The 49ers play exhibition game no. 2 tonight in Houston against the Texans. I’m sitting in my living room watching it on TV like you. Chat here in the live blog, which I update frequently with information and analysis.
4:55 The Niners two starting outside linebackers – Aldon Smith and Parys Haralson – did not fly to Houston. Parys Haralson and Eric Bakhtiari will start in their place. For the Texans, starting defensive linemen Shaun Cody and J.J. Watt will not play, but All Pro wide receiver Andre Johnson will.
5:11 Chris Culliver gave up a 22-yard completion to Keshawn Martin on a deep in route, but the Niners defense tightened up after that, eventually forcing the Texans into a third and nine. Schaub threw a screen pass to Foster, but Whitner tackled him after just a two yard gain. Whitner is one of the best tacklers on the Niners. Great play.
5:14 Shane Graham made a 48-yard field goal. 3-0 Texans.
5:24 David Akers just made a 52-yard field goal. The drive started out with Frank Gore gaining 14 yards behind Mike Iupati on a second-and-six run. It seems like the Niners will have three very good running backs to start the season – Gore, Kendall Hunter and Brandon Jacobs.
Later in that drive Alex Smith got sacked by Connor Barwin. Smith tried to step up in the pocket and scramble, but Barwin got him before he gained a yard.
On a third and five, Smith rolled to the right and made a beautiful play, connecting with Ted Ginn Jr. for a 24 yard gain. That’s the type of play Smith needs to make to take his game to the “next level.”
But two plays later, Smith missed a wide open Randy Moss streaking down the field for what should have been an easy touchdown. Smith checked down to Vernon Davis on a crossing route instead, and Davis dropped the pass.
The drive ended on third and seven. The Texans rushed six men and the Niners couldn’t pick it up. Smith got sacked immediately.
5:32 The Niners defense forces the Texans offense into a three-and out. Demarcus Dobbs appears to be the defensive end in the nickel formation in place of Aldon Smith.
5:35 Brandon Jacobs just took a vicious shot from to his left knee and he’s lying on his back. Jim Harbaugh is kneeling over him. You hate to see this.
5:38 Jacobs hops off the field on one leg under the arms of Harbaugh and a trainer.
5:42 The first quarter just ended and Smith is 0-3 on this drive so far. He threw a pass right to Texans’ DB Grover Quinn but Quinn dropped it. Then Smith threw high to Michael Crabtree, and then he threw low to Kendall Hunter.
5:51 The Niners have the ball at the Texans’ 33-yard line, and Harbaugh just called timeout. The drive was chugging along until right tackle Anthony Davis got flagged for holding on first down. The Niners moved the ball down the field thanks to a 17-yard Kendall Hunter run on third and four, and a 2-yard Anthony Dixon run on fourth and one.
5:54 Alex Smith just completed a 13-yard pass to Randy Moss on third and 14, but Anthony Dixon couldn’t pick up the fourth down this time and the Texans take over on downs. Dixon did a good job powering through two tacklers on his first carry, but he got pushed backwards the second time.
5:59 The Texans just missed a field goal. Matt Schaub completed a 43-yard pass to Andre Johnson on first down. Johnson jumped right over Tramaine Brock and Trenton Robinson to catch it. Later on third and seven, Ricky Jean Francois sacked Schaub. Jean Francois is one of the strongest players on the team, and he showed it there.
6:01 Alex Smith is out and Colin Kaepernick is in.
6:05 My mom just said, “So far I haven’t seen anything spectacular.”
6:10 David Akers just made a 36-yard field goal to put the Niners up 6-3. Kendall Hunter gained 14 yards up the middle on third and fifteen, but Harbaugh chose to go for the field goal this time. Hunter looks like the best player on the offense tonight.
6:23 The Texans’s no. 1 offense just easily drove 80 yards down the field for a touchdown against the Niners no. 2 defense. No surpre. 54 seconds left in the half.
6:29 Halftime, 10-6 Texans. Alex Smith completed 5 of 9 passes for 49 yards – 71.1 QB rating. Kendall Hunter gained 46 yards on 6 carries – that’s a 7.7 yards per rush average. Even if the Niners lose Jacobs for a while, they should have an excellent rushing attack.
6:32 LaMichael James gained 14 yards on two carries. He didn’t stand out in training camp, but he looked terrific on those two runs.
6:46 The Niners second-team offense just went three-and out to start the second half. Kaepernick almost got picked off on first down when he telegraphed a pass to Kyle Williams, but Kaepernick managed to squeeze the pass between two defenders and Williams caught it. On third and two, Kaepernick competed a pass to Dixon for no gain. The Niners do not look sharp tonight.
