So, I'm pretty adamant in my opinion that the 49ers will not win the West ( oh if they had only pulled out at least 1 if not 2 of their 4 ridiculous losses ).

Since I'm sure the 49ers will win their way out of the Luck sweepstakes*, thought I'd take a look at what I can hope for going forward in terms of the division race.

Current Standings
Seahawks 4-2
Rams 4-4
Cardinals 3-3
49ers 2-6

Projected Standings for week 8 ( Cards and Seahawks losing )
Seahawks 4-3
Rams 4-4
Cardinals 3-4
49ers 2-6

Week 9 - Byes

Seahawks vs Giants - An interesting match up in Seattle, Giants coming off bye. I think it's a good match up for the Giants defensive line and would expect them to win. Edit: Side note, I do not ever root for a player to get injured, but the Giants pass rush vs the banged up Seattle LTs.. Hasselbeck going down for a stretch might be the rest of the division's best hope at overtaking them.

Cardinals @ Vikings - Really feels like the kind of game where the Cardinals get 3 interceptions and win by 1, but for the sake of argument we'll say Minnesota is better and wins.

Seahawks 4-4
Rams 4-4
Cardinals 3-5
49ers 2-6

Week 10 - Divisional Matchups

Seahawks at Cardinals - We'll obviously be rooting for Arizona in this match up, not just because Seattle would be in the division lead, but because the 49ers still have 2 games to control against the Cardinals. Still, I think Seattle wins just about every match up vs the Cardinals, and pulls this game out.

Rams @ 49ers - Both teams come off bye ( 49ers come off of London + Bye ), Rams haven't fared well on the road, but the 49ers haven't fared well anywhere. I think it'll come down to 1 or 2 drives in the 4th quarter, for the sake of projections being worthwhile I'll give the 49ers the win.

Seahawks 5-4
Rams 4-5
Cardinals 3-6
49ers 3-6

Week 11 - The Letdown

Cardinals @ Chiefs - KC is a better team at home, but hey, they just won a game they shouldn't have against the Bills at home. Regardless, KC should be big favorites in this game and it would be an upset if they lose.

Seahawks @ Saints - I think I'll have a better idea of NO after tonight's game, but I would still consider them better than Seattle. I do think this is going to be a toss-up type game though. I'm going to give the Saints the win as I will assume that in 3 weeks, their running game is working better with Bush back.

Falcons @ Rams - Upset special, I give the Rams the upper-hand here, back at home where they are thriving. The Falcons with another one of their hiccup games.

Bucs @ 49ers - After the 49ers big win against the Rams, and looking forward to their Monday night game against the Cardinals, they letdown here and play an uuuugly game. They have to win it to even be remotely alive, so I give them the win ( but I assume that if things reach this point, I will fear this game like I feared the game against Seattle last year )

Seahawks 5-5
Rams 5-5
49ers 4-6
Cardinals 3-7

Week 12 - Primetime

Cheifs @ Seahawks - Seattle at home, KC gets some of what its opponents face every week. Seattle takes it.

Rams @ Broncos - Rams pull it out on the road.

49ers @ Cardinals - I'm sure the folks at the NFL scheduling committee were expecting better things. The 49ers slug around in the first half, but win by double digits as the Cardinals deal with their dreadful QBs.

Seahawks 6-5
Rams 6-5
49ers 5-6
Cardinals 3-8

Week 13 - The Buzzsaw

49ers @ Packers - See Above.

Panthers @ Seahawks - Matt Moore in Seattle...

Rams @ Cardinals - Cardinals pull it together for a home victory.

Seahawks 7-5
Rams 6-6
49ers 5-7
Cardinals 4-8

Week 14 - A New  Hope

Rams @ Saints - Rams fall on the road.

Broncos @ Cardinals - The Broncos nightmare continues.

Seahawks @ 49ers - 49ers season mathematically on the line. For the sake of continuing this the 49ers pull out a squeeker ( Keep in mind at this point the 49ers will have gone 5-1 in a 6 game stretch, I do not think this team can do that, so.. you see why I think they are eliminated already ).

