Yes, the offense was terrible. But I guess that's to be expected flying 3 timezones with 2 days to prepare against this defense. Fuck this game. The refs were a fucking joke, a running theme in all 3 games today. Maybe the short week hurt them, too. The defense was its usual stellar self, when you give up 16 points on the road on a short week you should win. This fucking sucks. Fuck this game.
God dammit. This week is ruined now. Which I guess shows how far we've come, when going 9-2 is reason for me to want to fucking kill someone. It was unreasonable to expect them to win 15 games, but that doesn't mean this doesn't piss me off to no end.
Ahem. Now that I've cooled down, let me just say how amazing Jim Harbaugh is and has been for this franchise. Can you IMAGINE Mike Singletary flying 3 time zones on a short week and facing Baltimore? Holy lord. They couldn't even handle going down to San Diego. Last year this game would have been 44-3.
Whatever. I don't read anything in to this game. The Oline was on the field for 45 minutes on Sunday, and they looked like it tonight. 14-2 or 13-3 are still very possible, and those are records that none of us could have fathomed at the beginning of the season. This loss sucks, but it's hard to say it signifies anything in the grand scheme of the season because of the extenuating circumstances. Hats off to the Ravens and I hope we see them again under less bullshit-ey conditions.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Here's to no more depressing Sundays
It didn't look good to start. But when you can not look good and still win by 16, you're doing something right.
I've been wondering if Kyle Williams deserved a shot. He looked good today against a sub-par team, but Braylon Edwards was playing against the same defense and didn't make plays. I'd like to see him get some more action in the future, he's an interesting talent.
Other than that, I'm not sure what else to say about this game. I figured it would be a relatively easy win, and it was. The Liability once again proved that he isn't one. Arizona's offense was hilarious to watch. That was us last year. Well, I guess that was us in 07 actually. It was really really really fun to have the team with less than 100 yards after a full half be the OPPONENT, and not the team we were rooting for. This season has had a lot of those moments.
Remember all those years where we'd suffer through loss after loss? How we'd have to make 4 or 5 wins nourish us over the course of an entire season? Most sundays for me were spent in a deep, dark depression while I watched highlights of teams that actually knew what they were doing. It was not fun. But I couldn't not watch. Every week.
This year, there's been exactly one of those Sundays, and even that was a game they should have won. It's been incredible. Every Sunday this season has been spent in exuberant joy, soaking in all the stories the NFL has to offer without the dark cloud of my own team losing 5, 6, 7, and 8 games in a row. It really does make up for all of those depressed sundays. It has been so much fun. And judging by the way Harbaugh operates, we should have at the very least 4 more of these joyful Sundays over the final 6 weeks. Hell, maybe all 6 will be fun. This team could beat Pittsburgh and Baltimore for sure. That's something I never would have said 12 months ago.
9-1! And the Packers showed maybe the slightest bit of a chink in their armor today. I think they'll go 16-0, but that defense could come back to haunt them. I'm a big Lions fan this week. NINE AND ONE!!
I've been wondering if Kyle Williams deserved a shot. He looked good today against a sub-par team, but Braylon Edwards was playing against the same defense and didn't make plays. I'd like to see him get some more action in the future, he's an interesting talent.
Other than that, I'm not sure what else to say about this game. I figured it would be a relatively easy win, and it was. The Liability once again proved that he isn't one. Arizona's offense was hilarious to watch. That was us last year. Well, I guess that was us in 07 actually. It was really really really fun to have the team with less than 100 yards after a full half be the OPPONENT, and not the team we were rooting for. This season has had a lot of those moments.
Remember all those years where we'd suffer through loss after loss? How we'd have to make 4 or 5 wins nourish us over the course of an entire season? Most sundays for me were spent in a deep, dark depression while I watched highlights of teams that actually knew what they were doing. It was not fun. But I couldn't not watch. Every week.
This year, there's been exactly one of those Sundays, and even that was a game they should have won. It's been incredible. Every Sunday this season has been spent in exuberant joy, soaking in all the stories the NFL has to offer without the dark cloud of my own team losing 5, 6, 7, and 8 games in a row. It really does make up for all of those depressed sundays. It has been so much fun. And judging by the way Harbaugh operates, we should have at the very least 4 more of these joyful Sundays over the final 6 weeks. Hell, maybe all 6 will be fun. This team could beat Pittsburgh and Baltimore for sure. That's something I never would have said 12 months ago.
9-1! And the Packers showed maybe the slightest bit of a chink in their armor today. I think they'll go 16-0, but that defense could come back to haunt them. I'm a big Lions fan this week. NINE AND ONE!!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Good God
15-1 is in play. The 5 remaining NFC west games are automatic. The Ravens are a joke. The steelers game is at home. What an absolutely fantastic game that was.
Alex smith (or The Liability as I'm now going to refer to him for all of time) beat the media's boyfriend head to head. Is anyone going to come around on the idea that he's good? Or are they still going to pretend that they can't beat good teams with him? Because wow. He beat Eli manning without frank gore for gods sake.
