San Francisco 49ers Forever

Interesting day so far in the NFL. AZ (2-0) makes a pretty bold statement in beating New England in their house, and the Seahawks (1-1) are beating Dallas pretty good. The Giants nearly lost their 2nd straight to open the season, but rallied, and the Iggles rallied for a 4th quarter win themselves. The Siants may be Aints sooner than not. The Raiders are making me look bad in picking them for the division as thy puke all over themselves and lose to the Lowly Dolphins. But hey, if you have Carson Palmer on your fantasy team, he went 24-48 for 373 yards and a TD.  Which tells you all you need to know about how fantasy numbers apply to reality. Which is a lesson to be learned by a few around here. Chucking and ducking 50 times a game isn’t usually a sign that your team is doing well.

As far as the Niners and the Lions go? Wish I was there. Hey, should be a good one. . . .

http://instagram.com/p/PpwlckvtMM/

Apropos of nothing, that sure was an interesting game last night. All is right in pundit-land, and the world is safe for casual football fans now that Green Bay has destroyed the wannabe contenders, the Chicago Bears. You know, the team that gave away 2 1st round picks, and Kyle Ortron, for the services of one Jay Cutler. The guy that threw 4 picks last night. Sure, he was under massive pressure, but you look at a guy like Cutler, and a guy like Alex Smith, who gets 1/10 the national press that Cutler gets, and you see the disparity in reality where it comes to quarterbacking in the National Football League.  At least as of now.

Cutler is the gunslinging mad man who takes too many risks, and more often than not shoots himself in the foot while trying to lead his team to victory. He whines to the press, to his coaches, and to anyone who will listen about his misfortunes while Smith is the methodical plodder who moves the team downfield and gets some kind of points at the risk of throwing a pick. Cutler had the luck to start out with a coaching staff that was QB-friendly with Shanahan and Dennison. His 2 full seasons in Denver garnered a ton of yards and 45 TDs, but throw in the 32 picks, and you have a problem with finishing games.  Smith on the other hand has had a harrowing journey to respectability in his NFL. As of now, he’s still considered a game manager. He gets a little bit of credit for the GB win. Seeing how GB’s defense did against Cutler and Co. it gives me the thought that maybe Smithis better than the game manager he’s made out to be.

In the end, it’s all bullshit as Smith isn’t a media hound, and he goes about his business of leading the team quietly and effectively. Sure, it’s early, and sure, one of the knocks on Alex is consistency, but as of now, he seems to have a firm grasp of the concept that risking a turnover is much worse than taking the sack. Leading the team to any kind of points is better than throwing the needless pick. Even with that thought, last week’s game had to be a revelation for Smith, seeing as he threw 15 passes to his wideouts. Folks gain. poo-pooed his relatively paltry numbers, (211 passing yards), but the truth of the matter is, this team runs the ball very well. To go away from that would be monumentally stupid. Most teams out there would love to have the balance the Niners regularly show. 211 passing and 189 rushing? What’s not to like?

Oh, I get it. Fans these days are caught up in the fantasy football mindset. You have to put up gaudy numbers like Brees, Rodgers, and company. Funny, that. Rodgers is about the ONLY thing keeping Green Bay on the map. Green Bay WANTS to run, but the CAN’T. Well, not against us. They did OK vs the Bears. 109 ain’t great, but what did Rodgers do? A whopping 219. New England WANTS to run, and well, they did last week. If they can keep that up, Brady’s numbers won’t be so gaudy. But the team will be better for it. If Smith can consistently be around the 250 mark, and the run game gets around 175, this team will win the super bowl.

Well, the NFL in their infinite wisdom, scheduled the now famous Detroit Hand Shake Bowl II for week 2 of the schedule. to me the incident itself was funny enough. Jim Harbaugh was very excited about the win over a tough team on the road, overcoming deficits of 10-0, 13-12, and 19-15 and scored 10 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to win 25-19.  He ran over to little Jimmy Schwartz, and gave him a hearty handshake, a slap on the back, and a ‘hell of a game’ comment as he ran for the locker room. Poor little Jimmy took offense to the heartiness of it all. This of course after Schwartz ridiculed Harbaugh for a screwed up challenge, and his sideline antics of waving his fingers to the crowd to count off sacks by his team. It then nearly turned into a fight as Anthony Davis chased down Schwartz as he ran to yell at Harbaugh and the hilarity ensued. But you all know this.

The funniest thing to me was Harbaugh saying he shook Schwartz’s hand too hard. “I got right in there, and went BAM!” Pretty much Harbaugh’s way of calling Schwartz a pussy. No one played up that aspect of it, but that’s how I read the whole thing. The media wouldn’t let it go, but whatever. Flash to the here and now, and everyone is pretty much letting this fade to the background. Well, everyone but the media. They are billing this Handshakegate II, or whatever. Seeing as this is a nationally televised Sunday Night game, the intensity should be pretty high anyway. Home opener for the Niners. Let’s hope for no power outages. On the field and in the stadium.

