49ers - Cardinals Week 1 Matchups / Open Thread / Link Dump

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 10:02 AM PDT in San Francisco 49ers News

[EDITOR'S UPDATE 11:45AM] - Fantasy Update: Turf Show Times 42 - Niners Nation 30 - details in the comments

Speaking of Monday Night, the last time the 49ers were on Monday Night Football, Tim Rattay replaced an injured Jeff Garcia for the second straight week, going 21-27 for 254 and 2 TDs as the 49ers pummeled Pittsburgh 30-14. My favorite line from the ESPN recap:

Fullback Fred Beasley also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Rattay, who added more spice to the 49ers' quarterback controversy with a second straight near-flawless performance in place of injured Pro Bowl player Jeff Garcia.

Yea that didn't quite end up being the greatest controversy in the world. Always fun to look back at that kind of stuff though.

Matchups
49ers Secondary vs. Arizona Wide Receivers - This is certainly the most obvious matchup. Instead of going with a specific receiver vs. Clements or Harris, it makes more sense to take each unit as a whole. The 49ers revamped secondary will be tested from the get go as Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald come to town. They are as talented a duo as anybody, but Matt Leinart will need his offensive line to buy him a little bit of time, which could be a problem. And for the first time in a long time, the 49ers roll out Pro Bowl-caliber corners on both sides in Walt Harris and Nate Clements. Nate Clements has the big contract to live up to and Walt Harris is hoping to build on last year's wildly successful season.

49ers Linebackers vs. Edgerrin James - James struggled quite a bit in his first year with the Cardinals as his numbers dropped in every category. If he's going to begin a bounce back year, he'll have to do it against a young but talented 49ers linebacking crew. We're all excited to see what Patrick Willis can do, but the whole LB corp will be on display as things will be different now in the 3-4. Speaking of which...

49ers Defensive Line vs. Arizona offensive line - The regular front 3 will be on the playing field together for the first time outside of practice. The defense struggled but considering our starting nose tackle missed all four preseason games, it's not completely surprising. The nose tackle is an anchor that helps open gaps for the linebackers and while Sopoaga definitely showed we'll have some decent depth, we're all hoping Aubrayo Franklin is the guy for the job. I'm more curious about what Franklin can do than almost anybody else on the field.

Mike Nolan vs. Arizona - Coach Nolan has NEVER beaten Arizona. The last time the 49ers beat Arizona was 2004, when they swept the series 31-28 in overtime both times, for their only two wins of the season. I definitely think it's time to change that.

Frank Gore - This isn't a matchup, but considering all the time Gore has missed, I'm anxious to see him in game situations again. While you never want to see an injury, I like the idea of Gore sitting out the preseason in the future since he can still keep his legs fresh without playing. Of course if he struggles out of the gate, I'd certainly change my tune on that.

Link Dump
Patrick Willis definitely acts like he's been in the league for a while...and that's a good thing.

One of the big stories is of course 49ers secondary vs. Arizona receivers.

Interesting little note here. This is the first time since Week 5 of the 2003 season that BOTHSan Francisco and Oakland are favored.

Alex Smith vs. Matt Leinart could turn into a fun rivalry.

Any interesting little point over at Football Outsiders. How lucky were the 49ers last year? Interesting question heading into this season.

Your requisite piece comparing the Disease to TO.

The Chronicles piece on the secondary-wide receivers matchup.

I'm definitely excited for the pre-game ceremonieshonoring Coach Walsh. And seeing those '81 throwbacks is gonna be sweet too. I missed it, but apparently Coit Tower is lit up in red every night through Monday. I'll have to check that out tonight.

Alright folks, discuss and dump away! It's Sunday and all is well in our corner of the world.

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Week 1 predictions

I made a note of it in the post below, but if you haven't gotten picks in yet and want to, you can add them up through the end of the first half of the morning game for this week. This will only be for this week.

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

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 10:04 AM PDT reply actions

I'm a little sad.

Joey Harrington has already thrown an interception. I'm not sure how much it looked like it was his fault from the one quick shot I saw, but still... I'm really rooting for Joe-Hair this time.