Seahawks 7-6
Rams 6-7
49ers 6-7
Cardinals 5-8

Week 15 - The Short Week Headache

49ers @ Chargers - On Thursday night the 49ers go against the Chargers at home. They give up multiple touchdowns in the first quarter and never make a game of it.

Cardinals @ Panthers - Cardinals defense feasts on Panthers QB errors.

Chiefs @ Rams - The Chiefs go into St. Louis and go home with a victory.

Falcons @ Seahawks - The Seahawks pull off a huge victory, but 49ers still mathematically alive as they have 1 division loss and the Seahawks have 2.

Seahawks 8-6
Rams 6-8
49ers 6-8
Cardinals 6-8

Week 16 - Oh If Only

At this point fans are at each other throats with cries of "if we had only" and "give Sing another season!"

Cowboys @ Cardinals - Cowboys finish off the Cardinals on Saturday

49ers @ Rams - 49ers win it late.

Bucs @ Seahawks - Seahawks clinch division title

Seahawks 9-6
49ers 7-8
Rams 6-9
Cardinals 6-9

Week 17 - The Winter is Eternal

Rams @ Seahawks - Seahawks rest some players and Rams pull out win.

Cardinals @ 49ers - 49ers continue their recent late season meaningless games success.

Seahawks 9-7
49ers 8-8
Rams 7-9
Cardinals 6-10

Another long off-season.

How do you think it will play out?

*-The Luck Sweepstakes, this just occurring to me but, would there be a worse case scenario than the Cowboys finishing badly enough to trade up and get him ( A Texas native ).

This is a continuation of my previous post going through every offensive coordinator in the league, as well as some out of work coaches and college ( only Harbaugh )

http://www.ninersnation.com/2010/10/23/1769557/offensive-head-coaching-prospects-for-2011

Now we're going to look at my top candidates individually in depth, starting with Brian Schottenheimer.

Continue reading this post »

A look around the NFL's play callers, offensive coordinators, ordered by scoring per game as of week 7.
I'm estimating much of the experience years, they should be within 1 or 2 years, but probably not all exact.

Format:
Team
    Play Caller [age], Where From
    Offensive Coordinator[age] ( years as at NFL ), Where From if Not the PC
    Rank in Yards per Game
    QB ( years as for team )

    My Thoughts

    # - Will not be a candidate
    ## - Would be surprising
    ### - Could be interviewed, perhaps in the mix
    #### - Will be interviewed, in the mix
    ##### - In the serious running

    * - Terrible Candidate
    ** - Bad Hire
    *** - Not a bad hire, but could do better
    **** - Good Hire
    ***** - Great Hire

1.Patriots
    Bill O'Brien [40] - GTech, Maryland, Duke, [12 in college] Patriots [4th with Pats]
    None
    10th
    Tom Brady ( 10 )

    O'Brien was the OC with GTech and with Duke before jumping to the Patriots as an assistant and then WR and QB coach. He's an intriguing option and part of me believes that Belichick purposely did not give him the title of offensive coordinator so that he could keep him a couple more years than the brutal carousel the Patriots have experienced lately.

    I don't think he'll be jumping this year or next.

    ###
    **

2.Colts
    Tom Moore [72]

    I'm not going to do much here, Tom Moore is 72.

    #
    *

3. Tenn
    Mike Heimerdinger [58], Tons of College, Denver, Tennessee, Jets, Tennessee
    [Same] (11), 2000-2004,2006-Present with Titans, Duke & Rice
    26th
    Vince Young ( 3 )

    I am not a huge fan of Heimerdinger, he runs a ball control offense that goes hand in hand with a field position defense. I generally call these "opportunistic" offenses, ones that take advantage of certain situations but are otherwise conservative. I do not want the next 49ers mind to be like this.

    ###
    **

4. Jets
    Brian Schottenheimer [37], 4 years of College ( assistant ), QB coach for 5 with Wash/San under Marty, 4 with Jets
    [Same] (5), 2006-Present with Jets
    17th
    Mark Sanchez ( 2 )

    I go back and forth on Brian ( son of Marty ), I've always hated Marty. I think he personifies the conservative "we'll pull it out in the 4th quarter" old-school attitude that does not consistently win divisions, playoff games, or super bowls. That being said, Brian is not Marty, he is extremely knowledgeable about offense and it's fun to watch him slide pieces around the board to get mismatches and try for big plays.  I also think he has gotten the absolute most out of Sanchez thus far.

