Forty Niners Forever

Well, the Niners proved, in front of a national TV audience, that they can hang with the big boys by thoroughly pounding the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers into the Candlestick turf. At least when Big Ben is a little off time. His ankle was pretty balky, and that resulted in some errant throws early, to the tune of 2 picks in his first 2 drives. They were actually moving the ball well on both their inital drives. The Niners had struggles of their own early. Alex was off target on some big plays that would have given the team an early 14 point lead, but they settled for FGs, and a 6-0 halftime lead. They burned a ton of clock however, and did keep the ball out of Worthlessberger’s hands in the 1st half.

The 2nd half started out shakily on offense as the team continued to stop themselves with penalties and missed opportunities. Pittsburgh was able to sneak in a 51 yard FG to close the gap to 6-3 in the 3rd quarter. Then, on perhaps the biggest drive of his career, Smith guided the team to a huge TD by going 5-5 for 89 yards. 3 of the 5 went to the oft-maligned Vernon Davis for 53 of the 89 yards, including the TD. The best part of the drive was play action on FIRST down. Something this team tries to do too often is pound it down close. The play action worked to perfection, and the Niners scored easily.

Pittsburgh then went no-huddle to try and get a quick score, but the defense held, and Suisham missed a 48 yard FG attempt. Harbaugh went a little too conservative for me here, and ran 3 times. The kicker being a 5 yard loss on 1st down. At this point he was really leaning on the defense. And it was at this time (the start of the 4th quarter) that the defense really took over. Aldon Smith had been close all game and had an early sack wiped out by a terrible illegal contact call that would have set up a 3rd and 32. As it was, it didn’t matter. Smith and McDonald finally broke through with a sack and caused a fumble that Justin Smith recovered. With the help of a leverage penalty on yet another FG attempt, Frank Gore ran off left tackle for a 5 yard TD, and the game sealer. The 49ers added 2 more sacks by Aldon Smith, and a nice pick by Tremaine Brown on a deep ball.

All in all, the game went about as well as can be imagined. The offense, after some fits and starts, came through in crunch time. The defense was spectacular in that they shut down Pittsburgh’s vaunted deep passing game. Their running game was nonexistent. Pittsburgh did gain a lot of yards through the air by going underneath, but most of the time Pittsburgh was starting drives from inside their 10 yard line. All World punter Andy Lee pinned the Steelers deep repeatedly, and Pittsburgh rarely got into scoring position.

The only negative was Ted Ginn’s ankle sprain. It looked pretty bad, but the x-rays were negative. The bigger deal was Harbaugh giving Braylon Edwards the night off as a healthy scratch. He said Brett Swain was fine as the backup guy. There’s a ringing endorsement for Braylon. I’m sure Ginn will sit the Seattle game out, so one would think Edwards should be ready to play.

For the 49ers having already clinched the division, this Monday night showdown has a ton of playoff implications. If the 49ers win, they stay ahead of NO as the #2 seed in the NFC, while a Pittsburgh win would give them a 1 game lead on Baltimore with 2 games to go. Neither are a certainty if they occur, but either team winning would be a boost for that elusive 1st round bye. The 49ers, by losing would still get 1st round home game, byut would lose the bye week. They would drop from the #2 to the #3 seed. Pittsburgh has even more to lose. If they lose tonight, they’d fall from the #2 seed (bye week + a home game) to the #5 seed (no bye + 2 roadies).

With that in mind, Pittsburgh is now saying Ben Worthlessberger will start tonight’s game at the Stick. Little Ben showed ‘enough mobility’ in Saturday’s practice to start tonight. Which means to me, the 49ers need to show some fairly different looks early in this game. They NEED to get pressure up the middle. Skelton had no problems stepping up last week as the pressure came in from the sides. Stepping up is about the only thing that Worthless can do with his bum ankle. If Soap can’t get in on the backup center (Pouncy is out), then Pittsburgh will more than likely throw quick passes and run delays up the middle to slow down our rush, and keep Worthless out of trouble. Sending Grant in on some blitzes up the middle early, and hitting little Ben, would set the tone for the game. Letting him dink and dunk to set up the big play will not work.

