I just got back from Candlestick Park and frustration is probably the best word to describe how I feel.  I feel frustrated because this team shows signs of putting it together, and follows that with serious regression.  They'll put together a great offensive drive and then follow it with multiple 3 and outs.  They'll get pressure on Matt Cassel and bring him down, and then they'll follow that with Cassel having all damn day to pass the ball.  They'll make a key stop on second or third down, only to have a stupid penalty called.

I try to look at the positives after a game, and while there were positive signs today, they were follow by too many negatives.

The Defense
I'm willing to forgive the Moss bomb early because he's still an athletic freak and these things happen no matter what defense you're running.  My problem is with the lack of adjustment in this bend but don't break defense.  The theory behind a bend but don't break is to give up some first downs, give up some field goals and once in a while a touchdown, but in the end make stops more often that not.  In practice, the 49ers are struggling with the whole stopping offenses issue. 

As I was watching it seemed like the Patriots were getting first downs at will.  Cassel struggled early on but once he realized the defense was giving him a 10-15 yard cushion he picked them apart like a seasoned veteran.  It felt like the 49ers were practically running a prevent defense in the way the Patriots picked up first downs in the latter two thirds of the game.  Even though the Patriots did not have a high yards per carry, their running game still seemed wildly effective.

In just looking at the statistics, one might try and argue the pass rush was finally effective, sacking Cassel 5 times.  That person would be wrong.  The pass rush was all or nothing today as either Cassel was quickly sacked or he had plenty of time to throw the ball.  J.T. O'Sullivan was only sacked once, but it seemed like he was scrambling around in the pocket half the time.  I don't know this was planned or not, but the Patriots defense consistently forced JTO to his left side so that he had no chance to plant his feet after bootlegging out.  That was not the case with Matt Cassel and he made the quick throws he needed to.  The QB hurries and knockdowns are just as important as the sacks.

J.T. O'Sullivan
Oh JTO, what are we going to do with you? Considering he only threw for 130 yards, it was a very active day for fearless leader.  He had several ugly overthrows, he had some dropped passes and he seemed to scramble to his left every other play.  High risk/high reward is fine but things got out of hand today.  He's got 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions on the season, to go with 20 sacks.  I think the best description of him is a poor man's Brett Favre.  A VERY poor man.  Favre would make an incredibly bad decision but followed it up with 2 or 3 huge plays.  JTO, on the other hand, will make one huge play and follow it up with 2 or 3 bad decisions.  Not quite the ratio we'd like to see.

I think you'd be a blind fool to argue the offense isn't better than it was last year.  It's not pretty in the slightest, but it is better.  I didn't hear the broadcast, but in the game thread Cruithear mentioned that the CBS crew said that the passing game would look better as they get more time together.  Clearly it's better than last year, but there are definitely some timing issues that need to be worked out.  I thought it would be a roller coaster with JTO and it truly has been so far.

Mike Martz
It is completely true that one minute he seems like a genius and the next minute you're pulling your hair out in frustration.  Clearly he's made the offense better and made this a more competitive team.  However, several areas continue to drive me batty.  First, Frank Gore.  Frank the Tank touched the ball 16 teams and had one incomplete pass thrown his way.  Considering how close this game was for the first three quarters, that's simply unacceptable.  When you're averaging close to 5 yards per touch (16 touches/78 yards), you simply have to do more with him.  I understand you're not going to run Gore on a 3rd and 4.  However, a short screen pass to him probably has a higher percentage of success than a 15 yard toss to our newest entrant as hands of ston, Vernon Davis.

My second issue, look at the drive chart.  J.T. O'Sullivan led the 49ers on 13 drives today.  TWO of those drives were for more than 30 yards.   ONE drive lasted more than 10 plays, and that drive was the only over 5 plays.  The 49ers finished the game having possessed the ball for 20:08, while the Patriots had the ball for 39:52.  It was definitely week 1 all over again, as several of you mentioned in the game thread.  I think this goes somewhat back to Frank Gore, but better use of the running game and more short completions will get that clock ticking a little bit more.

Isaac Bruce
I wanted to end this tantrum on a positive note.  Isaac Bruuuuuuuuuce is probably running a close second to Frank Gore as 49ers offensive MVP so far.  Bruce finished with 3 catches for 49 yards and 2 touchdowns.  After his monster game against the Seahawks, he has settled in as a nice, solid receiving option.  This is clearly not Jerry Rice ending his career in Seattle or Johnny Unitas in his last year as a Charger.  Isaac Bruce may not be the receiver he used to be, but he is bringing some serious game to the 49ers.  I never thought I'd root for a former Ram, but Bruce is the kind of quiet professional that anybody can root for.