    ####
    ***

5. Chargers
    Norv Turner [58], Bunch of College and Pros
    Clarence Shelmon [58] (4), Bunch of College, Bunch of NFL as RB Coach
    1st
    Philip Rivers ( 7 )

    I think we all know of Norv. Has anyone heard of Clarence Shelmon? Not much to see here, an extremely talented team offensively, they have produced through different coaches.

    #
    * ( Shelmon, not Turner )

6. Eagles
    Andy Reid [52], 10 years of College, 20 in Pros
    Marty Mornhinweg [48], 10 in college, 15 in Pros
    4th
    Kolb/Vick (1)

    I really like Morninweg as an OC, and the 49ers could do worse than him as a HC. However, I really really don't see that happening, there's just too great a risk of embarrassment. I realize that any logical fan would want that to be the last thing on the owner's mind, but in reality, it is likely in every decision they make now. No one in the building has the rings or years to be trusted through any more failures.

    ###
    ***

7. Texans
    Rick Dennison [52], 95-2008 with Broncos, 2009+ with Texans
    [same] (4), 3 years with Denver, 2010 with Texans
    5th
    Matt Schaub (4)

    Definitely have my eye on Dennison, but I was never all that impressed with him in Denver. I think he's a middle of the road coach. The 49ers could do worse. I do think the Texans ( like the Chargers ) are a turn-key set of players, they produced before him, and they'll produce after he's gone.

    ####
    ***

8. Lions
    Scott Linehan [47], 12 in College, 9 in Pros
    [same] ( 9 ), Vikings, Dolphins, Rams, Lions
    14th
    Stafford (2)

    A pretty good offensive mind, absolutely failed as a HC.

    ##
    **

9. Packers
    Mike McCarthy [46], 3 in college, 17 in pros
    Joe Philbin [49] (4), 2007- with Packers as OC, history is 16 years in college, 8 in pros
    13th
    Rodgers (3)

    I don't know much about Philbin

    ##
    ?

10. Steelers
    Bruce Arians [58], 10 in college, 22 in pros
    [same] (7), A few years in college, Cleveland 2001-2003, Steelers 2007-
    28th
    Roethlisberger (7)

    From everything I glean from interviews, most of the Steelers production in the passing play comes from a playground style extension of the called plays. That's not something you can rely on with just any QB or just any WRs.

    ###
    **

11. Giants
    Kevin Gilbride [59], 12 in college, 20 in pros
    [same] (14), With a bunch of teams, 2004- with Giants
    7th
    Eli Manning (7)

    I come from a family of Giants fans, so I follow them pretty closely. I do not think Gilbride would make a good HC. I'm also not a huge fan of the way he calls a game.

    ###
    **

12. Falcons
    Mike Mularkey [49], 16 in pros
    [same] (9), Steelers, Bills, Dolphins, Falcons 2008-
    9th
    Matt Ryan (3)

    I'm not personally the biggest fan of Mularkey, I think he falls into that "play to the level of your opponent" offensive style. Also don't think he's a legitimate candidate for the Yorks like Morninweg after his over-his-head performance as Bills HC.

    ###
    **

13. Saints
    Sean Peyton [47], 8 in college, 14 in pros
    Pete Carmichael Jr. [39] (2), as OC 2009- with Saints, History: 6 in college, 10 in pros
    8th
    Drew Brees (5)

    Peyton sometimes seems like a genius and sometimes looks like a fool. I'm not sure which of his traits his understudy would have. Carmichael took over for Doug Marrone who left to take over Syracuse, I doubt he's all that experienced or ready to be an OC let alone a HC.

