I'm sitting on my couch predicting Martz's play calls inside the 10 yard line. This may be the most inefficeint offense in first and goal situations in NFL history. Seriously, i wish someone would look it up. There is absolutely no misdirection or creativity. Martz is brutal, hated him as Ram, and starting to wish he would leave now and let Tollner finish the year. He's driving me nuts! I agree with Matt, it was over after we settled for the second field goal to make it 6-0.

I'm sitting on my couch predicting Martz's play calls inside the 10 yard line. This may be the most inefficient and ineffective offense in first and goal situations in NFL history. Seriously, i wish someone would look it up. There is absolutely no misdirection or creativity. Martz is brutal. If he's going to leave, leave now let Tollner finish the year. On the plus side, I thought Rachal played well throughout and Staley was solid against Ware.

Also have to throw darts at our 3rd down defense. We simply cannot stop people in critical 3rd down plays. Over half of TO's catches came on 3rd down and the big damage came on 3rd down plays. Manusky has to find a way to get some pressure on a QB in obvious passing downs. The entire tone of the game changed after the long TD to TO.

"Nate is better than what he played today" what a cop out! You can make that statement about anything pretty much! Come on coach..

I'm assuming this was GPS game?

OL was terrible; Snyder (beat on every play) and Heitmann (ditto) were the worst. Only two good players today on D: Spikes and Lawson. (And why the heck isn't Manny an every down player?) Nice of Nate to finally wake up in the late third quarter. Finally, though Bruce had a great day, the Niners MUST start playing Ziegler more; that kid is money.

Another thing... This team will continue to stink until we get a proper NFL starting quarterback rather than a couple of career back-ups. Hill posted big numbers today but that interception in the end zone was all you needed to see to understand he isn't the answer.

Matt, drawing just from memory, when was the last time the Niners had even an average goal line/short yardage offense? I think it was when Fred Beasley, Garrison Hearst, and Jeff Garcia were in the backfield and TO was the WR.

I was pretty sure that was Andy Lee's first blocked punt, but I didn't hear the commentators mention it. Am I wrong about that?

Matt, maybe you could ask the coach about Manny Lawson at his press conferencence. I think it is very interesting that he does not play. Maybe he is noy fully recovered from his injury.

He had a punt blocked in the final game of the '05 season (Jan. 1, 2006) against Houston. --Matt M.

"But -- at that point -- when the 49ers settled for two field goals, it was over"

"Even though the 49ers led 6-0, the Cowboys were in total control"

Possibly the two most stupid lines I have seen written about a football game.

A combination of terrible calls and poor excecution in the redzone. The 49ers should have operated from the spread to give Shaun Hill some options. As it was, each formation the 49ers lined up in made it easy to see what the play was going to be. Funny...Martz has a great offensive mind, but he has a total lack of imagination and creativity from the 10 yard line to the goal line. I seem to remember the Rams were horrible in the redzone during his years as head coach in St. Louis.

Lawson is a beast and needs to be on the field more than he has been.

Oh, come on, I've written lines far more stupid than that. OK, it was obvious to me and Mike Singletary that the 49ers' opportunity had slipped away. Here's what Singletary said: "They're fighting and trying to make it happen, but you know it's going to come back and bite you." --Matt M.

Matt, I know the jury is still out on Singletary. That being said, with your sources, who are the hot coordinaters getting talk around the NFL as possible head coaches next year? Other than Pete Carroll, are any college coaches getting talk about moving up to the NFL?

Thanks refs, why are the refs blowing all the calls, and why should I explain when its sooooo obvious?

I agree with u Matt. I do not know why Manny Lawson is an every down player. To me Lawson can be great and get even better than the guy he replaced in Julian Peterson. Unfornately, Manusky does not use him right the way Seattle uses Peterson. Regarding the red zone trouble stems from not having that true blocking fullback to lead the way for Gore. Unfornately, they had that fullback in Moran Norris, but with Nolan's stupidity because he didn't play special teams he let him go. Moreover, they are making Michael Robinson paly the fullback position which he is not. Furthermore, regarding the line Martz is so pass happy this line is so finese seem like they forgot how to play man on man physical hard nose nasty football the way Singletary wants to play. This is a guy who played with Walter Payton, and wants to use Frank Gore that way. Unfornately, Singletary does not have that fullback, or the OLine to play that way. What is ur take Matt?

