9/17 links: 49ers are 2-0 baby!

by Fooch on Sep 17, 2007 7:46 AM PDT in News Comment 9 comments

Everyone in the free world considers the 49ers lucky to be 2-0 and clearly not as good as most of the other 2-0 teams. But you know what? The 49ers ARE 2-0 so who gives a rat's ass. The team knows they have not played a complete game yet, which is good to know (that they realize it, not that they haven't played a good game). This team is only going to get better which has me feeling pretty good about them going forward this season. It's definitely different to actually have expectations in a season instead of just hoping to avoid embarrassment.

A majority of the articles today are some combination of the theme of yes it was ugly but they're also 2-0:

Ray Ratto discusses how nobody can figure out WHY they're 2-0, but let's not complain yet. This isn't a beauty pageant after all.
Two ugly games, two ugly wins - Sac Bee style.
Speaking of ugliness, Dante Hall and Brandon Williams did not have their most memorable games, that's for sure.
You don't get style points in this league. I'm thinking the weak offense is to boost the degree of difficulty from the East German judge.

We also had a group of articles about Frank Gore dealing with his mother's death:

Frank Gore received the only game ball and it's certainly fine with me and I'm sure the entire team. This was his game.
Gore dedicated the game and this season to his mom.
Frank will have to get used to not hearing from his mom on game days.
Maybe his mom gave him the extra nudge to break that 43 yard TD run, which may have been his best rush as a 49er.
And finally, Gore definitely would have made his mom proud with his performance Sunday.

The pass rush left Marc Bulger a little antsy and a whole lot of sore.

The Chronicles gives out team grades, all of which are just about right. The pass rush was there for the most part, but playing off the receivers so often leaves the team with a B+. Giving up 368 passing yards, even in a win, is not good enough for an A.

The Disease felt like he was always open. It sounds like he's getting a little frustrated. No bad rants yet, but we'll see what happens if this keeps up.

Although the secondary struggled, they stepped up when they needed to.

Interesting little look over at The Sporting News at key plays on both sides that have the 49ers and Rams going in opposite directions.

Over at the Merc, Tim Kawakami thinks next week against Pittsbugh could get ugly. It doesn't matter how good the defense is if we can't score.

Smith may not be Montana, but winning is winning.

AOL Sports may sum it up best, the 49ers are a mediocre 2-0. Yea, but we're 2-0 suckas!

As always, avoid registering at some of these sites with Bug Me Not

I'll be back later in the afternoon hopefully. Everyone continue counting to 10 and repeating we're 2-0, we're 2-0, we're 2-0 and the ugliness will temporarily slide away.

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Hey VD

Why don't you talk to Hostler, because I think you're confused about the offense this team is running. You say you were open on every route you ran, but that's ridiculous because we never had a pass play. Why are you running routes on all these rushing plays? Shouldn't you be blocking? I mean, if we were passing, all these routes would be pretty cool, but it's no surprise you're open wen everybody on defense is busy stuffing Gore at the line on first, second, and third down,

Go back to playbook, buddy. The running plays are in green. The passing plays are in red. If you don't see a lot of red, just remember I tried to warn you...

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 17, 2007 8:04 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Nolan

As I mentioned previously, I think the playcalling may be more greatly influenced by Nolan than Hostler. Nolan called for conservativeness in the final quarter (before kicking the go-ahead field goal). I don't doubt that most of the conservativeness is on his part, as he was with those "no offense" Ravens a few years back. It's the only way anyone can really explain Nolan praising Hostler, while most of the faithful (and press) are calling for his head.

The thing I take away from the past two weeks is that Alex Smith hasn't thrown a pick. Interceptions hurt a lot more (than run, run, sack, punt), just ask Minnesota. If he didn't have those fumbles, the offense would practically have no turnovers. Thats the mark of a truly conservative offense.

by sfgfan on Sep 17, 2007 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Offense playing not to lose

It's no coincidence that Trent Dilfer is the backup here. We're the Junior Ravens.

Here's the thing: Even a conservative offense can use a few misdirections, rollouts, play fakes, etc., to enhance a conservative offense.

So I agree that this is all Nolan's doing. The offense only really opened up in the last three minutes of the Arizona game, when the conservative offense had already put the team in the position to lose.

So maybe Nolan is on to something.