    #
    *

14. Chiefs
    Todd Haley [43], 10 in pros
    Charlie Weis [54] (9), Jets, Pats, Chiefs, History: 25 years in pros and that ND stint
    18th
    Matt Cassel(2)

    Haley and Weis actually split play-calling ( at least that's what they say ). They're both superb play callers. Weis has no chance of being an nfl head coach again for at least a few years ( and I really doubt he'd ever want to be at this point, he didn't handle the stress well )

    #
    *

15. Broncos
    Josh McDaniels [34], 10 in pros
    Mike McCoy [38] (2), Brocos 2009-, History: 11 in pros
    6th
    Kyle Orton(2)

    I know nothing about McCoy and what his actual job entails with Denver. They have no running game, but are consistently hitting on deep passes.

    #
    *

16. Cowboys
    Jason Garett [44], 6 in Pros
    [same](4), Cowboys 2007-
    3rd
    Tony Romo (5)

    Garett always reminds me of Sean Peyton in how he calls a game. I think there is potential in him in that aspect, but I do not think he has the same personality as Peyton that allows him to be a HC.

    ###
    **

17. Bengals
    Bob Bratkowski [55], 10 in college, 18 in pros
    [same] (14), Cinci 2001- Seahawks, 95-98
    11th
    Carson Palmer (7)

    Another coordinator that I'm just not a huge fan of how he calls games, they're very inconsistent and have a really hard time sustaining drives.

    ##
    *

18. Raiders
    ...

    moving along.

19. Seahawks
    Jeremy Bates[34], 8 pros, 1 college
    [same] (1) Seahawks 2010-
    27th
    Hasselbeck (10)

    Carroll brought Bates with him from USC, this is his first year calling plays at the NFL and they haven't been great. Definitely someone to keep an eye on though in 2 or 3 years.

    ##
    **

20. Redskins
    Mike Shanahan[58], 8 college, 26 pros
    Kyle Shanahan[31] (3), Houston 2008-2009, Washington 2010-, History: 7 in Pros
    15th
    McNabb(1)

    Kyle is perhaps the most intruiging coaching prospect for me, he came into Houston the year after Schaub had come in and really turned that offense around. Son of a great offensive mind, there is a 100% chance he will be a HC somewhere someday ( my guess is that he will eventually take over for Mike in Washington while he slowly gets more and more responsibility from him in the meantime. ). I don't think the 49ers have the trust from the fans enough or just the sheer ownership power to hire a 31 year old HC. Wouldn't be shocked for him to start seeing more HC interviews this off season though.

    ###
    ***

21. Bears
    Mike Martz [59], 15 college, 18 pros
    [same] (11), Rams 99-05, Lions 06-07, 49ers, Bears
    29th
    Cutler(2)

    We all now Martz, runs a system that can only really be functional with certain QBs and WRs. Gets QBs injured, doesn't deal with other opinions well.

    #
    *

23. Ravens
    Cam Cameron [49], 16 college, 9 pros
    [same] (9), Chargers 2002-2006, Dolphins, Ravens 2008-
    16th
    Flacco(3)

    Another guy who looked great with the turnkey Chargers, but has looked ok ( at best ) since. I thought he'd mesh well with the defensive head coach style the 49ers ( and Ravens ) run, so far he absolutely has. I wouldn't want him as the HC though, and I can't imagine the fans or ownership would either. I think even the Baltimore players ( despite winning ) are getting frustrated by the conservative atmosphere.

    they also have Hue Jackson, but I think he needs to be an OC before being a HC candidate.

    ##
    **

24. Dolphins
    Dan Henning [68]

    I'll stop right here, 68 is too old.

25. Cardinals
    Ken Whisenhunt [48], 2 in college, 13 in pros
    [same]

    Stopping early again, Whisenhunt calls the plays and is the offensive coordinator. There are no candidates to look at here.

    #
    *

26. Bills
    Curtis Modkins [?], 6 in collge, 3 in pros
    [same] (1), Bills 2010-
    30th
    Ryan Fitzpatrick

    Yea, I'm not sure who he is or what even qualified him for this position. Definitely not an option at this point.