Who cares how many yards they gave up? Offenses can do whatever they want between the 20s, but if they can't cash in in the red zone, it doesn't matter. The 49ers defense has been incredible in the red zone. An unbelievable showing by them. Even without a consistent pass rush they still managed to exert their dominance down close.
After this game Im just not going to worry about this team anymore. Harbaugh knows what he's doing, and if there's one thing we know for sure its that they will always be in position to win. What a great season!!!!
Alex smith (or The Liability as I'm now going to refer to him for all of time) beat the media's boyfriend head to head. Is anyone going to come around on the idea that he's good? Or are they still going to pretend that they can't beat good teams with him? Because wow. He beat Eli manning without frank gore for gods sake.
Who cares how many yards they gave up? Offenses can do whatever they want between the 20s, but if they can't cash in in the red zone, it doesn't matter. The 49ers defense has been incredible in the red zone. An unbelievable showing by them. Even without a consistent pass rush they still managed to exert their dominance down close.
After this game Im just not going to worry about this team anymore. Harbaugh knows what he's doing, and if there's one thing we know for sure its that they will always be in position to win. What a great season!!!!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Blechhhhhhh
Good God. This game was the football equivalent of warm wallpaper paste. Happy to get the W, but that was FUG-LY. I really don't have anything else to say about it. I'm not sure if the offensive..."performance" was indicative of anything other them treating this game like a bye week.
If they can play like that on offense and still win by 8 on the east coast against anyone, then this team has truly turned a corner. 7-1 baby! I'll take it. What a season.
Now it's just time to sit back and root for Phil Rivers and co. TOUCHDOWN VINCENT JACKSON! WOOOOOOOO! Number 1 seed here we come!
If they can play like that on offense and still win by 8 on the east coast against anyone, then this team has truly turned a corner. 7-1 baby! I'll take it. What a season.
Now it's just time to sit back and root for Phil Rivers and co. TOUCHDOWN VINCENT JACKSON! WOOOOOOOO! Number 1 seed here we come!
Friday, November 4, 2011
WTF
Amidst the absolute torrent of ignorant, lazy, and asinine narratives that are spewing forth from the national media's collective mouths about the 49ers this season, the one that I hear most (and the one that pisses me off more than any other) is that the 49ers are winning games despite their passing game. "Yes, Frank Gore and that offensive line are great, but get them down and force Alex Smith to throw and watch out!!! That's when the mistakes come pouring out in droves!!!" So far my new man crush Michael Erler at the excellent Neurosis With Balls (heh) blog is the only (semi) major media member I've heard give the correct narrative: Alex Smith is playing exactly the same this year as he was in the second half of 2010.
"Jim Harbaugh is coach of the year!!! Look at what he's done with Alex Smith! No more crazy interceptions!!! It's amazing!"
Somehow, Alex Smith morphed into Rex Grossman without me realizing it. I thought I'd been watching the 49ers fairly close over these past few months, but I must have been mistaken. Since when was the rap on Smith his crazy bad decision making? True, he'd had more INTs than TDs in his career before this season, but when you factor in that he was -10 in his first year, then his numbers don't look so bad. And why am I comfortable throwing out that first season? Because not a single one of us (die hard 49ers fans, all) could name a single receiving threat on that 2005 team not named Brandon Lloyd without resorting to google for help. In fact, since that rookie season, he's had more interceptions than touchdowns just one time: in 2007, when he played 3 games with a shoulder that was so badly injured that it kept him out nearly 2 full seasons afterwards.
There are things to bash about Alex Smith. He can't feel pressure well and doesn't make the proper adjustments 95% of the time to deal with a blitz. He cannot move in the pocket with any kind of consistency or effectiveness. He can't throw the ball accurately beyond 30 yards. One thing he doesn't do? Make terrible decisions that result in interceptions. He is *not* Rex Grossman.
I mean for God's sake, earlier this very season the 49ers were in the exact position that the experts say would be their downfall: down 23-3 to Philadelphia on the road, in the eastern time zone, in a game where they were heavy heavy underdogs. And all Alex Smith did was throw for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns in a single quarter, a quarter in which not a single pass he threw touched the ground. If that's not carrying your team to victory through the air, then I want somebody to explain to me what carrying your team to victory through the air looks like, please.
Are the 49ers the Packers? No, but nobody is the Packers. There is no other offense in the NFL that is functioning on that level right now. However, the people who say that the 49ers are not able to keep up with high powered offenses because somehow Alex Smith is a limitation on what their offense can do simply haven't been paying attention. In his last 11 games (the last 4 games after he took over as starter last season and the 7 this season), he's thrown 14 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions. 3! To put it another way, in his last 334 pass attempts, Alex Smith has thrown 3 interceptions. For those of you who are like me and suck at math, that is an interception rate of .008%.