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 9, 2007 10:23 AM PDT reply actions

Fooch

I sure hope you started Roethlisberger this week in the Fantasy League!

I can't say anything until Cullpepper plays anyway, but Big Ben looks like the smart pick right now.

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 9, 2007 11:29 AM PDT reply actions

Link Dump

In the spirit of the link dump, Matt Maiocco says Kwame Harris has been notified he MAY NOT be suiting up tomorrow night.

by sfgfan on Sep 9, 2007 11:32 AM PDT reply actions

FANTASY UPDATE

As we're at or approaching halftime in all the morning games, here's the Niners Nation fantasy update:

We DID start Roethlisberger and he's put up 16 points so far on 65 passing yards and 2 TDs. Laveranues Coles has 10 points on 40 yards and a receiving touchdown. Ronnie Brown and his 9 yards, not so helpful, but nobody seems to be doing much of anything in the Redskins-Dolphins game.

We currently trail 41-30 as Turf Show Times who had Vinatieri Thursday and have decent showings from Torry Holt and Randy Moss.

The good news is that after the morning games, TST has 3 players left (Kitna, Gates, Bears DST) while we have 5 left (Rudi Johnson, Fitzgerald, Nedney, Jordan and 49ers DST). I'm thinking we'll need to find a new defense if we want to get consistent points from them. We'll see how the rest of Week 1 plays out.

I'll update at the end of the morning games.

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

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 11:40 AM PDT reply actions

42-30

quick score correction

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

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions

I like our chances!

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 9, 2007 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions

Score Update

We got a Steve Smith 68 yard TD, but TST got a 51 yard Moss TD...yeesh...We're down 59-46, but good news...Ronnie Brown is either 1 rushing yard or 2 receiving yards from his first point!

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

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions

Pedictions Update

Deep in the third quarter right now, KC is down to Houston 17-0.

Just to play with my spreadsheet a little: if the game ended RIGHT NOW, the winner for that game would be...

jayp840, with his 14-3 prediction! He would come in with a total score of 6 points, leading the next closest prediction by 14 points (SRO, enut21, and Bob in Pacifica each with 20).

We'll see how things shake out over the next quarter and a half, but jayp840 really has to like his chances right now.

The spreadsheep appears to be working perfectly. Hooray!

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 9, 2007 12:05 PM PDT reply actions

Chief-Houston

I could use some Chiefs points to get me a little closer!

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

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 12:09 PM PDT up reply actions

With the 3-20 Houston win

Jayp840 wins the game with a low score of 12.

Honorable mentions would go to enut21, Vote4Gore, and Bob in Pacifica, who all came very close with 14 on the game. Unfortunately, don't get no points for second!

For the time being, with the win in the morning game, Jayp840 is the board leader with 1 whopping point.

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 9, 2007 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions

SCORING UPDATE

Fooch and I are working out a modified scoring system for this game so that there could be points for more than just first place. It should make the game more worthwhile as more people get points over the course of the season. It should be more fair this way all around.

We'll have it knocked out in the next couple days, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I'll let you know the straight up winners when I get the chance, but don't hold your breath for too much today as I'll likely be busy most of the night.

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 9, 2007 4:39 PM PDT up reply actions

Division

STL with their first, of hopefully many, losses today.

by marcello on Sep 9, 2007 12:58 PM PDT reply actions

FANTASY UPDATE

With the completion of the morning games, Niners Nation sits in solid shape in the SBN Fantasy Football National Conference.

Niners Nation leads Turf Show Times 83-79, thanks in LARGE part to Ben Roethlisberger who put up 32 points thanks to 4 TDs on 161 yards. Impressive scoring performance.

TST still has Kitna, Gates and Bears DST, all of whom are capable of putting up a lot of points.

We still have Rudi Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Joe Nedney, Lamont Jordan and the 49ers DST. Having a pair of running backs left is certainly nice. TST will be done before the primetime Cowboys-Giants game, so we'll know exactly where we're at.

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

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 1:17 PM PDT reply actions

Update?

I know Kitna had a good game and Gates has an awesome one but Lamont had a very solid day as well.

by methodrampage on Sep 9, 2007 4:44 PM PDT up reply actions

I wish the Niners had played today.

