San Francisco 49ers Forever

The 49ers finally get their 2nd game in the muddy confines with the Buffalo Gals, uh Bills. This is week 2 of the let’s play-all-the-NY-(NJ)- teams-in-the-league-in-three-weeks deal. Not sure if this is some kind of NFL record or something but I ain’t looking it up. The NY round-up got off to a rousing start with the shellacking of the J-E-T-S 34-zip. The D pitched a shutout, and the offense racked up nearly 250 yards on the ground. Fodder for Alex to take another load of shit for his performance, but whatevs, as my kids are wont to say. The Niners won convincingly and, at least to me, seemed to stress throwing longer passes to stretch the defense and open up the running game. If that was the plan, it worked. Smith didn’t connect as much as I would have hoped, but he didn’t make any mistakes, and had a good day. The mid-range passing game is a work in progress. This is Crabs’s 1st year in camp, and Manningham/Moss are still getting up to speed with Alex, so this would be a good game to keep this work up. The Minnesota game plan failed as all the underneath passing clogged the running lanes, there were few yards after the catch, and the Niners appeared out of synch. Can’t say enough about the D, so I won’t say anything. Other than they stifled the Jets. A team that laid 48 on these same Bills.

Buffalo spent the offseason retooling their defense. To the tune of $100 million on Not-So-Super Mario Williams. He of the 1.5 sacks 4 games into the season. So much for that. In their two losses to their AFC East rival Jets and Pats, they’ve given up 100 points. Does that mean we walk all over them? One would think. But then again, we should have beaten the Vikings.  Could this be a trap game for the Niners seeing as the New York Football Giants wait on the horizon? Possibly. but even then I don’t think this team will come out flat at home. I don’t see Spiller being that big a factor either. Ryan Fitzpatrick leads the league in TD passes, yet he leads the league in interceptions with 7. Seeing what happened with Minnesota, the Niners need to Shake up Fitz early and often. Something they didn’t do to Ponder and the Vikes. I’d throw some early blitzes in and really work on rattling Ryan. The Niners should prevail easily, 28-10.

Well, there you go. A shutout on the road, no matter who you snuff, is pretty good. The Niners came into Joisey and played very well. 200+ rushing, no picks, and a stifling defense demoralized and obliterated a very weak New York Jets team. 34-0 wasn’t even a true indication of what the score should have been. David (Wade Richey) Akers missed 2 FGs, and Cappy Capperson took a knee on the 2 yard line to close out the game (classy move BTW. No needless KO or additional plays to run. Just kill the clock). So, it could have been 50.

Encouraging to me was the fact that Manningham had a very good day. Smith and Crabs didn’t connect as much as I would have liked, but the game plan worked. Sending WRs on deeper routes opened up the running lanes. Even if they didn’t connect as much as they would have liked, the strategy was sound, and it spread the Jets defense out for Gore and co to run rampant. The pisser in the Minn game is how everything was too close to the LOS to open up the underneath passing routes, or to open up the run game. Lesson learned. The D came off one of it’s worst performances in the recent past to pitch a shutout. The Jets 1st drive was their best all day, and it netted them 24 yards.

Buffalo is next. At the muddy confines. If the Jets can plant 48 on these guys, and 0 on us, does that mean we score 96?

For real or not? Riding the accolades of last year, or living up to the preseason hype?

These questions, and more will be answered today, on As the Harbaugh Churns . . .

This SHOULD be a not-very-difficult game, but as we know, on any given Sunday.

touception

Or (Dennis will like this one) Seattle Screw . . .

Anyone watching the MNF game last night saw an example of what is wrong with the replacement refs in the NFL. They dare not make an unfavorable call in a hostile environment. When these guys started 3 weeks ago, they appeared to be to throw flags on any given play. Or they came up with completely weird interpretations of rules. 2 illegal blocking penalties on KICKING teams? Ball spotting problems, Not being able to count the number of timeouts used, missing a ton of false starts, on and on. The results weren’t greatly affected. Week 2 saw players taking a lot more chances and getting away with brutal hits. The 2nd MNF game saw a near riot on a fumble and subsequent recovery that was determined about 5 minutes after the fact. Alex Smith got a shot to the head while in a slide.