Looking Forward
As some of you pointed out in the game thread, this division is still up for grabs.  The 49ers sit one game back of the Cardinals.  Of coure the next two weeks could bring some serious misery as the 49ers host a likely angry Philadelphia Eagles squad and then travel to the Meadowlands to face a bad-ass New York Giants squad. 

The Seahawks are no gimme even in their current form, so the 49ers better be careful or they could go into the bye week at 2-6.  In reality one win might be all they get before the bye.  Two wins would be absolutely amazing, but they have to at least get one.  I won't say the season is on the line in the next three weeks, but this is as important a 3-game stretch as any.

Oh, and thanks again to everybody who took part in the thread today.  Even in my absence the commentary has been fantastic.  We finished with 28 commenters and 656 comments.  49erLou and Cruithear lead the way with 89 and 86 comments respectively.  The full list is after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

I previously mentioned I wanted to avoid Brett Favre chatter, and in fact I've avoided Sportscenter and NFL Live for much of the last week.  However, this is the one story I'm willing to happily report.  The Packers have traded Brett Favre to the New York Jets for what appears to be a fourth round draft pick that can increase in value depending on how the Jets perform.  While the Patriots are obviously still the favorites in the AFC East, if Favre can play like he did last season (no guarantees of that), the Jets could become a playoff contender.

The main reason I'm posting about this is because this will end the chatter about Favre potentially coming to the 49ers (and apparently now Jeff Garcia as well) or at least people wanting him to come to the 49ers.  I noticed the Chad Pennington diary just now and I'll just say, no way in hell right now.  I like Chad Pennington, but he is certainly not the answer.

Thankfully we can go back to enjoying our own boring little QB competition.  Praise the lord, although I certainly wonder how much additional coverage this will mean on Sportscenter.

The 49ers are nine practice days into training camp and we're entering the home stretch leading to the first preseason game.  Before getting into Mike Nolan's post practice Q&A, I wanted to briefly discuss the Hall of Fame game.  I flipped on NBC yesterday afternoon to catch the beginning of the game.  Before I get to the negatives I will say it was a nice feeling to have football back in my life.  As the game kicked off I checked out Stampede Blue and Hogs Haven, our Colts and Redskins blogs.  They had their open threads and that drove home the point of how close we are to football again.  This Friday at 7pm pacific we'll have the first open thread of the season for the 49ers and the Raiders.

So, during the game last night, when they flipped it down to sideline reporter Adam Schefter, I expected some discussion about the game itself, or either team.  Instead, I get bludgeoned over the head with more Brett Favre reports.  Then, later in the game, we get live footage of Brett Favre's private plane landing in Green Bay with Packers fans waiting and cheering.  Finally we got some footage of Aaron Rodgers struggling a little bit in the Packers scrimmage game.  Add it all up and what do you get?  Well, I realize Brett Favre is a once in a lifetime talent and he's done great things in the NFL.  I wouldn't wish ill-will upon Favre, but I most definitely am rooting for Aaron Rodgers in this "QB competition."

Anyways, that's my little Packers rant.  The entire free world (minus me) will be descending upon Green Bay today for Favre's first practice and I can only imagine the circus it will cause.  Out here, while we may have a QB competition, it's just a straight football contest and not some bizarre public spectacle (well at least not yet).  Onto the quotes as we are a mere five days away from some real football!

Who won't be going to Napa for the joint practice?
“Michael Robinson, Mark Roman, David Baas, [Jerard] Rabb the wide receiver, [Lewis] Baker the defensive back, and Parys Haralson. Parys’ shoulder is a little banged up, so I want to keep him down [here] to get some treatment on that.”

What will the QB rotation be the rest of the way?
“You know guys, we’ve got about 15 training camp days left, and we’ve scripted those things out. It should be five, five and five. One of these might count as one of the 15 left. But rather than who’s first, who’s second the rest of the way we kind of scripted out from first, second and third-team. I only say that because I’d have to go and look at my notes to see who’s winning where and what. But like I said, the objective is to get them all with the different groups and that’s what our next 15 look like.”

Are joint practices beneficial?
“Yeah, I thought that they were very beneficial. The objective for both teams is to work against some other people, and we’ve got to keep it on that level. That’s why I say it’s not a scrimmage. It will be a practice as we’ve had thus far. So, there will be no live to the ground type of drills, I think that sometimes is where it gets a little heated. At the same time they’ll be competing. It’s important to them. I know all the guys will take pride in what they’re doing and if someone feels that they’ve gone too far, somebody might try to get an understanding. But I hope that both teams have a good understanding. I believe they will, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it."

Will special teams compete against each other?
“Yeah, they’ll go in the early part of practice. There’s a quick stretch and then about a 10-minute segment where the two special teams will work against each other. I believe right now its punt return. We’ll probably keep it like that for the morning and the evening. Kickoff and kickoff coverage type of things are hard to get in. Prior to team [drills] there’s a possibility of us doing a little field goal stuff. But again, the punt and punt return will happen for sure, the other things we’ll wait and see. Those other things are dangerous plays. Kickoff [and] kickoff return is a dangerous play and so is a field goal to some degree.”