What also bothers me is. When I watch the Giants. They have an OC in Kevin Gilbrade who was an Run & Shoot product of Jack Pardee back in old Houston Olier days, but changes his offensive style with the Giants because he knows the strength of the Giants strength with that team is their running game with Brandon Jacobs, Bradshaw, and Ward. True they have a pretty good QB in Eli Manning. However, u have a guy in Mike Martz who is so ego driven and rufuses to go with the strength of the Niners thats the running game with Frank Gore.

Gary Plummer was beside himself whenever he saw Lawson leave the field on 3rd down. Even Starkey admitted to being puzzled.

I know I'm insane, but the Niners should be in position to draft a terrific OT this year. I think that plus a good change-of-pace RB, Josh Morgan and Jason Hill and FINALLY you have something that Shaun Hill (or A. Smith) can succeed in.

I really wonder whats going on with the offense inside the 10 in the red zone, it's like the niners only use 2 or 3 plays- Gore up the middle or on a sweep (both of which rarely work) and the fade route. Surely Martz can be more creative to confuse the defense. Also why isn't Vernon thrown to more often. He's proved he can catch the ball in the last 3 games. It's almost like they're trying to get too many guys involved in the offense.
Also, on defense from what I've seen I think Nate Clements could could be another Ronnie Lott at Free Safety which we could desperately use. Roman just doesn't cut it. Let's get another good corner in the draft and a decent nose tackle.

As far as the hot coordinators out there (correct me if I am wrong Matt) are Mike Mularky OC for the Atlanta Falcons, and Steve Spangnola DC for the Giants. As far as college, besides Pete Carroll who I think will never come to the NFL (who is king at USC) are eventhough they got their butts handed to them last night are Mike Leach Head Coach from Texas Tech, and I might be reach (but given their talent and school restrictions) John Harbaugh Head Coach out of Stanford. Also, do the Niners get any extra compensatory picks this year?

1. The Niners' utilization of Lawson, going back to the beginning of the year with Nolan, makes no sense. He is one of your few playmakers on defense. You don't pull a guy like that on 3rd down... ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SUCK ON THIRD DOWN, AND HAVE SUCKED ON THIRD DOWN FOR TWO YEARS!!!!

2. Matt, your grades for the line play (O and D) are far too charitable for a game that was lost by 13 points and wasn't really that close. Far too many B's and C's on that list for a game where the team was pretty much outclassed. We couldn't block on offense when it counted (third down passes and short yardage) and couldn't stop the run when we needed to in the last quarter.

This is Lawson's first year back from a very serious knee injury. Usually it takes players 2 years to return to full form. This guy is playing like he wants to make the pro-bowl. Say what you want about Willis and all his tackles, but Lawson makes game changing plays (Blocked punts, field goals, interceptions, sacks...ect) Yeah, Willis had an interception for a touchdown, but he's been quite since then. I'm just saying I think Lawson is every bit as talented, but in a diffrent (OLB) way.

Matt, I think everyone is wondering about Lawson's part time use when the defense needs more playmakers on the field. He's certainly better than Haralson at making plays. Sounds like a question some writer should ask at the press conference this week.

Matt- I agree with your opening lines. Troy Aikman pretty much said so at the time. I agree with grumpy guy, your grades are too generous for DL and QB. A big part of the TO/Clements story is no pass rush all day. Hill was doing his JTO imitation. Once you are down 29-6, the stats are worthless. It was clear today that this team is worthy of the 3-8 record. There are no quick fixes (Singletary, Hill, Baas, Rachal) that are going to make this team competitive with good teams. We need an offensive HC and some better players at QB, OL and DL.

