Forty Niners Forever

Not sure what it takes to get yourself fired in the NFL as these positions seem to be fairly carved in stone, but what is the deal with the special teams coach? I’m sure Richard Hightower is a good guy and is trying his best, but in the past 2 games, the special teams have been responsible for giving up 20 points. Missed field goals are one thing, but giving up a 73 yard fake punt with no one getting a hand on the guy is awful. The week before we gave up a 102 yard KO return for a TD.

Trent Cannon fumbled away a punt twice on the same play. Aiyuk makes fair catches inside the 10 yard line all the time. Him running backwards after catching the ball on the 9 was brilliant, but at least he didn’t fumble.

Hey, let’s try Travis Benjamin as a KO retuner! OK. Fumble on his 1st try. Kickoff coverage was terrible in the Seattle game and we all know what happened in the Minnesota game. Wishnowski has been punting pretty badly these days. Kickoff and punt coverage in general has been spotty.

Not that this is the only problem with the team, but this has been the most obvious. Jimmy G throwing picks is no new thing, and he is the model of inconsistency. Defensively, the same. They forced 3 3-and-outs in a row vs Seattle, but then gave up the ghost. Mainly because Emmanuel Moseley went down with a high ankle sprain. One that will keep him out for the rest of the year. Uh oh.

So, good news folks! We are going against the high-flying Bengals with our shitty backup cornerbacks Josh (call me Magnum PI) Norman, and Dontae (call me sourdough, I’m toast) Johnson. Shouldn’t be a problem.

Mainly because the NFL referees seem to have been given a mandate not to call holding penalties on whoever is facing off against Nick Bosa. Bosa is having a stellar season despite being held on about 80% of his rushes. Meanwhile Laken Tomlinson gets a holding call while doing nothing but standing near a DE. Got to love those Seattle refs.

This may be an ugly one unless we can control the clock by running. Oh yeah, Mitchell is in the concussion protocol. Wilson? Hasty? Hofer?

Don’t really want to rehash the fucking car-wreck that was this game, but yeah, what a fucking nightmare. Everyone caught a whiff of the stench that is this loss. Special teams, offense, defense, coaching, and officiating.

Funny thing is, we had a 23-14 lead late in the 2nd quarter. Then we proceeded to give up 16 unanswered points. Seems like the missed extra point really derailed our team. Whatever. Crazy fucking shit always happens in Seattle. Most consistently terrible is the officiating.

Seattle of course played this balls-to-the-wall as they always do against us, and Russell Wilson is 16-5 in his time as the Seattle QB. and we are 1-11 in our last 12 games there. So I guess we should be happy they are out of the playoff hunt if we somehow make it, we won’t have to end up in our little stadium of horrors.

Plusses are Kittle and Aiyuk both getting involved in the offense. The D created a lot of turnovers, and if not for the special teams giving away 8 points, well, the outcome may have been different.

They just need to get the funk of this game out of their jerseys and move on. Cincinnati on the road looks pretty challenging and they can score a lot.

Thanks to Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions, we are still in the playoff picture as the Vikings dropped to 5-7.

Just to be the bringer of bad news, the 49ers are 1-10 in Seattle since the 2012 season, including that horrific 2013 playoff loss. But here we are in the playoff hunt while Seattle is the one looking up at everyone in the NFC West. As we have seen, fortunes can change quickly in this parity-ridden NFL landscape. Russell Wilson, coming off his finger injury, cannot carry this team these days as the Seattle defense gives up tons of yards, and the offense is struggling to score points.

All that being said, I hate playing up there, and as noted we just don’t do well up there in Grunge country. This will be yet another game that we should win. Yet we also need to do what has worked recently. Control the clock. Run well and run often. Throw quick psses between the numbers and minimize getting Jimmy into bad 3rd and long situations.

Deebo is out, but Aiyuk has been performing up to his standards of last year. Mitchell is lead back, Wilson and Hasty will back him up as Sermon is hurt again. Time to get Kittle back into the mix as he has been forgotten as an option in the passing game.

And as usual avoid the turnovers. The only thing keeping Seattle in their games is the fact they get a lot of turnovers even as they give up tons of yards. As usual the fans will be up for this so we need to get the crowd out of the game and life will be much easier. They have turned on their team so get them down early and keep them down.

