San Francisco 49ers Discussion

adrian522

I thought it would be nice to have a 49ers thread on here. I think there are a few 49ers fans here and it will be good to have somewhere to debate issues without resorting to the main thread.

Anyway in order to get things started (and generate some talking points) I thought I’d go through the roster position by position and also do a little prediction at the end.

In typical 49er fashion I’ll start with the Defense:

Secondary:

I think the 49ers secondary is actually a weakness. They are reliant on the front 7 getting pressure and in 2011 they lived a lot on interceptions which can’t be guaranteed in 2012. Against the Giants, Lions and Saints they gave up a lot of yards last year if not a lot of points.
In 2012 the 49ers face games against the Saints, Giants, Packers, Patriots, and Lions. In short some of the best offenses in the league.

Safety:
Dashon Goldson failed to reach agreement with the 49ers on a long term deal and will play 2012 under the franchise tag. Barring an exceptional season it has to be expected that this could be his last season in San Francisco.
Donte Whitner is the other starting safety and is coming off a good season last year, including a game changing hit on Pierre Thomas in the Divisional game.
The 49ers starting safties are both solid but a lack of depth at the position is a concern.
Corner Back:

Carlos Rodgers, Chris Culliver

A couple of solid corners, generated a lot of picks in 2011, the question is if they dry up how will they hold up in coverage.
Tarell Brown is the nickel back and has shown some promise.
Front 7:

The 49ers front 7 is crucial to how the defense operates, last year they shut down the running game of most teams they came up against and were able to get pressure on the QB. The questions that remain to be answered are how would they deal with a few injuries and can they keep up that level of performance for a second year.

Inside Linebackers:

Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman
Not much to be said here other than you’ve got 2 of the best linebackers in the league. Very difficult to run against and very good in coverage too. Larry Grant proved an able backup last season but you have to think any sort of injury here seriously weaken the 49ers.

Outside Linebacker:
Aldon Smith, Ahmad Brooks, Parys Haralson

Smith only really played on 3rd down and obvious pass rush situations last year and came within half a sack of the rookie record. Expect him to play every down this year. Whichever 2 start, you are probably looking at the best linebacking corps in the league and their performance will go a long way to determining how many games the 49ers win this year.

Defensive Line:

Isaac Sopoaga, Justin Smith, Ray McDonald
Justin Smith was immense last year and he was a genuine contender for DPOTY. For 2012 the niners need the D-Line to be just as dominant given the tough schedule they face this year.

Offense:

Quarterback

Alex Smith remains the starter, coming off a 5 INT season. The offense was run to play to Smith’s strengths and he was never really asked to make throws he’s not able too. He was helped out by the running game but even so 2011 marks easily the best year of his career. Given what Aaron Rodgers has achieved in Green Bay after SF passed on him Smith has always been under a huge amount of pressure. Expect the playcalling in 2012 to be a little less conservative with Alex asked to throw a lot more on 3rd down and also to produce more in the redzone. Expect more interceptions. The success or otherwise of the 49ers season will probably rest on how well Smith and the rest of the offense perform in those situations.
Colin Kaepernick remains the backup but this could change heading into camp, where Josh Johnson (who played for Harbaugh in San Diego) presents a challenge.

Wide Receiver

This is the area that the front office focused on most in the off-season. Mario Manningham and Randy Moss were added in free agency. AJ Jenkins was drafted in the first round. Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn and Kyle Williams return from 2011. Obviously there are questions over most of these guys. Crabtree has yet to have a full training camp since coming into the league, while he was anonymous in the playoffs last year, only one catch for 3 yards in the championship game. Moss is 35, didn’t play last year and was ditched by 3 teams the year before. It will also be interesting to see how or if Williams bounces back after the twin disasters in the Championship game last year.
AJ Jenkins was a huge surprise in the first round of the draft and the soundings coming out of Santa Clara have not been good. He is said to be too lightweight for the NFL at present and little or nothing is expected from him in 2012.
Moss and Crabtree are the likely starters but if Moss doesn’t work out I don’t think Manningham and Crabtree will scare too many defences.

