Forty Niners Forever

I know it’s early to be thinking about this, but hey, it beats thinking about the Super Bowl . . .

This is a list of free agents that the 49ers currently have.

Tramaine Brock RFA CB 
Ahmad Brooks UFA LB 
Blake Costanzo UFA LB 
Ted Ginn UFA WR 
Dashon Goldson UFA S 
Larry Grant UFA LB 
Josh Morgan UFA WR 
Moran Norris UFA RB 
Chilo Rachal UFA OT 
Carlos Rogers UFA CB 
Reggie Smith UFA CB 
Alex Smith UFA QB 
Adam Snyder UFA OT 
C.J. Spillman RFA S 
Joe Staley UFA OT 
Will Tukuafu RFA DT 

I think we can safely say that Alex Smith gets signed. Something like 3 years/24 mill.

There are a lot of guys on that list that should be signed. There are also guys who can hit the road. Chilo Rachal and Moran Norris are obvious candidates. 

Guys like Tukafu, Brock, Spillman, Grant, Reggie Smith, and Constanzo shouldn’t be too hard to bring back into the fold. They are solid backups, and should stay here.

The big names are Ahmad Brooks, Ted Ginn, Dashon Goldson, Joshua Morgan, Carlos Rogers, Adam Snyder, and Joe Staley.

Ahmad Brooks had a solid and very consistent year. I have no idea what he wants, but he was a fundamental piece of one of the toughest sets of LBs in the league. Try to keep him. Ginn? As we saw with KW recently, Ginn should stay, if only as a KR/PR. His opening game heroics set the tone for the great season special teams had all year. His WR skills are awful at best. Goldson? Well, I think the Niners make an offer, but I think he’ll move on. He’s wildly inconsistent, and lacks game awareness. He is a liability in coverage. I keep thinking they’ll move him to SS, but they have Whitner now, so there’s no room. So, he goes. What likely happens is Culliver moves to FS. Morgan was putting together a very good year til he got hurt in garbage time vs TB. If he comes back at full health, keep him. If only for continuity’s sake, as the WR corps is likey to turn over greatly. Rogers on the other hand, should be given a key to the city. He solidified what was a shakey deefensive backfield upon his arrival here. He may not be the fastest guy out there, but his savvy and skills kept him in position most every play. Snyder and Staley? Their health seemed to determin how well the line played. When either of these guys went down, the line play as a whole suffered greatly. So, sign them.

I’m not sure what the front office’s thinking is going forward, but I’d like to think they are of a mind to try and keep things pretty much the same as this recently concluded season.

Well, but for the painful way this season came to a sudden and grinding halt, this was a truly epic run by this band of 49ers. Offensively, most areas of the team improved dramatically. Alex Smith went from the bottom 10 in the league to the top 8. He dramatically cut down his turnovers and interceptions. He led the furious comeback in the NO game to cement his lasting impression on a hugely successful season. The O line improved, after some mid-season setbacks. Frank Gore had another strong year, despite being banged up (and according to some, washed up). Rookie Kendall Hunter had a great year as Gore’s back-up/give-Frank-a-rest guy. Bruce Miller was a godsend as the converted DE turned FB. His blocking for Frank made everyone forget about Moran (whiff) Norris. Nice wheel route as well. TE was improved as well. VD had a strong season, mainly because of the WR situation. His yards were down, but his catches were up compared to 2010, as he became Smith’s go-to guy. He had some struggles with his hands and feet, but in the end was the biggest reason for the near Super Bowl berth. Delanie Walker had a great season going until the broken jaw. Both were beasts blocking downfield for the run game.

