Niner Noise » Brandon Jones

Niners Ride 7 Turnovers to Victory

Eric Melendez — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:43:12 +0000

49ers Win Big

Regardless of last week’s result against the Seahawks last night’s Monday Night Football game was a must win for the 49ers. If they had beaten the Seahawks and with the win last night the 49ers would have pulled within one of the game the NFC West title along with the owning the tiebreaker against the Cardinals. The Niners are still technically alive for a playoff spot but in order for them to win the NFC West the Cardinals need lose their last three games (Lions, Rams, Packers) which seems unlikely but more importantly the Niners need to win to take care of themselves and win out the last three games (Eagles, Lions, Rams) to hope for a long shot spot in the playoffs. The 49ers have two teams in front of them for the wild card, Giants and Falcons. With the NFC East being played out like a slugfest and with the Falcons big two playmakers in Matt Ryan and Michael Turner hurting and not at 100% there is a small window for the 49ers to creep up in the playoff standings. Nonetheless the way the 49ers came out and defeated a very good Cardinals team that embarrassed the playoff bound Vikings last week the performance by the team, especially the D, showed that no matter the previous weeks results they learn from it, let it go and can come out and beat a team favored to win 24-9. Let’s hand out some game gold nuggets:

(Game gold nuggets are based on a one to five scale, one being the lowest, five being the highest)

OFFENSE :

Anytime you switch to a spread offense your run game will suffer. With rushing attempts of 9, 16 and 7 in the past three games for a total of 117 rushing yards it looked as though the 49ers best offensive player, Frank Gore, was becoming an afterthought in the run as offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye tried to suite the offense to Alex Smith’s abilities. Being down in the second half in two of the last three games the switch was natural for the team looking for any type of offense and a quick score. However last night Raye showed that the 49ers can still run the spread to move the offense but when the clock needs to be ran out to preserve a win you can always count on Gore. With 25 rushing attempts for 167 yards, 6.7 average per carry and one touchdown Gore reminded everyone that he is the best offensive player on the Niners and that offense should run, literally, through him. Smith did not have a spectacular game stat wise completing 19 of 35 passes for 144 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions but he ran the spread offense effectively. With the defense creating turnovers that got the offense back Smith’s two interceptions only yielded nine points for the Cardinals. But what does not show up in the stat book is how poised and how much of a presence Smith had on the field last night commanding the offense. Smith is emerging out of his old shell and becoming a quarterback that you can rely on in passing situations.

There were times last night when Smith and Michael Crabtree were off as far as knowing where the receiver was going to be and where the quarterback was going to throw. This is one of the negative side effects I see with Crabtree missing so much time before signing with the Niners but this is something that will correct itself as Smith and Crabtree work more with each other and it becomes instinct on where the two know the ball will be thrown and where the Crabtree needs to be. Crabtree finished with 5 receptions for 67 yards with one touchdown. His lone touchdown catch of the night gave the 49er Faithful a glimpse of his athletic ability and what to expect in the future when he pulled down a pass out of the air, continued running along the route and stiff-armed his way for a 35-yard touchdown. That gave the Niners a 17-0 halftime lead and added momentum on top of the five turnovers by the 49ers D in the first-half. The 49ers offense is starting to roll and finding its identity as maybe a pass first team but when the time calls for it they run the football effectively whether out of the spread or normal formations.

Another reason for the 49ers success last night was the excellent play by the offensive line that lead Gore to a big rushing night and protected Smith giving up only one sack. The play that stood out the most to me by the O-line was on Gore’s 36-yard run in the first quarter with right guard David Baas leading the way with a crucial block that allowed Gore’s big gain. Individually the O-line stats don’t show up in the box score but when you only give up one sack, the offense rushes for 189 yards and have 36:45 time of possession the offensive line as a whole has had a great game

DEFENSE :

The 49ers defense last night was stellar in all aspects: Seven turnovers, five in the first half, that included two interceptions (INT), seven forced fumbles (FF) recovering five of them to go along with 4 sacks. The D got everyone involved with interceptions by safety Dashon Goldson, who also had 2 FF, and cornerback Tarell Brown. The five fumbles were recovered by defensive end Parys Haralson, cornerback Dre’ Bly, safety Mark Roman forced the fumble he recovered and defensive end Justin Smith. Linebacker Ahmad Brooks was the most impressive with a FF and recovery to go along with three sacks. It is well known how good of an offense the Cardinals have and with the way quarterback Kurt Warner was playing the last four games in which he had 12 touchdown passes and no interceptions with at least a 120 passer rating in each of the games the 49ers D proved it is a force to be reckon with. The 49ers D have been great against the run this year but it was the weak play against the passing game that opponents exploited so to shutdown a high-powered offense like the Cardinals (Anquan Boldin 5 receptions for 40 yards; Larry Fitzgerald 2 receptions for 22 yards) and limiting their big play makers the 49ers D showed to the nation how good their defense can be and how they rise to the occasion.