Tight End

Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker
Davis had an outstanding couple of games in the playoffs but showed some frustration early in the year when not seeing much of the ball. I expect a big year from Davis, I think 49ers will need that and he is capable of taking some coverage away from the receivers.

Running Back:

Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, LaMichael James, Brandon Jacobs
It’s hard to know how SF will play the run this year. We can’t expect Gore to carry as much as he has been doing. Hunter did well at times last year and I expect progress from him. The second round pick from Oregon, James, is very exciting and I’m really looking forward to seeing where he fits in.
I’m not at all convinced by the signing of Jacobs and I’m not even sure he’ll make the final roster. If he does it’s hard to see how he’ll get much work unless Gore has to sit out due to injury.

O-Line:
Mike Iupati,Joe Stately, Jonathan Goodwin, Alex Boon, Anthony Davis
Daniel Kilgore probably the first backup.

Struggled at times last year, particularly at Baltimore but seemed to be able to get it together when it really mattered. The 49ers have drafted 4 O-Linemen in the last 2 drafts.
Pass protection will need to better this year if 49ers are to make use of the talents of Moss et al.

Special Teams:

David Ackers, Andy Lee.
Not much to say here, one of the best punters in the game and had a huge impact last year. Ackers is ever reliable and set some records last year. No worries here really. Rock Cartwright was brought in in the off-season and he will help out on Special Teams.

2012 Prediction:

Last year the 49ers won 13 games, didn’t allow a 100 yard rushing game until very late in the year, went to the NFC championship game, Smith only threw 5 picks, and to boot they didn’t have the toughest schedule in the league.
It’s very difficult to see the above being maintained for a second year. The schedule is brutal this year, no one will be underestimating us this year and everything will be more difficult.
Football Outsiders predict the 49ers will regress seriously and will only win 7 games.
I’m not quite as pessimistic. It may be unrealistic to expect a repeat of 2011 but I expect the 49ers to win the NFC West and win probably 10 games in the process. What will happen in the play-offs is anyone’s guess.

davyjose

adrian522 wrote: »

I
Alex Smith remains the starter, coming off a 5 INT season. The offense was run to play to Smith’s strengths and he was never really asked to make throws he’s not able too. He was helped out by the running game but even so 2011 marks easily the best year of his career. Given what Aaron Rodgers has achieved in Green Bay after SF passed on him Smith has always been under a huge amount of pressure. Expect the playcalling in 2012 to be a little less conservative with Alex asked to throw a lot more on 3rd down and also to produce more in the redzone. Expect more interceptions. The success or otherwise of the 49ers season will probably rest on how well Smith and the rest of the offense perform in those situations.

first off, Rodgers sat for 3 seasons, so Smith wasn't really under any pressure in that regard whatsoever. I think smith is the weak link here, and I don't see them get past any of the big boys come the playoffs.

I agree, if he's asked to throw long he'll make more INTs. Having Moss will help but when it comes to 20+ yard throws, his accuracy is very mediocre. Will randy keep motivated considering he's spent time under two of the best distance throwers in the game (Brady and Favre).

QB is definitely the 49'ers achilles heel, made all the worse considering they passed on Peyton.

adrian522

davyjose wrote: »

first off, Rodgers sat for 3 seasons, so Smith wasn't really under any pressure in that regard whatsoever. I think smith is the weak link here, and I don't see them get past any of the big boys come the playoffs.

I agree, if he's asked to throw long he'll make more INTs. Having Moss will help but when it comes to 20+ yard throws, his accuracy is very mediocre. Will randy keep motivated considering he's spent time under two of the best distance throwers in the game (Brady and Favre).

QB is definitely the 49'ers achilles heel, made all the worse considering they passed on Peyton.

Yeah it will certainly make for an interesting season. I can see Moss leaving town well before the end of the season to be honest. He's not getting any guaranteed money so it's easy for the 49ers to walk away if it's not working out.

I don't think it's fair to say they passed on Peyton, I don't know what more they could have done to land him really.

Chardee MacDennis

davyjose wrote: »

first off, Rodgers sat for 3 seasons, so Smith wasn't really under any pressure in that regard whatsoever. I think smith is the weak link here, and I don't see them get past any of the big boys come the playoffs.

