Forty Niners Forever

My son and I get 1.5 seconds of air time.

What’s the word? Thunderbird. What’s the price? Thirty twice . . .

Anyhow, took my son to the game yesterday, and it couldn’t have been a nicer day. Until the Niners started leaving opportunities all over Bill Walsh field. Their first three trips to the red zone, two courtesy of Carson Palmer, netted a grand total of 6 points. A lead that evaporated in an overzealous play by Tremaine Brock (I think) going for Palmer’s 3rd pick of the day instead going for a 65 yard touchdown. The 1st quarter seemed to last forever. But once the Niners switched sides, they seemed to get going. To the 2, when Kappy threw a pick that I didn’t learn til I got home came on a tipped ball. Miller was open, and Kappy would have hit him had it not been blocked. That was the story for much of the day. Palmer missing guys wide open, and Kappy struggling at times with his accuracy as well.

The defense had 4 turnovers, but again, the Niner offense had a terrible stretch when after the bomb to VD putting the Niners up 22-14, had the ball at midfield and the 2nd quarter winding down. Instead of putting the game away, and taking advantage to start the 3rd quarter, Kappy fumbled the ball away on 2nd and 1, and AZ forced a 3 and out to start the 2nd half. AZ marched down the field and scored with relative ease, but inexplicably went for 2 early in the 3rd quarter. Way too early in my mind to be leaving points on the field. They didn’t convert, and the Niners had another shitty possession highlighted by a 32 yard run by Gore. After another fumble by Kappy, an incomplete pass, and a false start by VD, the Niners daringly tried a power dive with Gore on 3rd and 16 for a -4 yard run by. Again, way too early in my mind for Harbaugh to go ultra conservative.

With the momentum fully on the Cardinals sideline, and the Niners clinging to a 22-20 lead, the Cards were driving and were in FG range when Patrick Willis made the play of the game by knocking the ball out of Larry Fitzgerald’s hands for a fumble that was recovered by another defensive standout, Eric Reid. Again, when the Niners switched direction to start the 4th quarter, the offense took flight. Well, took to the ground. The Niners grinded out (or pounded the meat, in Jim Harbaugh’s words) an 18 play 89 yard drive than ate up nearly 9 minutes of time. That pretty much cooked the birds and the rest was merely running out the string for a decent if unspectacular win for the home team.

The Niner offense continues to worry me as it hibernates for long stretches. With great field position, they did nothing. Their first 1st down came with 1:10 left in the 1st quarter. On an offsides penalty no less. Arizona is a fast team, and they kept Kappy on the run a lot of the time. No one was getting open most of the day, except for VD. AZ rolled their safety to Boldin’s side a lot, and Kappy did look the safety off real nice on the 2nd TD to VD, but the passing game had a lot of misfires. McDonald, Dixon, Miller, Baldwin, and Williams all caught a pass. I guess that’s improvement. Boldin caught 3, but VD was the guy who got open repeatedly to the tune of 8 catches, 180 yards, and 2 TDs. 7 and 171 came in the 1st half though, as Kappy spread the ball around some as they doubled VD to open up the 2nd half.

The run game was a grind, as Gore was often hit at the line or behind it. The Niners did wear down the AZ D line by the 4th quarter when they salted the game away. I know we have weapons ready to help out, and our D line took a couple more hits when Dorsey went down with a hamstring injury, and Jerrod-Eddie went out late in the 3rd. I think his injury was merely a cramp, but I’ll have to check. Overall? A good game against an opponent that looked better than they should have. They pass rush was non-existent except for the safety by Lemonyay. Palmer looked like shit, but still managed to get AZ back into the game in the 3rd quarter, and were driving to take the lead when Willis caused the fumble to turn the tide. Their run game did some damage of its own in the 3rd quarter as AZ fought to get back into it. But a win is a win is a win. Seattle struggled themselves with the Tennessee Tuxedos, so we’ll see how we hold up in their house.

With the tough part of the schedule over, the Niners need to fatten up on their next few opponents. This starts with the Arizona Cardinals, A team that has lacked a QB since Kurt Warner got them 34 seconds away from a Super Bowl championship a few years ago. And been pretty much an atrocity since the Bidwell family took ownership 50 odd years ago. And a team that lacked any sense of style by naming itself after the baseball team it shared a city with. Really? Can’t come up with an original name? Bad form.