A lot has been said about Alex Smith and his development as a quarterback being hindered because of all the various offensive coordinators he has been through. The 49ers D have shown what the team can develop into if they have consistent coordinators on the sideline. Greg Manusky is in his third year as the 49ers defensive coordinator and with big games this year against the Rams (five turnovers, shutout), Colts (held Peyton Manning and company to 18 points) and holding Pro Bowl running backs Steven Jackson, Adrian Peterson, Michael Turner and Maurice Jones-Drew all under 100 rushing yards the 49ers are showing a blueprint for the offensive side of the football.

SPECIAL TEAMS :

The only blot on the special teams was Joe Nedney’s 53 yard miss in the second quarter. It was a long field goal but there was no wind last night at the ‘Stick. Because of the defenses performance the missed field goal did not matter but at the time the 49ers were to add to a 10-0. 53 yards is within Nedney’s kicking distance and he will need to make these kicks in the last three games of the season. Andy Lee was his normal self averaging 41.2 yards on each punt. He did shank one punt in the third quarter that set up a Cardinals field goal. The big play of the game on special teams came from defensive end Ray McDonald who blocked an extra point which made the score 17-9.

COACHING :

A lot of credit has to be given to Mike Singletary in the way he prepared the 49ers for last night’s game and for making the team forget about the tough loss against the Seahawks that was a win within their reach. Offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye called a great game by starting out in the spread formation and passing a lot making the Cardinals D think that was going to be the case all night. But slowly and effectively Raye called running plays for Gore and it worked out to their advantage. Another great defensive scheme was set-up by defensive coordinator Greg Manusky. The 49ers brought pressure all night on Warner and made him look like a rookie and forced him to throw into double coverage. Manusky masked his zone coverage very well and most passing downs he was dropping seven into the zone and on one play only had two rushers and the 49ers caused an interception. What the coaches need to do now is make sure the 49ers can carry this confidence and momentum over to the next three games if the Niners even want to entertain thoughts of making the playoffs.

Up Next @ Philly:

The 49ers will travel to Philadelphia on Sunday against an Eagles team fighting for the NFC East. The 49ers have only won once on the road this year which was in week one against the Cardinals and the 49ers have a short week. Anything is possible but the 49ers will need a performance like last night to be able to keep up with the Eagles.

Niners Pick Cutler Five Times, End Losing Streak

Eric Melendez — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:59:42 +0000

Michael Lewis secures 49ers win

The win was ugly but it was a win nonetheless and ended the 49ers four-game losing streak. Thanks to Bears quarterback Jay Cutler for continuing his best impression of Bret Favre by trying to pass into tight spots and throwing five picks. Much of the credit has to go to defensive coordinator Greg Manusky who drew up a game plan that attacked what the Bears do best which is the pass. Even though Cutler threw for 307 yards the 49ers defense executed Manusky’s game plan to almost perfection as the 49ers leaned on their defense to win the game. Tarell Brown, Mark Roman, Aubrayo Franklin, Dashon Goldson and Michael Lewis were the five Niners to intercept Cutler. Let’s hand out some game gold nuggets.

OFFENSE

The offense only gets one gold nugget because the lone bright spot on offense for the 49ers was the lone touchdown scored in the game by running back Frank Gore who rushed for 104 yards. Other than Gore the offense was not very productive. I thought Alex Smith was going to have a career game passing for over 300 yards but he only managed 118 passing yards completing 16 of 23 passes with no touchdowns and one interception. Only one turnover for Smith which is good but for the 49ers offense to score only one touchdown on the five picks shows more that the 49ers offense is still developing with Smith and the spread formation rather than the Bears playing a good defensive game. As unproductive as Smith was he was able to lead a drive in the fourth quarter that ran 6:14 off of the clock. The 49ers did not get a score but running off almost half of the fourth quarter proved to be the key to the 49ers win. Cutler drove the Bears down to the 49ers 1-yard line with eight seconds left on the clock. Had the bears offense had more time for one more play could have been the difference between a 3-6 record and the 49ers imploding and a 4-5 record and the 49ers still being in the hunt for the playoffs.

With wider receiver Isaac Bruce inactive due to an ankle injury the 49ers went with youth at wide receiver with Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan and Jason Hill. The 49ers Faithful saw for the first time the future of the 49ers at wide out and although they did not have a big game the trio is something to look out for the rest of the season. Crabtree lead all receivers with four receptions for 48 yards, Morgan had three receptions for 24 yards and Hill had just one catch for five yards. Not spectacular but all three wide receivers have huge potential in the 49ers new offensive philosophy.