I agree, if he's asked to throw long he'll make more INTs. Having Moss will help but when it comes to 20+ yard throws, his accuracy is very mediocre. Will randy keep motivated considering he's spent time under two of the best distance throwers in the game (Brady and Favre).

QB is definitely the 49'ers achilles heel, made all the worse considering they passed on Peyton.

Moss is just there to keep the defense honest imo, stretch the field and make the safeties sit deep, maybe getting 1/ or 2 target a game. I do think he'll last the season though...

adrian522

The 49ers have signed G Leonard Davis to a one year deal. Adding a bit of depth to the Offensive Line. I'm not sure he'll get a starting position but it eases some of the concerns on Offensive line depth.

In other news Dashon Goldson signed his franchise tag and reported on time.

adrian522

As has happened every year he has been in the league Michael Crabtree will not have a full training camp.

He injured himself on Friday and has been sitting out practice since.

I'm not sure if he's injury prone or just doesn't like camp. Apparently it's a separate injury to last year's...it's his right ankle as opposed to his right foot that caused problems in the past.

Footy101

Just watched some of the highlights from the 49ers vs Saints play-off game last January. The last 4mins were unbelievable! Some performance.

adrian522

Yeah, cracking game. I was up in the woolshed for it, with a saints fan who went absolutely nuts when Graham scored that TD, then stormed off when Davis got his TD 1 min later.

adrian522

Training Camp continues without crabtree and people are now starting to ask with a little more concern if Crabtree is deliberately missing training camp and preseason due to not wanting to put in the work or not wanting to out himself in harms way for a "meaningless" game or practice.

Either that or he is injury prone but that doesn't seem to add up either as he is usually ok througout the season.

Whatever the reason I can see him slipping down the depth chart and starting the sesason as WR3 behind Moss and Manningham.

What do you think?

This is from a fan site:

http://www.ninersnation.com/2012/8/4/3218471/what-do-you-think-about-michael-crabtrees-recent-injury

While I wouldn't go so far as to accuse Michael Crabtree of faking an injury, I wouldn't be the first one to be baffled by his horrible "luck" when it comes to being able to participate in training camp and/or preseason games.

Yet again he has an injury that's caused him to miss, what, six practices now? I'm sure there are office pools going, taking bets on how many preseason games he'll participate in. (Incidentally, my over-under is one game, takers?) This will bring out droves of people questioning whether it's all just a convenient way to miss preseason games (maybe he doesn't want to get really hurt in a "meaningless game"?).

I suppose the trainers probably ask a lot of subjective questions to injured players about how the injury "feels today" or "Does this hurt? How about this?", etc. If you really wanted to miss time I guess maybe you could say it hurts more than it really does...I'm not a doctor, but when the people around me know less than I do about medicine, I act like I know everything (and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express recently).

As with any player there are also people in Crabtree's corner, attributing the injury to bad luck or being "prone" to get hurt. I honestly don't have a strong opinion either way...but it is troubling to think of him missing yet another opportunity to have a full off-season (or most of one) to gain chemistry with his teammates...particularly his quarterback.

One would think that if Crabtree were doing this all on purpose that he would also realize that every "meh" season he turns-in takes money out of his free-agency pocket when that time comes...but again, I'm not saying he's guilty-as-charged.

Where do you stand on the issue?

Chardee MacDennis

http://sulia.com/channel/san-francisco-49ers/f/cc6643df-2d16-4a55-9a79-4e9a90cb3492/?source=twitter#

If the cameras had been rolling, it would have made SportsCenter and gotten a billion hits on YouTube. The 49ers ended their twilight practice Saturday with a two-minute drive for a field goal. The guy who lined up to attempt that field goal was none other than Jim Harbaugh. But Harbaugh just didn’t pantomime kicking the game winner. He called for a fake. As he ran past the holder -- assistant special teams coach Tracy Smith -- Smith flipped him the ball. It was a little out of reach, but Harbaugh still managed to gather it in. But when he went to cut up the field, he went down – face first – in a heap and lay there for a few seconds. The players, of course, thought it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever seen. So did a group of VIPs in the nearby bleachers. Harbaugh got to his feet and good naturedly ended practice a half hour early. The 49ers have a day off Sunday.

