Tight end Vernon Davis said he'll take time this week to watch film, get in a couple workouts and travel back home to the DC area. Then, he'll meet up with his brother and Dolphins cornerback, Vontae. The Dolphins are also on the bye week, which I should've known before I asked Ve
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If you haven't checked it out already, here is the video recap of the game with still shots from award-winning photographer John Burgess.
And, now, here's what you've been waiting for . . . the every-man review from the 49ers' 45-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at
Quarterbacks
7-Nate
11-Alex Smith: The backup QB. Did not play. He told CSN's Mindi Bach today that he plans to remain around the 49ers' facility during the bye week and assist Michael Crabtree with his acclimation into the team's offense.
13-Shaun Hill: He's now 7-1 as a starter at home in his career. It was the worst statistical game of his NFL career, as he completed just 15 of 38 passes for 198 yards, with three sacks and an interception. . . . He was under pressure throughout the game. . . He also missed a couple throws, but none in which receivers were open down the field. . . . Isaac Bruce was tightly covered on a third-and-8 from the
Running backs
21-Frank Gore: Inactive due to ankle injuries. He plans to continue to receive treatment at the 49ers' practice facility during his bye week.
24-Michael Robinson: Saw limited action as Coffee's backup and his usual duty on special teams . . . Made a nice open-field tackle of Eric Weems on a punt return. . . . Did not have any rushing attempts, and was targeted on just one pass (incomplete).
29-Glen Coffee: Made second career start. Rushed for 45 yards on 12 carries, and caught four passes for 21 yards. . . . Made a mental mistake when he assumed Josh Morgan scored a touchdown. He went to the sideline and was late getting on the field when the 49ers got into the huddle to run a play from the 2-yard line. The 49ers spent a timeout, and the 49ers needed it later in the half. Instead, they were unable to challenge a fumble ruling that probably would've been overturned. . . . Three plays later, outran linebacker Coy Wire to the pylon for a 2-yard TD run on third-and-goal in the first quarter. . . . Did not pick up defensive end Jamal Anderson on play that resulted in Hill incomplete pass. . . . In the third quarter, he picked up a blitz nicely to allow Hill to complete a 12-yard pass to Morgan. . . .But later in the third, he was late picking up a Mike Peterson blitz, resulting in another incomplete pass. . . . He hobbled off the field in the fourth quarter with a mild ankle sprain but returned to the game and should be fine.
44-Moran Norris: The 49ers more two-TE and three-WR sets than usual, so Norris saw less action. He had one carry for 2 yards.
Wide receivers
18-Micheal Spurlock: Played on special teams. . . . Made a hand-swipe tackle of Weems for a 3-yard return . . . He did not play on offense, nor did he have any return duties.
81-Brandon Jones: Suited up for second game with 49ers. . . . Saw limited action. Tried to use his speed on a go-route in the third quarter, but Grimes had good coverage down the field on the incomplete pass. . . . In all, he had two passes directed his way. He is still looking for first reception with 49ers.
83-Arnaz
84-Josh Morgan: Started at split end, and caught four passes for 78 yards, while Hill targeted him nine times with pass attempts. . . . Took a short pass from Hill and broke the tackle attempt of cornerback Brent Grimes. It looked as if he would score, but he appeared to slow down when he kept checking over his shoulder to find the nearest defender. Cornerback Brian Williams tripped him up at the 2-yard line after a 61-yard gain. . . . He was penalized in the fourth quarter for offensive pass interference.
88-Isaac Bruce: Started at flanker, and was held without a catch. He was unable to create any separation on the Falcons' secondary. . . . He was the intended target of four passes and got his hands on at least one of the throws.
89-Jason Hill: Saw action on special teams and on offense in the fourth quarter . . . Demonstrated his special-teams value once again when he kept an Andy Lee punt from going into the end zone on the second quarter. The 49ers downed the ball at the
Tight ends
46-Delanie
85-Vernon
Offensive line
59-Cody Wallace: Inactive; coaches' decision. Wallace has yet to suit up for a game in his NFL career.
62-Chilo Rachal: Started at right guard. . . Missed block on a play netted Coffee 2 yards but could've gone for a lot more in the third quarter . . . defensive tackle Thomas Johnson beat him badly for a 7-yard sack in the fourth quarter . . . Coach Mike Singletary is clearly not satisfied with Rachal's play, and there might be a change coming when the 49ers return to action Oct. 25.
64-David Baas: Started at left guard and played the entire game. He missed a block on Jonathan Babineaux on the first play of the game that resulted in no gain. . . . He then gave up a pressure on Hill's pass that was tipped and intercepted two plays later.
65-Barry Sims: Reported as an eligible receiver on some goal-line and short-yardage situations. . . . He also reported as an eligible receiver on a first-and-10 from the SF 24 to help in pass protection to allow Hill to attempt a deep pass to Brandon Jones, which feel incomplete.
66-Eric Heitmann: Started at center, and did not have one of his better games. Although his pass protection was good, he did not get sufficient push on run plays against the Falcons' interior linemen.
68-Adam Snyder: Started at right tackle, and sustained a left thigh contusion that forced him out of the game in the first quarter.
69-Tony Wragge: Did not see any play time on offense. Saw some action on special teams.
74-Joe Staley: Started at left tackle. . . Defensive end John Abraham made some plays against Staley. He ducked inside past Staley to stop Coffee for a 1-yard gain in the middle of the first quarter . . . Abraham also beat him for a sack.
77-Tony Pashos: Entered game at right tackle when Snyder was injured. He generally played OK, but he allowed a big sack to defensive end Kroy Biermann on and third-and-7 from the
Defensive line
90-Isaac Sopoaga: Started at left defensive end. Tony Gonzalez blocked down on him, allowing Michael Turner to score on a 7-yard TD run . . . He finished with three tackles in the game.
91-Ray McDonald: Sustained a left ankle sprain in the first quarter and did not return.