Singletary decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 on the Bears 46-yard line in the third quarter with a QB sneak up the middle. The 49ers could not gain the needed yard and the Bears took over and eventually got a field goal. Singletary was shown talking to his offensive line after the play probably asking why can’t five 300 plus pound men move the line of scrimmage one yard forward. He then probably followed up with some encouragement. But not getting a first down is a cause of concern. With 49ers only up 7-3 in the third quarter the offense needs to capitalize on a play like that. If the Bears would have scored a touchdown on the drive that followed the 49ers would still have their losing streak.

DEFENSE

This is the first time I have given out five gold nuggets but the defense deserves it not only for the five interceptions but also because they were the reason why the 49ers pulled out the victory. The offense was only able to convert one touchdown out of the five interceptions which going forward the Niners need to do a better job of but once the defense was given a 7-0 lead they never looked back and forced Cutler to throw five picks. The two biggest picks of the game were the two times the Bears reached inside the 49ers five-yard line and both ended in interceptions with the last one securing the Niners win as time expired. Cutler is known to throw picks but the 49ers defense were quick to react to passes by breaking them up. There were two other almost interceptions as the 49ers secondary did a great job of covering the Bears receivers and limiting WR Devin Hester to seven receptions for 48 yards and TE Greg Olsen to seven receptions for 75 yards. Once again the 49ers front line stopped another great running back. Matt Forte only managed 41 rushing yards on 20 carries and averaged a messily 2.1 per carry. The 49ers could not keep Forte in check in catches as he led the Bears with 8 receptions for 120 yards. Overall this was the best game defensively played by the 49ers this season as they came into the game with five picks all season and doubled their total to ten by the end of the game.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Usually kicker Joe Nedney and punter Andy Lee are automatic on special teams. However Nedney missed a 39 yard field goal on the 49ers first possession of the game which could have been the difference between a win and a loss had Cutler thrown a touchdown in the final seconds. Special teams always gets overlooked even when they play well but when they could have cost you the game the glaring mistakes are front and center. Pro Bowl punter Lee had been playing well punting the football inside the 20-yard line 19 times so far this season but he did not have a good game last night. Before the Bears final push to try to score a touchdown to pull out the win Lee punted after the 49ers ran 6:14 off the clock but booted it into the end zone. Normally Lee is great at placing his punts where he wants to but he was off yesterday all game. The return game was nothing special yet again. Punt returner Brandon Jones only had one return for 4 yards and kickoff returner Arnaz Battle had 2 returns for 24 and 26 yards.

COACHING

Three game gold nuggets go to defensive coordinator Manusky for drawing up a great game plan for the Bears and for getting his defense prepared in only three days. Manusky called the right blitz’s at the right time and had his safety’s stay back most of the game to keep the Bears from throwing a deep pass which the 49ers have given up numerous times this season. For a defense that had not had a turnover since October 11 to get five picks all while not recording a sack is a step in the right direction for the D.

Singletary and all of the 49ers coaching staff did a great job in getting their team prepared during such a short week after coming off of four straight losses. The short week could have been the reason why both offenses yesterday had such a poor performance but that did not translate to the defense for either team. Kudos to Singletary going for it on 4th-and-1 in the third quarter but a better play could have been called by Jimmy Raye than a QB sneak up the middle. Raye continued his use of the shotgun and spread formations which is good for Alex Smith when running the offense. Even though Raye had his offense run off over six minutes off the clock in the fourth I think he was too conservative on the drive as he called ten rushes and only one pass in the 49ers final drive. We got the win so I guess it does not matter but I was having visions of week three and the Vikings getting the football back with plenty of time to score the winning touchdown after conservative running plays forced the 49ers to punt. Again, the receiver was in the back of the end zone waiting for the winning pass to be caught but this time the Niners had safety Michael Lewis covering the receiver and picking off the pass ending the game in favor of the 49ers this time.

Next up

@ Green Bay. The 49ers will look to take advantage of the nine days off they have now and until week 11. The Packers lost last week against the Buccaneers in a demoralizing loss that gave the Bucs their first win of the season. The Packers will play the resurgent Cowboys this weekend at home so there is a high possibility the 49ers could be facing a team on a two game losing streak. Not sure if that is good or bad for the Niners but with so much time off between now and week 11 Singletary should be able to draw up a great game plan to start a 49ers winning streak.

GAMEDAY Week 10: Bears vs. 49ers

Eric Melendez — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:36:22 +0000

Chicago Bears (4-4) vs. San Francisco 49ers (3-5)

Bill Walsh Field at Candlestick Park

…5:20 PM (PST)

The 49ers take on the Bears in the second installment of the NFL’s Thursday Night Football. The 49ers will be looking to end their four game losing streak as they face off against a Bears team coming off a blowout loss to the Cardinals at home. The Bears have lost three of the last four games and will look to stay in contention in the NFC North with a win tonight. All eyes will be on the tonight’s contest as it is the lone game being played and most of the NFL nation should be watching, if you have the NFL Network. The only other time the Niners are the only game is December 14 when they play against the Cardinals at home on Monday Night Football. The other story behind tonight’s game is head coach Mike Singletary facing his old team the Bears when he was a player. If you were to ask Singletary he would probably say the game is no different than any other game even if it is against his old team. You have to think in the back of Singletary’s mind he wants to win this game badly not only to end the four game losing streak but to beat his old team.