Hey Matt,s

Seems like the same problems for the last 8 years:
no pass rush, can't run when they need less than 5 yards.
Lawson has to be on the field at all times, he is the second best backer and 4th best defensive player. It just seems like they don't know if they are a 4-3 or 3-4 team. You would have thought that over the last 4 years they would have been able to determine that.

well a long time ago I marked this one on the calendar as a "do not watch". Well I watched and of course I'm disappointed in the loss. Matched up against the cowboys you car really see three key things:

1. To hope to have any sort of success we have to find a play making QB! Managing the game is great and all but if you can't make a play in the red zone (like all day today). The defenses we face are playing us real simple-rush the QB and stop gore=win. No matter who comes in to coach next year if we don't find a QB then we will just keep going down the same road. Look at the opponent today Romo comes back they win games. I like hill I think he gives us a good shot at winning but lets all be honest is what we need is a "shot" how about Steve Young I think he was more than a "shot"

2. The offensive line needs an overhaul. I think we have "nice guys" but they easily got pushed around today and did not open up a single lane for gore. Was it not the formula that Nolan and Mcloughan talked about that everything starts with the line! Look at what parcels has done everywhere he has gone-he builds the line first!

3. I like this team, to me we seem really close-much like the cardinals are now. We have good young receivers and a good core on both sides of the ball. The biggest move this offseason in my mind is to get rid of martz. I like martz I would love to keep him, but lets face it he is not going to be here four 2 even 3 years from now. Look at how Peyton has developed and he has had the same OC for the duration he has been in the league. Thats what we need someone that is going to be here.

well that was long just needed to dump after the loss!!

ughhhh did you watch the game today? I would hardly call running the ball our strength. Heitmann is the absolute weakest center in the NFC. He cannot remain a starter if we are going to run the ball between the tackles/

It hurts that we are married to McCloughan and the (gasp)Yorks. I hope in my lifetime, the niners get some people who know about football to run things. All we have are finnancial planners and book whiz stat people who don't know anything about football(Paraag?). It's sad. Save us Mike Holmgen!!

You're much too easy on shaun Hill, who threw a pick with the game still in reach. The pick was a very poorly thrown ball. Shaun hill is also very skittish in the pocket. Juts look at the first TD late in the game, he had no one anywhere near him and he was hopping around like a scared little rabbit. And don't give me any of that nonsense about him not being able to trust the oline, QBs have to trust their oline or the team will lose much like they did today.

Also, I think you're much too hard on Frank Gore. The Cowboys run defense played stout in this game, and Martz didn't give him many opportunities (not that it wasn't for good reason).

All in all, I think Shaun Hill is the biggest problem concerning the team right now. And it's not something that can be fixed without a FA pickup, or a draft pick.

you said it best Matt: "At halftime, it was 29-6, and the game was over."

hey matt,

just curious, you have seen this team through the good and the bad. You are there every day. From a journalistic standpoint whats better to cover? A good team such as the Patriots of Colts? Or a team that is always scrapping the bottom? Such as our niners this decade.

Just curious to get your thoughts on it! Us fans are a little emotional so its nice to get your view!

Real quick anyone... what is a GPS game??

A Maioccoism – Where the niners are "positioned" or stand as a team today and into the future.

Where they stand now, they need a new QB, OL, and DL. Other than that, the niners should be fine.

This game captured the holes found and left by Nolan. The Niners have settled for FGs countless times due to a feeble OL in short yardage, and have been burned by bombs when the meek DL lets opp. QBs stand and survey. FIX THE TRENCHES!!!! All of the continued media attention and fan yapping about QB, DB, and WR is misplaced.

Steve Young once said, "Every time you settle for a field goal, you're that much closer to losing."

Well the excitement of them playing better is tempered by another loss and the realization with one more loss we will have six straight losing seasons. Can you imagine that? Never in the long history of the 49ers(1946-2007) have we had 6 losing seasons in a row!! I am sick and tired of all the excuses. Who are we kidding? 6 straight losing seasons, sure wait till next year. At least McNolan didn't trade our number pick like they did last year!

This will tell you all you need to know about why our team is terrible.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/85116-49ers-drafting-since-2003-has-been-putrid-except-for-gore-and-willis

Matt--

There is no silver lining. There is no good moment. There is no feel good moment. Dallas just let us back in the game PURPOSELY. I don't know why defenses do that. OK, yeah, Dallas still managed to blitz, but then they got sloppy in pass coverage and we did try 'no huddle.' But Dallas should not feel good about this win because they gave up 22 points.