    #
    *

27. Vikings
    Brad Childress[54], 17 college, 11 pros
    Darrell Bevell[40], History: 3 college, 11 pros
    24th
    Brett Favre(2)

    Bevell is a former QB, was an assistant with the Pack under Sherman, and now with Childress. I don't really consider either of them great teachers, so I don't consider him a candidate right now.

    ##
    *

28. Rams
    Pat Shurmur[45], 11 pros
    [same] (2), Rams 2009-
    20th
    Bradford(1)

    Shurmur is a very interesting candidate, 9 years under Andy Reid as QB coach. There is a 100% chance he is eventually a head-coach somewhere, just a question of where and when. He's done a great job with Bradford already. I don't know much about his personality and whether it would apply well as a HC.

    ####
    ***

29. Bucs
    Greg Olson[47], ???
    [same] (3) Bucs 2008-
    22nd
    Freeman(2)

    Another candidate with very little info. Can't imagine he'd be a candidate.

    #
    *

30. 49ers
    Mike Johnson[43]

    Even if the 49ers offense turned around, I still don't see how they'd keep Singletary. At that point perhaps they interview Johnson as one of the candidates.

    ##
    *

31. Browns
    Brian Daboll[35], 11 pros
    [same] (2), Browns 2009-
    23rd
    McCoy(1)

    A promising candidate that Mangini has pulled with him from the Patriots staff in the earl 2000s. Hasn't shown enough in Cleveland yet, but could be because of a serious lack of offensive talent.

    ##
    **

32. Panthers
    Jeff Davidson[43], pros 15 years
    [same] (4), Panthers 2007-
    32nd
    Moore(2)

    Davidson has run a 1 dimensional offense even when he had receiving threats and relied heavily on Delhomme and Smith to manufacture a passing game on the fly. An absolutely horrific offense at this point.

    #
    *

Out of Work Head Coaches

The 49ers are not the Cowboys, Giants, Redskins, Patriots, or Jets. They don't have pockets flush with cash, they don't own ( or even share ) a massive east coast media market. They have a long history of hiring first time head-coaches. So, don't get your hopes up for any of these guys ( not that I think there are many even worth getting your hopes up for ).

Parcells:
    He will never be a coach again, move on.
    #

Holgren:
    He will never be a head coach again, move on.
    #

Cowher:  
    He's not going to move to the west coast, he's going to command a huge salary with high paid coordinators. IF he comes back at all it will be with the Giants or Cowboys. I'd say he isn't going to come back ( because of his wife's death ), but if he does it'd be with the Giants where he can have power and money.
    ##

Tony Dungy:
    Really? Seriously? Do any fans really want Tony Dungy to be the head coach? Too old, too soft, relied much much too heavily on Peyton Manning in the 2nd half of his career. He was a really great coach for about 4 years with Tampa.
    #
    *

Marty Schottenheimer:
    Yes, he won a lot in San Diego, so has Norv, big deal. If you give Schottenheimer a team with talent they will produce wins, but they will always play to the level of their competition, looks great when they pull out a few close games in a row, then terrible when they don't. His 5-13 playoff record is a shining example of how this philosophy works in the playoffs.
    ##
    *

Jon Gruden:
    There are many good things about Gruden, he's a great strategist, makes good adjustments in-game, he's 100% all-in with what he is doing, he's still young enough to live and breathe football. He has lived on the west coast before and I don't think he'd command the kind of salary some of the other big names would. His one fatal flaw of course is that he has not developed or found a QB.
    #####
    ****

Brian Billick
    In my opinion Billick is a very good analyst, and a pretty poor head coach. It would be one thing if he wasn't really given a chance to prove his value as a head coach, but he had eight years. It's hard for me to believe that failing at producing a decent offense in 8 years with a good GM would turn around with the 49ers in a year or two. The second thing, is that he's 56. Coaches really start to go down once they pass their mid 50's simply on not being able to put in the time and effort.
    ##
    **

College Head Coaches

Jim Harbaugh:
    He seems to be THE college candidate this year. Stanford outperforms its talent on both sides of the ball, he has a loud/energetic personality that the successful young coaches in the NFL have all had. He had a long career as an NFL QB, comes from a football family, and his brother is winning with the Ravens. Runs a pro-style offense. He will get interviewed by many NFL teams this off-season and the 49ers will be one of them. He is my #1 candidate, but if Jerry Jones comes in and offers 10mil/yr...
    #####
    *****


Summary

Likihood to get Interviewed
##### - Gruden, Harbaugh
#### - Dennison, B. Schottenheimer, Shurmur
### - O'Brien, K. Shanahan, Mornhinweg, Garett, Gilbride, Arians, Mularkey

( These are all white coaches, I'm not sure who the minority candidate(s) would be at the moment, but will add them in as I find them ).

