In the past couple weeks, the folks at Comcast/XFINITY got in touch with me about potentially doing an interview with Matt Maiocco. Comcast has been putting together a new campaign they're calling the XFINITY Couch. They started it out in Philadelphia at a Phillies game and decided to try it out here in the Bay Area. This past Saturday the couch was set up at the 49ers-Raiders game, and again the next day at the Oakland A's home game. The idea behind the couch is that it is the proverbial "best seat in the house." A few lucky fans are upgraded to the couch and get to enjoy the game from what some may call the best seat in the stadium.

As part of this campaign, they're working with SB Nation bloggers to interview local media personalities "on the couch." In Philadelphia, they interviewed CSN personality and former Phillies pitcher Ricky Bottalico. At the A's game on Sunday I believe they interviewed Ray Fosse. For the 49ers-Raiders game, I had the chance to chat with Matt Maiocco. I've posted the transcript after the jump, and you can even view some video of it (Hard to hear due to wind and music in the background).

The interview was a mix of PR and getting a little bit of substance out of it. The most interesting aspects I took away from it were his thoughts on sleepers and also his comments about Jim Harbaugh's decision to close practices to the media. The team was required to open practices early in camp, but at this point it sounds like they have the choice to close them, and they are electing to close them. Maiocco had some brief comments, although others in the Bay Area are a bit less than pleased about Harbaugh's decision (Kawakami, Cohn).

What do you think about Harbaugh closing practice to the media?

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The 49ers face the Arizona Cardinals tomorrow in a game that will feature two teams playing primarily for pride. There are plenty of reasons for the 49ers to lose, but I'd like to think fans at least want to see an entertaining football game. Whatever the final result, I'd like to think I'll get a chance to at least remotely enjoy those three or so hours I devote to the game.

For those looking for on-field football reasons to watch the game, I present to you the matchup of Larry Fitzgerald versus the 49ers secondary. A little over a month ago I took a look at the 49ers matchup against Fitzgerald. As great a receiver as he has been throughout his career, the 49ers have done fairly well against him lately. He impacts games but the 49ers seem to do a decent job containing him. In the first 49ers-Cardinals matchup, the 49ers did an excellent job as they held Fitzgerald to 37 yards on 4 receptions. Early Doucet had a solid performance with 60 yards, but nobody really blew up in place of Fitzgerald.

As we head into the season finale, the 49ers secondary matchup versus Fitzgerald should be one of the more fun aspects of the game. Often times we see Nate Clements posted on Fitzgerald. Clements has had plenty of struggles during his time with the 49ers but he seems to step up on occasion when he is facing the bigger names. Or at least when he's facing Fitzgerald.

As this picture shows, we'll probably see Spencer get some time against Fitzgerald as well. Which ever corner is covering him, keep an eye on them throughout the game.

While everybody is hopefully enjoying the holidays, I wanted to get up an afternoon post for a little more specific 49ers discussion. In looking around the Internet, I've come across some random information and statistics and thought I'd take a look at each and what it means for tomorrow's game against the St. Louis Rams.

We posted the final injury report yesterday and I wanted to take a look at one particular player on the report. Jason Smith is the Rams starting right tackle and is listed as questionable for the game with an ankle injury. It appears as though he injured the ankle in practice on Wednesday because he was a full participant that day and then limited on Thursday and Friday.

If he's even a little bit limited, it would seem logical for the 49ers to blitz like crazy on that side early on to test Smith's ankle. He might be perfectly fine, but if he is even remotely limited, the 49ers really need to take advantage. Sam Bradford is having a solid rookie season, but if the 49ers can force him to make quick decisions and generally get him out of any rhythm, they would certainly benefit.

I also thought I'd point out Mike Sando's Final Word post yesterday. He had a lot to say about the 49ers-Rams matchup, including some very interesting statistics:

3. Troy Smith and the deep ball. The Rams have had increasing problems defending the deep ball. Opponents' passer ratings have risen from 32.8 in the first eight games to 100.0 in the past six games on passes traveling at least 15 yards in the air, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The 49ers' Troy Smith completed 6 of 10 such passes for 193 yards and a touchdown against the Rams earlier this season.

Passer rating is a fairly dubious statistic, but that kind of disparity (32.8 vs. 100.0) at least shows a drastic change, no matter what you think of passer rating as an overall statistic.

