Oh well. All you can say is we had too many bodies at one position. Good luck to Sheets in Miami. Poor guy could have replaced Robinson if he could block worth a lick. In the end with the play of our O-line there was no way we were going to risk even worse pass protection with Sheets in there. I question the Spurlock roster spot, however.

Miami lost Cobbs for the season.

We did not promote Sheets after Gore's injury. I question having 7 WRs. That's too many.

OH GREAT!

Why do we have Spurlock. Coffee isn;t running with the vision we want, I think he will come around, but some speed on the outside would be great. At least have him return kicks as Rossum or Spurlock would do. Why do we need Spurlock at this point we laready have: Morgan, Jones, Crabtree, Bruce, Battle and Hill.

We need a change of pace running back. Damn.

A running back is not the Niner's priority by any means for the foreseeable future. We may soon need a safety or a guard and drop Spurlock.

I hope the Niners didn't lose the play maker I think they did. He showed a lot of good things in preseason, too bad we couldn't see what he can do in the regular season. This offense needs more speed. I think right now the Niners have too many( as the saying goes) jack of all trades, master of none. Would we really miss Spurlock so far? Bring on more talent, not just good locker room guys.

Seriously, what is the front office doing? I would rather have had Sheets on the roster than Spurlock. Even if Sheets was inactive for gamedays like Spurlock is now, at least we couldn't have lost him. Why is Spurlock surviving all these roster changes? He has no value at this point except to return kicks but apparently that's now Delanie's job. I don't get it.

The 49ers offense lacks explosive and fast players. That is a fact. Our TE is the only player that really scared people with his speed. Sheets certainly could have made this offense better at both. I guess we have to trust the 49ers brass who have seen him play almost daily since April.
I think Sheets will fit in great with that Wild Cat offense down in Miami. We may regret this move in a year or two.

And yeah, being supposedly a "running team," why do we currently have 7 WRs that are not really utilized and 2 actual RBs, one of which is currently injured?

These questions need to be answered by whoever is in charge of personnel.

This is not a good week for the Niners:

- Humiliated by Atlanta 45-10
- OL exposed to the world, team is built on running - not good
- SS Lewis out, who comes in, Roman???
- Niners sign a NT to play OL
- Niners let Sheets go after proving they don't have edge speed and can't run between tackels
- Niners let Rossum go, and have no answer for kick return... oh maybe Sheets, NO he was signed by the Dolphins

Hope it won't happen: Sheets go to Pro-Bowl next year, and Coffee gets cut from the 49ers... That sucks!

It has been sort of a bad week...

I'm happy for Sheets... he's gonna tear it up in the Wildcat

Very questionable move

Matt, I know players/agents on practice squads often give their GM/coach a "heads up" when they are offered a deal by another team, in case their own team wants to elevate them to keep them.

Do you know/can you find out whether Sheets gave the niners that shot?

It would be interesting to know whether we knew we were losing him and still kept Spurlock, or whether he just jumped at the Miami offer.

Since im down the street from the facility, im thinking about going over there and demanding answers. I like spurlock a lot. i feel we have not had a chance to see his real talent. we got a little pit of it at the dallas game. but do i like him over sheets? hell no do it hink weneed 7 WRS on the roster? no, have i always thought Kory should be the 3rd Runn back with Robinson the 2nd fullback? yes.

Hey matt how about we go to togos after my meeting with sing, my treat :)

one week - we were celebrating the end of the rebuilding days

a week after - we are back in rebuilding phase...

what gives?

Did i hear someone YELL - Coach Holmgren

The 9ers Coffee is to sweet. Dude doesnt want to play football, he just wants to be a football player.

Why didn't they play him a little just on running downs to see his potential? If Coffee gets hurt and Gore is still hampered by his ankle all season all we have the great Michael Robinson! But that' okay because we needed six mediocre receivers!

"The 49ers have just three wide receivers who have caught passes in the first five games of the season. Yet, the 49ers have seven wideouts on their 53-man roster."

Men ...just 3?

let me guess its the O-lines fault...or its the OC's fault.....

May be The front office took vacation after the signing of Crabtree. Probably Marathe and McCloughan are relaxing somewhere in the Caribbean resort.

Should of cut him and gave Sheets the backup role. Gotta draft a good one in the first round either this year or next. Love Gore to death, but he cant stay healhy. I only see him playing at a high level for the next 2-3 years, if that.

LOL, great comment Red.

I hope the Niners know what they are doing.

This is front office ineptitude for sure, wow. Most were calling for Sheets the week that Gore was injured, they should have released Rossum back then to activate Sheets-geez. Could have released Spurlock for Crabtree... oh brother, our deep RB corps isn't so deep now, that's for sure....

Miami was running behind the kind of dominating blocking Sing likes to talk about. Ronnie Brown up the middle behind great blocking from the guards one of which is named Justine Smiley, to bad we couldn't afford a guy like that.

To paraphrase our G.M. -- Guards are a dime a dozen and we don't pay them a lot.

No but we can use high second round picks to draft poor ones.

Not really sure what to feel about this besides "disappointed". I was liking having this speedster as an option. Good luck in Miami, Kory.

On a side note, I saw Adam Schefter post a tweet saying that SF was one of 3 ideal destinations for Terrell Owens. I had to laugh about that!

BTW what happend to the our first round pick from last year? his he even still with the team? Our Pass Rush is horrible!!!! Good Grief!!!

I agree,Mac and Nolan blew it by not putting value at the guard position. The 49ers have let three guards go that are now starting on other teams and are better than the guards we have, Kosier, Smiley and Dahl

When an organization does not recognize the importance of speed and quickness in succeeding, this is what they get. The only back who showed a burst and elusiveness in preseason was Sheets. Parcells knows talent. And we are stuck with a "mualer" type OL which gets beat on the first step by quick defenders. Walsh usede to say that players, like boxers, need to hit their opponent a split second faster than he hits them to be successful. We are slow and vulnerable and we just let a potential speedy weapon be snatched from us. Disgusting!

this is insane. i can't believe we let kory sheets go. if we can't use him as a running back, why not lining up as a receiver? he's more explosive than spurlock would ever be. and yes, i question why we have 7 receivers on the roster when jimmy "cow-bell" raye is mr. run run run. what's going through singletary's mind? is he coming to a realization that our run game isn't what it's crack up to be?

i have to ask, am i the only one here thinks that jimmy raye only runs about 10 plays over and over again? i don't see anything true variation on his play calling. i can almost memorize everything he runs! his MOST used plays are run and throw up the middle. any opposing team that sees tape on the 49ers will surely see this. it wouldn't be a problem for the other team to prepare for us.

singletary must know that the nolan-runned team that preceded him was just as vanilla. i hope singletary is actually wiser than nolan and do something about it.

i miss martz's offense. at least he has much more weapon's in his playbook.

Another side note: Let me preface this by saying that I am a S. Hill supporter. Last night I played my first Madden 10 online game and, of course, I used the 49ers. Lets just say that Hill's arm isn't so much a cannon as it is a water gun. His deep passes were maxing out at 35 yards of air time. Thank God for Gore and the screen pass.

Matt, thanks for the great reporting. It sure seems strange they would let Sheets go. Coffee hasn't been looking all that awesome.

What do you think the future holds for Alex Smith? Do the 49ers still see him as the future at QB? Are they planning to give him a shot next year, or did his losing the qb competition to Hill crush his future with the team? Hill hasn't looked too good --is the team considering playing Smith at all? Why didn't he get in the game against the Falcons? Seems only normal to put in the backup when the outcome is decided.

after watching how slow our receivers were on offense this sunday, i'm glad they sign crabtree. although, we all know that he's not one of the fastest receiver out there, but has football speed. similiar to jerry rice how he's not fast on the stopwatch, but really smokes the DB when running with the ball.

what a total letdown after the rams game. the niners were moving in slow-mo this past sunday. but i know that sunday was a fluke. so hopefully with the changes that singletary is implementing, the niners will come roaring out the gate in a couple weeks.

