on with the offense. Between the injury bug wiping out the WRs and RBs, we’ve gone through a carousel ride of signings, IRs, waives, cuts, re-signs, suspensions, hold-outs, and injuries. And then there’s the O line . . .

The crack medical staff managed to re-injure both Jennings and Cowing, so they are off the books for a while. Aiyuk is looking at missing 4-10 games from last year’s knee injury. Robinson got suspended by the NFL Police Dep’t. and will miss 3 games. Both Watkins and Gage missed practice yesterday with knee injuries. So the depth there is thin even with Equanimeous St. Brown on the practice squad.

Hoping against all hope that Isaac Guerendo can stay healthy, although he’s been hurt 6 different ways from Sunday January 5th this year. As of now he is ready for opening day. Kiner was here, great, hurt, and now gone as he was waived off the IR list. Jordan James is back after missing most of camp with a finger injury. Patrick Taylor is out for the year after a shoulder separation. Wilson was signed and released.

The good news is that Dominick Puni is likely back for the opener in Seattle. Other than that, we are banking on both grizzled vet Trent Williams and the oft-injured Ben Bartch to anchor the left side of the line to stay healthy. Jake (where’s State Farm?) Brendel continues to be the matador at center.

This of course is my biggest concern. The best laid plans and all that can be undone in a hurry by injuries to our O line. I hope the neglect doesn’t bite us in the ass.