adrian522

49ers Depth Chart for the first Pre season Game:

QB: Alex Smith (11), Colin Kaepernick (7), Josh Johnson (1), Scott Tolzien (3)

RB: Frank Gore (21), Kendall Hunter (32), Brandon Jacobs (45), LaMichael James (23), Rock Cartwright (28)

FB: Bruce Miller (49), Anthony Dixon (24), Cameron Bell (44)

WR: Randy Moss (84) — or — Mario Manningham (14) — or — Ted Ginn Jr. (19), Brett Swain (18), Chris Owusu (81), Ben Hannula (35)

WR: Michael Crabtree (15), Kyle Williams (10), A.J. Jenkins (17), Joe Hastings (13), Nathan Palmer (89), Brian Tyms (9)

LT: Joe Staley (74), Alex Boone (75), Derek Hall (71), Kenny Wiggins (69)

LG: Mike Iupati (77), Daniel Kilgore (66), Joe Looney (66), Garrett Chisholm (60)

C: Jonathan Goodwin (59), Daniel Kilgore (67), Chase Beeler (61), Jason Slowey (62)

RG: Alex Boone (75), Leonard Davis (68), Mike Person (78), Al Netter (65)

RT: Anthony Davis (76), Mike Person (78), Derek Hall (71), Kenny Wiggins (69)

TE: Vernon Davis (85), Delanie Walker (46), Nate Byham (82), Konrad Reuland (88), Garrett Celek (48), Kyle Nelson (47)

DEFENSE

LDT: Ray McDonald (91), Demarcus (96), Tony Jerod-Eddie (63), Patrick Butrym (69)

NT: Isaac Sopoaga (90), Ricky Jean Francois (95), Ian Williams (93)

RDT: Justin Smith (94), Will Tukuafu (92), Matthew Masifilo (71)

OLB: Ahmad Brooks (55), Parys Haralson (98), Cam Johnson (50), Eric Bakhtiari (44)

ILB: NaVorro Bowman (53), Larry Grant (54), Joe Holland (51)

ILB: Patrick Willis (52), Tavares Gooden (56), Michael Wilhoite (57)

OLB: Aldon Smith (99), Parys Haralson (98), Kourtnei Brown (48)

LCB: Carlos Rogers (22), Tramaine Brock (26), Perrish Cox (20), Curtis Holcomb (41)

RCB: Tarell Brown (25), Chris Culliver (29), Anthony Mosley (33), Deante’ Purvis (40)

FS: Dashon Goldson (38), C.J. Spillman (27), Cory Nelms (23), Colin Jones (43), Mark LeGree (35)

SS: Donte Whitner (31), Trenton Robinson (30), Darcel McBath (36), Michael Thomas (36)

SPECIAL TEAMS

PR: Ted Ginn Jr. (19), Kyle Williams (10), LaMichael James (23)

KR: Ginn Jr., Hunter, James

P: Andy Lee (4)

K: David Akers (2), Giorgio Tavecchio (5)

H: Lee (Tolzien is emergency replacement, I believe)

LS: Brian Jennings (86), Kyle Nelson (47)

adrian522

A bit if a disastrous pre season game last night,defeat to the Texans,kaepernick looked poor enough and 2 injuries to Jacobs and james.

Hopefully the injuries are not too serious.

49ers also gave up a td on a punt return.

Syferus

At least you still have Alex.

It'll go down as one of the all-time stories of preserverence and redemption if Smith and the 49ers win the big one this year.

adrian522

Syferus wrote: »

At least you still have Alex.

It'll go down as one of the all-time stories of preserverence and redemption if Smith and the 49ers win the big one this year.

Indeed, he's looked good so far in the 2 games, though the O-Line will need to improve as he took a load of sacks against the Texans.

I'm not sure who the backup will be at this stage, Tolzien may be a better bet to come in if Smith goes down.