GO NINERS!!

WTF?!! First they cut Rossum and now this?!! We did NOT have too many bodies at RB! We didn't have enough! We have too many freakin WR's! Look at the Dolphins roster and you will see how many RB's they have! They know how to run the ball! Unlike Singletary and Jimmy Raye! I never thought I'd say this but I'm beginning to lose faith in our management! Just as I expected, the Cowgirls snatched up Rossum only 1 day after we released him! Horrible moves by the Niners!

He's under contract with the Niners, guessing the Niners management were the first to know. Go Spurlock, we need more of the "Taser", yeah right!!!

WOW!

I can't believe all the "doom gloom" about a player who was never going to see the field this year because of his obvious flaws (blocking)? Man when it rains it pours around here doesn't it! And just think everything was Peyton's Place just last week, man you guys are killing me!

Yay! Let's keep the washed-up Bruce, the un-needed, mediocre Battle and that clown Spurlock.

But we'll cut the best return man we've had in a decade and let a promising running back go...

I so hope this is Singletary's last year...

For a guy that regularly misses snaps, we sure have a lot of eggs in the Frank Gore basket.

The 49ers DO value guards. They have spent two 2nd round picks on guards. The problem is both players are not living up to their expectations. Baas has never really broken out and Chilo is starting based on his future potential. I remember they were pretty weary of Smiley’s right shoulder after dealing with Jonas Jennings constant shoulder issues. To that end, he only suited up for 12 games last year in Miami while dealing with that shoulder injury. It looks like he is finally back on track this year but it remains to be seen if Smiley can play an entire season.

It's not the front office. It's Singletary. He is the one to make the final decisions. And he's not up to it...

It was a good move to release Rossum but I wonder why they didn't want Sheets on the 53 man roster ?

Matt, I would also like an answer to the question ...did Sheets give us a heads up and did we have a chance to promote him and not lose him to Miami or once Miami called were we out of it? Would we have promoted Sheets IF we knew he was going to get picked up,or would we have let him go anyway?

I thought Sheets had real potential if we had used him in third down situations.

Somehow the coaches are not in sync with the front office. why didn't they pick up another RB who can block, after Gore went down. They are assuming that Gore is coming back 100%, which i should remind the coaches, Gore has missed quite a few games due to injuries. what happens if Coffee goes down or has an injury?

isn't the 49ers a run (smash mouth) type of team? why so many wide receivers when you are not even passing that much?

Well they say you can't teach speed, or evidently, keep it on the roster. I guess I am in the "too bad" camp. If sheets blossoms in the NFL, maybe a big "if", I don't know, but I will be very, very disappointed with this.

I am just a fan, not a coach, not even remotely qualified to assess if this is good or bad. But on the surface, it does look like they should have kept him. We'll see.

"I so hope this is Singletary's last year..."

I know I'm going to regret asking, but why?

This SUCKS

How many times have I said this team NEEDS MORE EXPLOSIVE players on both sides of the ball especially on Offense since all we have is Gore????? Well....VD is starting to get back on track again towards his "2nd" breakout season. Give me the FULL YEAR of being a legit receiver/playmaker then I'll be sold.

Before the Draft I was thinking Sheets was around a 4th RD talent. (Lower because of his smaller size.) Yet he fell to our laps as an UDFA...for character reasons I believe criticizing Painter openly to the media so he got disciplined & from there his character was questioned. He's not a criminal or a head case. Sing here could keep a guy like that straight. He was a potential steal YET WE DIDN'T EVEN SEE HOW HE LOOKED IN A LIVE GAME!!! WTF were the Coaches looking at in preseason???? He ran tough inside & was EXPLOSIVE OUTSIDE & IN SPACE!

What the hell is this hangup with Spurlock???? So what...he got "warm" in TC & the preseason. He got bounced around throughout the league for a reason. He ain't nothing special.

Unfreakin' believable. You watch Parcell's & Miami will make a name for Sheets. Get ready for the ESPN highlights & the Niners looking like fools on this one. Daaaaaamn!!! What a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to have a gamebreaking weapon added to our roster missed!

I guess our Offense is SO GOOD that we don't need any more playmakers...no, don't want 'em.

Can Delanie Walker block? He's mediocre from what I hear yet he's got his share of packages. An OC like Sean Peyton would drool to devise a handful of plays per game for the guy. At least he would of seen what he had & make the guy active & on the 53-man. If he still needed more work THEN you put him back on the PS. We fell asleep on this one boys.

who knew sheets could run the wildcat? I'm jp.

but seriously the niners have bigger problems than letting a work in progress go. it looks like we will need to stop sending out vernon davis on those routes and stay in for pass protection soon.coffee robinson and the interior linemen are having real troubles, and having vd on the edge rusher will allow the interior to focus on the dts more. yes last game is probably a fluke but, the whole team was just so abysmal, something needs to change, and I think that's vd staying in to block which is his biggest strength. watching him cross behind defenders, his route running needs so much more work that he should really get those seam routes when we are in td territory.

Damn what a bunch of clowns! The 9ers have one bad game & made a roster move that I'm sure the coach's have more insight about than we do. We are only 5 games into the season sitting @ 3-2 with the division lead & people are crying for a coaching change? Crying cause Sheets is gone? He was not going to get any play time so why keep him? Running fast is not going to mean jack when the O Line can't block. I use to be offended & question why people called 9er fans "winers". After reading the daily comments on here the name fits!! Suck it up , grow a pair & support your "team"! If not then simply just shut up or cry silently to yourself!!

Stampede, MosesZD is enjoying his moment in the gloom from this otherwise illustrious Singletary coached year. Let him bray to his heart's discontent. This year has been tough on all the haters and brayers. They have not had much to moan about and have had to resort to strenuous quibbling to sate their appetites. Plus, it's a good time for Terry to try out his new and improved mouse traps. Go Terry! I'm sending over a box of cheese squares I saved from a party last June. Should be fine bait.

Sing said in his press conference yesterday that they were going to make sure they had the proper 53 players on the roster during this bye week. They immediately cut rossum after the press conference ,as they should have done.
I assume that they were NOT going to advance Sheets to the 53 because he was not proficient in picking up blitzs. We certainly could not put another player on the field that let pass rushers through to hammer Hill. Too bad Miami called before Sheets learned enough to play in our offense,but it was probably wise NOT to let him play until he learned.

And off subject,but just for information to those who think we are a run only team...
So far after 5 games we have run the ball 126 times and passed 145 times. (and of course Hill has run the ball a number of times that were supposed to be passing plays.).
So I guess we are mainly a passing team,lol.
Seriously,It need a lot of work BUT the fact is that Jimmy Raye does call a bunch of passes,maybe not the right pass play,but the point is that he is willing to pass at least as much as he runs.Lets just hope they get it producing much more smoothly.
Changes on the O line are the first step !

I am so annoyed that they never activated Sheets. He would have added another dimension that the Niners need, Westbrook, J.Norwood, Chris Johnson, Bush are all similar... not great runners up the gut but are lethal on screens, pitches, anything to the edge

Damn what a bunch of clowns! The 9ers have one bad game & made a roster move that I'm sure the coach's have more insight about than we do. We are only 5 games into the season sitting @ 3-2 with the division lead & people are crying for a coaching change? Crying cause Sheets is gone? He was not going to get any play time so why keep him? Running fast is not going to mean jack when the O Line can't block. I use to be offended & question why people called 9er fans "winers". After reading the daily comments on here the name fits!! Suck it up , grow a pair & support your "team"! If not then simply just shut up or cry silently to yourself!!

