Forty Niners Forever

It is strange to me how things have gone for the 49ers defense. There have been changes of personnel from last season. Clements was replaced by Carlos Rogers. Takeo Spikes was replaced by NaVorro Bowman. Manny Lawson was replaced by Ahmad Brooks. Aubrayo Franklin was replaced by Ice Sopoaga, and Ray McDonald took over Soap’s LDE spot on the line.

Beyond that, Tarell Brown took over for a hobbled Shawntae Spencer, and 3rd round draft choice Chris Culliver has bumped our ‘best’ cover guy from last year to 3rd string. The addition of Madieu Williams and Donte Whitner has really solidified a secondary that had a hard time stopping 3rd down passes the last few years. The guys from last year have been playing outstanding football. Justin Smith has played out of his mind. Rookie Aldon Smith has played extremely well for a 20 year old raw pass rusher. He’s been held in check these last couple games, but looks to hit a few sacks against AZ’s weak tackles. Bowman has been lights-out. He’s second in the league in tackles. Willis is his solid high-motor self, but is being overshadowed by all the excitement going on around him. 9th in tackles with 71.

As it stands the defense gives up a lot of yards in the air (26th), but that stems from the run defense being the best in the NFL, and the fact that the Niners are getting a lot of early leads. Along with the yards given up, the Nniners lead the NFC in interceptions with 12, have the league leader in INTs in Carlos Rogers with 5, and are number one in the turnover ratio at +13 (12 INTs, 9 fumble recoveries against 3 INTs [should be 2] and 5 fumbles lost).

All in all, heady stuff for first year Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio. Fangio has had fair to middling success as a DC in his NFL travels, but maybe it’s Harbaugh, maybe it’s the talent on this team that he inherited, maybe it’s the learning curve of being in the game so long, or maybe it’s the mixture of all these things that have coalesced this defense into a top flight unit. Regularly is heard that this front 7 is the toughest in the NFL.

For all the haters (and fence-sitters) this has to be a tough time. There were thousands of fans banking on Alex Smith being the biggest problem with this team lo these past 6 years. 2005.  The year that brought Teflon Mike Nolan, a 20 year old Alex Smith, Frank Gore, and Adam Snyder (among others) to the 49ers. Alex Smith’s star-crossed, injured, and angst-ridden time here in the City by the Bay has been rocky at best.

Alex Smith was thrust into the starting spot in week 4 of the 2005 season due to injuries to Tim Rattay. He then struggled through that season, but went 3-4 as the starter, and missed 5 games of his own due to a knee injury. His 2nd season saw a new OC in Norv Turner and general improvement across the board. 2007 was the beginning of the struggles that would do him in for 2 seasons. 2008 and 2009 saw the jettisoning of Mike Nolan, Jim Hostler, JT O’Suckagain, and Mike Martz. In their place were Aluminum Mike Singletary and Jimmy-Hat Raye. The Niners were competitive, and were robbed by Favre one last time, but ended up in 2nd place at 8-8. Smith’s numbers were still imcrementally improving, but the natives were still restless.

Then the wheels fell off for Singletary much like they did for Nolan. The 2010 season that was supposed to be the triumphant rise of the 49ers instead started with a 5 game losing streak, the firing of Jimmy-Hat, and the mind-numbingly bad coaching of Aluminum Mike, and the revolving carosel that became the QB position. Troy Smith got some starts around Alex getting hurt, David Carr-wreck’s uninspiring half vs Carolina, and Mike’s benching of Alex yet again.

Fast forward to the present. Alex Smith is the 7th rated QB in the NFL. He’s now on the Comeback Player of the Year list (with Tony Promo, Steve Smith, Matthew Stafford, and Jermichael Findley), and the league is grudgingly giving him the respect due him. As late as last week, Justin Tuck was calling the 49er game plan one that pussy-foots around Smith, instead leaning heavilly on Frank Gore to move the ball. After Smith beat them, Tuck’s tune changes some. And, (shock of shocks) contract talks have at least been on the radar for the newly annointed team leader (not so much a coach-killer now).

Sure, there are still plaenty of haters out there. People who are waiting for the team to fail so they can pin it solely on the quarterback. Well, teams win as a group, and they lose as a group. For years, all the blame has been placed squarely on Smith’s shoulders. If that is true, then these 8 wins belong there as well. The reality is, coachng had a LOT to do with the crapitude of this team. From Nolan and Singletary’s reluctance to to much more than run up the gut, to the revolving door at OC, to the numbingly retarded offense of Jimmy-Hat Raye, we are finding out that there really was a talented QB in Alex Smith. Whatever this year brings, it has been a revelatory experience watching Harbaugh and Roman coach up Smith, and let him loose.

