Looking at the events of the last few weeks, and week 1 in the 2009 NFL regular

season has me thinking. Is it that the San Francisco 49ers are on a path to reverse the trends of

previous seasons? Normally that game in Arizona is one that we would have lost, it's a type of

game that some would call a “moral” victory even if we had lost, well I am not one of those

unfortunates. Fortune may not be the right word to represent that singular point. I think that win

may be due to the fact that we actually have a QB that can win a game and has down so

for us continua sly for us over the last couple seasons. To a tune of 8-3

But let me delve deeper into the point I am attempting to make. This won't be a short

post to bare with me. Okay first things first, a couple of off-seasons ago the 49ers traded a future

1st round pick to the Patriots for that years late 1st round pick, though the player we ended up

acquiring in that deal is good, Joe Staley, the 49ers front office made that deal under the assumption

that our team was going to be much better the following season. Well that didn't occur and the

Patriots ended up with the 7th pick. Arguments can be made that we ended up with a better player

then the Patriots did, and that is fine and dandy. But the trade in it's intention was a failure. Now

lets fast forward a couple seasons. On draft day 2009 San Francisco traded a 2nd and 4th round pick

to the Panther for a 1st round pick in 2010. Though many were upset upon hearing the deal initially

and by Carolina's selection of Everett Brown, a player many of us desperately wanted. It appears

Carolina made the same mistake we did a few seasons ago in the Patriots deal. They overestimated

the talent on their own roster. And now it appears we will end up with a top ten pick, and not our own!! Reversal of fortune? Or good front office management? Maybe a little of both? I will let you decide that for yourself.

Secondly, I know many of us would like to see San Francisco spend big time on free agency in order to immediately improve our team. But the organization has been prudent and selective in free agency over the last couple seasons. And how has that worked out? Well it has allowed players like Ray McDonald, Parys Haralson, Shawntae Spencer, Dashon Goldsen, Chilo Rachal, Josh Morgan and Joe Staley evolve into very good players. It has also allowed the 49ers to have pretty much the best cap situation in all of the NFL heading into what could possibly be an uncapped year. The importance of this is that San Francisco will be able to go after one or two high value free agents and not be affected in terms of the cap when it re-established. And if the 2010 season is capped we will be one of a very few teams to be able to go after player(s) that we need and that the draft hasn't filled. The front office has been genius when it comes to this and it will benefit this team years down the road.

Finally, looking at just the 2009 season well many of us thought the schedule was incredibly tough, which it still may be. Some actually saw our team improving in terms of play but not record due to our opponents in 2009. But some of that has changed over the course of the last several weeks. Let me look at this for a second

Seattle: They continue to be hit hard when it comes to injury and although I would rather play a team at full strength so we don't hear any excuses when we beat them, this can only help our prospects this season. (Walter Jones, Marcus Trufant, Chris Spencer and Leroy Hill)

Chicago: The loss of Brian Urlacher is the equivalent of San Francisco losing Patrick Willis

(fingers crossed), also Chicago's secondary is in disarray due to lack of depth and nagging injuries. But the loss of Urlacher makes that team so much easier to game plan for.

Minnesota: Many in the sports world saw the signing of Brett Favre as the final missing piece separating the Vikings from pretender to contender. Although they still may contend no one can say

the looked unbeatable against Cleveland on Sunday. I watched the game on DVR and will say one thing. We can go into Minnesota and beat them, Brett Favre looked old, the defense allowed Cleveland to put some yards and drives together. Minnesota doesn't look a hard as they once did.

Arizona: We led almost all game on Sunday and shut down the “high voltage” Cardinals offense. That was on the road, who is to say we can sweep Arizona in 2009. Our confidence is there in terms of being able to match up with them.

Indianapolis: This is not the same Colts team we have seen in the past. They are without the true soul to that team Tony Dungy. Almost lost to a pretty bad Jacksonville team and will be without Anthony Gonzalez when we make the trip to Indianapolis. Oh and no more Marvin Harrison either. Don't get me wrong Peyton Manning is still one of the leagues best QB's but the team as a whole seems much more beatable then they have over the last decade.

Houston: Who here thought the Texans would compete for a playoff spot in 2009? I did. But after laying a egg on Sunday and getting shutout by the Jets im not sure if that was just hyped expectations. When I first saw them on our schedule. Hell I didn't think we really stood a chance, but now after yes just week one we look like the better team

I was reading predictions for week two around the net today and one thing jumped out to me. Most experts picked the 49ers to win this week. Surprising? No, not really. But what is surprising is some of these experts said things like this

“The 49ers look like one of the dark horse 11-5 teams” and “This isn't your parents 49ers team, they are going to win because of defense, passion and hard nosed football” Finally it appears we are getting respect from around the league. Of course this can all change if we struggle and lay a goose on Sunday.