It is pouring today, haven't you looked outside! I think I can speak for a bunch of us fans : WE WANT TO SEE SOME PLAYMAKERS ON THIS OFFENSE !!!!!!!! When you let a guy go who showed some things no Niner back has shown in a while, we fans would like to know why. In particular Sheets went up and over the pile at the goal line to score in one of the preseason games which was mostly on his own effort. We need playmakers desperately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, I forgot ,we still have Roman,Spurlock and a couple others who make big plays all the time.

Great and timely comment !!! You and Terry are a couple of the adults on this blog !!!
Although in reality most of the contributors here are reasonable fans who use logic and common sense. It's just that the trolls and rats and "whiners" make most of the noise.
I remember when we were 3-0 ,I said that I wondered what some of these hysterical anti-fans would resort to if we actually lost a game,since they were so irrational when we had won every game. I feared that they might line up on the GG bridge to see who could jump off first. But of course those type of people just turn their hatred outward ,as we have seen. How sad,for them and for those of us who have to put up with the crybabies.

And I like Spurlock,if he is used properly.

Shield - that's all the reason more why we could have used Sheets. Have HIM do the crossing route instead of VD if we keep him in to block.

He could have ran that route from his RB spot or have him motion out to one of the receiver spots. He would have been a TOTAL MISMATCH for LB's to cover & is QUICKER & MORE ELUSIVE than VD.

The guy is a homerun hitter capable of doing that ON ANY GIVEN PLAY. And in this points thirsty Offense he could have really provided a spark to this team if he takes it to the house. If it was him who caught that pass vs Morgan that's an automatic 6. I pictured around 4 TD's to the house created mostly from himself with the chance of being even more than that.

And now we're adding Crabtree?? Look at the potential added weapons we could have had. And I remind the Coaches Crabtree is NOT a blazing WR. He has good, not homerun blazing speed. I'm just saying Sheets would have made an OUTSTANDING complement to our RB & to the weapons we already have. About a handful of games down the line (3-6+) Brandon Jones should be getting into a flow into the Offense. Look at that speed we could of had from all the different positions. VD @ TE, Sheets @ RB, Jones-WR, Crabtree who I predict will get consistent separation once he starts to get acclimated around 3/4 of the season. It just sucks that we're not envisioning FAST playmakers coming from all angles we could have in this Offense.

Damn it! He should have been on the 52-man roster. He could have been a change-of-pace back in this offense with his speed and cut-back ability. All of our backs are of the same mold, power running. I'm so pissed that they never gave him a chance. However, he would be great in Miami's wildcat formation. You have to be a speedster to make the wildcat work so this pick up confirms that Sheets has plenty of speed. Definitely our loss!

TO QUOTE MR. PIG ON TOY STORY: " I THINK I'M GONNA BE SICK!!!" IT JUST NEVER ENDS WITH THE NINERS, THIS IS STARTING TO MIRROR THE SF GIANTS, RELEASE A PLAYER SO THAT THEY CAN GO ON AND BE ON THE WORLD SERIES AND PLAYING AT FULL POTENTIAL FOR ANOTHER TEAM. MAYBE MCLOUGHAN IS TAKING MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM BRIAN SABEAN. SHEETS REMINDED ME SO MUCH OF THE RUNNING BACK THE RAIDERS HAD BACK WHEN GRUDEN WAS TAKING THEM TO THE SUPERBOWL, FAST, AGILE AND STRONG ON THE LAST EFFORT...WHAT WAS HIS NAME??? DANG I CAN REMEMBER !!

Mike in MD - If Sheets was SO GOOD (all caps for you) then why did no one claim him off waivers when we placed him on the P-Squad in August? 32 teams with 53 roster spots = 1,696 players that every NFL GM believed were better or more prepared than Sheets. If he was SO GOOD (caps for you) why didn't a single team take the low risk of a 7th round pick on Sheets?

Miami loses its 3rd running back last night for the season and they have a need so they are taking a chance on Sheets. Before you FREAK OUT (again all caps for you) let's come back down to earth and remember that Glen Coffee led the NFL in rushing this preseason and looked better than Sheets. He has been average at best in live NFL games against 1st teamers. I'm glad you fell in love with a player that looked "good" against 3-4th stringers in the preseason that are also all no longer NFL players. Sheets has speed but he is very small and with the speed of starting NFL defenses he will struggle. Why don't you trust the guys that have watched him play every single day since last April. Instead of trusted your judgement because you watched him in 3 preseason games play about 60 snaps.

If Sheets couldn't pick up the blitz for now while he's still learning how to block & what his assignments are, how about being a SAFETY VALVE for the time being?

He didn't have to be in on a lot of plays. Give him a handful to get started. If the blitz gets through when his number isn't being called, throw it to him in the flat as the hot receiver.

The point is he has the ability to be a playmaker AND HE PROVED IT IN PRESEASON. And he's also Singletary tough running it hard down the middle if we still wanted to call those plays for him. It's a golden opportunity missed and FRUSTRATING.

HA! Well now I feel bad because I'm ruining the haters' opportunity to parade. How fitting that there's a rain storm going on right now.

I'm glad some of these posters aren't boxing trainers. They'd be ready to throw in the towel after their fighter has one bad round.

This is going to be a very long two weeks.....

I TOM BRADY WAS SO GOOD, HOW COME HE GOT PICKED UP UNTIL THE 6TH ROUND, IF MONTANA WAS THAT GOOD HOW COME HE GOT PICKED UP UNTIL THE 3RD ROUND, AND SINCE NOW I JUST REMEMBERED, IF GANNON, CHARLIE GARNER, HECK EVEN MR. RAM HIMSELF (KURT WARNER ) WERE NOT DRAFTED AT ALL OR SO LATE OR WANDER AROUND IN THE LEAGUE FOR SO LONG....WE ARE BEING SHORTSIGHTED, SOME PLAYERS ARE NOT THAT FLASHY TO BEGIN WITH BUT ONCE YOU SEE THEM..THEY HAVE IT .. UNLIKE SOME OTHERS PICKED ON THE FIRST ROUND LIKE A SMITH. I CAN ALSMOT GUARANTEE YOU THAT SHEETS WILL EVENTUALLY BE DOING THE MAJORITY OF THE RUNNING IN MIAMI ONCE THEY GET HIM TO DEVELOP HIS FULL POTENTIAL...MAINLY BECAUSE HE HAS IT AND PLAYERS LIKE ROBINSON DON'T.

The problem is the OL not the RBs. Although I also would have liked to have seen Sheets on the team.

Florida Danny had this and much more on Foerster's success (or lack there of) with the OL in his career.

I think we have good OL but need someone to guide them. A new McKittrick.

The entire post is at: http://www.ninersnation.com/2009/10/13/1083518/the-san-francisco-49ers#comments

here it is in a little more detail using FO’s adjusted line yards (ALY) and adjusted sack rate (ASR) stats:

1996 (TB) — ALY = 3.51 YPC (30th out of 30 teams); ASR = 6.0% (11th)
1997 (TB) — ALY = 4.04 (17th); ASR = 7.7% (18th)
1998 (TB) — ALY = 4.18 (6th); ASR = 6.3% (9th)
1999 (TB) — ALY = 3.99 (29th out of 31 teams); ASR = 8.4% (22nd)
2000 (TB) — ALY = 4.00 (17th); ASR = 8.9% (25th)
2001 (TB) — ALY = 3.57 (29th); ASR = 7.4% (18th)
2005 (BAL) — ALY = 3.60 (29th out of 32 teams); ASR = 7.4% (20th)
2006 (BAL) — ALY = 4.13 (20th); ASR = 3.7% (2nd)
2007 (BAL) — ALY = 3.77 (27th); ASR = 7.6% (22nd)
career average — ALY = 3.87 (23rd); ASR = 7.0% (16th)

I'm actually DONE with the Niners... they're all clueless I say. I already bought a Cowboys Jersey and Hat!!! LMFAO

Sucks we lost Sheets but good for him and his opportunity. Coffee is legit... he lead the NFL in yards during preseason and has ran his tail off the last 2 weeks. Gore is one of the best backs in the league... if you don't think he's fast... do yourself a FAVOR and go watch the Seattle game again. Players get banged up.. it happens. I think all this crazy rain is the tears of all you pathetic fans jumping bridge

Matt,

The trade deadline is a week away. Do you see the Niners trading for any legit Offensive Lineman? Singletary said there will be changes to the O Line.