The area that was abysmal was the WR corps. The big blows were Joshua Morgan getting injured in garbage time of the TB game, and Braylon Edwards’ knee injuries in the preseason, and early in the Dallas game. This seemed to start the domino effect of ineffectiveness from this bunch. Michael Crabtree’s numbers have steadily improved since he got here, but I never get the sense that he’s fully engaged in the game. The Saints game and this last one were flat awful from a guy who’s supposed to be the #1 WR. 4 catches and 3 drops in the Saints game, and 1 catch in the Giants game aren’t very impressive. He seems to not bother turning for the ball when he isn’t the #1 option. Hot reads elude his comprehension. With Edwards’ injury and subsequent ineffectiveness, guys like Ted Ginn and Brett Swain (and other no-names) were added to the WR list, but they were varying shades of nothing. Ginn of course shines as a PR/KR, but his pass catching is not his strong suit. All in all, it was pretty amazing that Smith had the season he had without much in the WR department. The strange thing to me is that the ineffectiveness from this group never seemed to be a big concern to Jim Harbaugh. There were guys like Houshmanzada and Lloyd ( and others) who could have walked in and been effective. This is a BIG area for improvement this offseason.

I think someone like DeSean Jackson would be a welcome addition to a group that is vastly underperforming. There are plenty of draftable guys. Jerius Wright is a speedster who could be had in the 3rd or 4th round. And countless free agents.

Damn, what an inglorious end to a magical season. Say what you will, but the Niners should have won what was yet another huge defensive struggle between these two teams. That was their 8th playoff meeting (now tied 4-4). I didn’t want to listen to any of the post game commentary, because I’m sure the Giants were saying things like, we knew we were going to win, we beat them, It was our destiny. You know bullshit like that. It turned out Antrel Rolle was right, but he was talking about the Niners, not the Giants, when he said the only way we lose is if we beat ourselves. The 49ers, while struggling mightily offensively, had the lead and should have had possession late in the 4th quarter. The spector of Preston Riley and Roger Craig paid a visit and the deal was sealed when KW let the punt hit his leg. The Giants scored a TD and took the lead. In an almost seredipitous moment, KW made a great punt return later in the 4th quarter to set up the tying FG. But we all know what happened in OT.

I’m not sure how all of you feel (I know how some of you feel), but I think all these WRs should go. Morgan can stay if healthy. Crabs had another lackadaisacal performace, half-assing routes, and not bothering to turn for the ball. He can’t decipher a hot read to save his fucking life. For all of his improvement this year, he still doesn’t get it. VD pretty much saved the season through these playoff games. Other than VD and Gore, no one could get open ALL GAME. Harbaugh loves using TEs and backs, but they should have been able to get SOMETHING going with Crabs.

Ahhhhhhhhh fuck. Anyhow, I hope Brady riddles the shit out of NY and beats them into the ground. The New York Giants are the luckiest goddamn team to win as much as they have. Scott Norwood, Roger Craig, the helmet catch, and now this? Blehhhhhh.

I woke up about 4 times last night thinking that it was Sunday morning.  Can’t WAIT for this to go down. As much fun as this has been, and as improbable as it all is, I want these guys to get in to the Super Bowl. Bad. I’ll be severely disappointed if they don’t. Mainly because I found out yesterday that the Niners are 5-7 in NFC Championship games. We’re still undefeated in the big one, but that championship record kinda sucks.

On the other hand, it shows that this has been one of the more competitive teams over the past 41 years. Anyhow, the talk is over, the back and forth done, the injuries are taped up, and the puking is over with. There’s nothing left to do but play the game. Everyone around here seems to think that the Niners win, either close or by a big margin. The Giants have a lot of bluster, but I think we lay the wood on the field.

I’m leaving early tomorrow for a party, so I won’t be posting (unless I can commandeer my friend’s son’s computer at half time). Last week was insanely intensely fun. I don’t want it to end.

From Alex Smith, Frank Gore, to Adam Snyder (2005 draftees), to the few holdouts from the Donohue era (Soap and Spencer), to the myriad role players, draftees, and free agents that have coalesced to make this improbable run to glory, I tip my proverbial cap, and give a knowing nod. Win or lose, it has been a hell of a ride. SO many players have gotten their just desserts just by getting to the NFC Championship game. The wait has been long and painful, but as of now the team is on the edge of a new dynasty. Things are finally looking up.  

Go NINERS ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Literally and figuratively. The rain is finally supposed to return to Northern CA after a long absence, and the football teams involved in the NFC Championship game this weekend (well, one of them) have stopped yapping and appear to be actually focussing on the game. Chances are it rains off and on through the game on Sunday.

