Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

According to CSN Bay Area the San Francisco 49ers have re-signed their first player of the off-season, defensive back C.J. Spillman, to a three-year contract extension.  The deal is worth $6 million with $1.8 million guaranteed.  Spillman was not a starter and looking at his stats in 2011 you would think he is not much value to the 49ers.  On defense he came on the field mainly in goal-line situations which explains him only have 18 tackles last season.  However, Spillman’s true value to the 49ers is on special teams.

Spillman showed he was the best player on punt and kick return coverage recording 19 special-teams tackles in 2011.  This alone is reason enough to bring him back and reward him with a contract extension, after being cut by the San Diego Chargers mid-way through the 2010 season.  The 49ers had one of the best special teams in the NFL last season that put them in position to win multiple games.  Spillman has great speed and aggression on special team’s coverage.  In the playoff game against the Saints, Spillman recorded two tackles on special teams.  The average drive started at the 17-yard line for the Saints offense after a kickoff, which helped in limiting the damage done by Drew Brees.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday and for the first time in a long time I will not enjoy it. Since the conclusion of Championship Sunday, all the sports networks are hyping and previewing the Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. I personally have hated it! All I can think of is it should be the San Francisco 49ers playing the Patriots. When I see DE Justin Tuck or QB Eli Manning being interviewed, I picture LB Patrick Willis or DE Justin Smith getting interviewed and wondering what could have been. It is clear that even though the Niner season is over my focus is still on them. My center of attention is towards the free agents. This is the business part of the NFL, deciding what players to keep and the players the organization wants to cut ties with. There are many players on the Niners roster that are noticeable free agents. Here are my top 5. (more…)

By now every San Francisco 49ers fan should have recovered from the emotional win over the New Orleans Saints, key word being “should.” Even though my focus is on the New York Giants, I cannot help but reminisce on this past Saturday’s win. As we all know by now the win was a complete team effort. The offense, defense, and special teams all played spectacular; but what unit was the most consistent in the game? The offense played great in the first quarter and kept the season alive in the fourth quarter, but in the second and third quarters the offense was non existence. The Niner offense in those two quarters was able to muster only 3 points. The defense played fantastic against the high powered Saints offense giving up only 17 points through three and a half quarters. Uncharacteristically the defense surrendered 15 points in the final four minutes of the game, in both scoring drives the Niner defenders were missing tackles and over pursuing to the ball. This leaves one unit left and it indeed showed the most consistency throughout the game and will be a huge factor in the NCF championship game. (more…)