27-10 Niners.

Not quite the same as getting flexed out of Sunday Night Football, but the December 12th 49ers/Bengals game was flexed from a 10:00 AM PST start to 1:25 PST to give the game more visibility. This comes on the heels of the NFL flexing the 49ers/Seattle game this weekend out of the Sunday Night spot. The Bengals gams is on CBS (local channel 5) so adjust your schedules accordingly. 49ers Bengals holds some historical significance beyond the fact that the 6-5 49ers and the 7-4 Bengals are both in the playoff hunt.

There is of course Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XXVIII. Super Bowl XVI was the coming out party of our own 16, Joe Montana as the 49ers behind Bill Walsh and a rookie secondary roared through the NFL in 1981 laying to waste everyone in their path. Remarkable in its unexpectedness, and a huge rush for us fans as we had suffered through so many bad seasons after the heartbreak of the Brodie years.

Super Bowl XXVIII was the icing on the Team-of-the-80s cake as the 49ers led a stunning 85 yard drive with time running out to seal the deal as John Candy looked on from the sidelines. It would be fitting for Chris Collinsworth to call the game, seeing as his rookie season was that 1981 Super Bowl season for Cincy, and the 1988 Super Bowl season for Cincy was his last.

Speaking of flexing, Deebo, Warner, and Greelaw will all miss at least this game.

Wonder of wonders the 49ers have gone from laughing stock last place team to being the 6th seed in the NFC playoff chase. The 2-4 bottom-feeders have gone on a 4-1 run to push their way past NINE teams to get into the playoff hunt. No mean feat seeing as the Rams and Vikings were 2 of the 4 wins.

Yesterday’s game was a grab-bag of great and terrible play. Well, except for Elijah Mitchell and his 133 yards rushing, and 35 through the air. Jimmy G threw an ugly early pick. Which thankfully brought about a dressing-down by head coach Kyle Shanahan to pull his head out of his ass and look around before throwing. He hit some nice throws, mainly to Brandon Aiyuk, seeing that Deebo is now:

a) a running back, and
b) hurt

Jauan Jennings also had a solid game, getting his 1st TD and a couple tough catches in traffic. Kittle was quiet, as he is now the blocking back for the run game. Which dominated Minnesota with 204 yards. Since Kittle is now a full-time blocker, this leaves Juice as the defacto TE. He had a huge catch late to seal the game. Well, it would have sealed the game if Robbie (tarnished) Gould had not missed a 42 yard FG late. But, again, the offense controlled the clock, holding the ball for 37 of the 60 minutes.

The defense was a hot mess as consistent pressure is not happening amid Ryans’ refusal to blitz at any time. But the defense as a whole played very well in limiting the Vikes to 323 yards. Dalvin Cook had only 39 on the ground, and Cousins was picked and only threw for 238 with 2 TDs.

Azeez Al-Shaair had his 1st pick in the flat and rumbled near the goal line to give the 49ers a 28-14 lead in the 3rd quarter. Kevin Givens forced a fumble late in the 3rd that ended in a bank-shot off the right upright for what should have given the 49ers a nice cushion at 34-20 going into the 4th quarter had the not-so-special teams not promptly given up a 105 yard kickoff return, but all in all, the defense played solid against a high-powered offense.

Again, though, the special teams had a very forgettable game as Gould missed a field goal, and the kickoff coverage (with Wishnowski kicking) could very well have cost the team the game. I noticed that after the KO return, Gould was once again handling kickoff duties.

So, with the Rams and their shiny new toys stumbling to their 3rd straight loss against the Hydroxychloroquine Packers, we are one game behind LA and the 5th spot in the playoff standings.

I guess. But hey, we are in the 7 hole as of now. Final playoff spot. And we pretty much control our destiny with upcoming games vs the Rams and Vikings among the last 7 games. The Rams have a very tough roadie in Green Bay tomorrow, so in a perfect world the Rams lose, the Niners win to take the 6th spot, and we are only one game behind the 5th seed Rams.

Good news is Dre Greenlaw is off the IR and could play. Dee (found on road dead) Ford unfortunately has at least one more week on the IR according to Shanahan. Elijah Mitchell is questionable, and I’d love to have him back as Sermon doesn’t appear to be much of anything, and Hasty seemingly has passed him up, but Wilson looked OK, and I hope he looks better because I want Deebo running routes, not running up the middle. He has been a great disruptor as a running back, but still and all, he’s more disruptive as a wideout.

