Forty Niners Forever

The Niners go from 2 games in 5 days to one game in 24 days. Due to the vagaries of the NFL schedulers, the Niners have an 11 game break between the Seattle and AZ games, and a 13 day break before the Rams come to visit on 11/11/12. As of now, the Niners have a one game lead over AZ and Sea, and 2 games over StL. A win over AZ on Monday night would set this team up for an easier way to the division title, put some distance between us and AZ, and give the Niners a 2-0 division record as they reach the halfway point and their bye week.

So, what do the Niners need to work on during this down time? The Niners worked on their deep passing game, and it was very effective vs Buffalo, somewhat effective vs the Jets, and non-existent vs the Giants and Seattle. They looked great vs Green Bay and Deetroit, and flat and lost vs the Vikes and Giants. The run game is tops in the NFL at a 175 yard clip.Gore is still busting tackles and getting through the holes to the 2nd level effectively. The passing game has been a bit hit-or-miss. After the first 5 weeks, Smith had 8 TDs and 1 pick. Since then, however, Smith has 1 TD and 4 picks. Mainly from the Giants game and the 3 ints in that one. The defense has been all over the place as well. They couldn’t stop the underneath passing game of the Giants and Minn. Statistically they haven’t given up as many big plays as last year, but sacks and turnovers are down.  The run D isn’t as stout as usual either.

This is as good a time for a break as any. Gore needs some rest for his sore ribs, and providing he plays and survives the AZ game, will get more rest. Manningham as well with his sore shoulder. Brandon Jacobs, after skwalking to the media about being healthy and not playing, will maybe actually get on the field and play some. His tenure so far resembles Brian Westbrook and his minuscule paying time here.

The coaching staff needs to do a couple things. Offensively, they need to shitcan the Cappy plays. They’ve done nothing but stall drives after being effective the first couple weeks. Keep the focus on the run, but keep the routes deeper to keep the checkdowns clear for decent yards. Smith needs to trust his instincts. He looked very tentative yet again vs the Giants and the Hawks. he seems to never trust his WRs to get open on  passes that are fairly well defended. I’m not advocating throwing onto double coverage, but he rarely pulls the trigger and lets his WRs make plays.  As long as teams don;t put 8 in the box, the run game should remain solid. Defensively the Niners need to get more pressure. Aldon Smith isn’t getting through as clean as he was last year. Soap appears dinged up, and needs a break. J Smith is still playing well, but the LBs aren’t getting to the QB as much, and the run D isn’t doing the job. Dial up some better-disguised blitzes, and get the D linemen healthy for the 2nd half push.

In a game more resembling a heavyweight title fight, the 49ers slugged and slogged their way to a hard-fought victory over the up and coming Seattle Seahawks. Neither team was very effective through the air, and both teams pounded the ground with good chunks of yards. Frank Gore in particular  had some big runs up the gut as the Niner O line opened hole after hole in Seattle’s d line. Gore often got to the second level for big gains. Marshawn Lynch also had a huge game, often running through 2 or 3 Niners to gain tough yards.  The passing game on either side was a mixed bag of goodies. Wilson was hurried and rushed a lot more than Eli Manning ever was, and the pass rush forced a pick early in the 3rd quarter. Seattle was seriously hurt by 3 drops by their receivers. One, to Turbin down the sideline, could have been a touchdown, or at least 1st and goal. As it was, Seattle settled for a FG.

Alex Smith on the other hand looked fairly inept most of the night. Granted, his newest favorite target, Mario Manningham was out with a shoulder injury, but Crabs, in a bit of a return to form, was easily controlled by Seattle’s big physical corners. Crabs did little to shake coverage, and didn’t get open very much. And neither did VD, who was held without a catch. Randy Moss on the other hand seemed to get open more, but was missed on the pick in the end zone, and only caught one pass.  The most effective plays for Smith were the checkdowns to Gore in the 3rd quarter on their lone TD drive. The good part was the fact that the WRs and TEs were clearing out space underneath to open that stuff up. I still like that strategy, because it IS safe, and it doesn’t preclude going downfield. When everyone is on a short route, the middle of the field gets clogged up and the checkdowns don’t work. With Gore pounding the rock, play-action works well to hold the LBs, and Gore can get loose in the short middle if the WRs are going deeper.

