49ers Play Horrible

How long did you watch the game?  With the lack of no other televised NFL games (I do not unfortunately have the NFL Package at home) I forced myself to watch the second-half of a game that was already determined with a 35-10 score at the end of the first-half.  Normally this is where I highlight some of the 49ers big accomplishments in the game but none could be found, not even one.

Game Observations

The Pros:

• Ha…

• Well, I guess there is one thing the 49ers did consistently and that was they played horrible from the start of the game until the final whistle.

The Cons:

• Where to start, this might be a long list…

• The 49ers defense that only gave up 53 points in the first four games of the season gave up 35 points in the first-half alone!  New record for the scoring by the Falcons in the first-half.

• Falcons WR Roddy White had 119 receiving yards and one touchdown in three games before he faced the Niners on Sunday.  Yesterday he had 210 receiving yards and two touchdowns, both Falcon records.  Unacceptable.  The pass rush, who did not record a sack, and the secondary share equal responsibility.

• The Falcons had 477 yards of total offense averaging 6.6 yards per play.  QB Matt Ryan scorched the 49ers D for 329 passing yards and two touchdowns, all while on the road.  How can we expect the 49ers D to play well against the high powered offenses the Texans and the Colts have?  Both games are coming up after the bye week and the games are on the road.

• Turnovers.  This is what Mike Singletary stressed all through the preseason.  Limit your turnovers and mistakes we will win the game.  The 49er Faithful saw what type of team the 49ers are when they make mistakes.

• Two timeouts wasted in the first-half.  One so Singletary could chew out the whole team in the first quarter in which the 49ers D responded by giving up a 31-yard TD pass to White on the following play.  The other wasted timeout was when WR Josh Morgan ran a 60-yard pass down to the goal-line.  Only thing is, ROOKIE Glen Coffee was not on the field for the next play but on the sideline getting some water thinking ‘hey, we just scored.’  The reality of the situation was Shaun Hill was trying to call a play for a player not on the field.  The reason this hurt the 49ers was because late in the second quarter Delaine Walker fumbled on a kickoff return which was clearly caused by the ground.  But with no timeouts left, two of them wasted, Singletary could only yell at the officials and could not challenge the play which was clearly not a fumble.  At that point the score was 21-10 with 49ers clearly still in the game with a whole another half to play.  Falcons scored after the fumble, 28-10.  The Falcons would add another TD.  Game-over in the first-half.

• The 49ers scored only one offensive touchdown.  And that was a one-yard run by Coffee after Morgan’s 60-yard catch.  The 49ers offense has scored no more than two touchdowns in a game.  When you are down by more than two TD’s in a game, which the 49ers were down mid-way through the second quarter yesterday, a running team has to rely on their passing which as long as the defense covers TE Vernon Davis you make the passing game non-exist.

• The 49ers offense is not built on coming back from big deficits, and by big I mean at least 14 points, see above.  How will the offense fare against the Texans and Colts who will put up big scoring numbers?  The 49ers offense lacks the ability to score TD’s.  We have been sold by Singletary and Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye that this is a run first team.  But what happens when you can’t run the ball?  If you take Gore’s two long runs against the Seahawks the Gore has only 82 rushing yards on the season.  I don’t need to post Coffee’s sorry numbers but when your QB Shaun Hill has more rushing yards, 53, than you the running back, something is horribly wrong.  Coffee is not the player I thought he was and now it is so obvious now why he was selected in the third round of the draft.

Game Grades

Offense (F): See Cons

Defense (F):  See Cons

Special Teams (F):  Special Teams Coordinator Al Everest needs to find a return man for punts and kickoffs.  Top returner Allen Rossum was released today to make room on the roster for Michael Crabtree.  Rossum is a return specialist and had a great season last year but has been inactive the last two game for reasons I do not know.  Everest and the 49ers missed Rossum as Arnaz Battle returned one punt for two yards and Delanie Walker returned four kickoffs and had the infamous fumble in the second quarter that was the end for the Niners.  When you have Walker who is a tight end and is 242 pounds returning kickoffs, what do you expect to happen?

Coaching (F-, 0%):  Did the coaches even attend the game?  Or were those surrogates of the coaching staff on the sidelines and not their real bodies?  I hope it was.  Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky who thought he was coaching a top-rated defensive showed his unit is nowhere near that and was the D’s weakness were exposed.  The 49ers pass rush could not get to Ryan all day and when Manusky called for a blitz it seemed like the Falcons knew it was coming and exploited the secondary with big plays.  The 49ers cannot run or pass the football and Jimmy Raye knows it.  Gore’s recovery could not come at a better time, he is expected back after the bye week, and the signing of Michael Crabtree could not have come at a better time either.  Yes, Crabtree probably won’t have an impact with the passing game right away but he is the only light at the end of the tunnel for the passing game.  Let’s hope Raye finds the end of that tunnel sooner rather than later.