I guess this is the sign of a team on the rise when I don’t have any huge breathless things to report about to what I though before the season started as a big intradivision game against AZ. As it is, this game is a warm-up for the bro against bro Thanksgiving football bonanza overkill deathmatch game. Does the NFL have to really try this hard to generate extra meaning for games?

Anyhow, I was just thinking what a crazy string of events came to pass to get us where we are right now. 8-1 and very near the pinnacle of football excellence. Yes, it’s only 9/16th of a complete season, but what a ride so far. Every once in a while, I give myself the heebie jeebies by wondering what if? What if Nate Clements holds on to the ball in Atl? Do the Niners win? If so, do they then reach the playoffs? The Niners were one game out, and had all the tiebreakers. If they had picked up a game somewhere, they would have made the playoffs. THEY would have gone to NO and been the NFC West representatives. Could they have somehow knocked off NO in the Wild Card round? If so, where would we be now?

With Aluminum Mike screaming at the walls, and otherwise blaming everything on everyone else, it’s hard to figure out how different the NFL landscape would be. Jim Harbaugh would have likely gone to Michigan rather than go to the front office nightmare that Miami is. I don’t think he was really interested in any other NFL job but this one. You’d have to think that Philly, Detroit, New York, and Cincinati at the least win their games against us. So, the Niners are 4-5? Seeing as we haven’t even played our division very much, the scary thing is, the Niners would still be in 1st place had Singletary stuck around. Granted it would only be a one game lead, but still and all, what a horrible thing to consider. Smith’s improvment would be still incremental rather than exponential. Gore would be injured (well, more injured). AF, Spikes and Clements would have been retained, to the overall declination of the defense. And the team would be once again struggling to find a real identity other than the 1970s offense they were running last year. They would likely drag themselves into the playoffs again instead of the huge improvement they’ve made.

All for one play.

Would Michigan be 10-0 and fighting for a national championship? Who’s to say not? They are 8-2 as it is, and how much could he have improved them?

Crazy . . .

The good news ouf of 49er head quarters (and from Gore himself) is that his knee problem was just a bruise, and RB coach Tom Rathman kept him out of the game as a precautionary measure.  He and the team say he’s good to go for the AZ game this Sunday. Othet than that, there were no significant injuries to the team last Sunday. A hard fought (and hard hitting affair) that left more than a few Giants limping off the field. Finesse that, mofos. Frankly, I’d like to see Frank take a break, or, at the most, get 1 or 2 series, and then the rest of the day off. This is the dreaded trap game against AZ (‘inferior’ opponent at home, big nationally televised game against your older brother in 4 days), and the Niners would be well-served to give Frank some time off. No need to oversue him at this point in the season. Keep him fresh for the later games, and playoff push. I suspect he gets a reduced number of carries going forward. Both Hunter and Dixon did well in his place last week. They should get the bulk of the work this weekend.

I really don’t buy into the trap stuff, as this is a division game, and the 49ers are now the team our division is gunning for. Harbaugh is always there (I’m sure) to earhole players that start feeling a little too big for their britches. Skelton had a fairly decent game against the Iggles, and brought them back for yet another 4th quarter collapse by the Dream team.  My hope is the Niners can get the pass rush going again. Our DBs have been burned a little more than I like due to the fact that the pass rush isn’t quite as solid against the better teams in the league. Even the Washington game saw Buffalo get 10 sacks, and the Niners only one. Goldson came on a blitz from about 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage last weekend, and Manning easily read that for the TD down the sideline to Nicks in the 4th quarter. The coverage WAS generally very good, but Manning was very accurate, and fit the ball in to a lot of small windows all game. The thing about the pass rush is, a lot of teams are throwing the ball quick to minimize our penetration. Therefore, safety blitzes don’t work very well. Fangio needs to dial up some corner blitzes to get instant disruption.

What I really liked about last game was the fact that Smith hit a ton of different passes. Deep middle, mid-range lasers down the middle, slants, dump-offs, and a couple deep sideline routes were all right on the money, and the yards-after-catch numbers were off the charts. Smith really showed his stuff with a game plan that was built around his passing the ball, and he passed with flying colors. The only blemish was the Ginn pick. If Ginn catches that ball, Smith is 20-30, 254 yards, and something like 18 points higher in his QBR. But, as Smith said, the only numbers he really cares about are wins and losses.

