Like most Faithful, I pretended not to watch the Super Bowl. The repeated stings of what-ifs and Come on Williams! shouts finally faded and I watched some of the Giant's win. It was pretty uneventful until a nice end of the fourth quarter where both teams seemed to have a chance at victory.

Which brings up this painful reverberating sentence: YES, the Niners probably would have won that game. The pace and tone of the game reminded me of most of the games they played this year A low scoring, tight, defensive battle that ultimately came down to a couple of plays. The better team won that game.

Sadly, the best TEAM was sitting down watching that stinkfest. Grr. Coulda, woulda, shoulda......

Let us not forget the 49ers were 14-4 this year. An incredible season that 30 other teams would have loved to have been a part of. If not for a couple of late game secondary breakdowns, they would have been 15-1. (They had a tough draw in the Raven's game, but a loss is a loss and they were outplayed.) Yes, they had some lucky breaks (or was that skill?) Overall the team made huge strides in becoming relevant again.....east coast bias aside.

So the question becomes how does this team make the next step?

After reaching the NFC Championship game, (no easy task) the only logical next step is the Super Bowl. Not just making it, (Tom Brady) but actually putting trophy number six in the cabinet. What pieces of the puzzle are missing?

The areas this team needs to improve upon have been well documented lately on this site and by people much smarter than me. We all have ideas as to who they should draft, who they should resign, and what Free agents they should aggressively pursue. Oh, and juggle the 30 million or so of cap room they have AND keep the chemistry AND build on the success of 2011. Easy right?

No, it is not easy. That is why the team has a GM, a gifted head coach, and a front office full of people way smarter than us to make these agonizing decisions. They proved that they have the skill in making these moves......the success of 2011 proved that beyond a doubt. There were a couple of missteps....(Ronald Johnson or Braylon Edwards anyone?) Overall, they have given us fans a team that is going to be good for many years to come.

Is a championship is our future? I trust that it is. As fans, all we can do is sit back and let the decision makers do what they do this offseason. Let them work that voodoo that they do. And they do it well.

After all, it isn't politics or anything......they aren't trying to select who is to lead this nation for the next four years.

No, it is way more important than that.

Here we go Faithful.......take a deep breath. Get comfortable in that chair. Grab your favorite beverage and get ready for the ride. It should be a fun one.

One more thing: Can we pleeeeeze get the ball in the hands of Kendall Hunter more? Gawd.

but if I don't get me some Brooks next season I might not be happy. Ok now I appreciate in the current climate that might be seen as provocative. In the 2 weeks following the loss in the NFC championship I was part of the 'Gotta keep Rogers' fanclub and a paid up member of the 'Goldson is THE GAME' bandwagon.

And then the Superbowl rolled around

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This is no secret; the 49ers were abysmal in 3rd down conversion percentage this season. Their 29.4% success rate was their lowest since 2005, when they were 32nd in the league at 28.5%. They haven’t been at or above 40% since 2003. I went ahead and looked at every third down play the 49ers ran this season and I’ll have some stats further in this post. The team was a little more successful at home than they were on the road converting 33% at the Stick, compared to 25.9% away from home.

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To keep it short and sweet, I love the play making ability, but his coverage skills for a FS are pretty lacking.

Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the 69th out of 86 safeties this season, mainly because of those coverage skills.

From Walter Football:

Of the safeties who have played 800-plus snaps this year, he's surrendered the eighth-highest completion percentage. He allowed four touchdowns this year (tied for fifth among safeties) despite the amazing front seven he has in front of him. He's tied for sixth in penalties among safeties this year. If he played behind a mediocre front seven, he would be exposed. Those who just look at stats and Pro Bowl voting might think Goldson is great, but he's just a backup at best.

I guess the team's judgement is all that matters, but these two bits of information are quite telling.

I just see so many traits of a SS in him. I guess he has value in the right scheme because of the play making ability and big hit ability, but at this point, I'd franchise him, rather than sign him to the long term deal, based on what's available.

Welcome to our twenty-fifth installment of the Ninersnation Community Thread. Here we can go into off-topics such as why does stubbing a toe hurt so much? Who swallows their gum? What is a hot dog made of? So now our front page football topics will be about football (strange concept, I know). First rule is, do a fist pump! Second rule is that site decorum is still on. No talk into religion, politics, or dirty dirty. No personal attacks, racism, or sexist remarks. Images are allowed, just be tasteful and pretend Gisele is sitting next to you.