BTW... MM just hinted that Rathman probably made the decision he wasn't ready.

And most of you haters think Rathman should have Raye's job. So now what??? Should we fire Rathman too?

I think Tom Rathman deserves a little more respect than a lot of you on this blog are giving him. He knows what it takes to a good or even average RB in the NFL. He did not think Sheets was ready. Done…. Let’s move on.

What's this big love fest for Spurlock? I've read it all over this blog and the man has 4 receptions his entire career, all coming in one game! He has done nothing besides have an okay preseason. Until he proves something during his snaps he is irrelevant.

Couldn't have said it better 49erGoreRush,

Ya know I always hated that term "49er Whiners" but it seems to be the perfect description for these cry babies.

Mike in SF2 - I’m pissed because we didn’t even TRY him out on the field to see what we have in the guy. You said it yourself we’re short on explosive playmakers with speed & that is a fact on our Offense.

I believe he dropped because of the character concerns with him as I mentioned before. Also maybe Purdue isn’t highly regarded when it comes to their RB’s or NFL players in general although there have been some great players from there. All I’m saying is we had the OPPORTUNITY to at least see if he could be another playmaker for us. Make him active, see what he’s got before allowing another team to snatch him up. If he didn’t pan out then put him back on the PS.

With say him & Gore in the backfield, LB’s would still have to honor Sheets as an outlet receiver. He swings out, takes a LB with him while Gore makes his run. A similar effect of doing a FB's job taking away 1 less LB to try & tackle Gore. I would have liked to see Sheets on sweeps while Gore powered down the middle. He could have been in a number of creative packages IMO.

And Sheets isn’t THAT small. He’s the same size as Coffee. Sheets / 5-11, 208 lbs, Coffee / 6-0, 209 lbs, Gore / 5-9, 217 lbs. Also what got the topic hot about getting a change of pace RB was the recent emergence/success of Sproles in SD. He’s ONLY
5-6, 185 lbs. I believe he runs a sub 4.4-40, maybe is even a 4.3 guy. But Sheets is a 4.4-40 guy, maybe slightly faster. So size is a non factor here when talking about looking for a speedy change of pace back.

I hear ya Skeebers even above all the loud crying of a funeral home on this Blog!
I have to say that Sheets going to Miami is puzzling! But why can't we wait for the 49ers to explain their side to the fans!
It's really depressing listening to all the rats ranting and raving about something they still haven't had explained to them. But in the Navy you know the rats are the first to scurry about and jump ship when it rocks! When things settle down, at least they'll be a little less scurrying and biting on the part of these rats that have exposed themselves to the light!
When things get straightened out and these vermin realize that the team is still building and is already better than the last 6 years! And that the 49ers are considered by everyone to be a strong contender for the NFC West, instead of being out of contention already like the past, some of these key pushers will go back in their dark holes of negative thought, others will be caught in their own traps of ignorance and the rest will sneak out once in a while to leave their droppings of crap on the Blog!

If we win out of our next 3 games that will be HUGE!!!

Set the tone with Houston

Pray against Indy

Hopefully Tenn wins soon so we don't have to play them winless

Good coaches design schemes and plays which are suited to a players talents and can take advantage of superior traits. I think that the Niners have done well on defense this year (last game not withstanding). But we are pathetic on Offense. If Raye and crew couldn't design a package for Sheets to let him use his speed and elusiveness and minimizing his need to block, then he shouldn't be coaching.

"The point is he has the ability to be a playmaker AND HE PROVED IT IN PRESEASON"

I believe something has been proved here, but not regarding Sheets. NOBODY PROVES ANYTHING IN PRESEASON. Ahem. Your post is rejected for not knowing this basic fact of NFL life. I will refrain from further criticism of your cranial output. I promised my wife I'd be a gentleman at least one day each week. Your lucky day. However, you are hurting my head. Please stop.

Sheets... undrafted and I'll admit I was happy when I got him.

But to say Raye and Rathman shouldn't be coaching?!? Dude... chill out. No one in the league even knows who Sheets is. If he succeeds awesome for him but I'm more then happy having Gore and Coffee!!!

I have not read all the posts but I get the feeling the assumption the blog felt Rathman did not feel Sheets was ready. We will never know. He could have wanted dude, but been out voted by the OC and HC.

All I know is who would you trust more to assemble a roster; Parcells or our group of folk. Personally, I don't know what Spurlock brings to the table. It would have been nice to see sheets in action. If I see Coffee dive into a pile of bodies one more time when the space outside of the tackle is wide open I am going to scream. I think this is a direct result of the coaching staff telling him to pound it all through the TC. Well now I feel Coffee is scared to use his instincts and it is costing the team.

This just gives me a very sick feeling in my stomach.

Now you are going Bonkos. Our OC is Jimmy Raye. He will NOT be using two RB's in the back field at the same time. This isn't Mike Martz 49ers offense anymore bro. Raye is a traditionalist and he will always pair a full back with Gore or go with a single back set. You would never have seen Sheets and Gore together.

As I just posted and MM referred to on his Twitter page - You need to show Tom Rathman a little more respect. I think he has earned it and certainly deserves it. Sheets was his call.

I love Rathman & was ecstatic when we hired him so if says he wasn't ready no doubt I'll take his word.

That said from what I gather his specialty is to teach blocking & blitz pickups. Gore said he definitely improved his blocking. So did Fargas & the RB's in Oakland in that regard. Just because a RB isn't ready when it comes to blocking doesn't mean he can't be an effective playmaker.

Are there ways to get around having to block? Maybe. Not here especially. You're demanded to know how to do that & I can't say I blame the Staff for that. I won't be arguing with Rathman. He's the man. I'm still disappointed we didn't get to see Sheets active out on the field.

I had a feeling this would happen. I don't understand how we could be a successful team in this league without any speed at all. We have no real speed on defense or offense.
Our speed on defense was evident when Roddy White ran untouched for 90 yards and on offense when Josh Morgan was caught from behind at the 1 yard line.
I'm not saying we need to be obsessed with speed like Al Davis. I'm just saying this roster has none at all. I felt like Sheets could've helped us late in games with teams wearing down on defense.
I think right this minute, Mike Singletary faces his biggest crisis as a head coach. This dreadful loss to the Falcons. The concussion problems of 2 veteran players. People all of a sudden questioning his coaching style(leaving all the starters in for the whole Falcon game). Dre Bly's antics, and the debut of Crabtree.
Good luck Mike and Go Niners!

I'm disappointed we lost Sheets, but the crying on this blog about a practice squad player who has so far proven NOTHING but being a great preseason player is ridiculous! There is a reason why Sheets is on the practice squad and the obvious reason is because he's not good enough to play yet. I don't like the fact that we kept so many wide receivers which truly boggles the mind, but there has to be some logical reason why and until I hear that reason from 49ers brass I'm willing to withhold judgment. Instead of worrying about some PS player, I'm worried about our OL and I hope they can get something done with that before we play Houston.

Mike in SF2 - I sent my last post before you're reply.

I absolutely love Rathman as a player & now as our RB's Coach. As I mentioned if he said Sheets wasn't ready it's case closed. I have the utmost respect for Rathman.

Uh ohhhhh - Cowboys just signed Rossum. Cue 20 more panic posts from the manic 49ers fans who think our season is over because we lost two players that didn't play much, or at all this year.

