Pass rush zero. Coffee looks to continue where he left off at Alabama. VD looks to have taken that next step with Rayes' offense. Keasey is not the answer and with Morris in there Hills' sack would not have happened. Miller nice surprise at FB. O-line looked decent. D-line got pushed around a little. Liked the new look ball hawking secondary. Offense looked smoother with Hill in. 3 second drills do not seem to be helping-holding ball way too long. Gore,Coffee,Sheets could prove to be the most devastating stable of RB's in the league.

About the only person who looked in mid-season form was Matt Maioicco. Nice coverage and breakdown.

Hard to take much away from the first pre-season game. Coffey showed himself a very capable backup to Gore.

Just nice to see them on the field again.

Matt, thanks for all of the hard work. Honestly, to me this game looked no different than a rerun of last season, with a few new characters. Also, the qb competition should now include Huard, as he sure looked the best out there.

Looking at the qb performance, it looked like both players are equal...and both are average. They are not really differenence makers yet. It was nice to see Rayes scheme worked pretty well and there wasn't massive confusion. There should be little concern with the cloud of dust offense good mix of run/pass. Everyone on O looked a little rusty and a bit awkward. But IF they improve a bit, can be an efficient O. Nice to see Smith in the gun and Hill going down the field. Should change to a 3 second shock collar in practice. OL coming along, has depth of average players, but as a unit needs to step up and become dominant. If that happens...everything is in place for us to get to the next level.
D was dissapointing. I wanted to see a more aggressive Jim mora d instead of the nolanesque crap we put out at first. I'm gonna say I could care less about the "ball-hawking" secondary. I'd rather work on the 15 yard cushions and leaving recievers completely uncovered. The bend don't break philososphy allows the d to get put back on their heels. Don't blame the pass rush, which didn't help, the DB's were soft. Manusky and staff better light some fires

Whoa lets not get Nuts bro, he was playin against 3rd stringers.

I live in Ny so didnt get to see the game but i have heard the offense looks more smooth as of this point with hill, thats good to hear...

Go Hill...

speaking of Hills, is Jason going to get cut?? one catch for 13 yards, is that a joke??

Thanks for the all-niter Matt. TV coverage was awful. Didn't do their homework & it showed big time. Interviews instead of game coverage ala MNF -ugh.
Been excited to watch Sheets & he didn't disappoint. Did we find a FB?
Hope pass coverage this soft doesn't become the norm as this is the worst QB they'll see this year.

Also i wouldnt worry too much about the D. i 110% agree we dont want it looking like that all year but its just the first Preseason game, i wldnt be too concerned yet.

So much for a RB competetion, Gore-Coffee-sheets it is... i feel good about that

Shoulda used our second round draft pick on a pass rusher. Just saying....

Best coverage game ball goes to Matt.
Manusky's plan was tentative, but he has some horses. Please get a pass rush. T Brown has got a lot of caching up to do.
9er Wide receivers weren't bursting open, but forced safeties out of cover on te and fb. this will be a season long ploy, and in addition, will help gore immensely. Keasy and clayton were never answers.
qb who knows?

Miller sounds like he belongs

Regarding Alex Smith, my heart dropped the first time he was pressured when I saw him falling back on his old habit of jumping back and outside the pocket rather than getting rid of the ball or at least stepping into the pocket to deliver a bullet downfield. It must be instinctive because he's done it since he was a rookie. Gosh, he so looks the part...

Must...remember...it is...first...preseason...game...

It's hard to conclude much on so little. Neither Hill nor Smith stood out dramatically one way or another. Actually Huard looked pretty good -- but he also had the most snaps (I think). And no, LodiGrapePicker -- he ain't in the runnin'.

Jason Hill, the TC non-existent one, ran a good route for his one catch, but nothing attempted for Zieglar. Bummer. J-Hill had some good games down the stretch last year -- is he a gamer?

And it's been said enough (off season need for pass rush not addressed), AND this is only one teeny weeny preseason game, BUT nothing in the pass rush, even AFTER the tough first team Denver OL sat. Nothing, nada, zippo. I like our secondary, but indeed (Jon in SoCal said it), Manusky, fires, better light some.

