Forty Niners Forever

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.

Well, the regular season inches its way closer to the present. There’s just the formality of getting the most useless of the preseason games, game #4, out of the way. The usual way to play this is to have most of your starters sit this one out so you can evaluate the 2nd/3rd stringers that are fighting for their football futures to make one last push. Anthony Dixon, due to injuries to Brandon Jacobs and LaMichael James, has risen up the charts and looks like he’s made the team. At the expense of Rock Cartwright? Probably. Tremaine Brock on the other hand, was seemingly dealt a death-blow by the constant darts that  Peyton Manning threw his way that he coulsn’t stop. Perrish Cox made a nice pick after Manning left to garner praise. Praise that Vic Fangio has foisted upon him a lot lately. So, it’s not really useless, but if you are looking for some new wrinkles to the offense or some new blitzing schemes, I wouldn’t start here.

Of course there’s no word from Jimbo who is actually IS going to be the starting QB, but most would think Cappy Capperson gets the nod. I mean, how many more 6 yard passes can Smith and Crabs practice? I would like to see Manningham get on the field, but he is still out for his granfather’s funeral. Moss hopefully gets more than the one target last week. For all the press garnered by these new WR additions, they’ve caught what, 3 passes for 24 yards? Manningham hasn’t even caught a pass or played a down, but I guess he makes his debut in Green Bay. There’s playing it close to the vest, and then there’s playing it inside your chest cavity. then again, Alex’s favorite target, Vernon Davis only has one catch, albeit a 44 yard wheel route for a TD. One of 2 passing TDs in this preseason.

The defense has looked especially flat, but hey, I’m not one to worry about preseason. Really. Aldon Smith has been nursing a sore hip since the Viking game,  Bowman hasn’t played much, Culliver has missed games, and our deep LB corps have sustained a lot of injuries. The good news is the Niners get 10 days to healthy up and unveil their new-found offense, and their defense won’t skip a beat from last year’s domination. Hey, it could happen . . .

Well, all I can say is thank God that one didn’t count. Even if the Niners did win the battle of the scrubs. They won the battle but lost the war. In a game that looked eerily reminiscent of the old regime, the 49ers laid a pretty big egg in the high altitude of Denver, Colorado. Peyton Manning got little pressure put upon him, and Willis McGehee ran untouched through the line, and thus shredded the Niner defense like it was a block of swiss cheese. Manning hit a couple of long passes, and lots of short ones on the way to his first 2 scores of the preseason. Still and all, the Niners were not stunting or blitzing. They were as vanilla as can be. It was base defense all first half. Plus, they were missing their biggest weapon. One Aldon Smith.

Offenseively, well, not much good to say there as well. Crabs caught a couple passes. A slant, for God’s sake, and Crabs did work his was back toward Alex on a play where Smith broke contain, and Smith hit Crabs for a 1st down. See what a little preseason can do? Of course that was followed by a botched center/QB exchange that seemingly everyone on the offense couldn’t gather in, which resulted in a quick Denver score. Smith did throw a perfect wheel route pass to Randy Moss, oh yeah, I’m sorry, Vernon Davis, for a score, but the rest was fairly forgettable. The O line did little to nothing. The play calling was bland, and the WRs were once again pretty much ignored by the first team offense. Smith did throw a pass for Randy Moss. However, he was triple covered. If that’s how the teams play him in the regular season, well, I guess he’s worth it. But he ain’t going to like being a decoy 4/5ths of the time.

All and all, this WAS a preseason game. It was disconcerting to me to see Denver march up and down the field early on. But, again, the defense was vanilla. A Smith wasn’t playing. This one didn’t count. I think a steady diet of blitzes will get to Manning over the course of a game, and a season. Some folks are ready to annoint Manning the league MVP based on one preseason game. If that was the case, then Ryan Leaf would share that award with him. In  other words, I’m not going to truly worry until it is truly warranted. Could this be a wake-up call to the defense? Are they merely riding their accolades to a big letdown? I don’t think so. But the importance of a healthy Aldon Smith in the lineup cannot be understated. Offensively? Well, that is to be determined. The Niners were awfully bland in their play calling yesterday. But I think they still have to work in their new weapons. This may take the better part of September (or more) to accomplish. For all the glowing accolades regarding practices, I have yet to see anything resembling consistency on the field. Worrisome? Sure. But, when the real bullets fly, we’ll see what we got.

Get out of Denver without any injuries, and I’ll be pleased. Also, let’s see if Peyton Manning can survive our pass rush, which may or may not include Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks.

Sure it’s preseason, but this should give us a little sense of where the offense is.