SB Nation - Justin Smith

49ers-Bears Tuesday Injury Report

Fooch — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:00:33 -0000

I know all of us were a bit concerned by all the players on yesterday's injury report. However, as today's report shows, virtually all the "limited" and "non-participants" were full participants today. Yesterday's report was a projection because there was no actual practice, so I'm guessing the team was just being a bit more conservative. Of course, Glen Coffee is not going to be playing, and given that we haven't seen any transactions today, it looks like Gore and Robinson will be handling the load at running back.

After the jump we've got press conference transcripts for OC Jimmy Raye and Alex Smith.

49ers
Out (Definitely Will Not Play)
CB Nate Clements (shoulder)
DE Demetric Evans (shoulder)
OT Joe Staley (knee)
RB Glen Coffee (concussion)

Limited Participation in Practice
LB Takeo Spikes (shoulder)

Full Participation in Practice
S Michael Lewis (quadricep)
RB Michael Robinson (stinger)
G David Baas (stinger)
CB Tarell Brown (rib)
RB Frank Gore (eye lid)
S Curtis Taylor (shin)
TE Vernon Davis (shoulder)
WR Jason Hill (ankle)
TE Delanie Walker (shin, knee)

Bears
Out
LB Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee)

Did not Participate in Practice
S Al Afalava (shoulder)
S Kevin Payne (back)
RB Garrett Wolfe (back)

Limited Participation in Practice
TE Desmond Clark (neck)
DT Tommie Harris (knee)
CB Charles Tillman (shoulder)

After the jump we've got transcripts for Jimmy Raye and Alex Smith...

Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye
Post-Walk Thru November 10, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

On why WR Jason Hill received more playing time against the Titans:

"He has been practicing well since his hamstring injury and making progress. That coupled with the fact that [WR] Isaac [Bruce] had a tender ankle and ran a seven route over on the left boundary and rolled his ankle, tweaked it a little bit. So, we were down in numbers in the three-wide package and Jason was the next guy up. We were fortunate that we had him up for the game because he was the guy who had gotten the work as all three backups going into the game. It turned out that he was able to play and he made some plays for us."

On his background with the shotgun:

"Quite a bit, I would say extensive. There was a period of time where I coached with a couple of disciples of the Bill Walsh system that didn't believe in the gun that we didn't use it. But, in New York, Oakland, Atlanta and L.A. with Jim Everett, all of that was gun. I don't know if you want specifics, I don't know how to answer that question."

On whether you are limited in the types of runs you can call out of the shotgun:

"Somewhat, but it depends. When you make that decision, the kinds of runs that you are running, most of the time, are not direct runs because you don't have a lead blocker. But, they are runs that take advantage of the front and the alignment of the defense. They give you the same that is the likeness of pass and pass protection. They come not only in the draw variety, but across the formation kind of runs. We did have some success Sunday running the trap, but we had to relocate the back in order to do that."

On what QB coach Mike Johnson learned from watching college spread offenses in the offseason:

"You would have to ask Mike that. We discussed it in the offseason. I think what you need to understand is what we did Sunday has always been a part of what we do. We didn't invent the runs we ran Sunday out of the shotgun. We have had, and been practicing, our third down, our quarterback-not-under-the-center offense and runs since March. So, it wasn't something where, all of the sudden three weeks ago, because everyone thought we should be in the spread, that we went and looked at someone running the shotgun and came up with plays. It is a part of the offense that we have. What we did Sunday is a part of what we do."

On why he called it a third down offense:

"It is applicable to all downs, but what you had seen previously was when we were in the gun was basically on third down."

On the two interceptions QB Alex Smith has thrown when targeting WR Michael Crabtree:

"The one in Indianapolis was a tipped ball, and Sunday the one was a tipped ball that probably would fall to the ground harmlessly. The ball was thrown near the boundary and it was tipped and the linebacker came back within an eyelash of stepping out of bounds and got the rebound of the ball. I think tipped balls, you can't practice tipped balls. If the receiver and the defensive back are in a close confrontation, and they both get their hands on the ball at the same time, and there are other defenders near, that's why defensive backs work the tip drill. And, unfortunately for us, we've had two, not two but three deflections that have gone up in the air and the defense capitalized on them."

On whether he's comfortable going forward with the kind of offensive emphasis he showed on Sunday:

"I don't know that. I think sometimes the perception is that I should answer questions that give the defensive coordinators of the teams that we play a pre-game scouting report on what we're going to line up in. We have, as I said early on, the contingencies of what we do offensively to take care of the defenses that we play. If that is in fact the case that what we carry into the game is available for us and it helps us win the game, then I guess the answer to that would be yes."

On where the offense is as a unit:

"I think our record is 3-5. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. We're 3-5. I would say we're not near where we need to be. If it was better, I think we would have won more games or helped our cause in terms of winning more games. I think we made improvement, but there were areas of the game Sunday that were outstanding. The play was exceptional, was outstanding, but it's very difficult to overcome four turnovers."

On whether it's been difficult to find improvement given the changes in the offense:

"Yes and no. Continuity is very difficult to come by. We've changed a lot of places, and that's the nature of the NFL. If there's one thing that is constant about the NFL, it's change. And, unfortunately for us, in the first seven or eight weeks, we've had to change the quarterback. We've had to change the right guard. We've had to change the left guard. We've had to change the running back. We've had to change the wide receiver. We've had an onslaught of changes, but the way we manage that is a benefit to us if we can do it in an expeditious fashion so we can get on with winning games. It's been difficult, but we're probably going to have more changes going forward."

On the first touchdown pass from QB Alex Smith to WR Jason Hill in the back of the end zone:

"Well, what they did right was they applied the scramble rules that are in place that were taught in the red area, and Alex remained a passer. And, in most situations like that, the quarterback leaves his passer mentality and becomes a runner. But, he kept his eyes downfield and drifting and he was in a position where he could either throw or not take a negative and throw the ball out of bounds, and he remained a passer. That was the best thing about it. And then Jason applied his onside scramble rule, and we were able to get a completion for a touchdown, which gave us a completion of a T-2 at the end of the half and got points. And then we had a T-4 at the end of the game that got points. So, those things are very gratifying."

On whether he has met with head coach Mike Singletary about the receiving corps and WR Isaac Bruce's role:

"No, that meeting, I don't think has happened, unless I was excluded from it. We will visit that - we wanted to get through today and see where he is tomorrow, and in the meantime, we will increase the activity of [WR] Josh Morgan and [WR] Jason Hill. We'll see where he is, where his foot is or his injury is. And then we'll make a decision going forward."

On Bruce's injury:

"We'll see where he is physically. See where he is physically and then we'll make a decision going forward."

On the areas of the offense in Sunday's game that he was pleased with:

"Well, as I mentioned, I was pleased with our, as we refer to it, T-2 offense, which is our offense before the half, which was very good in Indianapolis that went down and got a score also. Our T-4 was very good, which we went down at the end of the game and got a score and an opportunity to onside kick the ball and have another chance to put the game into overtime. We were five for five in the red zone, three touchdowns and two field goals. We had a 19-play drive in that game that overcame three or four penalties and a negative that went down and got points. I thought our ‘me-to-you' factor was very good. Is he open? The pass to [TE] Vernon [Davis] was a great adjustment and throw. We threw the ball - he complete 29 balls, and we showed some ability in our deceptive game with our arounds and handing the ball to the wide receivers that made yards. So, I thought the playing area was very good. I was very disappointed that we had the mishaps that we had that led to 24 points for them, because, I think, without the turnovers, it would have been a different outcome."

On whether the T-2 and T-4 are similar plays:

"No, they're not."

On whether he can explain the time at the end of the half and the time at the end of the game:

"It changes because at the T-2, any points are good. When you're playing T-2 and you have the ball before the half, whether you get a field goal or a touchdown, any points you get are good. And, T-4, you're in a T-4 situation, you're either in an offense to try to either extend the game or win the game. So, the impetus of the play is totally different because you're operating against the timeouts. You're operating against a defense that's trying to prevent you from either extending the game or prolonging the game or, in a T-4 situation, winning the game at the end. That would be the difference."

QB Alex Smith
Post-Walk Thru - November 10, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

On which package does he like better, the T-2, or T-4:

"It's pretty similar. You hope not to be in the T-4."

On why he performs well during the end of halves and games:

"I have no idea. I don't know."

On a theory that he performed better in a spread-offense similar to his college playing days at Utah:

"Spread out? Maybe, perhaps, I don't know. It could be you think that anytime that you are spread out and you're in the gun, all quarterbacks are going to see things better. I don't know, I'm not sure."

On his experience running the two-minute drill at Utah:

"It was more T-2's than T-4's."

On whether he likes playing better in a shotgun formation:

"In certain situations, yes, if there is no threat of a run. Sometimes is nice to mix it up and get back there. I think that in third down situations, pressure situations is when you get back and see it and maybe buy yourself half of second to get the ball out. Other than that, you'd like to keep a balance between the run and pass situations in the game to keep that and be under center."

On either having the opportunity to review film from the Tennessee game or going straight to game film to prepare for Chicago:

"I watched it quickly yesterday morning, then you move on pretty fast. I watched a lot of Chicago yesterday and it's such a short week."