MY THOUGHTS
The way this whole QB competition is playing out, I just pray to the heavens that Alex Smith is the guy who can take control once the games begin.  Why Smith?  It's safe to say that naming Smith the starter would create the least amount of controversy (assuming he appeared to deserve it with his performance on the field).  It would just be really nice to see the team start the regular season with no burning controversy.  In that regard, really it just comes down to ANYBODY clearly winning the job.

The team has their joint practice with the Raiders (somebody wake up Al Davis!) leading up to this Friday's showdown at McAfee Coliseum.  Going into last season I was excited about the possibilities due to the 49ers strong finish to 2006.  This year I'd have to describe myself as anxious for the start of the season.  I'm really excited to see how things play out, but really it's because we will finally get some kind of answer at QB.  As I've said before, the downside to that is that the answer could be that we just have to blow the position up and start all over.

Even though we still have several days left, the Colts-Redskins game has me officially amped up for the 2008 NFL season.  Speaking of which, did anybody catch Colt Brennan lighting up the Colts 3rd string defense?  I smell a Redskins bandwagon brewing!

Our previous episode of Know Thy Enemy covered the New York Giants.  In sticking with the New York teams, we may have a reason to further develop those rivalries.  It's old news, but back in early 2007, Der Kommissar Roger Goodell announced that the NFL's G3 program (financial loans for new stadiums) had run dry.  The reason?  The Jets and Giants are building a joint stadium that is costing just north of a billion dollars.  Most teams get $150 million, but this project saw 50% of it covered with G3 loans because they're a top 5 media market.  One more reason to root against the Giants and Jets, as if any more were necessary.

The Jets are currently unrepresented at SB Nation, so we'll just have to talk amongst ourselves.  In previous Know Thy Enemy's, opposing team message boards have occasionally picked them up.  I've thrown out some of the comments before so maybe a Jets message board will find some amusement from our little exercise.

Overview
After a rousing start to the Eric Mangini era in 2006 (10-6 and a playoff appearance), the Jets went in the crapper last season.  They finished 4-12 and nothing seemed to go right.  Chad Pennington has turned into a very injury-prone QB and so the Jets were hoping Kellen Clemens would step up and taking the starting job.  Clemens was less than impressive and once again, Clemens and Pennington will battle in training camp for the right to lead this ship.

Thomas Jones was brought in to bolster the running game and while he finished with another 1,000 yard season, he seemed to lack consistency and didn't have much of a nose for the end zone.  Throw in the 30th ranked defense against the run, and this was just one big mess.

Additions
The Jets welcome two new additions to their offensive line, all-world guard Alan Faneca and former center Damien Woody, who looks to be playing right tackle.  These additions to the offensive line should help Thomas Jones gain a little consistency, and if Chad Pennington wins the starting job, maybe they'll keep him from getting hurt too much.

The addition of the behemoth Kris Jenkins at nose tackle definitely can't hurt their efforts against the run.  He's had issues with his weight, but if he can keep things reasonable, he could be a big help to their defense.  And of course there's the freak, Vernon Gholston.  Their #4 overall pick is an athletic and physical specimen who has to convert that into production at the next level.  If he can turn his potential into production, Gholston could make a huge impact in their pass rush.

Subtractions
The Jets dealt away linebacker Jonathan Vilma to the New Orleans Saints, where he'll be starting at middle linebacker.  Vilma missed the last nine games of the 2007 season after surgery to clean out some fragments and bone chips.  When healthy, Vilma was a tackling machine, so we'll see if the addition of Calvin Pace can shore up the linebacking corp.

2008 Questions and Answers
Like the 49ers, who will win the QB battle?  Considering Pennington is injury-prone and lacking on the deep ball, I'd imagine the Jets are hoping and praying Kellen Clements steps up and takes the job with some gusto.  And of course there is that one wild card: Brett Favre.  Rumors were recently floating around that he had been given permission by the Packers to speak with the Jets.  It sounds like those rumors are dying a somewhat swift death (well as swift as anything can be in this long soap opera).  However, it is certainly something worth keeping an occasional eye on.

Can the defense get its act together?  The defense was pretty brutal last season and they will need to make a go of things if this team is going to improve.  The improvements on the offensive line should help get the offense going in some sort of positive direction.  But if the defense struggles, it won't matter because this offense is not built to win high scoring games.

@ San Francisco
The 49ers will be entering the home stretch of the 2008 season in this game.  Looking at their December schedule (vs. Jets, @ Dolphins, @ Rams, vs. Redskins), 3-1 is not out of the realm of possibility.  I definitely think this games falls into must win.  You have to win your home games when at all possible, and this is definitely a game they should be able to win. 

