Radio analyst and straight shooter Gary Plummer has regularly singled out
"I can two-gap, but what they ask me to do, me being a little lighter, is to move me, and that's helped me on my game,"
I asked if he is "moving" more after the coaching change.
"No, I think it's still the same amount," he said. "Coach (Greg) Manusky does a good job where he can switch up the calls. I'm just not sitting there two-gapping the whole time.
"The play-calling been to our advantage. There's a change of pace every now and then. I'm not just sitting there in a regular two-gap. He gives us a call where we're all moving and taking that bull's eye off our chests."
Mike Singletary has known
"He's not as big as a lot of nose guards, but the thing about him, whether he's moving or whether he's head up on the nose . . . he's a guy who has great anticipation," Singletary said. "He anticipates the snap count and anticipates double-teams. That gives him a little bit of an edge, in terms of just making sure he's ready for whatever's going to come.
"And if he has a jump on you, he's going to do a good job and he has good leverage. He's not the tallest guy in the world, so he's tough to kick around."
* * *
Willis gets a lot more attention than
But Willis said he believes he is a better player this season. Willis recorded 226 tackles as a rookie. He has 153 tackles with three games remaining in the season.
I spoke to Willis today about his big hit on Jets receiver Brad Smith, who sustained a concussion on the play. Smith did not practice Wednesday due to the injury.
With 2:22 remaining in Sunday's game, Smith caught a short pass from Brett Favre on a crossing pattern. Michael Lewis was in coverage and he was bringing Smith down when Willis stepped in and delivered a blow that bent Smith backward. In the course of making the hit, the right side of Willis' helmet hit the left side of Smith's helmet.
Smith appeared stunned, as 49ers safety Mark Roman motioned to the Jets sideline for medical help. But Smith quickly popped to his feet before going back down to the ground after taking several steps.
"I didn't think anything about it," Willis said. "It was football I didn't think there was anything illegal about it. I hope I don't get fined.
"This game was meant to be physical. Crazy stuff and illegal stuff might happen sometimes, but most of the time, it's just straight-out football. I think it's a shame because I feel like now on defense, you have to be really sensitive about how you hit somebody.
"How are you supposed to wait until somebody comes out of the air to hit somebody with a perfect form tackle?
"The game of football is one on one. You have to beat that man. Either he's going to make you look bad or you're going to make him look bad."
As for the hit, Willis admits that it was a linebacker's dream.
"It felt great," Willis said. "Anytime you hit somebody like that it feels great. I thought it was a good hit. He caught the ball and he was running with it. It wasn't like I hit him away from the ball and it was cheap. He had the ball, and I hit him. . . . But, yeah, I thought it was good."
* * *
My colleague, Lowell Cohn, sat down Wednesday and talked to Singletary at length about the notebook he uses to record everything he does in the course of the day. Click here to read "Mike Singletary and his life notebook."
And from the pages of tomorrow's Press Democrat . . . "Singletary won't get job before Dec. 29" . . . and "Gore may not play."
* * *
That was what Ronnie Lott referred to as a "woooo hit". Man
I miss that guy.
Man willis laid the hurt on brad smith, but here's the thing if roman didn't slow smith down, willis would have hit smith right in the chest instead of giving smith that crazy football highlight type of hit you show to up and coming football players. I think any helmet to helmet contact in that hit was really coincidental since all three players were going so fast. personally i was surprised that smith was able to get up like nothing happened, I thought he'd be lying on the ground waiting to get hauled off field. And if willis gets fined that'd be a real shame.
Can't wait for Up The Middle when it includes a trainwrecking safety backing up Patrick.
I would enjoy seeing Nate more in the middle possibly at FS, and perhaps Goldson gets there soon at SS?
Either way, this team needs more hardnosed competitors like Patrick and Nate, which is why Singletary is such a good fit for them.
We'll all see the results when it's time, just hope the Yorks see fit to allow Singletary some time to steer this team in his direction and not pull the plug and return to square one.
Speaking of notebooks, why doesn't Singletary cover his mouth when he's making those 4th down decisions? Couldn't that tip off the other team as to whether the 49ers are really going for it or just trying to draw them offsides?
I distinctly remember Singletary saying "go for it" on the last 4th down conversion, though later someone said they intended to draw Ellis offsides. So was a played actually called or not?
Finally something to read!!!!!
Q: I distinctly remember Singletary saying "go for it" on the last 4th down conversion, though later someone said they intended to draw Ellis offsides. So was a played actually called or not?
My response: As I wrote on Sunday, the play that was called in the huddle was "No play." The 49ers were not going to snap the ball when Kris Jenkins jumped offside. --Matt M.
The next time you have something intelligent to say will be the first time. Bee Rows would love to have a reader. Why don't you head over there since you obviously dislike this blog.