Echoing some of the previous comments, why on earth are we burning seven roster spots on a postion that contributes nearly nothing to the success of this team . . . especially the back-end? Somebody needs to explain this one to me like I'm a two year old.

I have some personal concerns about Raye as an OC and in general the HC and his run first offence in this day and age of the NFL. That being said I'll make up my mind after the season. Winning 50% or more of the remaining games with this personnel group will surely prove my feeling wrong. More losses, especially convincing losses and I'll start thinking this is a new Nolan path with a different name.

Fair enough. I also always appreciate different opinions on this blog so I don't ever mean to make my counter arguments sound personal towards you as an individual. We are all entitled to our opinions. My knee jerk reaction was the same as yours. I loved Sheet's speed, but then I remember he has practiced every single day since April with the watchful eye of Ratham throughout. Tom could be wrong, but he has seen much more of Sheets than we ever have or will.

Terry help the blog out and enough of the "rats" commentary. If you don't like the post skip it just like a lot of folks do with some other posters.

We have won games this year, but except for the Rams the offensive performances have been crummy and even then were they that good? Def and ST will not get us anywhere in the long run. We have had a few drives, but otherwise I am pretty sure the team leads the league in 3 and outs. This is pathetic! People are pissed and have a right be. You also have a right to drone on about rats.

You typically contribute good stuff. Why not keep doing that?

As a thought, remember the first years of Walsh? If memory is correct the niners scored points, but rarely stopped anyone on defense. At least those teams were able to score points and entertain us. Is the NFL not entertainment? I think this is why so many folks get frustrated with the team. We have been used to good offensive teams (good passing as well) for a very long time. In the end scoring is entertaining and fun! You may not win, but if the team runs up 28 or 31 points….you watched an entertaining game. I know I do not get nearly as frustrated in that situation as I did this last week where is was three and out all day.

No need to hide behind the wife Skeebers.....BRING IT ON!!

Couldn't resist this one from PFT regarding Rossum, from outside the hysterical world of our blog:

Posted by Mike Florio on October 13, 2009 7:13 PM ET
How bad are things in Dallas? Sufficiently bad that they're picking over the 49ers' trash heap.

yea I was really disgusted morgan got caught. he let up at the end and it cost the niners, with the addition of coffee's brain fart.

*clearing my throat*

HOW COULD THEY CUT ROSSUM!? THE NINERS ARE IDIOTS! THE THREE STOOGES MIGHT AS WELL BE RUNNING THE TEAM! IT'S SHAUN HILL'S FAULT! THERE'S NO NEED TO EXPLAIN WHY, IT JUST IS!

...how was that? I'd like to thank the Academy...

I'm very disappointed about Sheets. He seems a young player with a bright future. Apparently Parcell agrees.

Regardless of the value of Sheets, Im still mystified why a run first team would enter the season with only 2 RB's on the roster.

And then when 1 goes down, not sign a replacement? Going into a game with only one RB seems lunatic to me.

Top_ Cat, we were never 3-0. we won the first 2 games and then lost to Minnesota and then beat the Rams. Anyway, yeah there are some fair weather fans out there. I think there are some naysayers as well. It just seems like speed is important to a football team but our front office is being a bit too loyal to some veterans.
I hate to say it but, Isaac Bruce is expendable. He's old, slow, and now he's dropping passes. Spurlock has not even been used as a wideout. Jones has seen 1 pass since he's been back from injury. Battle has gotten a couple of looks.
I'm sorry, I would have seriously taken a look at cutting Bruce to keep Sheets on the roster. After all, Crabtree is coming back, and Jones is healthy. The only drawback is whether or not Bruce would mentoer the young wide receivers while he is on the team. If he talks to team mates as much as he talks to the press, the players would'nt miss im.

Hilarious Tidbit from MM Twitter:

WR Arnaz Battle points out, w/ a laugh, the 49ers have 7 WRs on roster. Last year, team had just 5 WRs w/ Mike Martz's pass-happy offense.

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb 49ers..... It's the same every year.... get your hopes up and prove to be a pretender. First off, Mike Singletary. After the first half of getting his arse handed to him by the Atlanta coaches he all but sprinted to Fox's Goose in the endzone to spin the disaster. If you don't think Singletary is a salesman, you aren't paying attention to the million billboards all over the Bay Area. More substance, please, Mr Singletary.... less talk. Atlanta's coaching staff doesn't talk very much, take notice.
In regards to our O line and Kory Sheets, how dumb do you have to be to see that Kory Sheets needed to be on the regular season roster to stick around? Instead we kept Micheal Robinson, who is a special teams captain? You want inspiration and leadership, that's what coaches are for. Micheal Robinson has never made a play, and he never will. The O line can't get to the second level because they're all tremendous fat bodies (Sgt. Pile), so we should rely on guys like Delanie Walker to get the edge for additional yardage? Dumb, dumb, dumb, 49ers. Here's the formula from here on out.... fire Scot McCloughan and tell Singletary to shut up and put his nose in the books. Start scouting O-linemen and pray to God knowledgeable fans forget about the Micheal Oher disaster. Niners still suck. Singletary is a salesman and McCloughan should be fired.

Realfan: They still had M Rob ,to back up Coffee. But I understand and share your lack of understanding. Hopefully they discussed the situation and knew what they were doing.

"Running back Kory Sheets, an undrafted rookie from Purdue, said his good-byes in the 49ers locker room this afternoon. The Dolphins signed Sheets off the 49ers practice squad today, he told his now-former teammates."

This is just crap. Loads of talent, speed, and maybe even more than Coffee, for sure more than our ST "dynamo" and house favorite Robinson. And Mr. House Favorite Robinson is NOTHING as a RB. Zero. Oh....yeah....I forgot.....he "picks up the blitz so well"..... eh.

So now we have....Coffee, and......well.....Coffee...... Good thing Gore plays every few weeks.

God forbid we have anyone with 4.3 speed who actually presents a different look as a possible edge burner or homerun type guy like he showed flashes of. Should've activated him to backup Coffee and cut Spurlock who does nothing. I'm starting to think this Spurlock is in the same category as Robinson -- he has pictures of York with some young hottie(or two) in a jacuzzi or something. Between the 2 of them I can't figure it out. "Blitz pickup" can only go so far, especially when you can't drop back more than 3 steps and they are coming like kamikazes from every angle anyway!

Good going Sing. Watch him make plays at Miami.

Jordan: Miss typed (as I often do),meant 2-0.
I actually agree with you about 80% on your Bruce comment. But I have a feeling that we will be very veryy glad later in the season that we have him .

Hey guys, look at the bright side...other teams like the Phins and CowTurds are taking our leftovers now. Its been a while since any team has plucked a player from our P Squad so that must mean we are getting better.

I thought we should have given Sheets a go at returning kicks. I think that would have been a good move. Also I think our best "Tazer" option would be to have Gore receive the snap with Sheets in motion, so it would have been Gore up the middle or Sheets on the outside. I trust the coaches so they must have seen something I didnt, but dispite his blocking problems I think we could have done something with him. Maybe he just didnt fit the mold. Feels like a mistake though

31 other teams for you to choose from,since you hate everything about the Niners !
Boo Hoo .

"And I like Spurlock,if he is used properly."

T_C , IMO, there are too many Spurlocks on this team, guys that are OK at several things but not REALLY good at anything. I guess they haven't used him right as of yet since the only thing I've seen is the ineffective taser and running by Harvin on the TD return in Minn.

I'd value Rathman's opinion of Sheets too, but my guess is we'll never hear it unless Sheets excels for Miami. So I guess that means I hope I never hear it.

Dirk said it best.