This past weekend saw even more brutal hits. DHB of the Raiders was knocked clean out on a play right in front of an ‘official’ who decided to eat his flag. Texans QB Matt Shaub lost part of his ear to a particularly nasty hit. At least it was called for a penalty. Yet, you have calls like Russell Wilson scrambling and getting tackled as he threw the ball. Roughing. Dashon Goldson hits a TE going over the middle with his shoulderpad to the TEs chest. Roughing. Sidney Rice facemasks and covers the eyes of the DB covering him, and the DB does not initiate ANY contact, yet gets called for PI.

And then we get the kicker. The last play last night. Waylon Jennings clearly catches the hail Mary pass and clutches the ball to his chest while he falls to the ground. Golden Showers Tate has one arm near the ball while the other arm is clearly off the ball. No simultaneous possession. The back judge signals INT. The side judge signals TD. THEY were simultaneous. But they don’t matter. The players rolled around for another 45 seconds and Tate eventually ends up with the ball. I guess, based on this, that gave him the score. They did a cursory review, and if they couldn’t see the lack of possession by Tate then, why bother? Green Bay got screwed, and there isn’t a damn thing they can do about it. Even more funny is Tate blatantly pushed another DB out of the way before jumping for the pass. 3 refs right there to make a call, and they all ignored it.

In the end, this won’t likely have too much impact on the playoff hunt. GB should win their division and get in regardless, but Seattle gets a pretty big boost by this. They should be in the thick of the WC, if not the NFC West race, so this may end up deciding who wins.

Frankkly, I think this is the tipping point. This has already become a major issue. I mean Kim Kardashian tweeted about it. Goodie and the owners really have to stop and think about how flagrantly awful this makes the league look. The refs’ demands are seemingly a little out there for part-time guys, but when you look at the money everyone else makes, their piece looks positively miniscule. And, these refs are an absolute abomination to the integrity of the game. Word is 3 of these’officials’ were fired from the Lingerie Football League for incompetence.

Beyond the fact that it was an eminently interesting day in football yesterday, the 49ers seemingly forgot that there WAS football yesterday. After giving up a very easy scoring drive that burned 7:40 to lead off the game, and included a 3rd and 10 conversion, and a 4th and goal on the 1, the Niners sputtered their way to 3 points to start the 2nd quarter.  The Vikes then ran off another 6+ minute drive for a TD. Galling was the 3rd and 11 Minn converted with a short pass and run for 11. Then Ponder scrambled untouched for 6. Another decent Niner drive was halted by a blocked FG attempt. Minn added insult to domination by driving for a FG of their own to close the 2nd quarter. 17-3 Vikings.

2nd half almost looked good for a bit. KW led off the 2nd half with a 94 yard kickoff return. Unfortunately the Niners couldn’t get the additional 14 yards and settled for a FG. After the D forced a quick (and their only) 3-and-out, the Niners scored on their only sustained drive of the day. Ending with (gasp) play action in the red zone for a 1 yard toss to VD. At 17-13, the Niner D needed to stop the much maligned Vikes. Instead, they gave up another long sustained dink and dunk drive surrounded by 2 very questionable unnecessary roughness penalties and an imaginary holding call on a legal jam within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. The 4th quarter devolved into a 3 stooges affair as Harbaugh was granted a challenge without any timeouts, was given a timeout back, and was able to challenge again on the seeming 5 fumbles by ex- Harbaugh acolyte Toby Gerhart, and a bunch of other stupid crap.

By far, this is the worst game played by a Jim harbaugh led 49er team. They started out flat, and strayed away from what got them their first 2 wins. Control the line of scrimmage on offense and pound the run to set up the pass. Gore wasn’t given very many touches in the 1s thalf, and the offense sputtered. Defensively, the 49ers couldn’t stop the dink and dunk attack of Ponder and the Vikings. AP had a pedestrian for him 86 yards rushing, but Ponder had his 23 yards scamper, and Minn ended up with 146 yards rushing. Unheard of in recent memory. Percy Harvin and co took advantage of the underneath routes all game. The biggest problem I saw was since the WRs were running deep routes, it cleared the midd of the field for 5-8 yard passes. Since the safeties were off, they couldn’t provide help fast enough to prevent 1st downs. The Niners on the other hand DIDN’T run deep routes, which clogged up the middle for their short-range passing game, and thus didn’t get the 1st downs that Minn was getting.

