HELL....YEA!

by Fooch on Dec 15, 2007 8:18 PM PST in News

More to come later baby!

0 recs | Comment 38 comments

Comments

Nice win

Marques Douglas played a very good game tonight, He's been the best defensive lineman on the team this season...him and BY.

by rimrock101 on Dec 15, 2007 9:31 PM PST 0 recs

Is Nolan in bed with Belichick?

Why do you not kick a field goal there? Nolan is so lucky that Ocho Cinco dropped that ball in the end zone or he might not have a job right now. You have a chance to ice the game by kicking a field goal there. Going for it with the worst offense in the league is too much of a gamble and they were lucky to escape. Maybe Nolan can replace Bresnahan as Cincy's defensive coordinator next year. He SUCKS as a game day head coach with playcalling and decision making and he has NO IDEA how to run an offense or develop a quarterback.

Mike Singletary for Niners coach in 08!

by joebirdie3 on Dec 15, 2007 11:16 PM PST 0 recs

Well at least one vote

I don't know if it was actually a good or a bad decision ultimately, but I don't think it was a cut and dry situation.

47 yards is no guarantee field goal, 4th and 2 is a pretty high percentage 4th down play, and if you miss the field goal they have better field position by almost ten yards than if you fail to convert.

Also, Nolan clearly felt confident in his defense, which isn't always a fault.

If Nedney makes the kick in hypothetical-land, there's no argument - it was a bad choice. But if he misses from that distance... that's the probability you're taking the risk on.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 15, 2007 11:58 PM PST up 0 recs

Just to be clear

I'm not defending Nolan as a gameday coach. We all know he's a BAD gameday coach. I just don't think this was really a very good example (to the contrary of the idiot broadcasters's opinions), and certainly not worth a collective panty twisting.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 15, 2007 11:59 PM PST up 0 recs

announcers

yes, the NFL network needs new game announcers. I'm actually glad I don't have to listen to these morons every week. (e.g., "Bunta-Cain"- is it that difficult to say "Banta" correctly?)

And their argument against the 4th down play (going up 2 scores with 6 minutes to go) was correct, but even worse, was the Marshall Faulk argument in favor of it, i.e., the need to see how Hill reacts in that situation. What? That's the best reason to go for it there? I don't think so. A reward of getting closer and using more clock is the best reason to go for it there, although, as I state elsewhere, the reward there isn't worth the risk considering the clock and Nedney's track record from that distance.

Lott's Prayer: Almost as many words as the Lord's Prayer, but the Lord wouldn't recognize any of them.

by Nosetackle Supreme on Dec 16, 2007 12:20 AM PST up 0 recs

it would have been a 41 yard FG attempt

that's certainly within makable distance, not a gimmie, but very makable. Nedney is 4-4 in FG attempts over 40 yards this season, in fact, he hasn't missed one FG of less than 50 yards. Because of that, it was a very bad decision.

49ers had the chance to go up 2 scores with 6 minutes to go against a Cinci offense that hadn't done much all night. A missed FG would have resulted in a loss of 17 yards. The risk was certainly worth the reward. Nolan should be rightly criticized for his stupid decision.

Lott's Prayer: Almost as many words as the Lord's Prayer, but the Lord wouldn't recognize any of them.

by Nosetackle Supreme on Dec 16, 2007 12:15 AM PST up 0 recs

41?

What the hell, I could have sworn...? Was it really 41?

41 is well within Nedney's range. If I'm wrong about it being 47, then I'll go with "yup, bad call" in a second (as long as it doesn't come out that Joe had leg cramps or something weird, which would be HIGHLY unlikely, I know).

I could have sworn, too.

Somebody, help!

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 12:20 AM PST up 0 recs

according to the game log...

...the ball was on the Cin 24. I could be wrong. I thought they said 42 yards on the broadcast, but still that's close enough. Obviously, a 47 yarder is a little bit less makable.

Lott's Prayer: Almost as many words as the Lord's Prayer, but the Lord wouldn't recognize any of them.

by Nosetackle Supreme on Dec 16, 2007 12:22 AM PST up 0 recs

Well

That certainly would make it a 41 yarder. I officially desist. It was just a bad call. Most days, Nedney can make that with his... uh... legs (?) tied behind his back... I guess he's flexible....

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 12:27 AM PST up 0 recs

I think

I think someone on the broadcast said 47 yards, but upon further review it was more like 41, 42. That makes it a lot better odds to make it.

Someone who recorded the game correct me if I'm wrong, but in that series before the fourth and two didn't they run Gore twice up the middle? It had all the feeling of Nolan's normal conservative calling. Something happened. They were moving the ball and then they got stuffed. On the play before 4th and 2 they had a 3rd and long, and all night long Hill was making plays that gave them a shot on third. If anyone can review that series, I'd like a recap.

by Bob In Pacifica on Dec 16, 2007 8:09 AM PST up 0 recs

Nolan

Here's Nolan's explanation, courtesy of Maiocco:

In case you're wondering why Nolan went for it on fourth-and-2 instead of kicking a 41-yard FG with more than six minutes remaining that would've given the 49ers a 10-point lead, well, just blame it on Larry Allen.