Doesn't look like Josh Johnson will make the team, though he did have one lovely throw to Jenkins on Saturday. He also missed him while wide open another few times.

Better news on the injury front:

NFL.com wrote:

he San Francisco 49ers can breathe a sigh of relief after an MRI has revealed running back Brandon Jacobs suffered "no major damage" to his left knee, according to a source with knowledge of his condition.

Jacobs left the 49ers' preseason loss to the Houston Texans on Friday after taking a direct hit from cornerback Kareem Jackson on an 8-yard run near the end of the first quarter.

The running back was unable to put weight on his left leg and was carted to the 49ers' locker room.

Lamichael James also thinks he wont miss any time and the Aldon Smith injury looks like it will clear up in time for week 1 also.

adrian522

The 49ers are in Denver tonight for week 3 of the pre season. The game kicks off at 9pm.

This one should see the starters on both teams play most of the game. it should be interesting to see how peyton gets on against the 49ers defence and also how well the 49ers manage to bring their receivers into the game.

We haven't really seen much of Moss or Manningham this preseason.

It would be nice to see a bit more of Kendall Hunter tonight also.

Hopefully we don't see any serious injuries tonight.

mickmc7

Manningham didn't travel due to a bereavement.

adrian522

mickmc7 wrote: »

Manningham didn't travel due to a bereavement.

Just saw that yeah, presumably will be moss and crabtree starting.

adrian522

Looks like navarro bowman and also Smith are also not playing.

mikemac1

Any news on who will be backup QB?

I like Josh Johnson, saw him in Wembley when he played for the Bucs

And was with Harbaugh in college in San Diego

Pre-season almost over, is this decided?

adrian522

Colin kaepernick is apparently going to be the backup. It imagine tolzien will be the 3rd qb. Johnson hasn't done much from what I've seen.

adrian522

Pretty worring performance from the 49ers so far,nothing at all on offense and they couldn't stop manning when he was on the field.

mickmc7

29-24 win having been 17-0 down. There hasn't been a sack or a turnover in the 3 warmup games so far which is a slight concern.

adrian522

There was an INT last night. Caleb Hanie to Cox I think.

Overall though the defense hasn't been good, seemed to be going through the motions.

mickmc7

“@KyleBonagura: The #49ers have begun making their cuts. A few early names: K Giorgio Tavecchio, WR Ben Hannula, Stanford DL Matt Masifilo, Cory Nelms”
“@KyleBonagura: The #49ers have cut DB Deante' Purvis.”
“@KyleBonagura: Wisconsin rookie DL Patrick Butrym has been cut by the #49ers”
“@KyleBonagura: Add recently acquired TE Joe Sawyer to the #49ers cut list.”
“@KyleBonagura: Brian Tyms has been cut by the #49ers”

adrian522

No surprises there, I'm waiting to see what RB's/WR's get cut and presumably 1 QB will also get cut.

adrian522

The 49ers have cut their roster down to 75.

One of the guys cut is Jason Slowey , a guard who was drafted in the 6th round in April.

Doesn't look particularly good for a draft pick to not even make it to the start of the season but I guess it's better to cut your losses now rather than waste a roster spot.

mickmc7

Comfortable 35-3 win over the chargers. Mostly just the back ups playing so cant read too much into it. Seems kaepernick and Johnson both put in good shifts.

adrian522

Yeah, looks like it and all 3 Running backs with healthy ypc averages.

interestingly Johnson came in for Kaepernick with Tolzien being the 3rd QB.

But by all accounts Kaepernick had a great game.

adrian522

The niners roster is down to 53, no room for Josh Johnson or Rock Cartwright.

I'm hope they get picked up by other teams as I quite like both guys.

The final 53 man roster is here:

http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2012/08/inside-the-49ers/final-53-man-roster/

Footy101

Great start for the 49ers last night. Big win despite some dodgy calls by the referee towards the end. Defence did well to keep the Packers Offence relatively quiet.

Dymo

I thought that was a great win last night for the 49ers against a well fancied Green Bay, but I thought they looked susceptive in a lot of defensive plays and was never confident of the final result until the end.

