Part of the reason the Saints lost to the Niners on Saturday is that their defensive game plan was too simple. They acted as if stopping Frank Gore would stop the entire Niners offense.
They committed eight, nine, sometimes ten defenders to the box to shut down Gore and they left every single receiver in single coverage – even Vernon Davis.
This was a bad strategy. You can’t single cover Vernon Davis – can’t do it.
When the the Niners played the Giants back in Week 10, the Giants defensive strategy was similar – everyone stop Gore. They stopped him – he gained zero yards – but the Niners still won. Smith hit Delanie Walker over and over again with passes and at the end of the game, when the defense finally tried to account for Walker, Smith hit a wide open Vernon Davis for a touchdown.
You can bet that the Giants won’t over-commit to stopping Gore and the rest of the Niners run game – it’s a proven loser strategy against this team.
Here’s my best guess as to how the Giants defense will play the Niners offense – they’ll keep eight defenders in the box on most downs. They’ll double team Vernon Davis at all times. They’ll blitz on second and third and long. And they’ll leave the wide receivers alone in one-on-one coverage.
They will not let Vernon Davis beat them like the Saints did. That would be stupid. They’re going to force Michael Crabtree and Ted Ginn Jr. and Kyle Williams beat them.
So, those are the key Niners this weekend. Each one of them is going to have to play his best game of the season for the Niners to win.
Here’s some good news for the offense – Delanie Walker wrote on Twitter that he worked out Sunday and he’s ready to play next weekend. Smith needs a secondary receiver to complement Davis and Walker can be that guy – last time the Niners played the Giants Walker led all Niners with 6 receptions for 69 yards.
One last thought – this may be the perfect game for Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman to bring back the pass plays to Joe Staley and Isaac Sopoaga.
Michael Crabtree is the obvious player you’d expect to step up as a secondary receiver, but he’s got a tough matchup against Corey Webster – a very good cornerback who held Crabtree to just one catch back in Week 10.
The Niners are going to have to be extra creative in the pass game to win this one.
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“The Niners are going to have to be extra creative in the pass game to win this one.”
I’m going to slightly disagree here. I think the 49ers need to get back to being creative in the run game like they were earlier in the season.
Early on a lot of folks said Harbaugh calls the running game the way Walsh called the passing game. The 49ers need to get back to that.
When the Packers bothered to remember the run Grant and Starks were gashing the Giants. The 49ers can do that even better with Gore and Hunter. And a strong running game will tire out the Giants’ D-Line making them less likely to kill Alex. We don’t want to see that front 4 coming fresh against the 49ers suspect O-Line. JPP, Tuck and Osi need to get beaten up by the run game so that they’ll be soft in the 4th quarter for an Alex Smith to VD dagger.
I don’t think you want to run Gore or Hunter continuously into eight-man boxes.
You don’t run them into 8 man boxes. You use mis-direction, fly-sweeps and wham plays. The way the 49ers were defeating 8 man fronts earlier in the season – especially in the Lions game.
The Giants front 4 is ferocious on pass rush but they’re all a bit fragile. The 49ers need to beat them up a bit with the run game if they want to keep Alex Smith healthy.
I agree with all of that. Still, I think Webster is a tough matchup for Crabtree, and the Giants will double Davis the whole game, so a different receiver will have to make some big catches.
Play-action is key. Niners will be balanced and use the run to setup the pass and vice-versa. Bait the defense with personel and formations, then hit ‘em with the unexpected.
These games are torture though. If this offense can actually sustain some drives next week Niners might dominate.
And hopefully #10 and #15 will step up their games this week. Focus. Catch. Run. Score.
I agree with Grant. The Packers may have gashed them some, but that’s because the defense was set for stopping the Pack’s passing game. They won’t be doing that against the Niners, even with the game Alex had. I think they are going to play a lot of base defense. Some blitzes here and there, nickel and dime when the time is appropriate. Crabtree is going to have to win some of his battles, and stop dropping passes like he did this last game. I think we can benefit from an end around where Alex hands off to Gore, who runs right or left, and hands off to Ginn running the opposite way. We hardly ever do it, so the defense won’t expect it.
Luckily, their DT Canty is hurt. Their D-Line is a 10 against the pass and a 5 against the rush. A good mix of power runs and play action will allow single coverage on the flanks, with safeties up in the box and helping on VD… Williams should be able to win 1v1, and Crabs will have a good game if he consistently faces single coverage.
I agree. Counters, Tosses and Screens away!!!
You don’t have to run INTO the box to have a good day on the Ground Grant. ; P
Valid points but I’m with Grant here. The last time the Giants saw the Niners in week 10 at Candlestick, Walker and Davis combined for over 100 yards and a TD. Compare that to the games we lost to the Ravens and Cardinals where TE production was limited to under 40 yards, with only Davis or Walker contributing receptions – not both. In the game we barely lost to Dallas, Davis and Walker combined for under 60 yards. Particularly after watching this week’s highlights, we should expect Vernon to get doubled so the importance of having Walker back can’t be understated – especially considering what a poor job we did picking up the blitz on 3rd and long. Crabtree knows better than anyone after Saturday that he’s has to step it up next week. The WR’s are going to see a lot of single coverage while the Giants jam Gore and the tight ends in the middle. And yes, sweeps and screens will relieve that. The fortunate thing is that the Giants didn’t see much of Gore in week 10 because of his injury. Not that they can’t look at tape.
And, just a shout out to the guys on injured reserve who helped get us here. Wish they could be a part of this too.
I agree that the injury was the reason Gore ran poorly against the Giants (And for several games after that). I would just like to see some creative screen passes and play action to complement the straightforward run game the niners have been so successful at all season long. The Giants D-line is not the best running defense the Niners have faced this season (The Ravens were), so there is no reason not to have some success on the ground.
Also, if you factor in Alex’s running ability, the Niners should be balanced against the G-men.
I agree with msclemons. The Niners have to get the running game going again. It just hasn’t been all that effective in some time now and that has to change. Gore had the one big run on Saturday, but was averaging under 4 yards a carry before that. They have to get creative and get it going again.
…”And they’ll leave the wide receivers alone in one-on-one coverage.”…
….last time we played….
B. Edwards 3 47 15.7
T. Ginn Jr. 3 39 13.0
M. Crabtree 1 21 21.0
K. Williams 1 14 14.0
….we need the RUN game…….
@oneniner
I think a Giant DL was injured in the Pack game, so he may not go at all, or be as effective.
The conditions of the game will demand some tough running.
And I’ll take our run D over anybody’s.
Chris Canty
Other than the three dropped passed he had, he’d been playing really good. I think crabs is a lot better now than he was in the earlier game.
Grant, please ask them why they don’t have a formation with both hunter and gore in the back field? Imagine both going out in the flats….
I agree. With a shift from spread to the classic 2 back formation.
Gore hasn’t caught the ball very well this season, IMO. Also, Smith has never been great at delivering the ball to smallish running backs, like Hunter.
Hey Grant I completely agree to this strategy but ultimately it should fail. They didn’t even see half the Offensive Plays that Roman is supposed to have in his playbook and I doubt that Roman is gonna be showing them the same stuff in this game.
On top of this lets not forget one very real factor of field conditions(wet and windy during game time) and jet lag. I believe the Giants hauled it back to New Jersey after that intense game and then they’re gonna fly to San Francisco and play us? That really doesn’t give them much time since they have to fly out her probably Friday Night. 4 days preparation compared to essentially 6 days of our prep?
I’m not going to count them out. There is a reason why they are coming out here and our guys get to stay home this weekend. Still it would be a letdown if our guys let them fly back to New Jersey NFC Champs. I don’t see it. Just like I didn’t see the Saints beating us and the Packers beating them. We’ll see if my instincts are valid or not. Hope they are. :)
You’re right about the prep and the rest
I’m glad that the Packers weren’t very physical last night, we came out of the game very clean.
The key to this game will be the defense. You can’t let Eli have all day to pass like he did in GB. You have to cover their receivers so that pressure can be put on Manning. You also can’t get burned with the screen passes. Then the Offensive line has to do its job. With that said, is there a Superbowl in our future? I believe so.
I’ve heard comments about what to call the game winning catch.
How about either “the completion”, or “the crucial completion”?
I saw one on Twitter I liked: The Immaculate Redemption
Immaculate Redemption – That is awesome! It fits both Alex and Vernon :)
I like: “We finally have a coaching staff that is worth a damn and called a fine play on this one.”
Too long? :P
Good names all, but out of deference to the guy who made the catch, I personally like “The Grab.”
Or maybe to satisfy more people: “Catch III: The Grab.”
I’m looking at the Giants record and their “streak”, here goes, last nine games,
Phil 17 Giants 10
NO 49 Giants 24
GB 38 Giants 35
Giants 37 Boys 34
Wash 23 Giants 10
Giants 29 Jets 14
Giants 31 Boys 14
Giants 24 Falcones duece
Giants 37 GB 20
Look at their wins, in their first win over the Boys the game came gift wrapped from Jerry Jones and company.
The Jet game-it seems the entire locker room is bickering how bad Marc Sanchez is as a starting QB. Don’t knock the guy he looks great in an Armani on the Ramp.
Dallas, you can fill that one in yourself.
Falcones-yeah, let’s go for it on 4th and one with a QB sneak, every time.
And finally the playoff game in Green Bay, all kidding aside, the loss that coach Coach Philbin went through was devastating. What can you say to him, the entire team was at a loss. Loss equals emptiness. My deepest sympathy to him, his family and the entire extended family in Green Bay.
So this is the great run. They lost seven times during the season and if not for some creme puffs they would’ve had a losing record. The odds makers have made the 49ers 2 1/2 point favorites, which is an insult. The home team automatically gets 3 points . So here we go with the East Coast thing again. Let’s take the whole East Coast down along with ESPN in Hurtford in a 2week span. Go Niners.
You should check the points against in our last 4 vs what those teams were averaging. That’s the big difference since we played you last.
That’s what should concern you about our D. It’s cutting other teams offensive point production in half. Winning streaks on their own aren’t important, it’s what’s causing it.
Nobody is overlooking Giants’ D. This game will be played on soft ground and not necessarily won or lost in the trenches. It may come down to turnovers and special teams’ play. Niners has shown that it can win with its special teams when it’s offense is bogged down. Can the Giant’s do that?