The Jets have the pieces in place to improve, but I think the 49ers bring more talent to the table.  An improved rush defense will be great for the Jets, but it won't matter against the 49ers rushing attack.  I think you feed Gore and Foster and get the hell out of the way.  I think Gore and Foster could very well combine for over 200 yards against the Jets.  Maybe it's some early season optimism talking but the 49ers come into this game battling for a playoff spot and take the Jets behind the woodshed 34-16.  And yes, I think considering how bad the 49ers have been, an 18 point victory qualifies as taking somebody behind the woodshed.

EDITOR'S UPDATE 12:30PM - The 49ers announced the signing of 7th round draft choice Larry Grant.  That leaves Balmer, Rachal, Wallace and Smith unsigned, although the team does not expect any trouble in getting them into camp on time.

EDITOR'S NOTE 10:05AM - Don't forget to submit your NFC Power Rankings.

Many of Niners Nation's readers make the daily trek over to Athletics Nation to get their daily dose of A's news.  One of the running features at AN is the Daily Link Dump, a collection of interesting links for a given day.  Usually they're related to the team, but just as often they can be about anything.  It's more or less an open thread for whatever.  We've introduced the link dump here in the past, but I thought it was time to brand it as something of our own.  There are not a ton of links in the offseason but there is enough to start posting this every so often. 

The name I've used, Golden Nuggets, is certainly not a definite long term answer.  I figure that since we're talking about the 49ers something to do with nuggets of gold might be appropriate.  And since I'm originally from Las Vegas, why not mix in a casino as well, right?  Any suggestions for a name for our link dump are certainly welcome.

• This first one has absolutely nothing to do with the 49ers, but they've got my favorite graphic from the recent past.  The post is at our very own The Falcoholic and is about why the Falcons won't go after Jeremy Shockey.  It's listed as #3.
• So there has been some discussion about new uniforms for the 49ers in the not too distant future.  Over at the 49ers Most Valuable Network site, they have had in depth posts about the potential pants and helmets.
• Over at the 49ers home page, they've posted previews of the QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs and a general team preview.
• It sounds like the early exhibition games could be more interesting this season.  Nolan has said that he'll have Smith and Hill playing further into the games than in the past to get a starter determined by Week 3 of the preseason.
• Matt Jones was busted in Arkansas for possession of 6 grams of cocaine and now faces felony charges.  After being converted to WR, Jones had a couple good seasons but never emerged as the #1 threat the Jaguars were looking for.
• Ed "Guns" Hochuli and Mike Carey both received the most positive votes in a survey of head coaches.
• While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were flagged for the most personal fouls, your San Francisco 49ers finished 22nd.  Stupid penalties kill teams, but once in a while it can get the team riled up.  I think Football Outsiders should do a study on that.
• Brett Favre should take notes from Trent Dilfer.
• Sounds like the Raiders and 49ers are considering a joint practice prior to their August 8 exhibition game.
• One site currently has the 49ers as +625 to win the NFC West.  For those who don't know, that means if you bet $100 on them and they come through you'd win $625.  Or for the more financially strapped $10 will get you $62.50.  Good times.

So feel free to throw out any and all links, 49ers or otherwise.  If you can think of a better name for our link dump, go ahead and let me know.

Color me not surprised to see an article like this.  Over at the WWL, Bill Williamson put together a piece discussing the chances of Brett Favre ending up on each of the 32 NFL teams.  Normally idle speculation is ridiculous, but I like the general idea of this article.  If Brett Favre actually considers a return, whether it be in Green Bay or elsewhere, it would certainly be useful to consider all his options.

San Francisco 49ers: If the 49ers were just a little better, this would be an interesting spot. But Favre likely would deem the 49ers too far away from contention to entertain the thought.

If the 49ers had a new head coach, I could see some reason for the speculation.  However, it almost feels like Mike Nolan and Alex Smith are attached at the hip and if this ship goes down, they'll go down together.  Favre certainly looked very good last year for a guy his age and I'd imagine would probably improve the 49ers offense.  At the same time, he was pretty awful in 2005 and 2006.  Of course, back on the other hand, in those seasons he was still probably a better option than Alex Smith.

I could go back and forth for hours on end, but I won't bother.  Simply put, I want to see what this team can do with Alex Smith or Shaun Hill.  In my ideal scenario, Alex Smith takes hold of the job and leads this team back to glory.  THe worst case scenario is neither working out and we are back at square one.  Bringing in Brett Favre would only delay the inevitable.  If he were to play two more years we could draft yet another quarterback and give him a year under Favre (which is clearly doing wonders for Aaron Rodgers).  However, if Favre plays one more year and then leaves, we'd be in an even worse position.

Considering the odds are slim to none that Favre signs with San Francisco, I don't think there is all that much to discuss.  Nonetheless, it's always an interesting possibility.