Troublesome to me is the Randy Moss situation. He’s barely getting any meaningful time out there, and judging by his lack of effort on that crossing route, he may well be on his way to checking out. The amazing pisser is the fact that Moss got a 12 yard cushion EVERY time he went out for a pass. The Niners should have gone to that EVERY time. 8 yard out, 8 yard out, 8 yard out 8 yard out. Do it til they STOP it. Harbaugh sometimes seems to get caught up in his own cuteness with these jumbo packages and such. Again, what annoys me is the WR routes. I love the fact that they have more weapons. But USE THEM for God’s sake. Use them for more than 8 yard passes. The Niners barely ever stretch the field with deep sideline passes. Unless it’s VD one on one. Which is nice when they do it, but they need more than their TE for home runs.

So, all in all, a bad effort by every phase of the team. They were outcoached, outhit, pushed around by Minn’s O and D lines, and they had a special teams screwup in the blocked FG. The lone bright spot was Kyle Williams and his 2 kickoff returns for 144 yards. Taken by itself, a crappy game in a long season of football. How they respond to this will be a pretty big deal as they go to NY for their game with the J-E-T-S. Yeah. it’s a road game in a tough environment, but if ever there was a team that was ready to roll over to a superior team, thy name is Jets.

Stop AP and you stop the Vikes. Funny thing is, I think Ponder comes out throwing midrange passes to try and put the Niners on their heels.  Stopp Jared Allen and you comtain their D. This shouldn’t be too hard. This is game 3 vs an NFC North opponent. This should be win 3 vs an NFC North opponent.

Smith should go prety big today. Over 250? That is his high water mark. 250 in the air, 150 on the ground and all is good.

Or would you prefer “I’m looking California and feeling Minnesota”? There’s much media ado around Randy Moss returning to his old stomping grounds in the land of 10,000 lakes, but for the most part, Moss is merely trying to get ready for the game. He aknowledged playing with some great teammates in Minnosota, and was very happy to see Randall McDaniel and John Randle go into the Hall of Fame, and had nothing but good things to say about the organization. We’ll see how the fans treat him, but I’m sure he still has some fans out there.

Mike Florio, Mr. J-E-T-S lover himself, is trying to stir the pot by insinuation that Moss’ lack of significant playing time is irksome to Randy. Moss’ take is, it isn’t my call. Moss has been a big help to the young WRs on this team, has been a coach on the field during the preseason, and his playing time, while not a ton, will likely increase as the season goes on. He’s made some plays, and as appearances goe, he’s fully on board. I guess these media types feel like they need to make news instead of report it.

Roger Goodie Goodell is treading into really stupid territory with this ref situation.  Maybe the refs don’t deserve more for their pension fund, but really, the game last night was a debacle by any take on it. Last night was hideous. John Fox apparently got an unsportsmanlike call for screaming at a ref, yet the ref picked up the flag, no explanation was given either way, and the game went on. Later in the game, Matt Ryan was hit late by the Broncos, but the penalty didn’t come until 15 seconds after the play ended and the Atl sidelines were yelling at the refs. At some point in the near future a game will be blown because of a bad call. Someone will get seriously hurt and/or crippled, and we may see a full-scale riot between two teams out there on the field because these guys offer little to no decisiveness in their calls, and they often are swayed by the crowds they play in front of. Case in point was the Niner Packer game. There were 2 illegal blocks in the back on Cobb’s punt return yet the refs picked up the flag and offered no explanation.

The biggest problem, however,  is what Goodie Goodell himself has been preaching about for lo these 10 years. Player safety. Integrity of the game. Goodell can no longer even pay lip service to player safety after seeing what these players are getting away with. One of the more blantant plays was the 20 yard run that Alex Smith ran the other night. After gaining 20 yards and angling for the sidelines, safety John Wendling hit Smith directly in the facemask as Smith started his slide. Regardless of the fact that QBs are supposed to be protected when they slide, as Smith was attempting, Wendling hit Smith with his forearm directly at Smith’s head. The announcers barely made note of it, Smith was cut over his nose, and a penalty was called. Unfortunately it was for holding on Delanie Walker. I was a little surprised at the non-reaction by the 49ers, but it wasn’t on their sideline, so maybe they didn’t see it. The point being, if this had happened to Peyton Manning, and it resulted in a possibly serious or career ending injury, the repercussions would huge, and the impact to the impasse would be immediate. As it was, it was Alex Smith and it didn’t warrant even a mention. Total hypocracy in my book.