How this shakes out offensively is a question as well. These last 2 games (Balt and AZ) were against teams that run very similar defenses. Pittsburgh is the same deal. Zone blitzing, overloading areas, and disguising blitzes. The good news is we’ve seen it a lot. The bad news is we haven’t adjusted very well. Hopefully by now the Niners can pick up the schemes without getting Smith killed. 18 sacks in 3 games is a trend that HAS to stop. The 49ers need to open with slants and quick passes (for more than 4 yards) that give the team favorable 3rd down situations, and keep the chains moving. The red zone just needs to be re-thought completely. I hope the extra day helps them.

Last week’s game should have been a win. They can’t leave points on the field. And, looking at how the Bolts flattened the Balts, you CAN beat an aggressive defense by being aggressive yourself. The WRs HAVE to make plays tonight. Dropping shit cannot happen. I’d put Williams as the X receiver, and try to get single coverage. Hit him deep on go routes. It doesn’t have to be a slow-developing play. Just float it out there for him when the coverage dictates. I’d try it 3 or 4 times. Ginn proves over and over that he can get open, but he just has trouble catching the goddamn ball.

In other words, if Balt wins, Pittsburgh likely won’t risk playing Worthlessberger and reaggravating the ankle injury. Among the injured who missed Thursday practice for Pittsburgh are Troy Polamalu (hamstring), and center Maurkice Pouncey (ankle). James Harrison of course was suspended for his hit on Colt McCoy in last week’s Cleveland game. The 49ers are battling injuries of their own. Joe Staley is still out with his concussion. He hasn’t been cleared to play yet. Gore is nursing his various injuries but isn’t listed on the injury report.   

Of note during practice this week was the fact that the Niners spent more time working on their red zone offense. Good to know. And the team ‘recommended’ that the crowd not do the wave while the offense has the ball. They seem to think that the noise generated by the wave caused a sack during the StL game a couple weeks ago. Come on people, you do the wave then the OTHER TEAM has the ball. Doh!

Problem is, these guys have started leaking oil, blowing smoke, and are staggering to the finish line. In the grad scheme of things, most figured this race to be a close one. One that was going to come down to the finish line with the division winner at something like 9-7. Well, the Niners got their 9th win in week 11. Those were the heady days of this team being on fire and hard to stop. Since then, the Niner have gone 1-2, and have the (semi) daunting task of facing Pittsburgh. Yes, it’s at home. Yes, James Harrison will miss the game due to his hit on Colt McCoy. Still and all, big bad defenses like Pittsburgh’s give this Niner team fits, as their blocking has been atrocious lately. They’ve given up 18 sacks in the last 3 games, while only getting 6 of their own. The run game has been erratic lately. Mainly due to once again teams are packing the line and daring us to beat them by passing downfield. Smith is to be commended for absorbing a ton of punishment, but he cannot comninue to function in this way if the pass pro doesn’t get better in a hurry.

The scary thing is, these problems were very reminiscent of the problems that the previous regimes had. Even weirder is the Jimmy-Hat red zone offense was very successful when they got close. His problem was not getting close more often. The biggest problem I see is the is the WR corps. Or is that corpse? Ginn, Edwards, VD, and Walker have all dropped too many passes. Crabs has his share, but he’s been the most consistent. Williams has a couple, but he rarely gets balls his way. The defense has been playing well, but succumbed to 3 big pass plays. 2 of them to Fitzgerald on balls that Goldson could have prevented. The other one was to Doucet after the fake FG-TD-red-flag debacle. A BIG monemtum shift right there. What would have been a 13-0 lead instantly became a 1 point deficit.

So, looking at the schedule, 1-2 is very likely. If so, then it means that the team, after going 9-1 thru week 11, closes the season going 2-4 down the stretch. Not a good way to get playoff ready. This would give them (most likely) a WC game at home. The good news about that? They’d stand a much better chance of winning a playoff game if they have to go play right away. The bad news? The next game is a roadie most likely vs New Orleans. NOT a chance there to win. Even if they somehow keep the 1st round bye, they’ll have a tough opponent at home.

By the time the Monday night game rolls around, Pittsburgh will know if Balt has beaten SD on the road. If Balt wins, then Pittsburgh will likely rest Worthlessberger, as Balt would have to lose out for Pittsburgh to win the division. Not likely with each team having a game vs Cleveland. If Balt loses, then Meat-head would probably start to try and get a one-game lead on Balt. Much like the Niners situation, Pittsburgh depending on other teams to falter isn’t likely to happen. So, this game is BIG for both teams if Balt loses to SD. If Balt wins, then the game doesn’t mean as much for Pittsburgh, and hopefully we can then cruise to victory.

