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 was not on the defense, even though they gave up a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter, but on the offense because they could not sustain any drives in the second-half to keep the D off the field.  Broken rib or not, if you are going up against a tired defense a team will find a way to win.

(more…)

Heading into Sunday’s game against the Bengals we knew the final result was not going to be a shot out but scoring more than one touchdown would have made it more exciting.  The 49ers offense is in transition like the Bengals who are lead by a rookie quarterback.  Touchdowns were at a premium during the game as the first and only TD came with 4:04 minutes left in the fourth quarter.  The 49ers offense struggled again for most of the game but luckily the defense was able to hold the Bengals offense.  The win was ugly but we will take it for a 2-1 start to the season.  Let’s hand out some Game Gold Nuggets.

GGN Scale: 

= OUTSTANDING

= VERY GOOD

= GOOD

= AVERAGE

= HORRIBLE

(more…)

With the 49ers going up against the Bengals on Sunday Niner Noise teamed up with Cody Byers who is editor of Stripe Hype for a Q&A.  Head over to the Bengals blog to see to our answers.  Enjoy!

Q.  The Bengals were close to starting 2-0 last week and rookie quarterback Andy Dalton looks to be the real deal in the first two games with 413 passing yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions.  What is Dalton’s best ability that makes him a good quarterback?

His best ability is his mental grasp of the game. Dalton had a shortened preseason and already he’s telling other players where to line up. OC Jay Gruden is letting Dalton have a lot of control over the play at the line and so far it’s paid off.

(more…)