So right now the problems come thusly:

1. Trent Dilfer. He's not a good QB. Missed reads, bad throws, and awful strength (a few times it looked like he had trouble getting the short passes as far as they needed to). I haven't seen so much air underneath these balls since Dorsey tried to throw a few 20 yards downfield (alternate line = "since I got that newfangled pants-fan"). The upside: Trent Dilfer is a correctable problem. The cure is Alex Smith. Cool.
2. Offensive line: Wow. Just. Wow. I saw something like 19 sacks today. I've decided that Jonas Jennings is not a good player. Not even a little bit. When he's not hurt, he's either holding somebody or letting them run free. Larry Allen is NOT as bad as we thought he was. He's still a good player. He's more exploitable than he's ever been, but I won't call him out on this. Who will I call out? Eric Heitmann. Screw that his leg might not be feeling right. The rest of the line is routinely missing their assignments on blitzes and double teams. I don't think they have a big schematic problem with the line. If that was the case, I'd be on the coach, there. But does anybody else think that Heitmann is NOT reading the defense very well, and is not directing his line well as a result?

The O Line continues to suck.  We ran a little better today but we still couldn't protect the QB.  Our defense did what they could but it looked to me like we were really missing Lawson out there and the lack of a pass rush is becoming a real problem.  

Now, everybody around here might agree with me anyway - because we're all pretty reasonable, attentive fans - but to you poo-flingers I have this to say.

Put DOWN the gun! This was probably the team's best game all year, everything accounted for. For the first time all year the playcalling was consistently strong, getting Gore to the weak spots and attacking downfield, but MOST importantly calling a variety of plays in a variety of situations to all sides of the field. Do I think Gore was used quite enough? Not really, but on a day when the field was a mess, maybe that was a good coaching decision, too. Furthermore: Gore was running strong, also for the first time all year. It finally looks like we might have our man back. Thirdly: The receivers played well. Battle put another TD notch in his belt, Davis made some small things happen in the middle of the field and was no doubt part of the reason Gore found the room he did at the line. Lelie, moron/rust aside, stretched the defense down the field, and made plays when the ball came his way (even if he sabotaged those same plays either before or after the catch). And Jackson finally sniffed the endzone. Part D: The defense was, once again - and the first series aside - awesome. I second Fooch's picture of who I will now be calling D-LINE GUY, and only D-LINE GUY. But Burress was also a non-factor, the blocked punt was awesome, and Willis was all over the field again. Ray McDonald sucked, though. Sucked hard, sucked balls. With that resume, maybe he's in the wrong corner of the entertainment industry, but I think I'll give him another chance and see what happens. Fifthly: Staley continues to look good, with a bad holding call being the only real issue today. Allen is looking a lot better to me than I was expecting with all the talk of his demise. He's obviously suffering from the rigors of age, but he's still making the most of his diminishing talents. And Snyder and Baas looked largely solid in the fourth quarter.

That said, I'll reiterate what I said before, but I'll say it better. Dilfer is Garbage. The team had three turnovers that he alone was directly and completely responsible for (unless you want to be fair and pin the fumble halfway on the line for giving up Umenyiora, of all people, to the backfield), and a fourth that he was partially responsible for. So that's four turnovers that Dilfer alone was a direct part of. As far as the line is concerned, Jennings is awful. I'm done with him. He's my new Kwame Harris. I hope his personal problems had to do with wondering about why he's so bad (and before you say I'm being insensitive, hoping THAT was his problem is most likely hoping that his real problems were not as bad as they likely were, so I'm being a good person). I think Heitmann is not making the right calls at the line, which is exposing the other guys who might actually be playing well (like Allen, Staley, and even dare-I-say-it Smiley).

So to summarize. Today we saw a MUCH better coached game than we have even in our wins. We saw better performances from almost all of the skill positions than we have all year, even in the wins. And the problems that we did see (turnovers, sacks, and penalties) came largely from a very select group of individuals rather than the unit meltdwns we've been seeing all year.

I think this was a major step forwrd. And a testament to the word done by Nolan and the coaches during the bye week.

Not much good news there.  If the players start fighting with each other this season is going to turn ugly.  I'm not saying they will, but this isn't a good sign.  Plus Gore and Smith might not be able to play next week.

moar good newz pls.