My Personal Ranking of them as potential HCs
***** - Harbaugh
**** - Gruden
*** - B. Schottenheimer, Shurmur, Dennison, Mornhinweg, Shanahan

I'll be adding more in depth details and performance history of these candidates moving forward, who else would you like to see?

The Defense
-----------------

The Key - Going into the season my #1 concern with the 49ers defense was that they had no consistent pass rusher. This still seems to be the biggest issue. I realize the secondary is inexperienced and thus prone to mistakes, but it really feels like when the going gets tough, the game hinges on the defense's ability to get pressure ( and they don't ).

They seem to exude the feeling that IF the 49ers offense comes together for a game and scores 28, that the opposing offense will start throwing more, and more aggressively, and the defense will be exposed further. This causing people to have that "Oh God when the offense has it, the defense doesn't" type of feeling. When in reality, the defense never had it.

The 49ers do not pressure the opposing QBs enough, their 2 OLBs are not pass rushers and I see no way for this to turn around as long as they are the 2 "every-down" guys ( I realize they bring in LaBoy in 3rd and longs and Brooks rotates in at times ). Brooks lack of serious playing time this year has been disappointing, I don't have a play counter, but I hope to see him in for more plays for Haralson.

Slow Hips - I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mays is playing much much better than I thought he was going to. I will eat my crow on this one ( obviously I still wish Nate Allen fell to 49, but the 49ers could have done much worse than Mays ).

Juke Box - Bowman, my god, if he gets juked out of his shoes trying to make a tackle 6 yards short of the first down on 3rd down one more time I am going to punch through a wall. Can someone please tell him to just accept 3 more yards on the end of the run when they have to get 3 more than that. I liked what I saw from him in the pre-season, and I really hope he can develop quickly this year as he will be getting a ton of playing time later this year and in the future, regardless of scheme.

Grasping at Air - It's frustrating that on at least a dozen occasions this year, our defensive players have beaten their blocker, had a shot at the QB, only to jump at the QB from 2 yards away and miss. This happened twice against the Raiders, once by McDonald that caused a roll out by Campbell that I thought for sure was going to result in a big play, but thankfully did not. Last week Lawson had a sack in the red-zone on 3rd down and came up with air, allowing Kolb to roll out and throw a TD. Huge mistakes you can not make. I consider this to be a symptom of the "need the big play," disease that has infected the 49ers for the past few years on both sides of the ball. Guys just coming out of their comfort zone a bit too much because they feel like the team needs them to make the big play, when everyone just making the ok plays would be plenty. It causes fumbles, missed tackles ( see Bowman above ), dropped passes, etc etc

The Straw Wall - Franklin is not playing at a pro-bowl level this year. I don't know how it's going to affect his next contract, but I never thought he was going to get a huge offer at his age and niche ability.

Sopoaga has also struggled at his very strong run defense ( though he had a good game against Oakland ), he hasn't been horrible, but the difference between Franklin and Sopoaga has been noticeable and has lightened their run defense enough to no longer be dominant against the run.

The Offense
-------------------------

The Seive - Going into the season I knew there were going to be consistency issues on the line. In all the optimism most fans had they thought they were going to roll into this season with a top 5 OL, but many were ready to watch some bad play for at least the first half of the season. It has been worse than I expected. Baas has been a pleasant surprise at Center, he hasn't played great, but he's played well ( similar to how Staley has played in the past ). Staley has looked injured out there, but he's had no injury listed ( that I've noticed ). Iupati and Davis both look promising despite rookie mistakes. And then there's Rachal.. Rachal has no business starting for an NFL team. Now, maybe Snyder doesn't have any business starting either, but Snyder played better than Rachal when he was out there. Why is Rachal still in?