Credit due to Clements for his pick, but really, Orton tossed 2 really ugly ones. Can't count on that. I would dearly like to see some 49ers in the face of the qb next week in Oakland.

Nothing really to take away from the first pre-season game. Smith looks his same tentative self as when he played two years ago, missing throws he should be completing. Pass rush is a disaster but there appear to be some playmakers on defense. I'll get worried in week 3 against the Cowpokes.

Anyone else luke-warm on the new uniforms? The jerseys may be great for hulking biceps but I hate the slopppy look on all the QBs. Time to move forward and stop reminicsing about the glory years.

its funny, this is ONE, the FIRST preseason game. The whole point is to work on things iron out some wrinkles. Your not throwing the kitchen sink out there. I feel like a whole summer of postive thoughts have been washed away. Cheer up guys well be ok, im still as happy as i been in YEARS!!!

I was just happy to see the 9ers play a game. Hopefully they will get better throughout the preseason. I loved the speed of sheets. He looks like he'll be a great compliment to Gore. Coffee just looked like Gore Lite. Not very flashy but he did his job.

That pass rush, or lack thereof, is quite concerning. I'm sure Manusky isn't tipping his hand but you'd at least like to see guys win one on one battles. I didn't see much of that.

First team offense looked VERY SHARP! Hill showed why he is 7-3 as a starter and yet to lose at Candlestick. Add Bruce, Gore, and Norris into that lineup and this team will score points. Vernon Davis looked as good as he ever has as a 49ers. The O-Line is MUCH improved and so is the GAME MANAGEMENT. Coffee looked great and so did Reggie Smith. Felt bad for Clayton and the receiver cuts will be interesting. The weak link of the team will be the pass rush and Nate Clements has to start getting up tight on guys or he should become the highest paid safety in the history of the NFL.

Thanks for the breakdowns, esp. of the trenchmen.

It's phenomenal articles like these that make me worry Matt will be hired away someday, to do higher-profile reportage & for better pay.

Two first rounds picks next year will be nice ,however Connor Barwin was there in second round and I can't help but wonder if he would have helped our pass rush,and ofcourse if the Crabtree pick doesn't work out(I trust it will) there was Orakpo available in first. Water under the bridge now but since you were musing...TXniner I agree the new jerseys are not pleasing to my eyes either but rather than looking to the "golden years" as inspiration they should have gone back further ... say 1955 !

P.S make that the 1946 model ...less frills.Thanks for the detailed breakdowns Matt that work is some of your best!

Enough about the niner performances – how about my boy Sanchez and his preseason debut? First throw – Looking off the safety then launching a 48-yard laser down the sidelines.

Can someone refresh my memory when the last time Alex Smith made that kind of completion?

I will give it to you. Sanchez looked very good.

Against Seattle in 2006. Go root for the Jets.

Take away the 3 interceptions and the Bronco's whup the 49ers. Clearly the Bronco's were the better team in all phases.

VD looked great. Everyone else rather ordinary. Running game was a big disappointment. When they had to make the yards running they pretty much failed every time. Not living up to Singletary's dream of being able to effectively run in any situation. Rayes play calling was unimaginative & predictable at times.

Singletary's interview snippets were awful. I've never heard so much drivel.

Hi Matt,

I think you are being unfair to Marvel Smith and overly kind to Snyder. You admit M. Smith was dominant, but down play it in the next sentence by pointing out the competition was second and third string. Well, M. Smith has no control over who he is asked to line up against. How can we say what he would have done against the first stringers.

As for Snyder, I have bad bad memories of Snyder's play from last year, and I am very skeptical that he has suddenly blossomed into an all-pro overnight. Under pressure, against a tough D-Line, he is very likely to revert to last year's form.

I still think we need an upgrade on last year's O-Line. I would have preferred a stud tackle via the draft, but lacking that, a former all-pro like M. Smith would at least be a change from the 5 lane super-highway to the quarterback we had at O-Line last year.

