49ers 33 - Seahawks 30: How to repeatedly shoot yourself in the foot and still win
Unbelievable. Just UN-BE-lievable. The 49ers seemed to do everything they possibly could to blow this game. Fumbles, blown blocking assignments, turnovers, a missed field goal from Mr. Reliable. And yet, in spite of all this, the 49ers managed to win. The 49ers made numerous mistakes, but somehow they made enough plays in the end to win it. I'm about as excited as I've ever been after a win.
The Good
Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce - After being shutout and left for dead in week 1, Isaac Bruce went in the way back machine finishing with 4 receptions for 153 yards. More importantly is that all 4 of his receptions led to 49ers first downs, none so important as the 33 yarder on 3rd and 7 in overtime. So much for having lost a step
JTO - For as much grief as he gets (and got in the game thread) O'Sullivan made plays. As I said just before the season started, there will be times he makes exciting plays and there will be times he makes you grimace. There were several times we wished he'd throw the ball away, but then late in the game, holding onto the ball allowed him to make some big plays. It's only been 2 games, but this is clearly going to be a wild ride.
Bamm Bamm - Patrick Willis had the game changing play when he ran back that interception for the touchdown. When he was out after that the Seahawks ran all over the defense, but when he returned the 49ers defense stepped up to make some plays. Not a coincidence.
Bryant Johnson - He wasn't flashy but he made six big catches and has been the most consistent receiver through two weeks. Isaac Bruce stepped up as the #1 guy this week, but Johnson just made plays.
The Bad
Special Teams - There was the missed field goal (not all Nedney's fault), the bad kick near the end of the first half, the big returns by Seattle's returners. There is definitely some work to be done here.
The Ugly
Coaching Adjustments - As John Carlson was shredding the passing defense, the coaches were not making adjustments at all. This game should not have been this difficult, but it seemed like our defensive coaches were struggling to figure out this Seahawks offense. Maybe having all these new receivers was actually to Seattle's benefit.
Pass Rush - They redeemed themselves with a big sack late in the fourth quarter, but other than that, they might as well have gone without any defensive linemen they way they were performing.
There is plenty more to discuss as this went from the ugliest of losses to the biggest of wins in no time. J.T. O'Sullivan certainly still has plenty to prove, but even the biggest skeptic has to see some of the positives he brings to this team. Coming off such an emotional win, the 49ers can NOT have a letdown next week at home against Detroit.
Thanks again to everybody who took part in the open thread. After the jump is the breakdown of commenters for the game. The emotion ran high and it was definitely an exciting afternoon of football.

| Name | # of Posts |
|---|---|
| Fooch | 89 |
| shlecko | 55 |
| Muy Macho | 50 |
| baybruin415 | 49 |
| 49erLou | 47 |
| Nosetackle Supreme | 43 |
| Persiflage | 40 |
| howtheyscored | 38 |
| sam23 | 37 |
| TripTheNinja | 21 |
| Bob On The Coast | 21 |
| Josh from Hollywood | 21 |
| McFood | 20 |
| CB30 | 18 |
| anaheim angels | 16 |
| Karlifornia | 12 |
| 3 and out | 11 |
| etb2 | 11 |
| TexanNiner | 10 |
| lincypoo i wuv u | 9 |
| groug | 7 |
| GSwarrior | 4 |
| Coffee13eans | 4 |
| warriorfan4life | 4 |
| AndYourBirdCanSing | 3 |
| montasmob69 | 1 |
| jtoj | 1 |
| Moggeee | 1 |
| wjackalope | 1 |
| Cruithear | 1 |
Read Related
Comments
A win is a win
"I think I was the best player I ever saw"
Willie Mays, you ain't kidding
by CB30 on Sep 14, 2008 4:49 PM PDT 0 recs
Pass Rush
Agreed. Ever since the first half against AZ, the team hasn’t done much to get to the QB. It’s going to be especially important next week vs. Detroit with that pass happy offense.
by baybruin415 on Sep 14, 2008 5:05 PM PDT 0 recs
Injuries
Goldson- knee sprain and Jennings- eh. Pretty healthy going into next week. It will be nice to see some positive attitudes about our Niners for a week.
"We'd like to think that tickets will be hard to come by." Bill Walsh
by TripTheNinja on Sep 14, 2008 5:14 PM PDT 0 recs
With Jennings not playing, my attitude toward the season just got a little more positive.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on
Sep 14, 2008 5:17 PM PDT
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As John Carlson was shredding the passing defense, the coaches were not making adjustments at all.
Boy, I just wish somebody would have been there to tell the coaches that Carlson kept catching passes!