6:54 The Niners no. 2 defense just gave up a first down and just nine net yards to the Texans’ no. 2 offense. Three defenders stood on that series: Eric Bakhtiari, Ricky Jean Francois and Ian Williams. Bakhtiari set the edge against the run, got pressure on the quarterback and induced a holding penalty. Jean Francois and Williams each collapsed the pocket and forced T.J. Yates to throw bad passes.
6:57 Kaepernick just went three-and-out again. He missed Brett Swain by a few yards on third and seven. Kaepernick’s QB rating is 56.2.
7:08 The Texans just made a 49-yard field goal, and now they lead by 7. On that drive, T.J. Yates burned Tramaine Brock a few times. Brock looks like he may not make the team. Undrafted safety from Stanford Michael Thomas ended the drive with a blitz sack.
7:08 Josh Johnson is in the game at QB.
7:11 Josh Johnson made the best deep pass of the Niners’ preseason, hitting A.J. Jenkins on second and nine for a 32-yard gain. Then on the next play, Johnson overthrew Jenkins. The drive ended when Rock Cartwright couldn’t run for the first down on third and five. Johnson and Jenkins look very good against the Texans’ third-stringers.
7:13 David Akers makes a 55-yard field goal. He’s still got it. 13-9 Texans.
7:30 Trindon Holliday just returned an Andy Lee punt 87 yards for a TD. 20-9 Texans. Josh Johnson was 2-4 on that drive, hitting Konrad Reuland 15 yards and Bryan Tyms for 12, but Johnson also missed A.J. Jenkins twice – once deep and once short on third and three.
7:35 Scott Tolzien time. He’s in at quarterback.
7:47 Not a great first series for Tolzien. He completed two of four passes for ten yards yards. He’ll get another chance right now.
7:51 LaMichael James is writhing in pain on the ground. The trainers are holding his left ankle.
7:52 Like Jacobs earlier, James cannot put any pressure on his injured left leg as the trainers carry him off the field.
7:54 James is now putting light pressure on the ankle on the sideline. He’s limping to the cart, and now he’s getting carted off the field. This has been a terrible night for the Niners.
8:00 49ers who are currently injured: Brandon Jacobs, LaMichael James, Aldon Smith, Ahmad Brooks, Perrish Cox and Delanie Walker.
8:03 The 49ers lose 20-9. The player of the night was Kendall Hunter, but the story of the night was the injuries to two other running backs – Brandon Jacobs and LaMichael James. The goal of preseason is to finish it healthy, and the Niners aren’t accomplishing that. What’s more, the offense has yet to show strides from last year, and neither the defense or special teams have played sharp. I’ll have my grades posted first thing in the morning.
UPDATE: Harbaugh says Jacobs’ injury is not a season-ender. Did not tear his ACL or patella.
ONE MORE UPDATE: Frank Gore told Vern Glenn that LaMichael James just sprained his ankle and James should be ready for the season opener.
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Let’s go 9ers everyday all day!!!!
Grantmeister, how you doing? I’m doing the same thing. Looking for Eric Bakhtiari to solidify a roster spot on this team. Josh Johnson has got to show something in this game in my view.
Doing well, Razoreater. Having a cup of tea and watching the game with my mom and my girlfriend. My mom wants to see how the Niners first-team offense does on third down and in the red zone against a top defense.
Tea?!?
Peet’s Yunnan Fancy. It’s delightful.
So Lowell and Hofer drank all the wine?
Ya gotta admit that drinking tea while watching the NFL is a bit milquetoast? Man up and go steal one of your mom’s wine coolers ;)
I can’t drink on the job.
Who would rat you out?
It’s a question of morals, ethics (like the beginning of Miller’s Crossing).
Heh, nice Coen reference Mr. Cohn.
I’m also a big fan of the movie you reference in your username.
” You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is.”
Your name is you’re wanting.
I’d wish you good luck but you wouldn’t know what to do with it if you got it
Lets go Niners. Should be a good test for us tonight
Gotta get more pressure – Shaub is reading the paper back there.
Yep. Dobbs is seeing what it is like to play with starters. The LT just stoned him on the long pass over the middle.
Yes Gore
Gore!
Alex. Master of the 4 yard pass…..
He’s getting beat up in the first series….
Come on Vernon. And dang loeok at Moss wide open. Alex start looking at that route….
Lets see if you can just shut up.