Anyhow, good, bad, or indifferent, a win is a win, especially on a short week and in the division. I’m sure the blogs are already on fire regarding Alex Smith’s play, but Seattle is very good at defending the pass. Their corners Sherman and Browner are big and very physical, and they have a pretty good pass rush. No one (not named Tom Brady) is lighting these guys up. Shit, no one’s talking about NE benching Tom Brady, since he lost to Seattle. His rating was a whopping 79.5. Smith’s was 74.5.

Encouraging to me was the fact that the Niners made some halftime adjustments to take control of the game. They cleared out the underneath to allow Gore to run free, and to also gain nice chunks of yards on checkdowns. The play to Walker for the TD was a great example of that. And, finally, let’s shelf the Cappy show for the time being. His one contribution resulted in his head nearly getting removed from his body. What’s galling is a major helmet-to-helmet hit isn’t called a penalty, but Goldson gets one for untangling himself from a tackle behind the line on Marshawn Lynch. Ludicrous.

<b>UPDATE:  Brandon Jacobs and Joe Staley are active, Marion Manningham is out with a shoulder injury.</b>

Well, it is officially crunch time in Ninerland. We are at a crossroads of sorts as the team tries to regain the form that led to such an impressive start. The Niers were clicking along, with one minor blip, when they ran into the New York Giants. They were buzzsawed into oblivion and were bad in every phase of the game. Problem is, as this is a ‘what have you done lately’ kind of deal, the Niners are on shakey ground. Gone is the euphoria of beating Green Bay and Deetroit.  Here now is the unshakeable feeling that Alex Smith may be reverting to old bad habits. the defense was pourous in these 2 losses, and the pass rush, which was so good last year, has mysteriously vanished like so many 3rd down stops.

Enter the Seahawks. A mystery unto themselves. They’ve beaten good teams and lost to iffy ones. However, they come to town to renew rivalry between head coaches Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll, and between Seattle GM Scotty (Happy Hour) McLoughan and his former team. These games always make for interesting fodder as Scotty has been picking up our scraps ever since he got there. Michael Robinson is still on the ‘Hawks, while erstwhile jersey-winner-for-me Kentwan Balmer has moved on to other endeavors (would you like to super size that?).

I have no idea how this plays out. But I do know that this is a game the 49er should win. If they lose, the entire program will fall under the kind of scrutiny that drove the 2 previous coaches mad. Losing at home to the Hawks would be, while not a fatal blow, it will definitely put a crimp in the search for back-to-back division titles. If Alex Smith falters in a big, or even not-so-big, way, the murmurs will start getting louder for Cappy to get more reps. I think they tone down the Cappy switch-outs, but I do hope they still use him down by the goal line.

Plus, we have the SF Giants quest to tie up the NLCS at 2 or run the risk of being shut down in 5 games. All they need is one win to take the series back to the Bay. GO GIANTS ! ! ! ! Depending on the outcome of these 2 games, I may not survive the night. Be still my heart.

So, here we are at the stupid-ass Thursday night game part of the schedule. Goodell, in his search for more green, sanctioned a Thursday night game every week this season, to the detriment of the players, the coaches, and the overall wellness of the game, to squeeze out more TV and ad money. What used to be only 2 games on Thanksgiving weekend with Deetroit and Dallas hosting games has now become a logistical nightmare of ‘let’s cram 2 games into 5 days’ scenario. Players don’t get enough time off, coaches have a rough time installing a cogent game plan, and whatever team happens to be travelling has even less time to prepare for a game. Much like last year when the 49ers had to travel 3 time zones to play their Thursday night game in Baltimore, the 49ers had basicvally 2.5 days to prepare for that game. Back before last season started, the Niners were still the whipping boys of the league and were thus shit on with that scheduling. This year? The Niners get a home and home situation. Seattle is only flying down the coast, but even that time lost is precious.