To go along with the deep ball stat, Vernon Davis had a 73-yard touchdown reception last year against the Rams. It's obviously not connected to the Rams deep ball issues the last six games mentioned above, but it's still worth keeping in mind. The 49ers really could use a solid performance from Vernon Davis to take down the Rams. Davis was taken out of the picture by the Chargers last week, so the 49ers need to figure out a way to get him involved early and often, much like Alex Smith did on the first drive against the Seahawks two weeks ago.

Thursday loss to San Diego was caused by numerous problems including poor 49ers defense, strong Chargers defense, and poor 49ers offensive execution. In a 34-7 loss it's hard to say one single play changed a game. However, I'm going to try and do just that with the 49ers loss at San Diego.

Although it's entirely possible the 49ers would have been annihilated no matter what, I would argue that the team's first appearance in the red zone swung the momentum of this game drastically. Momentum appeared to be swinging in their direction at that point. The 49ers had given up the big touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson and appeared ready to get absolutely destroyed. After an exchange of two punts, the 49ers moved into the Chargers red zone before stalling out on the 20 and kicking a field goal. However, the ref's flagged Antonio Garay for leverage after he used a 49ers offensive lineman to leap in the air and get a piece of Jeff Reed's made field goal.

After two relatively unsuccessful plays, Alex Smith appeared to scramble 7 yards into the end zone for a game-tying touchdown. However, on the replay the officials overturned the touchdown and ruled Smith down six inches short of the end zone. I've posted three pictures after the jump and I think it shows Smith was in fact short. Picture three isn't the best picture but a combination of pictures one and two seem to show Alex short of the end zone.

Whether he was in or not, I would argue that play changed the momentum of the game. We'll never know what would have happened, but maybe Justin Smith is never in a position to get ejected on the subsequent drive. Maybe the 49ers get some confidence across the board and hang with the Chargers. It's all the woulda, coulda, shoulda that has made up the 2010 49ers season, but it's worth considering given how quickly things went to hell on Thursday.

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One area where 49ers QB Alex Smith has had significantly better results than Troy Smith is in the red zone. Mike Sando posted some of those numbers and I was a bit surprised to learn that Alex Smith leads the NFL in red zone passer rating at 125.0. He's thrown ten eight touchdowns, no interceptions and has a 75.9 percent completion percentage. On the other hand, Troy Smith is 2-for-7 for 20 yards, one touchdown and a 79.2 rating.

Last week against the Packers, the 49ers got into the red zone twice and came away with a pair of field goals both time. On the opening drive they got down to the 26 and also came away with a field goal. That last one wasn't in the red zone, but as we've discussed before that's the Vernon Zone where Vernon Davis has been so effective in the past. That's three trips deep into Packers territory and only nine points to show for those visits.

All that being said, we can't automatically assume Alex Smith would have been a difference-maker who turned some of those field goals into touchdowns. The 49ers struggled to get touchdowns week 1 against the Seahawks with Alex at QB. And we certainly don't know if Alex would have even got the team into position to score. One of the oft-repeated lines in last week's game thread was that even though Alex is better in the red zone, the 49ers actually have to get into the red zone for that to matter.

The Seahawks are eighth against the pass in the red zone but 28th against the pass overall according to Football Outsiders. Their biggest defensive woes come from their own 40 to the entrance to the red zone. That's 40% of the field, but it will be interesting to see how the 49ers do in that portion of play. The Seahawks struggle elsewhere on the field so it's not like this is some kind of make-or-break area. However, the 49ers will need to take advantage of this weakness. If nothing else, I'd have to imagine if the 49ers can get down inside the Seahawks 35 we'll see that seam route to Vernon Davis. The question is whether it will find success in Alex's first game back.

I meant to post this on Friday but better later than never. Every so often I'll get an email from a podcast to speak about the 49ers in some form or fashion, whether it be an offseason preview, or a game preview during the season. This week, the folks at Cheesehead Radio came a-calling. I was unable to go on their show, but Tre9er was able to take some time to discuss the 49ers. I've embedded the player below. They start discussing the 49ers at the 35:50 mark and Tre shows up shortly thereafter. We definitely want to try and get on to more podcasts going forward.

Head HERE to listen to the podcast.

One matchup I'd like to focus in on that will likely prove important is the red zone battle. The 49ers have their struggles getting into the red zone, but they've had success once they got there. They've actually dominated once they've gotten into the red zone given the rushing and receiving weapons at the Smiths' disposal.

The Packers a stout red zone passing defense, which should make for an interesting dynamic. Football Outsiders ranks the 49ers fifth in red zone passing offense and ranks the Packers fourth in red zone passing defense. Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams will be tough across the field, but narrowing the field down will only add to the difficulty.