I guess we’ll see what happens. Slowing the game down would in all likelihood favor the 49ers, as they have a better run game, and more experience playing  on that quagmire they call Bill Walsh field. It’ll be high tide as well at 4:22 pm (+4.1′), so that will add to the squishiness. After the NFC Championship game in 1994, they let the fans on the field, and the corners of the field (especially the southwest corner) were about 6″ of muck. The middle of the field was OK, but the closer you got to the sidelines and endzones, it got thicker and muddier.

I’m sure the drainiage is better now, so it should be somewhat better, but still, the Stick is the Stick, and it looks to be a mess by the end of the game.

Antrel Rolle says his team can only beat themselves, the 49ers certainly can’t. Hakeem Nicks says the Saints would have been a more difficult opponent, and plenty of the Giants say they are ‘relieved’ that the 49ers beat the Saints last Saturday. That this is the easier road to the Super Bowl. I guess this sort of makes sense, as the Saints beat the Giants 49-24, and the 49ers ‘only’ beat them 27-20. The only thing I’ve heard from the 49ers is that Anthony Davis rhetorically asked via Twitter, “Are the Giants doing drunk interviews?” Funny stuff. Talk happens, but even the wonks at ESPN buy into the whole Giants-are-going-to-win deal wholeheartedly. There’s having confidence, and then there’s smug arrogance. It’ll be a pleasure to smack the smug off their faces.

The thing that matters more to me is that the Niners beat them once already. They can certainly beat them again. Sure, the Giants are hot. They’ve won 4 in a row. Then again, so have the 49ers. Eli Manning considers himself ‘elite’?  Well, good for him. The Giants think this’ll be easy? Nevermind the 7 RBs we’ve shelved this season? The latest being Pierre Thomas fumbling and getting knocked cold by Donte Whitner on the 3 yard line early in Saints game. Nevermind the #1 hardest team to score against in the NFC this season? 38 takewaways?  

The other thing about this game is that Frank Gore was hobbled in the 1st meeting, and had 6 carries for 6 yards. I think the Niners will have much greater success running the ball this time around. There’s talk that the weather will be less than ideal. If so, this also plays into the Niners hands as I don’t think the Giants will be very successful running this game. Without Gore, the Niners only rushed for 77 yards. The Giants? 93. I’m not saying this game will be easy, but I think this game WILL be easier than the Saints game. Aldon Smith has come a ways since the Giants game, and Justin Smith is on fire. I see the Niners getting 3+ sacks and a lot of hurries on Manning.

It’s funny to hear the noise coming out of New York about how “we are not going to be denied at this point” according to Antre Rolle. Much is made of their winning 3 of their last 4 just to REACH the playoffs. And their wins over Atlanta and now GB in the WC and divisional rounds to reach the NFC Championship game. Beyond the fact that the refs did all they could to GET GB the win, the Giants prevailed over a distracted and very out of synch Green Bay team. Whether because of Rodgers taking 3 weeks off, or the tragedy that befell them, Green Bay looked unprepared and out of sorts. They dropped a ton of passes all day, and add the Hail Mary TD to close the 1st half, and GB was in trouble. And much is made of the ‘businesslike’ atmosphere surrounding the win. There was no jubiliation on the plane ride home. Just watching game film of the Niner win.

“We’re just white hot,” said Giants punter Steve Weatherford, who went to the past two A.F.C. championship games as a member of the Jets. “Now it’s less about the playoff run. It’s more about winning the Super Bowl now.”

The punter? Really? Sure. For all the talk of the Giants being hot, what of the Niners? Winners of 4 in a row, 5 of their last 6, and 14 of their last 17 games? Much will be made this week of what the Giants have overcome. Yippee. Bring it on. Ignore the 49ers. Again. The east coast media will buy into this hook, line, and sinker. Much like all the Brees talk before Saturday, there was no reason to play the game. The results were ordained. Until they weren’t.