What a game. This one reminded me of the good old days, when the Niners would go up against the supposed monsters of the East and butt heads with the ‘superior’ New York Giants, and beat them down. Well, these aren’t the finesse 49ers, and the Giants aren’t quite the Phil Simms/Bill Parcells teams of the 80s, but it was still an exciting, well-played taut, and crucial game fro the 49ers. They now can claim that they are a legit #2 seed in the NFC, and could very well get to the #1 if GB staggers. Unfrickingreal. Alex Smith had what looks to be his finest game as a 49er. He’s had a few of those this season, but this one especially was left to him to move the ball. The Giants came out determined to stop Gore at all costs, so naturally, the 49ers came out throwing. Halfway through the 2nd quarter, Smith had already connected with 7 different receivers (8 total), and if not for Ginn’s giveaway to close the 1st half, the game would have been a little farther out of reach, and Smith would have had another pick-free game.

Eli was pretty damn good himself, and the Niners didn’t get as much pressure as they usually do, but the Giants are a good team. Manning hit Manningham on some perfect passes, yet in the end, couldn’t overcome the Niners 2 4th quarter TDs sandwiched around Carols Rogers’ 2nd pick of the game.  Chalk up another 4th quarter comeback for Alex. Chalk up another excellent game plan devised by Harbaugh, Roman, and Fangio. Chalk up another tough win against a top contender in the NFL.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 49ers get the #1 nod in the power rankings. Even with a GB win over lowly Minnesota.

Game time soon. My thoughts are the 49ers continue their winning ways. The Gians have given up a lot of yards to a lot of teams. Both in the air and on the ground. The concern is third down conversions. Keep the chains moving, and keep the drives going, and these guys should be fine. I think we win the battle of the trenches, and take it to Eli (can’t spell Eliza without Eli) Manning and force a lot of 3-and-outs.

27-17 . . .

I guess the Mayans are right. 12.23.12 is the end of it all.  How else do you explain the fact that the 49ers and the Raiders are in 1st place after week 10 of the football season? I have no other explanation than this has to be a signal of the end times. Al Davis is freezing in hell.

Anyhow, back to the Giants game. Frank Gore is apparently good to go after suffering a left ankle injury in the Washington game. Different from the right ankle injury he suffered early in the year. People may lament all the touches Gore is getting these days (he’s on pace to break his career high of 312 carries in 2006), but the truth is, Gore doesn’t take a lot of big hits. He has an innate ability to slide away from big hits, and hard contact. His problems come when his legs get rolled up on in pileups, or guys are tackling him from behind and twist his ankles. 

Be all that as it may, the Giants are a team that can be run on. Miami put up 150 on them, and AZ put up 177. Good passing teams have put up numbers on them as well. NE for 332, and StL for 308. Hard to know what the Giants are. They’ve beaten NE and Buffalo, but lost to Washington and Seattle. They eked out wins over 1-7 Miami and the 2-6 Cards, but easily handled the Rams and Iggles.  One would think our ball control offense would be able to get on top of these guys and roll like the last couple wins, but that is a losing proposition if the Niners go to sleep in the 2nd half like they have the last couple games. It would be imperative to keep the momentum rolling through the entire game if they can get on top of the Giants early. Eli Manning has 4 4th quarter comebacks of his own this year, so it would be in the 49ers best interest to play a full game. One much like the Tampa Bay game.

Still and all, I think the Niners pull this out. The Niner defense is built to shut down TEs, and they have done a great job rushing QBs with strictly 4 guys, so they can cover downfield well enough to stop Cruz and co. I’m thinking 27-17.

Back to 49er football. Here we at week 10 of the 2011 football season, and the 49ers are 7-1, ranked as high as #2 in some of these semi-meaningless ‘power’ rankings, and they are now the #1 game coming up this Sunday. Man, it reminds me of the heady days when the 49ers and whoever they played were the national game of the week. Madden and Summerall would be lounging in the press box, and the Pow, Boom, Bam’s could be heard all across town.

As it is now, this is not necessarily a do-or-die game. They can certaibnly lose this and not really lose momentum in their playoff drive. Play it tough, and the country will see that this really is an improved team that might be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time. Win, and that becomes even more relevant. A big loss however would undo a lot of what has already happened this season. The 49er schedule is pretty easy from here on out, but the 3 tough opponents coming up, the Giants, Baltimore , and Pittsburgh, are all nationally televised games. Losing all those games would be a blow to the progress the team has gained. At least perception-wise. Not that it really matters, but being greedy, I’d like to see them win 2 of those. That being said, if they go 4-4 down the stretch, they’ll be 11-5. WAY beyond most people’s expectations. And certainly in the playoffs. After that, who knows?