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Sep 14, 2008 5:16 PM PDT 0 recs
new job
I’m re-assigning you. You’re no longer an author here, but rather you’ll be the voice of reason for Nolan and Co.
Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!
by Fooch on
Sep 14, 2008 5:18 PM PDT
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I’ll take it!
Mostly, I was just mocking the broadcast team, though.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on
Sep 14, 2008 5:22 PM PDT
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ahhh
I totally missed that part of it.
Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!
by Fooch on
Sep 14, 2008 5:29 PM PDT
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avg yards per play
6.6 yards per play last week, 5.8 yards per play this week. I know it’s only 2 games, but it’s a nice improvement over last year’s league worst 4.1 per play.
by Muy Macho on Sep 14, 2008 5:27 PM PDT 0 recs
Our Defensive Coordinator
Is the worse in football by far. He rarely blitzes, and when he does, he only sends corners or safeties. Very frustrating on that part, but thank god for Mike Martz and the offense, they saved us, alond with Patrick Willis.
by pbra17 on Sep 14, 2008 5:34 PM PDT 0 recs
Greg Manusky - "worst in football"?
That’s a little drastic. Saying something like that makes me think that you haven’t watched many games across the league in a few years.
Also, there are two sides of the coaching coin. Our defense is very well disciplined, and while the gameplan man not always be solid, the players do stick with it. We rarely commit stupid penalties, and blown assignments are rare. The playcalling is questionable, but that’s just one aspect of the coordinator’s job.
He’s no Monte Kiffin, but he’s certainly not the worst in the NFL either.
by shlecko on
Sep 15, 2008 10:25 AM PDT
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No kidding.
If you want worst, you can certainly do a lot worse than Manusky. I don’t know the full extent of the Ram’s issues, but you can definitely start by looking there.
by sfgfan on
Sep 15, 2008 10:30 AM PDT
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damn damn damn
I had to miss the game again and DAMN this sounds like it was a fun one to watch. damn damn damn damn damn.
Still defending Rich Aurilia, and the Niners' classic unis
by wjackalope on Sep 14, 2008 6:02 PM PDT 0 recs
it all good
we cames out with a win. It time to take care of business against Big D next week.
by warriorfan4life on Sep 14, 2008 6:53 PM PDT 0 recs
WR Logan Payne
Payne apparently might be done for the year with a torn knee ligament.
Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!
by Fooch on Sep 14, 2008 6:57 PM PDT 0 recs
Yikes, that really sucks. That was the Goldson hit, right? I remember thinking that the hit looked clean, but being a little put off by the fact that he went out of his way to go so low when Payne’s whole midsection was a wide open target.
Unfortunately, it happens, even with clean hits. Really sucks for the guy.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on
Sep 14, 2008 7:13 PM PDT
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I agreed with the commentators
It was a low blow and unnecessarily dangerous.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on
Sep 16, 2008 1:31 AM PDT
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Is it me?
Our o-line played its best ball with Wragge, and Baas are in the game together. Jenning is really a joke and Snyder is too weak to play guard….what do you guys think about that line.
LT….staley
LG…Baas
C…..Heitman
RG …Wragge
RT sSnyder
"Niners Are Back!!!"
by mississippininer on Sep 14, 2008 7:59 PM PDT 0 recs
Sims
Sims will be the guy at right tackle if Jennings remains hurt or benched or whatever you want to call it.
Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!
by Fooch on
Sep 14, 2008 8:06 PM PDT
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I agree fooch...
I like the line up but like you said Snyder is too weak… Staley, Wragge, Heitman, Baas and Sims.. They were running Snyder over all day… That line needs strength inside.
Joe and Steve were under the same system for years... don't expect Smith to be super so soon.
by bayboy on
Sep 14, 2008 8:40 PM PDT
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The O-Line was bad all game. Even when JT was completing passes in the 4th quarter, the Seahawks were still getting a ton of pressure on him on like every other play.
Trent Kline: Decentish. Also, my website is called ChatterBalks Dot Com. It's not being updated right now. Hope for more at your own risk.
by groug on
Sep 14, 2008 10:08 PM PDT
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Tony Wraggae made some mistakes at RG. I wouldn’t be surprised to see David Baas win his job back before the year is over.
And the only aspect that our OL really performed “okay” in was pass protection. The run blocking was awful – 100% lateral to create walls, rather than holes. No push whatsoever. There weren’t soo many screens or pitches (surprisingly), but the ones that were called were kinda fudged up by the OLine.