Speaking of comparisons, it’s fairly easy to compare this team to the 2010 San Francisco Giants. A team the Giants fans thought would be very tough to beat if they could just GET into the playoffs. Well, they did, and they ran the table. This 49er team is also built for the playoffs. They are strong in every phase of the game. Especially defense. For all the yards NO got, the Niners shut down their offense for large stretches of game. The special teams group was nothing short of spectacular lat Saturday. The offense? Well, 2 game saving TDs in the last 2:11 won the game. Something that had never been done before.

The point being, much will be made of the determination of the Giants. I don’t think that comes close to standing up to the overall dominance of the 49ers. I thought the Niners would win last week going away. I think THIS one is the easier win. The fact remains, New York doesn’t run well. Eli can be pressured into making mistakes. The Niners just need to take care of the blocking up front. I think the Niners come out running. Gore didn’t play much in the previous game, and I think he wears down a Giants team that will have little answer to his slashing runs. With the run game clicking, the Niners go to play-action. If they can draw the LBs up to take the double-teams off of VD, then he could have another big game. The Giants did contain him most of their previous matchup, though he did get loose on a 31 yard TD. I would LOVE to see some fly pattern action with KW. Maybe even Swain. The little white dude is FAST, and the non-PI-call on his go-route could have been a game-changer. The point being, the Niners, as Merrill Hodge has pointed out, are the best team in the playoffs based on all facets of their play. 

So, I’m going with the same score this week as I did with last week. 31-20, Niners.

The incredible season of the San Fransicso 49ers just got more incredible. Green Bay is about to fall to the New York football Giants, and they will be travelling to San Francisco to take on the resurgent 49ers for the right to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLVI. After posting a 1-3 record in the wildcard round, I hit them all this weekend.

Funny thng is, I had scheduled a Christmas party for the family, late in November (we all couldn’t get together until yesterday) not knowing anything about the playoff schedule. So it just coincidentally worked out to be the Niners shining moment in the sun. So I had a housefull of screaming yelling, and in the end, happy as hell fans. I can go on and on about the game, the redemption for Alex Smith, the unvarnished support Smith has gotten from VD throughout his career, and the support from the other players on the team who have stuck with Smith through the good, the bad, and the injuries. That Smith wanted to stick around, through all the trashing by coaches, the lukewarm support from the front office, and the outright hatred of a lot of the fan base tells you something about the kind of man that is Alex.

So, here we go. On to the NFC Championship game. The Giants are coming back here hot as hell, but Green Bay looked a little shell shocked due to the tragedy that befell Packers assistant coach Joe Philbin. As it is, the Niners need to beat a team they beat in week 10, 27-20 on the late batted pass by Justin Smith. I would love to take my son, but tix are already upwards of $350 for crap seats. We’ll see. If I can get it under $500 for 2, I just might do it. I have a couple tenuous leads that I’ll follow up on. Anyhow, either way, WOO HOOOO!!!!!  One win from the Super Bowl!!!

Here we are, poised on the biggest game around these parts in 9+ years, and the comparisons to the 1981 team are a bit eerie. Beyond the fact the Niners are playing in the same dump of a stadium while some other teams have gone through 2 stadiums (hello Detroit) in that time frame is only the beginning. Starting with the owner, you have in Jed York a similar figure to you Eddie DeBartolo. Both are young upstarts who didn’t bring a hell of a lot of experience other than being the son of a very wealthy dad. Eddie got the Niners because his father was not allowed to own a hockey team and a football team at the same time. Jed got the Niners from his dad because Dr. John was an inept buffoon who charged the team for every bottle of water they drank, dismantled one of the greatest dynasties in sports, and let the stadium bond that Eddie fought so hard to get die on the vine.

The 1980 Niners posted a 6-10 record amidst guarded hope that the team was at least heading in the right direction under Bill Walsh. The 2010 Niners posted a 6-10 record amidst the crumbling regime of one Aluminum Mike Singletary. Walsh came in as an offensive wizard who made his bobnes under legendary Paul Brown. Harbaugh came in as an overachieving quarterback who willed his teams to improbable victories, and as a coach is being heralded as an offensive visionary who has done well in developing quarterbacks like Josh Johnson, Andrew Luck, and now Alex Smith. The 1981 season, very much like the 2011 season, started with a lot of questions, and a bit of hope. The 1981 draft provided the 49ers with a brand-new defensive backfield (minus Dwight Hicks). The 2011 draft provided the 49ers with a bunch of depth at important positions (RB, CB, O line), a starting FB, and a pre-eminent pass rusher. A huge key to the success of both teams.