Next Up

Bye week!  I don’t know if having bye week after such an ugly loss is a good or bad thing.  I want to say bad because the 49ers cannot go into this week fix all of the mistakes they made and show the following week that the loss was just one game and the blow out was a fluke.  However it could be a good thing as the 49ers let Gore rest one more week and Crabtree has another week to learn the playbook without losing a game.  Also, the Falcons came off their bye week and destroyed the 49ers as they were well rested after losing a tough game to the Patriots on the road.  I hope the same will be said of the 49ers who face the Texans in Houston on October 25.

After the 49ers performance this week I now know what it feels like to be a Rams or Raiders fan. Basically to not have an offense at all but for your team to play offensively.

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Bill Walsh Field at Candlestick Park

1:05 PM (PST)

Former NFC West rival Atlanta Falcons come into S.F. fresh off a bye week looking to derail the rolling 49ers.  The 49ers are coming off of their biggest victory of the season with a 35-0 win over the Rams.  The Falcons will put up a much better fight and the game should be a good one as it will come down to the final minutes.  The Falcons have Pro Bowl runner Michael Turner to throw at the 49ers fourth-ranked run defense.  Turner will get his carries but the 49ers have played very well against Pro Bowl runners this year only allowing 85 yards against Adrian Peterson and 79 yards against Steven Jackson.  QB Matt Ryan is playing at a level higher than most second year quarterbacks and led the Falcons to the playoffs last year.  He has WR Roddy White as a wide out threat and this year added TE Tony Gonzalez to his arsenal.  If the 49ers defensive line can continue the pressure they have rushed in the four games this season they will limit the damage Ryan can do.  The 49ers D will not have the huge game like they did last week but should have 2 sacks, 1 INT and allow less than 100 yards rushing and less than 150 yards passing.

The 49ers offense is progressing slowly along and is getting better in the passing game.  QB Shaun Hill needs to find a way to get his receivers the football otherwise the Falcons D will concentrate on shutting down RB Glen Coffee.  The Falcons D is ranked 25th against the run.  You can expect another big day from TE Vernon Davis as he has become Hill’s favorite target inside the red-zone.  He should have a touchdown with five receptions for 80 yards.  The 49ers offensive line have had the most suspect play this season and with DE John Abraham in town this week the task will not be any easier.  The key for the line is to open up the running lines for Coffee to break through and have big runs.  Coffee will be the key in this game.  If he cannot get 100 yards rushing the 49ers will not be in position to win the game.

Injuries:

49ers

Out:  RB Frank Gore (foot); S Reggie Smith (groin); LB Jeff Ulbrich (concussion)

Questionable: S Marques Harris (hamstring);

Probable:  G David Baas (ankle);  WR Arnaz Battle (hand); CB Allen Rossum (back); LB Patrick Willis (abdomen)

Falcons

Out:  S Antoine Harris (knee)

Probable:  K Jason Elam (hamstring); RB Ovie Mughelli (hamstring)

Prospectors Prediction:

Falcons 17 49ers 20

The game will be close going into the final minutes but a Joe Nedney field goal late in the game will give the 49ers the lead and win.  The 49ers D might come up with another touchdown but if not the 49ers offense will be rolling although they will have drives stalled and have to settle for field goals.  The 49ers will go into their bye week with a 4-1 record.

49ers Destroy Lams

Special teams, offense, defense, offense, defense.  That was the order of the 49ers touchdowns scored on Sunday as the Red and Gold demolished the Rams 35-0 improving their record to 3-1 and widened their NFC West divisional lead to two games.  The 49ers first touchdown was kicked by Rams special teamer Quincy Butler after the punt returner let it bounced which hit off of Butler’s foot allowing rookie Scott McKillop to recover the football for the games first six points.  By half-time it was 7-0 and I was just happy the 49ers had some points on the board against the Rams.  The 49ers offense predictably got off to another slow start and that continued into the second-half as the 49ers opening drive of the third quarter yielded another punt.  When the 49ers got the ball back for the second time of the third quarter Shaun Hill led the offense on a 48-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis, 14-0.  The catch and play was very similar to Davis’ first touchdown against the Vikings the week before.

The 49ers did a great job of holding down the only threat on the Rams offense in Steven Jackson who had only 79 rushing yards.  The D decided to get into the scoring category when Patrick Willis intercepted a pass by Kyle Boller which he ran back for a 23-yard touchdown, 21-0.  Willis who had one of his best games of his career with 8 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks, 3 tackles for losses, 3 quarterback “hurries” and 1 pass defended to go along with the INT and touchdown was spying Boller the whole way on the pass and broke on it as soon as he realized where it was going.  After the score there was 5:31 left in the third quarter and with the way the Rams were playing I thought the scoring in the game was finished as I waited for the 49ers to go into conserve mode and bleed out the clock.  To my surprise offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye wanted to go for the jugular as Shaun Hill drove the offense 43 yards in just over two minutes for a 24-yard touchdown pass to Josh Morgan for a 28-0 lead.  Morgan missed a potential receiving touchdown in the first-half that bounced right off his hands.  He made up for that mistake on the pass from Hill that was perfectly placed for Morgan so long as he could jump up and catch the football.  For Hill to look to Morgan and to trust him to make that type of play shows Hill quickly forgets about mistakes made earlier in the game and shows the trust he still had in his receiver no matter what previously happened.  Any scoring after that would have just been icing on the cake and the 49ers got all of the icing it could take 14 seconds later with a fumble recovery by Ray McDonald for an 11-yard touchdown, 35-0.

