Forty Niners Forever

Here we are at the halfway mark, and the bye week, and the 49ers are fairly flying. 5 double-digit victories in a row, Stifling defensive performances, and a punishing run game has put the Niners back in the Super Bowl chatter. Sure, the competition hasn’t been among the elite, but you play the guys in front of you. The point being, the team came out of training camp pretty beaten up, and they have weathered that after a couple real bad games vs Seattle and Indy. Games where Harbaugh uncharacteristically ditched the run game despite all the injuries to the wide receivers, and lost games that were both decided late. Games that should have been more in line with how they usually play. And that’s the power running game behind Frank Gore.

So, the good news is, Vernon Davis gets a chance to heal his tweaked hammy. Kappy’s foot has healed up from his injury in the Green Bay game. Quinton Dial was recently activated from the PUP list. Tank Carradine as well. Soon to be followed by Mario Manningham and Eric Wright. The team has established their run game, and has managed to at least wean Bruce Miller into the passing game as an option rather than Boldin or VD. This means the team is getting healthy and will be getting fresh players to add depth and strength for the few remaining tough games down the stretch.

The obstacle of course is the Seattle Seahawks. A team that managed to win a game last night despite 138 yards of total offense. A team that could very well be a game behind the Niners if not for a Deangelo Williams fumble, a Matt Schaub pick 6, and a thrashing at the hands of the Rams yesterday. Woulda shoulda coulda I know, but Seattle is winning these games on the road, and that isn’t good. However, they are just now getting hit with injuries. Harvin isn’t back yet, but more importantly, they lost tackles Russell Okung and Breno Giacamini. It was very apparent yesterday when Robert Quinn and Chris Long both had 3 sacks. And Sidney Rice is out for the rest of the year with a knee injury. So an offense that is sputtering may have yet another injury to overcome.

Unfortunately for SF, Seattle has the Bucs, Falcons, and Vikes coming up. Since only the Falcons are on the road, they will likely win those 3 before getting Nawlins at home. A toss-up. The Niners have the Panthers here, then NO and Washington on the road. Not an easy task. The hope is the Niners are one game back when Seattle comes to town. Sea will likely be 10-2 at worst when they come to town. The Niners will have to beat a tough Carolina team, and win in NO as well as Washington to keep pace. The Rams come here, and while they are a fast defense, the Niners should be able to outscore them. Losing to NO on the road looks like the one they drop. So, at 9-3, that would set the stage for the Seattle showdown.

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, The Clash. Notably for the Elvis homage album cover.

Anyhow, the Niners are getting ready to tilt with the Jacksonville Jaguars in jolly old England. Jax is one of two teams without a win. The other being the TBay Succaneers. A team that gave up early and laid down like licked puppies tonight in a blase effort guaranteed to get head coach Greg Schiano an early start on the end of the season.

Jacksonville, on the other hand, well, the same hand, isn’t really providing anything resembling solid football. They are last in offense, last in scoring, 28th in defense, last in points given up, last in point differential, and last in rushing yards allowed. Needless to say, the hope is a quick painless win that allows the team to heal up for the bye and the and 2nd half push.

I’d expect to see running, running, and more running. Shove these guys out of the way and beat them down early. Bring in as many 2nd stringers as possible (hello Colt McCoy), and auto-pilot this bitch to victory. I know, on any given Sunday, blah blah blah, but really. A loss to this team would be a huge blow. To our playoff hopes, and to our psyche in general.

Put these kitties down and roll to our 5th win in a row. 6-2 at the break was about what I hoped for at the start of the season, and this would fall right in line with that.

How Tennessee missed out on that team name escapes logic. I think it won the naming poll by over 40%. 2 huge things in its favor. Everyone like penguins, and Don (Maxwell Smart) Adams was the voice of Tennessee.

Anyhow, The Niners played a very solid game yesterday. Well, until the end when they went super conservative and let the tit’ns back into it a little. They were up 24-0 entering the 4th quarter, and they let a big play happen off an innocuous screen play that may or may not have been illegally blocked. Still and all, though, a game that was never in doubt as the defense kept Chris Johnson and Jake Locker from doing any serious damage until late in the game. Standouts were Anquan Boldin and his two spectacular catches among the 5 for 74, VD and his solid effort of 4 for 62, Frank Gore had 70 on the ground, and 34 in the air, including (gasp!) a screen play that went for 29! VM even made a great catch on a tipped pas at the 1 ayard line to set up the 2nd TD. Kappy ended up a very efficient 13-21 for 199 yards + 68 on the ground, including a 20 yard scamper for a TD on 3rd and 7 to close out the 1st half. A definite knife in the heart of Tenn. Especially when the Niners took the 2nd half kickoff on a 14 play, 79 yard drive that ate 7:35 of the 3rd quarter to put the Niners up 24-0.