Anyhow, while the Niners wade through injuries and rehabs and likely suspensions coming down the line, they need to take care of business at home today. Patrick Willis is still a game time decision, VD is coming back to strength, and Justin Smith along with a bunch of others are nursing various maladies. Tank Carradine is close to being ready, as is Mario Manningham. These guys can’t get here soon enough with the state of the D line and WRs in varying states of thinness. Still and all, the defense did well against the Rams and Texans, giving up a short-field TD in the Ram game and no TDs in the Houston game. AZ isn’t exactly an offensive juggernaut, but I don;t k ow too much about the deal with them. Carson Palmer seems to be doing better than how he did in Raiderland, but other than that, I got nothing.

Scored a couple tickets to the game as well. Stub hub, and I got ’em for $40.00 under face value. On the 45 no less. Looking forward to it.

Game 6 is arriving, along with a flock of mangy birds. The Cardinals come to town on a bit of a surprising roll. They are equal with the Niners at just past the 1/4 pole with a 3-2 record, which includes a loss to the Rams but a win over Detroit, and a shellacking at the hands of N’Orlans. So, where does that leave the Niners? Well, they’ve had a tough schedule so far, and they’ve managed to come out battered, a bit scarred, and in some legal trouble. Aldon Smith may become the forgotten superstar in the very near future if he doesn’t get some sense into his head.

VD is getting healthier, and Patrick Willis says he feels ‘great’ after Wednesday’s practice. He’s not 100% but he feels he can go. As with last week, a game-time decision. This game is kinda hard to figure. The Niners should be able to stomp these guys at home. But teams that have done what they can to stop the run have fared pretty well. I don;t think their defense is near a good as Indy’s or Seattle’s though. Surprisingly, AZ is 22 against the pass, and 6th against the run. I think they stop the run so well because teams are lighting them up through the air.

I don;t know. I haven’t seen them play at all this yer, and really Ichabod Palmer is their QB? He’s been sacked 12 times, which is a vast improvement over recent AZ teams, so they must be doing something good up front. Still and all, AZ is 23rd at rushing, and 22nd in passing, 27th overall. Consistently mediocre. Not that the Niners are blowing doors offensively, but they are 6th in rushing at least. Both these teams rely on their defenses to keep them close. The Niners are 8th yards allowed, AZ 16th. However, AZ is half a point better at points allowed at 19 per game.

Frankly, this game should be treated much like the Green Bay game. Air it out early and often. Let’s try to generate a passing game that doesn’t look like the 5 yard out/WR bubble screen offense of 3 years ago. Time to just see if they can get Baldwin to go deep and go after the ball. Yes, we are going to run. But I want to see some shots downfield. This safety first offense leaves little to be desired. Take some chances to at least show that you can.

UPDATE: Apparently the Niners are in trade talks with (surprise) the Browns over the services of WR Josh Gordon. A very talented but character-lacking wideout. Taken as a supplemental pick in the 2nd round, he’s likely cost the Niners their Alex Smith 2nd round pick.
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Well, in what I thought would be a hard-fought battle for legitimacy as a bona fide playoff contender among a couple of underachieving teams turned into a laugher as Matty Iceberg struggled mightily at the muddy confines of Candlestick Park. The game got off to a rousing start as Schaub;s first pass of the night was returned for yet another pick 6. Matty’s 4th game in a row with a pick 6. Houston is 1-3 during this ignominious streak.

The game didn’t get any better for Matty and Co. as the Niner defense did a good job of containing Arian Foster and we nullified their passing game. Tremaine Brock, he of the pick 6, had another pick that was almost a 2-fer for him. His downfield coverage was excellent, and Tony Jerrod-Eddie got his Ninersforever bump with a pick of his own.

The offense? Well . . . The good news was they had a short field most of the night, and cashed in on their opportunities. Kappy had a great opening drive, taking the team 65 yards with 3 third down conversions. The other drives were of the short-field variety. 32, 11, 39, 69, and 2 yards. 64 yards of the 69 yard drive of course was the TD to VD. The run game again looked strong. Against a good defense no less. The passing numbers were anemic, (6-15 for 113 yards and a TD), but again, the fields were short, and the opportunities were taken advantage of. They sputtered in the middle of the game, but still got points, so take that as you will.

Winning 34-3 against a tough team is a good thing. Sure, there needs to ba a little more consistency on the offensive side, but all in all a great effort against a very highly rated defense. It’s tine for this team to rattle off a few decisive victories.

This is another one of what they call statement games. The 49ers are facing a very pissed off Houston team who on the face of things could be 3-1. They pissed away the Seattle game last week, their QB is under fire for fading in the face of adversity at the end of games, and the end of seasons, and the head coach went all Mad Mike Martz last game to play his part in the stupidity.