This is going to be like the draft threads so we can come back to a discussion so that means REC THIS! That is a good rule of thumb in any situation. So lets have some fun here. The new topic of conversation: I hated the Super Bowl. I hate advertisements. I hate it when you chew with your mouth open. I hate calling people haters. I hate little girls screaming in distress when they are playing. I hate you. What do you hate? Pet peeves and other things that make you clench your fists and shake them in the air like a frustrated two year old.

Back before the season started, the San Francisco 49ers were predicted to be in the "Suck for Luck" competition. There were quite a few reasons why.

1. New Head Coach.
2. Yet ANOTHER offensive scheme.
3. Limited training time because of the lock-out.
4. ALEX SMITH as the QB? Seriously?

And on and on and on. Then the season began. The 49ers started surprising everyone by winning! Yeah, we lost against the evil Cowboys, got beaten by the Ravens, and lost to the Cardinals. However, we found ways to win. Excuses were made by other fans and other teams. Those excuses were told to sit down and shut up during the playoffs when we beat the Saints at their own game. I won't go into the hard-fought Giants game other than it still hurts too much.

However, after we lost that game some 49ers fans started talking. "How do we get Luck?" Many elaborate plans were made here on Niners Nation for ways we could get Andrew Luck. After all, if we had Luck during the Giant game (slight pun intended) we would have won right? Maybe, maybe not. I see our needs as better pass protection and better WR play.

So, where does that leave our vaunted QB position? Smith may or may not become elite, but who will be our franchise QB?

Colin Kaepernick. Yes, that raw talent from the University of Nevada. There are three reasons why I think he will be the answer. One, he has the talent. Two, he is a very hard worker and is driving himself. Three, this little-known guy named Jim Harbaugh who seems to have a knack for making QB's the best they can be.

The same people who have been lauded for all the great draft-picks and FA acquisitions moved up in the draft to get Colin. He drove to SF on his own dime to talk to Coach Harbaugh right after he was drafted to learn what he could before the lockout was renewed. Also, he wasn't thrown to the wolves, giving him time to refine and learn his talent.

Do I think he is the starter next year? No. He needs another year or two to learn the NFL offense, refine his throwing. I would like to see Alex Smith signed for a two-year contract to allow Kaep to develop. Then watch out NFL!

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WARNING - I wrote a lot on this one. If you have the stomach - and the time - for 2500+ words of armchair managing and Tuesday Morning (morning here meaning evening after the super bowl) Quarterbacking, please follow me on this magical ride. It'll be fun! There's a warning (which you are now reading) and a disclaimer and everything! There might even be pie at the end! Anyway, super-long warning over - enjoy super-long FanPost.

I'm not embarrassed to say that I got really pissed off at the end of the NFC Championship game. I was so pissed off, in fact, that I took a two week break from all things sports. No ESPN, no podcasts, no SB Nation, no NBA 2K12 - anything to do with sports whatsoever. I took a break from it all until the Super Bowl.

But it's time for myself, and for us all, to come to terms with what happened. The 49ers should have won that game. They could have converted a third down. Kyle Williams could have fallen on his first loose ball or secured his second. They could have gotten more than one catch for three yards from their wide receivers. They didn't, they lost, and the Giants won the championship (which are words I hope to repeat in nine months). And now it's time for the Niners' front brass to figure out what to do next year. Here's what I'd set my to-do list as this offseason if I were in their place.

DISCLAIMER: I am not pretending to know more than the 49ers front office and coaches. If they make a move I don't like or you don't like, it's almost certainly been well-researched and comes from a place of greater knowledge (and greater information - we only watch as fans, they're observing MUCH more) than any of us has.

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Hi everybody since our previous draft thread manager is now gone Fooch has given me the privilege to write them. So do you know what that means? IT MEANS I HAVE ALL THE POWER IN THE WORLD, but then I realized that I live in an itty bitty tiny space called the dorms. I also need you guys to do me a favor by recing this post. Otherwise people won't be able to see it and the post will get lost.

Also we have a few rules on this thread. #1 this is about the NFL draft so if you want to ask if it is ok to cry during a Disney movie I would recommend that you go here. Rule #2 is to remain civil that means no personal attacks or breaking site decorum. So essentially the rules that you have to follow on the front page works on here too.

So now that you reced the post and the read the rules lets move on to the fun stuff. So after the jump I have posted a 49ers seven round mock draft. Next time will either be a first round mock draft including 32 teams or a big board. So if you have any opinions as to what I should do just write it in a comment.