I know there's a camp that thinks Heitmann is a sack of ****, but I've always thought he plays at a consistent ok level, and that that is good enough for now. I hope he gets back on the field and Rachal can sit on the bench for a year before the 49ers cut him lose. Bust.

The Gazelles.. err.. the Donkeys - It's really hard to judge the receivers on the 49ers, more so than on just about every other team in the NFL. They tend to run the same patterns, out of the same formations, leaving them tightly covered. On top of this Smith is usually a little out of his comfort zone, and isn't a on-the-spot-accurate QB. I've come to the conclusion though that Crabtree is a 1a/1b receiver, and Morgan is a #3/#4 receiver. Crabtree can't consistently beat #1 corners, and Morgan can't consistently beat #2 corners. This causes a HUGE problem with how much they can scare the defense.

The Engine - Frank Gore is a really good running back. He does everything really well. My only complaint with him is that when is getting stopped he gets the "need the big play" syndrome and stays up too long or carries the ball a little loose in order to get that big play. He lacks the patience that you only really get when you've won or you're winning. The whole team does.

I'm not as frustrated as some people were that Westbrook hasn't seen much action,

The Pistons - Vernon Davis and Delaine Walker are the two players on the offense that make it something unique, something potentially powerful. They abused this with Walker for about 5 minutes before he was injured, and have just now ( in the 4th quarter in week 5, and 2nd half in week 6 ) started to attack with VD. The latter is RIDICULOUS. There is absolutely no reason why VD should not have 2 targets a quarter AT MINIMUM. VD should get on the phone to Mike Johnson every time the 49ers go 3 and out and he doesn't get a target, or go an entire quarter without a target and say *** ARE YOU DOING. They should have a half a dozen plays in their playbook that are specifically designed to get him a mismatch THAT WEEK. Good coordinators make use of their mismatch causing unique talent, the 49ers fail at this on a weekly basis.

The Deep Ball - Ginn and Williams were supposed to be the deep threats this year. Injuries have slowed this from occurring yet this year, but I'm still glad they bought Ginn in ( see special teams ), and I like the Williams pick, I hope he can see the field as a slot receiver at some point. They absolutely need someone to develop into a deep threat on this team, the opposing secondaries are allowed to be far to aggressive near the line of scrimmage.

The Zombie Horse, Continue Beating - Alex Smith had what I would consider to be a mediocre game today, but got the win. There's a sort of sad statistic that floats about that is something along the lines of, Alex has never won a game in which he passed for 250 yards ( IE, the 49ers have never won a game with Alex under center when the other team was putting up points ). I've said this before, going into the season, and I'll say it again, Carr is not better than Smith, nor is Smith #2 or even Nate Davis, but you don't necessarily replace a QB because you think he's going to be better. You do it because he WILL be different, and when everything is failing, different can't be any worse. It appears that Singletary is of the mindset that, once he replaces Smith that is it, he can not put Smith back in unless there are injuries. I don't consider this to be the case. If the offense is completely impotent, and he puts Carr in, and it stays impotent, and he puts Troy Smith in, and it stays impotent, he can go back to Alex. They don't have to cut him. He's not going to demand to get traded or cut. I see no harm in trying things if the offense is just dead.

Back to his play though, I've thought Smith has played ok, but the offensive system makes everyone look 25% worse than they actually are. I want him to throw the ball deep and leave it to Crabtree and Morgan to make a play on the ball, I want him to force some balls to VD and have him out muscle to get the ball. That is what good teams do, let their skill position players make plays. I don't blame him when he throws it deep and Ginn keeps running and allows a free int. In fact, I get more upset when I see him try to make a pin-point pass that the receiver has no chance at, today Morgan broke in and had 2 steps, Smith thought he was breaking back in and threw a dart over his head. He cold have just thrown a soft lead straight ahead of him and let him run under it. ( Not that I'm saying that's EASY, but should be a higher percentage throw for an NFL starter. )

What I HATE, absolutely HATE, is when he makes really dangerous throws that offer absolutely no chance of gain. Case in point, on Sunday he had a 3rd and 7, waited too long, then threw a 2 yard out to VD who was already so close to the side line that he had NO CHANCE of getting a first. So what is there to gain on that play? 2-4 yards. What is there to lose? Well, it could be a tipped interception, a pick 6, a fumble, it could get tipped at the line... That is just a bad bad decision.