I advise the 49ers to stay on the road, don't come back to SF. Go right to Buffalo and start preparing. If not, get ready for possibly a 54 to 14 beatdown from the Bills. 54 to 31 over KC the Bills won by, and KC is as BAD or WORSE then us! They got bad beat up QBs, a RB that has a police record, a horrid D...it's going to be bad.

And don't think just because the Raiders won over Denver that we can beat the Bills. It will NOT HAPPEN! WE should go 3 and 13, Eff the season, and get a high pick.

And Matt, I give the 49ers a huge F in everything: O, D, Special Teams, Coaching. F!

Let's all repeat the following;
Red Zone = Ned Zone
3rd and 3 = Ned Zone
Nolan is gone and we still can't rush we the other team knows you need to?
Martz needs his head examined. Spread them out if you can't move them out.
Pull the OGs, call more screens and dump offs.
Stop allowing the opposition to tee off and pin their ears back.
And yes, after today, I'm beginning to think Heitmann is not the answer at C.
Even with changes at both OG positions, we still aren't moving bodies.
Is it the line calls, or just poor talent?

I actually cried after reading that article. My God, how the HELL can we miss on so many opportunities on this team? Damnit, we almost could've had Tom Brady, or Big Ben, or WRs like Edwards, Santonio Holmes, DeSean Jackson.

Then on Dline, we have busts iN Franklin/Sopoaga leading the helm. We throw out money to get J Smith and he can't do anything. The man needs help and Sopoaga/Franklin both suck.

Nate needs to first concentrate on the tackle and not trying to punch the ball lose.

It is sad...very sad.

Draft 2009, Fat Man in the middle, Cody if he declares is an early favorite.
DE/OLB who can get to the QB, Ga Tech has a couple and there's a kid from TX (Akarpo?) trying to get a look at him myself, but either way, after today, it's clear that Nate is NOT a press CB, and would probably do well at FS.
Sadly, you don't pay $80mil for that position.
I'll agree that those plays don't happen with better pressure, but we seem to gamble and lose constantly with the schemes we employ to apply pressure.
Let's use the remaining weeks to introduce Tarrell Brown/Dashon Goldson/Reggie Smith and others to the secondary and let Roman and Lewis have a sideline view and assist with their development.
This was our playoff game, we lost, time to experiment a little.

I would also like to see some zone blitz schemes introduced where perhaps Brooks and Green and Lawson and Spikes might get dropped or sent in multiple formation groups.
Take a page from LeBeau in Pitts. We can employ their schemes pretty easily with our personnel.
One big advantage they have is Troy in the box.
We're woeful at the Safety position.
Put the kids in.

Let's stop kidding ourselves, morale victories (as my friend put it in an attempt to make me feel better) are no longer acceptable. These are the 49ers, one of the most storied franchises in sports history. The C-BOYS, PACKERS, and STEELERS may have some poor seasons but they don't remain mediocre for more than 3-4 seasons. We are now facing a six straight losing year with little hope of improvement for next season. PETE CAROLL (as some people have been hoping for) is not the answer because his success at USC is largely attributed to his ability to recruit blue-chip players 3-4 deep at each position. I believe the future for any winning season lies in the hands of the teams scouting system. Except for a handful of draft picks who have established themselves on the team over the past five years, we must admit that our scouting system has been sadly missing the target on draft day(s). Our scouting and drafting system should be held accountable just like a head coach is held accountable. Its time to revamp the entire system and give our scouts whatever assistance is necessary to improve our ability to cover and analyze college players who could potentially become impact players at the next level. Morale victories don't show up in the win column and after six seasons of inspired play with no wins and mediocre players they (morale wins) don't cheer me up anymore. What we need are some real scouts who can field some real football players!