The first Niner/Giant game was extremely close and could have gone either way. Past records mean nothing in the playoffs as we can clearly see from the past weekends results. Each game is a one shot deal. The Giants are going to be a much more formidable defense compared to the Saints last week.
Grant, I am positive Giants are going to do whatever is possible to take VD out of the game by double covering him however this can play to our advantage if GR and JH try the following:
- Stretch the defense by lining VD wide or in the slot and then run out of shotgun
- Show multiple WR bunch formations with short and intermidate routes and have VD run deep to open the underneath for rest of the team
- Have several run plays for Alex to run the ball( Aaron was running all over the place against the Giants)
- Pound the defense with running Frank and Hunter
This is going to be a tough game since Giants defense has been playing really well recently and they have bradshaw and OSI back. GO NINERS
They didn’t double Roddy White, Greg Jennings or Jordy Nelson, or Santonio Holmes or any Cowboy WR
But you think they’ll double Davis. It’s unlikely, though not impossible. They’ve been playing Vanilla lately.
I sure hope they don’t double team Vernon. Delanie will be back, and Crabtree will not have a second bad game.
Trueblue63
I believe the Giants put a ton of men in the box and did TRY to double VD.
That was the game where FG was hurt and barely played. The Giants bet that the Niners could not beat them if they took away the run and dared AS to beat them.
Niners won.
And, in case you hadn’t noticed, the Niners are a better team now as well. So, that balances out. Niners won before, they will win again.
Trueblue, even your own players stated on espn that ” Niners have only two weapons! as long as they can stop V Davis and Frank Gore they have the game under control”. Good luck underestimting the entire team. Even Cruze mentioned that this game is not going to be close!!! You guys are for sure very confidence. GO NINERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
The reality is the 9ers don’t have many playmakers, so they have to run the ball to win. The Giants will key on Davis, so Crabtree, Williams and Walker if he plays, will all have to step up their games.
9ers did alot more Passing last time if you didn’t notice.
Sure they Ran. It would be a fools errand not to use your Run game to open things up for your QB.
If you saw the packers game arron rogers running was their best play. 5 first downs and alex take note. IF ITS NOT THERE RUN—-
Remember this, the Giants did NOT beat the Packers! The Packers beat the Packers. They were off their game and the Giants benefitted. Many of Rodgers’ passes hit receivers right in the hands; they would’ve gone for first downs and got them into a rhythm. Their defense couldn’t really stop the pass and they really couldn’t really stop one the worst rushing teams in the league.
I think the biggest keys (just a few of the 26 keys) are guys catching the balls that go their way, take adavantage of ALL opportunities, and most importantly coaching. Our coaching staff will yet again out coach theirs. Our defense will pummel their offense (and particularly Eli) all game until they simply lose their fight.
I have to disagree with that logic. The Packers beat the Packers? c’mon give the Giants their due for that game. They made Rodgers have to beat them. If the Fumble had counted as it should have, on that play alone the game wouldn’t have even been close. The Giants were forcing turnovers all over the field. Doing exactly what the 9er Defense does.
Give the Gmen their props they earned that Win.
niner roc, are you even close to being serious?????? the saints GAVE you every chance in the world to beat them and yet even with 4 turnovers in which 3 of them were not forced (catching a kickoff is high school stuff), you were up by ONLY 6 in the 4th Quarter.
FOX put up a stat that said teams that have 4+ turnovers, in the playoffs, are a combined 1-71….you guys almost made it 2-72….
sorry, alex smith aint ready for prime time yet…he had a great last 2 drives…but was horeendous most of that game
All 5 TO’s (not 4) were forced.
That kickoff you refer to was dropped, then picked back up and secured. The Niners forced the fumble after he had picked it up.
And Sproles had the ball secured on his punt return.
Don’t try to alter history. The Niners kicked and beat the Saints up like they had not been for several years. All 5 of those TO’s were deserved, not off of luck plays.
If you have the guts, you can watch the Niners do the same to your team. They did to you and nearly everybody else all year long.
Jim Harbaugh has proved time and time again that he and his staff can have this team ready….(with the possible exception being the second Cardinal game) The team trusts the coaches and they would do anything for Jim H. This will be a close, hard fought game….and that always favors the 49ers.
If we have to rely on our WR’s to have a big game, I am worried. If we do get D-Love back in the mix, this is a plus because one weakness on that Giants defense is their linebackers. They will not be able to cover Vernon and Delanie, and if they put a corner on them, even better to open it up for Williams and Crabs.
This game Sunday should be a comin out party for Michael Crabtree. After last weeks performance I am really looking forward to see what kind of bounce back game he can have. Also, I wanna see Williams step up and make some plays in the slot and bring those LB’s up and set up some downfield throws.
Defensively, P Willy was angry after giving up that late TD to Graham so a motivated and angry Willis is exactly what we need to stop Jacobs and Bradshaw. Eli will start pouting after getting knocked around and Cruz and Nicks, Manningham wont be able to run free.
Niners going to superbowl folks!
I agree with just about everything you said FDM.
Add to that the Giants will have to win 2 straight road games (playoff road games at that) and the chances increase just that much more.
i just wonder will frant post greg cosells interview this week?what will be the “film gurus” take on alex and niners?will he finally admit that maybe he was wrong? i doubt it,but i nevered neede his endorsement.
Grant i think you nailed it with this article.
VD definitely gets covered. As good as our running game is, other teams have been able to slow/shut it down by overcommitting as well. Gore is great, but he’s not superhuman, esp at this point in his career. Crabs, Kyle W and Ginn need to come up big in this game.
we cannot count on 5 turnovers!! dont dismiss this NYG team – they’re playing much better than when we played them in the regular season.
i think we beat them, in a game which will bring back memories of the 1990-era slugfests. if we can beat the Saints, i truly believe we can beat anyone now.
I’ve really appreciated this team this year; but, I’ve also contended all year that team progression, and consequently Alex’ progression, would be retarded by our WR’s – our achilles’ heel so to speak. Still, they have already progressed beyond my wildest dreams.
I’ll add a controversial comment given everyone’s love for the defense. Any defense that almost always has to depend on turnovers to survive will ultimately fail. New Orleans very nearly overcame all those turnovers with 462 yards of passing offense – that’s not good defense. What happens when a team doesn’t turn it over?
@M2
“New Orleans very nearly overcame all those turnovers with 462 yards of passing offense – that’s not good defense. What happens when a team doesn’t turn it over?”
NO is one of only a few teams which so many weapons. And on top of that, how many drops did you see among 63(?) pass attempts? In contrast to AS and the Niners. AS may throw an average of say 25 passes a game. And, I would venture that the Niners would drop at least 2-3/game. Extend those numbers to 63 pass attempts and there would be like 6-8 drops or so. NO had none. So most teams will have more drops than NO did out of 63 PA. And of course those drops result in no yards gained and likely an end to a drive or two.
Tell me when you were worried though when NO was getting 432 yards of passing offense during the game. I was not worried at all, minus DB perfect pass to their TE near the end of the game. DB threw for all those yards, and until the end, had nothing to really show for it. 17 points at the mid 4th quarter point. NO was used to getting 17 by the start of the 2nd quarter this year.
The Niners have not been lucky getting TO’s. That has been their MO all year long. They average 2-3 TO’s a game for just about every game they got a TO, which was virtually all of them. TO’s are the single most important event in a game. The team who has the least amount of TO’s on offense/special teams almost always wins. This is especially true in the playoffs. The reason why GB was 15-1 was not because of AR’s play all year long. But because they got TO on defense. The Niners had the most TO’s on D and had the 2nd best record in the NFL. GB was right behind and had the best record in the NFL. That is not an unusual trend.
Also keep in mind that NO only had like 32 yards rushing. So, if they were going to do anything to us, they had to throw the ball. Whereas the Niners were much more balanced in their approach as they have been all year, and like we’ve done all season, we won.
Look at the teams in the title game.
Balt – NE
Niners – NY
You can safely say that at least 2 of those teams got their on defense. And the 2 leading candidates for MVP this season were AR and DB, and both failed to reach the title game despite throwing for all those yards, so keep that in mind.
Also keep in mind that if a team passes the ball, they are much more likely to turn the ball over.
There are 3 major spots for a TO to occur on a passing play.
1. QB gets hit while looking for a receiver and loses the ball
2. The Interception while the ball is in the air
3. The receiver fumbling the ball after catching the ball. I believe Claude found some data which supports that more fumbles occur after a catch than on a run as well, so keep that in mind.
Where as when you run the ball you only have one major spot for a TO
1. RB loses the ball while running.
(2. And if you want, the hand-off part. But that is very rare in the NFL)
So, just based on that alone, you are at least 3x more likely to have a TO on offense from a pass than from a run.
NO’s threw the ball 60+ times. Our D got 3 TO’s (2 were from ST). And what happened from those 3 TO’s?
1. We stopped NO from getting any points on their opening drive. That is a big statement. Letting them know that they are not playing any average defense here who only had a good stat D. NO was definitely in position to get at least 3, if not 7 from that drive
2. We scored a TD after DG’s pick
3. We punted the ball after TB’s pick.
So, that is at least a 10 point swing in the final score. If not a 14 point swing.
Defenses should only be judged by points allowed and TO’s obtained. Everything else is minimally to not important.
@DS94 I appreciate the response but this missive is as long and as convoluted as the “Unabomber Manifesto”. (LOL)
@M2
What is missive? Do you mean massive?
And, yes. I do tend to start a reply with one idea, then come up with about 20 as I write.
Then I write all 20, and try to fit them all in together. Deleting some and sometimes only parts of some.
Sometimes it doesn’t come out as coherent to anybody but the writer.
But considering the most important info you have…your DNA is mostly code which does not translate into protein, my way of thinking is understandable from that point of view. : )
“missive” – meaning a letter. I thought that your analysis was reasonably clear and succinct, DS, and I learned from it. Thanks. (As to the DNA problem: maybe throw in a few tRNA and mRNA macromolecules to hook up with the ribosomes along the rough ER and you’ll be synthesizing protein, as Greg Roman might say, like nobody’s business! :-))
@Max
Thanks for the definition. lol
More than 1 person has commented on how massive my posts are, so that is where I was coming from.
And hey…too much biology. I want me some telomerase. Ahhh…. The Secret Fountain of Life, and also the thing cancer cells need to have to become cancer (maybe not 100%, but close enough).