92-Aubrayo
93-Demetric Evans: Saw action on defense and special teams. He got involved in two tackles on defense, but he did not do well as a blocker on kickoff returns.
94-Justin Smith: Started at right defensive end. Split blockers to drop Turner from the backside for a 1-yard loss in the first quarter. . . . Supplied the only semblance of pressure on Ryan when he hit him as he was throwing on a second-and-25 play late in the first quarter . . .
95-Ricky Jean-Francois: Inactive; coaches' decision.
96-Kentwan Balmer: Saw reserve duty and do not make any impact. . . In fact, he and Franklin never got properly set with their hands on the ground before the snap when Turner ran directly over them for a 1-yard TD at the end of the first half. . . Balmer also was not very good as a blocker on kickoff returns.
Linebacker
51-Takeo Spikes: Started at "Ted" linebacker and recorded six tackles. . . . He was also called for unnecessary roughness late in the game when the Falcons were taking a knee to run out the clock. Spikes got in one last hit on Dahl, who had been antagonizing the 49ers all game.
52-Patrick Willis: Started at "Mike" linebacker and was credited with 12 tackles and two forced fumbles. His pass coverage was far from perfect, though.
53-Jeff Ulbrich: Inactive because of concussion he sustained on kickoff coverage against Rams on Oct. 4. He will be reevaluated at Stanford on Wednesday.
54-Marques Harris: Inactive because of hamstring strain he sustained against Rams.
55-Ahmad Brooks: Saw action as the only reserve outside linebacker. . . . He was credited with one tackle, but did not get pressure on Ryan as a pass-rusher.
56-Scott McKillop: Saw action on special teams, and was not credited with any tackles.
98-Parys Haralson: Started at outside linebacker. . . . Ducked around block attempt by guard Harvey Dahl to drop Turner for a 3-yard loss. . . .Although he was credited for two tackles for loss, he did not get any pressure on Ryan to help take the heat off the 49ers' secondary.
99-Manny Lawson: Started at outside linebacker. . . . Fullback Ovie Mughelli tied him up on Turner's 7-yard TD run in the first quarter . . . Made a nice play to strip the ball from Jerious Norwood after a swing pass. . . Did not get much pressure on Ryan, though he did administer one hit on the QB.
Defensive backs
22-Nate Clements: Started at cornerback and was mostly responsible for shadowing Roddy White throughout the game. Although he was not responsible for all of White's eight receptions and 210 yards, there is no sugarcoating the fact that he did not have a good game. He went for the pick of a Ryan pass 9 yards downfield, and failed to make the tackle of White, who stayed on his feet and ran the rest of the way for a 90-yard TD. . . . Clements was good in run support with one tackle for a loss.
23-Marcus
25-Tarell Brown: Saw action on special teams. Sustained a groin strain in the second half. His status is not known.
26-Mark Roman: Saw action in the 49ers' six-DB alignment. Then, he entered at strong safety when Michael Lewis was injured. Roman had two tackles in the game.
28-Curtis
30-Reggie Smith: Inactive; severe groin strain. His status for game Oct. 25 against Texans is uncertain.
31-Dre' Bly: The 49ers' third cornerback . . . oh, boy. . . He appeared to have Tony Gonzalez stopped short of the first down on a third-and-10 pass but he was called for a facemask penalty that gave the Falcons a first down. . . . Two plays later, he made the interception, celebration and fumble that led to his public apology on Monday. . . He was credited with three tackles.
32-Michael Lewis: He made a nice play on a loose ball along the sideline to secure the ball while in bounds. . . . He sustained his third concussion since Aug. 18 when his head was down while helping make a tackle on Turner for no gain.
36-Shawntae Spencer: Started at cornerback, and broke up a short pass to Marty Booker on a third-and-4 situation to end the Falcons' first drive . . . He broke up two passes in the game, and of all the players in the secondary he fared better than anyone.
38-Dashon Goldson: Like many of his teammates, he had his worst game. He was beaten by White in zone coverage on a 31-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter . . . Took a bad angle to come up in run support against Turner in the second quarter, allowing him to get outside and gain 33 yards to the SF 5-yard line . . . Surrendered a 20-yard pass to Michael Jenkins in the fourth quarter, and was also called for pass interference on Gonzalez in the end zone. . . . He had seven tackles.
Special teams
4-Andy Lee: He averaged 43.8 yards (40.2 net) on five punts, including one inside the 20.
6-Joe Nedney: Not exactly the way he wanted to open the game. Nedney booted the opening kickoff out of bounds, giving the Falcons the ball at the 40-yard line . . . .He made a field goal from 39 yard but also missed from 48.
20-Allen Rossum: Inactive; coaches' decision. It was foreshadowing of a move the 49ers would make the next day when he was released to create spot on 53-man roster for Michael Crabtree. Rossum isn't staying unemployed long. He will reportedly sign with the Cowboys on Wednesday.
86-Brian
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Practice squad
T Alex Boone
LB Diyral Briggs
DE Murtail Burnett (WR Dobson Collins was released to make room for him on practice squad)
TE Joe Jon Finley
FB Brit Miller
OL Drew Radovich (released from practice squad on Monday, and OL Khalif Mitchell took his spot)
RB Kory Sheets (the Dolphins signed him off the 49ers' practice squad today)
WR Dominique Zeigler (he's returned to practice after being unavailable for the first couple weeks with an ankle sprain)
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Roster exemption
WR Michael Crabtree: The No. 10 overall draft pick ended a 71-day contract stalemate when he signed a six-year contract on Wednesday. On Monday, Crabtree was placed on the 53-man roster. He will remain in
Injured reserve
CB Walt Harris: Sustained torn ACL in right knee during organized team activities on May 19. Harris, 35, is not under contract to the 49ers next season, but he said he plans to rehab and play again.
RB Thomas Clayton: He sustained a torn ACL in right knee in the 49ers' exhibition opener Aug. 14 against the Broncos.