A.E.S. it's the manifestation of Nolan/McCloughan Best Player Available not being the Best Fit.
Hindsight is always 20/20 as they say, but I can honestly say I had guys like Igor Olshansky and Justin Tuck on my imaginary Draft board along the way, and 'just a fan' posted a pretty good link in this thread to the culmination of said Draft Day work.
Given all the Senior Bowl tours of late it would suffice to say that our focus has been primarily the participants of said Bowl week.
With all the internet options open to the public, scouting information is probably pretty well maintained and accurate enough to get a fair reading on almost every guy planning to move into the NFL view.
Our problem is more to do with the model we're trying to build. Who needs the best TE when you're missing DL depth?
Nolan pretty much whiffed on every WR he sent a card to the podium on. Add several LBs and even Baas, and you see why we are in the spiral we're in.
We need a front man with a plan.
Lot's a pieces need to fit together if you plan on building something.
Again, I come back to Damane Duckett. What are we converting there? Is he and Jay Moore our Super Secret Special Teams Assasins or Practice Team MVPs?
We've IR'd Moore and maybe Duckett twice already?
Give Singletary credit for reminding us that there are other options on the roster beside Jonas and Sims at RT, but Snyder is another guy that looks like a tweener pick that hasn't blown anyone away.
Baas looks good in a helmet but Nolan overlooked him since the day he was Drafted?
We are talent deprived, mismanaged, and lacking a plan.
Other then that, I'm about ready to get on NFLShop.com and order the Hari-Kari or Seppuku jersey. Not sure if I want 49 or 0, home or away yet however.
Most depressing to watch this charade, though Singletary has brought some life to field since taking over.

Hi Matt,
what about Chilo Rachal? How did he play?

Great article, Matt. Clements did his best to steal Elvis Pattersons nickname, yesterday. At least he had the balls to discuss it, though. Mark Roman was torched again. Our secondary is atrocious, for the money invested in it. The pass rush isn't great, granted, but for all that money we spent on the DB's, we're getting very little production. Maybe it would be better to jettison Michael Lewis and his huge contract (as long as there isn't too much of a cap hit), and insert Keith, again. We/he did pretty well back there a couple of years ago...and he's probably 10 times cheaper.

Haven't seen the game yet...but, the RZ issues are frustrating. The longer this season goes on, the more I'm leaning to a return to the WCO. Run correctly, it gives the OC and QB a number of options. Our RZ offense is far too predictable...and we have enough skilled offensive players that it shouldn't be. We don't use our TE's nearly enough down there...and our lack of a power running game has to get fixed. Some of it's needing better personnel, but a lot of it's the schemes. Finding a top RT is an off-season priority, as is the C position. Management just extended Heitmann's contract...which is kind of puzzling. Inserting Baas, and eventually Rachal makes sense to beef up the interior OL. But, Heitmann just doesn't seem stout enough. Maybe Wragge could do better...or Wallace can develop. Something's got to improve. On the DL, Balmer needs to get max PT the rest of the season...and signing a good FA DT and drafting at least one is a must. Our D is getting exploited because we don't pressure the QB's...no push up the middle. There are some DB issues, too, but many of them stem from a DL that simply isn't good enough.

I have to agree with some of the other posters. C minus is way too high for the o-line play. The line just can't get it done when the team needs a 3 yard smash mouth run. I'm a big believer that the battle is won in the trenches. Unfortunately, the 9er lines on both sides of the ball just aren't good enough.

I'd like to see Singletary extended, but...Spagnolo (DC) Giants would be a guy to pencil in for a shot too IMO.
We need some NFC East mentality on our sideline I think. Singletary knows it starts in the trenches, so Martz is looking more and more like the odd man out.
For those who haven't looked at it, 'Just A Fan' posted an interesting link on this thread illustrating our Nolan era Drafts. We've wasted a ton of time and busted picks on WRs alone.
Picks that ultimately cost us value and depth, at much more important positions.
A smart architect (GM) is the key to any successful franchise. Have a plan, then go shopping.
Scroll back and take a look,
just a fan | November 23, 2008 10:36 PM

Guys – The Bleacher report is written by fans, not journalist, and that article is rife with inaccuracies. Why get worked up over one fan’s bitter opinion? Why not just read the comments on this blog for the past 3 weeks? Or let Darren write us an article and let’s waste time getting worked up over him. I'm glad some of you wasted time "crying" over that.