Integrity of the game? Please. The 1st quarter fumble which took 6 minutes to figure out was a complete joke. Players were grabbing refs and dragging them off the piles. Players were screaming at refs and barely acknowledging their presence. The refs had no control of the situation, and no one is really sure if they even got the call right. In the end ’93 red’ was penalized for something, and the game went on. No ejections and no repercussions for the melee.

I’m not to sure on what the refs even want. All I can tell is they want more pension money ($16 mill?), but Goodell is very blase to the matter. Why? Because for the most part, people don’t give a shit. They’ll watch either way. Until a big-name player gets carted off the field on a stretcher, or, say, the Cowboys have a call go against them that costs them a game, Goodell has no reason to resolve this. Until players start dropping like flies due to late hits or out of control situations, the sponsors won’t care because the fans will still come. But until someone like Tom Brady or Drew Brees gets knocked unconscious on a late hit that isn’t penalized, these hacks will be the ones deciding games and making calls.

So much for safety and integrity.

When the season started, my hope was a 1-1 start. I figured the Niners would play well but not quite win in Green bay, and they would take care of business in week 2. Well, here we are after 2 tough games, and they are 2-0. No mean feat against 2 tough teams. Again, Smith targeted the WRs for 10 receptions and 150 yards. VD added 5 catches for 73.  The running game clicked again, for 148 yards (Gore had 89 of them). So, the recipe I brought up last week came to pass. Somewhere around 25o passing and 150 rushing  will win games.  The Niners came out on fire, and quickly scored a TD on their first drive, and held Deetroit to 2 FGs. Another TD put the Niners up 14-6 at the half. After trading 2 FGs each, the game was coming down to crunch time. Detroit’s FG closed the gap to one score (20-12), and the Niners get the ball with 9:16 left. To me this is one of the best drives Smth has put together. 3 times, Smith converted long 3rd downs. 3 times Smith went to the much maligned (by me anyway) Michael Crabtree. They converted a 3rd and 7, a 3rd and 14, and a 3rd and 9. The 3rd and 14 was especially great as it was a 6 yard pass, and Crabs got sprung by an awesome downfield block by Frank Gore. Later in the drive, Smith floated a nice pass to VD on the chip-and-go route. He cleared the underneath coverage, and juked the safeties for the decisive TD.  Smith also made a nice 22 yard run, and nearly got his head taken off by Wendling for the effort. Forearm to the helmet? No call. Walker was called for holding however.

Detroit scored themselves later, converting on a 3rd and 17 of their own. Really the only terrible play by the Niner defense as Bell got about 55 yards after the catch. Later in the drive, the refs missed another terrible call as Terell Brown was picked by a WR and Pettigrew scored on the pass over the middle. Then, it just came down to a very curious onsides formation by the Niners as they didn’t drop anyone deep, and K Williams had to chase down the ball on the 25 yard line as Detroit’s special teams was chasing him. In a little bit of redemption for himself, he covered it with no problem. 2-0. The future is looking bright.

The feeling going forward is that these next two games should be pretty easy. The Vikes are a soft 1-1, and we all remember the last time the Niners went to Minnesota. So, at least for me, payback should be fun. A good stomping would be nice. Then we get the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. They absolutely crushed the supposedly tough defensive Buffalo team, and put up a 48 spot on them. However, they were grounded by the real defensive juggernaut in Pittsburgh. Another soft 1-1 team that on paper the Niners should win.

In other interesting news, the rest of the NFC West won some tough games in their own right. AZ beat NE in NE, The Seahawks spanked the Cowboys, and the Rams (who could very well be 2-0 themselves) beat the Redskins, aided by a stupid penalty by Josh Morgan.

And again, the NFL was rife with horrendous calls. The Ravens were burned on a non-existent PI call that cost them a score, there were two 2-minute warnings in an early game, Alex Smith nearly got his nose broken on a forearm shot directly at his head, and the Lions ran a pick play that was blatantly obvious and wasn’t called.  There were also a couple of PI calls that were imaginary as well.