And yes. I realize I am a hypocrite for accusing you of the biology lesson, when I started and added to it. : )
RE: Biology lesson. It’s fun! And provides a little more insight into who you are. I like it! Now here’s a thought that might cheer: After spending the last hour scrolling through all these comments, I am amazed at the number of creative and creditable ways people have devised for “offending” and “defending” the Giants. You just gotta know that the Giants’ coaches are having fits! LOL!
P.S. Sorry I missed the wordplay (missive/massive); I’m usually pretty good with stuff like that. Nice to be able to use playoff fever as an excuse for my obtuseness!
@max
According to a great many people here, I am quite a few others on this blog. They are wrong, but I’ll let them go right on thinking that if it makes them happy. : )
I have also posted things about Astronomy/Physics/History/Psychology/Geography/Journalism and more. But not spelling:P
Maybe I am multiple persons afterall…you think? And I get all sidetracked because all these people are trying to come out at once. lol
Gee.
After reading my last post there at 6:19, it would explain a great many things.
@DS. So, if I’m hearing you correctly, you’re saying Doc asked the wrong question: he should not have asked if you are bipolar; he should have asked if you suffer from multiple-personality disorder! (Doc, does DS’s comment here sort of answer your question?) But, from here on out, DS, I will think of you as neither bipolar nor multiple-personality disordered but as a polymath, the second one I’ve encountered in my life. (The first was Anthony Wilden, one of two geniuses I’ve had the good fortune to meet.) LOL!
DS, you beat me to the punch! What I get for being “massive”!
@max
How about that.
A concise post from me!
Where’s that job app for the New York Times?
I was thinking during the game that GETTING turnovers is only 1/2 the issue. Yes, it does keep the other team’s O from doing any damage. But to get the full benefit, you’ve got to score in those circumstances, too, and that’s where we fell down. So I don’t think our failure to capitalize on those turnovers, and thereby blow the Saints out was the D’s fault. But you’re right, M, the D hardly dominated.
i agree M2, at least regarding this game. 5 turnovers are spectacular, but you cant count on getting them every game. the standard for spectacular defense is one thing: 3 and outs.
having said that, the Saints are a different kind of team, a truly great offense. and now that the Pack has been eliminated, that means we only have one truly great qb left to beat: Tom Brady. Manning has been playing at a very high level, but he’s not quite in that Brady category. so, i think we have a darn good shot to go all the way. our defense is great, even if it doesnt suffocate every team. so we need two more stout efforts, and we’re there.
I wouldn’t count Eli short; like you say he has been playing at a high level, and he has an outstanding set of receivers. For a good part of the GB game Eli had all day to find a receiver, and most of the time he had someone wide open. Fangio is going to have to find a way to bring pressure and hit Eli a few times early or he will do to us what he did to Green Bay. I think this will be a competitive game that could go either way.
yep, we need Aldon, Justin, etc to have big days. thankfully, they’ve been playing lights out all year
M2,
I somewhat disagree with you on the defense and turnovers. I see your point – if it wasn’t for those 5 turnovers, that game could have gotten really ugly for us Niner fans.
However, our defense has been studying teams and their tendancies all year on how they carry the ball, where the QB’s like to throw, how WR’s run their routes, etc. because they want to know the best position to be in to force a turnover.
They are ball-stealing, fumble recovering, interception machines out there because they’ve studied and trained hard to do just that.
It’s one of the reasons why they’re so great this year. They don’t miss easy opportunities and they have a way of FORCING turnovers when the opposing team isn’t absolutely perfect protecting the football.
I think they’ve forced 40 turnovers this season, including that game against the Saints. That is not by accident, concidence, or luck. That is skill, taught to these guys by our great coaching staff!!
All the coaches are doing a great job, we are probably going to lose some, but Harbaugh, his brother and Dad seem to have good connections to bring more in . Goldeston seems to be helping alot with the turnovers, I know Grant feels he is a week link at times in coverage but he is going to want lots of money and I am not sure we will bring him back, I will miss the tandem of him with Whitner, They really level people!
…some 49ergrl football knowledge….” if it wasn’t for those 5 turnovers, that game could have gotten really ugly for us Niner fans.”….
turnover 5-1……..we only scored 10 points of the 5 turnovers……
we also had 3 penalities – 33 yards…while the saints had no penalties…..
obviously the turnovers really didn’t help us……Alex did!!!!!
Yes because turnovers only count if the Niners score…no way the Saints would have scored on any of those drives if we hadn’t taken the ball away. Especially that fumble Whitner forced close to the 5 yardline – no way they score a FG or a TD there!!
Nope, turnovers didn’t help or make a huge difference in that game.
What was the difference in the score again mr football guru??
Wow, championship game at the house! Everything is falling into place for this team! It can’t be denied. I do know now that there is no denting this team! Unbelievable!
Yeah but were still a QB away from a superbowl and Jr. game manager still can’t beat the Saints, oh wait, he led two 4th Q scoring drives to beat the Saints and were one win away from a superbowl, huh, go figure eh doubt face?
@Prime
Just ignore his rants. He’ll just pull you in.
Crabs,
You had a bad game Saturday. Hopefully, you bounce back this week!! Bwahaha. Double
Poster imposter!
DS,
Damn, do you ever sleep??? Give the blog a rest for a few days. Get a life!!! Damn.
no negativity on the blog 23J
DS, take a break until Saturday and get some sleep! Tale Crabprime with you.
@23J:How much of a hole did you feel like when Alex pumped in two TD’s on Saturday with 4 minutes to go.
You gotta believe brother, its all about believing cause when games like that happen, it feels good to be a fan that believed.
The reason I have no sympathy for you now is because all year you critisized Alex but that was okay, your opinion is what it is. But the way you did it was over the top. Now I am so glad to see you all sour faced up cause you got nothing more to say as all you predictions and comments about Alex was and is as meaningless as your exsistence! HAhahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!
Guys let it go already. What good does it do to keep this back and forth insult fest going?
Our Niners are one win from the freaking SuperBowl. Let’s enjoy the ride and stop with the petty arguing.
@Rocket, do you remember all the insults 23J slammed at Alex over the course of the year? How many times did it get personal with so many on here?
He took it to another level and now that Smith has proved all his critics wrong, whats wrong with a little ” in your face”.
I wont bring it up again with this clown but sometimes payback needs to be handed out, especially after a monumental victory that Alex led on Saturday. Im done with it, but it needed to be said by me to him because of our hsitory. There I feel better now and Im moving on to hating the G-Mennnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!
@rocket
I skip the posts. I can’t do much else from my end.
23J is talking to a wall by posting to me. I think he probably does that a lot in his real life though, so that is not a determent.
Jordan came on and gave AS his full due credit after that game…no need to continue to harp on him about the past.
“23J is talking to a wall by posting to me. ” – DS
Isn’t that true for most everyone who posts to you and doesn’t agree with every word you say? ;-)
Sorry…couldn’t resist – that was way to hard to pass up!
23j…..Did you go to the game Sat? Man what a vibe. Never seen it like that at the stick. Bigger challenge this Sunday. Get your voices healthy again. We gonna need them big time fans! Wheeeeew!
Md,
My voice is shot. It hasn’t been that loyd there in forever. Crowd was on fire. Can’t believe we got a home championship game!!! Unreal! Giants are looking for revenge. This is about to be a very physical game bro.
I know and the thing that worries me a bit is that- The NYG seem to always win those rematches in the post season. But Ill stick to my guns and say The winner out of SF and N.O is going to the Superbowl. We need Walker and Ginn more than ever on Sunday
Md … Jordan…, everytime something good happened, especially in the red zone, the entire stadium turned into a giant mosh pit. It was a frenzied celebration. Especially the last five minutes. Not embarrassed at all to admit I got a little emotional when Vernon caught that ball. It’s now officially a trilogy. I saw the Catch1, Catch2 and now the Catch3. BTW, still don’t have my voice back….
lol. Bay…. Neither do I. I could use it for a sick day. Wheew! What happened to you? I looked for a Harbaugh Michigan jersey. Didnt see one, and I also didnt see to many Saints Jerseys. Saw one idiot with a gb Rodgers jersey on. He got booo’d all day
Sorry MD,
I tried to make it over to your spot. I had three buddies with tail gate parties and the time just ran out. Took a while to get into the stadium too…..
BTW, I saw a guy with a Harbaugh #4 jersey. We hung out for a while. He said that he thought he was the only genius in the stadium. He said, “now I know there were two”. LOL.
@rocket
I like you. But I think you need to take a look at the people who 23J insulted over and over again and the list who have this vindication. 23J turned this from a fight about QB very personal. And the ease at which he does so is scary.
And I did offer a hand to md as he did the same to me, so from my end, all is forgiven between the 2 of us. I might add that prime and md seem to be cool with one another as well.
And just last week Prime and md were writing some very nice things towards one another until 23J came in along with a few others (guess who) and turned that whole thread into a stupid fight.
When I came in and asked for everybody to look at how the start of the thread was very nice, I asked for them to stop it. Of course they took it upon theselves to attack me as well.
So, prime and I have offered our hands in peace. Check out what 23J wrote yesterday and tell me 23J has done anything like that towards us.
And, as I have done, I don’t read his posts. If you have a better way to ignore him, I’m open to suggestions. But I won’t stand idly by while my team or others here who I respect gets hit. I won’t do anything like 23J does with his cuss and other attacks, but if Grant chooses to be on the sidelines all the time with 23J and does not ban him, then expect to see what happened. You may not like it, but it should come to no surprise to anybody.
I won’t say anything more today on the subject and am taking your advice. lol
DS,
You take what is said here way too seriously sometimes. Who cares what Jordan says? You have your belief system and he has his. You were vindicated with yours on Saturday. That should be enough. It takes a much stronger man or woman to just accept what the results on the field have shown and let the other stuff go.
The reality is, we are one game away from the SB. There is a huge game this week against the Giants. That should be the focus, not the back and forth insults that have permeated this forum for so long. It’s such a waste of time and energy to continue to fight a battle over opinion.
Just my two cents. Take from it what you will.
I don’t care what he says. Hence I don’t read his posts.
But if you think I’m cool with what he says…Nope. Never without extreme apologies.
and here i was all worried up that the niners will have a tough time coming down from this past hi…….now have to worry about the fans not getting their loud on because they spent it all on this past game…..
dudes bring on the thundersticks
I thought I was watching a Nebraska home game with that sea of red. Many of us got choked up with the frustration of the last decade coming out. Not only the 49ers but some of the aspects of our own lives in the last ten years were magnified brought out and let go. I’m starting to feel this is the best team in the NFL.