Are we ready to start chanting, "fire McCloughan and all the scouts yet? Manusky as well with his stupid handle bar mustache? He is awful. Totally inexperienced!! McClueless is too. Kenny Phillips had an awesome game yesterday for the Giants against the Cardinals. Gee, he would sure look awesome in a 49ers uniform. We dont need a safety, we have "get burned, make no plays" Roman. No, we decided to take a one year wonder at DT. Why does McClueless decide to take guys that still need to be developed? WE NEED READY TO PLAY NOW PLAYERS!!!! Balmer stinks. He gets no push. If you dont make plays when you are in there, you are not good and never willl be. We need everything. All positions. Why do we draft guys and try to change their positions? Lawson was a DE in college, Robinson was a QB, Willis was a middle LB in a 4-3 not a 3-4, Justin Smith was a DE not an OLB. WHY WHY WHY! This team is full of people that do not know what they are doing and that starts from the top. Our only top pick that has done anything is Willis. And he was a no brainer pick! We are nowhere near to being a good football team let alone a descent team.

Kelvin - Willis was a no brainer pick?? Interesting – how do you explain why he was the 4th defensive player picked in his draft and the 11th overall pick? A project 19 year old D-Tackle was taken before him. No brainer picks go in the top 5 or even top 10 for that matter. Guys – it’s the NFL Draft. It’s a 50/50 bet, a crap shoot. For every Brandon Williams miss we hit on a Josh Morgan in the 7th round. BTW - Roman is starting because he knows the D better than anyone and more importantly his back up is HURT!!!! Am I happy aout where things are? No, but I'm not going to say we "missed" on guys like Tom Brady that every team in the NFL missed on 6 times or more.

Mike, why should any player from a team that sucks be allowed to take part in the Pro Bowl? That's why it's a Snooze bowl if you let 'anybody' in there. If your team wins 7 games, then you can vote for players.

Roman is GARBAGE, and you think he's a great player? Wow, you must've been crying when we benched JTO.

Correction - Willis was the 5th defensive player drafted in 2007.

Darren - where did I say Roman was even a good player? Don't put words in my mouth. Re-read what I wrote: He is playing because he knows the D and his backup is hurt. Period!

Now there's a great theory: So you feel the greatest running back of all time, Barry Sanders, should never have made a pro bowl and also should be out of the Hall because he was always on a bad Detroit team? Go sell crazy someplace else Darren, we are all stocked up here.

Mike in SF #2. It was a no brainer pick at the point in the draft! Who else were they going to pick? Are you really giving McCloughan and Nolan credit for making that pick? Willis won the Butkus award in college. He played in the SEC and was a tackling machine in college too. In 2006: Consensus All-American selection ... Distinguished as a First Team All-America By All-American Football Foundation, Associated Press, CBSSportsline.com, CollegeFootballNews.com, ESPN.com, Football Writers' Association of America, The Gridiron Gazette, Pro Football Weekly, Rivals.com , Scout.com, SI.com, The Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation ... Received the Conerly Trophy as Mississippi's best college football player ... Named Midseason First Team All-America by CBS Sportsline.com and CollegeFootballNews.com ... Named Tennessee Amateur Male Athlete of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame ... 2006 Butkus Award and Lambert Trophy winner as the nation’s top linebacker ... Named first-team All-SEC and SEC Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press and the league's coaches ... Finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award ... Semifinalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award and Lott Trophy ... Named to the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll ... Earned South Team Defensive MVP honors at the 2007 Senior Bowl, when he led all players with 11 tackles (seven solo) and one force fumble ... Led the SEC in tackles with 11.4 per game, which also ranked sixth in the NCAA ... Ranked third in the NCAA in solo tackles with 7.25 per outing ... Started all 12 games at middle linebacker, collecting 137 tackles (87 solo), 11.5 TFLs, seven passes defended, three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery! UH...... THAT IS A NO BRAINER!!!!

Come on! JTO knows the offense better than any other QB and see where that got him! It doesn't matter how much you know. You have to MAKE PLAYS and Roman DOES NOT!!! He didn't last year and he is continuing he sub par play this year. When have you seen Roman make any plays? Please enlighten me!! Yeah it is the NFL draft and it is a crap shoot, but why to the good teams nail draft picks better than we do? Did you know who Kentwan Balmer was before we drafted him?? Or did you know DeSean Jackson? Where did we need to improve our team? Kenny Phillips was the top rated safety in the draft. Do you think we needed secondary help after last year?? I would say yes! Ketwan Balmer was not an impact player last year, but DeSean Jackson was. We had 2 cracks at him and let him slip by us. Fine dont pick him in the 1st round for contract purposes, but he was tremendous value in the 2nd round. Maybe he would not have been a contributor on offense but he would have definately been a good return man for many years to come. Do you think Rossum is a long term solution??

