Archive for September, 2011

Sunday I will be in Philadelphia representing NinerNoise.com  at the 49ers vs. Eagles week 4 matchup. I expect it to be a very tough game for the 49ers to win as the offense has struggled both in the running and passing game. The 49ers will need their offensive line to get things together  if they ever want this offense to take off this season. While injuries haven’t helped the offense as a whole other than the OL the other offensive position groups have graded out well. Speaking of injuries 49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh actually said something in regards to [...]

The 49ers did not travel back to the West coast after last weeks game in Cincinnati as Jim Harbaugh had the team set up shop in Youngstown, Ohio for the week so the 49ers did not have to travel cross-country two weeks in a row.  The 49ers will need all the help they can get going up against the Eagles on Sunday as they face their toughest opponent of the season so far.  Injuries on both teams could be the reason why one of the teams comes out on top.  The 49ers are looking to start a winning streak and [...]

We can blame Alex Smith or the injuries to Frank Gore, Braylon Edwards and Michael Crabtree for the lack of a 49ers offense this season but the real blame lies with the offensive line.  You need no further evidence of how badly the 49ers O-line is playing than the false start called on the entire offensive line in the win against the Bengals last week.  Not one or two players were called for the penalty, but the entire offensive line.  I have never heard a ref say, “false start, offense, the entire offensive line.”  Watch as the 49ers’ entire offensive [...]

Eagles Quarter Back Michael Vick has suffered 2 serious injuries in the season’s first 3 weeks first a concussion then a badly bruised right hand last week.  Vick’s injury was at first believed to be a fracture that would have cost him 3-6 weeks of the season was later revealed to only be a bruise but a bad one at that.  Still Vick has practiced all week and expressed confidence that he will play Sunday vs San Francisco even going as far as saying he’s “100 percent” sure he will play Sunday.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has left two of the three games this season due to injuries.  In week two Vick suffered a concussion and in week three he bruised his right hand leaving both games early.  Not surprisingly the Eagles lost both games Vick did not finish.  Going back to last season Vick has 206 QB hits when dropping back for passes.  This season the Eagles offensive line is similar to the 49ers offensive line in that neither can pass protect.  The Eagles O-line has allowed 20 QB hits, tied for sixth most in the NFL, and five sacks this [...]

With Alex Smith completing 68.9% of his passes, Frank Gore healthy, and Kendal Hunter filling in the gaps, the team is playing a level above the 49ers of the last several years. Jim Harbaugh’s game plan and play calling is keeping the ball in the 49ers hands an average of five extra minutes a game, when compared to the last several years. With so much improvement, the question is what is holding back the 49ers from the amazing success from playoff and super bowl predecessors?   The answer is simple, and has plagued the 49ers since Erickson. Despite the best [...]

Describing the 49ers 13-8 win over the Bengals to fellow NFL fans, I have used “ugly”, “we’ll take it and the 2-1 start” and “a win is a win” most commonly.  All game the defense once again put the offense in position to score points, the only problem was they only scored two field goals, one touchdown and punted seven times.  Alex Smith and the offense can thank the defense for being able to stop the Bengals offense all game and not let the win slip away in the final minutes like against the Cowboys.  The loss to the Cowboys [...]

  As an NFL fan, heck as a person you should never root for someone to hurt themselves, pretty basic value in society something we teach our kids. Yet I’m sure every fan of the San Francisco 49ers couldn’t help but smile when Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick was injured in week 3. After initial reports indicated that Vick had in fact broken his right (non-throwing) hand and would be out 2-4 weeks I’ll admit I wasn’t just smiling I was flat out excited. After a tough, grind it out win in Cincinnati staying on the East Coast and facing a [...]

Kendall Hunter sure did look like he had a lot more burst Sunday vs. Cincinnati than Frank Gore did.  This season Gore has gotten off to a slow start and had a miserable game Sunday.  It appeared at first Gore had been benched late in the game in favor of Hunter as the team went to more of outside running game. Gore apparently suffered yet another ankle injury and said he was unable to make some of the runs especially cuts he needed to to be effective.  Gore’s status was uncertain as the news of his injury broke now it [...]

For the last nine seasons the 49ers have averaged around twenty-eight minutes of possession. So far this season the 49ers have average just over thirty-two minutes of possession per game. Coaches like Erickson, Nolan, and Singletary all believed in controlling the clock, but in the end it never translated into reality. Those new to the mysteries of coaching, controlling the clock is as much an art as it is science. Coaches make their game plans and contingencies to account for as much as it can. However the coach must be able to make the calls on the fly, toughest of [...]