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I hear that Harbaugh has again expressed his confidence in Alex Smith. What else do we expect him to say. Smithnhad a great year by the standards we have become familiar with over the last few years. I personally look no farther than the 3rd down conversion rate in the NFC Championship Game. Having said this, Smith deserves a shot. Manning is too big a risk and the cost would cripple the rest of the team. It is not feasible to think that there is someone in the draft capable of coming in and earning the job. What other options are available?

How about this? The Cleveland Browns will pick 4th in the upcoming Draft. Prognosticators say they will select RGIII. I think that Colt McCoy could be available and may be a nice fit. The cost will be reasonable and he is young enough to have a long future in front of him. Personally, I think he is already as good as Alex Smith with far more potential.

San Francisco 49ers


49ers Faithfuls, Since this is my first official "blog" so to speak on any type of website and as I get used to the idea of having my own blog, I think I'll get better.

Anyways, I was throughly impressed by the 49ers this year due to the fact that they all looked GREAT. As a TEAM and as the stat board shows. So what if Alex Smith didn't throw for 5,000 yard and 45 TDs, he did what he needed to do to win games and advance the 49ers into the playoffs. Let's not forget about the season that Frank Gore had and the fact that Kendall Hunter like to run the ball a long ways too. It showed that the niners were a diversivied team this year and that we can improve on the foundation that Jim "Greatness" Harbaugh has brought to SF. The niners have not looked this good since the '80s and 1994 when they won their fifth Super Bowl Title.

The coaching staff and the players really rallied around Jim to make him feel welcome. Who could forget that when the lockout was lifted for a day he gave Alex Smith the freakin' playbook, and he wasn't even under contract. I have defended Alex for 7 years saying that it's all because of him changing offensive coordinators every year and this year proved it. Harbaugh a QB himself and staff embraced Alex's past, present and future, and said "Here you go kid" let's get this party started. Alex took it and ran with it. He organized off-site workouts for all players and also studied the playbook like their was no tomorrow. Alex proved himself this year and hopefully is awarded with a nice 4 year contract.

Let's talk about Vernon Davis for a minute. Vernon was benched 2 years ago by then coach Singletary, who I liked ALOT, and said "can't win with him" he wanted winners. Dont really wanna go and say that he needs to eat his words but come on. The Catch 2 in the final seconds of the Saints game that lauches them into the Championship game?! Holy cow, I think we can win with Vernon Davis, I'm just glad he's on our team and not playing against us.

Michael Crabtree is emerging as the leader of the recieving corps and now if he could actually practice and stop complaining about his feet hurting during the week and saying they are good on gameday, could you imagine if he practiced more than twice a week. In his defense I don not think that they target him enough in games and in the games that they did call his number alot, Alex Smith threw them high and he had to jump for them making it hard to rack up yards after the catch. I hated him when he was in Texas Tech (I'm a Longhorns Fan) but he can only get better with time. Joshua Morgan should have never been in the game when they were kicking the stuffing out of Tampa Bay (as most of you can agree with me) but let it go, he'll be back next year and tearing up the field like he does.

Defense was freakin' awesome this year led by none other than Pat Willis and Justin Smith. The secondary looked great (Carlos Rogers had his best year yet) Navarro Bowman proved that he could lead the team when Willis was hurt for those two weeks. And Aldon Smith (who got snubbed in the DPOY voting) as did Alex Smith (CBPOY) but none the less Aldon did his job as a pass rush monster (he like to run over people in his pursuit of the QB) I was loving the defense this year as well as the offense.

We can't forget about the Special Teams led by Andy "punt the ball inside the 10" Lee, David "kick from any distace" Akers and Blake Castanzo who was all over the field during run backs when they were allowed. Akers had a record year and Lee also capped a fine year with all his punts inside the 20 and the 10. Lee made it hard for the opposition to start with good field position and Akers was a FG machine. Castanzo made it difficult to get a good return.

Now, if we can get our Free Agents signed i.e Rogers, Goldson, Smith, lead the pack for that area. As long as Trent Balakke knows that they are top priority, the niners will bring back a good corps for them to build on and now guys have playoff experience, which only feeds the hunger to make it to the show.

We probably need to adress the RED ZONE offensive stutters and the little problems we had punching it into the end zone as well during camp. We have the team to do it and now that we have had our first taste of the playoffs in a long time, we as FAITHFULS should have had a great year. Now, if we could tape the ball to Kyle Williams hands, I'm just sayin'. WHAT A YEAR for the faithful, and to steal a line from my baseball team the SF GIANTS "TORTURE NEVER FELT SO GOOD", but honestly "WHO'S GOT IT BETTER THAN US?"