THE MARCH TO 8-8, VOL 2: 2-0

BAM BAM MAKE QUARTERBACK GO TO SLEEP

Yeah, this team is legit.

The Seahawks yesterday looked like the 49ers have so many times over the past few seasons: lost, confused, unable to move the ball, unable to get a key stop when they needed it, and overall they just looked bad. Yes, they had injuries; I'm sure it will be more of a challenge to go up to their house and put on a similar showing later this year. But damn, that was pretty amazing to see- the 49ers exerted dominance over their opponent for the entirety of the game.

And you know what I love? Remember in 07 when we went 2-0 by the hair on our buttcheeks and looked HORRIBLE in the process? Remember what Mike Nolan said after Jeff Wilkins missed a game-winning field goal by about 2 inches? He made absolutely no comment about how awful the 49ers looked in those 2 games, focusing on the 2-0 start and how everyone should just shut up because that's all that matters. Then they promptly dropped 8 straight.

In his press conference right after the game yesterday, a game in which the 49ers looked better than they have in any game I can remember back to 2003, Mike Singletary stood up there and said that if they played that way next week, they'll lose. And he was 100% right. This performance was good enough to beat a crappy, injury-riddled team at home, and it was impressive. But the Vikings are a real team, and Sing knows that. And I love that he knows that.

THAT is what a real coach brings to a team. There's no "way to go guys! We're 2-0!", no "victory mondays" after meaningless wins over crappy teams. Don't get me wrong, 2-0 in the division is great, but now they have to go play an early game in a dome against Adrian Peterson. And I'm going to be in attendance, so there's all kinds of cosmic juju working against them.

Arizona's showing IN Jacksonville really makes me feel good we have their home game out of the way. To my mind, the only challenging divisional game left is @ Seattle. If the 49ers come out and win in Minnesota next week, there is a very good chance they're 5-0 at the bye week, and the "march to 8-8" becomes a "march to 10-6". Atlanta at home doesn't look so scary after their first 2 weeks.

Oh yeah, and FRANK GORE, BITCHES. Who's laughing at me for taking him over LT NOW?

THE MARCH TO 8-8, VOL 1

Could someone confirm this for me? Were there 49ers defensive linemen in the Arizona backfield consistently during yesterday's game? That news just sounds too unlikely to be true.

What a freaking awesome win that was.

If the defense (pass rush) plays like that on a regular basis, this team is scary. Nate also made his money yesterday- he straight-up shuts Larry Fitzgerald down every time. Gave up the TD, but that was because Warner had about 20 minutes to throw that pass.

Something that isn't getting mentioned a lot, though: the Cardinals pretty much handed the game away with their terrible penalties. You can't count on that happening regularly

Which leads me to: the offense. Somebody needs to tell Shaun Hill that it's OK to not suck in the 3rd quarter. I love how he gets it done in the 4th, but he really can't afford to play so bad right after the half.

Also, someone needs to send a memo to Jimmy Raye and tell him that we don't have the offensive line for his offense. There was nothing on the ground, and there needs to be some adjustments made on the playcalling front. Seriously.

That was a lot of fun. A win against Seattle next week and we are really sitting pretty in this craphole division. Anyone see the Rams "play" Seattle? LOL football outsiders thinks they're going to be good this year. What a joke.

On kickoff eve...

Couple things:

• SHAWNTAE EFFING SPENCER is the starting CB. Not Tarrell Brown, not Dre Bly, SHAWNTAE SPENCER. Ummm, yikes. We get to see him "cover" Anquan Boldin. Start him in fantasy everyone!
• Vernon Davis is a captain. Over FRANK GORE. I've always hoped he'd come around and be a good player since he has so much talent. At least now he's showing that he isn't a psychopath any more. Let's hope the production follows the maturity.

Alright, so with the season kicking off tomorrow I thought I'd do something else we all used to do in the olden days and take our schedule week-by-week to see what a reasonable win/loss expectation would be. I know it's impossible to try and predict the strength of teams in week 10 before week 1, but it's still fun.

1. @ Arizona- Very winnable game. Boldin is hobbled, Warner is a year older, and they lost their entire coaching staff. Not to mention the fact that when teams lose the superbowl, they suck the next year. Arizona's D scares me just a little, but it's not a stretch to imagine a win here. 1-0
   
2. Seattle- Again, very winnable. Seattle will be a lot better than they were last year, so it's no gimmie, but the fact that it's at home helps. Whoseyourmomma is a big boost to their offense, but they have no running game. They'll still be able to rush the passer well with Curry, though. 2-0
   
3. @ Minnesota- Gotta say I think this is a loss, and that sucks because I'm going to be at this game. Their run defense is too good for us to go in there depending on the run. It comes down to if the passing game can be competent, because that's where they're vulnerable. We've shut down Peterson before, but now he's at home. 2-1
4. St. Louis- If we don't win this game, the season's over. They are terrible. 3-1
   
