Hey all. Its Sunday! Game day... God I hope things go well today. I've been pumped all week and I cant wait to see how things play out. There's only a few things I'll really be paying attention to. That is of course, the play of Shaun Hill which should give us a clue as to whether or not he'll be starting for us next year--also his performance could directly influence whether or not Singletary is coaching next year. (For us, at least.) Another thing I'm hoping to see is T.O. doing... SOMETHING. No, not playing well. I want frustration--raw and uncut frustration. We need to get under his skin. Maybe have someone beat him to the ball and talk smack all day in his face--get him nice and pissed and get us some momentum. Anyway, I'll stop blabbing and here's your links which I'll update as frequently as possible. We'll start with a notice.

Make sure you get your predictions in for week 12--its not too late just yet, and there's prizes now! Sweet, juicy prizes and all you need to do is make uneducated guesses on which team will suck it up and which team will deliver a beat down. Get them in before the games, its much better with more people.

Singletary doesn't follow the whole "10 AM starts for West Coast..." etc stats, he thinks they're rubbish. Me? I don't base any opinions on them, but I definitely find them interesting. (SFGate.com)

Here's a nice, long article about one of my favorite 49ers--Michael Robinson. (SFGate.com)

This isn't Niners news at all, but man this article is interesting in a big lol sense, and its from a site I usually check, so why the hell not? They're auctioning off pieces of the Dallas stadium. Huh. (SFGate.com)

What do we need to do today against the Cowboys? Frustrate T.O. early on. (SFGate.com)

All the 49ers news is about T.O. I hope he blows up in this game--I want him throwing punches at their OC, God that'd make any loss sweet. (SacBee.com)

Matt Barrows gives five easy steps that Mike Singletary needs to follow to keep him job. (SacBee.com)

Samuel Lam gives us a short preview and believes the 49ers will win, albeit in a close game. Good man--good man. (MVN.com)

As you always should on game day, check out NFL's Game Center preview. (NFL.com)

The always informative scouting report for the game from the Sacramento Bee is up. (SacBee.com)

Here's another preview for today's game. Man I'm getting pumped. I hope Hill does well--for him and Singletary's sake. (49ersNews.com)

Neither Shaun Hill nor Tony Romo got drafted. Its one of the reasons I always look for the obscure names in reports. (InsideBayArea.com)

EDIT: I got one of the links mixed up, here's an article about Singletary's job, and the above link is now corrected. (InsideBayArea.com)

Here's another article/preview. (InsideBayArea.com)

According to a Dallas blog, they cant afford a letdown. Shall we give 'em one? I hope so. (KnowYourDallasCowboys.com)

Here's a preview from our resident Cowboys blog--always interesting to check out the oppositions points of the game. (Hell, if they have a gameday thread I'm gonna be on and reading that too--its just so interesting to me.) (BloggingTheBoys.com)

If you bet you might find this interesting, personally, I bet a lot and I never read this stuff. But hey, its a link, and some might need it. (Lines-Maker.com)

Some matchups to look forward to today. (Found on 49ersGab.com--says its from KFFL.com)

Getting near the end here, here's another short preview/article. (NinerNoise.com)

That's all the links I've got for now. I'm hoping this game goes well--if not, I've got a concert tonight at 6:00 so... if it doesn't, I've got a consolation. At any rate, enjoy the reading.

The 49ers have posted their final injury report for Sunday and there's an interesting change to note out.

San Francisco 49ers
Probable: LB Patrick Willis (Hip), CB Tarell Brown (Neck), RB Michael Robinson (Stinger), FS Mark Roman (Groin), TE Delanie Walker (Shoulder), OT Barry Sims (Ankle)

Out: FS Dashon Goldson (Knee), WR Arnaz Battle (Foot), WR Josh Morgan (groin)

Dallas Cowboys
Probable: WR Isaiah Stanback (Shoulder), TE Jason Witten (Ribs), QB Tony Romo (Right Finger), LB Bobby Carpenter (Groin)

Questionable: CB Terence Newman (Groin), LB Justin Rogers (Back)

Out: WR Miles Austin (Knee), RB Felix Jones (Hamstring)

The biggest change is the addition of Terence Newman.  Newman missed five weeks with a groin injury, but did manage to play last week at Washington snatching a big interception.  Newman practiced Wednesday and yesterday but was a DNP today.  If the Cowboys are a little cocky, maybe they'll think it's a game they should win so why not rest Newman.  Anything to improve the matchup for Hill, right?

I'll throw up a more explanatory post next week, but the linked graphic below will take you to the central SB Nation hub for all things NFL.  The network also has a similar hub for the race for the BCS Title.  Enjoy.

As I talked about in my comments during the all-time #2 WR voting, I'm seriously conflicted when it comes to T.O.'s 8 seasons in a 49ers uniform. On one hand, there's the consistent elite performance and The Catch II. Those are fond memories. On the other hand, there's the insubordination against Mooch, the slandering of Jeff Garcia, the isolation from his teammates, the untimely dropped passes, and the constant drama surrounding his endzone celebrations. Those are not fond memories.

The one event that coalesced all of T.O.'s negatives was his total lack of class at Texas Stadium on December 8, 2002. It's unbelievably ironic that, nearly 6 years to the day of that stunt, T.O. will be playing the 49ers in that stadium, wearing the uniform of the team he so disrespected. And what an irony it would be if, in this week's game, the 49ers played a role in the continued demise of T.O. as an elite wide receiver. The question for Niner fans this week is, "Which T.O. is going to show up?" Will it be the T.O. that made the Niners secondary look like a junior varsity unit 3 years ago? Or will it be the T.O. that has failed to show up in game after game this season, with or without Tony Romo. That is the question I'll address in this week's statistical preview.

HAS THE SHARPIE RUN OUT OF INK?

Although some of you might not like them (what's up methodrampage?), those of you that have been reading my previews and reviews already know about DYAR and EYds by now, so I'm not going to re-explain them in depth here. All I'll remind you of is that DYAR tells you a player's overall value, while the discrepancy between EYds and actual yards tells you a player's value per play. Below is a graph showing the trajectory of T.O.'s DYAR per game over the course of his career. I've made the "per game" adjustment to account for differences in the number of games he's played each season.

After the jump, I'll quantify just how bad a season T.O. is having, tell you what kind of numbers I expect from him this week, identify two crucial game situations to watch for during the Cowboys game, and make my game prediction...

Continue reading this post »

Another day of practice, another injury report.  For the most part it's the usual suspects, although the Cowboys have one prominent guy out.

San Francisco 49ers
Did not Participate in Practice: WR Arnaz Battle (foot), S Dashon Goldson (knee), WR Josh Morgan (groin), Patrick Willis (illness)

Limited Participation in Practice: CB Tarell Brown (neck strain), RB Michael Robinson (stinger), FS Mark Roman (groin), TE Delanie Walker (shoulder)

Full Participation in Practice: OT Barry Sims (ankle)

Dallas Cowboys
Did Not Participate in Practice: WR Miles Austin (knee), RB Felix Jones (hamstring)

Limited Participation in Practice: TE Jason Witten (ribs)

Full Participation in Practice: QB Tony Romo (right finger), LB Bobby Carpenter (groin), WR Isaiah Stanback (shoulder)

The big news for today is that running back Felix Jones was placed on injured reserve due to toe problems.  Marion Barber is a very solid running back, but he's always had somebody to spell him, whether it be Felix Jones at times this year, or Julius Jones the last few years.

The question becomes what kind of rushing attack can the Cowboys mount without a dynamic back like Felix Jones?  Possibly one more reason to have good thoughts about Sunday?