The Niners? Well, they are at home. They are supposed to be an elite team. This game was marked as a win before the season started. These home games are usually supposed to work out in our favor. The problem is, this team has looked anything but elite in the face of strong defenses. Seattle and Indy silenced this offense pretty easily. So, it’s time for this team to make a statement, or be exposed as a team that may have rested on its laurels this last offseason. Lose another at home, and this team is in big trouble. Gone will be the division, and they likely are looking at 4-4 at the break, and losses to the Saints, Hawks, and Falcons would be the least of the troubles for this team. 9-7 would be the likely outcome, if not worse.

Win the game, and a semblance of balance is restored to the team. They need to prove to themselves at least that they can beat a quality team at home. Even with the win they are going to find it hard to win the division without some help, and a home win against Seattle. A game a couple months off, but ooming large on the horizon. For the time being at least. Hence the title of this thread. This team has a chance to prove to itself, and the NFL, that they ARE bona fide contenders, and not pverhyped pretenders. All the commercials, accolades, back-patting, and media fawning can come crashing down on this team very quickly. As we all know, the NFL is paved with one-hit wonders, and teams that have fairly quick shelf lives. I think this team is built for the long haul, but with the mercurial nature of our head coach, and the general idea that it doesn’t take much to get knocked off the pedestal (just ask the NY Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers), and you have a recipe for backsliding.

Note: Just saw on the NFL channel that Patrick Willis is a ‘greater than 50-50 chance to play tomorrow’ per Vic Fangio. Joe Staley is fine for tomorrow, but still and all this game worries the shit out of me. Time to play big instead of small.

Wow. Quite the week for the Houston Texans. Fans were seen burning Matt Schaub jerseys outside Reliant Stadium after the Seattle loss last week. This after Schaub’s 3rd pick 6 in 3 weeks. The last of which pretty much handed the game to Seattle, as it came with 3 minutes left, and Seattle pretty much DOA on offense that game. It was a dumb throw on 3rd and 4. If he takes the sack, they punt and Seattle gets the ball at the 20 or inside. Instead, the score is tied, and all the momentum shifts to Seattle. He also threw a pick 6 in the win over the Titans, and the loss to the Ravens.

Gary Kubiak responded by backing Schaub down the line (for now), and the team had a players-only meeting today, ostensibly one would think, to support for Matty Iceberg. The point being, Houston is coming here with a major chip on their shoulder, and they are pissed off. 2 losses in a row, and their QB on thin ice does that. The turning point in the game to me was when Brian Cushing went out with a concussion in the 2nd half. Russell Wilson had big gains on the run, and the pressure dwindled. Seattle got their 1st score after he went out. Still, the Texans had the game in hand til the pick 6.

So, where does that lead us? Well, these guys are going to come out playing with a little extra giddyup, I’d think. Their asses are hanging in the wind if they come back 2-3. They have a strong run game with Arian Foster, and Matty Schaub can throw with the best of them, given time. And therein lies the key. If there ever was a game where we need to get pressure on a QB, it’s this one. Schaub is accurate when given time, and did a pretty good job against a very tough Seattle defense. For the most part. Lynch had to fight for every yard, and Wilson looked like shit through the air against JJ Watt and co. This could be a very tough day for the Niners on both sides of the ball.

It appears at this point that Brian Cushing is a game-day call. He participated in ‘light’ practice this morning, but has to pass all the protocols to hit the field Sunday night. The Niners? Staley is back, and he’ll be lined up against JJ. That’ll be worth the price of admission alone. The rest of the team? Man. Who knows? It was good to see the run game working against the Rams, but they suck. I keep hoping for some adjustments by the coaches regarding using a quicker passing attack, and getting the plays to the line and going much faster. Lynch had some success running, but they were hard-fought yards. Wilson was 12-23 for 123 yards and a pick for a 49.7 QBR. Given the state of our WRs, I don;t hold out a ton of hope for a breakout performance by Kappy.

Still and all, this is a statement game for the 49ers as well. They’d better take care of business at home, or they will seriously be hurting for the division. Yeah, it’s early, but losing this game and another tie breaking scenario with Seattle hurts their playoff chances. The wildcard is a far-off concern, but if the team continues to struggle against good teams, especially at home, this could be a quietly desperate season for the Red and Gold. In my mind it would definitely hurt the status of one Gregg Roman. This offense shows very little creativity in the passing game.