So please, everyone who's getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to talk about football: STOP SAYING THAT ALEX SMITH WILL THROW THE GAME AWAY IF THE 49ERS HAVE TO RELY ON HIM TO WIN IT. Is he guaranteed to carry them to a victory if they need it? Obviously not, and we've definitely seen proof of that. But this narrative that he would somehow be forced into back-breaking mistakes and turnovers makes absolutely no sense, and is making my head explode every time I hear it parroted as gospel by talking heads.
I realize I'm the resident Alex Smith Defender, but the more I watch this team the more I become convinced that Jim Harbaugh and crew have a switch that they can flip on or off at their leisure. Game getting close? Is your team down? Well, let's start calling the *real* offense before it gets out of hand. Are you leading by 2 touchdowns? Well, then there's no point in going crazy and giving other teams hints at what you might need to do when you're once again trailing, so let's go vanilla. Harbaugh is *all about* competitive advantage, so why would he "open up the offense" in a game when his team is throughly dominating? Maybe the lack of offensive firepower is by design, because in the games where they've needed the passing game to come through, it has. The one time it didn't was in week 2, when I think it's safe to assume that the team wasn't as fully formed as it is today. That was basically preseason week 6 for these guys thanks to the lockout shenanigans.
During all those years of sucking I was always hating the fact that the 49ers weren't getting coverage in the national media. Now that they are, I realize just how little these people really know about the subject they're getting paid so much to talk about. I guess it's enough that we as fans can enjoy watching our team and coach out class the other guys on the field every sunday. This week should be another fun watch
"Jim Harbaugh is coach of the year!!! Look at what he's done with Alex Smith! No more crazy interceptions!!! It's amazing!"
Somehow, Alex Smith morphed into Rex Grossman without me realizing it. I thought I'd been watching the 49ers fairly close over these past few months, but I must have been mistaken. Since when was the rap on Smith his crazy bad decision making? True, he'd had more INTs than TDs in his career before this season, but when you factor in that he was -10 in his first year, then his numbers don't look so bad. And why am I comfortable throwing out that first season? Because not a single one of us (die hard 49ers fans, all) could name a single receiving threat on that 2005 team not named Brandon Lloyd without resorting to google for help. In fact, since that rookie season, he's had more interceptions than touchdowns just one time: in 2007, when he played 3 games with a shoulder that was so badly injured that it kept him out nearly 2 full seasons afterwards.
There are things to bash about Alex Smith. He can't feel pressure well and doesn't make the proper adjustments 95% of the time to deal with a blitz. He cannot move in the pocket with any kind of consistency or effectiveness. He can't throw the ball accurately beyond 30 yards. One thing he doesn't do? Make terrible decisions that result in interceptions. He is *not* Rex Grossman.
I mean for God's sake, earlier this very season the 49ers were in the exact position that the experts say would be their downfall: down 23-3 to Philadelphia on the road, in the eastern time zone, in a game where they were heavy heavy underdogs. And all Alex Smith did was throw for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns in a single quarter, a quarter in which not a single pass he threw touched the ground. If that's not carrying your team to victory through the air, then I want somebody to explain to me what carrying your team to victory through the air looks like, please.
Are the 49ers the Packers? No, but nobody is the Packers. There is no other offense in the NFL that is functioning on that level right now. However, the people who say that the 49ers are not able to keep up with high powered offenses because somehow Alex Smith is a limitation on what their offense can do simply haven't been paying attention. In his last 11 games (the last 4 games after he took over as starter last season and the 7 this season), he's thrown 14 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions. 3! To put it another way, in his last 334 pass attempts, Alex Smith has thrown 3 interceptions. For those of you who are like me and suck at math, that is an interception rate of .008%.
So please, everyone who's getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to talk about football: STOP SAYING THAT ALEX SMITH WILL THROW THE GAME AWAY IF THE 49ERS HAVE TO RELY ON HIM TO WIN IT. Is he guaranteed to carry them to a victory if they need it? Obviously not, and we've definitely seen proof of that. But this narrative that he would somehow be forced into back-breaking mistakes and turnovers makes absolutely no sense, and is making my head explode every time I hear it parroted as gospel by talking heads.
I realize I'm the resident Alex Smith Defender, but the more I watch this team the more I become convinced that Jim Harbaugh and crew have a switch that they can flip on or off at their leisure. Game getting close? Is your team down? Well, let's start calling the *real* offense before it gets out of hand. Are you leading by 2 touchdowns? Well, then there's no point in going crazy and giving other teams hints at what you might need to do when you're once again trailing, so let's go vanilla. Harbaugh is *all about* competitive advantage, so why would he "open up the offense" in a game when his team is throughly dominating? Maybe the lack of offensive firepower is by design, because in the games where they've needed the passing game to come through, it has. The one time it didn't was in week 2, when I think it's safe to assume that the team wasn't as fully formed as it is today. That was basically preseason week 6 for these guys thanks to the lockout shenanigans.
During all those years of sucking I was always hating the fact that the 49ers weren't getting coverage in the national media. Now that they are, I realize just how little these people really know about the subject they're getting paid so much to talk about. I guess it's enough that we as fans can enjoy watching our team and coach out class the other guys on the field every sunday. This week should be another fun watch
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)