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Why does McCloughan still have a job?
Our o-line allows intense pressure on Hill the entire game, while their o-line gives Ryan all time he wants. Game over.
Matt, great review of a total failure on all 3 phases of the game. I am generally happy with Singletary and his style of coaching, but some things I saw, I hope he likes change like Obama does. The running on 1st and 2nd down... leading to 3rd and long is predictable and prooving difficult. I was a little concerned when they hired a " seasoned journeyman" o cordinator . Iwas hoping he was an O.G. who had a thick playbook, and could set up a d ala Norvel Turner. I know he has not been here long enough to install all he has and run it compatently. But his strategy as far as play look and design are lacking. Runs look the same. ( see vikings game...wr in motion...stops outside tackle... handoff up 2 hole .. no gain. ) How bout some play action from the running team? Might open someone up. Is Bruce done? Lot's of drops, not open. Is Jimmy Ray hand cuffed by Samurai Mike? Thanks Matt! Dig the new audio and vidio coverage
Although I haven't been a big fan of the manner in which Crabapple and his agent handled the holdout I suspect Crab Cakes will not be a distraction.
I don't know how good he will be. The offense he played at Texas tech was rather gimicky. BUT He was incredible at Tech. He may have been a top 4 pick had he stayed. I enjoyed watching him and wished he had stayed only because I am a bigger NCAA football fan then the NFL.
The 49ers aren't exactly an ariel juggernaut so his number of catches might not be that high. I say he will catch 4 balls for 52 yards.. maybe his first TD..
AND I mean NO disrespect with the nicknames at all.
Matt, we greatly appreciate these individual player reviews. The one criticism is that your evaluations show that both the linebackers and special teams deserved better than F's in your grades on a previous thread. Maybe C's, maybe D's, but not F's. I know there was a desire for symmetry in order to convey how general a failure this was, but there's no need to remind us of that.
Matt, any chance we see Sims at OG and Clements at FS in the coming weeks?
With the obvious setbacks being seen with Rachal and the addition of Pashos, something certainly has to yield some change?
Nate might be an easy fix for Michael Lewis should he fail to return also? Perhaps allow Nate to play deeper and QB the Secondary? Dashon SS, Nate FS and get Reggie or Tarell on the field for CB experiment?
Time is now, against the AFC perhaps, to try a few wrinkles?
no the way delaney walker played he single handedly earned the F on special teams.
Warning to bloggers....don't read because it is too long and is only random thoughts....the gist is sit Hill because from this point forward he only holds the organization back from evolving.
Like i said.....the first few WOW games of the season i was pleasantly surprised (couldn't really believe my eyes) by the outcome of the games... but it did not blind me to the offensive deficiencies.
Clearly, how the defense goes so goes the 9ers....If they are not excellent than i don't see any hill attributes available in bringing the team back. The Ram game and the Atlanta game are prime examples of how futile a hill lead offense is.....
yes I understand
1) the OL was horrendous and has been
2) Gore has not been seen for weeks
3) and Davis did not run crisp underneath routes on hot reads. Seemed he forgot everything Martz taught him.
yet i firmly believe it is time to sit shaun hill......
it is clear to me it was alex smith (maybe with hill at his side) who studied the film of atlanta and came up with the possibilities that Atlanta would show a different look....alex already had demonstrated history of studying film in college and having inputs into gameplanning...he is a student of the game no doubt.....and i believe that crabtree has similar traits and i think a true QB and receiver bond could form, i think it already had begun a bit early in the summer accidently maybe....MC loves to play football and is dedicated to football so i bet him and smith in the film room will make for having that second QB mentality out on the wings reading defenses much like Rice.
yeah sure my belief is hill didn't beat out smith in preseason....apparently, he got the nod after the training camp in Napa with the Raiders and that was the final say....under turner smith was reasonably close to getting the niners into the post season and had end of game wins against quality opponents with a much worse team. Hill didn't even sniff getting into the mix under turner.
sure I consistently hear that hill only wins.....it isn't hill... yeah, so he had some signature moments like running without a helmet....so what. All the hill excuses on display this season are the same as when nobody would accept the smith excuses over two years ago when smith was very young on a worse team... completely jaded hill supporters. Smith took a far worse team further than hill has at the moment. I will go as far as to say Smith would have won all those games Hill won if he wasn't injured.
Only reason hill has a winning record is not because of offense it is in spite of his signature moments, it is because of defense and special teams over inferior teams during a mop up of a season, and now a strong defensive start to this season.
And now special teams has taken a hit with rossum's release...i think this was a bad move...so Rossum was a one trick pony but his one trick is much better than the one trick Battle is being regulated/demoted to. The offense needs to have a short field to be effective under Hill and losing rossum or even sheets who could have been become an understudy this year returning punts. Just too many WR not being effectively used......pretty much dead money in my book.
Keeping hill in the lineup will not get the ball to jones but it may be possible that crabtree could make hill look better than he is with his strong catching hands.
Put hill and smith on the free agent market and hill goes home and smith gets picked up. Hill is not a significant leader on this team...don't care what the fans say...i never really see the team rally around him...although i have seen the team rally around smith even in preseason. That should have been a signal for singletary.
Rayes offense is just horrible because it is a one cow bell trick designed to protect the QB weakness into game management...... Hill glaringly showed his true colors the past couple of games with his poor passing game and he really has only a couple of good passes this whole season.