:)...you can't pay for this kind of comedy....lol

For those of you calling for Sheets to return punts and kicks just so he can be placed on the 53 man roster, I totally disagree. Punt returners are suppose to be very poised and most of all sure-handed under pressure. Imagine us in a very tight playoff game late in the fourth and having Sheets back there to return a punt at our 10 yard line. How many of you would prefer Sheets in that situation versus someone who is more sure-handed like Battle? Would you cringe and prey that he wouldn't muff or fumble?
On a side note, I heard Coach Sing on KNBR this morning and he said some changes are definitely going to happen with the O line, RG to be more specific. I think Snyder should go back to his backup role as well.

Comment: I'd value Rathman's opinion of Sheets too, but my guess is we'll never hear it

My response: Perhaps you've already heard it. Blitz pickup is Tom Rathman's baby. When Mike Singletary said Sheets was not ready to play in a game because of his faulty blitz pickup skills, I don't think it's difficult to connect the dots. --Matt M.

Skeebers, I have to disagree. There is a lot that can be proven in preseason.

What I think you might mean is preseason can not prove a new player is a going to be a star. It can definitely prove a player has upside or potential. But guarantees and absolutes are absent from what you see happening in the preseason.

Now the question that has to be asked is the upside or potential sheets had good enough to merit a roster spot.... ?

I would think the coaches know this answer the best. I wont be the one to second guess their choice.

This doesn't mean that sheets will not be a star or prove himself valuable. The people who decide these things are not flawless in their assessments, it just means based on the info they have he is not worth keeping at expense of a player already there.

I did not like this choice but I still have to think they knew best if he was worth keeping.

Now I will sit back since I agree with you that peoples responses are getting ridiculous "sky is falling"

I have concerns for our team but the sky is not falling. My personal concern looks like it is already going to be handled.

A lot of people on here seem to have caught that swine flu from that swine we have here that posts a lot. Patient zero.... I mean patient one.....niner

Matt, any guess why the Niners would try to claim DT Michael Bennett off waivers from Seattle? Who would they cut?

Not only was Sheets a weak blocker but from what I could see during pre-season, he seemed to be an un-willing blocker as well. You could teach blocking technique, you can't teach having the heart for blocking. Perhaps Sheets will flourish in the Wildcat as a ball carrier, just don't ask him to block...

Can anyone give me one good reason that Michael Robinson is still on this team? I'm sure he is a great guy and all that, but what threat does he pose to other teams? A player in a skilled position needs to be capable of making game changing plays. M-Rob does not meet that criteria.

I have a feeling we will be hearing alot more about Mr. Sheets, though.

Every Niner fan I know was terrified this would happen. The season is really over now. We have no RB who has speed, can get outside and is incredibly elusive in broken field. I guess this is why they got rid of him. The coaching decisions on the offensive side of the ball are an unmitigated disaster. Sheets was the only player who excited me in preseason. I won’t have the guts to watch the Dolphins for fear I will vomit when I see him running wild. Now we get to watch the great Michael Robinson run the ball, well after all, he is a great blocker. I would laugh if it was not so tragic.

Maybe Sheet's leaving is another consequence of the poor O-line play. Decent blocking has become the highest priority.

Glad to see we re-signed Kahlif Duckett . . . err . . . Mitchell to help the struggling O-Line.

So glad to see we re-signed Kahlif Duckett . . . err . . . Mitchell to help the struggling O-Line.

Maybe Sheet's being consigned to the practice squad is another consequence of the poor O-line play. Blocking has become the highest priority.

Good to see Kahlif Duckett . . . err . . . Mitchell back to help the struggling O-Line.

Wow . . . I see how that happens now . . . my message kept coming back with an error . . . I won't be so quick to roll my eyes the next time I see someone else to that.

Every Niner fan I know was terrified this would happen. The season is really over now. We have no RB who has speed, can get outside and is incredibly elusive in broken field. I guess this is why they got rid of him. The coaching decisions on the offensive side of the ball are an unmitigated disaster. Sheets was the only player who excited me in preseason. I won’t have the guts to watch the Dolphins for fear I will vomit when I see him running wild. Now we get to watch the great Michael Robinson run the ball, well after all, he is a great blocker. I would laugh if it was not so tragic.

It wasn't good losing Sheets but everyone is OVERREACTING HUGE! This guy played in the Big 10, not even a top 5 conference anymore, he is UNDERSIZED, the main reason he can't pick up a pass rusher and why everyone passed over him through 7 rounds. They didn't just lose the next Barry Sanders here. Rossum is a the end of the line coming off a major injury and showed nothing this year. If you want to question why Michael Robinson, Arnaz Battle, Mark Roman, and Jeff Ulbrich are still on the roster then I'm all ears. The only thing that really bothers me about Jimmy Raye is why he continues to call "Bubble Screens" ALL THE TIME! Most LAME play in NFL history, save it for the colleges!

seems like those bubble screens are brilliant when you watch the colts run it every 5th play.

Hi Matt, It seems the collective consensus is that getting rid of Sheets was the wrong move, I agree. Okay the guy can't pass protect then put him in for a handful of plays and pitch it out to the edge for a change of pace. This team wants to pound over center and guard but doesn't have the horses up front. It's a shame, we never gave him a shot. If they pick up a running back from the scrap heap you know they are clueless. Rossum was a gentleman and the best return man we've had since I can't remember when. You can bet he'll take it to the house again.

Well, looks like he is moving on to a decent team that actually is getting better as the season goes on. Good for him.

Trim the WR down to 5.

They could have singed an OL or S with one spot
And kept Sheets with the other.

Ok Sheets can't block that well, so who cares. He is running kicks back b/c rossum is gone. Plus he has a couple packages designed for him. Screen, sweep, Taser, toss, draw... Line him up in the slot. He will be blocking by playoffs.

Can't wait to hear MM grill Sing and the team for this one... explain why Sing, why??

Don't placate us with, "...I'm happy with the guys I have, I know the ycan do it..." Sing, we need to see results at some point and two 80 yard runs and nothing else in 5 games is terrible.

I think the team will bounce back, but the Niners have big problems. Big problems.

Matt, or anyone- If the niners are undefeated in the division at the end of the season, but have a losing record, are they eligible to win the division and go on to the playoffs?

Matt,
I understand as a rookie that's the main reason he was put on the PS but was it terminal? They still must have thought he had some upside as a runner to put him on the PS to begin with. They have all these other packages for part time players(Spurlock,etc) and they telegraph their running plays anyway, so put him in and give him the ball, no pass protection needed. IMO he showed way more potential than Clayton ever showed and maybe Coffee as a pure runner and even you have to admit they really could use more speed on the offense. He was worth taking a look at under fire especially under existing circumstances. My point is that Rathman probably didn't have the final call.

Too much versatility and not enough skill plus speed in the skill positions right now. Also, you have to admit the Niners take way too long to develop young talent.

Just so you know my frame of reference and don't think I'm one of these fair weather fans, I've been a Niner fan longer than you've been on this planet so I"ve stuck with them through some pretty bleak times. I'll probably continue to do so until it kills me or they get better.

Matt or anyone, if the 49ers are undefeated in the division at the end of the season, but have a losing record overall, are they still eligible to win the division and go to the playoffs?

I have to think the coaching staff and GM know more than us fans. Having said that, it seems like a terrible move to let Sheets get away. If he goes to Miami and is a significant contributor, this could be the straw that broke McC's back. He's already assembled potentially the worst offense in the NFL talent wise. Letting Sheets go, could prove to be the move that exposes McC's shortcomings in talent evaluation.

Sorry about the double post. My bad.

Matt,

I understand that's why he only made it to the PS, but was it terminal? My point was that Rathman probably didn't make the final call.
With all their special packages and the fact they telegraph their running plays anyway, put him in to run outside, no pass protection needed. You have to admit they need more speed in their skill positions.
Just so you know my frame of reference and don't think I'm one of the fair weather fans, I've been a Niner fan since the late 50's so I've seen the other bleak times too. After watching the 80s and early 90's, this is definitely a lot more frustrating! Hope this isn't a duplicate post.