I watched the Eagles and the Pack...what fun! Yea! Football is back and I am sooooooooo excited!

by IM4Niners on Sep 9, 2007 2:51 PM PDT reply actions

The Pack is Back

So looks like the Packers are in first in the NFC North. And when they end up winning the the division, just remember, you heard it here first.

by methodrampage on Sep 9, 2007 4:46 PM PDT reply actions

I love watching Favre

because it reminds me of the glory days when Steve Young would lead our team agaisnt theirs. Hopefully this year starts a new era of winning records.

by IM4Niners on Sep 9, 2007 10:50 PM PDT up reply actions

FANTASY UPDATE

So, right now CBS.sportsline shows us down 147-104. HOWEVER, the scoring seems to have a small issue for defenses. It seem defenses are getting points for giving up points. Our opponent had the Bears defense, which gave up 14 points, had an INT, 2 fumble recoveries, 3 sacks and a blocked field goal. That would normally shake out as follows:

INT (2 per): 2
Fumble Recoveries (2 per): 4
Sack (1 per): 3
Blocked FG (2 per): 2
Points Allowed (1 pt for 14-17): 1

That would equal 12 points. However, in the scoring the Bears are listed as having earned 26 points. We're working on clearing it up, but it looks like they also got 14 points by giving up 14 points.

So I think we're actually only down 133-104. Either way, we still have Rudi Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Joe Nedney and the 49ers defense. So, not in perfect shape, but we should hopefully be able to bounce back here.

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

by David Fucillo on Sep 9, 2007 5:25 PM PDT reply actions

Some pre-scoring results!

I don't have the official scoring system worked out for the prediction game yet (I'll have it by tonight or tomorrow), but I can tell you the out and out winners from the Sunday games!

For the Giants, Cowboys game: I win the prediction with a "close enough" guess of 21-31 Dallas, coming in with a low score of 28 (not so close to zero, were we?). Honorable mention to Nosetackle Supreme, whose 21-28 prediction came in second with 34 points, and a four way tie for third with enut21, Braekneck, Bob in Pacifica, and wjackalope all being just 34 points away.

sfgfan takes the Detroit-Oakland game with his prediction of 24-10 scoring a clean 24 points. Nosetackle Supreme's 23-10 prediction comes in a close second with 26, and Jayp840 is alone in third after his 21-7 prediction takes 30.

And marcello takes the Chicago-San Diego game with a 12-23 prediction scoring 18 on the predict-o-meter! Jayp840 continues his strong showing by scoring 22 with his 14-24 prediction for second place, and wjackalope, Sprint Right Option, and Braekneck all take third with scores of 28.

More games to come, official individual scoring to come. Stay Tuned!

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 10, 2007 8:22 AM PDT reply actions

thanks

for all your hard work on this. now I definitely hope that 3rd place gets some points!

Bring back the classic Uni's!

by wjackalope on Sep 10, 2007 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions

First Through Third

Will definitely all be getting points in the final system, and bonuses will still be awarded for perfect predictions. The only point of contention is how to deal with ties under the new expanded scoring, if at all.

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 10, 2007 9:45 AM PDT up reply actions

right

and based on what we've seen so far, I would bet ties will be common. I can't decide if I'd rather see everyone who tied get the points, or come up with a tie breaker of some sort... can't really imagine what that would be though.

Bring back the classic Uni's!

by wjackalope on Sep 10, 2007 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions

In Cincinnatti

Here's how it went down.

Vote4Gore AND Sprint Right Option had a first place tie at 8 with some very good predictions (21-31 and 16-23, respectively - V4G being closer to the total score, and SRO nailing the point differential).

Braekneck comes in a clean second with his prediction of 18-21 scoring a sweet 12.

Three way tie for third between myself, enut21, and wjackalope, all of us scoring very respectable 14s.

We were REALLY close in this game (for reference, the third place ties in this game were twice as good as the first place ties for the NY-Dallas predictions).

I'm going to run my scoring system by Fooch, and then we'll announce it.

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

by howtheyscored on Sep 10, 2007 8:18 PM PDT up reply actions