Also, for all the pressure there was today, much of it came from the outside and Smith kept trying to roll out around it instead of stepping up in the pocket and just making a throw. I thought he had gotten over this, it's sad to see him revert back to it.

The Franchise
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The Nails are in the Coffin - Singletary is done as 49ers head coach unless they both make the playoffs AND win in the playoffs, and do it with good play and not slug-fests. I see no chance of this occurring, so in my view, he is just done. Is he a lame duck coach? That I don't know, lame duck to me is someone who has no power in the locker room, and no matter what happens, I don't see these players giving up on him until they are mathematically eliminated, which shouldn't happen until deep into the season regardless of what happens.

Fysical with an F - The 49ers offensive philosphy that divided the fan base could, to me, be re-written as "We run through brick walls, not around them." It sounds cool, but is ultimately a style that will cause you to be easier to slow down, and easier to stop. A football team needs to be able to gain 1 yard running when they need 1 yard, they do not need to gain 5 yards on every run. There's plenty of modern evidence for this. I realize that if you can run for 4 yards a carry then you need to take less "chances" and can have a higher winning percentage over long periods of time, but it is rare in the modern NFL that a team can do that, particularly with non-veteran offensive lines.

I just don't understand why they aren't in shot-gun spread most of the time. They are much much better immediately after they go shut-gun and get into a rhythm. They just continue to pound that square peg into the round hole.

One Score Game - When the 49ers got the ball back in this game with 4 or 5 minutes left, up by 8 ( 1 score ), they decided to shut it down completely and run-run-run-run-run. It worked this week, they won. It took a handful of 3rd down conversions ( 1 3rd and 10+ ), but they got it done. Usually, they do not, and it results in the other team having one more, two more, three more chances to beat them. I hate that they do this. Hey, we could have two chances to beat you, one with our offense and one with our defense, but we don't, we're going to put it all on the defense, that can't pass rush and has a weak secondary. We'll see how it goes ( see New Orleans, Atlanta this year, a bunch of games last year ). It appears this is already the approach they're going to take in the Carolina game.

The Season - I think someone in the division is going to find a way to win 8 or more games. So, if the 49ers want to be that team, they need to rip off the first 6 game winning stream since.. well, probably the 90s. No matter what happens, Singletary will not get fired during the season, he will be the coach the rest of the year. I also wouldn't be shocked if Smith is the QB until they are eliminated, but I do hope HOPE that once they are eliminated, Nate Davis gets a shot to come in and show the fans, his teammates, and the future coach ( whomever he may be ), what he can and can not do.

The Future - I'm really interested to see the approach Jed takes to fixing the coaching and general organizational issues the 49ers have experienced the past 7 or 8 years. Do they really need a strong President personality to hold a position above Baalke and below Jed? Not really, if anything it would merely provide another punching bag for the fans. They're not going to hire someone like Parcells, get that out of your heads now. It's unfortunate they couldn't have landed someone like Holmgren, mais c'est la vie.

What's interesting to me is that the beat writers and pundits are describing the 49ers next head coach as someone with experience as an NFL head coach. I don't know why they'd think this, the only time in the last 35 years the 49ers have hired a head coach with prior NFL head coaching experience was Erickson. It is a franchise that generally focuses on hiring young new head coaches and promoting from within. Obviously the latter isn't going to happen. I can't imagine that Jed goes to Eddie to seek advice and Eddie tells him to pay Gruden 8 million a year ( not that I'd be upset with Gruden ).

One things for sure, they will be an offensive mind, which could net some immediate gains next season regardless of personnel changes. And just a throw in, some good defensive coaches could be on the market to be coordinators again ( Fox, Phillips, Mangini ).