Prime, DS,
At some point the results on the field have to speak for themself and after Saturday they have. You’ve got your Alex Smith vindication. Don’t let the other stuff take over what should be an amazing week of excitement for all of us. The 49ers are a home game victory from the SB. I get chills when I type that.
Pride can be such a cancer. So eff’n what Jords threw some insults out there?! Do you know how many times I was personally attacked for doubting Alex Smith on here?! Also, in real life, I have had people litterally spit, hit, and call me EVERY name in the book, yet I have no resentment or ill will towards anyone. Yes, it’s a little annoying and can be very frustrating, but it takes a bigger person to turn the other cheek.
Jords ate crow and gave Alex his due. And Alex continues to make Jords eat crow with every game he’s winning, but yet it’s not enough. DS, Prime, swallow your DAMN pride for once in your lives and let it go!!! Like rocket said, we’re one win away from the got’ damn Super Bowl and you guys are STILL worried about “in ur facing” him. b Geez. **smh**
Call it a belief that one deserves to be treated like they treat others, and that somewhere in the universe people who do what 23J does gets his just due treatment, so why not here? We all know it doesn’t work that way in the real world, and talk about how that sucks.
And I don’t go after 23J telling him things that he tells me. In fact he has gone after me like always, after the great AS awakening post. Yet I get a feeling you guys keep asking us to stop because you know that 23J won’t listen or change and continue his attacks. What does that say about accepting crappy people?
I am not exposig any cheeks to him. But in no way is he earning my respect. I don’t get why you can’t understand this. It seems to that you are confusing turn the other cheek from somebody abusing you day after day and thinking that is ok. Maybe it is for you. Great. Not for me.
And I don’t buy into 23J giving AS props. Remember early in the season he said he would? That lasted a week.
Rocket, Guap…..several people have asked DS to give it a rest and let bygones be bygones.
It’s not worth trying anymore…she’s not capable of letting go. You’ll only get several paragraphs as to why her continued antagonizing of 23J (and others) is justified.
Rocket,
Your advice is well intended to be sure, but those who want to point out to the bellicose Smith doubters the error of their ways, are not necessarily doing so at the expense of thoroughly enjoying the victory.
It’s probably akin to the cherry on top of a Sundae.
Besides, it’s been only three days. If this is still going on in three weeks, then I’d see your point.
BTW, my aim is not to get into a tangle with you over this, you are among the posters on this blog who I mostly agree with.
@exgolfer
Thanks for trying to understand my view.
I want to make it straight that I see Rocket’s side. It makes sense to some degree.
But I feel my view is equally justified as well. Why can’t both views be correct even though it may seem they are conflicting? After all, this whole AS thing should have proved that such a thing is possible:
AS played poorly, but it wasn’t because he sucked. The situation sucked. Now that the situation is better, lo-and-behold AS suddenly no longer sucks. I view it as he never actually did.
And I have been consistent in how I communicate with him (I don’t). I haven’t cussed at him post after post before (as he has), and I have not done it since the win (as he has). I won’t do that because that is not who I am. Like it or not, I am consistent. lol
DS, it’s time to channel your alien intellect and rise above the human penchant for pride, grievance and vindictiveness. Or suppress those emotions if you hail from Vulcan way.
The past is past. Movin’ on! All hands on deck!
@ribico
I’m cool with the vulcan analogy.
: – )
But even Vulcans believe one has a right to defend themselves and their own from an oncoming Borg invasion. Sometimes (and it sucks) one is put in a bad situation.
And can you or somebody else please quote me something awful that I myself wrote to/about him since Saturday? Where have I lowered myself to his level?
All hands on deck, as long as one of those hands doesn’t turn his gun on you so you are now fighting on two fronts when you thought it would be only one front.
Besides he promised to leave if AS resigned. I can’t put any faith in a guy who breaks his promise when contract day finally arrives. lol
DS,Exgolfer,
I get the desire to avenge all the prior wrongdoings of certain posters. My point is simply: what does it solve? You know the posters you direct it at will never give you what you want so why bother? Arguing over a difference of opinions is fun, but at some point it becomes futile and a collosal waste of time.
Instead of focusing on something negative that takes away from what should be an incredible week, all I’m saying is let bygones be bygones or just ignore it all together.
DS, then think of it in more earthly matters. Post-WWI, with the Treaty of Versailles, the Allies really laid to the Germans for their belligerent and bellicose warmongering. A total punitive financial beatdown. And what did it accomplish? 15 years later we had the answer.
Lesson learned, compare it with the Marshall plan after WWII. The point is, even former mortal enemies must learn to bury sword for the common good of both.
I hope that everyone enjoys reading this:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1193912/1/index.htm
Claude -
Thank you for the link, it was a great read! As a former Smith doubter, I can honestly say that I was wrong about him not having what it takes to win under pressure. He reminded me of Joe in the 4th quarter on Saturday…and that is the highest compliment I can give him.
He showed us what he was made of this year, and Saturday he was the $hit :-). That article sums things up perfectly.
Thanks Claude, great read!
@ribico
The top Nazi generals and such were all executed after the war. The Italians actually killed their leader and fought for the allies near the end.
The lesson is that before the healing could begin the most egregious offenders were killed. Any hatered felt for those in charge was released and the heaaling proces could begin. Once that happened the whole country of Germany who basically started both WW’s was able to become what it is today. The most steady economically powerful country in the EU. And people don’t see Germany as a buunch of Nazi hating people anymore.
But the really bad people who started all the fighting and killing died for their crimes.
I am not proposing 23J die, but he was definitely a 5 star general in the AS hate debate.
@rocket
Without 23J standing up and accepting what he has done and begging forgiveness, the anger (your word) needs to be released in some manner. It isn’t good for it to be bottled up. If it is then it can impact unrelated things which makes things worse. It is best to express the anger and get it out of your system. Afterwards, youwil feel better than before.
I am not going to go cuss at him or what not, so don’t worry about a blog shutdown. lol
And there’s the multi-paragraph justification.
Thank you for playing!
Would someone please just put a leash on it and walk “it” out of the room.
49ergirl, Killing me….
Ok I tried. Moving on now.
Great article Claude. Even the biggest doubters have to be happy that he played well. The desire has always been to see this team rise back to prominance and they have. It’s just a great story and fantastic to be a 9er fan right now.
The weather report says it will be a rainy game. That will be a factor.
the Giants are used to playing in bad weather, and the winds can really howl back here at the Meadowlands, BUT, they will have to deal with sloppy Stick turf, which will hopefully slow Cruz and Nicks. Advantage: Niners.
Rain and slop, means slippery fields/balls. It’s time for harbaugh to soak some balls for Alex.
We are still getting no love on ESPN. First four line items are about the
Giants
Ravens
Dolphins
Rams
Unbelievable that we are still getting no love. This feels like the SF Giants playoff run all over again. We heard about Atlanta in 5, followed by Philadelphia in 5, followed by Texas in 6. No one gave us any love or respect. It’s happening all over again.
in addition to the truly strong east coast media bias, one issue is that the Niners dont have a lot of crazy personalities: Alex Smith, Frank Gore, and Patrick Willis arent exactly cut out of the Deion Sanders mold, so they dont have a lot of juicy interview tape to use to hype the game. good news and bad news: now that we’re in the game, and especially *when* we get to the SB (touch wood), the media is going to have to find the angles to hype the game. Bay, i think you might recall the same thing kinda happened in 81 – the d-backfield and Joe got some press, but the press inundation really didnt get fully going til 83/84, and then ESPN turned into Niner TV .
They’re still talking about Tim Tebow!! Thought that would die down when he LOST… And, as long as a NY team is still in the playoffs nobody else will get any respect. They’ve already crowned them SB champs..
Let them continue to overlook the Niners – it’s worked out for us pretty well so far.
The networks are praying for a NY-NE SB. Time for a little West Coast flavor.
I was listening to Ed Schultz on the radio yesterday. Him being from the midwest, he was disappointed in the Packers showing. Then he says, since he’s now based in NYC, he hears and knows all about the Giants. And then he goes, get this – “49ers? Were they any good this year???”
LOL. We are going to be the champions no one gave a rat’s *ss about. Sweet redemption all around!
Don’t know if you guys could see it on TV, but the trick play that Harbaugh called would have worked if Gore hadn’t muffed the throw back to Alex….
I wondered about that…but wasn’t there a defender pretty close to Alex at the time?
Bay – I was wondering about that, tell us what you saw. Who was open?
There was a defender in Alex’s area. Had the play been executed cleanly, Alex could have gotten off a throw. The receiver had about ten yards of separation.
Harbaugh has shown the ability to call the trick play at precisely the right time.
The QB keeper by Alex was Harbaugh’s most genius play call of the game. The Saints came to the line and overloaded the right side of the 49ers line. Imagine how little time Harbaugh had to identify that and relay the call in to Alex. The wide receiver crack back block on that play was AWESOME….
Staley was no slouch either on that. You’re right, nice play call, nice execution.
Staley showed some speed getting down the line to throw that block. Huge.
The slow motion of that play is the best. The fans in the first few rows have the best facial expressions ever.
and the pursuing NO defenders looks like a closing gate that propelled AS towards the endzone
Lol. Slow-motion is like a story within a story.
On the run play from Alex…….My foot went through the fold of the seat and then I get drunken sandwiched by my two buddies. It sucks when you got a 6 foot 7 GIRL sitting in front of you. My claim to fame on Sat “since I didnt see myself on TV’ was the UFC champ. Vasquez pulls in the lot with his hot girlfriend and brand new Camaro..and hits my beer pong table. Didnt damage it, but he gave me a pic with him and a handshake with appology. Good dude he is!
Don’t know the truth of it but I read that Alex heard the coaches debating the pros and cons of running that bootleg and, running out of time, Alex took it upon himself to call it.
What really amazed me about that play was the speed Alex showed. I didn’t know he had that kind of giddyup.
@rocket
“What really amazed me about that play was the speed Alex showed. I didn’t know he had that kind of giddyup.”
If guys like JS were chasing after you, you would display speed unlike anything you ever have before. lol
Rocket,
Exciting, eh? He has always had the speed, he was a spread option QB in college. It has always been the most under utilized part of his game. He may not have the best arm, but he is a very good athlete overall. If he can use his wheels on a regular basis it can definitely add another dimension to the offense.