"I thought we had great momentum on offense," Nolan said. "Our offense was moving the ball. As a matter of fact, the time before, it was fourth-and-4 and we kicked the field goal. Larry Allen came to me and said he wanted to go for it. I said, 'Larry, it's fourth-and-4.' To Larry, it doesn't matter. I said, 'If it's fourth-and-1, I'll go' I had confidence, since our guys were playing well."

I am not a fan of this decision at all. 4th and 1 or two shouldn't dictate what you do, the game situation should. It was a bad call in my opinion. I have been and am a Nolan supporter, but this rattles my confidence somewhat. I know it's already been made clear that he's a bad gameday coach, but this goes beyond that. It was an easy, easy call to make and he made it wrong. It could have cost us the game.

On a sidenote, was I the only one that thought Deion was the only intelligent person in the booth? Gumbel is obviously horrible, and Faulk was just worthless, but Deion at least made a few good counterpoints in the face of their idiocy. Maybe it was just me though.

We are not who I thought we were.

by marcello on Dec 16, 2007 8:23 AM PST up 0 recs

Larry Allen

I use Larry for my investment decisions. Also, whenever anyone in my family may need surgery I get Larry on the horn to help us make the decision. He was good with my mom's pacemaker, but Uncle Jim's bypass, uh...

by Bob In Pacifica on Dec 16, 2007 9:21 AM PST up 0 recs

nod

Deion did a great job doing the color for that game. I've always loved him with Rich Eisen and Mooch, and I'm glad to see that he can make live games just as entertaining...despite the best efforts of Gumbel and Faulk.

by shleckothegecko on Dec 16, 2007 11:20 AM PST up 0 recs

17 yards?

Wouldnt the loss only be 7 yards at the spot of the kick? The extra 10 yards of the field goal is due to the fact that the goal posts are past the end zone, and I dont think they tack those on to further penalize you for a missed FG

by joebirdie3 on Dec 16, 2007 7:13 AM PST up 0 recs

No, nice catch

That was just a typo. You're right. I meant 7.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 9:57 AM PST up 0 recs

Wow

I should wait until I wake up until I scan posts. I thought for sure you were responding to a comment I made. Just call this my error filled weekend.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 10:56 AM PST up 0 recs

good catch

that should say loss of 7 yards, not 17 yards.

Lott's Prayer: Almost as many words as the Lord's Prayer, but the Lord wouldn't recognize any of them.

by Nosetackle Supreme on Dec 16, 2007 10:41 AM PST up 0 recs

the 4th n 2

Yeah, dumb. I was 'meh' on the play because I thought they were on the 34, not the 24.

I admire the sheer ballsy-go-for-the-throat of though.

by zenbitz on Dec 16, 2007 2:18 PM PST up 0 recs

Ha

Yeah, that might win the award for LEAST conservative play of the season!

I'm obviously not broken up about the play because the defense did pick it up for them (say what you will about the Johnson drop, the coverage was there, at the very least), and we would have had another chance for a FG in regulation, and we did win (amazing how bad plays don't hurt as much when you win!), but it just goes to show you: Nolan can make bad in game calls conservatively AND aggressively.

We didn't know that before!

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 2:29 PM PST up 0 recs

Yeah.

I don't know if he would do the exact same thing again, but I liked the call at the time too. It's one of the rare (if not the only) times this season that the 49ers have shown any kind of "go for the jugular" kind of moment. The defense and offense were both playing so well that any mistake should have been minimized. Luckily for the defense, they barely held of their end of the bargain.

It's definitely not a play worth roasting Nolan for, though.

by sfgfan on Dec 17, 2007 9:55 AM PST up 0 recs

Rotisserie Nolan anyone?

I forget what game it was when Nolan made the decision to kick a field goal down by 7 or whatever it was--mistake numero 1. Now this stupid decision that could have cost him the game is mistake numero 2. And that is only counting the mistakes involving field goals.

Maybe I need a pep talk from HTS. Because I am losing a LOT of faith in Nolan. If he makes decisions like this in garbage time....oh God, I don't even want to think about it.

I am goin' down with the ship...

by jfainsf49 on Dec 17, 2007 10:15 AM PST up 0 recs

Pep talk?

I don't think I'll ever back Nolan up as a gameday coach. We all know he's horrible with clock management and 4th down decision making. There's not really any defending that could be done.

This shouldn't be confused as a reason to turn on him, though. It's easy for people to do because most people only see what he does 3 hours a week, but gametime coaching is honestly SUCH a small amount of what his job entails that it's a good way to dismiss him ONLY in the sense that it's convenient.

I guess that's my pep talk. Don't put so much credence into gametime coaching. It's like 5% of what he actually does as a coach.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 17, 2007 10:53 AM PST up 0 recs

Did anyone explain

Did anyone explain how come he called a timeout on fourth down when the Bengals were going to punt? I think it was the first quarter.