Team comes after you that hard and leaves Moss single covered you take the f ing shot…
I wonder how many times Moss will be that wide open before he throws a tantrum?
Get out of here you loser.
Alex is WAAYYYY too conservative. Moss should have his 1st 49er td.
Haters are in regular season form.
Yes they are. No big deal they gonna be upset all night, for me I am going to enjoy the game.
Yeah. Just ignore the 24 yard throw on the run while scrambling. I thought AS can’t do that?
Rib, say what you want, but why bring Moss in if you are not going to use him? He’s a legit weapon….
Alex is a leopard that cannot change his spots….
Why use him in the preseason when it doesn’t matter?
>>why bring Moss in if you are not going to use him?
Bay, why don’cha wait a little past the the first drive of the 2nd pre-season game before making a blanket statement like that?
If the Moss ‘experiment’ fails.. it will be because of Alex. Note It!!
Do ya just wanna show GB what we’re gonna do? I don’t think so. Let me see….VD drops a pass with his hands of stone and its all Alex’s fault. Do you ever watch football?
You dont act like it
How could u possibly know that?
And I can tell by yours that if you have been watching at all the last year, you would know that JH keeps his hand close to his chest during preseason. Reserve your judgement til the regular season. Alex will be fine!
hand close to his chest…is that code for clutching his heart
clearly acting like an
Montanaman,
So your saying Harbaugh is saving Alex’s good throws & better vision for the regular season?
I hear ya, Latino. Adios, Grant.
Ouch, rookie move there by LMJ.
I thought so too
oh oh
Not good. But notice Vernon has gone with the Kojak look.
lol Vernon
people who disagree with me are commenting. I can’t take this. Adios vatos”
Man, it looks like Jacobs is hurt bad.
Queue the over reactive posts decrying our lost red zone produce because of Jacobs’ injury in 3…2…1….
hehe produce
“production”
Hunter!
wow. Alex fans you will have a long year…
Bad pass and a little bit of a hold
These replacement refs are a joke, that was pass interference if I have ever seen it.
Just made up for that bad call there.
How sad is your life? Taking time out of your day to post non stop hate. Pathetic
Terriable series
Think a QB that could roll out would benefit us right now?
Houston has a defense like ours, tough.
I’m starting to get nervous that all the talk bout Alex getting better was just.. well.. talk.
Anthony dixion time to step up!!!!
he did
I like to avoid the hater arguments but come on. Alex clearly threw the ball to draw the PI so shut it already
Dude grow up. I’m a huge Alex critic. But you’re acting like a child.
Our running game is nice. Our passing game, uh, our running game looks good.
Having a convo with yourself. That’s cute.
Nice short yardage play there. Dixon didn’t dance
well dixon has demonstrated success 4fth and short and he gets the first
oh my god we better have a great #2 qb cause there is no way smith will survive 16 games behind this O line. In fact we better have a good #3 cause thats what we are headed for. Am i mistaken or is chilo rachal out there tonight
I hear ya old coach. Line doesnt look good. Texans like us they have a damn good defense and can make offenses not look so good.
Why? He did it last year.
Our WR’s/RB’s though need softer hands. MC/VD/KH dropped 3 very catchable balls already.
Uh oh, passing down. Cue up the check down.
Even with a player who’s never played right guard starting at the position Anthony Davis is still the weakest link on this line and will continue to be until he’s replaced, hopefully sooner rather then later.
For god’s sake learn how to learn. I was referring to Boone having never played right guard before and yet is still better then Davis. Imbecile.
Time to panic as it is the second preseason game. Not able to watch/listen to the game. Is the Jacobs injury as bad as it sounds?
Same old Alex smith
There is nothing else.
But it’s the offensive line’s fault. He needs 5 seconds to read the defense and look at his 3rd read. This is only his 2nd year in the offense, and his 2nd year in the league. He needs 4 solid years in the offense to be efficient.
AS is a band aide till we find a play maker.
“Most of it was self-inflicted by me,” Smith said following the 49ers’ 20-6 loss to the Houston Texans. “The O-Line played good. First play was a miscommunication with me and the other 10 guys in the huddle, and that resulted in a hit.
“Really felt like the offensive line played great.”
So how did the miscommunication occur?
“It’s tough to explain. Stupidity,” Smith said. “I got things mixed up in my head a little bit.”
It appears that MB agrees with Smith’s assessment.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/49ers/archives/2012/08/film-review-good-thing-alex-smith-wore-his-mouthpiece.html
@ jack… Good read. I felt the same way MB does. What’s interesting is that RM is going to demand those passes when he’s open and smith is going to have to pull the trigger. Coaches know this too. I can’t wait to see smith open it up.