The Packers rank 23rd in defending against tight ends and are 28th against the rush in the red zone. This is a bit of cherry-picking with the stats, but it would still seem to indicate the 49ers should go to the tight ends and pound the ball down in the red zone. The 49ers don't need to be perfect tomorrow, but they can't leave points on the board down inside the 20. Rather than try and force the issue against the Packers strength, let's hope they can take advantage of the few weaknesses presented to them.

Normally I'd suggest that one of the more interesting matchups of this Monday's 49ers-Cardinals game would involve the red zone. The 49ers red zone offense has been one of the lone bright spots for the team. Football Outsiders ranks the 49ers seventh overall in red zone offense thanks in large part to a No. 1 ranking in passing down there. They rank No. 19 in red zone rushing. On the other side of the ball, the Arizona Cardinals have put together a very strong red zone defense as they rank seventh overall down inside the 20 yard line. They are 15th against the run and 5th against the pass.

Normally I'd suggest this would be an interesting matchup to watch. Of course, the 49ers failed to even get in the red zone last week in the shutout against Tampa Bay. Their best drive got them to the Bucs 33 yard line early in the third quarter, at which point Coach Singletary decided to punt the ball away rather than risk the long field goal in windy conditions. The 49ers never got that close the rest of the game and were shut out.

The lone upside to never reaching the red zone is you can't really hurt your red zone offense. That's not exactly something to be proud of, but it's amusing enough. The question now is whether the offense will be able to rebound against a struggling Cardinals squad. I realize we've been focusing on the offense quite a bit but that's where a lot of the frustrations have been this season. The defense certainly has done its best to annoy us to no end, but I really don't think it's been quite at the level of the 49ers offense.

Now we get to see how the Troy Smith-led offense will rebound (or not rebound) following serious adversity. Although it would have been nice to see Smith excel throughout the season and grab firm hold of the starting QB position, there is some benefit to his struggles last week. The coaching staff has shown a glaring lack of ability to adapt to things around them, so maybe at least we can see if Troy Smith will adapt in his fourth start as 49ers QB. The ability to adapt to changing circumstances is just as important for a QB as anything else.

I know there are people who are not sold on Troy Smith as any sort of long term answer at QB. While he may not be the long term answer, situations like this are a nice way to at least get some more specific current evidence about him as QB. Even if the 49ers season is going down the tubes, there are still significant issues that can be assessed over the final six weeks of the season. One such issue is getting a clear idea of what Troy Smith is to this team.

This post is sponsored by XFINITY from Comcast.

The 49ers square off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday in yet another pivotal matchup for the 49ers. This is an intriguing matchup in part because it pits two QBs who can make plays with both their arms and their legs. Troy Smith has shown that he has a big arm and he showed some more in the scrambling side of things this past week, rushing four times for twelve yards. On the other side, the Bucs go with second year QB Josh Freeman who has the solid arm and is currently averaging 6.5 yards per rush with 34 carries thus far.

This matchup will be particularly intriguing down in the red zone. When a team has a QB who isn't afraid to tuck the ball and make for the end zone, it makes the team incredibly dangerous. The defense is often forced to sacrifice a spy on the QB, which can open up just enough space to get a pass completed for a touchdown.

Football Outsiders puts together DVOA numbers for performance in the red zone. The 49ers are currently 7th in red zone offense, ranking 2nd in red zone passing and 16th in red zone rushing. The Bucs are 11th in the red zone, ranking 5th in passing and 23rd in rushing. One problem with the 49ers numbers is that they include both Alex Smith and Troy Smith. So we certainly have to take this with a grain of salt while I try and get a better breakdown of Troy Smith's DVOA numbers.

On the defensive side of the ball, the 49ers are 20th in red zone defense while the Bucs are 19th. The big difference between the two is that the 49ers rank in the top third of the league in red zone rush defense and bottom third in red zone pass defense, while the Bucs are a little more balanced between their rankings (17th and 20th). Neither team is particularly solid in red zone defense so that makes this all the more interesting to watch on Sunday.

My primary concern for the 49ers red zone offense is probably Troy Smith for now. Troy has shown he can get some air under the ball and connect on some big passes. When you get down into the red zone, the passing attack becomes much more precise since there is so much less space for the receivers to move around. Troy has numerous weapons at his disposal and he simply needs to figure out a way to connect with them on shorter passes. It remains to be seen whether such situations will arise on Sunday, but it could prove key.