Also, when Goodie Goodell talks about player safety being paramount, this completely flies in the face of that. As a football fan, hey it’s awesome. Extra games are always cool. But to chalk this up to nothing more than greed on the owners part is naive at best.

Anyhow, Seattle comes to town as one of the hardest teams to figure out in the league. They have lost to AZ and StL, and squeaked by Carol on the road, but have beaten Green Bay (huge assist to the non-scab refs), Dallas, and NE at home. Russell Wilson, erstwhile Matt Flynn killer, has put up some decent enough numbers for a rookie, but has led some impressive comebacks. Notably last week over New England.  They run well enough, but could only muster 85 yards vs NE and 98 vs Carolina. Seattle’s team strength revolves around their defense. DE Chris Clemons has 5.5 sacks, and LB Bruce Irvin has 4.5 sacks to lead a Seattle team ranked 7th in the NFL in sacks with 17. Seattle is also 2nd in rushing yards allowed, and 4th in passing yards. The Niners numbers are confusing. They lead the league in least amount of yard given up through the air, and are solid against the run, but their losses were stories of little pressure, and a lot of underneath passing yards.

When it comes to the coaches (what’s your deal?), well, Harbaugh had held the advantage over Pete Carroll since their college days. One hopes that this trend continues. A Niner loss at home Thursday night wouldn’t be a fatal blow, but it would seriously hurt their chances to win the division outright. AZ, SF, and Sea are all at 4-2, and StL is 3-3. Sea already has 2 division losses, St L has 2 division wins. This will be the first division game for the Niners. We were all giving the Niners something like 4-2 at worst in these division games. But the time is now for this team to prove what it is made of. Losing at home to the Hawks would be a serious blow to the effort of this team this year, and would serve to put into question the direction of the team. The QB carousel last week should be put to rest. Cappy is obviously the future, but he is better served as strictly a read option guy down on the goal line. Anything more, as we saw, is only courting disaster.

For all the good feelings these first 2 weeks in beating the Packers and Lions, the 49ers, to all appearances, seem to be lost in a fog of their own making. The first 2 games, the Niners dominated with a strong run game and a solid passing game. When they travelled to Minnesota, they mysteriously abandoned the run, and sufferend dire consequences as their defense gave up long drive after long drive. The pass rush was nonexistant, and turnovers/pick 6es were dropped and botched.

Queue up the Jet and Bills, and the Niners unveiled their deep passing game to great effect. 1,000 yards in 2 games, with a little Cappy thrown in to boot. The defense creates turnovers with a decebnt pass rush and stout run defense. All is happy in Ninerland.

Then it happened. The New York football Giants came to town and dismantled the Niners from top to bottom, front to back, and every which way but loose. Say what you will about the game, but this was a coaching disaster. Cappy was used at the completely wrong times. The Niners gave up on the run. This kicking game was awful (despite the block). Special teams coverage (31st in the league) was abysmal. And the defense. The defense let the Gaints throw downfield with impunity and score. No pressure on Eli. Rogers and Culliver were toasted with regularity.  Funny thing is, for all the shitty field position the offense GAVE the Giants, the Niners kept them out of the end zone in the 2nd half.

So, what are the 49ers? Are we a smashmouth running team like the first couple games? Are we a passing team like the Jets/Bills game showed? Are we moving to Cappy? Are we going to be a gadget team?  I seriously don’t get what the strategy was this last game. I also don’t understand what the strategy was for the Minn game. I understood the Jets game and the attempt to go downfield more, and the Bills game to exploit that. But in Minn, we didn’t run at all. The Giants game, after those first 2 possessins, the Niners went away from the run when the game was still only 17-3. And they repeatedly threw Cappy in at various random times.