5. Atlanta- This could go either way. Their defense is bad, their offense is good. It really depends on if Micheal Turner is still a beast, or, as I imagine, he falls back to earth with a huge thud. I'm marking it as a win. 4-1
   
6. So, at the bye I've got us at 3-2 or maybe 4-1. Looks good, right? It's about to get ugly.
7. @ Houston- If Andre Johnson, Steve Slaton, and Matt Schaub are healthy, we're losing this game by 20 points. Mario Williams gets 5 sacks 4-2
   
8. @ Indianapolis- see above, but add 5 or 10 more points. Replace "Williams" with "Freeny" 4-3
   
9. Tennesee- Man, that defense looked good on Thursday. Their offense isn't great, but Chris Johnson is amazing, and that defense is incredible. I think this game makes 3 straight losses after the bye. 4-4
   
10. Chicago- Again, not very winnable. Cutler, Forte, and a great defense. I've got the Bears going to the superbowl, and I don't think the 49ers as presently constructed can beat this team 4-5
    
11. @ Green Bay- Playing in Wisconsin at the end of November. Need I say more? Not to mention the Packers might go to the superbowl. 4-6
    
12. Jacksonville- A winnable home game! Depends on what their offense looks like at that point, but I don't think it's a stretch to imagine the 9ers pulling this one out. Jags' D has gone downhill lately. 5-6
13. @ Seattle- Yeah, we're not winning this game if they're healthy. I know we've pulled out some amazing upsets there in recent years, but I really see no way this is happening. 5-7
    
14. Arizona- Again, winnable. I think Arizona will be about 6-10 or 7-9 this year. By this time it's very possible Matt Leinart is their starter. 6-7
    
15. @ Philadelphia- do I want to believe Singletary will have more success on the east coast than Nolan? Yes. Do I? No. 6-8
    
16. Detroit- Perfect time for the 49ers to lose to a creampuff at home. I think it's a win, but I'm not that confident. Calvin Johnson is a freaking BEAST. 7-8
    
17. @ St Louis- They're going to be bad, but it's a road game. There may be a playoff spot riding on this game, so it'll be interesting to see how the niners respond. I think they win. 8-8
    

The season will be made or broken in the 5 weeks after the bye. For this team, that is a BRUTAL schedule. I really see 8-8 as the best possible outcome, with 9-7 if we somehow beat Indy or Houston. Fortunately, that could very well be good enough to win the division, but c'mon- this team ain't doin nothing in the playoffs. The only way is if Gore stays healthy, Josh Morgan becomes what we all think he will be, and Vernon Davis turns into an actual threat.

They SHOULD at least be entertaining to watch. Unless they aren't, then it will suck.

Good sense prevails!

Pashos signed, Briggs to the PS. All is once again well in the world. If only it was Pascoe and not Finley on the PS. Oh well.

If Hill gets cut for Crabtree, I'm gonna choke a bitch.

Mike Singletary: Orator for the ages

Excellent job defending his roster selections during his press conference today!

So, Mike, why'd you choose Briggs for the 53-man?

"He's young, he has talent and going forward we just want to see him continue to develop. . . . He's still raw and we just have to work with it"

Hmm, OK, so why didn't Bear make it?

"When you look at Bear, he's a quality young man. I just think for him it's a matter of getting used to the speed of the NFL. Just getting used to seeing guys who are big and fast and coming at you, and you have to block them."

Hmm, well that sounds like a little bit of a contradiction, but OK. What about Kory Sheets?

"I think certainly he did some nice things, but what we wanted to do and keep focus of is we wanted to have the 53 guys who really gave us the best opportunity to win."

Weelll, wouldn't you agree that keeping a young, talented running back on a team whose strategy is to run the ball over 50% of the time on offense would be more valuable than keeping a 9th LB who probably won't see much playing time?

Here's what I'm seeing early on: young offensive player who shows promise but has rough edges: "needs to take some time and let the game slow down. Come back later" Young defensive player who shows promise but has rough edges: "well, we really like what we've seen and we think we can work with him"

Shit.

I don't mean to overreact here, but this is getting into SSDD territory with Mr Singletary. Offense doesn't exist, screw the offense. We'll keep enough guys to field an offense, but we'll keep 7 defensive linemen 9 linebackers, and 5 safeties, at the expense of a fullback and blocking TE, because who needs a blocking tight end in a run-first offense, anyways? Oh, and screw that young, fast, powerful runner. He can't help us win, but a 9th linebacker sure can!

Argh.