MD we both have bets I dont want to be wearing a Lions jersey for sure. I was really hoping to see this new Smith that we have been reading about, we didnt, damn. If this game was last year I would of been concerned right now eh, I think we have to wait till the season to see what we got.
@under….. I feel the same way. Different outlook on smiths play yesterday. Meaning its a pre season game and I liked the fact that he took some blame himself and I’m sure will want to fix the problems. I’m still betting he will have an awesome year. Wheew
Back to your cut and paste project, I see. Pretty sure every Niner fan, the real ones at least, know where to find articles. Then again no one is as smart as Hack Jammer!
Jack
Smith is an expert at this offense!! Well by his own omission he isnt and its apparant that he isnt. However, he recognizes the problem, thats ninety percent of the fix. Last we the team looked very smooth and on the right track this week the team looks like the rest of the teams in pre season kind of yuk. Oh well it will get better.
Jack, and that’s our starter?? He doesn’t have that mix up against lower tier teams. Is he truly improved? I’ve said before that Smith has reached his ceiling.
..not your starter, OUR starter, see your a hater, a welcher and someone who obviously does not know much about football.
You think johnson is better, he is terrible….big arm…so what if you cant read a defense after 5 years in the nfl, you are and always will be a career back up. Tolzien is smarter and has better command of the offense, johnson is a one tricck pony, he is out….
as for alex….starter…buwhahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The advanced stats guys place the blame for sacks squarely on the quarterback. I’m not sure I agree with that but in this case I’m not going to argue with the Precious. If he says it was his fault then so be it.
still drunk i see, do you ever stop miss lemons…….
You can do better than that OneLatino.
…yeah i will call your sponsor…..
Nice connection with Moss there
Thanks for the live blog, in South Fla, so no TV.
p2p4u dot net
watch it on the pc
very unimpressed by the offense
passing game looks stiff. alex taking a pounding. missed receievers, and some hookups (alex to Crabs) look like a bad college team. i hope there is a lot more in the tank than this – this looks suspiciously like last year, and the last game i went to with all the three and outs (ie nfc championship game).
That hold call was absolute trash. Time to pay u Goodell and bring back the real refs
The missed PI call was bad too.
They also missed a false start on the next play.
This is such a you-type comment. You’re right, but you’re also being defensive because you hate A-Davis. You’re a weirdo, Iggy.
@JT Grant isn’t the only one who dislikes AD. PFF graded him as very, very bad in 2011. Anthony simply isn’t a good offensive lineman. He’s one of the most penalized OL and he gave up the most sacks of any RT in the league last year.
Yes, but other bloggers don’t get into puerile twitter wars with him. AD would pop Iggy like a pimple with his fingers, and Iggy would twist AD into knots with his wits.
That playcall on 4th and 2 was… interesting? Looked like a Singletary call. Blah.
wow safety choked…
Two defenders let the ball go right between them into the receivers hands. Nicely played you two.
That was Robinson and Brock. The 49ers seem to be mixing in a lot of 2nd and 3rd teamers with the starting unit. I guess they want to see how the backups perform against the starters?
Smith can take a beatdow though. Gotta respect that. He beiges ot of on himself. He steps up and just hangs onto the ball and just takes the shot. Throw it away to the sideline. Just make sure its back to the line of scrimmage.
* Brings
That 4 th down play was too predictable.
No way he should gave caught that
hey what happen to my comment being critical of AS not reading the defense ….should have read the saftey better for an attempt to Moss..
and also that OL still needs to be reviewed
and now the pass to andre johnson that really makes AS look something less than we want
but i am a supporter of AS
Alex is a expert Alex is this Alex is a check down bum I’ll take tozien over Alex any day of the week
You and me.
Who’s gonna be bald like Lowell first? Alex or Grant?
Doesn’t run in my mom’s side of the family.
Ok CK lets go
Nice throw to Moss there – bad drop
Lol! The LB’s were following the RB ten yards downfield on the CK run.
Love that Kaep is taking his shots
he’s 1/1 can he make a second attempt before you get too excited
My excitement is that he actually attacks… He takes his shots
CK is playing better but his release needs work. It adds time to his reads and good defenses will take advantage. He is a superior athlete but he needs quite a bit of work. He’s never going to be a gunslinger in this offense.
CK man look b4 you throw.
Great pass to Moss. Love how Kaep is attacking
His chances almost lead to a pick 6
See man to man on Moss and you take that shot every time…
Yep. Give your playmaker a chance to make a play.