Not saying smith is top notch but truly on a comparison basis hill really can't hold smith's jock strap....maybe his wedding ring
Possibly the expected change up on the OL will marginally make hill better next game but it still will not be hill who will lead this offensive team in any significant statistical manner....it will be the defense and gore if healthy.
raye needs to go......need to get a real across the field offensive mind into the organization. Even with Smith in the game i still would expect Raye's offensive scheme to produce less than 200yd passing games. I am not really going to go back and look at stats, but i suspect there are a couple of games of Hills that would only be 100-125 yd passing games except for a couple of miss tackles that would have been short gains but ended up being 50 or 60 yard games. (sure miss tackles are part of the game ... just saying)
hill needs to go because he is just holding smith and from here on out the organization back...smith hasn't played for 2 years and when he did he was very young and was not nurtured into the role....hill was nurtured for years and years....hill is just about 30 years old and for all that nurturing he still does not even resemble a quarterback better than an average div II college team...yeah i know he is 10-4 as a starter or something like that...but it was not because of hill it was defense in somewhat low scoring games....has high QB rating but it was without big stats....
how could the OL be so chronically bad......I don't think it is a clear case of bad draft picking by scott and the scouting teams.....it has to be the individual coaching not getting their job done.
I know hill will continue to start but it will be at the expense of eliminating WR play... supposedly the best core of WR's seen in years in 9er land....Raye is not the offensive coach to take advantage of this (or is the deal that raye's offensive schemes need to evolve further and it will eventually encompass the WR as the season progresses, doubtful)....and hill is not the game manager to execute a more wide open offense...the WR are shouting how frustrating it is playing in this offense.
I did see crabtree visiting alex smith on sidelines in the game and they were clearly talking football plays.
Comments: The one criticism is that your evaluations show that both the linebackers and special teams deserved better than F's in your grades on a previous thread.
My response: Nope, I'm standing by my grades. Special teams had one costly turnover, a kickoff out of bounds, a missed field goal AND two 15-yard penalties that aided the Falcons to two TDs. As for linebackers, where was any semblance of a pass rush from Haralson, Lawson and Brooks? The lack of a pass rush was a big reason the secondary got burnt so badly. --Matt M.
JG,
Smith can study, scout, and talk plays with MC all he wants. What he can't do is be an accurate QB in game time. But I grant you this, we 49er fans will not be happy with Hill OR Smith. We will not be happy until we have a franchise QB who has presence, makes good decisions, can make accurate throws short, medium, and long, and is a leader.
The only question is, how long are we going to have to wait?
Good player by player analysis once again Matt. I see by the time of your last response that it must have been so painful that you couldn't get to sleep...
MM - you reported before that Nate Davis was crabtree's best friend on the team
Can you expand on that?
How come A.Smith is throwing to him, if Davis his is best friend?
A.smith staying by to throw to crabtree proves over and over again that he cares about the niners alot...
there is no doubt he should be the starting QB
Pretty much agree with your analysis of the situation regarding Shaun Hill.
In my mind, Smith isn't a bust; he's simply unproven, whereas Hill is a can. As much as I like the guy, Hill wouldn't be starting on any other football team, and he's shown that he can be beaten by even a decent defense. Combined with an offensive line with a couple cans holding down the starting job, and you've got a match made in heaven for any team that has any defensive ability.
Smith was in the same, if not worse, situation than JaMarcus Russell; when he first began starting for the Niners, the team had little talent, particularly in the offensive line, which is why he was sacked 29 times in 9 games as a rookie, and 35 more times in 16 games in his sophomore effort. In total, the Niner QBs were sacked 48 times in Smith's rookie year. That's a lack of talent on the line only really surpassed by Houston, which had 68 sacks.
The Niners haven't really ever focused on building the offense in the past couple years; aside from Frank Gore and Vernon Davis, and Michael Crabtree this year, most of the Niner's acquisitions have been defensive. In 2005, the only Niner draft pick aside from Smith who is still on the roster today and could be considered a weapon for the quarterback is Frank Gore; in 2006, Delaney Walker and Vernon Davis; in 2007, Jason Hill. While Snyder and Baas are 2005 draft picks who are still on the team, even today, Baas is playing like a can, and Snyder is only beginning to settle into his position.
In less words, I think Smith is a victim of circumstance and not a necessarily a bust; Hill, on the other hand, is a bloody can. Sure, he wins games, and I don't take that away from him, but he wouldn't be starting on any other NFL team, and that says a lot about Hill, the player.
"He spent a lot of time conversing with rookie quarterback Nate Davis, perhaps his best friend on the team."
...oh ok...you are not saying they are best friends.....you are were saying maybe.....i guess its something you wished...
I believe most fans watching on TV saw crabtree and A.Smith spend lots of time talking about the game
Finally A.Smith has a receiver he can bond with.
Also when A.Smith was sent to the hill during camp.....didn't one of the WR's join him on the hill to keep him company.....
Looks to me A.Smith is doing the right thing by keeping a relationship with his WR's......a relationship btw 2 positions we have lacked for years....
You can't blame S. Hill, when he has ZERO offensive line protection and a play caller who is as imaginative as a chunk of wood. Nothing was addressed in the off season to fix our needs from last season, except the hiring of Singletary. Raye needs to go. I don't care if it is our 7th or 20th offensive coach change; Raye sucks in play calling. Run, Run, Pass, Punt. The Niners need to sign some real quality offensive line players, a new offensive coach, and then we can judge Hill on his own merits.
Coaches call the plays & players are the ones that need to execute the plays on the field. Alot of fans are pointing fingers at Raye for the pathetic offense which to me is a bunch of garbage. So far Raye has dialed up passing plays 55% of the time so you can't blame all of it on Raye, he only calls the plays. I've heard alot of lip service from some of the players like Staley & Battle saying "the offense will get better" Memo to the offense "STOP TALKING ABOUT IT.....JUST DO IT!" It's bad enough that we have a noodle arm QB who can't seem to throw the ball longer than 15 yards but if you can't give him time to throw the ball then it's "game over". Look how much time Matt Ryan had to throw the ball? It's galling that the 49ers can't give Hill some time to survey the field so he can throw the ball with accuracy. And this stat is a very telling story...the 49ers are FIRST in 3 and outs in the entire League. If I'm a player specifically on the O-line I'm PISSED! It's time to put up or shut the hell up!