Deetroit in their infinite wisdom, has started chirping already. Here’s what CB Chris Houston had to say about Randy Moss:

Moss is a “possession receiver.”  Houston added that he doesn’t think Moss can “take the top off” the defense.

Given Detroit’s problems in the defensive secondary, it’s not the smartest thing Houston ever has said.  Moss caught a TD in the 49ers’ road opening win over the Packers, so Houston shouldn’t give Moss any extra reason to try even harder to make an impact. Funny thing is, Houston is nursing a high ankle sprain and may not play. Safety Louis Delmas is also hurting (knee injury) and both could miss the game. So, egging on the opposition while nursing your owie isn’t the smartest course of action. Many Detroit players even admitted to looking past the Rams (which nearly cost them the game) to this home opener for the 49ers.

We took it to them in their house, and they want to return the favor. Yeah, we get it, guys. You are awesome at yapping to the press. Unfortuately for you, the game is played on the field. Harbaugh, for his part doesn’t want to talk about the handshake. He merely deflects the questions as if they are about preparations for Deetroit.  I think the Niners win going away, 31-17.

The 49ers have played a bunch of games against Green bay, and their outcome has been decidedly one-sided in recent memory. The 49ers have lost 8 straight at Lambeau Field. 6 regular season games, and 2 playoff games. Their last win being way back in 1990 in the last of Joe Montana’s healthy years as the starting Niner QB. GB’s QB was the semi-effective Don ‘Magic Man’ Majkowski, 2 years before Niner killer Brett favre joined the Pack.So it’ has been a while.

Enough about that. Yesterday’s game was a triumph of scheming by the 49ers coaching staff. The offense used it’s newfound WRs to great use. Randy Moss wasn’t on the field much (maybe 15 plays) but he had 4 catches for 47 yards, including a 14 yard TD (his 16th in Lambeau). Manningham had 4 catches for 29 yards. Crabs, 7 for 76 yards. the 15 passes for 132 yards to WRs is something the Niners couldn’t even dream of last year. Smith hit pretty much everything he threw, and ended up 20-26 and 211 yards, and no picks. Smith late in the game, passes Steve Young for most passes (185) without a pick. Frank Gore put his stamp on this game with tough runs all day. He sliced and pounded his way to 112 yards on 16 carries and one late TD.

The defense did very well themselves. In the 1st half, the Niners stuffed the run every try, and kept everything in front of them in the passing game. The Pack managed one good drive, scoring midway through the 2nd quarter. With the miraculous 63 yard FG by David (BOOOIIIIINNNGGG!!!!) Akers closing out the 1st half at 16-7, the Niners went into a scheme reminiscent of the Mike Nolan Big Sub days to start the 3rd quarter. They ran a 3-1-7 package that put their best player, Patrick Willis on the sidelines. The only linebacker in there was Navorro Bowman. It was effective through the 3rd quarter, as the 49ers built onto their lead with the 6 yard TD pass from Smith to VD, and the game was seemingly in hand.

That is, until the refs decided to give the Pack a gift TD. Barely 4 minutes into the 4th quarter, the 49ers punted from their own 14 yard line. Tex Cobb then took the punt 75 yards for a score. His reaction was classic as he then noticed a flag on the play. Replays showed at least 2 illegal blocks in the back. One on Larry Grant, and one on Anthony Dixon. Dixon said he was near the ref that made the call, and the head ref talked him out of making that call (ESPN got a chuckle out of it by saying none of the 6 illegal blocks were called on the play).  After the 2 point conversion, suddenly, the Niners were only up by 8. After a quick 3 and out (and a very questionable spot by the refs on Gore’s 3rd and 2 run), Green Bay had the ball back with plenty of momentum. That is, until Navorro Bowman snuck back into coverage on a pass Rodgers was attempting to throw over the middle to Grag Jennings and picked it off for a 1st down on Green Bay’s 23 yard line. Gore then took the 1st play from scrimmage around the right side for a 23 yard score, and the Niners seemingly in comand again at 30-15.

At this point, the Niners were rushing 3 linemen, and usually one DB or LB when they switched back into their 3-2-6 package. This drive, though, they only rushed their 3 linemen and dropped everyone else into coverage. Giving Rodgers time is a recipe for disaster, and he picked apart the secondary going 6-6 for 82 yards and a touchdown to James Jones in a span of 2:36. The Niners next possession started promisingly with a nice rollout and lob pass to Bruce Miller for 15 yards. However, after Gore rush for no gain, and a 7 yard sack, the drive stalled, and Green Bay had the ball, down by 8, with 3:37 left.