BigP,
Oh yeah exciting isn’t a big enough word. I know he ran a lot in College, but he really hadn’t shown those kind of wheels in the pros. What a waste for him to not be running more often when the situation calls for it. Having him chained to the pocket is such an underutilzation of the talent he has to move the ball with his legs.
As good as he looked on the last two drives, I can’t believe Roman doesn’t call more rollouts. Did they run any on Saturday? Same with the lack of screen passes. I don’t remember one being called and that was against a defense that was crying out for one. I think Roman outsmarts himself sometimes. For as good as he’s been this year with putting Alex into a position to succeed, he doesn’t utilize the full array of talent this offense possess’ enough.
Bay,
You’re right about the lateral throwback play. Had FG got the ball to Smith, he would’ve had plenty of time to hit VD well down field.
Bay, do you think Crabtree needs to have a redemption game this weekend against the G men?
FDM, he’d better. I think he knows it as well. I think he will.
Let’s take it easy on Crabs. The one drop was bad, but the other two were contested throws that would have been tough catches. You’d like to see them made, but it’s not like a clean drop off the hands or something. Kyle Williams drop was the worst one for me, because it bounced off his hands and almost wound up being picked. We need the WR’s to be on their game on Sunday.
@rocket
I feel that MC should be judged more harshly than Williams. A number 1 WR needs to make the catches, contested or not that hit him in the hands. The Niners OL picked up the blitzes well, and AS got it into the catchable zone for MC. MC needs to come thru.
I have no doubt he will next week, and if NY thinks that MC sucks like he did Saturday every game, then all the better. MC will blow apart that NY secondary!
I think Crabtree will play much better this weekend. Playoff jitters were over with last week – he’ll be better prepared to deal with it come Sunday.
He dropped a few passes, but he made some great plays (TD) and was a huge factor in the blocking game. In all honesty I don’t feel like he has a lot to redeem himself for because he was a contributor in other areas we didn’t necessarily see on TV.
49ergirl,
Our #1 receiving option had 180 yards receiving and 2 TD’s, setting an NFL playoff record for TE’s. Crabs will be fine, dude is a stud and will play better this weekend.
DS,
A number 1 wideout doesn’t get judged more harshly when people up here say he’s not worthy of being called a #1 wideout. He had 1 drop but he will play better. You seen to know well how to be critical of crabtree. Shut it down until after the playoffs! Sound familiar.
Jordan,
MC had three drops, not one.
DS,
Quit with the hateful comments against Crabtree. Alex had more bad games than good and you defend him to the end. Crabs has one bad game and you are ripping him? Hater.
Bayarea fanatic,
I certainly noticed what you did, when they showed the replays. Somoeone (VD?) was running across the field, wide, wide open, on Alex’s side. It was going to be a big gainer, but Gore didn’t have the ‘touch’…
That run by Alex reminded me of the naked bootleg he ran in 2006 against the Seahawks. The difference being that this looked like student body left.
All the great plays happened right in front of me luckily. I had seats right around the two yard line. Right where Whitner knocked PT out.
On the trick play, as soon as I saw Gore stop, my eyes shifted back to Alex to see if the defense sniffed it out. He had a blocker and would definitely have enough time to get a pass off. If he leads the receiver, it’s a td, if he under throws it, it’s a 40 yard gainer at worst.
I just like the fact that every game Harbaugh not only tries a trick play, but I love that he uses that trick play at precisely the right time.
The Sopoaga pass, the TD to Crabtree from Akers, The Andy Lee pass to Staley ( bs call from the referee on that one ), I think we even got an onside kick this year right?
Harbaugh is straight running a high level coaching clinic. His creativity is on another level…
If the Giants play 8 men in the box and double cover Vernon that should mean big day from Crabs, Williams, Walker. Now that Alex is playing good football it could be a daunting task to stop the run and the pass. Gore and Hunter could have big days also. I agree run outside and screen to the outside would be viable options. Our defense is very good held the Saints in check for 55 minutes then secondary made couple of mistakes. Our special teams is better then the Giants. We will win this game in a brusing hardfought game. I had predicted a high scoring game 45-31 in the Saints game with the Niners winning, this is going to be the opposite no one scores more then 20 points. Niners 19 Giants 13. Love that DEFENSE is still the beast in the game of football.
And the Niners with the 32nd pick in the draft select……………….
“And the Niners with the 32nd pick in the draft select……………….”
: )
Sanu, I hope.
……. El Guapo. WR, Inside the 49ers Univesity.
Anybody who talked about the 49ers having the 32nd pick in the draft would’ve been locked up before the season.
What a crazy season.
Crabs,
Smith had nothing but green grass ahead of him. Gore just
Shorter Ed the throw. The corner of the field was wide open.
23J – He might have dropped it anyways bro, it was a tough day for him. :-)
Here we go again:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/01/49ers-fan-shot-by-angry-saints-fan-police-say/1
Yeah Adam
I think oneniner brought that up.
I am actually ignoring all obvious negative articles and posts right now. Can’t do anything about it anyway.
Now Gary and his partner in crime are saying “AS is the guy.”
Just said that what JH did was better than anything Walsh did.
by the way, regarding offensive playcalling, exhibit A is the QB sweep that Alex ran in for a TD
if that play fizzles, a large number of fans would have called Roman the worst playcaller ever. but my view is that players and teams make plays work, and credit Alex, Staley, Williams, etc because they made it work spectacularly. but the QB sweep was the most unlikely play to be called in that situation, and Roman et al called it probably for that reason. that, my fellow Niner fans, is gutsy play calling.
I wish they called that play a bit more often near the goal line, or the roll-out pass.
AS has some athletic ability. Just ask NO.
crabtree not williams
Williams had the crackback on the d-end; Crabs had a block on a safety or linebacker but further away from the play (all blocks are important tho!).
(apparently credit for the call goes to G. Chryst)
Giants fan:
I think you ought to review the tape of the Giants – Falcons playoff game. Very similar offense, except the Falcons have better outside threats.
Assuming that they approach the Niners the same way, you’ll see 7 in the box not 8. They’ll committ to stopping the run on first down, but not at the expense of balance. I agree that Davis is your big play threat, but I don’t think the Giants will change their approach, so expect a heavy dose of Boley and Williams in man on him with deep safety help. If you go to two TEs, instead of a WR, Ross will probably pick up Davis (that’s good for you, Ross isn’t the best in traffic ).
The Giants D has been significantly reconfigured since the last time we played, almost certainly in response to what went on during the losing streak. The Giants will almost certainly not bring 3 in pass rush except on rare occasions to mix it up. That’s one thing that has been cut out. It’s been 4 man rushes from different looks these days, very very few blitzes. Much much more use of a joker in a 4 man look.
Here is how they do it. They’ll line up with a DT/NT and two DEs, as if it’s a 3-4, but Kiwi (think Aldon Smith type), Tuck or JPP are free to probe line and pass rush from wherever they like. It’s a 4 man rush, but much harder to prepare for.
Truthfully, the key to the Giants improved defense has been much more vanilla pass coverage and much more letting premier athletes be athletes instead of analysts. The breakdowns have been reduced by about 90% and the consistency, especially on 3rd downs is way up.
Hope that helps.
SHould be a great game.
Wouldn’t be great to trade up and get Blackmon wr in the draft?
Nice write-up. Thanks!
Good stuff Trueblue. Gives us a better understanding of what the Giants are doing. Makes sense that the defense would be more effective just reacting instead of thinking.
Wow, really bold for a Giants fan to come on here and say how they are going to win. A Saints did the same and havent heard from him since.
Pierce on espn said that defense wins championships, so he said the Giants will win, wait a minute last time I heard our defense was tops in the NFL, and now Giants defense is the most dominant in the NFL.
No respect for our team!!!!!
No.
Who dat was pretty cool. He didn’t insult Niner fans like Niner fans insult one another, and he did come back after the game to congratulate the Niners and wish us the best.
The other ones, yeah. You might be right about them.
Oh I didnt know that about Whodat, so my respects to him, but it was another one posting dumb comments cant remeber the name.
It will be a great game, again like in week 10…….
Defensive battle!
@9er
There were a few others in the beginning of the week who definitely matched your description.
And for a bit, who dat was calling people cracker a lot. I asked him to stop since I only call him by his screen name, and unlike some here, he actually stopped. : )
So, I welcomed him back anytime.
There might be a lesson here for some to learn.
NO fan Blove came back, too, to say, “Good game,” but I think there might have been a third guy . . .
@max
I may be wrong, but blove was a lot, shall we say..rougher around the edges than who dat.
Max – you might be thinking of !all who was the most annoying Sants fan on the planet.
He posted a bunch of stupid cr@p during the week and was all over here all during the live game blog talking smack…but suddenly disappeared when the game was over.
No doubts that person won’t be back.
Yes, yes, 49erGirl, you’re right! It was !all.
DS, Blove was a little rough around the edges, but I sensed that he was likable and sincere, and as time went on, he kind of proved that, don’t you think? Also, the idea of his writing from the Big Easy appealed to me. Living in monochrome Montana, I was interested in learning more about his world there. I liked him.
More re: Blove. What I’m getting at is – Blove, I think, entered the blog looking for an in-your-face exchange. Instead, he found a welcome and fun banter and courtesy. Maybe he was disarmed by that. Wish I’d thought to ask him, while he was still reading us, to comment over the next week from a Saints’ fan’s point-of-view on our upcoming games. The different perspective might’ve been fun.
You guys are talking about “Hebert Something-or-other”.
The weather will affect how both teams play on offense/defense. The forecast is 70% rain. It’s going to be a mudder game with a wet ball that can bounce either way.
I agree. I don’t really think it benefits either team. Sloppy conditions make for sloppy football.
Historically the 49ers have been an off-track team.
Hofe and Big P, I believe B.Jacobs runs a little to upright for a big back and this could prove to be to the Giants demise. I seen our defense swarming on the Saints RB’ and trying to strip the ball in the scrum. Turn-overs should come in big numbers for us, especially in wet weather. The turn-overs weren’t that costly for NO, but that may not be the case with the G-men.
Bill Walsh used to say that slippery conditions favored the offense. In particular, receivers. When questioned on this idea by a reporter he said, “Who knows exactly where they’re going before the play starts, the offense or defense?”