Harbaugh sometimes seems to think all he does is golden, and no one can figure out his master plan. The problem is, other teams are catching on. The jumbo packages don’t seem to be working any more. The Cappy bootleg was left unblocked because JPP didn’t bite on the fake, and it resulted in an 11 yard loss, and a good drive was killed. There were countless other decisions that were baffling. The complete lack of pressure is a big red flag. Sopoaga might be hurting, and RJF isn’t really holding his own at this point. Justin Smith isn’t dominating like usual, and the pass rush, Aldon Smith especially, was rendered moot. I guess losing Haralson is a bigger deal than I thought.

I had the idea at the beginning of the year that the Niners would move along to being a little bit more vertical in their offense, and remain stout on defense, but still be a running team. All this Cappy shit, and the ease at which NY threw on us has me questioning things. Is Harbaugh pulling a rope-a-dope? Saving the best for the playoffs? Saving the best for Seattle Thursday night, even? I said before the game that it meant a lot more to the Giants than it did to us, so I really don;t know what the hell was going through Harbaugh’s mind on this.

In the end, this could merely be a blip on the radar that is the 2012 season. Or could it be a harbinger of things to come? I’m real curious to see what happens Thursday night. I certainly ain’t as confident as I was before the Giants game.

Ooops, there goes gravity . . .

Jesus. The overhyped game of the week turned into a monumental stinking pile of shit. The Niners were beaten soundly in every aspect of the game by a Giants team that did what the Niners did to Green Bay and Deetroit. Turn them one-dimensional and take advantage of the mistakes.  Confusing to me was the Cappy shit. The Niners were cruising along on their opening drive to the tune of 10 plays and 60 yards. In comes Cappy to hand the ball off to Gore on 3rd and 4 for 0 yards. Brilliant. David (not-so-green) Akers misses the FG, and there you go. The D forces a 3-and-out. The Niners go an another long drive, with a token Cappy handoff to Gore (WTF?), and this drive stalls as well. Akers makes this FG, and the Niners have over 11:00 of possession, 24 offensive plays, 120 yards of offense,  and 3 points. Say what you will about it, but the Cappy plays didn’t work. They got more and more random as the game went on.

Beyond that, the Niners vaunted offensive line was stymied all day, and Smith was harassed into bad decisions. The first pick was a pass to Delanie Walker. The guy who seems to be a magnet for crap plays. That pick ignited the Giants offense, and Eli picked apart the Niners secondary with deep passes against Culliver that was way too easy. The next drive was punctuated by a false start with Cappy in there. 3 and out.  The ensuing drive led to a FG. 10-3. The next drive was hampered by a holding penalty on A Davis, but Smith nearly connected on a deep ball to Manningham, and the Niners block NY’s FG attempt. Cappy throws a nice 35 yard pass to Manningham to set up a FG, but Akers misses again.

This to me was when the team lost their mojo. The ensuing kickoff was returned by NY 66 yards, and the Niners couldn’t stop Bradshaw from running up the gut for a 17-3 lead. The rest was a comedy of errors and stupid decisions. After a couple of picks and FGs, Smith hits Moss on a beautiful 55 yard pass. Naturally, Cappy comes in and gets sacked for an 11 yard loss. Smith comes back in facing 4th and 15, yet checks down immediately to Vernon Davis for a 7 yard pass.

The point being, Smith was pulled out at the completely wrong times. Cappy is a good option down close to the end zone, where he can do the run/read option, but not during the middle of drives where the Niners are moving the ball. Harbaugh is moving into Pete Carroll clown-ball territory with this shit. If he doesn’t have faith in Alex, then why is he in there? Even after all the picks, Smith hit Moss on the deep pass, and the Niners were still within 3 TDs with a quarter and a half left of football, and the ball on NY’s 34 yard line.

As bad as this got from the players side of things (and this was a ST disaster. The Niners are neaer last in k/p coverage now [Costanza?!?]), the coaching staff bears the brunt of this loss. Much like the Minnesota game, the coaches think their tricky little jumbo packages, and L Davis at TE (false start) shit, along with the Cappy drive-kill show, are going to befuddle NFL defenses. They didn’t at all. This gimmick shit doesn’t last in the NFL. Harbaugh needs to get back to basics and stop playing college football. Carroll learned his lesson. Will Jim?