Hi Matt, Thanks for your in depth review. I hope this is a game we just forget about. It will have more meaning if we go on a losing streak. Hill is Billy Kilmer reincarnate, a guy with a huge heart but no arm. They even have a similar throwing style. Inexperienced QB's such as Kolb with Philly and Henne with Miami are throwing for huge yardage, the reason being the rule changes over the years favor the passing game. The game dictates having a tall guy with a gun and wide receiver that can fly. Management will have to adjust or look for work elsewhere.
There's so much apparently wrong with the O that it is difficult to pin it on any one person or unit. But we all know that there is no good O without an O-line that performs well. If that is fixed, then it might expose the next biggest area of improvement.
...i dont think the O-line is that bad.....our running game looks good - and they only gave up 3 sacks against the falcons
This is the same O-line that faced the viking high powered defensive line and gave up ONE sack.....
the same vikings d-line that had EIGHT sacks against Greenbay the NEXT GAME......
The problem is the QB - and its sad we gonna lose 2 more games before a change is made....
Singletary's vision and ability to inspire men will only take us so far. We need players.
I see Brian Dawkins in Denver and wonder why he's not here. Did we miss him in free agency so we could sign Brandon Jones? I don't get that.
Why aren't we interested in Richard Seymour? We badly need to upgrade our pass rush, and the Raiders are practically begging to be taken advantage of. We should send them a couple high draft picks in exchange for Seymour. We do worse than average with our high draft picks anyway. The Raiders have no chance of signing Seymour, and he'd be a good fit with us. We have very little playoff experience, and he's got tons. He's not and OLB type pass rusher, but neither is J.Smith and he's been our best player this year.
Matt: Do you think the front office has any interest in trading for Seymour?
I think your oversimplifying the issues with the 9ers offense. It seems like your'e saying Raye's play design and play calling are just fine. Our players just aren't good enough to execute the plays. We have 3 extremely weak points on offense, (QB, R Tackle, and R guard) that need to be overcome with imaginitive play calling and strategic play design. Raye has not demonstrated the capacity for effective play design or play calling up to this point. The offense is predictable because of Raye, not the players. All of our plays are very basic and outdated and the sequence in which they are called by Raye is just like clockwork. In my book, Raye gets a grace period of one more game. If the offense doesn't improve after the bye week, then we will know Raye has emptied his barrell and has no more bullets to fire. If thats the case, the 9ers will be looking for yet another OC in the offseason.
I agree that Hill is a good QB. The thing is, he is not a franchise QB. I think Alex Smith should be given the rains starting in Houston. Although I think Alex is better than Hill, I don't think he is the future either. I hope I am wrong, but we need to find out now! If we do play him this year, we will know what we have. Find out what we have in case we need to draft Snead or Colt McCoy. I think the OL will gel together after playing together for a while. I say draft Taylor Mays first and than McCoy/Snead. Think about the possibilities with Goldson and Mays in the backfield. Scary for any NFL WR. Go Niners!!! P.S. Seabirds suck!
You may be right. I am excited to see Davis play.
Mr. Snead? No Way!! We have a potential franchise QB in Mr. Davis, we do not need another when our obvious must haves are OL , pass rushing animal and Safety.
he was also connecting on a lot of pass plays (in practice) with Brandon Jones before the shoulder injury.
Do you think when the Chargers fire Norvell Turner at the end of this season, Coach Sing and McGM will without hesitation place a call to him?
There will be plenty of teams looking for a HC at the end of the year. I don't see Norv jumping in as an OC again right away.
Not to mention there is no way they Niners hire a guy at an unstable position who was here before and 'bolted' after one year.
I don't think the Niners should even pick up the phone for Norv Turner. IF he did accept an offer from SF he would be gone in a year and we would be back in the boat we have been in without a compatent OC. The 49ers need to find someone who has experience without the ego. If you look at the 2 postions we have changed year in and year out it has been the OC and the OL. The 2 posistions that need the most continuity in football.
What I find interesting is that several players have said the Falcons were doing things they weren't prepared for, which indicates we were simply out coached in a bad way. I don't believe that it was a lack of effort or will or a huge talent disparity. We got flat out killed with x's & o's particularly on the offense but as your report card shows...f's in all facets. I realize that ATL had an extra week with the bye to game plan us but this is a red flag. I a league where everyone is big strong & fast, teamwork and execution is critical and that is on MS & staff to prepare them properly, not have them out on the field on Sunday saying "what the Heck was that"? At least MS has accepted responsibility for being out coached.
I think we stillhave somethin' with A. Smith. Anyone remember when a NFL QB didn't start till he was in the league for 3-4 yrs.? I think Smith maybe a little tainted after having a new OC every year, but I think he has the physical attributes as well as the brain to be our QB for yrs. to come.
MM, are there any players out there that are worthy of being traded for? Maybe trading one of our 1st round picks? I know it is a gamble, but I wanted to know all the options the 9ers have. Thank you.
If Norv was to get fired, the only team I think would give him some consideration would be those "cowgirls." I don't believe any other team would be interested. OC is Norv's one true calling (like Nowin's true calling is DC). Should the Chargers let him go, hopefully, he will come to realize that.
Maybe we have a potential franchise QB in Davis, but the thing that worries me a little is at what point will they figure this out? If, as you suggest, they draft OL,DL and safety assuming that Davis will be their man, that will leave some high caliber QB's to be drafted elsewhere.
I would love for them to not have to spend a high pick for a QB, but somehow, since they did spend a pick on Davis, I hope that they can find a way to assess that before next year's draft. Not sure how though. 2 preseason games against 2nd and 3rd stringers is not enough, IMO
There 2 types of coaches....
1 - the coach that knows the x and o's - he has a mind of always trying to control what is on the field. He dreams about plays on the field and loves to teach players in a classroom
2 - the coach that knows how to motivate his players - he knows how to get his players attention and loves putting pressure on his players. He dreams about how the team plays and loves seeing his players play with his fiery attitude.
Right now we have the 2nd coach.