@exgolfer
I remember that quote, and stated it as well.
But mud slows people down, so a speedster has less of an advantage. And V. Cruz I believe caused us problems last time, and he’s a speedster.
I hope so. Although, it seems that mud slows everyone down. Maybe it has a greater effect on smaller, faster players.
looking forward i do not expect a harbaugh bowl…..i think NE takes care of th ravens……and I think i would rather have niners play the pats and leave out all that family distraction stuff……
I’d love for it to be the 49ers that keep Brady from getting that 4th ring…
I’m not worried about speculating what we must do to win this game, because we had the best off season acquisition last year.
Not only were we fortunate enough to obtaining him but he brought along 2 new co-ordinators, & a new ST coach. That have found ways (all year) to win.
The systems that they’ve implemented have allowed our players to play to their full potential while having fun.
I’m sure that there couldn’t be a better prepared team going into a Conference Championship game.
The only downsizing of our success is that we may lose a coach or two to a college ranks, or NFL HC job. But I’m sure that JH has already prepared a plan for that too.
GO NINERS!!!
KNBR quoted the “Press Democrat” for something about Smith calling the bootleg himself. Who on the PD wrote that?
No it was the coaches debating the call and Smith chimed in and said lets run it
The only thing I am concerned about is that our defense seems to be playing only 3 1/2 quarters in the last two games (Saints, Rams). They are going to need to play all 4 quarters against the Giants. Eli likes those ‘come from behind’ wins and once he gets on a roll he is tough to stop.
The Packers were stunned early,and they looked in panic mode in this game,as i wrote before the Giants a team that plays 50% until they get into the playoffs,are dangerous because of this attitude, the Niners have to just play their game and get to manning early,and cause turnovers ,they should win with a steady game plan.
Harbaughs hyperbole cracks me up-”The defense played with wicked effort”. He’s all coach.
He works so hard at being dull and monotone..then he drops those sayings also, like “psycho killer mentality”..lol. The kid in him takes over..
Grant, we better see some screen passes to Hunter and Gore to keep the NY defense off balance or your Giant’s recipe to beat the Niners will come to fruition. Williams and Ginn won’t be able to get open and Crabtree is going to have to make some nice catches in traffic for this to end well for the Niners.
Great observations Grant. The Giants are going to focus on Gore and Davis (and Crabtree to a lesser degree). They have a great 4-3 front that doesn’t need to blitz, so they will have the players to double cover.
Saints bloggers are outraged about the absence of double-coverage on Davis late in the game… especially since so many other 49er weapons (Ginn, Walker) were out injured. The Giants won’t make that mistake.
On the other hand, the 49ers defense played 80 snaps. They are likely pretty worn out (and grateful for the extra days rest) and needs the offense to chew clock Sunday. It would be smart of the Giants to try to force the 49ers into a big play, non-clock chewing offense. The Giants have to be thinking “get that crazy-good 49ers defense past 50 snaps, and we can start getting those chunk plays.”
On a side note: The 49ers averaged 6.5 yards per carry. Granted much of that was from a scramble from Smith and one great Gore run, but we still seem to be abandoning the run more frequently. There has got to be something going on with Gore’s health their just not talking about. If Gore is healthy, we need to pound the rock at that great Giants 4-3 pass rush.
Grant – Why did you delete my 9erGirl/NYGiantsGirl post??? If that was removed for being inappropriate than I guess I’ll pack my bags!!!!!!!
That’s weak man!!!!!!
@Crab
It might have been linked to some other persons post which was deemed “inappropriate”.
That has happened to me as well. I don’t write anything bad, but my post was linked to somebody’s whose was, and deleted along with the offensive post.
I missed it, Crab. I’ve seen NYGiantGirl’s website – nothing really inappropriate about it…other than her being a Giants fan, lol!
Crab – it’s not deleted, it’s on the previous blog post (Smith vs Rodgers).
9erGirl – Thanks! Crabtree had a poor game and my brain lapse equalled his 3 drops (too many celebration brews Saturday)! Bad week for all Crabs.
Grant – sorry man, I suck.
Your welcome – I answered your question too (on the other post). :-)
Crab’s game wasn’t that bad – couple big drops, but he did a lot right, too. TD catch, blocking, etc – good team player. He’ll pull it together next game and make those catches.
A bit off topic, but I am really looking forward to Cosell showing up this thursday to eat his crow. That’ll be a pretty humongous spoon, but I’m pretty sure his big mouth can handle it ;)
Alex should be on the food network, the man cooks a MEAN batch of crow.
I know one thing… Cosell will say “tape” alot.
I don’t mind Cosell all by himself… but the increasing east coast domination of sports media (and media in general) sure gets annoying. Cosell is “coals to Newcastle”, one more east coast sports expert in a media already dominated by them.
I’m certainly no east hater. NYC is one of my favorite places in the world. Love the people. Love the food. Love the “brains allowed” environment. Like so many, my family tree goes through Brooklyn, New Jersey, then California. Have tons of respect for the NY Giants. I would lust like to see a little balance once in a while.
Amazing how much stature loss (media representation, political influence, federal infrastructure spending) California has suffered the last 30 years, even though our contribution to the American economy has increased during that same period. The more California contributes to American technology, the more contempt America heaps back upon us. That’s one of several reasons why the 49ers winning feels so good.
I LOVE surprises!
It’s going to be fun watching double coverage on our Crabtree and Williams and then see a slot like Hastings or Colin Jones take over the game. Yes, I do love surprises….Yuk, Yuk, Yuk….
I would love a Niners-Ravens Superbowl. granted mainly because the niners are in it but mainly because it would mean two of the best defenses made it to the Superbowl in the “year of the quarterback”
Against the Giants we should:
1. Still run up the middle;
2. Try pitches and some sweeps with Hunter;
3. Have Alex do a few roll outs pass/run options;
4. If the Giants are going to run alot of zones then attack the middle with seam routes for VD and DW a couple of posts with Crabtree and quick slants with MC and Williams;
5. If can get the passing game going try a few draws and if the passing game gets going a lot of play action.
6. Try passes to Pelle and Sop;
I agree… and please stop running Gore wide. It’s been getting stuffed all year. Gore in the middle, Hunter, Dixon or fly sweeps with Ginn on the edges.
Totally agree – Gore up the middle and Hunter on the outside runs.
Leave Dixon on the bench…he has neither speed nor explosiveness and is slow hitting holes.
Makes sense, but they still have to mix it up some. Otherwise they’ll be as predictable as the Simpletary/Ray offense. On second thought, the only way that could be would be to tell the defense the play before each snap.
One of the reasons the Giants are looking better on defense is that they’ve switched it up and have gone more bump and man coverage as opposed to zone. They were apparently having communication problems in zone which was causing major disasters.
Man might be good for us, actually, Alex can hit Vernon when he’s single covered. We just have to have the guys who can catch the ball do some more. Crabs has to step up in this game Alex and Vernon did it this last game, we need a bigger game from Crabs, Williams and Swain (to a lesser degree) too. If the Giants are stacking the box, we’re going to need some slants and shallow crosses, some screens with Hunter and Gore, etc.
Justin Peelle can catch but I’m a bit dubious when it comes to YAC with that guy. I’m hoping Delanie Walker is back but I have to wonder how fast anyone can heal from a broken jaw in two places and what kind of football shape he’s actually in. Little nervous with that.
Kyle and Ginn will should be practicing in motion a lot this week.
Matt M. is reporting Ginn has a pretty decent limp coming in this morning. Hope they can get that worked out.
Maybe it’s a Harbaugh decoy. :P Walsh used to tape guys up on the sidelines to mess around with the other team.
AS still is having a lot of balls tipped at the line…..make s those of the edge passes (what i call long hand offs) dicey
This is Funny
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/san-francisco-airport-sign-mocks-saints-quotes-jay-194804091.html
Nice!!
Warning! This post is a bit off-topic (sort of) – read at your own discresion.
Did you catch this one posted next to the “airport sign mocks Saints” article? Guess Aaron Rodgers’ day didn’t end too terribly bad.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/miss-america-asks-aaron-rodgers-call-her-182121617.html
Quick question to the fellas – would you rather win a playoff game as a QB in the NFL, or have Miss America single you out and ask you to call her on live TV?
I’d rather win the game, but I’m not a dude :-)
Are you kiddin’? Gimme the game every time! LOL!
I am happily married, so all go with the QB option, any news on Ginn? will he play?
Are you kidding? Take the game.
If Rodgers is looking for that kind of female companionship he would have it all day, every if he wanted to. Besides, how interesting is the average Miss America contestant going to be anyway? Other than in the obvious ways, of course.
Dude’s from my neck of the woods so I can’t get on him too much but he’s a dummy if he doesn’t call her. :P
I’m reading Peter Kings’ Monday Morning Quarterback and he opens by saying that the 49ers will get some love later in the week but he is going to headline about a trade years ago that the Giants did not make when they drafted Eli. He states that the 49er-Saints game was one of the greatest ever but let’s talk Giants. Talk about bias, and this from a homer who does not write one word about the passing of Giant great Andy Robustelli. He’s got a huge readership but writes in a little world.
“He states that the 49er-Saints game was one of the greatest ever but let’s talk Giants.”
Well, at least he readily admits where the bias is…we’ve always thought that was the case with ESPN, NFLN, etc. Now there’s proof :-)
They need Alex rolling out threatning to run and actually running. I agree with Grant Davis will be cover by two at all times. If Walker doesn’t play the remaining WR don’t put a lot of fear in the hearts of the D.
We need to get Kendall Hunter running routes and get him the ball in the open field. If this guy Hastings is so good and has speed get him on the roster. So far the other practice squad receiver hasn’t done much
In the first match, Giants said they would win stopping a then red-hot Gore. They did it and still lost. Now, the need to stop both an always dangerous Gore plus a red-hot Smith. A more difficult task. BTW, Was the powerful combination Smith-Davis a weapon the coaching staff intentionally hid for most of the regular season?
I think the receivers are going to be spending a lot more time running pick plays in practice this week. To be flagged back to back on it is embarassing.
I still see the Vernon jump catch, but I want to give the receiver coach credit there because it isn’t nearly as dramatic. More like a skip catch.
I look for them to beat double teams by leaving Vernon in to block a lot like they use to do with Brent Jones, then letting him sneak out.