Matt,
It does seem like Franklin has been playing much better recently. However, I thought one of the main purposes of the d-line in a 3/4 scheme was to tie up blockers so the LB's can make tackles. It seems to me that the opposing o-line is getting to Willis much more than they were last year. Perhaps Franklin is better suited to play tackle in a 4/3 alignment. IMHO Franklin is not the massive o-line eating nose tackle you see on dominant 3/4 defense.
"However, I thought one of the main purposes of the d-line in a 3/4 scheme was to tie up blockers so the LB's can make tackles. It seems to me that the opposing o-line is getting to Willis much more than they were last year. Perhaps Franklin is better suited to play tackle in a 4/3 alignment. IMHO Franklin is not the massive o-line eating nose tackle you see on dominant 3/4 defense."
My response: Everything you wrote is reasonable, and I can't disagree with any of your points. But here's a stat that might surprise you: The 49ers' defense has seen 112 running plays up the middle this season (as compared to 40 plays over left guad and 36 plays over right guard). The opposition has averaged just 3.1 yards on those rushing attempts. The 49ers' run defense up the middle ranks No. 4 in the NFL.
When it comes to defending plays around left end, the 49ers rank No. 1 at 2.78 yards per attempt. But the run defense at left tackle is 31st, left guard 18th, right guard 16th, right tackle 18th, and right end 20th. So in looking at the stats, it looks as if Franklin is doing something right. --Matt M.
yaaaawwwwnnnnn
I've been petitioning the 49ers to do more one gapping for two years now because we don't have the classic two gap type NT. I pushed this ad nauseum. A NT does not have to occupy to be effective, but he still must disrupt. Having said that, it would be nice to have a classic two gapping NT for next season. The names that come to mind are Terrence Cody/Alabama and BJ Raji/Boston Colloge. Also, Tank Johnson will be a FA.
I am all for T-cody in the second round.....
So then it was a great move by Singletary to openly mouth the words "Go for it." It fooled everybody.
As far as I know martz is still the guy calling specific plays. maybe what singletary meant by go for it is to not send out Andy Lee.
Singletary openly said "Go fot it" on the 4th down play where they actually ran the play and converted. The second 4th down play, Singletary was not captured mouthing "Go for it", the camera was on him, but he turned and walked away.
Thanks for getting the comments on the hit!
It's good to see Franklin stepping up...even better to see Singletary giving Manusky more freedom to change things up. Still, we need some help at DT. I've seen both Cody and Raji play and I have to advocate for Raji. Cody's huge and all, but I think that's going to be part of his problem in the NFL...weight management. On the other hand, Raji's about the same size as Franklin, very quick and disruptive. Team him up w/Abrayo or even Balmer and we might have something for the interior DL.
Matt,
This Rooney Rule interpretation that the NFL is applying to the Singletary situation is completely inconsistent. How is it that Jim Mora Jr, in Seattle and Jim Caldwell in Indianapolis can be named "head coach in waiting" and kept off the market with NFL approval? They are making this stuff up on the fly and not applying it consistently. Matt, please ask the NFL about this patent inconsistency.
Drew
Matt,
This Rooney Rule interpretation that the NFL is applying to the Singletary situation is completely inconsistent. How is it that Jim Mora Jr, in Seattle and Jim Caldwell in Indianapolis can be named "head coach in waiting" and kept off the market with NFL approval? They are making this stuff up on the fly and not applying it consistently. Matt, please ask the NFL about this patent inconsistency.
Drew
Doesn't Justin Smith play opposite LT most of the time he's on the field? I can't imagine it's his fault. Maybe this is because our scheme calls for the OLB to be doing something repetitive that the offense is picking up on.
I've scouted both as well. I still give Cody the edge as the 1st rated NT. He actually has good movement & agility for a man his size. His challenge will be conditioning same as you pointed out about weight management. On passing downs Alabama pulls him out to get pass rushers in. Raji can be an all down NT. He can both stuff the run & has some pass rush ability. With Cody & guys with weight problems there's usually incentives in their contract for keeping their weight down. This is one more huge factor on Singletary's side.....Rookies, FA's, & Vets ALL want to play for him. I'm practically talking myself IN for voting for him. I'll still wait for the last game. But I agree with Purdy on KNBR that the Niners should start negotiations & what their final decisions are going to be with the Front Office NOW before the season ends. Hey if Sabean can motivate guys like Andre Smith/OT & Cody I'm sure Singletary could do the same & possibly more this time on the Pro level.
Wow. Impressive stats Matt. Is this the MLB or the NFL? ;)
Absent-minded professor question – what's your source?
Q: Impressive stats Matt. Is this the MLB or the NFL? ;) Absent-minded professor question – what's your source?
My response: The stats I cited were gathered from an official source of league information, and -- to my knowledge -- are not available to the general public. --Matt M.
Sorry Franchise... but may I say IN YOUR FACE!!!