I really luv Coach Sing but honestly i don't see him being the guy to take us to the promise land
We need a coach like Gruden, like Holmgren....coaches who can design plays and put players/talent where they need to be....
Coaches like Sing are a dime in dozen...they do well in one yr and fail in other yrs.....there is a limit to their success
The first type of coach is limitless, because they not only win on the field but their players grow with the game, when this type of coaches leave, their players continue the success they have learnt under him....i.e Bill Walsh.
True, and we'd be back to another year, another new OC.
Put Davis behind that O Line and you will have another repeat of Smith. How many times does it have to be said that for the last 4 years our O Line has been consistently at or near the bottom of the league in pass protection? No QB can take that punishment.
We all say Smith that, Hill this, or hope for Davis to be our future saviour. We can blame Hostler, Martz, or Raye and have the same results. Unless and until we actually protect our QB no one is going to succeed at that position.
The O Line is the most important unit on the team. Have a good one and you control the ball, protect your QB, and keep the ball away from the other's teams defense.
Yep, there's nothing like that feeling when you've got an OC that you know no other team will entice away with Head Coaching offers. Warm and definitely fuzzy.
Oneniner - How about this little nugget from MM at practice today:
"This is first time I've seen Alex Smith taking snaps w/ No. 1 offense since training camp."
....I just don't see how after 5 games with an O-Line averaging 106.2 rushing yards per game - and some of you think we are have a terrible O-Line...
its the guy behind the O-line killing us....
For someone that some people think will be cut next year, he sure is spending a lot of time trying to make this team better. Alex sticking around on his bye wk to help crabs get ready is shows class and a mindset that he will be playing soon. Hill is just managing the game until the coaches feel alex is ready to take over. Just a gut feeling. They did not resign him to be the backup.
....I just don't see how after 5 games with an O-Line averaging 106.2 rushing yards per game - and some of you think we are have a terrible O-Line...
its the guy behind the O-line killing us....
...@Mike...that is good news.
Again I know most on here like attaching my name to mis-information......i.e death panels
I just want to know if A.Smith is the guy, the guy has been thru hell with this organization the least we can do is give him a chance with better players than he ever had....
I don't want to start next season with a QB issue....the other 2 QB's on the team right now should be allowed to show us what they can contribute....
Losing sheets will not hurt us, because we never really had him. I think he would have helped us this year if he was on the team. I think if his blitz pick ups were the problem, don't keep him in for blitz pick ups. Seems odd.
Nowin??
He's 5-0.
Why does McGloughan still have a job...Because he is a good GM who is said by people in the know to be an up and coming star executive in the NFL (according to the great Ron Wolfe and Mike Holmgren and Bill Parcells...But then what do they know about it? lol I guess our own Louie knows more ! LOL !!!
And Hill is clearly better than Smith ,no contest. And hopefully we already have our QB of the future in Nate Davis and Hill is just holding his place until he is ready.(and doing a great job of placeholding,I might add ,since he still has the best winning % of any Niners QB in history !).
I can't believe I am saying this but I think Oneniner is right. Please do not ban me from this blog for saying so. But when someone is right he is right. Leave the o-line alone and let them gel. Next yr. they will be closer than Barack and Oprah. Put in A.Smith and let Crabtree do his thing.
Anyone have any trade suggestions? (please be reasonable trade sugg.)
Thru hell???
Hasn't Mr Smith been payed $40 million or so? That's about $2 million for every TD.
A smith is the guy, just wait. Hill will be the odd man out soon. Alex is the only qb on the team that has show he can play in this league and can stretch the field like this offense is designed for. Nate might be able to, but we do not know enough about him yet. Shaun is a good leader, he can play in this league, but he can not strech the field. This offense is made for alex and gore. Right now shaun lack of are strength is keeping the other team in the box. They don't fear him, because he can't throw.
Yeah that's what we're all thinking: how Hill is so much better than Young & Montana.
And how McLoughin is so much better than Wolfe & Parcells.
.....i hear yu....not sure if the total is 40mill
Alot of people whose shoulder gets dislocated thru accidents sue for more....
not to mention the pain and punishment of taking a 4-12 team to 7-9.....in year 2.....taking every snap - A niner record for a QB
Just funning you :-)
niner559 | October 14, 2009 12:18 PM | Reply For someone that some people think will be cut next year, he sure is spending a lot of time trying to make this team better. Alex sticking around on his bye wk to help crabs get ready is shows class and a mindset that he will be playing soon. Hill is just managing the game until the coaches feel alex is ready to take over. Just a gut feeling. They did not resign him to be the backup.
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I don't think any of us would argue with you about Alex having class and being a great team mate etc. He just can't play NFL caliber football and being a QB in the NFL,that seems rather important ,lol.
And they resigned him because he had a choice of being cut off the team ,as McGloughan said he was going to be,or taking a humiliating pay cut and staying for one last chance to show he couls earn the starting spot. He failed miserably at his one last chance,so it seems rather obvious that Smith ,who couldn't beat out the career backup hill,simply doesn't have it in him to ever be a quality starter in the NFL. So if they didn't keep him to be a backup (s 559 believes) then I guess that means they will simply not keep him at all ? Right now Davis is not ready,and Smith is not capable,so Hill is the man.
What will next year bring ? Who knows? Hopefully we get a 3rd string prospect to develope and keep Hill/Davis...Davis /Hill,as out top 2 QB's .
Let alex go somewhere that might have a future for him and where him being a class guy and good team mate might be appreciated,whatever his future might be(probably backup). Good luck alex ,you deserve all the best.
Top - Shaun is doing a good job. Shaun is doing just as well as any other backup would be doing. As the season goes, he will find it harder and harder to complete his throws. He will have more and more pressure on him. He will get hit more and more. As the opposing teams slowly figure out what I have been saying for some time. He can't throw anything other than a deep, floating rainbow that will start to get picked off. We say it in the game, any time he tried anything long, it floated, and the d knocked it away. Shaun is a backup.