Okay, first of all this was the Broncos offensive line we are talking about here, last year, 12 sacks given up, that's .75 per game, so we were never going to get a great pass rush on these guys. I'm sure we'll see a much better push against the Raiders pathetic line next week.

And second, Realfan49, that first part of your comment was the dumbest thing i have read in a long time. "Take away the three interceptions", yeah, take away three turnovers from any game and you change the look of it, what a retarded comment. And the bit about how the broncos looked clearly better in all facets, not in the running game, and we didn't use our first string offense the entire first half like they did. Also our DB's were clearly better, well that is unless you take away their interceptions (4 if you include Smith's play on the two point conversion). I don't know what game you were watching but it was different from mine. No points in the first half, with last year's number two offense, and the starters in the whole time. They sure took us to task alright.

And third, everyone, stop compairing Hill to Smith and Huard. Huard got almost the whole second half against scrubs to play, and smith got at least four possesions and only accounted for a single score, which should have been credited to Reggie Smith, not Alex. Hill only got two passes and completed them both so it is a little hard to judge him against the other two so you cant say they looked about the same.

Thanks for the output Matt . . . good stuff!

I'm not an Alex Smith hater, far from it. But after watching Huard last night I was thinking that if (when) Shaun Hill is officially named opening day starter, it might be the right time to let Alex Smith seek employment elsewhere and close the book.

I wonder what local clown decided to impose all that sideline jabbering in the second half.It makes sense with a national audience where big-name coverage has more generalized interest than the real-time play of rooks.The opposite is true when the viewers are mostly fans of the local team who don't want to miss real-time coverage to hear boring reflections on earlier coverage

Profootballtalk.com is reporting that Thomas Clayton tore the ACL. I guess Sheets just made the team.

Big props for putting it out there on this blog & sticking with it. I'm all over the place (many blogs) & did the same at the Gate Lynch's blog.

Sanchez looked awesome. Brief but he looked the part, comfortable, & in charge for a Rook. Absolutely LOVED him looking off the Safety. I can't remember ANY of our QB's EVER doing that. I've been following his progress some at NY's camp & reviews are good. Course he's had his struggling times. One of the best things about him is HE TAKES CHARGE + he has the intelligence & skills for the position. He goes after it & wants to own the position which is what Sing is looking for from one of our guys. That head start playing in a Pro style Offense is also BIG in helping with his development. Sanchez is a football player.

With every new HC/regime he HAS TO have his franchise QB.....that is FIRST & FOREMOST. That's why even though with the many big key holes if we FELT THERE WAS A LEGIT FRANCHISE QB OUT THERE WE SHOULD WASTE NO TIME. IT ALL STARTS WITH SOLID QB PLAY & LEADERSHIP. The entire team only can go so far as he can take us. Make or break for Smith this year. Hill's a gamer but a stop gap. My fav QB this time around if we have to draft one is Snead. Subject to change depending on how his season goes.

Aloha Matt;

As always your work is the BEST! My take on the Q back issue; Shaun plays the game. Hill works at the game. No change, give me the player.

Alex Smith looks no better to me whatsoever. He is what he is, a very average 3rd string QB. Still holds the ball too long. This isn't Mountain West son, you don't have 8 seconds to throw. All I keep hearing about is this "3 second clock" Sing is having the QBs release to...well, we need to have that clock checked, I think it's about 5 seconds off when Smith is in! The guy just doesn't have "it". Let's face it, clearly Hill is our best QB on the roster, PERIOD. Sugar coat it any way you want, he is the #1 here, and Huard shows me that he certainly qualifies for #2, as he was the next best, with less to work with. Smith and Davis can battle it out for #3 I imagine. There's a few weeks to go, but that's how it looks to me right now. Bye Bye, Alex.

Oh, and where's this "Physical with an F" style of ball?? I didn't see any of that last night. I know, I know....the obligatory "it's only pre-season" statement gets inserted here. Just like it did last year, the years before, and the year before that, and......

alaska I agree that taking away the interceptions changes the look of the game but it doesn't take away the look of the teams. Every season we see games where the better team loses because of turnovers. I think I saw that last night.

And learn some manners.

Well said on the curious case of Alex Smith – make it or break it year for him. Otherwise I'll keep my eye on Snead.