Blerg

Final 53 man is set (copied from Matt). Mostly what I thought, but anger-inducing players marked appropriately:

QB (3) - Shaun Hill, Alex Smith, Nate Davis

RB (4) - Frank Gore, Moran Norris, Glen Coffee, Michael Robinson

WR (6) - Isaac Bruce, Josh Morgan, Arnaz Battle, Micheal Spurlock, Brandon Jones, Jason Hill.

TE (2) - Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker

OL (8) - Joe Staley, David Baas, Eric Heitmann, Chilo Rachal, Adam Snyder, Tony Wragge, Barry Sims, Cody Wallace.

DL (7) - Isaac Sopoaga, Aubrayo Franklin, Justin Smith, Kentwan Balmer, Demetric Evans, Ray McDonald, Ricky Jean-Francois.

LB (9) - Manny Lawson, Patrick Willis, Takeo Spikes, Parys Haralson, Jeff Ulbrich, Scott McKillop, Ahmad Brooks, Marques Harris, Diyral Briggs.

CB (5) - Nate Clements, Tarell Brown, Dre' Bly, Shawntae Spencer, Marcus Hudson.

S (5) - Dashon Goldson, Michael Lewis, Mark Roman, Reggie Smith, Curtis Taylor.

ST (4) - Joe Nedney, Andy Lee, Brian Jennings, Allen Rossum.


Not a whole lot of quibbles, but like I mentioned earlier, Kory Sheets should be on this team. I really doubt he'll clear waivers for the PS, so this means we're probably losing him for good. I hope that's not the case, because I think he was in the Ahmad Bradshaw "speed with OMG he's-also-got-power" category.

Why we had to keep Briggs around boggles the mind. Would another team have really claimed him? Really? Over Sheets?? WTF. He would have been a MUCH better candidate for the PS.

Arnaz Battle. Enough said. Thank the lord his spot didn't come at Jason Hill's expense. I would have given his spot to Pascoe. Now we have to go out and find some scrub to be a blocking TE. Pascoe looked like he had a lot of promise, and I think there's a good chance we lose him, too.

Spurlock may lose his spot when Crabtree signs. Or maybe Briggs, or mayyybe Battle, if there is a God who cares about us.

Last one is Hudson- I would have preferred Green, but that's just because I really don't like Marcus Hudson. Not a huge problem with it, but c'mon. Marcus Hudson? Really?

Oh yeah, and WTF is Ulbrich still doing here??? Jeeez, why are we wasting a roster spot on a guy whose only contribution is special teams? I don't see the need for 9 LBs when we only have 2 TEs.

Quick note

Nate Clements, if you can't turn around and face the ball to prevent a 30 yard TD on 3rd fucking down against the other team's FOURTH GODDAMN RECEIVER THEN YOU NEED TO GTFO.

I don't care if it's preseason, he looked like an idiot on that play, and right after he dropped an easy INT, too. Jesus.

I need to take a moment to profess my raging man love for:

Nate Davis

Kory Sheets

Jason Hill


If Arnaz fucking Battle makes the team at the expense of Jason Hill, all of my enthusiasm about Singletary will go out the window.

ROSTERBATION!

That's what Grant over at McCovey Chronicles calls off-season Giants lineup speculation. With the first round of cuts coming up very soon, I thought we could do the yearly "who's gonna be on the 53-man roster" guesses. Position-by-position, here's what I'm hoping:

QB (3): Hill, Smith, Davis

RB (3): Gore, Coffee, Sheets

FB (2): Norris, Robinson

TE (3): Davis, Walker, Pascoe

WR (6): Morgan, Bruce, Crabtree (he'll sign), Jones, Hill, Zeigler

OT (4): Staley, Snyder, Sims, Trade/FA pickup (not sure any FAs would be worth it. Do trades like this ever happen in the NFL? Maybe use next year's extra number 1 or something)

OG (3): Rachal, Baas, Wragge

C (2): Heitman, Wallace

DL (7): McDonald, J. Smith, Balmer, Evans, Franklin, Sopoaga, Jean-Francois

LB (7): Willis, Lawson, Haralson, Spikes, McKillop, Harris, Brooks

DB (9): Clements, Brown, Bly, Green, Spencer, Roman, Goldson, Smith, Lewis

ST (4): Jennings, Nedney, Lee, Rossum

So that's my quick list. Goldson looks like he's gonna be a lot of fun to watch. He might give up some big plays, though, so look for that. His really aggressive style is more likely to make big plays, but can definitely backfire if he's not careful.

McKillop is a tackling machine. I think that he'll probably be a very good replacement for Spikes when the time comes. That should be a very dominant defensive middle with him and P 52 back there.

Overall, I'm pretty encouraged with the defensive look of things. The offense is full of ?s. Morgan? Davis? Hill? We just don't know if these guys will be able to blossom into really good players. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm very nervous that we're going to see a version of 2007 happening again.