Realfan49 replied to comment from TOP_CAT | October 14, 2009 12:42 PM | Reply Yeah that's what we're all thinking: how Hill is so much better than Young & Montana.
And how McLoughin is so much better than Wolfe & Parcells.
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Funny !
But in reality McGloughan might just be in the class of Wolfe and Parcells one day,who knows. Those two seem to think he will.
And of course Hill is not in the League with Montana or Young. But he has shown to be capable of winning games and is the best option we have now,until Davis is ready or until we get anothert QB ready.
And you know that !
trust me dude.....its the perfect American story...the comeback kid
Good things happen to good people.....
what this kid has been thru, no other number pick has gone through and still contending to be the starting QB
1st pick on a 4-12 team - with no talent on team- remember when our players used to be players on other teams practice squad....we even had to sign players from the street.......i recall when the 7th pick in the draft was starting on this team
this kid stood in their and dealt with Nolan, media and fans, multiple OC's and he still has a chance to clown his doubters...
did ryan leaf or Harrington go through this much adversity before they called it quits......i don't think so
559: Hill will be a fine backup for Davis in the years to come. Right now he is our starter and our only hope to win games. He has shown the ability to win games,even with the O line not giving him much time. So,hopefully,the staff will repair the O line just enough to gewt him that one extra second ,that will be enough.
Hill is a proven winner ,under the worst of circumstances. He can continue to play well for us .
But we have all agreed from day one that he is not the Franchise QB we desire. That is either Nate Davis or someone not on the team now.
I hope to see Davis starting as soon as possible and then we will have one of the best backups in the NFL in Hill !!! (or who knows,maybe Alex will improve to backup level and because of his age will be kept to be the backup ?)
You sound so bitter about alex. What did alex really do to you?
Hill will not take us any further than "maybe" the playoffs.
Alex was on his way to becoming a top 15 qb in year (2) at what, 22 years old. He gets hurt, and the rest is history. The team knows what they have and he will be playing this year.
I think Hill has done fine. He has done much better than I would have thought. But his winning % is a mirage. Look at rogers, much better qb, winning %? It just does not translate. The team is winning, not hill. All facts.
Oneniner I will actually reply to your statement since it seems a legitimate question...
....I just don't see how after 5 games with an O-Line averaging 106.2 rushing yards per game - and some of you think we are have a terrible O-Line...
its the guy behind the O-line killing us....
5 games avg. 106 yards per game......
Against Seattle we got 256 Rushing yds......
That means that 1 game has bumped up our rushing average from about 70 yds/game to 106 yds per game.
To me 70 yds per game average is horrible.
game 1 = 23 TOTAL rush yards 1st ranked rush DEF
game 2 = 256 TOTAL rush Yds 17th ranked rush def
game 3 = 58 TOTAL rush yds 10th ranked rush DEF
game 4 = 96 Rush Yds (Rams) 23rd Ranked Rush DEF
game 5 = 100 Rush yds 24th ranked rush DEF
(53 of which came from your favorite player Shaun Hill scrambling for his life)
That is one game with over 100 yds rushing (1 right at it)
We couldnt even get over 100 against the LAMBS!!!!
As so many have pointed out..... Gore had two huge runs those runs are what have artificially inflated our rush avg.
So yes we have a bad OL.
there is no way S.Hill is putting up 30 points (4 tds) each a game against the texans, colts and the titans...
we faced reality this past week, defense cant do it alone especially against a good QB
.....defense wins championships...
but the offense wins regular season games....
its just the fact of NFL football
niner559 replied to comment from TOP_CAT | October 14, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply You sound so bitter about alex. What did alex really do to you?
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The same thing he did to you and all the fans and all the staff of the Niners,he let us down by not being what he was supposed to be ,a good football player. (not really his fault he was drafted #1,big mistake on the Niners part,I don't blame alex).
I don't hate him,I admire him for his class and for being a quality person. Too bad he can't play football very well,or we would have a great role model as our Franchise QB.
....generally if you want to call an O-line bad...
you look at the running game and the number of sacks giving up
sure the running game stats can be misleading...but the sacks given up are not...
again i look at how the vikings played against us vz their results against greenbay.....two games amn sure everyone watched
now if you look at green bay they do have a bad O-line against the pass but they still average 241.0 passing yrds per game (after 5 games)
and we are averaging 160.8 yards per game....
that is close to 100 yrds we are losing a game compared to GB...
...that 100 yards alone could have sealed the Vikings game
and that 100 yards could have made a huge diference vz atlanta....
again look at the number of positive drives S.Hill has commanded......not to mention we are worst when it comes to converting 3rd downs
that stats on 3rd down is key because that is what seperates a back up QB from a starting QB
..i know even you have to say to Shaun hill - we need more drives from you ...not just in the 3rd quarter but in all quarters of the game
They can improve the o-line by making one change in the lineup....shaun hill. I agree with you, I hope they make that change. lol.
Brekkon: The "guy" behind the O line (Hill)was THE leading rusher last week,you did know that didn't you ?
Everyone except you has acknowledged that the O line is the main problem of the entire team. Unless you don't believe Sing etc etc and think you know more.
Sing clearly said that Hill did alright in last weeks game under the circumstances that the faulty O line put him in.
Sing said they are working hard to fix the O line problem. But to you there is no O line problem ? Who is not looking at reality ,you or Sing? LOL
559: But Davis is not ready,so we don't have a replacement for Hill yet.
And besides,Hill has brought you the best winning % of any QB in Niners history so far in his career (even with a faulty O line). Isn't that adequate enough for you until Davis is ready? Or does one bad game by the entire team make your memory faulty ?
Sing says what he has to to keep the team believing. The o-line is a problem, but shaun is making it worse. I will give it to shaun, when he sees a hole to run through, he takes it. But he does not have good pocket awareness. He does not slide out of trouble and he will take the sack before he will throw it away. If he can not step into his throw, it will sail on him. He does not have the arm strength to just zip it out there.