After a pretty quiet week, Kevin (punch me in the throat) Gilbride decided to whine about Justin Smith’s apparent murderous holding infractions while playing defensive tackle. Disregarding the obvious notion that DTs are usually the ones behing held, Jim Harbaugh fired back his own incendiary comments, calling the claims, well incendiary. Thing is, DTs hold. They all do it. Smith will hold 2 guys if it’ll give Willis a clean path to a ball carrier. Since this is something that is never called, or even looked for, you have to wonder what the fuck Gilbride is squalking about. Although you have to take into accoun\t Tom Coughlin’s comments that he’s curious as to why his team comes in as the underdog.

Really, Tom? You are on the road against a team with a better record than you? And you are going to play the ‘poor us’ card? Maybe if you had beaten the Iggles, people would take you more seriously. If anything the Giants have to be one of the most whining teams in the history of football. And it starts with Coughlin. He’s constantly whining to the refs, the media, his coaches, his players, his grandma, and anyone else within earshot. Time for a beat-down. As crappy as the Giants have looked, I don’t think they play as shitty as they did against the Browns or Cowboys. This will be a tough game, one that means a lot more to NY than the Niners, but in the end, the Niners prevail, 28-20.

SHout out to the SF Giants and their quest for the World Series title.

Kyle Williams gets a chance to face the team that he had his worst moment as a pro on Sunday as the 49ers play host to the New York Giants. Williams had some adventurous times to say the least returning punts in the NFC Championship game earlier this year. He had a fumble on the end-around for a 9 yard loss, he ran and dove to catch a punt needlessly and recklessly, and then there was the one that skipped into him, and the fumble in OT to pretty much seal the fate of the Niners.

Now? Well, KW really seems to have settled down very well as a kickoff returner. With Ginn back returning punts, KW won’t have to worry about it. His WR job is going well as the 3rd option. His back-shoulder catch and run last week was run to perfection, and he was able to score on the play for his 1st TD. So, he’s not really going to be a huge part of the game plan, but with the deeper passing game making strides, he will get some looks.

As far as the football world goes, Tom Coughlin is playing the Rodney Dangerfield card for this one. Pretty laughable as they are the defending Super Bowl champions, but hey, I guess if you want to give it a try, WTF? Vegas? The Niners are getting 4.5 points. Which means they think this game is an even matchup. The over/under is 44.5. So, they think this will be a close defensive battle that comes down to the wire. For all the talk about this game, it won;t be a killer to lose. Early game against a non-division foe? It won;t really determins the winner of the NFC West, but it could later determine the home-field advantage in the playoff seedings. Not too big a worry at this pont.

I think it’ll end up 28-20 Niners. That being said, the Giants though defintely have a lot more to lose than the Giants do. All the teams in the NFC East are within one game of each other, and they can ill afford to fall behind Philly with their loss to them already. The Niners have all their games with AZ and Sea still to play, and they can lose this one without too much ill affect.

Here we are. Moving toward 10/14/12. A date that must have been circled on a lot of 49er calendars. The NFC Championship rematch. The next test on a 49er schedule that is getting toward some tough games, including their first 2 division games after the Giants roll through town. The last time these 2 teams played, we had the tragedy of Kyle Williams and the 2 muffed punts altering what very well could have been the 49ers Super Bowl run and ring #6 for this storied franchise.

Knowing how hard it is to REACH the Super Bowl, and how close this team was last year, makes this season even more important.  There are perennial tough teams, like, say the Falcons and Iggles in recent memory, who have been at the doorstep numerous times, only to be jilted and denied. The Niners as they are comprised right now, have a solid nucleus of starters, backups, and coaches who are all on the mission. The window is wide open, for at least the next couple of years, before they have to make some big decisions regarding how to keep the core of coaches and players relatively intact.