I also expect a lot of reverses, but in the NFL backs are expected to run against 8 and 9 man fronts. I don’t see them running a lot of screens only because the team hasn’t been good at it all season. Up the middle I see Frank Gore getting the load, and I see a lot of pitches to the outside to Hunter.
I don’t see Crabtree being a factor this game because of Webster. I also don’t see Ted Ginn as a factor as a receiver. I think we will see a lot more passes to Hunter underneath or in the slot.
So I’m looking at some pretty impressive weekly (playoff) numbers, here’s what it looks like:
Receiving yards:
#1 Vernon Davis with 180 (Hakeem Nicks is 15 yards behind at #2)
Passing yards:
#4 Alex smith (beat Aaron Rodgers, Yates, Flacco, Tebow. He’s just 31 yards shy of Eli Manning)
Rushing yards:
#2 Frank Gore (just over 40 yards shy of Arian Foster and over 20 more than Giants’ Ahmad Bradshaw.) Kendall Hunter was tied for #15 with 23 yards.
Number of points:
#3 is a tie between Vernon Davis and David Akers and then Giants’ Hakim Nicks and Jimmy Graham. All one point below Giants’ Lawrence Tynes. Crabs is tied with Alex and a bunch of other guys at #12 with 6 points.
Top WR:
This is where it gets a bit scary. The Giants have three guys in the top 15 this last weekend. Crabs is tied for 16th. Williams and Ginn are toward the bottom of the pack. I realize we’re leaning heavily on Alex, Gore and Davis but I think we’d better get this rounded out a little, spread the love so we don’t get too predictable.
Defensive sacks:
J. Smith, A. Smith and Brooks are all tied for 9th with one apiece. The Texans managed 5 total sacks, Giants came in 2nd with 4 total, we came in 3rd with 3 total (pretty good considering the Saints had the best O-line in pass protection this year, 3rd last week in the WC game and have a couple of pro bowlers on the O-line.) I expect we’ll get a few more sacks this weekend on Eli. The Giants’ O-line was ranked just 6th out of 8 in the WC victory last week over the Falcons.
Defensive tackles:
#1 Dashon Goldson with 11
#2 Navorro Bowman with 10
#5 is a tie with Patrick Willis and Giants’ Michael Boley and Antrel Rolle with 8 each.
#20 Donte Whitner tied with a bunch of other guys with 4.
Interceptions:
#2 T. Brown and Dashon Goldson are tied with Giants’ Deon Grant and a couple of other guys with 1 each.
Should be one hell of a game next week. You all are going to have to make just as much noise in Fortress Candlestick as you did this last game. More noise, more red! Love it :)
Adam – are those numbers for the playoffs as a whole or just this past weekend?
Some of those teams (Giants) have more than one game played already.
Just this past weekend (week 19.)
If that’s the case then…stats are for baseball…..(I totally had arguments ready based on multiple games being played!!!)
But in all honesty I’m not too worried about the stats and who did what. So our WR’s didn’t put up great numbers and our defense gave up way too many points. The final outcome of the game was just fine!
Bottom line is our players make a difference when it counts and there aren’t many stats that will show that – well…. other than the final score :-)
Is it too early to start counting down to Sunday afternoon?
The national media has been talking a lot about the ‘red-hot’ Giants, who are on an up-swing after losing 4 in a row (starting with the 9ers). And point out that Eli is playing great and how dangerous they are as a team that is picking up steam (vs the sliding backwards Packers).
Ok, all relatively fair comments. But keep in mind that their ‘on a roll’ means 2-2 over the last 4 games of the season, but then 4-0 including the playoffs. Ok, not too bad. But one win was against a Jet’s team that lost it’s last three games, and this red hot offense scored 29 against a Jet team averaging 32 points against in its last 6 games. Their other three games were against a 5-11 Redskin team, and two against the 8-8 Cowboys who lost 5 of it’s last 6. And finally while they beat Houston, Houston finished their season 0-3 and got there by beating 9-7 Cincinnati. Then while GB was the big favorite, truth was they weren’t the same GB from earlier in the year.
Add this all up and NY has played well, but all of their opponents were struggling over the last two months. Not one of these teams has offered the type of defense the 9ers present.
And finally while ESPN is talking about how much better NY is playing now then in that first match, the ignored fact is that the 9ers are growing in their offense and defense every week whereas the Giants know they’re system as well as anyone. So they’re not going to see the growth in OF/DF maturity the 9ers are experiencing.
The Giants biggest weakness is going to be their confidence brought about by good success against mediocre competition.
There were some key injuries for the Giants in the 1st match up too. I think the 49ers coaching staff though has done a superb job all season dismantling teams.
I also think GB beat themselves most of the game yesterday. It helped make NY look a lot better than they are. 8 drops and a timely strip on a blown coverage. Double moves are the way to beat this Giants Secondary
One of the keys to game is that you don’t have to dial up a different area code to find Eli, he’s stationary in the pocket. Brees has great pocket awareness and slides from side to side to avoid contact. Rodgers can take off. The Giants have good receivers but the Niners’ secondary is getting better all the time. Another point is that they run right up the gut, playing into the strength of the 49er defense. The Niners are an immoveable object against the run.
This is going to be the toughest game of the year for the Niners, the Giants in Nov, are a different team and they are hot and much better, so are we, our strength is that we stuff the run, the Giants don’t need to run, they throw and they have much better receivers then the Saints and you give Eli time it won’t be pretty, our defense has to be lights out, strong rush and good coverage in the secondary. PW did not have a great game against the Saints, he needs to be the Pro-Bowler that we expect.
Also GR needs to call the game of his life, he was great in the first quarter and 4th quarter but not so great in the second and third period. AS is like a soldier, you give him great orders ( play calling )and he will rise to the occasion. We need urgency with every series just like he did in the last few minutes of the 4th quarter, no more runs on third and 9. Let’s go Niner’s, please beat the Gmen, don’t want to hear my brother gloat for 2 weeks.
We shouldn’t discount the 9er crowd. Seriously, Eli didn’t have that much trouble calling audibles in the first game which was almost like a neutral site in the first game. If this week is anything like last week it will be loud and much more difficult on Eli.
Finally defensive games usually go to the home team, and I think this game will be much different from that first game but 9ers D will prevail by wining the turn-over battle.
You must not be watching the same games this NFL season. The 49ers ran on 3 and 7 when Alex Smith scored the 28 yard touchdown. I’d say that was a pretty relevent running play on third and long.
Giants, just like the packers, haven’t beaten anyone of any real standing. I think 30 other teams would have beat the packers yesterday. It’s hard to say a team is hot when they have only beaten mediocre teams that were in a free fall.
I also don’t think you give enough credit to what it means to be hit in the mouth to start a game. This 49er Defense brings the quit out in every team they play. The physical nature of this team has the Giants dreading this matchup.
Good point on the physicality aspect Medic, something I thought before the NO game would be a factor. This will be different in that NY is also very physical.
However we had a week off they didn’t. They had to travel last week we didn’t. They have to travel this week we don’t. We got an extra day rest that they didn’t.
I like the sound of that! :)
@neal
If possible try to find the week hype leading up to the last Giant game.
It would read something like:
NY is getting hot at the right time. Eli just out-dueled TB, and are the hottest team ever! The Niners have had a nice little run, but now they will play the big boys.
AS has improved, just managing the game. And the defense is fine, but gives up way too many yards passing. And Eli is ann elite QB. AS just can’t match-up against him.
And then the game was played. And everything that the experts said was wrong.
I don’t know why they are right now.
The Niners defense gave up some big plays and the offense came to the rescue, this time around we need top play from both sides of the ball.
This is the key to beating the Giants——————————————–>
http://youtu.be/MYyql_CbjxI
Thats a walk off wHITner. Wheeew!
MD,
I LOVE IT! That’s been our key to beating every team this year, pummel them until they submit to the power of the Red & Gold Pain Train! It’s gonna be a tough game, but NOBODY can out hit or out smart us. Therefore we win in 49er fashion.
Any guess on how many Giants fall this weekend? I’m going to say 3!
Theres a slogan I heard on the radio today…. Whatever it takes! I like it. Whether its 1 2 3 players we blow up or 0. We will not be denied our destiny. WHEEEEW!
@Ninersroc & md
The Niners win on D by not beating themselves. They don’t let WR’s run free, and they tackle. First guy there gets him down.
Add to that we get them down hard, and no shock we are who we are.
I like it.
@ninermd:
Did you hear Deion’s quote about Donte Whitner? I suspect you will like it.
I would be nice if mr crabtree would hold on to the football during a drive towards the NFL title. Such a different story if he catches the ball on Saturday
News that made my day- Eddie D will be honorary captain for the coin toss Sunday.
I think Adam beat you to the punch by a couple minutes – he just posted that on another thread :-).
But yes, that is completely heartwarming! Gave me chills to think of Eddie D standing at the 50 yardline during the coin toss!!!
Yeah. I guess Seiffert was the honorary captain on Saturday? Fox didn’t show that or at least I didn’t see it.
Jed is bringing back the team to it’s glory days and is bringing back players like Joe and Dwight Clark and Rice etc etc etc …And this week we had Seifert and next week it’s Jed’s Uncle Eddie !!!
Eddie should be in the Hall Of Fame . I think the cheer for Eddie this week will be about as big as the cheer for the Smith to Davis pass last week that won that game ! Great job Jed !!!
I love that analyst aren’t talking about how the 49ers offense has fixed all of its major problems and is actually just starting to click. You see it in the decisiveness in which Alex delivers the ball. He knows where he wants to go with it, and his receivers are getting on his page. I’m not worried about Crabtree. He had one off game, but I think he comes on strong in this game and in the Super Bowl. Also, I think the Giants will still try to use single coverage. They can’t dial up exotic blitzes, but even if they could, we’ve been picking up the blitz very well lately. NYG can’t stop our running game either. Last game we completely baited them with the run game because they committed everything to it, even kept a couple plays in our back pocket to use when we needed it most. I expect our first drive will filled with some “feeler” plays. Just to see how they plan to play us. I think they bring the occasional blitz, but we anticipate it and hit our hot routes to burn them. Kyle Williams will have some nice catches, but Crabtree will get his this game.
Y’all Probably know this but voting is open for rookie of the year on nfl.com and Aldon is a nominee. Stuff that ballot box everybody!