Nice to have Nate Davis in our back pocket – maybe too optimistic that he makes 3rd string, but hope he sticks on the practice squad for 09.

Hey Matt,

Add me to the list of those who have praised you for being in mid-season form or awarded you the game ball. Your efforts are appreciated out here.

I am somewhat partial to Hill in the QB sweepstakes because I like the underdog, always have and always will. But I am with those who wants to win more than anything else. If that's Alex Smith, it's Alex Smith. But the coaches are the ones who get paid big buks to make that call and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Finally, these readers seem to know their stuff. Good stuff here and I suspect everyone's chomping at the bit to watch the 49ers.

Thanks.

I know it was a preseason game that really means nothing, but I agree with MS entirely. It was a chance to see some things of interest and also keeping players healthy. But Denver was sooooo pitiful on defense last year (and Nolan won't improve only confuse), the 49ers should have been unstoppable on offense no matter who played where.
I guess we'll see what happens next week against the Raiders who are even worse than Denver. Maybe we can put a few more points on the board, find our QB and maybe sack a QB. Russell is totally immobile.

I've scouted Bradford & he's the most accurate QB I've seen lately coming out of college. His numbers are out of this Universe. He reminds me of (sorry faithful) Troy Aikman with that pinpoint accuracy short, int, or long..Aikman having the stronger arm. He needs to add some muscle & fill in that body. Right now you could snap him in half breathing on him. He's built like our Zeigler. Also he needs further scouting on how he will play when there's more pressure coming at him. Last year he had "Brady all day" like time to throw the ball when Brady had that monster season when they first got Moss/Welker. But when FL put the pressure on him in the BCS Championship he struggled. What bugs me about him is he sorta has that young kids deer in the headlights look sometimes. Not a real QB look like my man Sanchez. Maybe he'll mature some this year. He'll be a long shot to snag..he should be a top 3-5 pick.

I'm favoring Snead so far based on scouting reports & what I've heard about him. Still haven't seen him in extensive action yet. Solid frame (6-3, 215 lbs), strong arm, good release, tough, SEC QB, good leadership, looks like a football player. He has to work on his accuracy..last year = 56.3 compl %. Really needs to work on this. We're in Vick territory here. Let's hope a lot of it is due to the tough SEC Defenses they face regularly & his OL is suspect....I'll be researching that one. (He threw for 2,762 yards, 26 touchdowns and 13 picks as a sophomore.)

Informative research, but I don't get the feeling the Niners will be drafting a QB high next year, especially after the acquisition of Davis this past draft. Granted, he hasn't seen much play, but that's the vibe I'm getting as a whole.

Keep up the research, though; it's always an informative read.

Comment: Profootballtalk.com is reporting that Thomas Clayton tore the ACL.

My response: What? You didn't read my game review of Clayton, which was posted at 4-something in the morning? --Matt M.

Well... I will politely say you are way off base on this one! Denver was not the better team; I have to agree with Alaska_77 here…

To say Raye's play calling sucked is ridiculous because there are very few offensive coordinators who expose their playbook in the first two pre-season games. The plays he did call were effective and were dialed up at the right times. Everyone saw the horrible pass from A. Smith on a screen that would should have went for big yardage. That play changes field position and perhaps the strategy of trying to score and run the 2 min offense in that situation. I think Raye is going to be better than what we expected as an O-coordinator. He seems to get the backs and tight ends involved in the offense as well. That means teams will have respect every target on the field and someone is bound to have a mismatch to take advantage of. We just have to pray the O-line can hold up its end of the bargain!

Matt, I did read it, but you stated that he injured the knee, but profootballtalk.com stated it was an ACL tear, so there is a slight difference in that an ACL tear is a bit more specific. Sorry for stepping on your toes.

And realfan49, i'm sooooo sorry for showing such poor manners, i must have left my manners manuel at a website where people give a damn about them. The way people on this site talk about players and each other made me think they weren't required.

But doesn't the play both ways? Denver didn't reveal all it's defensive playbook either. Niners scored 17 points and accumulated under 300 yards offense. That's not very good.