But he is better than alex by far,so what are our options? Alex has never shown any better abilities in the areas that you rip Hill for.As a matter of fact Hill has much better pocket awareness that smith,who is about the worst I have ever seen at that. And he will take the sack before throwing it for a pick ,I agree (and the staff is happy about that !).
And he completes more passes with his noodle arm(even more deep passes) than the innacurate Smith,who has shown LESS skill in every area of QBing than hill.
You are just going to have to accept the fact that Hill is the guy until Davis or another QB ,not on this roster yet,are ready. It could be far worse,we could have Smith as the starter instead of the guy who wins games for us and the guy who beat out smith for the job,BECAUSE HE IS BETTER !
Memory is just fine. I KNEW this game was coming. It is just the begining. Teams will sceme for hills lack of arm strength. I will also say that Sing wanted alex to win the qb competition, because he say hills limitations. When they pulled a DRAW, he had to go with hill. (And yes it was a draw or is your memory faulty, lol)
...Don't get me wrong...I would love to have Smith as our starter. He is a quality role model and all around great guy and great team mate.
But he has shown in his substantial time as starter that he just is not very good at actually playing the game. I know that is a minor point,lol, but I think it is important.
If he does get in a game anythime this year,I hope he does great,but if he does it would be totally out of character for him. He would need to greatly improve or he will just be the same Alex we have seen,and that is just not good enough in the NFL. Hill is better and has only played what,about 1/3 as many starts as Alex. so we should expect Hill to improve with the more playing time he gets,right?
If Hill gets worse and starts to apoproach the Alex level of play,then I guess the season is lost and maybe we should get Davis in there and get him ready for next year ?
TC what are you talking about...... reread my post I do not think you got what I was saying.... I never said hill was the problem... I even finished the post saying the OL is the problem...
and 559: Go back and look at the daily reports out of TC and you will see that about 90% of the time Hill had a much better day in camp than Smith had. It really was not close,if you look at the passing stats. And that was without Smith even being allowed to get hit or pass rushed,which always makes him turn to jello.
stop wasting your time...this top-cat guy wasn't a fan when Alex smith was turning a 4-12 team to a 7-9 team......a team everyone agrees was less talented than this current team....
he just became a fan last season...it is puzzling he keeps talking about a winning record ...when everyone with a brain knows the numbers of games he has played is too low to compare with other QB's....
Even S.Hill will say ....i havn't played enough games to use my winning % as a threshold or judgemnent of my success......not only have i not won any big games against top teams...
this is same guy who thinks it ok to compare 8 yrs of GWB to 8 months of BO.....
the whole conversation lacks common sense...
see now he his quoting "training camp stats".....
OH WELL,I guess we should stop reliving the Smith vs Hill debate,since it is long over and old news. Sing has stated that Hill IS his QB and will remain the starter for the entire year of 2009 .
So the only way we ever see smith playing is if Hill is injured,period.
So reality is that hill is the guy this season. Live with it or live in a fantasy World,where Smith is actually a good player,whatever you like.
Be happy and have fun,that is why we follow the NFL,right? So if it takes you having the fantasy that Smith is good and he almost won the starting job etc etc ,then be happy. More power to you.
Time to talk about this seasons 49ers,with Hill as the starter,not the 2005-2007 teams. Might as well talk about the Joe Montana years if you want to talk about old days,lol.
Sorry I am hogging up the site with all this reality talk,I will leave for the day and let those of you who are more interested in fantasy football (you know,where in your mind Smith can actually play well ) have the site to dream of the good old days of Alex smith ,lol
Have fun!
TOP CAT It sounds as if you don't like fantasy sports either. I CANNOT stand fantasy sports Especially at the stadium when your team is loosing and you hear, Oh thats OK because I had 9 fill in name of opposing player that just beat your team) on my fantsay team... I almost came to nblows with a fan of my fave team when this idiot said that.. I am a fan of a team. Imagine you're at teh Stick Matt Ryan just lit you up and some MORON says oh thats ok I have Ryan in my fantasy team?? I don't encourage beatings but if anyone needs one it is a fantasy goof cheering for the guy who just lit my boys up.. AAAARRRRGGGHHH
Fantasy geeks go ahead and play JUST FOR GAWDS SAKE DON'T BRING IT UP TO A REAL FAN AFTER A 45-10BLOW OUT...
Sorry Brekkon,I must have written a post addressed to you by mistake earlier in this thread.It should have been addressed to someone else,my mistake. I know you realize that hill is doing well and that the O line is our main concern ! Sorry.
hurtinhead: I don't mind those that get wrapped up in fantasy sports and Madden etc,although I don't care for that type of thing. What frys me is fans of the Niners (or some not really fans,just trolls or haters) ,who always want to think like the REAL NFL is somehow like their Fantasy League or like Madden ,etc.
They think the GM can and should make all kinds of miracle trades and they think that a player like Alex,who seems to have some physical tools ,should perform like he was being controlled by them in Madden etc. In the REAL NFL,the player actually has to be good to perform well.
And as you say,if they are real fans of the team,they put their team 1st and foremost above any fantasy league they might be in.
But what frys me is that there seem to be so many fans that are so hung up on fantasy football,that they can no longer see what the reality is in front of their face on the real football field. They dream dreams about Alex,that he can't deliever on the field.
...And the worst of all is that those so called fans feel the need to unjustly rip the starting QB of their team and bring him down ,just because their dream lover AlexSmith was defeated by Hill and put their guy on the bench. How sad. I know I sound like a smith hater,but nothing could be further from the truth. I like Alex and wish he could have been the QB he was advertised as being when he came here. But that is water under the bridge.
Right now there are 53 guys on the team and I want every one of them to be great when they step on the field. That is a real fan. Want the best for every player and coach on your team,but see the reality of what is fact and what is fantasy.