This is fun. I was just checking Cosell’s web site to see what he’s going to say. Not much yet, but… he acknowledges the Catch III and he gives us a nice little trip down memory lane with the Catch II from the Second Dynasty era.
http://nflfilms.nfl.com/2012/01/16/films-encore-the-catch-ii/
Fun stuff. I’d never seen the locker room footage at the end. Also I’d forgotten all of TO’s drops that game.
MD this playoff is our destiny, I like you said we beat the Saints, we’re winning it all!
Need to pressure and get ELi sulking in 1st half with some pressure and some hits just like we did to Brees.
Need to have a big day from Gore and Hunter and Crabs need to show everyone he is a legit #1 wideout.
No doubt Crabtree will show what hes got. The Giants are hot right now and healthy. But they were hot the last time they came in too. This team wont be denied. Its destiny for another dynasty. Superharbowl. I can see the coverage now. LOL
i just read an article by ray ratto.whats his deal?some of the comments were just plain nasty.im not familiar with his writings about alex,but somehow i get the vibe,they wereent flattering.ive googled him and read some of his articles,so what am i to take away from the words spewed towards him.can some locals help me understand?
Ray is as if Linus had grown up jaded.
And fat. Really, really, really fat.
Ratto isn’t someone you want to read when you’re in a good mood – he’ll always say something to bring you down.
He makes Greg Cosell look like Mr. Sun-Shiney Day.
That is funny and true! But he still has been saying lots of positives about the ninners!
Everything is negative with the guy, however, if you’re in the right mood he’s rather funny.
That is RR’s shtick…he is a cynic. He writes some very good articles. At least he is different than other sports writers and doesn’t write everything you want to hear.
Ray Ratto is like Guinness Stout, not for everyone.
Its going to be wet and chilly..so 49urs-23-13.
Stupor Bowl-35-34 49urs over Brady.
Stan, I love both of your predictions. Don’t need another Harbaugh bowl.
Vote for 49ers in this poll! …..
http://www.chatsports.com/a/Which-Super-Bowl-matchup-do-you-want-to-see-most-40-484
the fundamental question being asked about the GB and NO exits…..
are those teams a fraud …….
everyteam is flawed…niners had their flaws and still do…..
but the mantra for a flawed team is what basicall JH addressed the whole season….
a team doesn’t go from day to day unchanged….either they are getting better or they are getting worse……work everyplayer to get 1% better make everyday 1% better and just be incremental….
this is basically why the niners are where they are …… because every individual committed to getting 1% better day after day after week after game and on…..
can’t wait until AS (33-35) becomes a .500 QB….and if this team can do it this year the reward will be sweet
I hope the media ignores the 9ers. The us v. the rest of the world is working. It reminds me of when Lott would talk about playing to make the other team and every one else respect us.
…heading back to my work time zone…..I really hope i get to watch next week’s game on TV instead of the internet……
The Giants are similar to the Niners in that they have 4 great D linemen and don’t need to blitz all that often to get pressure. As a matter of fact,the Giants have 4 D linemen that all play as if they were D ends,they can all get after the QB. That leaves the Giants with an extra man in coverage and will make it a bit harder to pass against them than against the Saints.
Hopefully we can take advantage of their less than speedy LBers instead ! .
..”Hopefully”……nah dude…there is no hopefully…..we have Alex Smith the Great so …believe we will take advantage of their less than speedy LBers….
believe…..just believe……no hope…no but…no doubt….believe…..
…I think JH has a banner with his name and number on it hanging from the rafters of this years SB venue. Sounds like it was meant to be !!!
Good weather conditions, going to rain and sloppy field, Niners favor.
I’m not sure about that. Receivers know where they’re going, DB’s don’t.
Even so, 49ers 27 – Giants 13
49ers Last 5 Games
Dec 11 @ Arizona 19-21 L
Dec 19 Pittsburgh 20-3 W
Dec 24 @ Seattle 19-17 W
Jan 01 @ St. Louis 34-27 W
Jan 14 New Orleans 36-32 W
We lost to the likes of Arizona, beat wounded Steelers, barely beat horrible Seattle and allow the pathetic Rams to put up 27. I won’t count Saints because they can score against anybody.
The G-Men has basically shut out every team since Christmas Eve, and very good teams at that…
Dec 24 @ New York Jets 29-14 W
Jan 01 Dallas 31-14 W
Jan 08 Atlanta 24-2 W
Jan 15 @ Green Bay 37-20 W
The Packers were completely dominated and the refs missed several calls in the Packers favor; the fumble, late hit head shot on Eli. The no calls resulted in 10 points for the packers. The score should of been 37-10 or even worse. I’m a 49ers fan but also a realists and the Giants look unstoppable right now.
Ah yes, the old ‘manipulating cutoffs’ routine. That game automaticially makes you FAIL in your argument.
@diesel
They played the Cowboys at home, so that was a huge advantage. I don’t think they beat the Cowboys on the road, but I may be wrong.
The Jets game was at the tail end of a horrible year. Sanchez made old AS look like JM with many of this decisions and throws. So, holding them to 14 is not going to make him sit in awe.
Holding anybody to 2 points is impressive beating Atlanta. But Matt Ryan is one of the most over rated QB’s in the league. He was given a much better situation than AS, and has yet to win a playoff game after having home field advantage last year. Pljus the Atlanta HC is a dork. JH coaches to win games. That Atlanta guy coaches to lose them.
And, I said all year that AR’s and the Pack have not looked very good against good defenses, and this game proved it. Against unspectacular opponents he looked spectacular. Against good opponents, not quite so.
The Giants are a decent team, but nowhere near as good as your post makes them out to be.
For the Niners side of things, only the Ram game was against a team that stank the second half of the season. Every other team including Seattle and AZ were kicking butt. At mid-season Seattle only had like 2 wins, and AZ only had 1. Seattle finished the season 7-9 (and one loss was to us) and AZ 6-10 (1win and 1 loss to us), so the Niners last 5 games were a lot harder than NY’s.
Dallas collapsed like they always do, and Atlanta wasn’t so hot either. The Jets are a joke and in turmoil.
I would venture to say the Niners last 5 games put them in better condition for the tough playoff games than the Giants last 4 games.
Perfect, unstoppable is just how we like’em. You cannot compare football like that, it doesn’t work that way. That is the past, it has NOTHING to do with this Sunday, each game takes on it’s own life.
I’m a realist for sure, and I see it the other way. I don’t see what the Giants bring that the Niners can’t stop. The only advantage the Giants may have is deep passing, which is most affected by weather and it will be raining. Eli excels on outside the hash passes, and Candlestick is slop outside the numbers. They will not run the ball on our D. We’ll see on Sunday.
Sorry Grant, but until we have a WR that demands consistent safety-over double-coverage, all our backs will face +1/+2 boxes. What we should be talking about is how bad Gore fares against these overloads when compared to Westbrook (2010) and Hunter (2011). Both of those players did a far better job of running successfully against over-loaded boxes than Gore has been able to do since 2009.
Can anybody here break dance? We gotta partay like it’s 1984!!
Big hair, polo shirts and balloon pants. Hahaha.
I can pop and lock… kinda… doesn’t look so good anymore
Me hits out a few beats on my syndrums.
@ribico
Get yourself a huge poncho, and maybe you can get some drums into the stadium. lol
The Giants can, I’m guessing, shut out Crabtree and Williams with one on one coverage. What the 9ers need to do is Sproles them–rotate Gore, Hunter, Williams and Gin in the slot. I’d start off throwing to them on every down of the first series until they stopped it. I’d send Davis on a corner route that cleared one side of a safety and cornerback, leaving one on one coverage with the other corners, which would force them to cover the slot back with a linebacker–a miss-match. Williams in particular has a burst that makes him very dangerous, a la Sproles, in the open field. Once the linebackers worry about stopping the slot, it’s a good time to run the ball. Once they start bringing up the secondary to stop the run, that will loosen up coverage on the wideouts.
Now if Walker can play and be effective, all bets are off.
And how good are the Giant CB’s again?
6 or 7 drops by the wideouts, plus AR’s just looking awful missing wide open guys in the endzone.
Yeah.
NY’s coverage really blew my mind.
AS had a game for the ages….
but the niners offense is not what i would call established…….
eli may not be like the sort of gunslinger breees is but eli has quite a bit of AS in his blood…..he has a tendency to make good decisions….
This game is a bit scarier than the NO game IMO NYG could get the niners to play their control game since the two team’s games are so similar ….. except the NYG have cruz so they have a bonifide redzone target on a wet field and the niners not so much….
this will again have to be a scheme of long hand offs for the niners and the play makers are going to have to get a lot of YAC or RAC ….
can davis handle pierre-paul…
gore is still pretty dinged up so one ill timed hit will cause huge issues..again so how will that niner running game develop….will the possibility of sloppy conditions diminish hunter’s speed to the point of elimination and
got to get the extra long cleats on for the OL
The bottom line is our schedule was very easy compared to the Giants, and tonight, I’ll admit it, the Giants kicked our ass! The Gmen crushed the Jets on Christmas Eve. Then they blew out the Cowboys. They then took on the Falcons and held them to a deuce. They went up to Green Bay and not only beat the heavily favored Packers on their own field, but owned them. Finally, they came here in San Francisco and beat us! Let’s face it. All 17 points we scored was a drive we got a flag on the Giants. We scored 0 points on any drive without flag. We got 1 first down on a passing play. Yep, 1 first down on a passing play!! The Gmen got 16! Come on, we got our ass kicked in every phase of the game. I said it before, BIG BLUE is for real.
I heard everything this week from Niners fans, but NONE of you were correct. Yep, NONE OF YOU!!!
* The Giants did not beat the packers… the packers beat the packers… YUP, tell me that again!
* Remember, the Niners beat the Giants earlier this year, and we will beat them again… Yeah right!
* Giants got lucky, Packers dropped lots of balls! Yep, that had nothing to do with the Giants defense, right?
* All sports channels say the Giants are on a roll. What about the Niners? Ahh, never mind!
*
@MosesZD Nope you failed in your argument! Your were wrong, I was right! Look, I love my niners, but I knew we could not beat New York and I don’t care how close the game was, the Giants defense shut us down.
@DS94everXev You said “The Giants are a decent team, but nowhere near as good as your post makes them out to be.” Ok, you have the right to your opinion. But if they win the Superbowl, will they be the best team in 2011? Will that make them as good as I said in your eyes? Probably not. But to me, who wins the super bowl is the best that year… period!!