This is what great teams are suppose to do against the lower level teams in the NFL.  You don’t just beat them, you destroy them.  The 49ers are not one of the top-ten teams or one of the great teams in the NFL yet.  However with the way they have been playing on both sides of the football this should serve notice to the rest of the league that the 49ers are for real and if you do not take us seriously we will make you pay.

Game Observations:

The Pros:

• Everyone on the team got into the game and contributed.  If you can get a score from your special teams, two from defense and two on offense you know you have something going right for your team.  This gives us confidence going forward knowing that any unit on the team can score a touchdown.

• The 49ers defense had their first shutout since the last game of the 2001 season. Shutouts don’t come easy in the NFL and the 49ers should be proud of the goose egg they had on defense.

• Shaun Hill was 14 for 24 for 152 yards with two TD’s and no interceptions.  He is 10-4 overall as a starter and is 7-0 when he starts at Candlestick.

• Josh Morgan’s receiving touchdown in the third quarter was the first by a Niners receiver.  This could easily go into the Con category but Morgan is starting to come around as a threat and with the play of Vernon Davis defenses will be focusing more on the tight end in the passing game.  I saw the 49ers receivers progressing in this game.  It won’t show up in the stats column but Raye is getting them more involved as he sets up the passing game with the run.

• Glen Coffee played well in the absence of Frank Gore.  I expected more as he only had 74 rushing yards and did not break off any big gains but he played well enough for the 49ers to be able to continue running the ball, he had 24 attempts, and kept the Rams concerned about the run.

• The 49ers are off to a 3-1 start through the first quarter of the season. Even though they rank 28th in the league in offense their defense is ranked 7th in the NFL.

The Cons:

• Joe Nedney missed a 43-yard field goal in the second quarter with the score tied 0-0.  Nedney needs to make these field goals especially in close games and in the first-half.  The 49ers offense gets off to a slow start and any point we can come by in the first-half helps us the rest of the game.  In the future if the 49ers continue to have a slow starting offense and they cannot get points on special teams or defense they may be out of games come the start of the second-half when they start playing teams like the Falcons, Colts, Bears and Eagles.  These teams will take advantage of mistakes unlike the 49ers four opponents so far.

• Shaun Hill was sacked four times by four different Rams, three of them backups.  The offensive line played better but still allowed too many sacks by a defense that is not good at pressuring the quarterback.  They gave Hill the time he needed to make plays most notably his two TD passes but to give up four sacks against the Rams D shows there is still a lot of work to be done by the O-line.

• The 49ers scored some points but showed they are still developing their offense.  The offense generated 228 yards in total offense against an 0-4 team ranked 29th in the league in defense.

• The 49ers had drives end 7 times in punts compared to the Rams 8 drives that ended in punts.  To make matters worse the 49ers were 4-13 on third-down conversions.

Game Grades:

Offense (B-):  The grade could have been higher had the 49ers offense had a more productive first-half on offense.  They did this against the Vikings last week as well and have to watch out going forward in the future.  The D will not always be there to bail out the offense in the first-half.  Teams that are better than the 49ers will exploit their slow generating offense.  Getting the 49ers first TD by a wide receiver was huge.

Defense (A):  A shutout, 177 total yards against, an interception and fumble ran back for TD’s and 5 sacks will get you an A grade every week.

Special Teams (B+): If not for Nedney’s missed field goal this might have been an A grade.  Nedney needs to be automatic on field goals when the game is tied.  Andy Lee was in Pro Bowl form making up for the lack of the 49ers offense with 5 of his 7 punts placed inside the 20.

Coaching (A-):  Mike Singletary and Jimmy Raye stayed true to the run even when it was only getting two or three yards.  As unexciting as that may be for the 49er Faithful the commitment to the run pays off in the passing game.  Raye showed he trusts Hill to make plays calling up three throws to the end-zone on which he connected on two of them for TD’s.  Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky drew up another brilliant game plan as he limited Steven Jackson and the damage he can do and forced Boller into making mistakes by pressuring him with the linebackers.  Special Teams coach Al Everest gets an A for another special teams TD.

Next Up:

@home vs. Falcons.  The 49ers are at home and have the momentum going into week 5 with their blow out win.  The Falcons will be rested as they are coming off of their bye week but I think the advantage goes to the 49ers who will have their bye week in week 6.  If the 49ers can push their record to 4-1 they will go into a tough stretch of their schedule fully rested, Frank Gore back and with lots of confidence when they travel to Houston (week 7) and Indianapolis (week 8).

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