Do we get compensated with a draft pick?

I heard a terrible statistic about the Niners on NFL Network. We lead the league on 3 and outs. Odd, isn't it,

Of course they are eligible. All they have to do is beat the other 3 teams records (Hawks,Cards,Rams). If they tie with one or more of those teams,there are tie breakers that have a lot to do with head to head and division records,etc.

LOL !!!

BOO HOO,what a bunch of crybabies.
The sky is falling!!! LOL !
We are in 1st place ! Things are heading in the right direction with Jed and McGloughan and Sing.
Grow up and act like men !!!
Try to have fun or get a new hobby.

I heard a terrible statistic about the Niners on NFL Network. We lead the league on 3 and outs. Odd, isn't it,

Our team is in the first place in our division after 5 games for the first time, in what, seven years? And the happiness of the fans is palpable.

Sheets is signed by the Dolphins because they lost their third stringer, and from the postings it almost appears that it was some sort of a disaster for the Niners. I vaguely recall such lamentations about Thomas Clayton, another pre-season HOFer.

I mean what does Tom Rathman know about evaluating a running back whom he has observed in practice for the better part of 6 months?

Fuzzy: I will help you out since you are obviously a new fan and don't keep up with the team.
Robinson is a backup RB and backup FB and CAPTAIN of the Special Teams. He is the best blocker on special teams when we receive the ball and he is the or at least one of the best tacklers when we kick off or punt.
I agree that he is not a first rate RB,but he is first rate in the other areas.
I would not be upset if he was gone next year,but until we get a better option,he is the guy,live with it.

Marco,I heard another statistic on NFL Network tonight,we are in 1st place in the NFC West !

Lets hope all the stats get that good !!!

So,is Wragge going to RG or is Snyder going back to RG ,with Pashos at RT and maybe Wragge going in for Baas atr LG ???
Changes are coming,but how drastic ?
Give Hill a second more back there and the offense will improve dramatically !!!

9er1:
You are joking,right ?
Have you ever actually seen a game and have you actually ever seen Robinson block? I am not a big Robinson fan but at least I recognize what he does do well.
I understand you are upset about the game and about sheets etc,but ,try to be rational and don't let emotion totally run your brain.

Sorry about the dup. posts...kept saying failure comments, submission error...FRUSTRATING!

I just heard Gary Plummer say that Jeff Ulbrich is so messed up from his concussions that he got lost driving himself to practice the other day !
It looks like if he wants to be able to have a real life,that he is done with football.
The trade deadline is in about a week,do you think we will fill the Ulbrich spot with a free agent or from out PS or will we make a trade ?

TOP CAT - You MUST do MORE than play STs to occupy a precious spot on a 53 man roster...pulease! And that's all the guy does, is STs...his "backup RB" role is terrible, he is simply a live breathing body back there. Surely you must realize the importance of having difference makers on the 53, and Robinson has never made a play for this team! He is a house favorite for some reason! You can get and teach many guys to be good STers....we need a RB with 4.3 speed to make plays, we don't need MR and his 5.0 speed running into a cloud of dust!

Just ignor the submission error notification. The message will post in a few minutes. If you keep trying to post it,it will get posted every time you click the post button. It's just a glitch in the site ,that they never fix.

TOP CAT - You MUST do MORE than play STs to occupy a precious spot on a 53 man roster...pulease! And that's all the guy does, is STs...his "backup RB" role is terrible, he is simply a live breathing body back there. Surely you must realize the importance of having difference makers on the 53, and Robinson has never made a play for this team! He is a house favorite for some reason! You can get and teach many guys to be good STers....we need a RB with 4.3 speed to make plays, we don't need MR and his 5.0 speed running into a cloud of dust!

Mike! What MUST be remembered is the 49ers are 3 and 2. That means their above 500 and the last I looked they are in first place! They have all the tie breakers so far! And this is without their best running back and maybe the best in the NFL! All better than last year with arguably the same team except for Hill and Norris and Martz's joke of an offense. In addition they have all these positives with a team that many commenters are crying about!
Crying about Hill at QB! The receivers are lousy and slow! The OL is miserable! The defense stinks and has no pass rush! The DB's are slow to the ball!
Also MS is loser and doesn't know what he's doing and isn't like Bill Walsh! Raye is a crumy play caller! He isn't an OC like the past OC's that were under Walsh and Siefert! And I forgot...we need to dig up Bob McKittrick and replace the current OL coach with his body! Dallas just stole our best player! Excuse me...Miami stole our new best player! ON and ON and ON!
Let me tell ALL you rush to the life boat commenters! All that matters is a win! STOP your woulda, shoulda, coulda's! With this percentage of winning, we'll be in the playoffs! Book it! Last year you all were crying that if we could just be 500 we'd be happy! Now what do you want? 13 and 3? Or 12 and 4?
For God's sake! We played bad and had a lousy loss! Did it knock us out of the playoffs! NO!

Mike! What MUST be remembered is the 49ers are 3 and 2. That means their above 500 and the last I looked they are in first place! They have all the tie breakers so far! And this is without their best running back and maybe the best in the NFL! All better than last year with arguably the same team except for Hill and Norris and Martz's joke of an offense. In addition they have all these positives with a team that many commenters are crying about!
Crying about Hill at QB! The receivers are lousy and slow! The OL is miserable! The defense stinks and has no pass rush! The DB's are slow to the ball!
Also MS is loser and doesn't know what he's doing and isn't like Bill Walsh! Raye is a crumy play caller! He isn't an OC like the past OC's that were under Walsh and Siefert! And I forgot...we need to dig up Bob McKittrick and replace the current OL coach with his body! Dallas just stole our best player! Excuse me...Miami stole our new best player! ON and ON and ON!
Let me tell ALL you rush to the life boat commenters! All that matters is a win! STOP your woulda, shoulda, coulda's! With this percentage of winning, we'll be in the playoffs! Book it! Last year you all were crying that if we could just be 500 we'd be happy! Now what do you want? 13 and 3? Or 12 and 4?
For God's sake! We played bad and had a lousy loss! Did it knock us out of the playoffs! NO!

9er1:
Robinson does at least 3 jobs to earn his spot (unlike rossum,who did only 1 thing).
Robinson is the ST's Captain,he is a RB and a FB.

Lee is only a punter and Nedney is only a kicker and Jennings is just a long snapper. They all do only one thing(1/3 as much as Robinson) and yet they have also earned a spot on the 53. I won't cry when Robinson is replaced,but right now he is THE man.
And if you want to tell the staff how foolish they are,write them a letter.Or better yet,send in your resume and I am sure they will put you in charge of player personnel and get rid of all the people they have who know nothing,even though they have worked in the NFL all their lives.
LOL

Question: if the 49ers are undefeated in the division at the end of the season, but have a losing record overall, are they still eligible to win the division and go to the playoffs?

My response: The winner of each of the eight divisions advance to the playoffs -- regardless of their records. (All that matters is that their record is better than any other team in the division). --Matt M.

Congrats Matt,

bet you didn't realize a guy getting picked up off the PS could elicit this many responses.

MATT,

Can you PLEASE get the glitch FIXED on your blog site so that we don't get 2 dozen duplicate blogs posted daily? It's really very, very annoying.

Thank you.
Niner Mom

I think Kory Sheets is a very special talent but he belongs in a more adventurous game plan than ours If we are still dedicated to imposing our will then speed and and the attendant unpredictable play calling that triggers it are trumped by strength.Since our o-line hasn't looked very imposing that kind of speed and surprise would make defenses more tentative and hence take pressure off the o-line.That being said,I trust Coach Sing to adapt as he did last year when he made changes so the game fit the players' skills.

I was in SHOCK today when I learned that Sheets was picked up off waivers by Miami. I never DREAMED that the 49ers would let this young, speedy talented RB go! Was he really unteachable at blocking?