With a short week and only three days in between games for the 49ers and Bears, tight end Vernon Davis got the trash talking started yesterday saying the 49ers can “destroy” the Bears defensive line: “I think we can destroy their front. I don’t see anything spectacular about their front line.”
Being the team captain Davis was trying to provide motivation to his team suffering through a losing streak. Not that the team needs motivation but the Davis has a point. The Bears defense is not what it has been in past years especially with Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlalcher being out for the season among the other injuries suffered on defense. With the way the Bears played against the Cardinals last Sunday giving up five touchdown passes there is hope for the 49ers passing game. 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye should continue to open up the passing with shotgun and spread formations which is not only good for quarterback Alex Smith but the passing game should be able to gain a lot of yards and put up points on the scoreboard. Smith should have his biggest game of the year. The 49ers will not put up points like the Cardinals did, 41, (come on it is the 49ers we are talking about and they are not playing the Rams), but they should be able to score 30 points. Smith will need to make better decisions than he did against the Titans and limit his turnovers if the 49ers want to win the game. Smith could have a 300 yard passing game with most of the passes will be caught by the tight end Davis who will be covered by Bears linebacker Lance Briggs and safety Al Afalava. Afalava is a good cover safety but with the size, speed and agility of Davis he should have over 100 yards receiving and one touchdown. When an offense spreads out its formation it usually means the running back does not get a lot of carries or yards. Raye will never go away from running the football, especially when you have Frank Gore in the backfield, but with the wide receivers spread out and the defense covering, holes will open up for Gore. The best thing Gore has been doing well this season is finding an open hole and running for days to the end zone. With Davis, wide receivers Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan and Jason Hill the Bears secondary will be forced to cover the receivers while not blitzing on passing downs. This will help the 49ers offensive line who have struggled this season. The Bears will get their hurries on Smith and this is when he needs to limit his mistakes by throwing to the hot route or check-down option. The Bears defense gives up an average of 119 rushing yards per game this season and Gore will be looking to break that average and should have at least 100 yards rushing as the Bears are struggling to stop the running game.

On the defensive side of the football for the 49ers is where the game could be lost. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler had a good passing game against the Cardinals as they had to play catch up the whole game passing for 369 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Devin Hester is becoming a reliable receiver for Cutler and 49ers corner back Tarell Brown will get most of the assignments against Hester. Hester will make his plays but the 49ers need to limit his touchdown passes for them to pull out the win. I say this is because Bears tight end Greg Olsen will continue his great play from last week when he caught three touchdown passes. The 49ers defense for some reason cannot cover tight ends to save their life. They have given up games to Tony Gonzalez, Owen Daniels and Dallas Clark. That will continue with Olsen. Running back Matt Forte will have under 100 rushing yards as the 49ers D have been doing a good job stopping the rush. Another cause of concern for the 49ers is that they have not had a turnover since Dre’ Bly’s interception in week five against the Falcons in which Bly fumbled the football back to the Falcons during the return. Turnovers and the points scored off of them by the defense was partially the reason why the 49ers got off to their 3-1 start. It is no coincidence that the 49ers are 0-4 since their last turnover. For the Red and Gold to win at least one fumble or interception will be needed.

Special Teams might be an issue for the 49ers tonight. The kickoff and punter return rotation has currently fallen to forgotten wide receiver and offseason free-agent signee Brandon Jones on punts and to Michael Robinson on kickoffs to limited success. The Niners offense needs all the help it can get from the return team but has failed to gain any big yards this season in the return game. Where it really could become an issue for the special teams is in the kickoff and punt coverage. Anytime you have Hester returning kickoffs and punts the potential is always there for a touchdown. Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox has taken most of the kickoff returns this season and has one touchdown. The 49ers return coverage needs to be perfect.

Injury Report

49ers:

Out: CB Nate Clements (shoulder), RB Glen Coffee (concussion), T Joe Staley (knee)

Questionable: WR Isaac Bruce (ankle)

Bears:

Out: S Kevin Payne (back); LB Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee); RB Garrett Wolfe (back)

Prospectors Prediction

Bears 23 …..49ers 35

The losing streak ends tonight at four 49er Faithful. With the play of the Bears D and with the 49ers playing at home against Singletary’s former team the 49ers will be riding high for a victory and will quickly put points on the board early so in the second half they can avoid having to come back down from a big deficit. There will be a lot of passing in tonight’s game. Alex Smith will have a career game.

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