I’d really like to think that the AZ game was a real eye-opener for everyone on the team and in the front office that this game isn’t won on accolades and twitter posts. It isn’t won by press clippings and pre-season predictions. It is won in the trenches. It is won by not turning the ball over. It is won by not committing stupid penalties. It is won by playing 60 minutes of football, not 30, 45, or 59 minutes.

The 49ers have done that for 2 games this season. The Rams game and the Jags game. The good news is those are our last 2 games. The bad news? Well, it is consistency. Jimmy G has played well the last couple games, we haven[‘t turned the ball over, and last week especially, we only had one penalty.

Keep this up and we should be fine. And we are winners in 3 of our last 4 games.. But that one was a huge steaming turd of a game. Like to think we can win this going away like 30-20. The Vikings defense doesn’t leap off the page with anything they do well. The issue will be with our defense stopping the Kirk Cousins led offense. As usual, the play in the trenches will be a big factor.

Pressure Cousins, and he becomes average to poor. Give him time and he will hit a big play or 3. Van;t understate how big this game is Let’s hope these guys don’t come out flat and disinterested like that AZ game.

But here we are on a bit of a roll. Win this game with Minnesota and we are at worst in the 7th spot, or possibly even the 6th spot. N’Awlins is also 5-5 so we could jump them. Then there’s the interesting scenario where the Rams lose to the Packers, and we are suddenly one game back of them.

Speaking of haha, the 49ers/Seattle game on December 5th wa flexed out by the league and the network wonks in favor of the Chargers/Bengals tilt. Kinda sucks but it is more an indictment of Seattle’s 3-7 record, not really a reflection on us. Although being 5-5 isn’t anything to write home about either. FWIW the Chargers and Bengals are 7-4 and 6-4 respectively.

But let’s not get too giddy. Suffice it to say, when the run game is clicking, the team does much better. As witness by the huge time-of-possession discrepancies these last 2 games. Both the Jax and Ram games saw a TOP of 2:1, nearly 40/20 minutes. And I really have to give Shanahan kudos for kicking the FG on that 13 minute drive to open the game. Come out of that with no points, and you give the Jags a huge boost. The adage always was take the points on the road. Especially that early in the game.

Anyhow, Minnesota is 27th against the run, so they may try to overload the running lanes. We should be able to use our 4 headed rushing attack, with the newly-minted swiss army knife, Deebo Samuel providing a different wrinkle. The Minn defense isn’t very scary, but their offense has been pretty solid what with Kirk Cousins leading the way, and Dalvin Cook providing the rushing attack.

Or offense? As noted, get the run game going, and Jimmy G can do enough to put points on the board. Avoid turnovers, create a couple, and there you go. It has worked the last couple weeks anyway.

On the injury front, Dre Greenlaw and Dee F(ound) O(n) R(oad) D(ead) are cleared to practice and could play. I cannot understate how bad the team has missed Greenlaw. His speed and tackling are off the charts and his coverage area is huge. Ford? Shit, if he was a full-time player, we would be unstoppable. As it is, well, 15 plays a game would be a start.

Ths playoff push starts now.

Huh. Another well-played game that saw the 49ers easily beat the hapless Jaguars 30-10. We looked like the Jags 2 short weeks ago against the Cardinals, but here we are at .500. Kyle continued with his putting Deebo in the backfield, and for some reason, it keeps working. It’s a bit scary to me, but then again, most of his runs are to the outside, and he’s doing that kind of running on the bubble screens anyway.

Kudos again for his seemingly more better play calling. The defense has also improved since that debacle of a game against the Cards. the 49ers held the Trevor Lawrence Jags to 10 points 6 days after holding the high-powered Rams to 10 points.

The offense once again held a huge time-of-possession advantage at 39 minutes to 21 as the Niners used nearly all the 1st quarter to kick a field goal. and, once more, kudos to Shanahan for getting the points. A fail there on 4th and 1 changes the game entirely, and the axiom for 95 years, before the analytics wonks decided 4th down was OK to fuck up, was to take the points on the road early. And Shanny did.