This drive started with the same scheme of only rushing the linemen. Rodgers marched the Pack to the SF 45 yard line, and the tension was ratcheting up. Finally, Fangio brought in more linemen and rushed 4 and 5 guys. This led to an incomplete pass with Rodgers under heavy pressure, and a sack to bring about 4th and 10. Rodgers went deep for Nelson, but the pass was batted down on excellent coverage by Chris Culliver. End of game.

All in all, a huge win by the 49ers. Given the opponent, the location, and the horrific officiating, the 49ers overcame a ton of obstacles. Two minutes into the game, I thought Jim Harbaugh’s head was going to explode after CJ Spillman was called for an illegal block in the back. Seeing as he wasn’t a BLOCKER on the play, and he pretty much ran down the field untouched, the call was beyond terrible. This was followed up by an unsportsmanlike call on Aldon Smith for taking his helmet off after sacking Aaron Rodgers. Thing is, Smith was kicked in the facemask during the sack, and Smith’s chinstrap ended up crunching into his nose. He took his helmet off to get the strap off his face. Harbaugh again tried to talk sense to the refs, but they would have none of it. Seeing how the refs picked up the flag on the obvious block in the back on the punt later in the game only made these non-overturns even more terrible. By the time they picked up that flag, Harbaugh was laughing on the sidelines.

If those awful calls had determioned the outcome of this game, there would be serious issues. Much like the Seattle game, where the refs game Seattle 4 timouts in the 2nd half to try and score late in the game. For wat it’s worth, the shit call didn’t affect the outcome, but it very well could have.

Great 1st half. We’ll see what happens now.

Or the ongoing struggle for relevance in the NFL. Is this the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning? There have been plenty of teams who hit the heady lands of the playoffs, only to come srashing back to Earth the next year. The 49ers APPEAR to be contenders, and not pretenders, but, as recent history suggests, we have travelled this road of being the so-called darlings of the NFL, only to fail miserably. That being said, the usual wonks are out there giving the 49ers little to none chance to win on the road in the temperate tundra of Green Bay.

Of course, the Niners can win. The Giants last year pressured Rodgers with their base 4 pass rushers and we.re able to get on top of Green Bay. But it is still a big early test for the 49ers. The defense needs to play tough, and the offense needs to be aggressive. They cannot afford to fall behind.

Game on.

Well, no, but hey, lots of people think this could decide the seeding for the playoffs. As in who gets home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. I don’t think it is this dire this early, and a LOT of things can happen between now and January. As it is, though, the Niners aren’t getting any love from the national media regarding this game. No one expects then to win. Except for Chris Berman. He’s saying 24-23 Niners, but he is a big Bay Area sports fan. I had the pleasure of meeting Berman at the 1998 Pro Bowl in Hawaii (you know, the one where Steve Grogan and Derrick Thomas got thrown out for fighting). Me and a couple friends made the trip and stayed in the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We threw our shit in the room, and went down to the outdoor bar. 5 minutes after we sat down, Chris Berman and his wife sit down at the table next to us. Of course we start talking football, and within 5 minutes we are all sitting at his table talking baseball. Funny thing is, he says he’s a huge SF Giants fan and really isn’t into football all that much. But he did say one of his biggest thrills was being on the field for the Catch game, when ESPN was barely off the ground. The guy was incredibly nice, and we sat there for about an hour and a half drinking beer and  shooting the breeze about the pro bowl, football, and mainly the Giants and how he really wanted them to win the World Series.

Uh, anyhow, back to the game. This would not be a season-killer to lose in Lambeau. Winning in Lambeau is a tough not to crack in the worst of times. Nowadays, with Aaron Rodgers and his high-flying offense, the task is even that much more daunting. The question for me is how does OUR offense look? The preseasonw was a mix of running, vanilla passing, and little imagination in the red zone. You know, a lot like last year’s offense. This year, however, we have much better WRs (the M&Ms), a better short-yardage guy in Brandon Jacobs (boy, did the NY GIants miss him the other night?), and some speed burners in AJ Jenkins and LaMichael James. Problem is, Jacobs, and LMJ are dinged up and may not play, and AJ may not suit up. Although Ginn is nursing an ankle, So I’d think AJ is in the lineup.

So, my key to this game is to get on top of GB early by being aggressive. Green Bay’s corners last year were sieve-like in their coverage. Tramon Williams and Charles Woodson are returning as the starting CBs. The ones who gave up nearly 300 passing yards per game. Worst in the NFL. The flip side of that is Woodson’s 7 picks, and Williams 5. They took a lot of risks, and were VERY-hit-or-miss with their coverage. Still and all, for all the yards given up, their DBs picked off 25 passes. I would hope to see Randy Moss get some substantial playing time, because he’s big and tall, and we need to see if he still has something to offer besides mentoring and teaching. Manningham is another big target, and I want to see this offense move the ball and score TDs.