Smith gets a lot of stick from people saying he'll never be a great quaterback but last night I think he did well except for one or 2 passes he could of made but his partnership with Moss seems dangerous and should strengthen the team for this year.

Akers great field goal, at 37 he's still got a great boot on him and his proving his worth already with San Francisco with 6 crucial points during the game.

That game should of filled the team with confidence and hopefully should have no problem making the playoffs.

Dymo

Here's a good run down of the game

http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2012/09/inside-the-49ers/week-1-grades-the-49ers-upset-the-packers-30-22/

Chardee MacDennis

think this was one of the my few calls that I got right this week, go 9ers! Great to see Moss get a TD on his first outing, hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

Mitch Connor

BastardPrince wrote: »

think this was one of the my few calls that I got right this week, go 9ers! Great to see Moss get a TD on his first outing, hopefully it's a sign of things to come.

he played ok - but I don't think you can really make much of the TD, I could have got that, coverage was as badly blown as it could be. No one went with him at all.

poldebruin

I thought the 49ers sent out a big message to the NFC last night, and can see them as favourites for the SB from that conference now. The defence looked as good as last year, but Alex Smith looked as sharp and confident as I have ever seen him.

I think they just tightened up after the punt return, and totally dominated the packers in GB.

Chardee MacDennis

Mitch Connor wrote: »

he played ok - but I don't think you can really make much of the TD, I could have got that, coverage was as badly blown as it could be. No one went with him at all.

true, but it's nice to see him off the mark!

adrian522

I'm only just getting to post about this now.

What a great San Francisco performance. To come away from Lambeau field with a win is a wonderful way to start the season. It really gives the team some momentum to start the season.

With the Seahawks and Rams both losing we're already ahead in the race to win the division.

It also gives us the head to head over Green Bay for seeding purposes, probably won't come into it but you never know.

I thought the offense played very well, very balanced play calling, and Moss and Manningham made a huge difference, Crabtree also looked good, probably benefiting from from the defense having to pay attention to the other weapons. I was very pleased with Gore as well, he looks good as does Kendall Hunter.

Alex Smith was very good, efficient and made good decisions. 126 passer rating, with 2 TD's and no picks, can't ask for more than that.

The defense was dominant as usual and not much more to say there, (Benson got 2 yards per carry)

The replacment officials were very frustrating, some very strange calls working against both teams. Niners probably got the better of it overall but that punt return could have cost us.

Finally Harbaugh got 2 challenges wrong, which is not unusual for him. Sometimes I think he throws the challenge just to vent his frustration rather than waiting to hear from upstairs if it is worthwhile challenging. Neither of those challenges had a chance and it cost us 2 timeouts and with replacement officials I think we should be keeping 1 challenge in hand right up until the 2 minute warning.

Overall great result though, and looking forward to Detroit next weekend.

adrian522

Anyone staying up for the handshake bowl?

Lionbacker

adrian522 wrote: »

Anyone staying up for the handshake bowl?

I'll be watching it, although obviously looking for a Lions win (not all that optimistic about it if I'm being honest).

Think too much is been made of this handshake controversy. There's so much hype over what happened last year that it's overshadowing what should prove to be a decent game between the one of the NFL's most toughest defence against one the most high powered offences. Certainly won't be expecting any more handshake dramas after the final whistle.

Dymo

They shook hands before the game, no problem. Both are just getting on with it.

adrian522

Another good win, very impressed with Crabtree converting 3 3rd downs in a row, defense continues to look good also, only downer was giving up a turnover on a kickoff return.

On to the Vikings.

UnitedIrishman

Watched most of the game last night before tiredness got the better of me. That defence is pretty damn good. They really make a QB work to complete a pass and even when it is complete, they seem to be so quick to get to the receiver that there's not an awful amount of yards after the catch.

Was a bit sceptical of SF as Superbowl contenders before the start of the season but the form they're in, they are in the top 3 contenders for sure.

Dymo

That was the best game that Alex Smith had in the NFL and the team is growing with confidence. I was listening to 97.5 San Francisco's sports radio yesterday and they seem to be delighted with the team.