On having one of his best offensive performances overshadowed by his interceptions:

"I felt that, in a sense, that I saw things well. You turn on the tape and it wasn't like I saw anything new. When I rehashed the game in my mind, it looked very similar to what I looked at when I turned on the tape which is a good thing. I felt like I saw everything well. A couple of balls were thrown tight - there was one on the boundary the safety was coming trying to make a play on it, it gets tipped in-bounds and the one that [WR] Josh [Morgan] had tighter coverage. There those are kind of the job hazards that kind of come with the territory. That is going to happen, I think that as a quarterback the important things are if you are making good decisions, are you throwing the ball where you want to throw it, are you getting the ball out on time, those are the types of decisions that you're looking at. That's how you prevent turnovers from the quarterback's perspective, by making sound decisions and throwing the ball accurately on time."

On whether he was relaying his throwing tendencies to the opposing defense with his eyes:

"The one on the boundary could have gone up. That half second maybe allowed that safety to come over and make a play that allowed that ball to stay in-bounds. The other two didn't feel like I was late at all. But the first one I could say, critically looking at it, I could have gone up quicker."

On whether working on his body language could have prevented that turnover:

"That was a third-and-long and we were trying to ‘hi-lo' the corner on the boundary. It was a matter of trusting what you see from that defender and letting the ball go."

On what Jason Hill did right on his first touchdown:

"The great thing he did - initially he started back down towards me, trying to give me a throw and saw that the inside receiver was kind of running in the flat there and a lot of passing is about spacing, so I think he immediately saw that, put his foot in the ground, turned and ran upfield, at least giving me two throws. Once he came down a little bit, his defender bit and he turned and slipped upfield and was open in the back of the end zone."

On whether defenses are playing WR Michael Crabtree differently:

"I guess I don't know. We are moving on so fast from this Tennessee game, it's hard to look at things like that. I think the more he plays, the more he is going to give people to think about, the more routes he's going to give corners to think about and the more comfortable he is going to be with things."

On why he hasn't been able to develop much chemistry with WR Josh Morgan:

"I don't know. It's a matter of what the defense is giving us sometimes, maybe sometimes what we are asking him to do. I think it's a combination of things."

On his ability to draw offsides penalties and whether it is something he has worked on a lot:

"It was something I never did as a younger guy. I never did it in college. I never did it much my first couple years. I just think I'm more conscious of it now in certain situations. I'm more conscious of using it to your advantage."

On how difficult it is to develop a rapport with WR Michael Crabtree:

"I think the thing you miss when he comes in like that is you miss the training camp practices where you can really build the fundamentals of your routes together. It's timing. When he comes in within the week we are doing our game plans and he is doing a great job of getting himself up to speed and not missing a beat and it's just a matter of us all working together to get that done."

On whether there is any sense of significance to this game:

"Every game is the biggest game at that point. That's the truth of it. This week, you play and you learn from it and you move on already and we're on to Chicago. Yes, this is the biggest game of the season and the next week that will probably be the biggest game. Right now, the focus is on Chicago and that's it. It's them coming in and getting a win and it is the biggest thing."

On how much losing four in a row weighs on the team:

"It might, but we can't let it weight on us. We have to continue to work to play harder, to execute better, and to win a game and that's what we have to get done."

On whether building a rapport with Crabtree is just a matter of time:

"I think so. Time and repetitions, but it's different. I think there are things that we ask him to do that he may be more comfortable with because he has a history with them. Yes, a little bit of that is just going to be time and repetitions."

Mizzou-Colorado: Beyond the Box Score

Bill C. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:15:17 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Browse more photos »

Confused? Catch up with the BTBS Primer.

I mentioned at the beginning of Saturday's postgame podcast that this was, in the end, a pretty simple game to explain. That didn't stop Ross and me from talking about it for 40+ minutes then, and it won't stop me from diving into the numbers to see what I can find. This game really was a nice reminder that Mizzou's still got a fast (and young) team with a world of potential, but if that's not reason enough to check out the stats with me, I'll just mention that there's a fun Labatt Blue reference somewhere in the post. So you've got THAT to look forward to...

	Mizzou (36)	Buffs (17)
Close %	65.7%
Field Position %	46.0%	45.0%
Leverage %	64.9%	61.7%

TOTAL
EqPts	20.9	6.9
Close Success Rate	39.6%	25.7%
Close PPP	0.34	0.05
Close S&P	0.735	0.306

RUSHING
EqPts	10.9	3.1
Close Success Rate	37.9%	27.3%
Close PPP	0.28	0.03
Close S&P	0.655	0.301
Line Yards/carry	2.54	1.00

PASSING
EqPts	10.0	3.7
Close Success Rate	41.7%	25.0%
Close PPP	0.41	0.06
Close S&P	0.831	0.308
SD/PD Sack Rate	0.0% / 13.0%	6.3% / 23.8%

STANDARD DOWNS
Success Rate	37.5%	37.8%
PPP	0.36	0.16
S&P	0.736	0.543

PASSING DOWNS
Success Rate	34.6%	21.7%
PPP	0.14	0.03
S&P	0.485	0.251

TURNOVERS
Number	2	4
Turnover Pts	15.8	19.9
Turnover Pts Margin	+4.1	-4.1

Q1 S&P	1.327	0.341
Q2 S&P	0.539	0.399
Q3 S&P	0.223	0.905
Q4 S&P	0.364	0.069

1st Down S&P	0.718	0.590
2nd Down S&P	0.524	0.462
3rd Down S&P	0.737	0.176

Projected Pt. Margin	+18.1	-18.1
Actual Pt. Margin	+19	-19

Reactions

Understated: Missouri's defensive success. Mizzou took on a bad offense and made them look like an NAIA offense, holding them to 176 yards and a 0.306 S&P. They were bigger, stronger and faster than CU. It was fun to watch. And with the game a play or two away from becoming competitive again, Mizzou allowed just a 0.069 S&P in the fourth quarter.
Overstated: Missouri's offensive success. Heading into this game, CU was in a battle with MU for the second-best defense in the North, but after a lovely first quarter, Mizzou did almost nothing offensively. They didn't necessarily need to do anything, and that's fine, but still.
You'll win a lot of games giving up a 0.176 S&P on third downs.
This game demonstrated the need for both efficiency and explosiveness. On Standard Downs, when many games are won and lost, MU and CU had nearly identical success rates (efficiency). But even when CU was moving efficiently, they still weren't getting anywhere. Mizzou's big-play threats--the long pass to Danario Alexander, and the nice, long runs by Derrick Washington and De'Vion Moore--got Mizzou a couple of easy scores in a game where points were hard to come by in the last 35-40 minutes.
I love it when the projected and actual margins match up so perfectly.

Other thoughts after the jump.

Three Positives

I guess the defense can't count for all three, huh? You expect good defensive numbers when you face a bad offensive team, but Mizzou was positively dominant. I can't even cite a specific number to explain how dominant they were, because all of them tell the story equally well.
Aldon Smith. Agent Smith in his last two games: 16 solo tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass break-up. WOW. And half of that came against the best offense Missouri will see this year (Texas). With 4-6 games remaining this season, you do wonder what numbers he'll have put up by the end of the season. As I mentioned on Sunday, #85 is already threatening to leave Justin Smith's freshman numbers in the dust, and that's not even taking into account the increased pace of play-making he has put together in the last two weeks. The entire defense played well on Saturday, but this guy was a cut above the rest.
Blaine Gabbert's ankle looked fine!!! His first carry of the game was a simple 4-yarder, and all of Rock M Nation held its breath...but Gabbert not only was able to cut and change directions for the first time since September, but he also got up with no trouble. What a sigh of relief this is. Gabbert struggled after the first quarter, and CU took advantage of his further pass-telegraphing a couple of times, but if his ankle troubles are mostly behind him, we can actually start looking for signs of growth in #11 again, instead of just signs of survival.

(Also: I still can't say enough about how well he looked off the linebacker on the long TD to Danario. The LB was exactly in the way of the pass Gabbert wanted to make, so he looked to the right until the LB moved, then flicked the ball right where the LB was. Gorgeous. More of that, less locking onto receivers, please.)

And just for fun...a fourth positive:
In light of last night's 2010 post, I should point out that Aldon Smith, Kevin Rutland, Dominique Hamilton, Zaviar Gooden, Will Ebner, Andrew Gachkar, Kenji Jackson, and Jarrell Harrison all made multiple stellar plays on defense. All of those players look better now than they did in early September, and all of them return in 2010, along with Jacquies Smith, Carl Gettis, Jasper Simmons, and others who have already made plenty of plays this year.

Three Negatives

After the first quarter, the offense was just horrendous. The struggles were disguised by field position and a perfect fake field goal (JACQUIES SMITH FOR TIGHT END!!!1!!!!) in the second quarter, and the offense went into an intentional shell in the fourth quarter, but still...while the Q1 pace was probably unsustainable, the S&P for the final 45 minutes was under 0.400. That's quite bad...that's almost Colorado bad (almost).
The defense took its foot off the gas just long enough to give Colorado hope. Colorado managed just 176 yards all game, but 105 of them came in back-to-back drives sandwiching halftime, and it gave Colorado some much-needed momentum. Mizzou quickly righted the ship, and you really can't expect a squad this young to not suffer a lapse at some point in a game, but regardless, the momentum CU generated there allowed them to get within two possessions in a game Mizzou led by 33 at one point.
A 37.5% success rate on Standard Downs (and resulting 64.9% leverage rate) simply will not get the job done. This was caused mostly by the second-half funk--things were still pretty strong for much of the first half; however, it's simply too low. Now matter how iffy the next few teams are on the schedule, if you put yourself into too many Passing Downs, you're begging to turn the ball over and find yourself in a closer-than-it-should-be contest. Efficiency is godliness (that's the old saying, right?), and thanks mostly to iffy running and/or run blocking after the early going, Mizzou had none of it.

Three Keys Revisited

Seen here.

Field Position

In conference play, [Colorado had] averaged just two sustained drives per game, but they have been handed three scores on short fields. Get rid of the short fields, caused mostly by turnovers and special teams mishaps, and you only have to score about 17 points to beat them. Of course, that's easier said than done for Missouri. Coinciding perfectly with Gabbert's injury, Missouri has averaged a -9.8 turnover points differential per game in conference play. Plus, Mizzou has gotten murdered in the field position battle the last two weeks (partially due to turnovers). Hand Colorado 10 points and good field position, and they can absolutely beat you. Turnovers are always key, but never more than against Colorado.

Field position was the major reason Mizzou found themselves up 30+ in the first half, and the major reason CU got within 16 in the second half. Mizzou does not have the same type of "could score from anywhere, at any time" offense as they did in 2007 and 2008, and the little things matter more. They cannot allow a sustained funk to take place like they did in Q3 Saturday. But on the bright side, Mizzou won the turnover points battle for the first time in conference play, though not by much.

Missouri's defensive line

Simply put, a) Colorado's running backs aren't good enough to create good rushes on their own, and b) Colorado's quarterbacks aren't good enough to make big plays with under pressure. If the Missouri defensive line wins its battles versus the Colorado offensive line, Colorado simply cannot score enough to win, even with a handicapped Missouri offense.

Eight sacks and a 0.301 Rushing S&P. Um, yeah. Mizzou won this battle, to say the very least.

Derrick Washington, Kendial Lawrence, De'Vion Moore

I listed them as keys to the Oklahoma State game as well, and while they performed relatively well, they didn't make enough of a difference to swing the game in Missouri's favor. This one is also quite cut-and-dried: if Missouri can move the ball on the ground and give Blaine Gabbert as little to do as possible, Missouri will score enough points to win the game, barring major mishaps in Key #1 above. If Gabbert is throwing an accurate ball, Mizzou could kill Colorado. If he's not, Mizzou could still win if these three keys are clicking.

Mizzou's RBs: 37 carries, 161 yards, 1 TD. Good enough...or should I say...CROSE ENOUGH. Obviously the run game had plenty of issues, but it allowed Mizzou to seize the game early, and that's a net win.

Summary

Last week, we were trying to talk ourselves into Missouri still having a chance at the 2009 North title, and thanks to the way Missouri looked on Saturday, it's pretty clear that we're not just wishing and hoping. Colorado's far from good, but they were good enough to beat Kansas, and Mizzou beat them worse in Boulder than K-State beat them in Manhattan, so if you believe in the transitive property, that's a good sign for Mizzou's two remaining games away from Faurot Field. (Meanwhile, Mizzou's remaining games at Faurot are against Baylor and Iowa State, which...well, lose one of those games, and you don't deserve to win the North anyway.) The goals for 2009 were 1) make another bowl with a sickeningly young team, 2) win the North...and that's basically it. Mizzou can achieve half of its season goal with a win on Saturday, and it's shaping up to be a potentially lovely November for Gary Pinkel's Tigers.

Two Smiths

Bill C. — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:31:09 -0000

AP Photo: David Zalubowski

Justin Smith (1998, Freshman): 55 solo tackles, 31 assists, 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF

Aldon Smith (2009 projected, RSFr.): 49 solo tackles, 15 assists, 19.5 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 1-2 FF, 1-2 FR

That is all.

Golden Nuggets: Liking the extension

Ninjames — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:15:16 -0000

Morning folks. Once again we have a good bit of news coming out of 49erland. The Niners made some changes and I did nothing all day but sit and reflect on said changes. Unfortunately right now I'm in a bit of a hurry so I'll keep my amazing and thoughtful commentary to a minimum. The most notable of the news concerns CB Tarrell Brown, who received an extension despite doing... well, nothing this season. Still, he's my favorite defensive back on the team and I've been clamoring for him to get more playing time so we'll see what happens. I've got more news for you concerning the safeties and of course some articles about quarterback Alex Smith and more than likely a couple more concerning WR Michael Crabtree. So without further ado, how about some links?

Maiocco feels that his initial prediction for the 49ers may not hold up. He's definitely second guessing himself. That prediction? That the 49ers would go to the playoffs. Ouch. (PressDemocrat.com)

The 49ers signed OT Chris Patrick to the 53-man roster and also signed a TE to the practice squad. (49ers.com)

CB Tarrell Brown got an extension, it was for three years and a good amount of money. Good luck to the kid. (49ers.com)

Here's yesterday's edition of Singletary's Notebook. (49ers.com)

Alex Smith has been waiting patiently for his chance to start. He is more confident and mature these days. Call me unconvinced. (Yahoo.com)

He's got unfinished business. Well, I certainly hope he can finish it. (49ers.com)

FS Dashon Goldson will be wearing the radio helmet on Sunday, not Patrick Willis. Interesting choice, if you ask me, but I'm suspicious by nature. (MercuryNews.com)

Because I'm awesome, I recapped some of the recent 49ers moves, find it here. (NFLTouchdown.com)

Were the 49ers better off with Allen Rossum on the team? Well he's a [site decorum] sight better than Micheal Spurlock and Arnaz Battle, that's for sure. (Examiner.com)

Be sure to check out the game center for Sundays game. (NFL.com)

The offense is striving for balance as a unit. (49ers.com)

Could Alex Smith and Michael Crabtree be the revival of the 49ers this season? I hope so, I'm about to lose a whole lotta hope. (CBSSports.com)

Here's Maiocco's player-by-player review, along with dispelling some myths about the team's performance. (PressDemocrat.com)

Hey, it's the guy who scares the crap out of me: Dwight Freeney, and he's got a fastball. (SacBee.com)

I hate linking to this guys' articles. I don't know if he even knows what he's talking about because I never read beyond the first few sentences, I learned better than that a long time ago. Still, I suppose some of you might like him. Something or other about Alex Smith. (SFGate.com)

The Niners defense is riding on a Smith as well as the offense--Justin Smith. (SFGate.com)

Some of the 49ers players made their World Series picks. Baseball is about the only sport I don't really pay attention to. (49ers.com)

Once again if you have any questions for Colts fans head over to the thread here, and check out the thread over there and answer any questions they may have for us. (StampedeBlue/NinersNation.com)

How about um.. an injury report, to finish? (NinersNation.com)

49ers QB decision cont'd: Alex Smith and the effect on the rushing game

Fooch — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:14:35 -0000

Our discussion of the Alex Smith QB decision continues to roll along at full throttle. The 49ers do have a game this week, but I have a feeling the discussion about the QB position will not be slowing anytime soon. Accordingly, I thought it would be useful to open up a new thread. I figure that first off, the other thread is up close to 400 comments, making it harder to follow the conversation. Second, I wanted to maybe take a different angle to Mike Singletary and the 49ers decision to start Alex Smith this weekend at Indianapolis. Also, after the jump I've posted the Mike Singletary transcript from today's press conference.

Aside from two great runs against Seattle, Frank Gore and the 49ers rushing attack has left a lot to be desired after a very impressive preseason. If this team is going to be successful and potentially make the playoffs, they have to establish the run game at a greater level than where it currently resides. Will elevating Alex Smith into the starting lineup bring enough to make that happen?

The answer to the question obviously depends on Smith's performance in the passing game. However, his skills would seem to be sufficiently better than Shaun Hill to keep defenses honest. Alex Smith does not have to be a superstar in this offense for the team to move the ball efficiently. Sure he needs to be able to make big plays, but as I said at some point with Shaun Hill, the passing game does not have to be Colts-esque. The difference between Shaun Hill and Alex Smith is that Smith can make more of the deep throws necessary to keep the defense honest.

If Smith is able to find some success, even just a little bit, on the intermediate and deep passes, will that automatically translate to more success for Gore? We didn't see much in the second half from Gore, but part of that was due to the team paying catch-up. The 49ers will need to control the clock against the Colts and that is done with a solid rushing attack. The passing is necessary, but I honestly don't think the offense can roll out a spread style offense for 4 quarters without a sufficient rushing game backing it up. Maybe you disagree on that point. The 49ers do have some skilled receivers, but I just think that 60 minutes of spread doesn't fly on the NFL level.

So, for the purposes of this post, say Alex Smith sees some success in the passing game. Maybe not Peyton Manning success, but he can move the offense. If we get some success, how much will the rushing game benefit? Or are the offensive line issues going to get in the way? Or even worse, are Jimmy Raye's unimaginative runs going to get in the way (although he has started mixing up the running plays a little bit more)?

Reminder that we've got Singletary's transcript after the jump. He had several comments about the use of a balanced attack, as opposed to just rushing it up the gut every time...

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Press Conference - October 26, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

Opening Statements:

"First of all, the injury report: [T Tony] Pashos, left shoulder contusion; [LB Marques] Harris, hamstring strain; [DT] Justin Smith, left calf strain; [NT Aubrayo] Franklin, right knee sprain; [LB Takeo] Spikes, right shoulder sprain. Pashos will have an MRI today. We should know a little bit later on today. He and Takeo Spikes both will have MRIs, and we'll have further information later on.

As far as this upcoming week, in terms of the quarterback, [QB] Alex Smith will be the quarterback. As far as, will [QB] Shaun Hill be back and all this other stuff, I think I told you last night, we're not going to be a flavor of the month kind of thing, ‘Well, let's see, this guy will be this week, this guy will be next week.' One of the things I want to have you understand is I wanted to make a decision based upon who I feel gives us the best chance to win. I think Shaun Hill, at the beginning of the season - when I met with Shaun today, I told him just that, ‘I felt that you gave us the best chance to win at that particular time.' He has done a great job up to this point, but we feel that right now, we need to go with Alex. I feel that Alex Smith gives us the best chance to win, and to use the tools that we have going forward."

On why Smith gives the team the best chance to win:

"Because I think Alex has had a chance to really regain some of the confidence, not that he ever lost it, but I think just giving him a chance to settle in and have him watch Shaun Hill - and there's something about watching a guy and looking at some of the mistakes that he made and how you would do it different, looking at some of the things that he does well and maybe implement those things in your game. He had a chance to look at his decision-making process, learn the offense a little bit more, but certainly giving him a chance to develop that hunger, develop that excitement and enthusiasm for playing, ‘and, if I ever get a chance again, I'm going to do it this way.'"

On whether the team needs Smith's ability to hit the intermediate and long passes:

"I would just say this: I think, right now, overall, Alex Smith really just kind of fits the bill in terms of doing the things that we need to get done."

On whether he will open up the passing game a little more:

"I think, going forward, we'll just try to look at it and, once again, it depends on how the team is playing us and everything else. I just want to reiterate what I said from the very beginning. I have never, ever said that we're just going to run the ball, run the ball, run the ball - three yards and a cloud of dust. I have always said I want to run the ball when we want to run the ball. I want to strive more for balance, but I want to run the ball when we want to run the ball. That's what I've always said. I have not shied away from that. I want a balanced attack."

On why the team hasn't been able to run the ball when it wants to run the ball:

"We haven't been able to run the ball when we wanted to run the ball because they normally have about eight-and-a-half people in the box, sometimes nine. Sometimes, that makes it a little more difficult. When you have an offensive line that's been banged up and you're trying to get that right, it makes for not a good combination right now, but as we build confidence, as we continue to get better, it will work itself out."

On whether he is concerned with the lack of success on the ground in the second half:

"No. I think that as we go forward, things will work themselves out. Yes, we had a tough time running the ball at the beginning of the third quarter, but there were also a couple of runs we made. It's the cat-and mouse-game; if you can throw the ball then you can run the ball, if you can run the ball then you can throw the ball. As we evolve and we get more in sync with whet we are trying to do with the offense, and once again, we had a chance to see what Alex Smith can do, we are just going to continue to explore where we are going to go with his ability."

On what he will do with the offensive line if Pashos cannot play Sunday:

"You know what, I'm not going to start, ‘What about this? What about that?' If he can't go, we'll work it out. We will figure it out. There are several options that we have, whether we take Snyder back out to tackle and keep everyone else kind of the way it was. We will just have to take a look and see."

On the right guard position:

"Right now, we have to continue to help [G] Chilo [Rachal] as much as we can. I think one of the issues we have right now, some guys are really trying to play perfect. Some guys are really trying to play mistake free. When you do that, you become robotic and it takes you out of your game. I just want guys to go out and play. I think a guy like Chilo, it is like any player, when you know the spotlight is on you, when you know you have to play better, some guys respond to it very well, and there are other guys that fall prey to it. I think it is one of things where we have to help Chilo as much as we can because there are some things he does very well, but there is one particular stunt there that really gets him at times and we have to continue working on that, showing him that in practice and allowing him to work on it. He just has to mature on it."

On whether that particular stunt accounted for a sack in the game:

"Yes."

On whether switching quarterbacks was something he thought about before the game:

"When I talked to Shaun Hill this morning, it is one of the things I really wanted him to understand, this is not something that was premeditated. It is not something I talked to anybody about like, ‘Well I'm going to wait for the right opportunity to do this.' It was important for me that he understood that as the head coach, I think my most important responsibility is to put us in a position to win. I just remember at the end of the Atlanta game, we were behind, and we were trying to make some plays and it just wasn't happening. Yesterday, you kind of see the same scenario coming, and I just felt we have to do something to help ourselves, give ourselves a chance to get back in the game and try and win the game. That's really all it was. As I said before, when I look at Alex we really didn't know what we were going to get. I was hoping we were going to get what we have seen out here in practice, and that is what we got. I was excited to see that and the excitement and the enthusiasm on the sideline, and the excitement and the enthusiasm on the defensive side of the ball, the receivers, the running backs, everybody. It was just one of those things where I felt we are going to go forward with that."

On whether QB Alex Smith starting is a function of his athletic ability over what QB Shaun Hill brings:

"Athletic ability? Are you talking about having a stronger arm, maybe make the throws? I think it's probably a combination of a number of things, - just really getting settled. You have another coordinator coming in. You had an offseason where you are trying to work things through with your shoulder, finding out exactly where you are with your shoulder, and at the same time, you are just trying to get settled. We were just letting the guy get settled and getting a chance to think about some things and at the same time, there happens to be a season going on. We wanted to let him develop that hunger, let him get excited about if I get an opportunity again, let him develop some confidence. ‘I think I can do that. If it comes again, I want to do it like this or I want to do it like that, rather than just putting him in there at the beginning of the season and if you don't have success right away, then it's same old Alex. I don't think it's the same old Alex. I think Alex has matured, I think he's grown and I think he's ready to play. We're going to find out. We'll find out next week."

On where the quarterback situation falls in terms of his concern about this team:

"Quarterback is certainly one of them, but the quarterback situation, for me, has never been an overriding factor because of the way we said we had to play to begin with and that was to run the ball. But, the offensive line, we've got to continue to make sure that we get the things that we need there, the continuity in a hurry. That revolves around a number of things. So, when you are able to put eight and a half people in the box and just sit there, in your comfort zone, and stunt here and there, I mean, it's awfully hard on an offensive line that's trying to jell. You've got some young guys in there at the same time trying to make it happen. You can get awfully creative when you've got eight guys in the box. So that's certainly one concern. Hopefully, we are able to make some throws. Hopefully, we are able to make them and get the heck out of the box and hopefully we are able to make them play us right, make them play us fair. We certainly have some playmakers out there and having a quarterback that can consistently make the throws that Alex can make, then it gives us a chance to really branch out a bit and open things up a bit."

On concerns on defense:

"Defensively, we are continuing to look at the film there and make some evaluations. We'll have to make some decisions on the defensive side, if we need to."

On whether he is talking about personnel:

"Yes, but we have to look at more film and we'll get there."

On the primary concern being the secondary or the entire defense:

"Just the defense."

On someday having CB Nate Clements move to safety:

"That's not in the realm of thinking right now.."

On his concerns of the defense in general:

"In general, my biggest concern right now is just the communication factor and we'll get that solved this week. We'll get that solved today as a matter of fact. In terms of the communication, I think that there are a few things there that we can do a lot better and I didn't know really that it was that much of an issue, the communication factor, and you know that it's just a small thing, getting the guys in there, in the huddle and having them understand whose talking, whose not, and who's giving the information from the sideline and going from there. And so, one of the things that I sat in on one of the defensive meetings this morning it's just a matter of bringing clarity to what we're doing because we are too good of defense. When I look at our defense, we're a good defense, with the opportunity to be a great defense. But right now, because of the communication factor particularly in the last couple of games, and the way those games have gone you get guys starting to do their own thing. Guys starting to think they heard this so that's when you really have to communicate very well to make sure that guys don't start doing their own thing. So, we just have to get on one page and kind of relax and settle down and let's go from there."

On whether there is a problem in logistics with LB Patrick Willis and his radio helmet:

"Maybe, we may have to take a look at that.'

On what jumped out at him after seeing WR Michael Crabtree on film after yesterday's game:

"Nothing jumped out at me that I didn't see yesterday. It was very evident yesterday, I just wanted to see it on film just like when you see a good movie. You want to see it again. But, I saw him yesterday and I made sure that I talked to him this morning and let him know that all of the hard work that he did while he wasn't here, it showed. All of the studying that he did while he wasn't here, it showed. So it was good to see."

On whether or not he was surprised to see how many total plays Crabtree was in comparison to all the receivers on the team:

"No, again he told me how much he was working and I heard from some other sources outside of the building on how hard he was working and all the route running that he was doing every day. I knew that he wasn't in football shape, but if he was doing what they were telling me he was doing, what they saw him doing, then I knew that he was going to be in pretty good shape. I didn't think about the other things, but I would say that I was a little bit surprised that he was able to go on all of those plays. But I thought for certain, maybe 30-40 plays, but to basically go the whole game, that's pretty impressive. "

On using more of a three receiver formation with Alex Smith going forward:

"We're going to do whatever we need to do win. Three receiver, four receiver, five receiver, I don't care. We're going to do whatever we need to do to win. But we're going to run the ball."

Texans 24 - 49ers 21: QB controversy emerges, coaching fails the 49ers

Fooch — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:40:39 -0000

First off, thanks to Fearless Frog for posting this graphic in one of the game threads. I think it's perfectly fitting for this recap. It's safe to say that this game will go down as possibly one of the more bizarre in recent memory. I say that due to two things: The dramatic improvement of the offense in the second half and the emergence of Alex Smith as the 49ers 2nd half QB. Of course, both of these things are probably related.

Given the big Alex Smith news of the day, I wanted to open with one quick comment. We'll have an Alex Smith vs. Shaun Hill thread coming up either tonight or tomorrow morning. We'll have plenty of front page discussion on this topic, among many others. Please hold off on creating FanPosts to discuss the QB controversy.

And controversy there now is. After Shaun Hill was woefully ineffective in the first half, Alex Smith replaced him in the second half and had arguably his best game as a pro. He's had more yards in the past, but today he just seemed as effective a QB as he's ever been. Of course, as was pointed out by several folks in the game threads, the Texans did not game plan to face Alex Smith. Sure they knew he was there, but the second half of this game was definitely not to be expected. The second half showed a 49ers offense that was incredibly dynamic, whether it was Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree or Josh Morgan, among others.

As interesting as things were leading up to this week with Crabtree, things just got a whole lot more interesting for tomorrow's Mike Singletary press conference. Does he name Alex Smith the QB? Does he wait to see what happens in the first day or two of practice? As for Smith, are we seeing a revival of his highly touted drafted status? Or if he gets the start at Indy next week, will a week of game-planning by the Colts be enough to show us the Alex Smith we saw in the past? Soooooo many questions to be answered.

I know the QB discussion will dominate, but there was plenty more of note in the game. After the jump we look at the good, the bad and the ugly, and then look ahead to the Colts matchup.

The Good
Vernon Davis - What can you say about The Disease? After a slow start with Hill, Davis had a monster second half with Alex Smith, finishing with 93 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. I know we're only through week 7, but Vernon Davis might finally be making the leap. After a relatively quiet first two weeks, Davis has blown up over the last month.

Michael Crabtree - Crabtree might have been overshadowed in the end by Davis and Alex Smith, but the rookie showed why he (and many others) believed he was the best wide receiver in the draft. Crabtree showed some very impressive skills in grabbing 5 receptions for 56 yards. More importantly, he made some huge 3rd down grabs.

Alex Smith - Are we seeing the proverbial return of the prodigal son? A QB switch can sometimes jump-start an offense, but did anybody really expect that kind of performance? Smith finished 15/22 for 206 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He showed some of his old mobility and seemed to be able to read the field much better than Shaun Hill. We'll have plenty more on this impressive showing.

Patrick Willis/Justin Smith - The 49ers defense had to spend a ton of time on the field, but things could have been considerably worse in the end. Amidst all this, Patrick Willis and Justin Smith were doing what they could to make plays.

Dashon Goldson - Goldson gets his own line for stepping up to make some plays, including a huge forced fumble and recovery by Steve Slaton (the 49ers scored their 2nd touchdown of the game after that). Goldson now needs to start showing some consistency.

The Bad
Owen Daniels' defender(s) - Daniels just wrecked the 49ers defense all game along. While Andre Johnson didn't have a big game, it didn't matter considering what Daniels did to the 49ers the entire game. Gotta step up against those elite tight ends (a group Daniels is joining this season).

Frank Gore - Gore struggled mightily this game, and maybe a good share of the blame goes to the offensive line and the play-calling. Nonetheless, the numbers are under Gore's name. Aside from the two big runs against Seattle, he's really struggled this season.

49ers Coaching Staff - While Jimmy Raye did show some ability to mix things up when Alex Smith took over, there were just too many game management miscues. Smith probably gets some blame due to his rustiness, but the coaching staff had it's fair share of struggles. At the same time, I won't go "ugly" because I think things could have been considerably worse.

The Ugly
First half offense - Words cannot describe how awful the offense was in the first half. The offensive line was ineffective, Shaun Hill couldn't make plays. All in all, not something they'll be hanging their hat on anytime soon. The question becomes whether the changes made in the second half will stick, or whether the team will decide to go back to what was not working in the first half. Let's hope for the former...

Arnaz Battle - While there is plenty of blame to go around for this loss, Arnaz Battle will get a lot of it given his muffed punt that Houston turned into 7 points. I'm curious to see if we'll be looking at a new punt returner next week (Spurlock?).

Next Week
@ Indianapolis Colts - Well, this is certainly a much more interesting game. I was intrigued no matter what, but now the 49ers might be rolling out Alex Smith. We'll have to wait to find out more, but it's tough to tell what 49ers team will show up in Indianapolis. Given how the Colts are playing, the 49ers are likely to need a whole bunch of points to hang in this game. The Colts are clicking as well as anybody on offense at this point so the 49ers defense will certainly have its hands full. This is certainly going to be an interesting week!

Sage advice from Mo Egger for new/returning Bengals bandwagon fans:

A Pragmatic Bengals Fan — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:37:20 -0000

This is just brilliant satire from our friend Mo Egger's blog over at The Homer. You'll see it was posted a couple of days ago due to the fact that he refers to Brad St. Louis as a current Bengal, but I'll parenthetically repair that. With Mo's permission I lovingly repost this piece that gave me more than one belly laugh yesterday when I read it. Hit the jump to read one of the best things I've read in a while.

-This week, and for a while until the team falters, the number of Bengals bandwagon fans you'll see will increase. I like bandwagon fans. The more people that want to talk about my favorite team, watch games, tailgate, the better. To an extent, we're all bandwagon fans. Your interest in a team or sport ebbs and flows depending on the success of whom your rooting for.

So if you're a bandwagon fan, new to the 2009 Bengals, welcome. We're glad to have you and we hope you're here for a while, though we know we're just a loss or two away from seeing you leave our lives for a while. Let's enjoy the time we do have. Let's go through a couple of things....

First, let's get rid of that "2005 AFC North Champions" shirt. You need some new gear. That shirt isn't gonna help you blend in. It's been four years, and besides, a team from the Bengals' division won the title that year. Keep it as a keepsake if you must, but don't wear it.

Same for the lame "Two Johnsons and one big Willie" shirt you bought about four years ago. There's a Johnson still on the team, his name is Brandon. Rudi's gone, his effectiveness slipping probably around the time you checked out, sometime late in 2006, injured in '07, cut before last year. He's looking for a job. Chad is still here, but he doesn't go by "Johnson" anymore. He's "OchoCinco" now. And Willie's gone too, blown out before last season. Bobbie Williams, who was actually here when you last wore the orange and black, is the wise-old one on the offensive line.

Actually a lot of players you loved when you were last a fan are gone. Justin Smith has moved on. So has Landon Johnson, Levi Jones, Chris Perry, Madieu Williams, and Eric Steinbach, just to name a few.

Carson is still the quarterback, though he's just now rounding back into form after missing most of last year, when you were wondering why people still went to games and figuring out ways to scalp some Colts tickets.

Remember how much fun you had saying "Houshmandzadeh?" Yeah well, he's not here either. The fun name to say is "Maualuga." (MAH-WUH-LOO-GA)

The crazy hair guy is Domata Peko. Defensive line. Where John Thornton used to play. Shayne Graham is still on the team. He hangs out at 2009's place for the pretentious, Bootsy's. Speaking of Bootsy's, he's so 2005. Crack Sauce is the new Bootsy.

Oh yeah, and speaking of pretentious, Paul Brown Stadium still has luxury suites, football domain of the pretentious and bandwagon jumpers alike. I'm sure if you find your way to PBS, you'll be bee-lining the suites. Give the other a-holes my best. Ask how many people had to be laid off the retain it and how many of their company's lower-salaried workers get to enjoy it.

Also, when you last left us, our men were running up quite the arrest tally. Most of those fellows involved aren't here anymore. Odell Thurman has moved on the something called the UFL (I'd explain that concept, but your head would explode). What may surprise you is that Chris Henry is still here, and believe it or not, acting every bit the model citizen.

Marvin Lewis is still the coach. Mike Brown is still the owner. You won't understand why most of us still can't stand him despite the team's record. Perhaps you do your shopping in Butler County.

Let's see, who else might you be looking for? David Pollack? Neck injury forced him to retire. Sam Adams? Biggest free agent bust in team history, though he was possibly a worse owner than nose tackle. Owned a team called the Jungle Kats that played Arena Football. Actually, he might've been a worse owner than Mike Brown. Torry James is gone too. Replaced by Leon Hall. He and Jonathan Joseph are forming quite the duo in the defensive backfield. Cedric Benson is the new Rudi, wearing number 32. He's doing quite well. However, screams of "Ceeeed" are not repalcing "Ruuuuudi." Just yell "go!" when he carries it. There's also this newcomer named Andre Caldwell...he's been money late in games, caught the game-winning TD passes against both Baltimore and Pittsburgh, which since you might have been rooting for the Steelers at the time, is probably something you remember.

Brad St. Louis is now the object of our frustration. He's the long snapper. (Note from Craig, here's the reference to St. Louis I wrote about earlier. When this was posted two whole days ago he was still a Bengal.) Actually he was the long snapper when you were last with us, but you didn't know who he was because no one knows who the long snapper is if he's good, which he is not. You'll hear some grumbling about a guy named Andre Smith too. He was the Bengals' first round pick this year. He weighs as much as your Prius.

Anyway, welcome back to the bandwagon. It's great to have you. Throw on your new Bengals t-shirt (iron out the folds) or your Maualuga jersey and settle in for the season. At least until they lose two in a row.

49ers-Falcons: The World According To Madden

Ninjames — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:19:13 -0000

Tomorrow the Atlanta Falcons travel to Candlestick Park to take on our San Francisco 49ers in what should be a rather good matchup. Still, all these previews I see aren't good enough, I most certainly need more. A couple weeks ago before the Seahawks game I posted an article much like this in which I simulated the game on Madden NFL 10 for the Xbox 360--the game picked the 49ers to win it, and wouldn't you know it, it happened. I also did this last week for the Rams game but issues with the internet prevented me from posting the article. Either way I'm back now and it should be interesting to see how the 49ers do.

Interesting because there was a large roster update yesterday, in which at least seven people on the 49ers got increases in overall rating. One player in particular, DT Aubrayo Franklin got a huge boost--he was the lowest rated starting DT in the game and he jumped up 12 whole points in overall rating to now be just above average. Other increases go to the likes of Patrick Willis (who now has a 99 OVR, the highest possible) and Shawntae Spencer as well as Justin Smith and Nate Clements.

If you're wondering how it goes it's pretty simple--I make sure the rosters are good, take out injured players and then I spectate an 8 minute game on All-Madden difficulty. I watch the entire game and provide commentary and stats. Madden is by no means an amazing simulator by any standards but it sure is interesting to see how it plays out, no?

1st Quarter

49ers First Drive: The 49ers win the coin toss and elect to receive. Allen Rossum takes the kick at the 2-yard line and brings the ball out to the 26. Shaun Hill, fresh off an overall boost leads the team out on the field. The first play is a four yard run by HB Glen Coffee--Frank Gore was removed for injury. The next play is another run to Coffee.. no! It's play action, and Shaun Hill turns his vision upfield where he hits Isaac Bruce for 15 yards, who proceeds to turn it into 20 yards before being tackled. First down 49ers. On the next play Hill hits Josh Morgan for a quick 7 yards over the middle just before on second down when Glen Coffee pounds the ball in for a first down. On the next play Coffee is stuffed at the line bringing up a 2nd and 10.

Shaun Hill takes the snap on second down and pitches it to Coffee, right side. It looks bad, Atlanta safety Erik Coleman breaks through the line no problem and has a straight shot at Coffee who... puts him on his [site decorum] and picks up the first down before being pushed out of bounds. I wouldn't expect the Falcons to fall for another pitch but lo and behold Shaun Hill takes the snap, spins and pitches it to the left side this time and starting S Decoud on the Falcons is right there... before Glen Coffee breaks the tackle and proceeds to pick up 23-yards and is brought down just short of the end zone for a 1st and goal.

From the three-yard line Shaun Hill takes the snap and shoves the ball in the gut of number 24 HB Michael Robinson. At least that's what the guy who was supposed to be covering the right corner of the end zone thought before letting WR Isaac Bruce snag a beautiful pass for a touch down off the play action! I say beautiful, even though the pass was high, wobbly and not very well thrown--I don't care. It was beautiful. With a Joe Nedney extra point the 49ers lead 7-0.

Falcons First Drive: The ball is brought to the 29-yard line on the kickoff and Matt Ryan leads the Falcons offense onto the field. The 49ers defense comes onto the field, eight of its starting eleven players having received overall boosts in the last roster update. Ryan hands off to Michael Turner who gets three yards before DT Aubrayo Franklin makes the tackle--which is followed by a five yard run to bring up third down. This is followed by a two yard run for a first down. On 1st and 10 Ryan throws a pass directly into the hands of SS Michael Lewis, who decides to drop it, bringing up 2nd and 10. This is followed by a 1-yard run by Michael Turner before Isaac "Ice" Sopoaga punishes him with a huge tackle. 3rd down with 9 to go.

The first down is picked up with a thirteen yard completion to WR Michael Jenkins, the Falcons are on the 40-yard line. Well, the 42 yard line as on first down Justin Smith completely obliterated Turner for a two yard loss bringing up 2nd and 12. Turner then gets three yards before being tackled again, bringing up another 3rd and 9. Ryan takes the snap, feels the pressure, avoids a sack and throws a pass over the middle, but before it gets anywhere it's broken up by Manny Lawson bringing up a 4th and 9.

The Falcons punt the ball the Rossum but it sails into the end zone and the team lines up on the 20-yard line. Coffee is stuffed for no gain on the first play and the 1st quarter comes to an end. 49ers lead 7-0.

2nd Quarter

One 2nd and 10 Coffee picks up one yard which is followed by an incompletion bringing out the 49ers punting unit. Andy Lee booms one big but Brent Grimes breaks two tackles on his way to the 44-yard line.

The first play for the Falcons is a three-yard run. Which is followed by a four yard run and by my count, five broken tackles on a single play. The Falcons line up 3rd and 3. Turner picks up the first down on the next play. On the next play TE Tony Gonzales gets 11-yards on a completion over the middle. Follow this with two more runs by Michael Turner and the chain gang comes out to measure--the referee signals 3rd and inches and Matt Ryan converts rather easily with a completion over the middle putting the Falcons at 1st and goal on the 1-yard line.

On the next play Matt Ryan runs what looks to be the exact same play as the 49ers had run in the end zone minus the play action, trying to hit WR Roddy White in the corner of the end zone but the ball is picked off by CB Nate Clements who gets a touchback, setting the 49ers up with possession on the 20-yard line. 49ers still lead 7-0.

The first play of the 49ers drive is a 9-yard run from Glen Coffee, followed by a no-gain on second down, bringing up 3rd and 1. On the next play Hill takes the snap and gets great protection from the left side of his line before having to avoid pressure from the right and throwing up a wobbly pass 10 yard downfield which is caught by TE Delanie Walker for the first down. The next play on first down is a pitch to Coffee who is brought down behind the line for a 2-yard loss bringing up 2nd and 12. Scratch that, 3rd and 4 as Coffee breaks a big run. True to 49ers and Jimmy Raye form the Niners once again call a run play, and it comes up short bringing up 4th down.

With 1:25 left in the first half the 49ers take their time with the punt before Andy Lee booms a kick that bounces at the 8-yard line before rolling and stopping at the 1-yard line where it is downed. The Falcons start with 52 seconds left on the 1-yard line. Matt Ryan easily moves out, however with a 25-yard completion over the middle before taking a timeout with 44 seconds left. Another 11 yards are gained on the next play and another timeout spent. Two yards is picked up on the next pass before the clock is stopped when the receiver goes out of bounds. On 2nd and 8 Patrick Willis breaks up a pass over the middle, dropping what would have been an interception. 3rd and 8 with 29 seconds to go. Matt Ryan goes 4-wide from the shotgun and picks up yet another 1st down, the Falcons burn their last timeout.

The Falcons pick up six yards and rush to get another play off. Ryan goes with a fake spike before dumping it off to Michael Turner to close the half. 49ers lead 7-0.

3rd Quarter

Joe Nedney kicks the ball to the end zone and it is taken out by Norwood who finds a seam and brings it out to the 39-yard line. I'm still waiting for Michael Turner to get his increase since he's broken maybe one tackle this season thus far, but alas, on Madden he stands to be some unGodly force to be reckoned with as he sheds about five tackles on his way to a 1st down run on 1st down. Sopoaga continues to have his number however, stopping him for a 3-yard loss on the next play bringing up 2nd and 13.

Matt Ryan takes the snap and fires a laser over the middle to the right side. The ball is cut short however as CB Dre Bly intercepts it, creating the second turnover for the 49ers defense and setting the Niners up with the ball on their own 43-yard line. Niners lead 7-0.

On the first play Shaun Hill takes the snap and has all the time in the world. The 49ers receivers struggle to get open and after about five seconds Hill forces the ball--right into the hands of a Falcon defender who looks to be gone for a pick six before being dragged down at the 1-yard line. Hill commits his first turnover of the game and the Falcons set up 1st and goal.

On the first play Manny Lawson drops yet another perfect interception and now I have to wonder about his catch rating on this game because it happens rather frequently with him. Either way it's 2nd and 10. On the next play Ryan hits Finneran in the flat for a touchdown, tying the game 7-7.

Allen Rossum takes a knee and the 49ers start at the 20. Vernon Davis hauls in a 7-yard reception on the first play of the drive and Glen Coffee runs for 1 yard on the next, bringing up 3rd and 2. Shaun Hill throws a terrible pass which goes nowhere near any players while not under any pressure bringing up a rather deflating 4th down. The Niners punt and the ball gets to the 34-yard line.

On a pitch Turner proceeds to truck through three more defenders on a six yard run, followed by a one yard run on a draw play. Off of play action on the next play Ryan tosses the ball to WR Roddy White, who once again finds his hands empty after CB Nate Clements intercepts his second pass of the game. The 49ers create their third turnover and find themselves on the 49-yard line. 7-7.

The first down pass attempt is broken up with a dropped pick and Hill proceeds to hand the ball off to Glen Coffee for a 2-yard run. On 3rd and 8 Shaun Hill is sacked after HB Glen Coffee fails to pick up the blitz. On 4th and 15 the 49ers punt and the Falcons get a touchback.

With 2:20 to go in the third the Falcons start their drive the same way they always do--with no less than three broken tackles and a five-yard gain by Michael Turner, which is followed (as always) by a stuffing at the line by Justin Smith or Isaac Sopoaga, or in this case, both. On 3rd and 5 Atlanta runs the ball again and Aubrayo Franklin stops it at the line. Allen Rossum takes the punt and brings it to the 37-yard line.

Once again the 49ers set up shop, looking for the momentum they had on the opening drive. Another first down run goes for nothing and another second down run goes for nothing. 3rd and 8 as the 3rd quarter ends.

4th Quarter

Tied at 7-7 the 49ers come out in what is likely a crucial third down, needing a conversion. Shaun Hill is hit as he throws however, and the team is forced to punt, going three and out. The ball is brought back to the 20 and Atlanta takes over. Turner picks up six yards on the first down run and then three yards on the second down run, bringing up 3rd and 1. He gets the call again before getting blown up by Justin Smith for a one-yard loss. The teams exchange three-and-outs.

The punt is almost blocked and the ball sails out of bounds at the 50-yard line. The San Francisco 49ers need to take advantage of this good field position with 6 minutes left in the game. Coffee picks up four yards, then no yards as the Niners continue to run for some reason. On 3rd and 6 Shaun Hill takes the snap from the shotgun and hands the ball off AGAIN to Glen Coffee who runs to the outside and gets one yard. At this point I have to think even Jimmy Raye wouldn't be running it this much. On the last three or four drives the 49ers have ran the ball every single play.

4:47 remains and the Atlanta Falcons line up at the 23-yard line. Justin Smith stops Turner for two yards on first down and Patrick Willis tackles him for a one yard loss on second. On third down the 49ers seem to blitz everybody including safeties which doesn't make any sense and the Falcons complete a touchdown pass to WR Marty Booker. There was literally nobody near him and he runs effortlessly to score. The Falcons are now up 14-7 with 3:25 to go in the game.

The 49ers set up at the 24, getting nothing on the first down run but Shaun Hill completes a pass to Josh Morgan for the first down on second down. 1st and 10 and it's Morgan again for a 12-yard gain over the middle. The game goes to the 2 minute warning, the 49ers on the 47 yard line. The next play is a pass broken up intended for WR Brandon Jones. On second down Glen Coffee gets a dumpoff and turns it into a first down. Moran Norris gets his pass broken up oin 1st down and on 2nd down another pass is broken up, bringing up the most crucial third down of the game.

On 3rd and 10 WR Brandon Jones picks up exactly 10 yards over the middle and on the next play drops the pass bringing up 2nd and 10. On 2nd down Shaun Hill throws to the end zone from the 24-yard line and Arnaz Battle brings down the catch but fails to land in bounds. On another 3rd and 10 the pass is thrown to TE Vernon Davis who gets past the line but is dragged two yards back. Madden, having very poor forward progress detection sets the 49ers up with 4th and 2. On the 4th down pass play Coffee drops a pass and it is called a fumble--the 49ers struggle but maintain posession with 49 seconds to go they are set up 1st and goal on the 10-yard line.

The first down pass is incomplete and the second down pass is perfectly caught by TE Delanie Walker for a touchdown. The 49ers tie the game 14-14. With 32 seconds to go the Falcons set up shop at the 32-yard line. The Falcons gain eight yards through the air before taking a timeout. On second down they go back to Finneran again for his fourth catch of the game and a first down, burning their second timeout. The next play is a pass to Jenkins but Nate Clements dives and breaks it up bringing up 2nd and 10. Atlanta gets 3rd and 2 as a receiver gets out of bounds on the next play. On 3rd and 2 Matt Ryan drops back and fires a laser.. right into the hands of Patrick Willis who stepped up and has room to run! He takes it-all-the-way-to-the-house for a TOUCHDOWN! The 49ers win the game with no time remaining on a Patrick Willis interception beating the Falcons 20-14!

Final Score - San Francisco 49ers 20, Atlanta Falcons 14

49ers		Falcons
168	Total Offense	310
68	Rushing	69
120	Passing	241
1 (+3)	Turnovers	4 (-3)
2-9 (22%)	3rd Down Conv.	7-11 (63%)
0-0	Penalties	0-0
14:06	Posession Time	17:54

QB Shaun Hill 12/23 127 YDS 52% 2TD 1INT

QB Matt Ryan 15/23 241 YDS 65% 2TD 4INT

HB Glen Coffe 20 carries, 68 YDS, 3.4 AVG

HB Michael Turner 21 carries, 71 YDS, 3.3 AVG

WR Josh Morgan 3 REC, 40 YDS

WR Marty Booker 4 REC, 114 YDS 1TD

CB Nate Clements 1 SOLO, 3 INT

LE Jamaal Anderson 1 TFL, 1 INT

Post-Game: The 49ers performed less than stellar on offense and it was a close game throughout. The Falcons outgained the Niners but the defense still came up strong, forcing four turnovers. What the game came down to is exactly what I expect it to come down to tomorrow-defense defense defense. The offense did just enough to put a few points on the board and Manusky's unit came up big. I'm not saying that Matt Ryan is going to come out tomorrow and throw four picks, but I am saying if the 49ers win it, it could be on the strength of a Nate Clements of Patrick Willis interception. It isn't out of the realm of plausibility that the Niners dominate on defense and take a close game as I just watched on Madden. Should be a good game tomorrow.

Mike Singletary Approval Rating, Week 4

Fooch — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:15:21 -0000

Last week when I ran the Mike Singletary approval rating, my biggest concern was how the team would rebound from the devastating loss in Minnesota. Mike Singletary is a great motivator, but even many optimists had to be concerned following the loss.

Well so much for those concerns. The team rebounded to paste the Rams 35-0. One might initially argue that the team obviously struggled out of the gate, only leading the Rams 7-0. Offensively the struggles were certainly there. The offensive execution was a little less than stellar in the first half. However, given prior offensive struggles, I don't see that as an issue of coming out flat after the previous game. I say that in part because the defense was flying all over the field in the first half. They absolutely shut down the Rams throughout the game and were playing at an extremely high level.

The defense is certainly talented, but I'm willing to give credit where credit is due. Mike Singletary has been masterful with this team from a psychological edge. The team made some additions to the roster this offseason, but they're really not a whole lot different from last year's squad. The major variable in all this has been Mike Singletary. Bill Walsh will always be the coach on the Mt. Rushmore of 49ers legends. And yet, while it's still early, Mike Singletary seems to be on his to securing his own little spot in 49ers lore. We'll certainly have to re-address this in the future, but consider me happy so far.

I've attached Coach Singletary's Monday press conference after the jump, but I wanted to point a couple more things that jump to my attention about his actions with the team. I found his thoughts on halftime particularly interesting. It showed the level to which the players are truly buying in to the message:

On whether players have begun to take ownership of his message and he can take a step back at halftime and let the players carry on his message:
"I thought yesterday I saw a lot of guys disappointed in the way the first half went. Like I said, there were no shouting matches, it was just a matter of, ‘Guys, just remember what we said we needed to do.’ They kind of took it from there. ‘Yes, we’ve got to go out and we’ve got to do this. And, we’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to execute better.’ The coaches didn’t really have to talk a whole lot. Whenever you have that situation, you know you’re going in the right direction."

On whether he wants the players to carry out his message:
"The less I have to say the better. The less I say, the better I feel because I’m going to say what has to be said and hopefully they beat me to it all the time, so we can stay on the same page."

The team has bought into the Mike Singletary philosophy hook, line and sinker (to steal Danny's VD metaphor). This is not a team that will be quitting on their coach anytime soon. The team never seemed to quit on Mike Nolan during the down times, but in my opinion this is a different kind of buy-in. It's more of a playoff mentality (ironic enough given Mike Nolan's "Win the West" mantra!)

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Press Conference – October 5, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

Opening statements:
"Good afternoon. To start with, I’m very thankful that we came out of yesterday 3-0 in our division. I’m very proud of our guys and the way they played. To talk about some of the injuries, we still have [RB] Frank Gore and [S] Reggie Smith. They will be out. From last week, it’s just carry-over. [LB] Marques Harris has a hamstring strain. [LB] Jeff Ulbrich, concussion. [FS Dashon] Goldson just got the wind knocked out of him. He’s OK. [LB] Manny Lawson just got hit in the nose. He’s fine. Other than that, I think we’re in pretty decent shape.

Overall, our guys played hard. I think, offensively, the best thing that we did was just protect the football. I think going into every game, if that’s something, if that’s the mindset going into the game, just protect the football, I think we have a chance of being in it – as long as we don’t take ourselves out of it. I thought [QB] Shaun [Hill] did a good job spreading the ball around. He got the ball to several different receivers. I thought [RB Glen] Coffee, his first start, I thought he ran well. I thought he ran hard. He’s just going to have to continue to get in a grove and really understand exactly what he needs to do on every down. I thought our receivers did pretty well, for the most part. Obviously, there were some passes that we dropped that we have got to catch. [WR] Josh Morgan, I thought, did a good job coming back after missing the first ball, the deep ball, and coming back and catching a touchdown. That was good. Shaun just went right back to him. I thought our tight ends did a good job. [TE] Vernon Davis did a good job continuing to mature and staying involved in the offense, and I think Shaun is doing a good job of developing a rapport with him. [TE] Delanie [Walker] did well. He’s just continuing to do the things that we need to have him do, getting involved in the offense and creating mismatches. The plays like the reverse that he had, I thought he did a good job.

The o-line, we just have to continue to get better. [Offensive line coach] Chris [Foerster] and I have to sit down and look at some things we need to do in terms of what’s going to help our offense, but at the same time, there are a couple of guys who are doing a good job. [C Eric] Heitmann is working his tail off. Every down, he’s battling somebody. Thankfully, we have a center because everything wants to be from the inside out. So, if that’s where it starts, if you don’t have a problem at center, that’s a great problem not to have. I think [LT Joe] Staley is continuing to mature and get better. I think the right tackle situation, those guys are continuing to work it out over there, working together and taking plays here and there. Overall, they did a pretty solid job yesterday. I think we just have to get better overall, and we will.

Defensively, when you look at the film, the first thing that jumped out at me when I looked at the film was just guys running. Every time you looked at a play, guys were running to the ball. So, when we talk about being relentless, obviously, that’s what you see on the film. I think we had a couple of missed tackles here and there, but a lot of times, guys were just taking their shots. They were just coming in and just getting in there. That’s something that we have to continue to do a better job on. On defense, that’s something that we pride ourselves on. We have to be a good tackling football team. I think it’s very nice when you turn the film on and you see 11 guys sprinting to the ball. That’s the best thing that we have going right now. Obviously, [LB] Pat [Willis] had a nice game. He went out there and he just continues to get better. Any time you have a game like he had yesterday, that’s a great thing to see this early in the season. [LB] Takeo Spikes, also, I thought Takeo did very well, had a very nice game. Did all the fundamentals and the details of the position, did it very well. Our outside guys, [LB] Parys [Haralson] and Manny Lawson … thought they did a good job. [LB] Ahmad Brooks, continuing to come back from the knee scope, after being out a little while there are still some things that he has to get down, but he’s coming and coming fast. On the back end, we did a pretty decent job. [SS] Michael Lewis had a great game. He had several tackles, I think a couple for losses, a couple hits on the quarterback. I thought he did a nice job. So, defensively, it was a great day, and I think all of the guys get a game ball, simply because of the zero, the shutout.

Special teams, [LB] Scott McKillop, I thought, he came up big getting the ball in the end zone and scoring a touchdown. [RB] Michael Robinson, [P] Andy Lee and [CB] Tarell Brown did a nice job, in terms of special teams. [WR] Arnaz [Battle] fumbled one of the punts. We’ve got to work on that. It was his first time being back there in a while, and that’s just something that we can’t do and we have to get better at."

On the reason why KR Allen Rossum was inactive:
"My thinking was to get another linebacker up, a defensive player so that Parys and Manny – rushing the quarterback as much as they have to – giving them a break. And, Ahmad coming back from the knee, not giving him too many reps and hurting ourselves in the long run. So, getting Marques up and Ahmad so they could go in, as well as play special teams, just taking some of the load off. That’s really the biggest thing there."

On whether he’s thinking about personnel changes on the offensive line:
"It could. Hopefully not. Hopefully, we’re able to work it out because we do feel that our best five guys are on the field, but if it comes to that, it could. But, right now, hopefully not."

On whether he is unhappy with the offensive guards:
"I would just say that they did not play up to par. I know that whatever it is, we’ll just have to figure it out. [LG David] Baas could still be banged up a little bit. I don’t know. Sometimes, if you know a guy, when you’re playing on the offensive line, it’s just one of those things where, ‘Yes, I can go.’ But, at the same time, you’re not 100 percent. We’ll get to the bottom of it and find out exactly what it is because both of those guys, we have to have the whole offensive line in sync, and we’ll get there."

On whether it is his aim to have a 50-50 run-to-pass balance on offense:
"That’s always – that has always been, from the very beginning. I say we want to be able to run the ball, but I say we want to be able to run the ball when we have to run the ball. So far, we haven’t been able to do that, but I always want to have a balanced offense. I think people interpret what I said previously, thinking I want to be three yards and a cloud of dust. That’s not me. That’s not what I want. [Offensive coordinator] Jimmy Raye understands that, and I think our offense understands that, and that’s something that we’ll strive for. Obviously, in every game, sometimes you’re not going to be able to run as much as you want. Sometimes you’re not going to be able to pass as much as you want. The No. 1 thing is you want to be able to win the game, and we’re going to do whatever we have to do to win the game, but the goal is to be able to have a balance and do both."

On whether players have begun to take ownership of his message and he can take a step back at halftime and let the players carry on his message:
"I thought yesterday I saw a lot of guys disappointed in the way the first half went. Like I said, there were no shouting matches, it was just a matter of, ‘Guys, just remember what we said we needed to do.’ They kind of took it from there. ‘Yes, we’ve got to go out and we’ve got to do this. And, we’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to execute better.’ The coaches didn’t really have to talk a whole lot. Whenever you have that situation, you know you’re going in the right direction."

On whether he wants the players to carry out his message:
"The less I have to say the better. The less I say, the better I feel because I’m going to say what has to be said and hopefully they beat me to it all the time, so we can stay on the same page."

On who those guys are that are beating him to it now:
"Well, you can pick any guy on defense. The leadership on the defensive side of the ball has really picked up, whether it’s [DE] Justin Smith,[LB] Patrick [Willis], [LB] Takeo [Spikes], [S] Michael Lewis, all those guys are talking. On the offensive side of the ball, primarily [QB] Shaun Hill has really stepped up and has been a real bright spot in terms of the leadership and, ‘Hey guys, we have to do this, we have to do that. This is what we said we were going to do and let’s do it.’ So that’s great to see. On the offensive line, [T] Joe Staley and [C Eric] Heitmann, it’s great to see those guys step up and they will continue to do so because we will continue to get better."

On how close he thinks the team is to being one of the best teams in the NFL:
"I think we are a ways away. I won’t even go there and try and be philosophical about it. We are a ways away and I only say that because sometimes you’ll say, ‘Well, we are about this much away,’ but when you really measure that, it’s a ways away. I’m always looking at the tape and looking at other teams and looking at where I think we are compared to some of the better teams in the league. Right now, we are just trying to get better each week and that’s really the bottom line and as we go forward, that is the goal, is to go out and get better in practice, just get a little bit better in practice each day and each game we play, just get a little bit better in some area and at some point in time, it’s going to come together, but obviously right now we are a ways away from it and we are continuing to work to get there."

On what he sees in this defense:
"The No. 1 thing that I see in this defense in unselfishness. That is the number one trait in this defense. These guys don’t care who gets the credit. You don’t have guys arguing about, ‘Now, wait a minute I got that sack.’ You don’t hear that. These guys are excited, they play together, they get along together, they sit in a room together and talk about the game plan, they talk about who’s doing what. It’s just a joy to be around and normally guys that are playing defense sometimes are a little more selfish, but not these guys. That is amazing to me. Defensive line, linebackers, DBs, there’s a lot of unselfish guys. So that lets me know right now that we are going to have a great defense. How great? Some guys just have to continue to mature and get there, but its coming."

On how much credit Mike Nolan gets for the way things are now:
"It’s the big thing that I talked about last year. It’s amazing. Any success that we have here, I always attribute a large part of that to Mike because I know what he was trying to do and I know where he was trying to go and it was just a matter of guys really understanding it, guys really believing it and stepping into it this year and just taking it to the next level."

On how he has turned the team into one of the league leaders in turnover differential this season:
"One of the things we talk about as a team is not losing football games. Making other teams earn every point they get. When you turn the ball over, it is a formula for disaster, and our guys understand offensively. Our guys understand that defensively. It just takes the breath out of you. The more turnovers you get, the more it lessens your opportunity to be successful."

On the approach he will take towards Atlanta:
"When I look at Atlanta, and I have not looked at them yet on film, I am still looking at our film and trying to dissect that a little bit more, but everything I know about Atlanta, they have great personnel on offense and defense. Defensively, they are flying around. They have good rush outside linebackers. They have good inside guys. Their defensive ends, John Abraham, they are coming from everywhere. On the offensive side of the ball, they have the young quarterback Matt Ryan, who was a huge success last year. They have good receivers and good running backs. So we are going to have our hands full once again. I think when the guys talked about the week we played Minnesota, and maybe there was a difference in me. Any time we have an opportunity to get better, any time we have an opportunity to measure ourselves, I think if you’d ask them there was also a difference in me for the first game. Each and every week there are different challenges for our team. This past week, yesterday, that was a mental challenge. That was a character challenge, in terms of where are we. Are we mature enough to be able to go into a game where we are supposed to be nine-point favorites? You have a young team just starting to develop a mindset of winning, are we mature enough to go into a game like that and win and play well and continue to get better? So we have to answer something every week, and I think yesterday, that was huge for us for different reasons. So each and every week we have a challenge. When I look at the film of Atlanta, we’ll look at the challenges we have there."

On whether he considered playing QB Alex Smith at the end of the game:
"No. Not really. Probably, the biggest reason why, is I want Shaun to get all that he can right now because he needs it. And I think it would be different if he had started for a couple of years and had a lot of games under his belt, a lot of success under his belt. I think right now, he needs to see all the looks he can get because it is going to serve him well down the line."

On the hits Hill took yesterday:
"They came from, sometimes, the safety inserted late in the game. Sometimes it was just a rush from the outside. But for the most part, it was definitely too many hits. Once again, the offensive line, some was due to them. And some, Shaun got no protection-wise, where not to go after the ball is snapped. It is getting better, but is too much. We will have to keep working on it."

On whether the team needs WR Michael Crabtree:
"Same answer. Same answer. I am going to say it again Any guy that can play and that can help us win, I am never going to say no, we don’t need him."

On whether Crabtree is perhaps a diva:
"You said the key word: perhaps. I don’t know that. I don’t know that for sure. Why say no to someone who may be one heck of a kid? Like I said, I met him, I talked to him and I had a good feel for him. I haven’t been wrong too often. I think he is a great kid. But this is your rookie year, you’re just coming into the NFL, all you know is what they are telling him."

On whether he has any indications that Crabtree will sign soon:
"I just hope he is right. It would be great."

Poll

Do you approve of the job Mike Singletary is doing as head coach?

Yes

1116 votes

No

9 votes

1125 votes | Poll has closed

NFL commits grand larceny on 49ers DE Justin Smith

Fooch — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:36:39 -0000

The NFL announced they fined 49ers DE Justin Smith $5,000 for his late hit on Vikings QB Brett Favre. For those that don't recall, at the 6:13 mark of the second quarter, Brett Favre dropped back to pass and as he let go of the pass, Justin Smith tackled him. The ref subsequently called Smith for unnecessary roughness. In the past this would appear to not even have been a penalty. However, the introduction of the Tom Brady rule regarding low tackles is what got Smith.

Smith is appealing the fine because he believes he hit Favre above the knee. He went so far as to say he reviewed the film to confirm his suspicion. I just went back and reviewed my DVR'd version of the game and I definitely agree with Smith. I can understand the ref thinking the hit was too low because it was in the midst of the action and it's not easy to see everything going on. However, in fining Smith I'd like to think the league went back to the tape and looked at the specific play. Of course, if they did in fact review the tape, they apparently think the hit was too low and are unlikely to review it. Throw in that this was Brett Favre and you've got this sometimes ridiculous rule in place, and Smith will probably not win his appeal, and thus be $5,000 lighter in the wallet.