Well, this is maybe sort of interesting

Hmmmm:

There’s a growing belief that former Raiders and Bucs coach Jon Gruden will return to the NFL in 2011. As his son, Deuce (really?), tells it, Gruden may be targeting 2012.

Via The Big Lead, Deuce Gruden appeared on the Sporting Rave podcast, and Deuce said that the family could be heading for San Fran or Cleveland.

I'm still stuck on the Harbaugh bandwagon, but Gruden wouldn't exactly be a bad choice either. There's always the chance that it's PR posturing, but it's mildly exciting nonetheless.

Officially a Rams fan

The NFC west needs a team to finish over .500. Please God, do not let a 7-9 team host a playoff game. Please. Let it be the Rams, too. Because fuck pete carroll, that's why. The Rams are (kind of..ok not really) fun to watch and are winning for a good reason- they have a really really good quarterback. That's why teams SHOULD win. They shouldn't skate by on luck or special teams or whatever- they need a great quarterback. And they have one. PLEASE let them go 9-7 or better. Please.

As for the 49ers? Well everyone saw this coming. Not at all a surprise, though that play to Vernon at the end of the half probably put me in the playoffs in a FF league, so that was awesome.

But I'm not just a Rams fan because I want the NFC west to be represented by a not-terrible record. It's because I value the long-term future of my own team. And for this season, every win my own team gets harms their long-term future. Each win serves only to take them farther from a draft pick, and each win solidifies (if however shakily) their coaching staff's employment.

Dear god, can you imagine if they'd lucked into a win today? There would have been talk about Singletary maybe saving his job. Maybe they run the table and go 9-7! Sing has turned the corner! We can win with this guy!

Thank. God. A beatdown. EXACTLY what was needed. I want one further, though. I want them to lose out. I've gotten to the point where I will be disappointed after every win and ecstatic after every loss. I'm not a bad fan- it's the exact opposite. The only thing the 49ers can accomplish by winning is to harm their team even further.

Every loss brings us closer to a real quarterback and a real coaching staff. After the expectations this team had, if they finish 3-13, there will HAVE to be WHOLESALE changes throughout the front office. They could not possibly keep anyone. And they could not possibly justify making a minor tweak. If they spend the cash on a QB and a real offensive coach, next year they could win 10 games with the talent they have. Losing is for the best. GO RAMS!

(PS, as I write this I'm sitting at a starbucks in downtown portland with my man purse sitting next to me. I've never felt more at home)

(PPS, I want to thank my uncle for choosing this weekend to get married, so I didn't end up spending 200 bucks to go to this game, which was my original plan when the season began. I can't thank him enough)

The Ewing theory writ small

Frank Gore: the most important offensive player the 49ers have had this season, no question. We all saw the stat: all by his lonesome, Frank Gore has accounted for THIRTY SEVEN PERCENT of the 49ers' total offensive yardage from scrimmage.

Obviously, he is a great, great player. But is it possible that maybe they were leaning on him a little TOO much? I don't mean that the crazy high workload led to this injury (though I guess that's possible), but more that maybe they were using him as a little bit of a crutch. Maybe in a weird way their reliance on him was actually holding the offense back?

I'm sure you've all heard of the ewing theory, but in case you haven't: read this.

Basically, the theory states that when a team is written off following the loss of a star player, it usually has the exact opposite effect: the team actually plays BETTER without that player.

Do I think Brian Westbrook is a better player right now than Frank Gore? No, I don't. But that's not what this is about. I think the hidden advantage to this injury is that perhaps the offense will get opened up a little bit now. I really doubt there's anyone on the coaching staff stupid enough to give Anthony Dixon and Brian Westbrook the amount of work they were giving Frank Gore. (Though, to be fair, I've underestimated the stupidity of this coaching staff many times to my cost).

I think, when utilized properly, this offense is better with Gore on the field. But I'm not sure letting 1 guy account for nearly 40% of your yards gained is what I'd call being "utilized properly". They were leaning on Gore to the point of him being a crutch rather than a piece that helped the offense move along.

It's not like there's no talent at other postions- we saw what Vernon Davis can do last year, and we've seen my boy Crabtree make some out-STANDING catches this year. Maybe this injury opens the way for those guys to get more involved, and maybe Sing backs off on the "RUN AT ALL COSTS" mentality he obviously had (regardless of what he might say).

It will be interesting to see. I think Mike Johnson is a guy who has some innovative ideas, but who was maybe being hamstrung by his head coach's philosophy. Hopefully we'll maybe get to see some more imaginative offense now that they don't have Gore to use as a little bit of a whipping boy.

Oh, but the blitz pickup will probably be worse. Does that matter against the Packers? probably not, right?

Who didn't see this coming?

I'll believe it when A) They finish the game well (they won't), and B) they play well for 2 straight games (they won't). Whatever. It's been kind of fun tonight, but whatever.

