I'd imagine these approval ratings will be rather intriguing following the ugly Week 16 victory over the Rams. Heading into this week, Mike Singletary's approval rating sat at 98% for the second straight week, with only 3 no votes. After three quarters, I certainly wasn't going to change my vote, but I bet the no votes would likely creep into the double digits for the first time this season.
Over at espn.com, Singletary's approval sits at 90% with close to 800 votes. This is the first week it's cracked the 90% barrier and I'd imagine that's due in part to a host of non-49er fans voting in every coach's approval poll. Here, I'd imagine almost all the voters are 49ers fans, with maybe a few random non-fan lurkers mixed in.
Looking back at the victory in St. Louis, clearly there was a pretty dramatic turnaround in the 4th quarter. Who do you think was responsible for that turnaround? Would you say it's between Mike Singletary and Shaun Hill? Isaac Bruce certainly stepped up, but I don't know how much credit a wide receiver can get in that situation.
Hill wouldn't let Singletary bench him so maybe he realized what he needed to do. He was struggling and just found whatever it was that was necessary to get back to his A-game. At the same time, maybe Singletary's attempt to bench him brought back the fire. Does Singletary deserve some kind of credit in that situation?
One other option I didn't immediately consider was that these were the St. Louis Rams, one of the worst teams in the NFL. Maybe the Rams finally remembered who they were and reverted to form. While it might be easiest to go with that, I'm willing to consider a combination of the three.
As we head into this final week of the season, I think Singletary will have his guys fired up and bringing their A-game for this home and season finale. The fans hopefully recognize positive steps have been taken by this team in the last couple of months and will be fired up as well. A win this Sunday would leave the team 4-1 in their final five games. The last time the 49ers won 4 out of 5 games in a season? 2002, when they finished 10-6 in Steve Mariucci's last season.