We interrupt the 49er talk for news out of University Park, PA. The NY Times is reporting that Joe Pa’s tenure is over at Penn St. Whether that means immediately or after the season remains to be seen. This is in response to allegations of sexual misconduct by Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno’s DC (among other things), and used Penn State’s locker room and showers for a playground of sexual misconduct with minor boys that he ‘recruited’ from his foundation that he started to help at-risk kids called 2nd Mile. He also had ‘sleep-overs’ at his house with some of these boys, where they would stay in his basement.

Matt Millen was pretty emotional talking about this. He went to Penn St. and Sandusky was his first position coach. He’s known the guy for 35 years, and he said that Sandusky is your next door neighbor. Nice guy. Salt of the earth. Millen’s on the 2nd Mile board, and said he had no inkling in all the years he’s known him that Sandusky was a sexual predator or pedophile.

Millen stopped short of saying that he wanted to strangle Sandusky, and he stopped to gather his emotions a couple times, but he did say it’s time like this you “want to take care of things yourself.” Anyone with children certainly understands where he’s coming from. Millen also stressed that they have to wait for the shit to go through it’s course and not to crucify anyone before the facts come out, take the emotion out of it, let due process take its course, etc. But the fact that a guy who is in charge of a foundation to help at-risk children instead uses it as a hunting ground for his own sexual perversions is beyond the pale.

What a nightmare. The board of trustees certainly seems to have made their feellings known. How much did they know? How much did Joe Pa know? Well, there were 2 spearate allegations raised against Sandusky. Once in 1998, and again in 2002. Joe Pa heard of the 2nd allegation but only reported it to the AD. No one ever went to the police even after a student-assistant said he witnessed Sandusky in the middle of a sex act with a 10 year old boy in the showers on campus.

Just this morning, a 9th person has come forward alleging being sexually molested by Sandusky as a child. So, as it stands, one of the greatest and most legendary college football coaches will go down as complicit in a disgusting and heinous scandal that he did nothing to stop.

Well, the 49ers followed their ho-hum victory over Cleveland with a very similar effort against the Washington Redskins. A physical bashing of the Redskins. Lots of trah talking, and scuffles. Got to like the attitude on this team. The run game was solid, with Gore going over 100 yards for the 5th straight time. A 49er record. He now sits 149 yards behind Joe the Jet for the all-time 49er rushing leader. The passing game was spot-on again, as young Sir Alex completed 17/24 passes for 200 yards, a touchdown, and no picks for a 109.7 QBR on the day.  As it stands, Gore is the 3rd leading rusher, and Smith is the 6th leading passer in the NFL for our 8th ranked (in pts scored) offense. The defense has 2 of the top 11 tacklers in Bowman and Willis, is #1 in points allowed, and #1 against the run. And, the Niners are 7-1 at the halfway mark. 

And, here come the 6-2 Giants. They get to be the ones travelling across 3 time zones for a Sunday skirmish next weekend. Might have to hit Stub Hub for a couple tix. The Giants are 6th in passing yards, and 29th in rushing yards. Eli Manning is having a great season so far. One spot ahead of Smith with 2377 yards and 15 TDs against 6 picks. NY throws a lot, so expect to see some blitzes and a big day for Aldon Smith. NY’s defense is middle of the pack. 17th against the pass and 29th against the run. They do bring the pressure. Jason Pierre-Paul has 9.5 sacks, and Umenyiora has 6, and their wideouts Cruz and Nicks have been solid.

Again though, to me the Giants aren’t really all that spectacular. They’ve lost to Washington and Seattle. They barely squeaked by Miami at home last week, but won a tough game on the road vs NE, and they beat the resurgent Buffalo Bills. Their other wins? StL, Philly, and AZ. Yawwwwwn. They don’t travel nearly as much as the Niners, and they look to be sluggish to start off. The 49ers just need to keep following the script of getting ahead early, and letting the defense dictate the course of events. Force turnovers, and protect the football. I’d like to see a little more consistency in the offense, but the truth is, Cleveland and Washington are among the better defenses in the league, and there’s no shame in beating those teams. The 49ers have made their bones so far this year in beating some good teams, so I think they continue their winning ways.