The D stopped the Jags on their 1st possession, and the rout was on. They also forced 2 fumbles (well, one was a muffed punt) and the pass pressure was decent if not a little lax. Nick Bosa continues to be a one-man wrecking crew, but we are still not getting enough consistent pressure. Many many standout players, as the defensive backfield is getting healthier with the return of Jaquiski Tartt, and the penalties by that unit are way down. The run game with Wilson and Deebo was solid enough to keep the Jag offense off the field, and it was a relatively low stress victory.

Unfortunately for the Jags, they were riddled by injurieds during the game.

The next game all of a sudden becomes gigantic. The 49ers better get a home win streak going as they face their once and distant past quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings. Both teams are 5-5, and the winner gets a jump on a wild card playoff spot. Minnesota is coming off an improbable win vs the Green Bay Packers.

Back to reality. This will be interesting in the fact that this is one of those ‘should win’ games we’ve coughed up recently. Shanny seems to have a spell over the Rams, but this flim-flammery does not extend to any other teams in the NFL. The thing about games like this is these are the games where Teflon Mike Nolan and Aluminum Mike Singletary woud puke on their shoes. Even Snappy Khaki tripped over his dick in games like this near the end of his tenure.

Any loss at this stage would be a death-knell for our playoff aspirations as there are a ton of teams fighting for that 7th spot. But no game is easy in the NFL, as so many teams (like Buffalo) have found out recently. The Bills were flummoxed by them and lost 9-6, so anything is possible.

What is encouraging to me is the coaching staff has found a bit of a comfort zone with Jimmy G. One that has precluded Jimmy from using play action as it takes time away from his reading of the defense in front of him. But defenses will now understand this and be able to key on run or pass faster.

Don’t know too much about the Jags other than Trevor Lawrence and Myles Jack, but they do have The Beater as their backup QB and our RB from the past, Carlos Hyde. And they have a win over the Bills.

Hey, that was a great win, and whatever spell or mojo that Shanny has on Sean McVay, well, it continues. Truth be told, if any one of the 3 plays that sealed this game went differently, the entire game shifts. Both he interceptions were caused by the Rams lack of execution and focus, not on anything the defense did. Well, maybe except for Jimmie Ward playing deep safety. Same with the 3rd down drops. Also, if the 4th down play to Samuel fails, the Rams are on their own 40 only down 21-7. Scary territory for anyone that knows Shanny’s close-out ability, or lack thereof.

I’m happy it worked out, and I’m VERY happy that Shanny stuck with the run as he has a tendency to give up on it too early. But the issues remain with this defense regarding our pass rush. Anyone not named Bosa is doing little to get to the quarterback consistently. I’m frankly amazed that McVay didn’t challenge us deep more, but we were dropping Ward deep a lot. And funny thing is, Stafford’s accuracy helps our defense as we usually trip over our dicks on underthrown balls, and Stafford didn’t do that. But the fact remains, Ryans has shown little more than the base defense through most of these games as the defense gets slowly picked apart. Particularly appalling in the Green Bay game.

Running is the only way this offense can get any type of rhythm going. Get the run game just churning out 4-5 yards a rush, and Jimmy G can make his 8-12 yard throws to Kittle and Samuel and hope they snap off 20 more yards. It was a super conservative game plan, and the running negated a lot of LA’s vaunted pass rush. And it also kept the Rams offense on the sidelines. The themselves helped immensely with the two crucial 3rd down drops deep in their territory, but there you have it. A win that could have turned out very differently but for a few plays.

Then again, most games are like this. A bad call here (ask the Bears in their Pittsburgh game), a bumbled reception for a pick 6, an inopportune fumble changes everything.

I do have to give Shanahan props for putting Deebo in the backfield and using him there as it really confused the Ram defense. Scheming ways to get the ball into Deebo’s hands is always a good thing, and it worked out in spades. As noted, he stuck with the run even after the Rams closed the game to 14-7 in the 2nd quarter. The best way to keep Jimmy G safe from fumbles/stupid picks, is to do just that. Keep the defense honest on the run and they can pass.

Another thing I found intriguing is that we did not run ONE play-action pass. Never did Jimmy turn his back to the defense when throwing the ball. A conscious decision I’m sure. If it keeps Jimmy from tossing picks and more time to read the defense, hey I’m all in.