In a revolting turn of events yesterday, the Houston Texans snatched defeat from the jaws of victory after beating Seattle on all sides of the football. Matt Schaub threw one of the most ridiculous passes known to mankind with 3 minutes left. After Houston’s Jon Joseph picked off Wilson with 5:40 left in the game, and facing a 3rd and 4 from the Seattle 40, Schaub tried to hit TE Daniels by throwing across the field while moving backwards. He floated a dying quail that was easily picked off by Sherman for a pick 6. This tied the score in what was an otherwise dominating performance by Houston’s defense. Wilson was harassed all day and was held to 12 for 23, 123 yards and a pick. Marshawn Lynch had his usual tough day, running for 98 yards, but coughed up a fumble early. Wilson did spark the Seahawk late by scrambling for a ton of yards, including the 4 yard scramble on 4th and 3 from the Houston 7. A pretty big fail when you consider a couple guys had decent shots to stop him short. That made the score 20-13 and set up the later shenanigans.

This stinks for the local boys, as 4 games into the season, the Niners are already 2 games out of the lead for the division. This also makes the Houston game large in that we need to keep pace with Seattle for common opponents, and also, just to keep up with them. The galling part to this is Seattle could very easily be 2-2 with the Niners as both their road games were eminently winnable by both Carolina and Houston. The Carolina game was decided by a late fumble by DeAngelo Williams just as Carolina was nearing the end zone to take the lead late in the 4th quarter. And then the mush-head pass by Schaub to send this last game into OT. Lucky? Sure. But they made their luck by making those plays in crunch time.

The point being, Seattle is learning how to win on the road. Either by luck or by cruck, this is bad news for the 49ers.
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Also, in case you missed in on the previous thread, Twinfan, eminent 49ers and Giants fan, and blogger extraordinaire, is running a baseball playoff contest for a free computer. I’ll give the specs later, but the entry is free. You don’t even have to take the computer if you don’t want it, but it is a bad-ass system with all the bells and whistles. Here are the details.

From Twinfan:

BTW, i’m having another contest for the major league postseason. Nice prize as always. Join in, you don’t have to accept the prize, you just can play for bragging rights. The contest details are at the link below and Craig will repost them this evening. the invitation is for all who post on chuck’s blog. He’s in. Snarkk and Flavor are in and several more. maybe i’ll do a comment here again next week.

The Post Season Contest

In a game that started pretty badly for the Niners, they managed to get it in gear and trounce the hornless Rams 35-11. Encouraging was the fact that the offense opened up once Frank Gore got some touches and the passing game started having some success for a few drives. The bad news? Well, it was the Rams. A team that seemed to be on the rise due to their 4-1-1 record vs the NFC West last year. These days, after ditching Danny Amendola and Stephen Jackson, thay are as toothless as a baby lamb. The defense is getting regularly shredded up the middle, and the Niners were happy to oblige. To the tune of 216 on the ground. 158 courtesy of Mr. Gore.

The passing game clicked for a little while as Gore loosened up the Ram defense. Kappy had some big throws to Boldin, and VD made a couple plays. Baldwin even got into the act. McDonald has been providing some nice catches, and the Niners were able to get Kappy going early by adding in some rollouts and quicker passes to get him in rhythm. It ended up working out.

The defense was shakey early, giving up a few too many 3rd downs, but settled down nicely as NaVorro Bowman had a game for the ages. Tremaine Brock had a nice breakup that Donte Whitner picked off. Whitner though handed an interception right to Tavon Austin for a big mistake. In the end though, the offense struggled in the 2nd half with a Gore fumble and a bunch of 3-and-outs. Still and all, a road in on a short week will be gladly taken by this team. Rest up and scheme up for the upcoming Houston game in 10 days. At least for this weekend, I’m a Texan fan.

Well, we are almost at the make-or-break point already in this young season. A loss to St Louis would put the Niners 2.5 (possibly 3) games behind Seattle, and leave them 0-2 in the division. Seeing as Seattle has 2 tough roadies coming up (Houston and Indy) and they are fairly crappy on the road, the hope is the Niners can pick up a game in the next 2 contests, as the Niners come home to play the 2-1 Texans after this game tonight. Playing on a short week couldn’t come at a lousier time, but all teams are getting banged up.

Here’s the Niners injury report:

Mike Iupati G Shoulder Full Participation Probable
Vernon Davis TE Hamstring Limited Participation Questionable
Frank Gore RB Knee Full Participation Probable
Carlos Rogers CB Knee Full Participation Probable
Nnamdi Asomugha CB Knee Did Not Participate Questionable
Jonathan Goodwin C Elbow Limited Participation Probable
Raymond Ventrone S Concussion Limited Participation Questionable
Ray McDonald DT Ankle Limited Participation Probable
Kyle Williams WR Rib Limited Participation Questionable
Justin Smith DT Shoulder Limited Participation Probable
Navorro Bowman LB Wrist Limited Participation Probable
Anthony Davis T Shoulder Limited Participation Questionable
Patrick Willis LB Groin Did Not Participate Questionable

Most concerning of course is the status of our linebackers. Willis is most likely out. Bowman looks to play, but I hope he’s at close to full strength. Frankly, Goodwin being out could be a blessing as he’s been part of the problems with the pressure coming up the middle. I wouldn’t mind seeing how Kilgore Trout handles himself at center. VD practiced, but again, he’ll be a game-time decision.

The things to watch for are obvious. Dallas ran all over these guys last week, so the Niners look to get Gore rolling. If Gore and co. can rattle off some big runs, the hope is the coaches can scheme up some effective pass plays. TE over the middle for example. Dallas carved up the Rams mid-range defense for a ton of yards as well. The Rams run game is non-existent without Stephen Jackson, and if the Rams make any noise on the ground, it’ll bode badly for the defense as their passing game is putting up good numbers.

All in all a ginormous game for the 49ers. The coaching staff has to do some major adjusting to how teams are now playing them. The passing offense is doing nothing at this point. They either need to scheme things differently to get guys open quicker (slants, screens), or actually USE their WRs in the 3-5 WR packages. Defenses are getting all 11 guys on or near the line to jam everything up at times. REACT! There is little to no route adjusting by the WRs. No hot reads. Or they are jammed. The run game has been abandoned too early in the last 2 games. The Niners beat a pretty banged-up Green Bay secondary, but they stopped our run game at the cost of everything else. Defensively, the pass rush has been vastly underwhelming, and curiosuly enough, the run defense has been terrible. But this is a case of Seattle and Indy going to the run late in their games when the defense was on the field all the 2nd half. The Niners need to generate a pass rush somehow. Especially against the Rams. We will likely be nickel most of the game, so draw up some blitzes. Hit Bradford early and often. Play up to your capabilities.

Gut-check, reality check, or whatever body part check you want to call it, they can’t afford to go 1-3 and expect to realistically have a shot at the division.

Well, here we are, already at the short week of the season. This couldn’t come at a worse time for the 49ers, but then again St Louis isn’t really rattling any windows with their season so far. They themselves are 1-2 after a close win over AZ, and 2 quick losses on the road to Atl and Dallas. I’m beyond weirded out by this 49er season so far and this game has all the look of being an abject disaster. The team looks utterly lost on offense and the defense cannot get off the field fast enough or stay off the field long enough. The offense cannot gain any consistency with the failure of these last 2 games to adjust to teams daring us to throw while the run game struggles. The Rams run game is basically nil, while their passing game is middle-of-the-pack. The Niners of course, after their epic start have cratered to 27th in total offense, 19th in rushing, 23rd in passing. On the defensive side, the Niners are 12th in yards given up. Especially galling is the fact that the Niners are 29th in rushing yards allowed.

So, the team that prides itself on running and stopping the run has done neither this season. And this leads to the multitude of problems that this team is having. Since the Niners can’t (or won’t) run, teams are teeing off and blitzing fairly regularly. The pressure is coming right up the gut. Whether due to Goodwin turning into a revolving door, or the Niners are simply trying to constantly block 8 with 7, Kappy is under pressure most every pass. Given the fact that the Niners still haven’t decided to give Kappy quicker passing plays to implement, or use the running game past the 2nd quarter, AND the fact that the WRs aren’t really helping things along, you have a recipe for the defense being on the field way too long. To the tune of -15:00 in both the Seattle and Indy games. One epic drive last weekend was a grand total of 12 seconds on three straight incompletions. Galling besides was the fact that the Niners gave up on the run after Gore gained 71 yards on one drive in the 1st quarter. Shades of Mad Mike Martz. Without those pesky TDs.

So, I’m at a loss to even wonder how this game goes. I have 0 confidence in the team right now. They don;t seem to know how to get out of their own way.

I heard Harbaugh talking on 107.7 this morning, and he says it’s gut check time. We need to see how the team handles adversity. That’s all well and good, Jim, but I’d really like to see how the coaches game plan differently to overcome the problems. laying this out as an execution problem is disingenuous at best. Harbaugh needs to make adjustments to protect his QB and to save his defense. If not, the whole season may unravel rather quickly. In other words, the curse of year 3. The last couple coaches (not named Tomsula) both met their fate when their 3rd seasons cratered.