Lionbacker

Dymo wrote: »

That was the best game that Alex Smith had in the NFL and the team is growing with confidence. I was listening to 97.5 San Francisco's sports radio yesterday and they seem to be delighted with the team.

Well it shouldn't be too hard considering that Lions were missing 3 out of the 4 starting players from the secondary. But Smith did what he needed to do to win & done it without making any mistakes, of which the same cannot be said about Stafford who has looked very dodgy the first 2 games.

That defense is elite though. Difficult to get any facet of offence going against it. Seeing as it shut down 2 of the best scoring offences of last season, it's hard to see if any team will be able to score enough points to keep up with what Smith can do (in tandem with the running game), who in fairness does look better than last year.

A trip to New Orleans in Februrary doesn't look out of the question.

davyjose

Looking by far like the best team in the NFL right now.

I don't think it was just because you guys were missing starters, Lionbacker. This team is starting to click. As I said during the game, they have so many options with the most athletic TE in the game, and Gore and Crabtree, and some guy named Randy... something...

Dymo

Lionbacker wrote: »

Stafford who has looked very dodgy the first 2 games.

I've watched his first 2 games and playing bad I think is an understatement, even the commentators were getting on his case. He got a way with it against the Rams but Sunday night he hadn't improved. They may soon be changing to their rookie quaterback or give Shaun Hill another try.

adrian522

Dymo wrote: »

I've watched his first 2 games and playing bad I think is an understatement, even the commentators were getting on his case. He got a way with it against the Rams but Sunday night he hadn't improved. They may soon be changing to their rookie quaterback or give Shaun Hill another try.

That's a bit drastic surely? Stafford is still in the top 10 QB's in the league. I'm sure he'll improve, he's too good of a QB not to.

EKRIUQ

not a good day at the office, the defense didn't seem as strong as in other weeks.

adrian522

No, poor performance all round. Vikings played very well, but a lot of dropped passes, Gore fumble, Smith INT, and problems stopping the Vikings offense.

Really needed a stop after we brought it back to 4 points, but couldn't, then Whitner dropped what would have been a Pick 6, that would have brought us back.

Hopefully the response is a good as after last years defeat to the cowboys. Need a big performance in NY now.

adrian522

So is it time for panic? A lot of people seemed to think that the Vikings should have been swatted aside without too much difficulty but the niners really struggled.

I can't really see the Jets causing us the same problems but you never know.

Incidentally I think the "trerrible" NFC west is now one of the most comptitive divisions out there, I think I read more combined wins so far than any other division.

Anyway, I saw this post last night and thought it was pretty funny, basically 49ers tweeting about the MNF ending:

(source = http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2012/09/24/niners-express-outrage-at-seahawks-controversial-victory/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+49ersHotRead+%2849ers+Hot+Read%29)

– Center Jonathan Goodwin (@jgoody59): “This will be the biggest blunder in the history of sport! . If that stands!”

– Safety Dashon Goldson (@thehawk38): “That’s picked” … “Omfg … lmfao”

– Cornerback Perrish Cox (@pcox16): “Is the refs workin for the buffalo wild wings commercial?”

– Right tackle Anthony Davis (@BamDavis76): “Thats f—— up what they did to greenbay. People work to hard to be cheated.”

– CEO Jed York (@JedYork): “Good night hanging with family & friends in Youngstown. Did I miss anything on #MNF”

– Kicker David Akers (@DavidAkers2): “All I can say is WOW!!!”

– Left tackle Joe Staley (@JStaley74): ”Seriously this is insane. #MNF”

– Safety C.J. Spillman (@CJSpillman27): “What in the world is going on w the game tonight crazy ending! I thought that was a pick!”

– Defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois (@Freakyjean95):”Where is the pass Interference call.”

(Add this from Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (@RealPeterson21): “Com’on can we please get the real refs back. Destroying the game that we all grew to love. WOW!!!!!!”))

Dymo

NFC west division is now going to be tough to qualify for the play offs, but I'm sure the 49'ers will make it, but the cardinals and seahawks are going to be tough games, and I've been impressed with the Rams so far this year. The jets game won't be easy but it will show how good the 49ers can react to the loss.