Starting strong safety Michael Lewis suffered his third concussion since August 18 in the Falcons loss.  For any football player to have three concussions in their career is a serious thing and for Lewis to have his third in almost as many months is not good.  I don’t expect Lewis to play the rest of the season and with strong safety backup Reggie Smith out of action in recent weeks because of a groin injury it looks like free safety Mark Roman will start until Smith comes back from his injury.  After the 49ers secondary got scorched and exposed by Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and the rest of his offense the absence of Lewis and Smith does not bode well for the 49ers when they face the high powered offenses of the Texans and Colts on the road.

Coach Mike Singletary said in his news conference on Monday that there might be a change at right guard.  Chilo Rachal who has been starting at right guard did not play well against the Falcons.  Rachal was responsible for a sack when the Falcons only rushed three defensive lineman and still managed to get to quarterback Shaun Hill.  I thought Rachal was going to be solid at right guard but so far this year he has been a disappointment.  Backup guard Tony Wragge might be in the starting lineup after the bye week.  The right side of the 49ers offensive line is a mess.  Not only do we have issues with Rachal being able to block but also at right tackle with Adam Snyder and Tony Pashos who have been alternating because neither seem to be able to consistently block on any play.  As bad and slow starting the offense has been some blame can go to offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, the running game and Shaun Hill but all plays start and end with the offensive line.  If one side of your O-line is not getting the job done the defense will exploit the weakness.

Keep updated automatically through email on 49ers news at Niner Noise. Subscribe here:  http://feeds.feedburner.com/NinerNoise

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.

Keep updated automatically through email on 49ers news at Niner Noise. Subscribe here:  http://feeds.feedburner.com/NinerNoise

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.