Ugly-ass game in Phoenix on Sunday. The offense moved the ball great, until the red zone, and the defense did great on 51 out of 54 plays. Special teams were great, until the red-flag/no-challenge/fake FG-touchdown/missed FG fiasco (the whistle blew about 1.5 seconds after the snap, thus killing the play). The pressure was there, but Soap was nowhere to be found, and thus, Skelton was able to step up and buy time. Getting shredded by Skelton, the guy who threw 3 picks against us 3 weeks ago, is pretty galling.

On offense, the blocking was flat awful. Staley went down early with a concussion, and newly signed Alex Boone took his spot, but pressure came from everywhere. 5 sacks given up. Most in the 1st half, when the Niners spent a lot of time in AZ’s red zone. It confounds me why they even have Ted Ginn playing down in the red zone. Whatever early mojo these guys had has completely worn off, and everyone seems to be able to defend our red zone offense pretty damn easily. VD was pissed at the half, but where is he on goal line plays? Walker? Crabs? Can’t any of these guys get open? We tried the fly sweep, but the snap didn’t come in time, thus, a busted play. Maybe Harbaugh’s trying too hard. Too much trickery? I mean, a fade to Edwards shouldn’t be that hard. It is much easier to hit than the back shoulder out route. Plus he has the size.

Defensively, the Niners were good until the red flag deal. A let-down on the next play, and the Niners were instantly behind. Very reminiscent of a Singletary game where we dominate everywhere but the scoreboard. The defense continually allowed Skelton to step up in the pocket to buy time and find open guys. Goldson was right there for those passes to Fitzgerald, but it’s hard to fault him. Fitz is a big strong guy, and he breads his butter that way. The tackling was bad after the catch, but the initial coverage was good. The guy is just too much for most defenders.

So, it’s back to the drawing board. The bye race looks like it’ll come to the team that wins out. News out of the league office is that Pittsburgh LBJames Harrison has been suspended one game for his hit on Colt McCoy. Worthlessberger’s status is in doubt, but still and all, this will be a tough game. Our last HG until the playoffs. With or without the bye.

She’ll be waiting . . .  Anyhow, this game is going to be a true test of the intestinal fortitude of your San Francisco 49ers. AZ is actually steadily improving lately. As NinerDog posted, their defense has become very stingy in recent games. The Niners have struggled in the red zone in recent games. As I said, I think getting Braylon Edwards is going to help, as the Niners HAVE to open things up some down close. Yes, the Niners should be able to win a defensive struggle against these guys, but they have a tough ST unit as well. Patrick Peterson has wn a couple gaems for AZ singlehandedly (relatively speaking), much like Ted Ginn’s opening day, and the Detroit game.  

Interesting thing is the Niners and Raiders will be playing at the same time, so it’ll be fun to see if the Raiders can put a hurting on the Packers. Call me crazy, but I think the Raiders win this. The Packers defense is very questionable. 31st in total yards, but they do get a lot of turnovers by pick-offs. Palmer, if anything, can hit the deep pases, so if Oakland can block, they should be able to light up the scoreboard. They are also pretty good at geting pressure, so you never know.

The closer we get to this game, more and more I have a sinking feeling about it. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but this game is shaping up to be a stumbling block for the 49ers.  Their red zone offense hasn’t been all that stellar lately. They are coming off Patrick Willis’s injury (although Larry Grant did a great job coming in), and now Carlos Rogers is nursing a knee injury which may or may not keep him out ot Sunday’s game. And, I think the Niners give up a rushing TD this weekend. Not that that’s that big a deal, but I think the team is due a let-down against a team that is seriously gunning for them.

The good news is, the Niners can score on this defense. And it is very similar to Pittburgh’s defense. So this is good practice for what we’ll see from the Rusters. Ray Horton, AZ’s 1st year DC, coached under Dick LeBeau for 8 years in Pissburgh. The Niners moved pretty well on them 3 weeks ago, but could have scored a lot more. What is key IS getting on top of them early, and getting TDs rather than FGs. Force them to throw all the time and the game is over.

That being said, this game could easily turn on a big punt return. Peterson’s been lighting it up, but we handled him well by not punting much last game. I hope they prove me wrong, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this one . . .