The 49ers got absolutely punked on the front line this Thanksgiving in the “Harbowl”.  Probably the only team that can stand up to the 49ers physically upfront kicked their butts.  I’m not going to spend a lot of time going into the obvious, the short week, the flight across the country, you know the complete and utter unfairness that was this game?

Back to the point here, Fullback Moran Norris was active for the game, I saw him warmup in fact, I verified it online and TV from many sources, it’s a fact.  Did you see him out there?  Nope, that’s because the 49ers only real competent FB on the roster is emerging rookie Bruce Miller.  Aside from his TD catch in Washington and his near TD in Arizona he hasn’t been somebody talked about too much (except for the growing fan base including myself that just wants to see the end of Moran Norris).

The fact is Miller has been brilliant, everyone wants to key on the fact that he is an obvious upgrade to Norris as a receiver, rusher, and overall athlete that much is a given.  But what Miller has brought to the running game has been understated to say the least.  Miller gets to the second level as fast as any FB in football (yeah I said it!) he’s a physical player and his transition from college defensive line to pro FB has been almost seamless.  Did you see Frank Gore or Kendall Hunter hit the second level vs the Ravens?  Did the backs really help out that much in pass protection?  Think the 49ers miss Miller now?

I’ll take a look at the right side of the OL after the jump

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In the battle of the Harbaugh brothers the elder and more experienced one won the game.  Ravens head coach John Harbaugh prepared his team well on both sides of the football to expose and exploit weaknesses on offense and defense by the 49ers.  One area, pass protection, ultimately doomed the 49ers in the end.  The crowd of over 71,000 and traveling cross country after playing a game three days earlier was too much for the 49ers to overcome.  Niners fans experienced a losing feeling for the first time in eight games.  As many times as the 49ers have lost in recent seasons you would think you would be used to the feeling especially since the team is still 9-2 and in control of the NFC West.  But the feeling after the loss was frustration and it still stings the day after.  The 49ers and Jim Harbaugh will learn from this loss and move forward to week 13.  Let’s hand out some Game Gold Nuggets:

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The game will be an NFL first for brother head coaches battling on the field.  The NFL saw Rex and Rob Ryan earlier in the season coach against each other, but Rex was the head coach and Rob the defensive coordinator.  In 2006 Peyton and Eli Manning went up against each other in another high-profile brother competition.

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