So in light of the amazing show of awesomeness the 49ers put on display Monday, I thought why not look at the rest of the schedule. I'm no longer angry at the team, but have been upgraded to just "put out." As such, I may be a little snippy in this post because I honestly think this team could go 2-14. Will they go 2-14? I pray that doesn't happen, but suffice it to say, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
vs. St. Louis
Some of my friends have said this is the last game they should win. I disagree and think even though it's a home game, they could get taken behind the woodshed on Sunday. The Rams are showing signs of life for the first time on offense. More importantly, even if they have a crappy defense, it really won't matter against the inept offense the 49ers possess. By Sunday I'll probably be selling myself on the 49ers, but I really wonder if we can crack double digits in points the rest of the season. After Monday it sometimes honestly seems like we'll never score again.
@ Arizona
They've put up no fewer than 10 points in any game this season. If you combine the 49ers point totals for Weeks 4, 5 and 10 (bye week NOT included), you get 10 points total. You do that math. After a 3-game stumble, Kurt Warner got the Cardinals offense going against a solid Detroit team (didn't know when I'd ever say that again) and while I like our defense, if we hold them to 17 like we did in Week 1, I'm thinking we'll lose. Speaking of Week 1 (and Week 2), is anybody else baffled how we won those games considering the state of the offense now? Did our crappiness not emerge enough at that point?
@ Carolina
I really actually am excited to see Steve Smith match up against our secondary. I'm not so excited to see our offense take the field. There was some arguing about the on-side kick, but I say MORE! How about you fake to the normal side and then kick to where you've got 2 or 3 guys and really catch them off guard. Normal offense doesn't work, so let's mix in some special teams. And go truly Madden on them and go for it every 4th down. I think our defense needs to start every drive 30 yards from their own end zone.
vs. Minnesota
It seems like Adrian Peterson will likely miss this game as he is out possibly out 4-6 weeks (although some reports say he could be back to practice sometime next week). Chester Taylor was a force to be reckoned with before, so I'm not really sure what to expect come Week 14. If Adrian Peterson is out or still rusty, this is actually a winnable game if the Vikings defense doesn't show up, as they failed to do Sunday at Green Bay. This could also end up being a miserably bad game to watch as one team wins 3-0 or 6-3. I think this is your lowest scoring game of the year (in terms of combined points).
vs. Cincinnati
They may be team turmoil right now, but the fact that they have an offense makes them a likely L. Now that you add Chris Henry to their receiver corp and match him up with Shawntae Spencer, I could see our defense struggling a little bit.
vs. Tampa Bay
They'll have Pittman back to go with an emerging Earnest Graham and we get to see fan-favorite Jeff Garcia back in the house. He's signed to a 2-year deal so don't expect him back in the Bay Area in 2008. While the Bucs aren't a powerhouse, they've been solid this season, sitting atop the NFC South at 5-4. I don't see the 49ers doing so well against contending teams this year.
@ Cleveland
This was a sure win in August and even into early September. No way we could lose to the Browns, right? Now I don't think we can beat them. The Browns have passed the stage of being a flash in the pan and are officially a contender for a playoff spot. How will the 49ers do against contenders? See above. Although, if we were ever going to break out on offense, this would seem to be the game considering the Dolphins scored 31 points and the Rams scored 20 without Steven Jackson. More importantly for the Brady Quinn contingent here at Niners Nation, a chance to steal Brady Quinn and stash him in with the luggage on the flight home. If Derek Anderson has been named to the Pro Bowl there's no way the Browns will miss Miss Quinn.
So not quite as many specific W/L predictions as I had planned but I think 3-13 is a safe bet. I'd say we're bound to win at least one of those games, but that could very well turn out to be an exaggeration. Considering the MNF performance, I truly wonder if we score anything more than field goals the rest of the year? Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but I think it goes to show what we can expect.