Rams are winning the divsion

Sam Bradford is effing amazing. Shit. We have to deal with that guy for the next 15 years. We're screwed.

I'm jealous of Vikings fans

I remember how happy I was when Nolan got fired. The difference for them is they have a guy stepping in who, you know, will probably be a real NFL head coach. I really really long for the day when we get the announcement that Singletary is gone.

I have no idea why they would not cut ties right now- sure, the math says they have a chance, but give me a break. They just got shutout at home for the first time in 30 years and the coach COULDN'T REMEMBER THE MOST CRITICAL CALL HE MADE DURING THE ENTIRE GAME. He should have been fired as soon as he left that press room! You have to be kidding me that he didn't remember choosing to punt FROM THE 31 YARD LINE.

Does management enjoy being a laughingstock? Do they not realize that that is exactly what they are? The only way to salvage any kind of credibility is to cut ties with this charade, you have exactly nothing to lose. Maybe the team would at least be semi-watchable.

Niners We Know and Love

Somewhat important game? Check (Update: By this I mean, for the Niners it's do or die, but to fans of other NFL teams, who really gives a shit?)
Somewhat equal to lesser opponent? Check (Update: I realize this isn't accurate; the Bucs have been a far better team in 2010. I guess I was thinking about all the Niners "talent" on "paper").
Singletary coaching? Check
Niners choke job? Check

Color me shocked the special teams unit stopped the fake punt. That's usually a Singletary specialty: Complete and utter surprise the other team doesn't play straight ahead 1940s football.

This team hasn't looked like a functional NFL team since 2002

Even if they win today, it's still more of the same disjointed, unorganized and unprepared football we've seen for 8 straight years. How hard is it with this much talent to JUST LOOK LIKE A FUCKING FOOTBALL TEAM FOR GODS SAKE.

Mike Singletary won that game for the 49ers

Wait wait! Before you scoff, allow me to take you back. Specifically, to the season-opening game in Arizona last year. Remember? The one where, at halftime, a crazed Mike Singletary (hard to imagine, I know) pulled aside and berated rookie head referee Don Carey, brother of the much more famous Mike Carey.

As you may have read in that article, this season 'ol Don was re-assigned to Ed Hochuli's crew. The crew that worked Sunday's game. And who was it that made the game-deciding pass interference call in overtime?

Don. Carey.

BOOOOOOOOOOM ROASTED! Obviously, Don looked over at Mike's intimidating scowl, remembered that encounter, and got a little jumpy with the flag.

So clearly, Mike Singletary won this game for the 49ers. Take a long suck on THAT, haters.

Mike Singletary is allergic to straight answers

There's no other way to explain his almost pathological refusal to give a definite answer on anything ever since he took over as coach.

The most recent example, obviously, is his refusal to just tell everyone that Troy Smith is going to be the quarterback this Sunday. What is the harm in just being honest with your fans and with the players themselves? Per Maiocco, even the Smiths haven't been told who's starting this Sunday (which is funny to me, because all I ever heard about to start this year is how "honest" singletary is. Balmer, Lewis, and now both Smiths might have something to say about that), so it's not like Singletary is obfuscating in order to keep the Rams in the dark. I think it's obvious to all of us that this organization isn't nearly smart enough to pull that off anyways.

Don't get me wrong, there are times when he makes a definitive statement. Like, for instance, the time after the Chiefs game when he declared Jimmy Raye's job safe for the season, before firing him less than 24 hours later.

Mike Singletary: bad coach. I know I'm not breaking any new ground there, but I just wonder where exactly this STRICT REFUSAL to just come out and say things that are obvious to everyone else comes from. Maybe it's a football coach thing, and maybe if I followed any other NFL team as closely as I follow the niners I'd notice them doing it too. The problem is when most of them do it, they're successful.

It's really a shame that this team is saddled with such awful management. Why can't we be the chiefs? Or the Browns? Those are teams with a fraction of the talent the 49ers have, yet they are able to compete with (and beat) teams that are infinitely more talented. Why?

Because their coaches don't go out there, line up, and play a conventional, conservative game against teams that are better than them. They make those teams play on their terms. They don't do what 95% of the stadium is expecting them to do. They mix it up. The 49ers don't have that, and haven't for 8 years. If they played football like that, and maybe used the talent they have to the fullest, they would not be sitting at 2-6 and staring yet another non-winning season in the face.

There's no doubt in my mind that the talent on this team is good enough to win 6 out of the next 8 games. If you don't think they are, you need to watch the other nfc west teams play. Their teams are awful. If the 49ers had a coach who wasn't so stupid that he doesn't realize that a quarterback 2 weeks removed from a shoulder separation and who's sporting a 1-6 record isn't obviously going to be on the sidelines Sunday, then maybe they'd have a chance over these next 8 games.

It's really too bad. What a hopeless feeling to have half a season left, and know that you won't have the chance to watch a relevant football team until next September. And we'll be lucky if it's that soon.