So, as of now, this team has as good a chance as any other to with the whole thing. Validating this thought would mean a victory over Eli Manning and the New York Giants. The 49ers are coming off 2 resounding victories over the other New York teams to the tune of 79-3. Granted, these games were merely tune-ups for the real thing this weekend, but you had to like the deep passing game that emerged from the Bills game. This has been a priority for Harbaugh to develop this aspect of the offense, and is a welcome sight. The run game is clicking on all cylinders.

The Giants? Well, they appear to be coasting already. They’ve lost a couple awful games to the Cowboys and Eagles, and struggled to beat the Bucs. Even Cleveland posed a bit of a struggle for them. Manning is doing pretty well (10 TDs, and 5 INTs and a 96 QBR), and their offense is going pretty well. Not surprisingly, they get their yards through the air. Which has led to turnovers.  That being said, their defense isn’t what it used to be. They are 14th in points allowed, and 23rd in yards allowed (22nd vs pass; 16th vs run).

But (there’s always a big but), this means nothing for the game this weekend. The Giants also have this game circled on their calendar as a way to get back to respectability. The Niners are considered a top team, but seeing as they are geographically challenged, they get little to no national press. The Niners are the first team in history to gain 300 yards in the air and on the ground, yet all you hear about from ESPN is how the 2-3 jets should be involving Timmy Tebow in the offense more.

As usual, it takes games like this to gain national recognition (and you know that Jim Harbaugh uses this kind of back-handed dissing as fodder during the meetings) for a team like the 49ers. If they win, it’s the fact that they beat the vaunted Giants that gets them some national press. Lose, and they are the cute back story about the team the used-to-be relevant. I mean, look at all the angst that swirled around ESPN and the sports world in general when the Niners flattened the Jets, and how Carlos Rogers comments of the Jets quitting was a call to arms of sorts for the Jets. Every hour had at least 15 minutes of hand-wriniging over what the Jets should do going forward, and how they can address the mean comments of Rogers.

Steve Young had a great line after last night’s game where the Jets played a pretty good game vs Houston but lost. All the commentators talked strictly about was the Jets. Hou goes 5-0, and it was all about how ‘respectably’ the Jets lost. Young’s comment was “2-3 gets you all this?”

According to NFL historians, no team has rushed for 300 yards and passed for 300 yards in the same game. Until yesterday. The SF 49ers completely obliterated the Buffalo Bills of Buffalo. To the tune of 621 yards of total offense. 310 through the air, and 311 on the ground. Alex Smith accounted for 303 of the 310 yards on 18 of 24 passsing, 3 TDs, a healthy 12.6 yards per completion, and a near-perfect 156.2 QBR (99.2 if you prefer the ESPN version). Some other numbers:

• Crabtree 6 catches for 113 yards (1 TD)
• VD 5 – 106 (1 TD)
• KW 2 – 50
• Manningham 4 – 26 (1 TD)
• Gore 14 rushes for 106 yards
• Hunter 11 – 81
• Smith 3 – 49
• Cappy 4 – 39
• Dixon 4 – 21

Crazier still is the Niners left about 21 points and 150 yards on the field due to early penalties and Cappy’s fumble on the 12 yard line. What should have been a 34-3 halftime lead was merely a 17-3 lead. Still, the offense came out better in the 2nd half and went through the Bills ‘defense’ like a hot knife through butter.

Plain and simple, this was the best this team has looked since the Steve Young era. Gone were the overthrows of the Jet and Minnesota games. Pass protection was flawless, as Smith had time to hit open recievers downfield for big gains. The run game was effortless as the line opened up big holes again and again.  Defensively, the Niners only got one sack (a great blindside hit on Fitzpatrick by Ahmad Brooks), but Fitz was never comfortable in the pocket all day, and CJ Spiller was rendered pointless as he had nowhere to go. Culliver showed again how fast he’s become a damn good corner by picking off an underthrown pass by Fitz on the 5 yard line. Patrick Willis and the LBs  played another flawless game, and Willis got a nice strip on a completion to Bill TE Scott Chandler.

Bring on the next NY team!!