This isn't the first time. These things happen for any football team but they seem to happen a lot with the Niners. Not enough men on the field, or too many, or the wrong guys. Something. That's bad gameday management by someone. But I hope that timeout wasn't taken because Nolan had to think about whether or not to receive a punt.

by Bob In Pacifica on Dec 17, 2007 12:18 PM PST up 0 recs

Re. Did anyone explain

I was thinking the same thing when he called that timeout. But then I recalled the 3 roughing the kicker penalties that have occured this year. Perhaps, Nolan told his guys to be carefull not to run into the kicker. That's my best guess.

I am goin' down with the ship...

by jfainsf49 on Dec 17, 2007 1:57 PM PST up 0 recs

According to today's press conference...

Matt Maiocco's "transcript" of today's press conference reveals Nolan's reasoning for the timeout:

--On the timeout prior to the Bengals' first punt of the game, Nolan said he made the mistake. He knew that Mark Roman was not on the punt unit, so when he saw Roman on the field, he called a timeout. Nolan thought there were 12 men on the field. (It was fourth-and-7 from the 49ers' 42-yard line and would not have given the Bengals a first down,) As it turns out, Roman was on the field as a replacement for an injured player.

While I understand his fear of the penalty, the situation didn't warrant it. As Matt points out, the penalty for 12 men wouldn't have given Cincinatti a first down.

It would, however, have pushed the Bengals into the "bordline" field goal position zone. The ball would have ended up on the 37, which means it would have been a 53 yarder. Not the kind of field goal you try in the first quarter, but a possibility nevertheless.

Inexperience takes the cake for this one. I'm sure he knows he made a mistake and he even admits it.

by sfgfan on Dec 17, 2007 2:47 PM PST up 0 recs

well...

actually, I didn't mind the decision a couple games ago to go for 3 and rely on your defense to get the ball back.

iirc, the niners' D forced a 3-and-out on the next series and then drove the ball deep into enemy territory on the next series, in which a Trent Dilfer pass was dropped in the end zone by Darrell Jackson on third-and-long.

Of course, it's easy to look back on it and say "we lost, so it was a poor choice" - but I don't know that it's fair to knock him on that one when he actually gave his team the best chance to win.

It's a little different when you're playing from behind and need points than it is when you're ahead late and you want to secure a victory.

by shleckothegecko on Dec 17, 2007 7:27 PM PST up 0 recs

It just hit me

I think this is Fooch's first drunk blog. I have to give him credit for refraining from mentioning that he was drunk. It's one of the most difficult impulses to deny.

Really though I mean, he has to be smashed, right? He promised us he would be smashed!

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 1:01 AM PST 0 recs

May I suggest

May I suggest that Fooch really tied one on. On any other weekend he'd have been up singing the Niners' praises at the crack of dawn.

I suspect Fooch has a bag of ice on his head about now.

by Bob In Pacifica on Dec 16, 2007 2:14 PM PST up 0 recs

You are correct my friend...

I'm working on a broader recap post right now having just popped a couple Advils...good times were had by all....

Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!

by Fooch on Dec 16, 2007 2:48 PM PST up 0 recs

Good times had by all

Except your liver, he's fucking pissed.

We are not who I thought we were.

by marcello on Dec 16, 2007 11:03 PM PST up 0 recs

Hey!

As long as KC scores fewer than 12 points today, we won't have the league's worst point scoring offense in the league! Go Titans Defense!

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 10:16 AM PST 0 recs

Well...

KC scored at least 14, so... so much for that.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 11:27 AM PST up 0 recs

Next week

There's always next week!

by sfgfan on Dec 17, 2007 9:55 AM PST up 0 recs

This is the time of year

This is the time of year that I love watching teams wrestling each other in blizzards, and we get a game under the dome. Would love to see Pats and Jets, or Cleveland and Buffalo. Anyone have a football package where they get those games?

by Bob In Pacifica on Dec 16, 2007 11:11 AM PST 0 recs

Yea

I do. And I clicked over to the Browns/Bills game just for that reason.

I am goin' down with the ship...

by jfainsf49 on Dec 17, 2007 6:47 AM PST up 0 recs

/envy

by shleckothegecko on Dec 17, 2007 7:30 PM PST up 0 recs

Just taking a moment

To virtually high-five everyone.

It was a hell of a moment to happen to be buying a deeply discounted Gore jersey for my girl as the Niners were handing it to the Bengals!

I don't know which feeling was better, finding that jersey among all the Raider jerseys here in LA or celebrating the win in front of all those Raider fans...

by LA49er on Dec 16, 2007 11:13 AM PST 0 recs

Whoo!

Another Troy Smith sighting! This time he came in for the 4th quarter of the Ravens/Dolphins game and led what would have been a pivotal game tying 59 yard drive for a field goal if only the Ravens D hadn't completely folded in OT.

5/11 49 yards, no TD, no INT.

Another sample size of mistake free NFL football from Troy Smith! Keep it coming, Billick! Give him the last two games! We want Troy!

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 16, 2007 3:06 PM PST 0 recs