First of all you have to know where you stand. You do not make trades with good teams. Trading a 1st round pick to the Pats was ridiculous. It was a dumb move then and a dumb move looking back at it now. WE HAVE BAD PERSONNEL PEOPLE THAT MAKE AND HAVE MADE MORE BAD MOVES THAN GOOD ONES!!!! Let's face it!!!! In 2007 you pick Willis. Then you wait and oh, look who is there in the second round, Tony Ugoh, Lamar Woodley who is tearing up the league now. Another fact is that we don't analyze the whole draft. So then you stink in 07 and have the #7 pick. But we traded that away to get Staley but if we didn't.....look who is there at #7, Rodgers-Cromartie or McKelvin or Ryan Clady. ALL STARTERS AND CONTRIBUTORS!!

I was hoping they took Phillips and when they took Balmer I said, huh?? why?? Then Jackson fell and they took Rachal, and I said....who? why??. Our scouting is terrible!!!!!!!!!! I know hindsight is 20/20 but come on man!

RIght on, Kelvin!

Kelvin, In three years time we will find out what was the better decision (for the record, every team but the Skins passed on Jackson at least once if not twice). The hat trick I would like to see the York’s pull off is this: Sign Matt Cassel as a QB with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the head coach and then put V.P. of Player Personnel Scott Pioli as G.M.; even two out of three would be HUGE for this team.

Mike in SF #2. Come on man. That would never happen. Cassel is good only because he has an established team and coaching staff around him. If he goes elsewhere, he will not be good. If he comes here, he will be bad. We have to rebuild with everything. A new GM is where to start. I really like Singletary and want him to return, but I just dont see it happening if we keep losing. Frank Gore is a diamond in the rough. He was a steal of the 05 draft. We need to build the team around him. Mike Martz, 11 games into the season, he has yet to utilize him the right way. It is a huge disapointment. He definately has to go. We should have hired Cam Cameron as the OC. He would have used Frank a lot. Everyone that was brought here by Nolan from coaches, to training staff to personnel people, MUST GO!

The 49ers need to be blown up and the offense has to be built around Gore and the defense has to be built around Willis.

i thought he did okay. Nothing great but nothing terrible either. I do think Heitmann and him got mixed up on some blocking assignments but overall he played okay. He was going up against some talent so it was a good learning experience for him.

Comments from S.I.'s Peter King: "Now I see why the 49ers picked Vernon Davis so high last year. Not many tight ends can run go routes and beat safeties, but Davis did twice in Dallas."

Hey Matt,
Who are the teams scouts? Do you know what their daily job description entails? I remember the great Rick Barry once saying that he only needed to see a basketball player on the court for 5-minutes in order to assess his talent or lack thereof. Now I know that this type of method would not work in this day of modern technology and information, but the truth here is simple; great or former great players know what to see in other players. Is it possible to enlist Jerry Rice to assess receivers, or Bryant Young to scout DT players, what about consulting Randy Cross on his take of OT' in this next years draft. I'm going on the premise that great or former great players can better evaluate talent.

A.E.S. - Matt Millen sure proved your theory right. Doh!

blah blah blah....kinda glad i missed this one.....i am ready for the 2009 draft........What if we sign Mcnabb next yr?

Look at what Arizona, Atanta, Miami or the Jets have done to turn things around. Can it be so difficult if there are plenty of other examples out there?

Until the line plays better, even Young or Montana wouldn't get this team to the playoffs. Certainly McNabb, who is slipping and not able to get a decent Philly team to the playoffs, is not going to do it here.

We need better scouting. We need a better 'trigger' sorting the data and making the draft picks. Mike and Kelvin, yes, they got it right on Willis and Gore, but how much real production have they gotten out of their other picks since the dawn of the McNolan era? Not much, unfortunately. Yes, its true... no one, even Walsh, gets a good player with every pick - remember Blanchard Montgomery? James Owen? Rickey Moore?