Not an awful game, but there’s a ton of room for improvement.
by shlecko on
Sep 15, 2008 10:29 AM PDT
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Run-blocking
I think part of the reason why the offensive line struggled so much in run-blocking is because of the noise in the stadium. After Jennings’ repeated offenses, you can see that the entire unit was a little delayed from the snap of the ball. Normally, the offensive line has the upper hand in a run play because they know they’re going forward and usually first. In yesterdays game, they were coming off the ball the same time as the defense, so it’s a little bit harder to generate that push.
Maybe that’s really no excuse or anything, but i think running in that environment must be tough on most teams, no?
by sfgfan on
Sep 15, 2008 10:32 AM PDT
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Fooch, we need a column
about the defense next week. According to the post-game pieces the Niners were playing in the nickel or dime all day, even though Seattle had shoe salesmen playing at wide receiver. No pressure at all on Hasselbeck. Even if that was their philosophy, that they would play the pass and let them run, they still needed to mix up things, maybe blitz a few times. I know it’s all risk/reward, but it’s exhausting watching our opponents on field-length fifteen-play drives.
Anyway, it feels great to have a win and to be in second place in the division. Looking at the schedule this could get very painful very fast, but O’Sullivan looked cool and played well.
by Bob On The Coast on Sep 14, 2008 8:47 PM PDT 0 recs
defense
Nolan mentioned something about that was what they did last year and they wanted to continue this year (I don’t remember all the details). However, this team featured basically two weapons (Carlson and J. Jones) so you’d think they’d adjust their defense. Wouldn’t you play the run and dare them to beat you on the pass, which they really didn’t do all that well considering they averaged 5.25 yards per pass attempt?
I was baffled by the defensive game plan.
Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!
by Fooch on
Sep 14, 2008 8:55 PM PDT
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What a barn burner of a game.. Shadowed by the absolute slugfest shootout that was the Chargers/Bronocs game, this game was a doozy…
The JT O Sullivan Air Show looks to be in motion and he had some great chemistry with Bruce and Johnson. JTO needs to work on getting rid of the ball as he takes too many sacks but he is still adjusting..
You would figure with Lawson returning and the signing of Justin Smith that there would be more pressure on the QB..
But its end of week 2 and can look forward to playing a poor Lions team next week.
by MatteoFC on Sep 14, 2008 9:06 PM PDT 0 recs
Lawson’s never been much of a pass rusher, though.
He’s been a top flight coverage LB, though, and it would have been nice to have had him on Carlson a little bit more.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on
Sep 14, 2008 9:21 PM PDT
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Justin Smith is a better 4-3 DE, and he’s far from doing anything to fix our pass rushing needs.
Until we can consistently pressure the QB, the ceiling for us is .500 MAYBE 9-7 if we get lucky.
by TexanNiner on
Sep 14, 2008 9:57 PM PDT
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in a sense, they just did get lucky
"I think I was the best player I ever saw"
Willie Mays, you ain't kidding
by CB30 on
Sep 15, 2008 9:42 AM PDT
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Good win
but already looking forward to next weeks game against Detroit…MUST WIN. This is a cupcake game, if we play like we should. Thats a huge “IF”.
What I liked: JT remaining calm, Frank being steady, and Bruce showing up. What I did not like: Willis leaving injured in the third quarter (is it serious?) and the defense as a whole. I think they can tighten up, and step up in a big game against Detroit.
This is a 1-1 football team. Never undervalue a win against a divisional opponent. It looks a lot better than 0-2 (Seahawks). We got a big win today, but am looking forward to a huge game against Detroit next Sunday
by 4thnd1 on Sep 14, 2008 10:23 PM PDT 0 recs
Wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute
If there is a counter i’m definitely in next week.
MURS for President!!!!!!!
by jtoj on Sep 14, 2008 10:52 PM PDT 0 recs
I just wanted to seee the game in peace
and next week, i’ll have no t.v.
anybody know any streaming websites????
MURS for President!!!!!!!
by jtoj on
Sep 14, 2008 10:52 PM PDT
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This might help: http://www.ninersnation.com/2008/9/14/613858/san-francisco-49ers-seattl#8733951.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on
Sep 14, 2008 10:55 PM PDT
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i watched the game yesterday here http://www.stoogetv.com/player.html
Simply by pulling on both ends, Patrick Willis can stretch diamonds back into coal
by 49erLou on
Sep 15, 2008 7:42 AM PDT
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Congrats on on your win from the Cardinals Nation
Didn’t get to watch the division matchup because I was at the Card’s game, but it is good to see the Hawks 0-2.
by AJ BirdWatcher on Sep 15, 2008 3:56 PM PDT 0 recs
Nice Performance For You As Well...
but don’t get too comfortable!
by good as gold on
Sep 15, 2008 11:18 PM PDT
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