Still, the line play has been off for two weeks. I thought the left side of the line wasn't getting a push most of the day judging from Gore's runs in that direction, I've seen comments complaining about Smiley and Staley run-blocking on the other side yesterday. On the one big run Gore got a yard of daylight and did the rest. Everyone seems to agree that Heitmann is either getting shoved back into Smith or bypassed, disrupting the offense. If you're going to stick to running, then you'd best get your blocking right. Hell, if we're only going to run, put Kwame back in.

Great teams go out and create a two or three-TD lead and THEN think about getting conservative. I think that this offense is more potent than it shows, but Nolan believes in measuring the risk-reward ratio and so far he's proven that the offense's stats don't win games.

If the offense is going to be so conservative, they at least need to competently run and block, and at least occasionally use the deep pass threat to open up the box. So many three and outs puts the defense on the field too long. There were times in the fourth quarter where you could see how tired they were.

We may be winning, but every weekend I'm getting agida.

by Bob In Pacifica on Sep 17, 2007 9:25 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Line

I completely agree in that the line performance has to get better. I've read complaints about the right side, not really much about the left. I expect the complaints on the right side, as there are "reasons" for it.

Staley is the rookie, of course he's going to make mistakes. He was drafted to be the team's left tackle, which I've "learned" in recent weeks tends to be the team's better pass blocker. He has quick feet and tons of physical ability. He still, however, lacks the technique. Regardless of how he's doing in run blocking (or even pass blocking), I'd prefer him in there over Kwame Harris any day.

The guy I think is getting a cold shaft is Smiley. He's a solid OG, and will paid as such when the season ends. The primary reason (I believe) for all of the complaints is that people want to see Baas in at guard. Everyone is clamoring for the "young" and the "new". I think if Baas were good enough in the coaches' eyes, he would be in there. Considering Smiley's future with the team (or lack thereof), it would make sense to play Baas if he's even REMOTELY close to Smiley. I'm guessing he's not, and whats why he's still on the bench.

The overall line play must improve. Who knows, maybe it's a "gel" thing. As I previously said, until the team loses, I'm not really going to complain. I like the way the defense is playing (minus the cushions provided to the Rams receivers). I like that they go after the ball carrier (and this past week, the QB). I like that they try to force fumbles and take risks for INTs. It's an exciting breed of football for me, and while the offense isn't putting up yards, I'll just take the win any day.

by sfgfan on Sep 17, 2007 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Left side complaint

I can't say that watching the game on tv gives me a great view of the offensive line's play, but I did see some runs behind Allen and Jennings where Gore was getting hit a yard or two in the backfield. To Gore's credit, he actually got a little positive yardage, falling forward with a couple of guys wrapping him up. Now sometimes a back will run to the left when the right side is already collapsing, and if Heitmann lets in someone over the center that can disrupt a run on either side. From watching tv specific O-line breakdowns don't always stand out, and commentators who can't remember names rarely comment on lineplay. The one big run was behind Jennings and Allen, but even on that play they only cleared out about a yard downfield for Gore. Frank did the rest on his own.

Judged from a whole, the bottom line is that Gore didn't get any major holes to run through. That's partly because of the lineplay and partly because of the vanilla offense.

Nolan wants a conservative offense, but even conservative offenses throw the ball once in awhile, and running misdirections, play fakes, and a few passes to Davis isn't such a radical idea. And it can loosen up the defense so that there aren't nine in the box all the time.

by Bob In Pacifica on Sep 17, 2007 11:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Indeed.

The 49ers ARE 2-0 so who gives a rat's ass.

That's what I'm saying!

by sfgfan on Sep 17, 2007 8:55 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Rat's ass

It takes me about a day now to get over these wins. Usually by the time Nolan gives his press conference on Monday I'm back to believing.

If he goes into Pittsburgh and makes a game of running this kind of conservative play-calling then I'll surrender and invest in alka seltzer.

This is the absolute opposite of what we all have gotten used to over the last quarter century with Walsh and his descendants. It's play bone-crushing defense and don't make mistakes on offense. This is Nolan. Pure Nolan.

by Bob In Pacifica on Sep 17, 2007 11:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

W/L

Probably gonna lose to PIT but that's still 2-1, which is better than 1-2!

by Lotte on Sep 17, 2007 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

College scouting

Over at the 49ers site, the 49ers have a blog for one of their college area scouts, Todd Brunner. Interesting to get his take on a variety of players.

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

by Fooch on Sep 17, 2007 10:29 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs