SB Nation - Brandon Jones

Mike Singletary Tuesday afternoon press conference

Fooch — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:25:28 -0000

I completely forgot about Mike Singletary's day after press conference today. Consider it a side effect of not having a computer in front of me. Fortunately I have the transcript from said press conference and thought I'd attach it here. Coach Singletary had a few interesting comments, particularly at the end in relation to the team's punt return woes. Many of you might enjoy the last Q&A:

On whether there are any regrets about releasing KR/PR Allen Rossum:

"No, absolutely not. None."

Even if there are regrets, I'm fairly certain Mike Singletary would never say that at this point. Singletary was asked about why Brandon Jones was not back returning punts yesterday but his answer was a bit confusing. He does acknowledge there are problems, but his answer is that he hopes they can simply work it out.

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Press Conference - December 15, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

Opening statement:

"Good afternoon. First of all, with the injuries: [RB] Mike Robinson, stinger, day-to-day; [WR Michael] Crabtree, hip contusion, he should be fine; [LT] Barry Sims came in today with a little bit of knee pain. We'll get an MRI on that to see how that is sometime today. [LT] Joe Staley had a good workout on Sunday. We thought it was a good idea to rest him, give him a little more rest time and see how he responds this week. He's doing fine, a day-to-day situation.

The game last night, I'm very excited about the win and the way our guys responded. On the defensive side of the ball, I thought we attacked them most of the night, came up with some big plays, and I thought that was the result of our d-line really getting off the ball and making [QB Kurt] Warner move, which was part of the game plan going in. And, I thought the other part of that was our DBs really getting their hands on the receivers and being physical that way at the line of scrimmage. I thought that made a big difference. Our linebackers, for the most part, were going downhill and really did a pretty decent job against the run, for the most part, reading their keys. The thing we have to work on is continue to work on tackling. The big back [RB Beanie Wells], the kid got outside a few times and ran very well, ran hard. Our d-line, I thought our d-line did a good job for the most part. It was very nice to see [LB] Ahmad [Brooks] really step into his own last night on the national scene. That was great for him. Ahmad and [DT] Justin [Smith], [LB] Parys [Haralson] [LB] Manny [Lawson] - all the guys really got after the quarterback. They kind of took their turns and continued to make him move.

On the offensive side of the ball, I was pleased to see our offense really strike a balance. At the beginning of the season, we were a more run-oriented offense, and here as of late, we've evolved more into a passing offense, and I think last night, for the first time, we really struck a nice balance with the run and pass. I thought [QB] Alex [Smith] did a nice job. The two turnovers, the first one, the guy [DT Darnell Dockett] made a nice play getting his hands up and making an athletic play on the ball. The second one, the throw to [TE] Delanie [Walker] on the inside, a miscommunication in terms of whether Delanie was to go inside of the DB or on top of him. Alex read that he was going to go inside of him and threw the ball, and, obviously, the guy made a nice play and just kind of stood there and got a pick. [RB] Frank [Gore], I thought Frank did a nice job running the ball. The o-line did a very nice job blocking and opening up some holes and Frank ran strong and had great vision. It was great to see him smiling last night after the game. So, overall, I thought it was a nice win for us going forward. We've got a big game this week, and we just have to get our guys rested after a physical game like last night and get ready to go in Philly."

On whether the lows of losing are greater than the highs of winning:

"No. When you win a game, you're excited, but I must admit that if you had seen the locker room, you would have seen the difference. But, I think for me, it's just a matter of as soon as you win a game, right away you're thinking of the next game - at least for me. And, I have also learned that you enjoy that win for that evening, and then for me, it lasts for a few hours and then you start thinking about the next challenge and getting on to that. So, that's all it was, but as far as the lows are concerned, trust me, last week was really low. It was really frustrating for many different reasons, but at the same time, if you stay in last week, you're going to play like last week, so it was very important for our guys to move forward and make the most of the opportunity that we had last night and very important for us to win the game and continue to get ready for next week."

On what his message to RB Frank Gore was last week:

"You're talking about Frank Gore? Just knowing that he is a huge part of our offense and we're trying to figure it out. Just be patient and know that it's coming. In order for us to win, we need you to run the ball. Just give us a chance to strike that balance. It's coming, and it was good to see that [offensive coordinator] Jimmy Raye and I have been talking about it, making sure that we found that combination of getting him the ball and making sure that we had the right personnel to do that, and I thought Jimmy did a nice job of accomplishing that."

On whether the trio of LB Ahmad Brooks, LB Manny Lawson and LB Parys Haralson can be the answers to a consistent pass rush:

"We'd like to think so. You never have enough of them, but it was good to see that combination of just coming off the ball and those guys being able to continue to apply pressure, continue to have the offensive tackles try and adjust to Ahmad's speed and Parys' strength and Manny's speed. It was a constant mix. That was really good to see. Ahmad really makes a difference when you begin to think about him as a pass rusher and really what he brings."

On how far away Brooks is being from a full-time linebacker:

"I don't know. I think it's one of those things that is a next-offseason question. He's certainly in the mix, and I think when you look at Parys and you look at Manny and those guys continue to get better, Ahmad is definitely going to compete, and that's the best situation that we have there in order to compete."

On whether he has taken Brooks under his wing:

"I think the whole coaching staff has. I think [defensive line coach] Jim Tomsula has done a tremendous job with him. I think we work on different levels. [Outside linebackers coach] Jason [Tarver] has done a great job with him. [Pass rush specialist] Al Harris has done a great job with him. I think we all just have a piece in that. I think Ahmad is one of those guys that, when you think about it, he came to us as an inside linebacker, not really a rush guy. But, you begin to see the skill, the speed, the ability to come off the edge, and you go, ‘Wow, we need to do something different here.' And, you put him on the outside and you think that might be the fit, and of course, on the sub situation with him coming in and getting down as a rush end, that certainly works. I think he's found his niche. He is such a talented guy, I think for me, when you see someone like that, you just want them to succeed. You want them to have some success because that's a rare talent. He really is. It was just helping him see that. I'm very excited that he's got a grasp of it now."

On whether he has spent time with him managing the reputation he had of being a character risk off the field:

"I think Ahmad, like a number of guys in the league, they just have been in other situations where maybe there wasn't as much structure, or maybe the coaches didn't have the time or the players didn't really have the - he's very fortunate being surrounded by the guys that he's surrounded by. Each and every one of those guys -- [DT] Justin [Smith] and Parys and [NT] Aubrayo [Franklin] - those guys rally around him and they're like big brothers: ‘Hey, you need to do this. You need to be on time. You need to make sure that you're getting this done.' When he walks in that room, not only are the coaches on him, but those players are on him, ‘Hey, well, wait a minute. What are you doing on this play? You need to be...' It's like he's got a lot of big brothers around here. I think when you come into a situation like ours where there are so many supportive guys, it really is a great situation for a young player to come in, and if he has a chance to make it, here is a great place to make it."

On how much of last night was staying with the offensive game plan and how much was adjusting to what the Cardinals defense was doing:

"I think last night, and really for maybe the last three weeks, really has been trying to get a handle on what we're going to do. Since we've been evolving, like I said at the beginning of the year, it's one of those things where we're saying, ‘OK, we're going to run the ball, and we're going to pass more if the quarterback allows us to.' All of a sudden, you've got a different situation, so we're going to pass. We're going to run depending on how we figure out what set we need to run out of. How does Frank adjust and what works for him? I think this week, coming into last night's game, it was just a matter of thinking, after talking to Jimmy Raye, this is what it looks like. I think this is what it is, and so we're going to go with that. I think it's just having a plan going into it, and it certainly helped playing them before and having a better idea of how they might adjust to certain things and just feeling that you could go with certain personnel groups and win with that. Run with this one and pass with this one, more with that one and give them different looks. It just kind of worked out that way. I think we did what we said we were going to do during the week."

On what he has seen from QB Alex Smith in the base offense versus other personnel groupings:

"I think Alex is fine. I think Alex is a guy that can certainly play in the base. I think right now, if you were to ask him what is he most comfortable in, he would probably say more of a spread situation. But, I think he knows in order to be the player that he wants to be, and to be more of a well-rounded player, I think he wants to be able to have that base situation where it's two backs and a tight end, be able to get underneath the center and do that as well and feel comfortable in that. I think, as we go forward, he's played maybe a month-and-a-half or so, I think as we go forward, you're going to see him settle down a bit more and be comfortable in anything that we're running and just kind of settle in and become more consistent as a quarterback overall."

On what the challenge is for him in the base offense:

"I just think it's more of a timing thing. Obviously, if you're in the shotgun, you have a little more time. You have a chance to see your matchups right away. Everybody's out. This guy is on that one. So, now you have a pretty good idea of what they're going to play. If you have a really fast guy over here, and you have a slow guy on him, chances are they're going to play a zone defense because that guy can't stay with him. And, all of a sudden, if you move this guy from over here to the other side and you get a guy matching him over here wherever he goes, chances are they're in man. So, as a quarterback, it helps me tremendously when I've got these guys running around and I know what matchups work, and when we set, I have a pretty decent idea what it is. When you're in a spread situation and you're off the ball in the gun, then you see a lot more and you get a lot more information. Whereas, when you're in a base situation when you've got two backs and a tight end, it's harder to tell. Those safeties really have to speak to you then. If they have a lot of experience, they're not going to tell you the truth until the ball is snapped and you only have so much time. So, now it's up to the offensive line."

On whether it's nice to hear a vote of confidence from Team President Jed York:

"Yes, I know that every year every head coach in the league has an evaluation with ownership, but I think what's really important for me is not so much after the season a sit-down with Jed and Dr. [John] York and say, ‘How did I do?' I think it's important for anyone that's doing a job to know that, you know what, I'm putting the best that I can into it and to know that that has to be enough. And, if it's not, then you go from there. So, I don't really think about, ‘Well, what are they thinking about what I'm doing? How am I doing?' It's just a matter of knowing that how I deal with the coaches and how I deal with the players and making sure that every day I challenge myself to be the best that I can be and go from there."

On whether having an offense that evolves throughout the season is an advantage because opposing teams have to prepare for different things:

"It can be an advantage for you if you do those things well. It can be an advantage. If you go into a game and they know you're in a particular set and you're going to try and take advantage of them passing the ball and you're going to spread it out and they're vulnerable that way, yes it can be an advantage and visa versa. I think every team knows that, let's say for instance, for us as an offense, if we go into a game and we know that they're really good in an under defense or an over, but they're playing a 3-4, that means that the confidence may not be there. So, it also sends another message. If you're not steady in what you're doing and you don't have a set deal, then it sort of lets the defense know, or an offense know, that you're not really confident in what you're doing week-in and week-out. It is important to have some stability and say, ‘This is our staple. This is who we are. This is what we're doing, and we're coming at you and you just have to stop it.'"

On whether QB Alex Smith should get a lot of credit for the win:

"How much of the credit goes to Alex Smith? Now you're talking about the whole team thing to me. A quarterback can sit back there and look really smart and look really poised and really look great if he's got time. That's why I have a hard time when people talk about, ‘Well, this is how many games the quarterback has won. This is how successful the quarterback has been' because if he's getting the crap knocked out of him, I don't care how good he is, he's not going to be very good. So, I think Alex Smith, the offensive line - I think the offensive line deserves a lot of credit from yesterday. I think they've really matured, particularly from the first time we've played those guys. I think our guys have grown up quite a bit. So, I just think that it's hard for me to just say, well, it's Alex Smith. I would say that our offense is continuing to gain confidence as a whole. Our receivers and Alex are still trying to get on the same page. They've been playing together for about a month-and-a-half. There are some quarterbacks that have those receivers for a year or two and they're still not on time. So, I just think that it's just a credit to the offense and the coordinator."

On how much QB Alex Smith played a part in drawing players offside against the Cardinals:

"I think it's great that Alex would be able to do that. Our guys were poised enough to stay onside. Doing that on the first drive, I think it was a great thing to do because it really settled Arizona down and had them a little hesitant about jumping off and trying to get ahead of the snap count."

On the miscommunication on the second interception and whether it was Alex Smith's fault:

"To say Alex read it incorrectly - I couldn't say one way or the other. That's the way he saw it. When I look at the film, I can easily see why he could read it that way. I could also understand why [TE] Delanie would say, ‘I read the safety, going up high or staying low, so I tried to go up high.'"

On whether it's black and white:

"Not exactly."

On whether it's a relief to know they have the tiebreaker against Arizona if it comes down to a tie:

"Once again, in all honesty, all I know is, if we win out we have a chance. Maybe a small chance, but a chance, and I don't really care about the other stuff and the tiebreakers - I don't really get into that. I'm not smart enough for that. I just know if we win out, we just have to sit back and let's see what happens."

On the problems in the punt return game:

"We've got to work through it. That's all we can do. We've got to work through it."

On whether the pieces are there:

"I certainly hope so because hopefully, we just make better decisions. Hopefully, we'll get it done and we just have to figure it out more and more. We know with one guy, [WR] Brandon Jones, we know he's going to catch the ball. [WR] Arnaz [Battle], you know that he's more experienced at it. We just have to work through it."

On whether they can take that chance with the playoffs still a possibility:

"What do you suggest we do?"

On getting a guy that can catch the ball:

"We've got a guy that can catch the ball."

On who that is:

"Brandon Jones."

On why he wasn't returning punts yesterday:

"Because when you get a punt, the one thing that you want to try and do in a game like that, and it's not that Arnaz can't catch the ball. He's only missed one ball and I think that was in the Houston game. That's one ball."

On the one yesterday:

"The one yesterday, I thought the ball hit the ground first, then he tried to do something with it. That's different than muffing it. Muffing it is when it comes out of the air and it hits you and you don't catch it. That's a different thing. That's a bad decision that he made. That's a bad choice, but he didn't muff it."

On whether he is comfortable with it:

"No, I'm not comfortable. I'm not comfortable with any of that stuff. I'm not comfortable any time a guy is back there, catching the ball, catch the ball. That's your job, catch the ball. So no, I'm not comfortable, please don't think for one second that I'm comfortable with that, but at the same time, I want to make sure that if that's what we have, then we have to make the best decision and maybe give the guy better parameters and say, ‘If the ball is coming here, if the ball is going to hit the ground, just get the heck away from it.' Hopefully, we get that figured out and we'll go from there."

On whether there are any regrets about releasing KR/PR Allen Rossum:

"No, absolutely not. None."

49ers-Cardinals: Final Injury Report

Ninjames — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:30:14 -0000

Hey everyone, ~~Fooch~~ James here. We've got the final injury report before the game today and I figured I wasn't TOO busy and I could put this up in Fooch's absence. Right about the time you read this I should be in San Francisco setting up a grill so I won't be making the game threads with you today but don't miss me too much.

New to the injury report (I think) is CB Marcus Hudson, who is questionable along with LT Joe Staley. Staley has said since his injury that he was hoping to return by tonight's game but it's looking more and more doubtful that he'll be able to make it tonight. The Cardinals, however are a rather healthy team this season, which isn't good news but we'll have to deal.

After the jump I've got the transcript of Mike Singletary's post-practice press conference.

49ers
Out
CB Nate Clements (shoulder)

Doubtful
WR Isaac Bruce (ankle)

Questionable
CB Marcus Hudson (back)
LB Takeo Spikes (hamstring)
T Joe Staley (knee)

Probable
WR Brandon Jones (thumb)
S Michael Lewis (quadriceps)

Cardinals
Out
LB Will Davis (knee)

Questionable
LB Bert Berry (illness)
DE Kenny Iwebema (thumb)
TE Stephen Spach (knee)

Probable
DT Alan Branch (ankle)
T Mike Gandy (pelvis)
P Ben Graham (left groin)
RB Tim Hightower (thumb)
RB Dan Kreider (thigh)
K Neil Rackers (right groin)
DT Bryan Robinson (illness)
RB Jason Wright (illness)

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Post – Practice – December 12, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

Opening statement:

"Just a bit of information on the injuries: [CB] [Marcus] Hudson – questionable, [LB] Takeo Spikes – questionable, [LT] [Joe] Staley – questionable, [WR] Isaac [Bruce] is out, and [CB] [Nate] Clements is out."

On the possibility that LT Joe Staley will be worked in slowly during the game:

"You just never know with the progress he can show from one day to the next and he’s done a great job this week, but we’re just going to play it and see how it goes."

On whether Staley could be activated as a back-up for Monday night’s game:

"Possibly."

On his impression of Staley’s work out today during team drills:

"I’ll just say that all week he’s done a good job. He’s been pretty sore the next day, but has responded very well. Hopefully later in the week, as of today or tomorrow, we’ll just have to see how he feels, but he’s coming along pretty well."

On agreeing with offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye’s opinion that Staley would disrupt the offensive line’s continuity:

"The continuity has been going very well. I think the flow has been going very well. I think Jimmy is certainly on to something. The bottom line is that when he is totally healthy he will be our left tackle."

On whether or not he is disappointed in the performance of the defense this year:

"When you look at our defense, I can’t say that I’m disappointed with our defense. I think that there are certain times in a game where you’ve had some break downs here and there. I think the back end of our defense, [CB] Shawntae [Spencer], has really responded well. I think that [S] Dashon [Goldson] has continued to mature. We’ve had to switch guys in and out, whether it’s Nate, whether it’s [CB Terrell] Brown, it’s been a little tough at times on the back end, but we’ve tried to work our way through it. But I can’t say that I’m disappointed in our defense because I think our defense at times played well. I think inconsistency would be the word to use."

On whether the defense has been on the field more than he’d like them to be:

"I think early on that was the case in particular. Not getting third downs, not being able to move the chains or not converting third downs I would say. Defensively, I would say that one of the inconsistencies has been the ability to get off of the field on third down. First and second down have been great, third down, particularly on third down and longer, have been a little tougher. But I think that whenever you look at the stats for our defense and where we’re ranked, it’s not one of those things where it’s lights out where you’ve played well consistently. I just think our front seven has played as well as anybody in the league. I think you have to break it down – the run part of our defense has really done a great job, as good as any I think. Certainly they’ve had something to do with that on the back end. I just think overall it’s not all just the back end, it’s linebackers making sure that they’re getting their drops deeper to help the guys out. Everything effects the passing game and I just think it’s one of those things that we just haven’t been consistent in."

On having an extra day to rest T Joe Staley:

"I think that it’s always nice to have an extra day, but in terms of Joe Staley, it’s the same thing there. Any of our guys that are banged up and you have that extra day, particularly early in the week to rest a little bit more, that’s very helpful. I think for him that just buys him more time."

On whether waiting to play a Monday night game is a disruption or advantage to the teams’ chemistry:

"That’s always a good question to ask after the game. For me, it doesn’t really change. You get up on Sunday morning, you go through that week and you’re not playing that day. Of course you look at other games. Some guys get restless, everybody responds differently, but I think for us it will be a good thing having that little extra time. I really think it will be a good thing for us."

On whether he wants the team to play this game with a sense of desperation on their minds:

"No. I want them to go out and understand that it’s all about winning the game, it’s all about executing. I think that when you’re prepared, you don’t have to sit back and be in desperation mode. I think that when you’re prepared, you don’t have to sit back and be nervous, just go out and do your job. The most important thing for us to do right now and the thing we tried to do last week and every other week, which is to just execute, play flawless football, and don’t shoot ourselves in the foot. That all comes down to just doing your job and it’s as simple as that – go out and do your job. If we do that, then we’ll be fine."

On whether WR Brandon Jones will see more time in the receiver rotation:

"Yes. Brandon Jones and I talked earlier on this week and I talk to the coaching staff about different players and Brandon is one of those players that they’re just trying to see more of him and get a better opportunity to find out exactly what he can and cannot do. He’s had a couple of opportunities and he’s taken advantage of them so far."

On how much feedback he gets from WR coach Jerry Sullivan have:

"I get constant feedback from Jerry, but really it comes down to Jimmy Raye and looking at the overall game plan, the scheme, the match ups and what he feels gives us the best opportunity to win."

On being confident in the team on playing on Monday night:

"I don’t really think it’s so much Monday night. I think it’s just a matter of where we are. I just want our guys to understand that at this time of year, and really any time for us, it’s really important to play mistake free football. As long as we do that, we’re going to be where we need to be. But when we don’t and when we’re not executing the way we know we can and we miss opportunities, we can’t do that. Our margin for error is very narrow. It’s very small. Everything we do, we have to be on. That’s what I really want our guys to understand. So last week, or if you’d ask me a week before then, whenever it is, it’s just a matter of knowing that, ‘Guys, let’s put a clean game together and play together and we’ll be fine.’ I’m just excited about the opportunity, that’s all."

On his conversation with Brandon Jones:

"Every receiver that we have, at some point in time I’ve talked to about playing time and the frustration of wanting it more. So, Brandon is no exception. I think it is just one of those things where, ‘Coach, I can do it if I get the opportunity.’ But, it has to come and he has to earn that. These other receivers have been working their tails off as well, so it’s just a matter of getting in the right package and getting the right opportunity."

On whether it’s fair to believe Frank Gore will get more than nine carries this game:

"I would think so. I would think that would be a fair statement. I think the thing our offense is striving to do is get that balance and find that balance. Frank knows that. There are other ways that we’re using Frank as well. If you just say he’s going to get a chance to touch the ball nine times, we’re going to throw to him as well. There are other ways to get him into the game. But yes, to run the football, that is something we have to strive to find that balance. That’s a fair assumption."

On whether Arizona is a benchmark for the 49ers right now:

"No."

Singletary’s Formula for Success through 12 Games

Florida Danny — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:04:43 -0000

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you're interested, here is my statistical matchup review of the Seahawks game.

Welcome back for this week's look at how the 49ers are doing according to Mike Singletary's Formula for Success. For those that don't remember Singletary's Formula for Success, here it is:

Total Ball Security
Execute
Dominate the Trenches
Create Good Field Position
Finish

The first thing I'll say is, "Don't worry. This isn't another equation-heavy measurement statistics article." OK. With that out of the way - and most of you still around - I'll repeat that, given the large sample sizes at this point in the season, don't expect too much fluctuation in any of the Formula-related stats I present today. Instead, it's most important to focus on the changes in these stats as compared to last week.

In today's post, I'll first present updated Adjusted BS Rates - along with their components - for each NFL team. Then, as I did last week, I'll use one gigantic table to present all of the stats that measure the other 4 ingredients of Singletary's Formula for Success. Of course, as has been the case of late, I'll provide some brief commentary along the way

After the jump, a pile of BS followed by a heaping helping of formula ingredients...

ADJUSTED BS RATES

Below you'll find Adjusted Ball Security (BS) Rates, Unadjusted BS Rates, Fumble Rates (FR), Interception Rates (IR), and Adjusted IRs for each NFL team through 12 games (Niner stats and top 8 for each category in bold; bottom 8 for each category in italics):

	Team	Adj BS Rate	Last Wk	BS Rate	Rk	FR	Rk	IR	Rk	Adj IR	Rk
1	MIN	98.70%	1	98.78%	1	1.24%	2	1.19%	1	1.43%	3
2	NE	98.61%	2	98.35%	3	1.41%	3	2.11%	8	1.34%	2
3	MIA	98.21%	3	97.75%	14	1.99%	12	2.86%	18	1.32%	1
4	SD	98.18%	6	98.39%	2	1.62%	4	1.60%	3	2.24%	7
5	IND	98.15%	5	98.30%	4	1.20%	1	2.60%	13	3.02%	19
6	ATL	98.05%	7	97.77%	11	1.73%	6	3.24%	24	2.38%	8
7	PHI	98.01%	11	98.08%	7	1.80%	8	2.15%	9	2.39%	9
8	DAL	97.98%	13	97.92%	9	2.27%	21	1.69%	5	1.53%	4
9	DEN	97.95%	4	98.21%	5	1.66%	5	2.07%	7	2.88%	15
10	NO	97.90%	12	97.73%	15	2.14%	17	2.55%	12	2.01%	6
11	GB	97.90%	8	98.18%	6	1.90%	10	1.65%	4	2.54%	10
12	BAL	97.83%	9	97.94%	8	1.75%	7	2.68%	15	3.04%	20
13	HOU	97.78%	10	97.75%	13	1.80%	9	3.15%	23	3.07%	21
14	JAC	97.71%	14	97.82%	10	2.47%	25	1.54%	2	1.90%	5
15	STL	97.68%	15	97.70%	16	2.00%	13	2.91%	19	2.99%	18
16	CIN	97.60%	17	97.77%	12	2.03%	15	2.74%	17	3.32%	23
17	NYG	97.57%	16	97.65%	19	2.18%	19	2.73%	16	2.96%	17
18	SF	97.55%	18	97.70%	17	2.32%	22	2.27%	10	2.71%	11
19	CLE	97.47%	23	97.32%	22	2.09%	16	3.97%	26	3.49%	24
20	PIT	97.44%	19	97.67%	18	2.00%	14	3.02%	21	3.75%	25
21	ARI	97.35%	22	97.54%	20	2.38%	23	2.61%	14	3.16%	22
22	TEN	97.33%	21	97.30%	23	2.59%	27	2.95%	20	2.85%	14
23	BUF	97.32%	20	97.15%	25	2.17%	18	4.41%	27	3.86%	27
24	WAS	97.21%	25	97.10%	26	2.82%	29	3.07%	22	2.72%	12
25	SEA	97.15%	26	97.47%	21	2.83%	30	1.96%	6	2.88%	16
26	KC	97.12%	24	97.28%	24	2.91%	32	2.30%	11	2.81%	13
27	DET	96.98%	27	96.94%	28	1.91%	11	5.30%	30	5.18%	31
28	NYJ	96.98%	31	96.63%	31	2.46%	24	5.96%	32	4.62%	29
29	CAR	96.97%	29	96.78%	29	2.23%	20	5.57%	31	4.91%	30
30	TB	96.95%	28	96.48%	32	2.69%	28	5.21%	29	3.77%	26
31	OAK	96.78%	32	96.95%	27	2.83%	31	3.55%	25	4.11%	28
32	CHI	96.56%	30	96.72%	30	2.54%	26	4.72%	28	5.18%	32

If you don't know what each of these stats mean, see my detailed explanation here.

One thing I forgot to mention last week is that the 49ers actually have the best Adjusted BS Rate among the 4 NFC West teams. So, if Total Ball Security is one of the mechanisms via which Mike Singletary envisions his team winning the division (at some point in my lifetime), then they're well on their way when it comes to avoiding fumbles and interceptions.

Of course, you wouldn't exactly expect that given the 49ers' fumbling woes against the Seahawks and the Cardinals stellar play of late. However, the reason why they remained at #18 this week should be pretty apparent. Namely, their 2 fumbles against the Seahawks, although costly during that particular game, constituted only 2 of their 76 fumbling opportunities in Week 13 (2.63%); and, more importantly, they represented only 2 of their 777 total fumbling opportunities through 12 games (0.26%). Essentially, those 2 fumbles didn't affect the overall stats that much because of the large sample size.

Nevertheless, although it may not have affected their Adjusted BS Rate very much, their fumble-prone (and interception-averse) performance against SEA did affect their component rankings in two ways. First, they dropped from 21st to 22nd in FR because their 2.63% FR on Sunday was still higher than their 2.28% FR going into Sunday's game. Second, their IRs moved up considerably in the rankings: their IR ranking rose from #13 to #10 and their Adjusted IR ranking rose from #17 to #11.

Why the big leap in IRs? Well, it's pretty simple, Alex Smith threw 0 INTs in 45 passes against SEA, and 0.00% is as good as it gets with respect to IR. What's interesting to me about the 49ers being the 10th- or 11th-best team in terms of avoiding INTs -and this should not shock you whatsoever - is that their decrease in IR has coincided perfectly with their increase in the use of shotgun, as well as their increase in passing frequency. Here's a useful table to illustrate this point:

Time Frame	% Shotgun	Passes per Game	INTs	IR
Through 9 Games	37.1%	30.9	8	2.88%
Through 10 Games	40.0%	31.1	9	2.89%
Through 11 Games	41.5%	32.0	9	2.56%
Through 12 Games	43.3%	33.1	9	2.27%

Why is this interesting to me? Well, in football, it's pretty much the conventional wisdom that more passing leads to a higher IR. Likewise, the conventional wisdom among anti-shotgun Niner fans is that more shotgun leads to a higher IR. From this table, we can see that, since SF implemented their shotgun OFF for the first time against GB, their IR has clearly defied the conventional wisdom; it's actually getting better! Indeed, over the past 3 games, Alex Smith has thrown only 1 INT in 119 passes, for an astonishingly microscopic IR of 0.84%. What's even more amazing about Smith's nearly "total" ball security is that the last 3 shotgun- and passing-heavy games have come against teams that have an average defensive IR of 3.51% (average ranking = 12th). Ho hum, just another meaningless piece of evidence that shotgun-haters are going to ignore when they argue that the Niners need to go back to running the ball or the West Coast Offense or whatever it is this week. I look forward to hearing your denials in the comments section.

As for the rest of the NFL, the biggest leapers this week were the Eagles and Cowboys, who ascended into the top 8 at the expense of the Broncos and Packers. In terms of the relationship between Adjusted BS Rate and winning, the top 8 teams are a combined 58-38, while the bottom 8 teams are a combined 31-65. A few other things I'll point out before moving on are

The Dolphins are #3 in Adjusted BS Rate despite being less than 2 full seasons removed from a 1-15 record. Meanwhile, the Niners are still only #18 despite being in a "rebuilding mode" for the past 6 years. Why isn't the Dolphins record better than 6-6 this season? Looking at the difference between their Adjusted and Unadjusted IR, you see that they've had a governor on their engine called "the toughest IR strength of schedule (SOS) in the NFL."
The same thing can be said for the other seemingly underachieving team in the top 8: The Atlanta Falcons. Yes, passes by Matt Ryan (and now Chris Redman) have been intercepted rather frequently. However, these INTs have come against the 4th-toughest IR schedule in the league.
On the flip side, DEN is in the top 8 when it comes to Unadjusted IR, but they're only a middle-of-the-road IR team when we take their 3rd-easiest IR SOS into account. So, in my mind, their 8-4 record is somewhat of a mirage insofar as it's a byproduct of ball security in the passing game.

THE REST OF THE 49ERS' FORMULA STATS

Now that I have a useful stat for measuring Total Ball Security, I can add it to the following table, which displays the Niners stats according to Singletary's Formula for Success, what those stats were last week, and what the extent of change was between this week's stats and last week's stats (top-8 in bold; bottom-8 in italics):

		This Week		Last Week		Change
Formula Ingredient	Statistic	Value	Rk	Value	Rk	Value	Rk
Total Ball Security	Adj BS Rate	97.55%	18	97.53%	18	-0.02%	0
Total Ball Security	BS Rate	97.70%	17	97.63%	19	-0.07%	+2
Total Ball Security	FR	2.32%	22	2.28%	21	-0.04%	-1
Total Ball Security	IR	2.27%	10	2.56%	13	+0.29%	+3
Total Ball Security	Adj IR	2.71%	11	2.86%	17	+0.15%	+6
Execute	Total	0.6%	17	-1.6%	20	+1.0%	+3
Execute	OFF	-7.1%	21	-10.0%	21	+2.9%	0
Execute	DEF	-7.2%	5	-7.6%	7	+0.4%	+2
Execute	ST	0.5%	16	0.8%	15	+0.3%	-1
Execute	1Q OFF	-31.9%	30	-39.3%	31	+7.4%	+1
Execute	1Q DEF	-6.8%	11	-2.7%	13	+4.1%	+2
Dominate the Trenches	OL ALY	3.23	32	3.21	32	+0.02	0
Dominate the Trenches	OL ASR	8.6%	27	9.3%	29	+0.7%	+2
Dominate the Trenches	DF7 ALY	3.65	8	3.65	7	0.00	-1
Dominate the Trenches	DF7 ASR	7.1%	7	6.7%	13	+0.4%	+6
Create Great Field Position	FG/XP Pts	1.7	14	1.1	15	+0.6	+1
Create Great Field Position	KO Pts	3.9	12	3.2	15	+0.7	+3
Create Great Field Position	KR Pts	-1.9	17	-1.9	18	0.0	+1
Create Great Field Position	P Pts	12.0	2	11.0	2	+1.0	0
Create Great Field Position	PR Pts	-13.5	32	-10.1	31	-3.4	-1
Create Great Field Position	Own 1-20 OFF	-32.2%	30	-35.2%	30	+3.0%	0
Create Great Field Position	Opp 1-20 DEF	19.5%	24	22.2%	24	+2.7%	0
Finish	4Q OFF	6.4%	16	3.2%	18	+3.2%	+2
Finish	4Q DEF	4.5%	15	2.8%	14	-1.7%	-1
Finish	Late/Close OFF	-24.8%	28	-27.7%	31	+2.9%	+3
Finish	Late/Close DEF	-11.0%	7	-13.1%	9	-2.1%	+2

Aside from the aforementioned improvement in Adjusted IR, the Niners' biggest Formula-related statistical change this week came in defensive front 7 (DF7) ASR: the 49ers' DF7 is now in the top 8 of the NFL when it comes to sacking the QB. I never thought I'd write that sentence; that's for sure.

A few other changes that are interesting...First, every offensive DVOA in this table showed improvement over last week. For reasons that I've repeated numerous times on Niners Nation, the most important offensive improvement -in my mind - is the massive jump in 1st-Quarter DVOA. Hot starts - especially on the road - are what good teams display, so, if this stat continues to improve over the final 4 games, it bodes well for next season.

Second, thanks to the Terrible Twosome of Arnaz Battle and Brandon Jones - not to be confused with the Tainted Twosome of VD and Crabs - the Niners have now lost 13.5 points-worth of field position on punt returns. A lot of fans bemoan the 49ers' awful "return teams," but in actuality it's only the punt return team that's truly awful. The kickoff return unit is below average, for sure, but they've cost the Niners about 12 fewer points-worth of field position than the punt return unit. So when you're complaining about the "return teams," focus your ire on the guys who catch, run, and block when the opponent punts the ball.

Finally, only 1 of the 5 Formula ingredients showed improvement across the board: Execute. That's obviously a good thing.

BOTTOM LINE

Based on Mike Singletary's Formula for Success:

Total Ball Security - Amazingly, the shotgun OFF has turned Smith into a ball-secure QB. Unfortunately, the Niners as a whole are still mediocre in this ingredient because Frank Gore and Arnaz Battle continue to be ball-insecure 49ers.
Execute - They're still average, but improving across the board.
Dominate in the Trenches - They're still average overall, but the DF7 is dominating in pass-rushing situations.
Create Great Field Position - They're still average. If it weren't for the pathetic punt return unit, they'd be well above average.
Finish - They're still average, but at least the OFF is catching up to the DEF.

Coming up later today or tomorrow... a very special article about Alex Smith, Shaun Hill, and the shotgun OFF.

*DVOA, ALY, and ASR statistics used to produce this article were obtained from Football Outsiders.

Poll

Whether or not you agree with more shotgun, are you surprised that the 49ers' offensive interception rate has gone down considerably since they unveiled their new shotgun offense?

The Worst Ten Tennessee Titans Draft Picks of the Decade

Jimmy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:15:08 -0000

More photos » by John Russell - AP

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With the decade coming to an end in a few weeks, we here at MCM decided it would be a good time to do a top 10 list or two- because who doesn't love a top 10 list?

Today we have the worst 10 draft picks of the decade. Here is how this list was compiled- August, gramsey, hal and I all came up with our own list. They sent their lists to me, actually shared it with me via google docs (which are awesome), and I averaged the four lists together to come up with what I am posting here. After the jump I have added a link that lists all of the picks the Titans made in the decade.

One note on this list; if you need further evidence that the Titans are terrible at picking receivers, here it is- they drafted 15 receivers in the decade. 15! What makes it even worse is that only three of them are still on the active roster. (and gramsey notes that only two of the other 12 are still in the league)

So without further adieu I present the worst 10 draft picks of the decade as voted on by the esteemed panel:

1. Chris Henry, RB, Arizona (2007, Round 2, pick #50 overall)

The Chris Henry pick is pretty much the only one on the list that just never made sense. The Titans fell in love with hal's boy because of the numbers he put up at the combine. They apparently failed to check and see if he was actually any good in college. He was widely known as Cockroach because he ran to darkness. That isn't a good thing, in case you didn't know.

2. Andre Woolfolk, CB, Oklahoma (2003, Round 1, pick #28 overall)

If there were to be another guy on the list that never made sense it would be Woolfolk. Here is an interesting tidbit about Woolfolk that I did not know- all three of his career INTs were thrown by David Carr. If you ever wondered how bad Carr was..

3. Adam Pacman Jones, CB, West Virginia (2005, Round 1, pick #6 overall)

As Danno said yesterday, it has been far too long since we talked about Ol' Pacman. The pick of Adam made football sense but not common sense. He was a dynamic returner and a good cornerback when he played his assignment instead of what he wanted to do, which was about 32% of the time (get it?), but he there isn't really an adjective that adequately describes what he was off the field.

4. Paul Williams, WR, Fresno State (2007, Round 3, pick #80 overall)

P-Dub couldn't decide in college if he was a corner or a receiver. Maybe he should have picked corner.

5. Tyrone Calico, WR, MTSU (2003, Round 2, pick #60 overall)

August loves Calico. Calico had a lot of raw talent, but he had trouble staying healthy. He also had some trouble catching the football which is a problem for a receiver. Too bad for him that he didn't get drafted by another team because he would have gotten a lot of money from the Titans in free agency eventually.

6. Ben Troupe, TE, Florida (2004, Round 2, pick #40 overall)

Troupe had more NFL success than any of the other guys on this list. The problem was he could never put it all together. He had loads of potential but was hampered by injuries, the inability to learn the offense (allegedly), and the inability to catch the football at times.

7. Courtney Roby, WR, Indiana (2005, Round 3, pick #68 overall)

Roby was really good in the preseason pretty much every year.

8. Tank Williams, S, Stanford (2002 Round 2, pick #45 overall)

And now Danno hate us. Tank started his career playing pretty well but suffered an ugly ACL injury and was never the same.

T-9. Byron Frisch, DE, BYU (2000, Round 3, pick #93 overall)

This is a name that none of us even remembered. He actually never played a game with the Titans and was cut after the 2000 season. He ended his career with 5 sacks after playing one season with the Cowboys and one with the Giants.

T-9.Shad Meier, TE, Kansas State (2001, Round 3, pick #90 overall)

Shad Meier had my favorite stat line ever in a game at San Diego in 2004- 9 catches for 31 yards. That's 3.4 yards per catch. He finished his career with 42 catches. I need more than that from a third round pick.

Others receiving votes: Chris Brown (2003, round 3, #93), Brandon Jones (2005, round 3, #96) and Donnie Nickey (2003, round 5, #154).

$1,000,000 MCM bucks to the first person to identify who put Nickey on the list.

Click here to see the complete list of draft picks.

And there you have it. We would love to hear your comments on our list, or even your own list in the comments.

Mike Singletary 12/7 Press Conference Transcript

Fooch — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:04:26 -0000

Mike Singletary had his weekly press conference earlier today and, as promised, here is the transcript from said press conference. Not a whole lot of shocking information, but certainly always interesting to hear his thoughts on a wide range of topics.

One issue that will continue to stick out until next training camp is who will be the starting QB heading into training camp. Singletary basically says he won't ~~anoint~~ Smith the guy yet. Last year was a competition between Shaun Hill and Alex Smith. Earlier today I mentioned how it was likely that Smith would be the guy heading into 2010. I'll stand by that statement for the foreseeable future, but I can understand the hesitance in naming the guy for 2010 when there are still 4 games to go. Singletary said:

"What we have seen so far is so far, so good. But I don't want to jump the gun. I don't want to say, ‘We found him and he is going to be the next great...' No, I don't want all of that. I just want to give him his due. I think he is working his tail off. I think the coaches are doing a heck of a job with him. I think he is using the tools that are around him. I think he is making really good decisions. Hopefully, that will just continue."

I know we've got folks clamoring for Nate Davis playing time, but in terms of starting time, they have to stick with Smith. The good news about the Arizona game is that it's now, before Arizona has clinched a playoff spot, so they'll clearly be battling. The next week they get a Philly team in an absolute dogfight for a playoff spot and further positioning. Neither team will be taking it easy on the 49ers as if it's Week 16 with nothing to gain. And then even the last two games against Detroit and St. Louis have some value. Can Alex Smith (and the offense in general) go in to a game with a bad team and take care of business. When the 49ers pounded the Rams earlier this year it was primarily because of the defense. We need to see the offense kick it up a gear against bad teams.

Other than that, there is plenty of discussion of the play-calling, the reverse, and of course the refs.

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Press Conference - December 7, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

On whether using RB Frank Gore so little gave the Seahawks an advantage:

"I think there were several advantages in this game for [Seattle coach] Jim Mora, but I won't even address those."

On how much the Seahawks defense dictated the 49ers plan:

"I think nothing out of the ordinary than any other team. If a team sends a particular personnel out on the field, offense or defense, you adjust. That's where you get your matchups. There was absolutely nothing that they were doing - the only problem, what they were doing on the offensive side of the ball is not giving us time. There is a certain amount of time that you - if they send someone out on the field, then, OK, you send them out on the field, you huddle and you go ahead and go from there. But, they weren't giving us time to get our personnel on the field. That's something that's an unfair advantage. You can't do that. We talked to the refs about it. But anyways, those are kind of some of the things that were happening in the game."

On whether the first timeout in the game was because of that:

"A little bit. It's just one of those things where some referees do a better job than others of handling that and making sure that you go over to the sideline and you tell them, ‘Hey, you have to allow them enough time to make sure that they have the appropriate personnel in the game.' Otherwise, everybody could do that and you're always mismatched, and you really can't do that in a game."

On the balance in the first half:

"I think I told you before, and I really do believe this, I want whatever we're winning with. I think if we have a certain package in the game and it's a better thought process to pass the ball rather than run the ball, then that's what we need to do. If it ends in us winning the game, that's what I want. I don't want to try and outsmart ourselves. I don't want to be looking at something where, ‘Let's see now. How many runs have we had? How many passes have we had?' We need to look at what's working. If they have a certain personnel out there on the field and it's better for us to attack it because of the matchups, then we need to throw the ball and take advantage of the matchups. Obviously, if we have our regular people in the game and they come out in nickel situation, we're going to run the ball every doggone down. But I just think you have to be smart about what are the matchups, and I think that dictated some of what we were doing, how many people were in the box? That sort of thing, and I think some plays were running plays at the beginning of the game, but because of what they had on the field, we audibled to a pass because it didn't make sense to run the play that we had. So, that's what was happening on some of those."

On whether it seems weird to fans that at the beginning of the year the team was running against eight-man fronts and now a seven-man front dictates the pass:

"Well, early in the season, we had a totally different situation. You go back and forth, run-pass, whatever. The bottom line is, did you win the game? Did you lose the game? And, I think that's what we need to be talking about. As far as how many times you ran the ball, how many times you threw the ball, you can play cat and mouse with that all year. Just understand that going into the game a balance is what you always want to look for, but at the same time, if your quarterback is given certain parameters - if they are in this, if we're in a two-backs, two-wide outs, one-tight end situation and they come out and they have a situation where it's more nickel, you know what? We want to run the ball because we want to take the shots every chance we get. But, I think they were more focused on the run in this game because of what happened last time. So, I think that made them more vulnerable against the pass. Whether Jim Mora said that not running the ball - I think running the ball maybe would have helped him a little bit more than, I thought, than passing the ball."

On whether QB Alex Smith can become the leader of the team:

"What we have seen so far is so far, so good. But I don't want to jump the gun. I don't want to say, ‘We found him and he is going to be the next great...' No, I don't want all of that. I just want to give him his due. I think he is working his tail off. I think the coaches are doing a heck of a job with him. I think he is using the tools that are around him. I think he is making really good decisions. Hopefully, that will just continue."

On where yesterday's game ranks in Smith's career:

"Obviously, he did a really good job. I thought he made some good changes. I thought he really made some good audibles. I thought he got the ball, for the most part, where he wanted to put it. What we did in last week's practice, some of the reads were exactly what he got in the game and he took advantage of those things. I think any time that you see that, it creates a very positive result."

On whether the team disappointed him:

"No, I won't say this team has disappointed me at all. Quite the opposite. To have the guys that we have, and to do what we do, and to unfortunately be in a situation where six games come down to you having a chance to win at the end and your guys are still fighting, I think that is a special group of guys. We just have to win. But, to say that these guys have disappointed me is far from the truth. Unfortunately, character does not show in numbers in the game. But I cannot tell you how proud I am of these guys. Do we have a lot of work to do? Trust me, you have eyes, we have a lot of work to do. Do we have a lot of great players on this team? We have some players that are really developing and will soon be great players once they learn how to focus, once they learn how capture the vision and understand what it is, once they learn the little things. What they think are secrets are not secrets, it is just a matter of confidence and consistency. No, I am far from being disappointed in this team."

On whether he is frustrated the team hasn't already figured the little things out:

"Frustrated is a great word, for lack of maybe other words. Frustration is a tremendous word to fill in the blank. You go out and you play a game like yesterday and you end up on the losing side, the only thing you tell your players is that we just have to stay together. We have to continue moving forward. The ground work from this, somehow, someway this will be a positive for us going forward, but right now it doesn't feel that way."

On whether there is still a unity of purpose in the locker room:

"There will always be a unity of purpose in our locker room."

On how much he second guesses his or his coaches' decisions in the game:

"I wouldn't say second guessing of myself is something I would do at all, in terms of what I know second guessing to mean. I don't second guess anything about myself. I don't second guess some of the decisions to go for it on fourth down. I don't second guess some of the challenging of the calls. I don't second guess any of those kinds of things. Some things happened yesterday, as far as the punt situation and miscommunication on that, that was just one of those things that happened. Frustrating, but it happened. Just miscommunication."

On what the miscommunication was:

"The miscommunication was - we worked on it in practice, therefore we are going to do it in the game and that was my fault for not articulating that. We might do it in the game, but we're not for sure going to do it in the game. That's my fault for not making that more plain."

On whether the call on the punt return was a reverse:

"Let me just put it this way. It was my fault. Whenever something like that happens it's my fault because the communication should have been better. Because we did it in practice that week, we were going to do it in the game and we did not hit on the same - we didn't touch on it the way we should have, to say we are definitely going to do that in the game."

On whether the weather or the way the game was going that in retrospect, he wouldn't have done the reverse:

"I think it's a situation in which you've got two players back there and the one player, [WR] Brandon Jones, is not really your normal guy to do that. So, maybe you don't want to have him doing that; just go ahead and let [WR] Arnaz [Battle] return punts. Let's just keep it simple going forward with that. We did practice it last week, so it showed up in the game."

On whether they went on the field knowing that they were going to execute the reverse:

"Just to clarify, it was bad communication and it was on my behalf. Nothing more than that. It's starts with me, that's me."

On whether he will be sending any tape into the league on some of the questionable calls the referees made:

"Every week we send a letter to the league about different calls that are made or not made in a game. Just to say this week, there will be several paragraphs that will be going to the league."

On whether there is one call he is particularly upset about:

"There were many."

On the non-call on TE Delanie Walker and whether it was talked about on the flight home:

"Let me say this before I go too far down this road, obviously there were bad calls made and I think in every game there are bad calls made. Yesterday, for me, there were just a few more than I had witnessed maybe since I've been in the league and I just want to make sure that our players, coaching staff, our fans, everybody involved with the 49ers, everybody that cares about the 49ers, I want them to understand that this is not about the referees. They didn't fumble the ball. They didn't throw interceptions. They didn't make bad plays, we did. So I don't want to put this on the referees. I certainly feel that some of those calls were questionable, but if we had done what we were supposed to do, we overcome that and we win the football game."

On why CB Keith Smith was inserted during the game:

"We just had a few guys getting a little tight in the legs and they had to put some receivers on the field to try and get some match ups. A few more receivers, four receivers and we just needed to match up. We just felt that he was a good match up and he really did a pretty decent job coming in and playing the limited amount of time that he did."

On who Keith Smith was substituting for in the secondary:

"Michael Lewis would come out."

On what happened on the team's last offensive drive:

"On our offensive drive, we just didn't make the plays it's as simple as that."

On whether or not he was okay with the calls:

"Once again, you look for better calls after the calls are made. If we make the plays, then we're not talking about the calls. I just wished they would've worked, but no I don't question the calls at all.'

On whether he feels comfortable with Jimmy Raye as his offensive coordinator:

"Absolutely, I think that Jimmy has adapted and adjusted. I think he's going 180, 360 anything that I've asked him to do he's been more than willing to do and I think that he's done a fine job. I think that Alex has adjusted to him well. I think that he and Alex are on the same page along with [QB coach] Mike Johnson. All of the guys are on the same page and I think that it looked that way yesterday. Alex is feeling as comfortably as he feels and I think that everybody's on the same page moving forward."

On how much of a role does quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson have in the team's game planning and is he being groomed by Jimmy Raye for an offensive coordinator position:

"I think that Mike Johnson and Jimmy Raye just continue to develop their relationship. There's a synergy there, a flow there and they spend a lot of time talking, a lot of time in conversation and Alex Smith is also part of some of that conversation in terms of basically asking him the questions as, ‘Are you comfortable with this? Do you like this? What about this?' And Alex is able to have some feedback. So, I think that it's been a work in progress, but I think that it's working very well."

On whether it is part of his long term plan to move Mike Johnson in as an offensive coordinator:

"You know what, I want to talk about the short term plan right now and stay focused on that before I talk about long term plans."

On the slim chances of making the playoffs:

"I think that by the time the last game rolls around they'll play their math game as if this one loses or this - I could care less about that. I think the only thing that we need to be focused on is that Arizona is coming up. I mean, hopefully we can gather the things that we need to gather amongst ourselves. Yesterday was a tough loss. I am not thinking that we might not be able to rally together and play a good game but, I want to win this game Monday night. I want people to see that the 49ers are a team that's out here in the west that really isn't the same team. Something is happening out here and hopefully we can show that on Monday."

On whether it's more frustrating to see the team not play smart or not play well:

"Yes, you could say that. Yes, when the opportunities are there for us to make plays and you don't make those plays, it's frustrating. It's frustrating for the players. It's frustrating for the coaches because you know that making a play makes a difference. But I think that the bottom line is that when you lose games, no matter how you lose them, it's frustrating."

49ers return game: Putting the "special" in special teams

Fooch — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:00:28 -0000

Hopefully nobody takes offense to "special." I came close to posting a short bus graphic because that's how far Brandon Jones and Arnaz Battle have pushed me. As ugly as yesterday's game was, the biggest momentum change aside from Gore's fumble was probably the screwed up reverse attempt on the first quarter punt. The 49ers had the Seahawks on the ropes and could have sent them to the canvas on that drive. Instead, the drive doesn't even start and Seattle gets the shortest of fields to convert a touchdown.

As much as that reverse bugged folks, the special teams woes go beyond just that one bad play call. Special teams encompasses kicking, punting, returning, and coverage associated with all of that. For the purposes of this post, we'll ignore kicking and punting, because Andy Lee is God and Joe Nedney is sufficiently reliable as the kicker. Rather, I wanted to focus on the return game. I don't even know if you could call it a return game when you're either losing yards or fumbling the return.

Before getting into the ugly, I would like to say that I think Josh Morgan could be on the verge of entrenching himself as one of the team's primary kickoff return men. He's only returned 5 kicks, but he's put together a solid early body of work. His five returns have resulted in 174 yards, good for an average of 34.8. One return was for 76 yards, but his remaining four returns have still been solid enough. While touchdowns in the return game are great, it's really simply a matter of getting some decent starting field position. Thus far, Josh Morgan has done that on a consistent basis. The final four games will hopefully help us determine if he can become a long term return option.

The same cannot be said for the punt return game. I don't think it's even good enough to call it bad. At this point, the best term would probably be abysmal. Arnaz Battle did have a 31 yard return, but it was negated by a block in the back call against everyone's favorite pariah, Mark Roman. The 49ers final punt return numbers yesterday? 5 punts for -3 yards. Really?

I know people have been complaining about the release of Allen Rossum. While he was awesome last year, clearly the team saw a reason to get rid of him, and were somewhat justified by the Cowboys also releasing him. That's not the best reasoning, but it'll have to do for now. However, the point of this post is to consider how the 49ers can improve their punt return game going forward. Battle struggled mightily yesterday, but part of that was due to not getting much in the way of blocking in front of him.

I'm not arguing for bringing Battle back in 2010, but I also think there are other issues to consider. Rather, it seems like the team needs an influx of talent that goes beyond just the return men. Would that be a few low profile signings in free agency? Guys that excel in special teams work (aside from returners) tend to be rather low profile, so I can't see the signings generating a lot of buzz. Honestly, I'm not sure how the team can best go about approaching this in the offseason. Any thoughts?

Golden Nuggets: Nervous, but confident... enough

Ninjames — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:00:32 -0000

Well folks we're one day away from the game against the Seattle Seahawks. I'm nervous, I'm not gonna lie. I have faith in my 49ers to win, and I even think they have the potential to win big what with the disarray and the way the 'Hawks are playing lately, but I never feel completely confident about a divisional matchup. I mean come on, when the 49ers played the Rams at home I wasn't even completely confident, I was at that game and I just had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. We're just a couple games back of the Cardinals, which is funny that I say that because before the Jags game nobody really expected to be even looking to the playoffs again this season, but here we are... If the 49ers don't beat the Hawks, I think the Niners don't make the playoffs, it's as simple as that. Not sure what I have for you in the way of links but I'll post up what I got, I'm also running a bit late which sucks. Enjoy.

I'll start with a piece on TE Delanie Walker since he's a pretty awesome guy and one of my favorite players. Pretty underrated too, in my mind. (49ers.com)

Sando has his "final word" on the NFC West for this week, basically his last look ahead before the games tomorrow. (ESPN.com)

Can this team make the playoffs from their current position at 5-6? It's been done before. (MercuryNews.com)

LB Takeo Spikes is again listed as questionable going into a game. (NFL.com)

Here's some insights from and on Jimmy Raye, a look at him and the offense he is running. (SFGate.com)

Ahmad Brooks is joining the linebacker rotation in an increased role tomorrow. (SFGate.com)

Here's a pretty good look at some of the last drafts and who from said drafts are current starters in the NFC West, it focuses on the Seahawks and Cardinals but the 49ers are a solid point of comparison. (ESPN.com)

49ers fans do indeed still have hope! (ESPN.com)

What to call the 49ers offensive scheme? Definitely not the spread, that's for sure. (SacBee.com)

Here's a 49ers team report from Yahoo. A sort of preview and an update on the team. (Yahoo.com)

TE Delanie Walker adds another dimension to any game he plays in. Defenses have to account to him in some form. (MercuryNews.com)

The growth of 49ers QB Nate Davis continues behind the scenes. (PressDemocrat.com)

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

Teams Talk: Brandon Jones talks about the Seahawks. (49ers.com)

49ers-Seahawks: Final Injury Report

Fooch — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:00:31 -0000

We've got the final injury report with one somewhat surprising addition. RB Justin Forsett was a full participant in practice today but is now listed as questionable because of a quad injury. Julius Jones is certainly no scrub, but given recent performances, if Forsett is limited or out on Sunday I'd be a much happier camper. Even when Forsett was shut down in the rushing attack at Minnesota, he still contributed big as a receiver. I'm glad the former Cal star is developing into a solid NFL running back, but I'd prefer he take a week off and not burn the 49ers.

After the jump we've got Coach Mike Singletary's post-practice press conference transcript.

49ers
Out
CB Nate Clements (shoulder)

Doubtful
OT Joe Staley (knee)
DT Kentwan Balmer (shoulder)

Questionable
WR Isaac Bruce (ankle)
CB Marcus Hudson (back)
LB Takeo Spikes (hamstring)

Probable
WR Arnaz Battle (ankle)
LB Ahmad Brooks (thumb)
WR Brandon Jones (thumb)
S Michael Lewis (quadricep)
DT Ray McDonald (shoulder)
RB Michael Robinson (shoulder)
OT Adam Snyder (shoulder)

Seahawks
Doubtful
LB D.D. Lewis (knee)
DT Cory Redding (concussion)

Questionable
RB Justin Forsett (quad)
DE Lawrence Jackson (groin)

Probable
RB Julius Jones (chest)
C Chris Spencer (thumb)

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Post-Practice - December 4, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

Opening statements:

"Good afternoon. In terms of injuries, [CB] Marcus Hudson, questionable; [LT] Joe Staley, questionable; [CB] Nate Clements, out. I think everybody else is about what it was."

On LB Takeo Spikes' status:

"Takeo, game-time.

[Bob Lange: ‘It's actually doubtful.']

Singletary: Did I say doubtful?

[Lange: ‘You said questionable.']

Singletary: Doubtful. Sorry."

On how Staley is progressing:

"He's working. Working out and squatting. He's getting excited. So, hopefully it all works out."

On whether it gets more difficult because opposing teams are expecting more of a spread look:

"I think it really comes down to executing. You can change to any kind of offense you want to be, but if it's not effective, than it's not going to force it to be any more difficult for them. I think when you execute running the ball, when you execute throwing the ball, now that's when you make it more difficult for coordinators and teams to prepare."

On whether he gets the sense that opposing defenses are still keying RB Frank Gore as the No. 1 priority:

"I would think so. I would think if you look at Frank and what he's been able to do when he has been able to run, the possibility is always there, and you don't want to really let him get started. So, I would think that would be the first thought."

On whether the players understand the sense of urgency going into a must-win game on Sunday:

"We'll see on Sunday. We'll see Sunday. I think they do, but we'll find out."

On whether Seattle being healthier now presents more of a challenge than earlier this season:

"As you go through the year, guys are hurt, guys are up. We still have guys hurt. So, that's the nature of the game. You just go out there and play the game as best you can, and, hopefully, the No. 2 guys that you have, when they do have to play, that's what it's all about. The 53 guys that you have, they're supposed to be the best that you can get. So, hopefully, that next group of player that you have in there, you don't make excuses and say, ‘Well, we didn't have this guy. We didn't have that guy.' It's part of the game."

On whether it's frustrating as a coach that you can't practice tackling during the week:

"Tackling is more of an attitude than anything else. I believe that if you want to tackle somebody, you can, and you'll find a way to get them down. And, that's really what it comes down to."

On whether he is at a point where he is looking at the standings and trying to figure out what he needs to do to get to where he wants to by the end of the season:

"I'm just looking at winning. That's all. I don't try to be real good at math, I just try to really focus on what's really important because to me, if you're playing well, that's vitally important that you begin to - it's that team at this time of the year that begins to gain the momentum, begins to play better and begins to have a sense of urgency when they're playing. It's that team that's going to make it anyway. It's very important that you focus on winning games and being consistent down the stretch. I think that's what we're focused on. All of the other stuff about who wins and who loses and how many wins do we need, if we're focusing on that, then that's not good."

On how he felt about the week of practice:

"I felt it was a good week. It wasn't great. But, I don't think it's ever great, but it was a good, good week."

49ers-Jaguars: The World According to Madden

Fooch — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:00:27 -0000

Fooch's Note: This post was written by mountaindew77 and I am posting it for him.

Hello Niners Nation. After a hectic week last week, I was unable to get the Madden simulation done. Thankfully, we have our good man Ninjames and he was able to fill in and do it. But now I'm back and hopefully I will be able to get it done each week from here on out. So here is how this works. I make sure I have downloaded the most updated rosters, I check the injury report and only take out the players from the depth chart that are going to miss the game for sure. I also update the depth charts according to how they are in the real NFL.

The game is Madden 10 for the PS3. I set up this week's matchup in Madden with 14 minute quarters and 25 second clock run-off for a more realistic amount of plays. I set the difficulty on All-Madden, sit back, and watch the matchup and give you guys a play-by-play. Let's get this thing started.

1^st Quarter

Niners win the toss and elect to receive. Robinson returns from 5 yards deep in the end zone and gets it out to the 49er 20 yard line where the Niners will start their first drive. The first play from scrimmage is a pitch to Gore to the right who gets dragged down by Justin Durant for no gain. On 2^nd down Smith drops back and feels pressure quick, but dumps off to Gore on a designed screen and Gore makes the first tackler miss and has room breaks it for a 24 yard gain to the 44 and a Niners first down. Crabs and Morgan are lined up out left Gore is the single back on the next play. Smith drops back throws a short curl route to Morgan who gets tackled immediately for only a 2 yard gain. The next play we see Smith drop back out of a 4 WR set but gets sacked almost instantly and it's now 3rd and 12. Smith drops back and again almost gets sacked, but dumps off to Gore once again on a designed screen. Gore has room, gets a couple nice blocks, makes a spin move to make a guy miss, but gets dragged down just 1 yard short of the 1st and the Niners have to punt. Andy Lee kicks it into the endzone for the touchback.

David Garrard drops back on the Jaguars first play from scrimmage and delivers a nice pass to Mike Sims-Walker over the middle who has room to run and does for a 27 yard gain. Garrard found a hole in the 49ers zone defense. From his own 47, Maurice Jones-Drew gets the handoff on the stretch play to the right but Michael Lewis comes up from the secondary and stops him for only a 3 yard gain. MJD gets the ball up the middle for another 3 yard gain before he gets tackled by Isaac Sopoaga. 3rd and 4. Spencer with the very light coverage leaves Sims Walker able to catch an easy pass and run for a 15 yard gain and another 1st down to the 31 yard line. Jones-Drew up the middle bounces off a couple tacklers and fights for a 9 yard gain. MJD gets it up the middle again but this time Manny Lawson breaks through and stuffs him for no gain. A big 3rd and 1 coming up. Garrard drops back to pass and Marcedes Lewis is covered by Lawson who cannot keep up with him and Garrard finds him for a 19 yard gain and the Jags are at the 49er 3 yard line. Jaguars come out in the goal line formation. Rashad Jennings gets the handoff and appears to be stopped, but no one seems to want to tackle him. He cuts out to the right and runs in for the touchdown. 7-0 Jaguars

Coffee kneels down in the endzone on the kickoff for the touchback. Smith drops back on first down, gets all day to throw, doesn't like what he sees, and scrambles. But he slides down to avoid getting hit for a 2 yard loss and a Jaguars sack. Gore gets the ball up the middle, but finds nowhere to run, no gain. Niners come out in the Shotgun, 4WR set. Smith gets good blocking again from the line, but again cannot find an open receiver. He proceeds to chuck it down field, but gets hit as he throws. Gore almost catches the lob, but it gets knocked down. A three-and-out for the 49er offense.

Lee with a decent punt, but the Niners punt coverage cannot get to Witherspoon and he gets a 15 yard return. Ball on the 49er 47. Niners blitz one corner on each side, and Garrard can only throw the ball away. MJD up the middle on 2nd down, but Lewis stuffs him for just a 2 yard gain. On 3rd and 8 Garrard drops back feels almost immediate pressure from Manny Lawson, and throws it quickly to Torry Holt on the left side but Dre Bly with the blanket coverage knocks it down. A three-and-out for the Jaguars.

Adam Podlesh punts it into the endzone for a touchback and the Niners start on the 20. Niners once again line up in the Shotgun, 4WR formation, with 2 WR's on each side. The Jags drop back in zone coverage, Smith throws a bullet to Crabs on the quick read for an 18 yard gain and a 1st down. Out of the Singleback 3WR, Smith drops back splits the defenders, and finds Arnaz Battle on a crossing route over the middle for a nice 14 yard gain and a first down. Ball on the Jacksonville 48. Smith drops back again, gets great protection, but can't find a receiver and throws it away. On 2nd down Smith has Delanie Walker behind the defense, but throws a terrible ball way short and way behind him. Justin Durant turns around and picks it off with ease and returns it to midfield.

David Garrard drops back and throws it out to the left for Holt, but Bly has him blanketed yet again, he turns around and jumps for the pick! The Niners get the ball back right away.

Niners ball on their own 42. Gore up the middle, shakes off 2 defenders and runs for a gain of 4. Out of the Shotgun, Gore gets the draw, finds room out to the left, sheds a tackler, and has no one to stop him. He is finally met by Reggie Nelson, but he shakes him off too and is finally brought down at the 13 after a beautiful 41 yard run! What a way to end the 1st quarter!

2^nd Quarter

Gore gets the ball up the middle on the dive play for a 2 yard gain. Smith tosses out to Gore out right, but the Jags are not fooled and stuff Gore as soon as he catches it for a 5 yard loss. 3rd and 12 at the 15. Smith drops back, has Gore open on the screen, but gets hit as he throws and the ball falls incomplete. The Niners disappointingly settle for a Joe Nedney field goal. 7-3 Jaguars

Witherspoon catches the kickoff at the 3, and returns to the Jacksonville 34. Jones-Drew on the stretch to the left, but Takeo Spikes stuffs him for a 1 yard loss. Garrard feels pressure from Spikes on 2nd down and has to throw the ball away quickly. 3rd and 11. Garrard finds Holt on the in route for 11 yards, and after a measurement, it's a Jacksonville 1st down. Gotta love that 3rd down 49er defense. MJD finds a hole up the middle for a 10 yard gain and yet another 1st down. MJD with a run, cuts to the left and gets a 3 yard gain. Niners bring the house on 2nd down, and Garrard just gets the ball off before getting pummeled by Haralson. The ball floats downfield intended for Mike Thomas, but Dashon Goldson catches up to the lobbed pass and nearly makes the pick but it bounces off his hand. 3rd and 7 at the 49er 41. Garrard drops back, throws it to MJD on the screen to the left, and sees daylight. He gets all the way down to the 10 before getting brought down by Lewis. Garrard hands off to Jennings up the middle who gets stuffed by Spikes for no gain. Garrard drops back, and the Niners drop back in zone coverage. He thinks he has Thomas wide open for the TD, but he doesn't see Spikes drop back into coverage, and he picks it off at the goal line! He is forced to bring it out, and the Niners start at their own 3. What a drive for Takeo Spikes.

Gore with the stretch to the left for a 5 yard gain. Gore gets the handoff, cuts out right, finds a hole, shakes off Reggie Nelson, has no one in front of him, and never looks back! He... could... go... all... the... way!! Touchdown 49ers on the 91 yard run by Gore! 10-7 49ers

Witherspoon returns from the 1, and poor kick coverage yet again. Jaguars starts on their 35. MJD gets the hand off, but Sopoaga breaks through the line and stuffs him for a 1 yard loss. MJD with another run, and this time no one is there to stuff him and he gets an 8 yard gain. 3rd and 3 on their own 42. MJD gets the ball up the middle, sees a gap, but it closes quickly and Franklin/ Spikes drag him down for only a 1 yard gain. 4th and 2 and a three-and-out for the 49er defense.

Jones on the return gets the ball to the 24. 5 minutes remaining in the half. Smith takes a 7-step drop, stands in the same spot for about 7 seconds, and gets sacked by Terrance Knighton. Out of the 4 WR spread single back formation Smith drops back, Crabs has his man beat by a good 5 steps, but Smith feels the pressure and overthrows him by a mile. 3rd and 18 at the 16. Out of the Shotgun, Smith gets good protection again but cannot find an open man, so he dumps off to Gore who gets tackled as soon as he catches it for no gain. Three-and-out.

Jacksonville starts on their own 48. Garrard drops back, finds Marcedes Lewis over the middle for a 12 yard gain and a first down. MJD gets a nice 6 yard gain up the middle. MJD on the toss breaks a tackle, finds room and breaks it for an 8 yard gain and a first down to the 49er 26. The clock runs down to the 2 minute warning. MJD runs to the left for a 7 yard gain. Garrard drops back and sees Willis coming at him unblocked. Afraid for his life, he throws the ball away but still takes the hit from Bam Bam. 3rd and 3 at the 18. Garrard out of the shotgun finds Thomas on the quick pass for a 9 yard gain and a 1st down at the 9. Garrard drops back, Lawson sheds a defender, gets pressure on Garrard and he throws it out of the end zone incomplete. Lawson punished him though as the 49ers have been doing this whole first half. Jennings up the middle for 1 yard. On 3rd and goal from the 8, Garrard finds Thomas wide open in the back of the end zone who makes a nice leaping catch for the TD. 14-10 Jaguars

With 1:03 on the clock the Niners start on their own 25. They come out in a shotgun, and it appears they will try and get a quick score before the half. Smith hits Gore up the middle for a 13 yard catch. Smith gets hit as he throws and it falls incomplete. Smith overthrows Jones for an incomplete pass. On 3rd down Smith finds Battle down the left sideline, but he fails to get both feet in and it is ruled incomplete. 4th down and a three-and-out.

Jaguars start at their 30 with :33 left, and will run out the clock to the 2nd half with a handoff to MJD.

Halftime thoughts

So far it has been a back and forth game. Gore has had 2 huge plays and that is what has given the Niners all 10 of their points. The defense came up big in the red zone with that Spikes INT which likely would have been more points for the Jags. Garrard is feeling pressure almost every time he's dropped back to pass and has taken a beating so far. Despite that, the Niners defense cannot make plays on 3rd down when they need them and it has cost them the lead. On the other side, the O Line has been playing surprisingly well, but Smith has not taken advantage of it well enough. Gore has though, racking up 139 rushing yards already and 188 total yards. He is once again the one man offense of the 49ers.

3^rd Quarter

Jaguars get the ball to start on their own 31. The Niners special teams has played subpar today. MJD gets the ball up the middle, and Lawson finally brings him down after breaking 2 tackles and getting a tough 4 yard gain. Garrard finally gets some protection and time and finds Lewis out to the left for a 16 yard gain and they are at the 49er 49 yard line. Once again Lewis gets open and catches a 12 yard 1st down pass. MJD gets the toss to the right, but Willis is just too fast and chases him down for no gain. MJD up the middle and finds a huge hole for a 10 yard gain and yet another Jags first down. Ball at the 49er 27. Garrard splits two defenders with a pass to Holt, but he gets hit as he catches it and the ball pops out incomplete. Garrard drops back and hands off on the draw to Jennings for a 4 yard gain. 3rd and 6. Garrard gets plenty of time, and finds MJD on the streak route down the right side wide open and Spencer can't keep up with him and it's an easy catch for a TD. 21-10 Jaguars

Coffee gets hammered on the return and the Niners start on the 27. 3 WR Singleback set and Vernon Davis catches the patented pass over the shoulder for a nice 15 yard gain and a first down. The Niners spread out in a 4WR formation and Smith gets good protection which gives Davis time to get open on a deep post route and catches another pass, this time for 24 yards and the Niners are in Jacksonville territory. Ball on the 34. On the play action to Gore, Smith gets it out quickly to Moran Norris on a 4 yard catch. On 2nd down, Smith connects with Morgan who gets his first catch today on a short slant route for 6 yards and just enough for the first. Ball on the Jaguars 23. Another play action to Gore and on the same play, Norris gets another catch on the screen route and runs for an 8 yard gain. On 2nd and 2, Davis comes in motion to the right, Gore gets the handoff, breaks one tackle and sprawls the ball out across the first down marker as he gets dragged down. First down Niners and they are knocking on the door at the 13. Smith gets all day as the Jags only bring 2 rushers but he still cannot find a man and throws it incomplete on a pass intended for Gore on the curl route. Gore gets the ball on the draw, and finds a hole and fights his way for a 7 yard gain. 3rd and 3 at the 6. Smith on the play action stretch to Coffee, he rolls out to the right. He finds Davis wide open in the end zone... Touchdown Niners!!! It's called the Vernon Zone for a reason. The 9ers line up to go for 2, in hopes of bringing it within a field goal. In the I-Formation, Coffee gets the ball up the middle, gets met at the goal line, but he got the ball across the plane! 21-18 Jaguars

Witherspoon returns to the 21 as the Niners finally get good special teams coverage. MJD gets dragged down by Lawson and Willis for a 2 yard gain. Garrard takes a 3 step drop and throws to Sims-Walker on the hot read who runs for a 15 yard gain to the 37. Out of the shotgun, Garrard throws out to Thomas on the short slant, but he did not get 2 feet in and it's ruled incomplete. On 2nd down, Marcedes Lewis burns Michael Lewis and gets wide open and with some nice YAC, gets the ball to the 49er 35 on a 28 yard completion. On first down Garrard throws to Mike Thomas on the out route. He has a step on Haralson, but he under throws him and Parys jumps the route and picks it off! He then gets the ball back into Jacksonville territory to the 38. That is Garrard's 3rd interception thrown this game.

Niners in 4WR Shotgun formation, it's a draw to Gore who gets pummeled for a 5 yard loss. Smith gets hit as he throws on 2nd down and almost gets picked off but it's dropped. On 3rd down out of the shotgun, Smith has all day to throw, throws it for Battle, but it is a terrible decision as it's thrown into heavy coverage and Witherspoon picks it off, and no one is in front of him to stop him from going all the way and getting the pick-6. 28-18 Jaguars

Robinson on the return to the 27. Handoff up the middle to Gore who gets 8 yards. 2 WR set Smith drops back hits an open Walker out to the left for an 8 yard gain and a first down. With just 4 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, Smith drops back and hits Battle over the middle in tight coverage who gets brought down right away for a 7 yard gain.

4^th Quarter

Niners out of the shotgun, 3 WR set and Smith hits Battle yet again who's wide open over the middle for a 12 yard gain. The ball is now on the JAX 37. Out of the shotgun, Smith throws to Crabs who has his man beat downfield, but it's underthrown and gets knocked down. Smith hits Battle over the middle again for an 8 yard gain. 3rd and 2 on the 30, Niners in Shotgun, Smith drops back, has Vernon downfield open, but he gets hit just as he throws and lobs it up and the ball gets knocked down by Reggie Nelson. Joe Nedney kicks, the ball hits the upright, and barely falls through. 28-21 Jaguars with 12:30 left in the game.

Witherspoon returns the kick to the 29. MJD with a 2 yard run up the gut. Garrard drops back, can't find a WR, and gets sacked by Lawson. On 3rd and 14, the Jags don't want to take any chances and give the ball to MJD who gets 2 yards and the Jags have to punt on the three-and-out.

Brandon Jones gets a 5 yard return to the 34. Gore rushes up the middle for 5 yards. Out of the Taser, Gore gets the direct snap and gets stuffed for 1 yard... On 3rd and 4, Smith throws into double coverage for Davis and it is nearly picked off. What would we do without that Taser?

Jacksonville starts on their 36. Garrard to Greg Jones on the flat route for 7 yards. MJD on the draw, but Lawson meets him 4 yards in the backfield for a nice stuff. 3rd and 7. Garrard out of the shotgun, has a man over the middle, but Spikes sneaks in there in the zone and bats it away for a much needed big 3rd down play. 7:25 remaining after the three-and-out.

Jones returns the punt to the 22. Gore up the middle, sheds 2 guys, and gets 6 yards. Niners in the bunch formation on 2nd and 4, Smith drops back, and it's a draw play to Gore. Gore fights his way for 4 yards and after a measurement, it's a Niners first down! About 6 minutes remaining. Ball on their own 33. Smith gets all day, steps up in the pocket, but holds on for entirely too long and gets sacked for a 4 yard loss. On 2nd and 14 Gore gets a hand off, sees no holes in the line, and breaks out to the right. He leaps over a downed defender and makes a nice gain out of nothing for 13 yards. On 3rd and 1, we see the Taser again. Gore with the direct snap up the middle, and he barely gets the first. Niners ball on their own 43. Coffee with a run on first down up the gut for 3. 3 WR Singleback, Coffee gets another handoff towards the right for a 1 yard gain. Only 3 minutes remaining and a big 3rd and 6 coming up. It's a 4WR set with Davis split out with Jones and Morgan out to the left and Crabs on the right. Play action to Gore, Smith rolls out left, throws a deep pass to Morgan who has his man beat... and he comes down with it! He gets tackled by Nelson as he does and it's the Niners ball at the Jacksonville 24 with 2:10 remaining. Smith drops back and throws it to Gore on the flat route to the right and he gets brought down after a 6 yard gain. That brings us to the 2 minute warning and the Niners are officially in the Vernon Zone. We see another 4 WR singleback set, Smith throws it to Morgan on the short out route, but he cannot get his right foot in bounds, and the refs rule it incomplete. 3rd and 4. Out of the gun, Smith hits Davis on the curl route, who appears about to be brought down short of the first, but he trucks the guy, runs, and trucks yet another defender and runs all the way down to the 3 where he is brought down! Davis comes up big in his zone. Niners come up in the hurry up, for some reason. There is still about 1:40 on the clock. Out of the gun, Smith tries to throw, but gets hit as he does and it falls incomplete about 1 yard in front of him. Clock stopped at 1:32. Niners in the Split back formation. Smith drops back, Jags with the blitz, but Smith sees Jones over the middle running free...and hits him for the touchdown!!! Joe Nedney hits the game tying extra point and it's all square at 28! The Jags still have 1:29 left on the clock though.

Jennings on the return to the 27. 1:23 after the kickoff and all 3 timeouts. Garrard drops back, hits Sims-Walker in tight coverage on the curl route for 12 yards and a first. In the hurry up, the Jags in shotgun, Garrard catches the snap over his head, nearly gets sacked by Willis, but he just got the ball off as it falls incomplete. 1:05 left on 2nd and 10. Garrard drops back, gets very good protection from his line, and throws a very deep ball. It's a lobber though, and the Spikes has time to get back and swat the pass intended for Thomas. 3rd and 10. Garrard throws a quick pass over the middle, Willis jumps the route, and nearly picks it off for what surely would have been a game winning INT. The Jags have to punt with :53 remaining.

Brandon Jones on the return. He trucks one guy and gets a decent return to the Niner 36 with :43 left. Do they play for OT or try and score? They do have all 3 timeouts. It appears they choose the latter as they come out in the shotgun. Davis in motion to the left... Alex throws it for Morgan who jumps up for the catch, but it bounces off his hands. 2nd and 10. Niners in shotgun again. Smith drops way back, throws it very deep before he gets hit, but just as Garrard's pass, it's a lobber and it gets knocked down. Intended for Battle. :32 remaining. Niners come out in the Gun again for one more try for this first down. Smith dumps it off to Gore over the middle, who gets stopped 6 yards short and the Jags call a timeout. Witherspoon returns the punt to the JAX 25.

On 1st and 10, it's a false start on the Jags. 1st and 15 from the 20, and they just hand off to MJD who gets stopped for no gain, and they let the clock run out and we're headed to overtime!

Overtime

The Jags win the toss and get the ball first. Witherspoon returns the kickoff to the 27. Garrard hits Sims-Walker on the quick pass for an 18 yard gain and they're on their own 45. Another quick pass this time to the right to Lewis, who has a 15 yard gain, another first down, and he has now passed 100 yards receiving on the day. Ball on the Niner 41. Out of the gun, Garrard throws the slant route to Jones who runs out of bounds after 6 yards. 2^nd and 4. Garrard dances around in the pocket, no pressure at all. After seeing nothing, he scrambles up the middle. But he doesn't slide, and instead he takes a HUGE hit from Patrick Willis, and he fumbles! Parys Haralson picks it up and the Niners have possession! Ball on the Jaguars 35.

Smith hands off to Gore up the middle for a 3 yard gain. Gore again up the middle for 5 yards. 3rd and a little more than 1 on the 44. Gore fights up the middle for a nice 3 yard gain and a first down. Gore up the middle for a 2 yard gain to the 49. 2nd and 8. On the screen play, Smith gets smashed as he throws and the ball flies up and nearly gets picked off by Daryl Smith. 3rd and 9. In the gun, Davis moves from the TE spot and motions out to the left next to Morgan. Smith takes the snap, has Crabs on a deep out post route, but he waited a bit too long as he catches it out of bounds. 4th and 9.

Lee punts it into the end zone. Play action to MJD, who goes out for a curl route, catches the pass, but then gets plowed by Bam Bam but holds on for an 8 yard gain. MJD up the middle on 2nd and 2 for 3 yards and a first down. Garrard with the fake to MJD, throws it out left, but Bly comes up and knocks it down. 2nd and 10. Out of the gun, Garrard gets the snap, has some time, and throws a deep ball. Thomas is the intended receiver and somehow got matched up with Parys Haralson who just can't keep up and has no help from a safety. Thomas comes down with the wide open catch on a perfectly placed pass, and has room to run, and he does. Touchdown Jags on the 69 yard TD reception. What a heartbreaker. Jaguars win 34-28

Post Game Stats

JAX - 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 6 - 34

SF - 0 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 0 - 28

Jacksonville -- Stat - San Francisco

448 - Total Offense - 423

95 - Rushing Yards - 197

353 - Passing Yards - 226

18 - First Downs - 16

4 - Turnovers - 2

7-12 (58%) - 3^rd Down - 5-15 (33%)

34:12 - TOP - 32:51

Alex Smith -- 65.6 RTG 22-42 (52%) 241 YDS 2 TD 2 INT David Garrard - 82.9 RTG 20-36 (55%) 359 YDS 3 TD 3 INT

Frank Gore - 22 ATT 195 YDS (8.8 YPC) | 6 REC 59 YDS Maurice Jones-Drew - 24 ATT 81 YDS (3.3 YPC) | 3 REC 61 YDS 1 TD

Arnaz Battle -- 4 REC 41 YDS Marcedes Lewis - 6 REC 101 YDS

Brandon Jones/Vernon Davis- 1 REC TD Mike Thomas -- 3 REC 86 YDS 2 TD

Manny Lawson - 5 TK (3 TFL) 2 Sacks Terrance Knighton - 5 TKL (3 TFL) 2 Sacks

Takeo Spikes - 4 TKL 1 INT 3 knockdowns Justin Durant - 8 TKL (1 TFL) 1 INT

Dre Bly/Parys Haralson -1 INT Brian Witherspoon - 2 TKL 1 INT (TD)

Post-Game Thoughts
Well this game definitely did not disappoint as far as exciting goes. These teams were back and forth all game trading blow for blow. But even 256 total yards from Frank Gore, containment of Maurice Jones-Drew for the most part, and 4 turnovers from Garrard could not lead the Niners to a victory in this one. The defense did not make plays when they needed to in key situations; mainly on 3rd down and the offense could not take advantage of the chances Garrard was giving them left and right. The big plays made the difference in this one, and the Jags had just one too many. Let's hope tomorrow brings us a different result.

49ers-Jaguars: Thursday Injury Report

Fooch — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:57:39 -0000

Hope everybody is having a good Thanksgiving. We've got our Thanksgiving open thread if you want to chat about any of today's games. I wanted to get this posted before the food coma completely overwhelmed me. We've got the injury report here, followed by OC Jimmy Raye's post-practice press conference transcript.

We had some interesting comments from Jimmy Raye, including the fact that Isaac Bruce will not be active Sunday and Brandon Jones will be. Jones will be backing up Crabtree at the X position, but will also be the spot guy when Morgan comes off the field. Also, the third question addresses the shotgun statistics. I'm curious what people will have to say about that.

49ers
Out (Definitely Will Not Play)
CB Nate Clements (shoulder)
OT Joe Staley (knee)

Did not Participate in Practice
WR Arnaz Battle (ankle)
WR Isaac Bruce (ankle)
DT Aubrayo Franklin (not injury related)
S Michael Lewis (quadricep)
RB Michael Robinson (shoulder)
LB Takeo Spikes (hamstring)

Limited Participation in Practice
CB Marcus Hudson (back)

Full Participation in Practice
G David Baas (ankle)
CB Tarell Brown (knee)
S Reggie Smith (abdomen)
OT Adam Snyder (shoulder)
LB Patrick Willis (shoulder)
S Curtis Taylor (knee)

Jaguars
Out (Definitely Will Not Play)
CB Rashean Mathis (groin)

Full Participation in Practice
RB Maurice Jones-Drew (knee)
WR Mike Sims-Walker (knee)

OC Jimmy Raye's press conference transcript after the jump...

Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye
Post-Practice - November 26, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

On which receivers play where with Isaac Bruce down:

"Basically, it gives Josh Morgan a transition when we go three-wide and that would bring Brandon Jones as the spot player. He would back up X. Jason Hill would be the back up Z. [Michael] Crabtree would stay at X. So, we would get the addition of Brandon Jones."

On who starts where:

"[Michael] Crabtree starts at X, [Josh] Morgan starts at Z. Jason Hill backs up Z. Brandon Jones backs up X. Then three wides, Josh transitions from Z to X and Jason Hill becomes the Z."

On why the statistics are better from the quarterback in the shotgun:

"I don't think that it is a coincidence. I know the time we did it, the score was 23-3. The quantity of the yards and quality of the yards has to be measured by the score and the time in the game. I don't think the formation per se had a whole lot to do with it. The fact that we were in a semi-rally mode because we were down by four scores had something to do with it. We converted third downs, which meant we got more plays. After the first drive in the game, we went three-and-out three straight times, and when we looked up, the score was 20-3, which totally changed the complexion of the game and the thought process and plan of the game. Then, the play prior to the two-minute warning, we could have kept them off the field on 3^rd-and-7 and we didn't convert. Then they went back and got another score to make it 23-3. So, there wasn't really any reason to be in ‘21' personnel and having the quarterback operating from under center. So, the score of the game and flavor of the game kind of dictated that. If you recall in that game, the first drive in that game, we were 3^rd and less than one in a position to score, and none of those plays were out of the gun. We missed and opted to kick the field goal to make the score 3-3. From that point on, offensively, it was downhill."

On whether the offense is in transition:

"I think this offense has been in transition since I've been here. You name a week that we haven't been in transition, from an injury standpoint, from a runner standpoint, a receiver standpoint, an offensive line standpoint. The thing we have been is in transition. I don't know what exactly your question is, in terms of this offense being in transition, but in terms of continuity and players, it's been a constant flow of transition."

On Alex's next step:

"I think Alex so far, his maturation in the 14 quarters, has been very good. I would anticipate going forward that as we improve in other areas of our play offensively, his growth will continue. He's become a little more assertive. You've got to remember that as he and the offense become more compatible and friendly, I think the less anxiety he'll have as he anticipates and knows the players he's playing with, and not thinking about the calls he makes, but he has internalized that. I am hopeful his growth and maturation will be something that will be very good."

On what he means by Alex being assertive and whether he tells him what he likes:

"I don't think that's a measure of assertion. He [Alex] plays and we coach. He has the opportunity to ‘red line' his wish list. The quarterbacks get a wish list at the beginning of every week. They get to list in priority the things they like and the things they don't like. They get to red line things they don't want or don't feel comfortable with, or they can suggest things they'd rather have. As I tell them and all of the players, it's democratic, but it's not 50-50 because they don't spend as much time looking at it or preparing as we do. So, their suggestions are all listened to, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll all be used. That's not just him, but that's all of the offensive players. His mannerisms and assertion, in terms of his leadership with the players he's in the huddle with, and his presence in the meeting room and film sessions, all of that has been a win-win. Alex is a very bright individual. As he gains confidence, the more his intelligence plays to his physical ability. I hope that is what we're witnessing. Only winning and time will tell that."

On the percentage of plays Alex red lines during the week:

"It varies. There are some things that are lengthy call-wise or protection-wise that may be a little queasy that when we worked them in practice, he didn't get the look that we had shown him or he anticipated or he didn't feel as good about dialing them in the game, as he does some other things. It's not a vast change. It's nothing like John Brodie, where he was going to run what he wanted to run and the hell with the plan because he called his own plays back then. It's enough to know and have a feel for what calms the anxiety in certain calls and where he feels most comfortable with things. We try not to have a whole lot of variance of new things so he doesn't have the anxiety of that."

On whether he can recognize body language from his viewpoint during the game:

"Sure. I'm learning him. I know this having coached long enough and called plays enough to know when you go 1-to-1 pass, you're an accident waiting to happen. So, if any play caller, even with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, you start dialing the pass repetitively, 1-to-1, something is going to happen. You have to try to sense the protection and sense the spacing in the passing game I'm speaking of. Whether he's getting hit because getting hit is more difficult for a quarterback than getting sacked. So, you have to gauge the protection, and if he's getting hit, you have gauge the coverage element and how much pressure you're getting by down and distance and how close you are to 1-and-1 and try to keep him out of a situation where something bad could happen, as far as turning the ball over. So, yeah, I can sense that."

On when things will click for Alex and the team waiting for the quarterback for everything to come together:

"I think if the team is waiting on the quarterback, then they have missed the boat. If they're waiting on the quarterback, then we're way off whack. The quarterback play has been very good, and at times, has even tilted towards being outstanding. So, if that is what the team is waiting on, the quarterback, then we're going down the wrong road. The team, as we're going forward in this drive and in this run to win the game this Sunday, the team needs to do the best that they can individually and the pieces will fit if we execute, and it won't be because of the quarterback."

On Alex Smith showing signs that he can be good player in the NFL:

"I think that he has demonstrated that. What you have to understand, if you go back and look at the development of some of the outstanding quarterbacks in this league, he's in his fourth or fifth year with a two-year hiatus where he didn't play at all. He's had four or five different systems, but he demonstrates in portions of games. You don't find many quarterbacks that throw three touchdown passes in second halves of games, be it behind or be it in the league. Once you do that, you do it. It has nothing to do with the score or the team or the opponent or if they're playing bend don't break or any of that. Once you do that, you do it and he has demonstrated on several occasions that he is capable of scoring points with the ball and that's the function of the position and throwing it. So, I would say that yeah, he's well on his way if his maturity and all of the other things that it takes to play the position - he's tough enough, he has escapabilty, he can ad-lib a play, he kept a play alive in the third quarter- got a first down with his feet and legs running the ball - so he has those things. It's his confidence that we're continuing to expand to let him be the best that he can be. Now, whether that will be good or in the upper echelon of the NFL, I don't know, but he certainly has a chance to be good enough."

On his observation of Smith's performance against Green Bay defense in the second half:

"Well, I think that they were trying not to give up the strike over the top ball, but became vulnerable to the deep ball with the style of secondary coverage that they were playing. Then they had to shift gears and try to pressure him and see if they could get the ball to come out quicker to negate [TE] Vernon Davis' speed and [WR Michael] Crabtree's verticalness up the field, so they tried to pressure him. When they tried to pressure him, he hit them. When they tried to defend, he hit them. So, then they got to a point where they mixed the pressure and mixed the coverage and he was still able to move the ball and I think that the last score that we went in on, there was 5:48 left in the game and they were in a different mode on their boundary - totally different, because they hadn't figured out a way to curtail what he was doing."