Both teams started their seasons tentatively. The 1981 Niners lost to Detroit and Atlanta to post a 1-2 record out of the gate. At that point in the season, it was like, well, they could go 8-8. Wait til next year. This year’s Niners won a fairly pedestrian game against Seattle, and lost a close one at home to Dallas. At the time, I thought, well, we’ll be 8-8, but it might win the division. Let’s just keep seeing incrememtal improvement, and wait til next year.

The 1981 Niners then reeled off 7 straight wins. Along the way, beating powerhouses like Washington, Dallas, and Pittsburgh. The 2011 Niners did them one better and won 8 straight, beating playoff teams like Cincy, Detroit, and the NYFGs. Both teams finished strong to end the year at 13-3 and vastly exceeded the expectations of a hungry fan base. This team is playing with a highly rated defense and an underrated offense. The 1981 Niners were a highly rated offense with an underrated defense.

In 1981, the 49ers were the surprise #1 seed. This year, the surprise #2 seed. Forget Tim Tebow, tomorrow will be the next step to see if this truly is a magical season (and yes, even with a loss tomorrow, the season was an unmitigated success) for the 49ers that leads them and their fans to Super Bowl XLVI.

Funny, the closer we get to this game, the more the pundits are turning against the 49ers. What started out a weeek and a half ago as a solid match up between the best offense in the NFC and the best defense in the NFC has now devolved into a Drew Brees love-fest. “No one can stop him” “The Saints are on fire.” Sproules will gash them since the Niner D has to respect the pass” on and on and on. Horeshit, mainly, but that’s the perception out there. The thing is, as Flav alluded to, Norleans had a pretty easy schedule. Especially on the road. Of their road games, only GB and Atl had winning records. FWIW, NO’s strength of schedule index was -1.6. The Niners were -1.1. That tells me a lot. Well, not really, but the Niners won some tough road games, Philly, Cincy, Detroit, and Seattle being the tough ones. They both beat 2 playoff teams on the road, and they both took care of business at home.

The thing that gives me hope is that the Niners have played similar teams to NO. Mainly Detroit. A team that is fast and stout defensively. For all the gaudy numbers by NO last week, Detroit closed NO’s lead to 24-21 into the 4th quarter. Detroit pressed and flailed in the end, and NO got some garbage time points, but the point remains that Detroit wasn’t out of this game til the end. And the fact is, NO hasn’t played a defense near the strength of the Niners. The Niners as we all know are #1 against the run. The Niners have knocked out 5 or 6 starting RBs this year. They hit hard, and teams get tired of beating their heads against that wall. The Niners give up passing yards, but do not give up long TDs. I other words, the Niners DON’T have to alter their normal defensive strategy too much to play the Saints. Stop the run, force the pass, defend the deep balls.

NO is very adept and the underneath stuff, and this is where I’m hopeful that Patrick Willis is fully recovered. He drops into coverage a lot, and he’ll be covering Jimmy Graham. He of the 99 catches and 1310 yards. A tough assignment. He and Marcus Colston offer a pretty tough set of pass-catchers to defend against.  They can go underneath to him, or over the top with Colston. As usual, a lot of the success of the Niners falls on the front 7 and how much pressure they can get on Drew Brees. I’m sure the Niners will come out and rush 4 from the start. Mainly to see if they can cause enough havoc with their base defense. Given my druthers, I’d think about getting Aldon Smith more reps on 2nd down. try to force matchup problems on 2nd and long plays.

In the end, this game is reminding me more and more of Super Bowl XXIX. Miami came in as the darling offensive juggernaut that was supposed to steamroll everything in its path. The Niners, who practice against a vastly superior defense (then and now), stopped them by the 2nd quarter and coasted to victory. Hey, it could happen . . .