The defense had a lot of big plays, including Tremaine Brock’s pick on a deep pass by locker, 2 sacks by Justin Smith (and 1 by Ahmad Brooks), and constant harassment of Locker in the pocket. Out of Tenn’s first 8 drives, 6 ended with punts, one was an INT, and one FG. Tenn got yards, but no points. Til garbage time. One of the biggest plays however turned out to be a beautiful hit by hitherto unknown special teamer Darryl Morris on Darius Reynaud that he fumbled and was recovered bay Kareen Osgood in the end zone for a huge ST touchdown. Morris was all over the place on punts and KO returns, one KO he pinned Tenn on the 9 yard line.

All in all one of the Niners most consistent efforts. Albeit, I didn’t like the way they turtled in the 4th quarter. Still and all, a good road win, especially when you look at how Seattle struggled with these guys at home the week before. The offense is hitting bigger plays with a little more consistency, and the run game is still keeping defenses honest. As a proponent of ditching the read-option early in the season, I think they’ve struck a good balance with it. Using it instead as a surprise rather than an every-possession (or even every set of downs) play. I’ll admit to be wrong about that, even though I was right. Right?

Or, Highyway 61 Revisited. The Niners are gearing up for their longest road trip of the season. A trip to Tennessee, Youngstown, and then Jolly Old England. They won’t be playing at home for a little while anyway, as the bye week follows the trip overseas.

Speaking of crossroads, we’ll see if the 49ers can do something that still hasn’t been done since Jolly Roger Goodell started these yearly jaunts to Wembley, and that is to win the game previous to the trip, and win the game in England. There’s still a lot of question marks around this team as it struggles to find its way offensively. The good news is Mario Manninghamis closer to being activated, likely after the break. Quinton Dial has been activated to shore up a defensive line decimated by injuries. The run game has been stellar lately, but this hasn’t translated into huge success for the passing game. Which hasn’t looked great since week one. Still and all, not a big problem if Kappy can hit the big play when the opportunity arises, as he did with VD last week.

The defense has been wreaking havoc by generating turnovers these past few games, and it very well may have saved the team an embarrassing loss to AZ with the strip by Patrick Willis on Larry Fitzgerald as the Cards were driving to take the lead.

The Tits on the other hand have been sagging in recent weeks due to Jake Locker’s dealing with hip and knee injuries. Ryan Fitzpatrick has not rallied the troops, and has engineered. 2 game losing streak for them. Locker has been named the starter for this game, so the he is we get after him and hit hi early and often. For once I’d like to see the defense come out blitzing and generating tons of pressure instead of our usual base package til we see what’s going on defense.

Bottom line is, this is a game the Niners should win. Tennessee isn’t that great at any aspect of the game. A couple quick strikes and a couple long drives should harness these Tits handily.

In what should be a wipe-out, the Arizona Cardinals are hosting the Seattle Seahawks tonight in the big cactus. If anything, an interesting showdown between the possible Super Bowl representative from the NFC against the semi-surprising upstarts from the desert. It’s a given that Carson Palmer is struggling as he’s 18th in yards per game, and 31st in QBR, with 7 TDs and 11 picks. More interesting though is how poorly Russell Wilson is doing so far this season. He’s 28th in yards per game, 16th in completion percentage, 23rd in attempts, yet has a decent 92.6 rating, with 8 TDs and 4 picks. Good enough for 9th.

Seattle’s offense leans heavily on their run game (sound familiar?). They are 2nd in the league in rush yards per game, 10th in overall yards per game, and 8 in scoring. AZ is a distant 26th in yards per game, and 25th in scoring. By comparison, the 49ers are 4th in rushing yards, 23rd in yards per game, and 13th in points per game.

Defensively, Seattle is tough all around. 2nd in yards against passing, 11th in yards against rushing, 2nd overall in yards against, and 3rd in points allowed. AZ? 19th (surprisingly) in yards against passing, 5th in yards against rushing, 15th overall in yards against, and 12th in points allowed.

Az played better than I thought they would, and I certainly thought the Niners would get more pressure on Palmer, and I foresee Carson getting planted a few times, but I think AZ may hold serve against these guys. Seattle has proven to be much less imposing on the road, and AZ is always tough at home. Give Palmer some time, and he can do some damage. Still think Seattle wins though. Got to make the case . . .

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.