Defensively? Well. If the Niners can get on top of GB, they can bring the house against Rodgers. NY did it fairly easily last year in the playoffs IN Lambeau. Pressure him, flush him from the pocket, and keep hitting theitr WRs.

Like I said 28-20 Niners.

Hey, why the hell not? Youse guys already got it started anyway. And, I missed this by a day becuase of Wednesday night football? WTF?

Who do you think wins this all? Takes the divisions? All that fun. The cream of the NFL crop seems to be shifting some, with the grudging addition of the 49ers to the so-called elite teams. The Steelers seem to be fading into mediocrity due to age and attrition. The Jets, (pretenders anyway) are sinking into the morass of their outspoken coach, moronic owner, diminishing talent, and the unholy spector of Timmy Tebow in their not-too-distant future. The Pats were on shakey ground, but they seem to be righting themselves, even after the near-miss hail Mary pass that ended Super Bowl XLVLXLVII. Perennial doormat Deetroit is trying to force its way into national prominence, but in a situation similar to the Niners, are getting little to no love from the national media. Frankly the defending champ Giants have been off the map due to Rex Ryan shooting his mouth off at any moment, and Timmy (I love me some me) Tebow hogging the headlines. Funny, but I think NY struggles mightily. Granted, we got a good look at their matador defense yesterday (ole!) last night, so the NY press should be calling for Coughlin’s head by October.

Be that as it may, divisions like the AFC West, the AFC North, and NFC East and NFC South have no clear cut winners, and either all the teams are good, or all the teams are questionable. Even the dogmeat NFC West has 3 teams with exceptional defenses that no team really wants to come up against.

So, here’s my call:

AFC East: Pats (duh)
AFC North: Ravens
AFC South: Texans
AFC West: Raydurrrs
Wildcard: Chefs, Bengals

NFC East: Iggles
NFC North: Vikings (kidding, Packers)
NFC South: Falcons
NFC West: Niners
Wildcard: Giants, da Bearsss

The playoffs? Well, let’s predict those when we get there.

Great thing is, this is a short work week. And countdown to kickoff has begun. In exactly 118 hours, the 2012 fotball season will start for your San Francisco 49ers.

Granted, this has been a bit of a curious preseason. All we heard about were the amazingly crisp passes from Young Sir Alex to all the new weapons on the team, from LaMichael James to AJ Jenkins to Super Mario to Randy (traffic cop) Moss to Michael (Softshell) Crabtree. Come (practice) game time, little to nothing was shown to the opponents, or worse yet, the fans. Sure, there are reasons for this, but still and all throwing 4 yard outs to Crabs has pretty much been established. Running on 1st and 20 has been shown. Playing it safe in the red zone. Been there done that. The run game looked goosd in a couple games (Minn, SD), and bad in a couple (Hou, Indy).  The defense pretty much followed suit. A couple good games, a couple ehh ones. Indy being the worst. Although they were hampered by injury and the blandness of the schemes Fangio was running.

Still and all, these games are tune-ups and there is little to take from these. Lest we forget the stellar 4-0 record Singletary amassed in 2010. He wasn’t about moral victories. Just meaningless ones.

Anyhow, buckle your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride . . .

Alex Smith made a token appearance in game 4 of the preseason (handing the ball off 5 times), but the afternoon belonged to Colin Kaepernick. He was 12/18 for 158 yards, and 2 TDs. But, more than that he looked smooth and confident behind center. He made short passes, mid-range passes, and a couple deep balls that he connected on. A J Jenkins (4 catches, 59 yards, 1 TD) got playing time vs SD’s 1st and 2nd units and did well, even running Ted Ginn’s patented flanker sweep for a 9 yard gain.

The 1st team (pretty much) defense gave up yards, but did create turnovers against Philip Rivers and co (who played a lot longer than I sure thought they would). Ex-punter Bruce McCann (McBath?) came in and picked off a ball on the 5 yard line to thwart a drive, and an earlier drive was killed by a nice strip by CJ Spillman on Antonio Gates. So, the nominal starters put up a 21-0 spot on the Bolts.

The rest of the game was backup city as Tolzein took a step back in his securing the #3 spot. Tolzein played nervous and unsettled while JJ played loose and easy. He was helped by a swing pass to Palmer that Palmer took 50 yards to the end zone.

In cut-down news, Rock Cartwright has been cut (thus sparing Anthony Dixon), and Colin Jones has been traded to Carolina for their 7th round pick.