I don't know which person is responsible for our loss: Rathman, McCloughan, Singletary, or Raye, but I will put in my best effort to find out from inside the 49ers organization, where I am known.

I have recently written TWICE to have Sheets promoted to the roster to try him out at KR/PR and back-up RB, at least on a trial basis, especially seeing Coffee limping off the field last game--even before we got Gore back (in God knows what condition). You never have enough RB's; they take such a beating, especially when forced constantly "up the middle."

I also thought that Spurlock was expendable. (What has he done for us lately?) Not since TC have I seen much from him. Instead we are not using our more solid WR's. I sure hope that Old Man Isaac starts picking up his game; he's getting good at dropping balls, kind of reminds me lately of TO's butter fingers. Sorry, Bruce.

I'm sorry to be this negative. I love my team and players on an individual basis. Right now, I'm still in a state of shock over losing what I considered a great potential player at RB just when we might be needing him. I still can't believe Management made this decision when we don't really have any other RB's outside of Gore & Coffee.

If the OC would only vary the manner in which the RB gets the ball, we wouldn't be having so many consistent failures at running the ball. I think Raye is just being obstinate! Or clueless.

And who doesn't know that "if it's 3rd down, it's time to throw the ball to Vernon"? All the competitors know it! And they're ready for it. No variation. Too predictable.

And why? Because usually 3rd down is LONG because we keep trying to push up the middle against a stacked box! If it's not OBSTINACY, then it must be due to something worse! Law of physics is not a figment of reality--it's REAL--2 objects occupying the same space at the same time.

I love our team too much to see the beating they are taking when the OC has no creativity. Sorry, but I'm really ticked off! And it's not due to being a bandwagon fan; I die with my "sons"! I just don't like seeing what they have to battle against unnecessarily.

Niner Mom

Sheets will do well in Miami's wildcat... and terry can I suggest a movie?? Willard...

The season is really over now.

Because of the loss of a practice squad player? Ha! That's the funniest thing I've read in a while. If that is truly the case my man, then how the mighty have fallen! Lol!

We didn't lose 2 players this week. We lost 4! Jeff Ulbrich is done and Lewis should not be allowed on the field. This is the NFL...this really going to be a long two weeks....

Top Cat, Why are you wanting changes on the OL? We are in first place? Quit whining you whiney whiner Niner Fan. What is wrong with Baas and Rachal? They are blocking for a first place team! We are in first place at 3-2. No Changes. Why worry about one more second for Hill when we are in first place. We don't need Sheets, we don't need anything. We are in first place, get it? The world is round and a happy place. ;-)

You keep telling us you are no Michael Robinson fan, but you are far and away his biggest supporter here! The fact still remains: he is a backup at a position he does not play well. We need depth at RB, and those backups must be able gain yards with the ball.

Also, please take it easy on the "submit" button, big fella.

Another bad move by niner management. Let's see how their running attack fares when Coffee gets hurt (forget about Gore and his gimpy ankles, he's done) and we have to line up with Michael-slow-to-the-hole-no-vision-Robinson.

Another bad move by niner management. Let's see how their running attack fares when Coffee gets hurt (forget about Gore and his gimpy ankles, he's done) and we have to line up with Michael-slow-to-the-hole-no-vision-Robinson.

I skipped the majority of previous post on this Blog so sorry if I am repeating what someone else may have already said --
Sure, Kory Sheets adds a edge-speed dimension to the Running game, and we all would have liked to see him added to the Roster and get a chance to play.
Food for thought: He went undrafted - passed up by all 32 teams, 7 Rds passed, and 244 players selected. Did 32 GM's and 32 HC's make a mistake? Hhmmmm .... just a thought. Dolphins also have a couple of guys named Brown and Williams, so playing time (if any)will be very minimal there. Good luck KS, but don't be surprised if you see him on the PS again some time in the future ................ Go Niners!!!

We are bringing back a DT to try as an OL? It must be an easy position to learn, I guess.

Sorry for the snark, but you have to admit, it is a big, wtf.

Sheets was passed over because he made a dumb comment and his coach wouldn't endorse him.Talent wise,most draft analysts projected him higher than Coffee.Your rationale would have justified cutting Colston,even Brady,.Just because organizations know more than we doesn't mean they don't make big-time mistakes.

Barley, you weren't the only one with that thought. Another change of positon experiment.

"Just because organizations know more than we doesn't mean they don't make big-time mistakes".

Truthpeddler, it wouldn't surprise me if there weren't a whole lot of knowledgable fans out there who could make as good as or better decisions than some of these organizations.

My problem with Sheets being let go is the Niners need more racehorses and fewer plowhorses. Even the receivers Jones and J. Hill(both with speed) don't play that often while Bruce and Morgan are not much better than possession receivers now. The attitude seems to be: so what if their defense keeps loading the box with 8 or 9 guys we're going to run it up the middle anyway. They need to stretch the field atleast a little bit.

Robinson is not a suitable backup at running back - he does not have the vision or quickness needed to hit the hole effectively, and forget about running outside the tackles.

Gore is clearly not going to make it through a full season, probably for the rest of his career, due to his gimpy ankles, so we better have a Plan C available for when Coffee gets hurt. Too bad Sheets is gone, he would have been a much better 3rd stringer than Robinson.

Michael Robinson is not an NFL running back.

You prefer Battle because he doesn't muff?

Yikes.

Robinson is NOT the backup at RB (Coffee is),Robinson is the 3rd option. He IS the backup at FB and he IS a great blocker and can catch the ball out of the backfield fairly well. And in addition to all that I have just mentioned,he IS the Captain of the Special Teams. Add that all up and he clearly earns his roster spot,until they get a better replacement for him.(which hopefully will be next year)

But I do agree that he certainly is not an NFL caliber RB,but that doesn't matter much does it,since the staff had determined that he is one of the 53 most valuable players they can get right now.

And Fuzzy...You are correct that I am no Robinson fan,just an observer of the facts. (and not acting like an irrational child,like so many here seem to be doing.). It's really funny to me how some irrational fans(fan = short for fanatic,so I guess I should not be surprised,lol) either are blind and can never see anything wrong with their team or else they whine that the sky is falling. Most of us that are not on the lunatic fringes,see that facts and logically seek out reality in these matters.
So I point out ,exactly what Sing pointed out,that changes need to be made to the O line etc etc. Changes ARE happening right now on the O line,so I am justifies in my observations by the coaching staff...see the difference from the looney ,so called fans ,who turn into hatefull jerks,everytime their team does anything they don't agree with,no matter what the facts are ?
The sky is not falling but neither are we likely to win the SB this season.
But the REALITY is that the team is on the right path now ,with Jed and Scott and Sing. That is simply a reasonable statement ,not a fanatical tantrum by an unstable and childish poster,as we have seen so much of after a loss and will continue to see,because immature fans will always be with us.

I do not think it was wise to release sheets. With the way the O line is playing and the plays Raye is calling, we will end up with some injured running backs. We have too many WR's that are not being used. We havent even yet seen Hill or Zeigler on the field. Should have released a WR and get Sheets on the active roster. We were very lucky that Coffee didnt also injure himself the past two games, that would have left Robinson as the only back left. I understand the coach's observations that sheets is not good picking up blitz in pass protection. With the O line not doing their job, you really need a competent HB blocking. I think this season we will see at least one HB end up on IR.

Well Jan,it is now obvious that you have absolutly NO influence with anyone in the 49ers organization. Too bad,I liked Sheets and was hoping he would be around next year if we didn't get someone better by then.
And who knows,he might be available again at the end of the year anyway,if Miami cuts him loose after thay no longer need him. We might pick him up again next TC ?

And Jan,when a player is taken off out PS,we don't have a choice in the matter,you do know that right,with all your inside info,lol.

Amen,GilroyAl.

Amen,GilroyAl.