But thats NOT THE POINT. Every team has a "success rate" with its picks, a little over or under 50%. The point is, 60% beats 40%. Thats the difference between a playoff team / perennial contender... and what we have become today, a team which is having its 6th straight losing season.

Until you change the culture and leadership which has produced one disappointing draft after another... you are always going to be a few players short and have a few critical holes you can never fill.

Right now on our O-line you have Staley and Chilo who are young and have upside. Baas is a maybe, he's made enough nice plays the last three weeks to keep giving him a chance. But Snyder is a good sub, a journeyman level guy you will always want to replace. Heitman is a little better but not used the way we are using him. He DOESN'T FIT the power running game we are trying to run. We are running up the middle like Jeremy Newberry is still out there, and it just ain't happening, folks.

IF we have the chance to get a franchise-type left tackle like Oher in the draft, I think you grab him. As much as I like Cody as a left DT or NT, ofensive left tackle is such a need and critical position that I believe you have to address it first. Move Staley over to the right and be set at tackle for 5-10 years. Get a bigger center or guard and move Baas over.

Second round on, get yourself an upgrade on the defensive line. A 10+ sack pass rusher. A real hold the point nose tackle.

After that, be prepared to see only modest progress for a year. You still will have holes - QB, FS, WR, CB. You're not going to fill them ALL in one draft. And the guys you do bring in will need experience before they bear fruit.

Get a coach - Sing or otherwise - who coaches the system you have the players for. And OC and DC and position coaches all on the same page. Develop your young players.

Follow a rational plan, and in 2010 we may be ready to contend for a playoff berth. Keep going with the Dysfunctional Two-step of the last 6 years, and we'll be back to do the rebuilding do-si-do again.

Mike in SF #2, I think you watched As Good As It Gets recently. Thats a funny line. When I read your comment I also thought of another line from that movie, "... think of a man. Then take away all reason and logic and you have Darren, errr, I mean Oneniner, errr, I mean a woman." At least I think that was the line. Sorry guys. I couldn't resist. Feel free to launch a few jabs at my expense.

RK,

Look at how many years the Cardinals sucked... so yes, it can be hideously difficult. Once your organization becomes wholly dysfunctional your 'leaders' no longer even recognize their own BS. So you have Trigger crying over firing Nolan (a losing coach, not even close to .500) and Jed sniffling about the tremendous "Nolan Foundation'. Some foundation. No QB, substandard O-line, no real #1 WR, soft D-line against the run, no feared pass rushers, one old CB who can't cover consistently anymore, and two safeties who can't make plays if their lives depend on it.

Yeah, "but other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" I mean except for all those great sucking wounds, we're the Patriots, baby! Woo-hoo! Rollin' with Trigger!

Atlanta is a misleading example. They were good before Vick went off the reservation and are good again now that they have found a decent QB. The Jets were 10-6 two years ago - again, they mostly needed a QB. The Dolphins were even 9-7 in 2005, again not that far removed from a good team.

The valid comparison is more to the current Lions. The current Raiders. The Cardinals or Bucs of the 1980s. Teams that sucked big time, over a number of years. Teams that need way more than one player, they need a total enema, a cleansing of years of dysfunction.

Yes, it can be done. We did it before, 1979 to 1981. But it won't be easy, it won't be pretty, and it won't happen with people in charge blithering on about how we are better than our record, have a good foundation, not that far away, yada yada yada. WE SUCK. like an alcoholic, you need to be brutally honest first. WE SUCK and are one of the worst, most dysfunctional teams in the NFL. And many changes are required if we are going to fix that.

Sorry Mike in SF #2, I forgot Matt Millen was a SCOUT in Detroit? C'mon, you need to come stronger then that! GM' and team owners have a group of scouts that are responsible to assess talent and the GM/Coach and consequently the owners will make decisions based on their analyses of the player(s). My biggest issue with the Niners drafting woes is that they are infactuated with the NFL combines measurables of strength, speed, height, which has not translated to the next level thus far. Why not emulate the scouting practices of the Steelers, C-boys and the Patriots who annually draft low and still seem to come up with PLAYERS!