Hill is better than Dilfer obviously, but the look of the offense is a cause for a little bit of concern. Raye seems like he's not going to take too many chances. That FG with 4 minutes left against Dallas showed a little too much conservatism for my tastes.

I really hope Singletary is not THAT conservative as a head coach, because if so then it will only be a matter of time until we're chasing him out of town too. I really think he's a guy who can succeed, but I thought that about Nolan at one point too.

The thing that encourages me the most is that the team looks like it can win games now. They were at least hanging in every game during the second half last season, and I see no GLARING holes on the team that make me think "ohhh craaaaap we're screwed". I'm actually excited to watch them, and I wasn't last year because JT O'sullivan was our quarterback. Should be fun.

It's that time of year again!

So it's been a little while, but with the season just around the corner, here's what I've been thinkin bout:

• Starting Shaun Hill was the right call. Alex, you may very well develop into an NFL-quality quarterback one day, but today is not that day. I saw nothing different from him in his 2 starts that showed he was any different than he's ever been- great arm, spotty accuracy, and inability to make quick decisions. Shaun moves the offense and keeps things going smoothly.
  

• Micheal Crabtree- OK, when's the last time someone held out an entire season after being drafted? It never happens. As of right now, Crabtree is only losing any workout bonuses he might have had in his contract- the real money doesn't come until week 1. So yes, he's losing valuable time he could be spending learning the offense, but when do rookie WRs ever come in and set the world on fire? It's stupid, but he will sign. How do I feel about it? Exhibit A:

Yup, that's mine. He'll sign, and he'll catch touchdown passes.

• Mike Singletary: capable coach

This team can make a run this year. Maybe I'll do a deeper breakdown of the NFC west a little later, but here's a quick primer:

Cardinals: Fluke of all flukes last year. They lost both coordinators, AND they lost the superbowl. That is the kiss of death. 2 more things: they're still the cardinals, and their season rests on an octogenarian who's one hit away from a rest home.

Rams: Look at their roster. LOOK AT IT! Name me 1 legitimate impact player whose name doesn't start with S and rhyme with "spleevin waxin". Also, he's always injured.

Seahawks: Jim Mora is their coach. JIM MORA! Yes, they were an intensive care unit last year, and yes, Matt Hasselbeck will be better, and yes, TJ whosyourmamma makes them better. I think they are the biggest threat to take the division, and I don't think it's unrealistic to think they can. But allow me to re-iterate my first point: JIM MORA JR IS THEIR COACH!

I really do think the 49ers have an actual, legitimate shot at 10 wins, and 10 wins should almost certainly be enough to win the division. I love that 3 of the first 4 are inter-divisional games, because that will show us if this feeling is justified right out of the gate.

Hopefully we get this place going a little bit this year, because it should be a fun time to watch our team. Look for me on TV week 3 @ minny, I'll be the doofus with the Clements jersey (unless crabtree signs and makes it into the lineup by then- doubtful) and the 9er helmet.

Wow, who's this guy?

I'm sure you've all read this by now, but it really struck me as amazing. I always remember Alex Smith interviews as being extremely frustrating- DUDE! Just say what you mean already! I guess that's just how most athletes are in general, though.

Do yourself a favor and read it if you haven't already- the guy is showing a maturity and determination that, at this point anyways, is very nice to hear.

A couple other notes: Matt seems to think Josh Morgan looks REALLY good so far. Again, it's spring. Everyone's going to go 16-0 in the spring. But still- I really think that without Crabtree we would have been behind only AZ with regards to NFCW WRs. With him, we're right there challenging them, and (maybe) even above them a little. Is Morgan comparable to Fitzgerald? Probably not, but he is really good, and Crabtree is....well, he's going to be just so much fun to watch.

Also, this Brandon Jones guy- we haven't seen much of him, but I was watching a Titians game replay on NFLN the other day, and the guy looked like he had some talent. With those 3 WRs, the offense is really looking promising. The one quibble I have is that none of our WRs is over 6'1. I'm not sure that's going to matter in Crabtree's case, since the guy has a knack for coming down with the ball, but it would still be nice to have a big tall guy out there. Maybe VD finally comes around and is that target.

I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but this team just feels different now. I love the "don't tell me, show me" mantra. Admittedly, I'm pumping Crabtree before seeing him in the NFL, but some things are sort of a given. I really like Sing and the attitude he's given to the team, as well as the talent he's brought in. I think he's the kind of guy capable of taking a team to the playoffs, whereas Nolan really didn't seem like he had what it took to field a winning team. And I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but doesn't it seem like things are getting handled a LOT better between the coaches and the media these days?

Yes, that sounds like a bunch of BS, but from the moment Sing took over last year it was a different team. I really really hope the QB thing gets sorted out smoother than last year.