Adam,
a young QB is going to learn to hold a safety with his eyes. Are you really going to be critical of Kaepernick who has no real game experience? For gods sakes, he’s learning.
Do you not remember all the turnovers Alex had his first six years? Mountains of them. Instead lets look at the things Kaepernick did well. He’s taking shots, he’s attacking. Gotta like that….
I loved the chances he took to Moss, its the 3 step drop passes i am referring to. He tries to use his arm strength to fit the ball into tight windows, and its not working.
CK has to see that safety, that was lucky. Then he follows it up with a perfect throw to Moss.
That was a good throw to Moss
Good pass by Kap, drop by moss!
Moss will be a difference maker!!
I by no stretch of the imagination am in love with alex smith but anyone who thinks that he had any responsibility for the O short comings tonight is just blinded by their hate for smith. tonight was about a total breakdown of the O line. not just 1 or 2 players and not blitz and stunt pick ups but one on one mano y mano line play. it better improve quickly or some QB’s are going down
CK7 is playing behind the same line and performing better.
How so msc?
CK was nearly Int for TD due to him not seeing a defender. He missed KW, and produced the same points. CK had RM drop 1. AS had 3 drops on passes.
And I don’t know if he went against the Texans 1 defense. AS did.
I’m not worried about it, Houston has a good D. Some of these people on here tonight would be cheering if Smith got carted off with a broken neck, I don’t get it.
anyone who doesn’t see that Kaep outplayed Smith tonight is blinded as well….
Why are you hiding your name Bay?
Hunter is running like a beast
He’s breaking tackles. He didn’t do that last year; he’s really added some strength.
Yes he is running tough
Let cartwright hand the short yard situations.
Anybody notice our WR’s look stronger?
I thought it was just KW last week. But TG, I can’t recognize him. And MC looks a bit bigger as well.
Add RM to the list that need softer hands.
Why not go for it? SMH….
Agree Big Niner, why not get some red zone confidence?
Kendall Hunter is going to have a BIG year.
I’m really looking forward to the third and fourth quarter, when we can see the two best QBs on the 49ers’ roster.
houston took out their 1st team d when kap came and for the sake of arguement i do love kap [in a manly way]
Gak – bad tackling there.
dont watch then
When will you contribute football knowledge to this blog. Or do you only know soccer
Not every comment is about Alex, Kitty. You are ruining this game log. I’m sure you are proud of yourself.
Latino Prime, you said you left. Liar.
BB the Period Kitty, you are a useless waste of bandwidth.
keep talking you racist clown…
Cheech calm down you don’t want to be on another episode of Bad Boys.
No pressure…
Blitz? What’s that?? Come on, dial it up even with your back ups.
Secondary issues still aren’t being addressed. If Matt Schaub can pick this secondary apart, I’m just dreading what a superior QB like Rodgers will do…
Field Goals won’t cut it against a high powered offense…I think that’s our biggest weakness this year with our schedule.
Its our 2nd string D in there, no cause for alarm yet.
Chris
We don’t have either of our starting OLB’s. That is a big deal. And their starting QB is still in there facing a whole team of 2′s.
I feel like an idiot now. I turned the game on without watching the first quarter then stupidly commented without all of the information. Thank you so much you guys for sparing me the public flogging I deserved on this one.
That definitely makes me feel a little better.
Chris
Something like that happens to us all at some point.
PS Last week I was watching the game on DVR, and hadn’t seen the stuff happening live. But I added the DVR part to let everybody know. Little tip ypu may want to remember later on the blog.
Our twos out there vs texans ones so kind of a mismatch
Did Tim Ryan just say defensive bok?
Tim Ryan is a catastrophe as a color analyst.
one of the best in the business, keeping tippin them back
ROFL. Tim Ryan is “one of the best in the business”. You really are clueless Latino Prime.
Ryan is an excellent analyst. He hasn’t been doing it as long as others and still has some rough around the edges but calling him a catastrophe only makes you look like the clueless one.
@Coffee, Ryan was demoted from network games to preseason filler.
Catastrophe may be a bit harsh, I’ll admit that. But he isn’t good.
Tim Ryan is being the Niner homer he is being paid to be. He is uninformed and should not speak on what he does not know. He’s made as many mistakes on calls in 2 games as some of the Niners backups!
Anyone would struggle with Dennis O’Clueless in the booth.Ryan is still learning his craft-he’s ok.
I like the way Schaub looks downfield 1st. Lots of times, I just feel like Smith is always gonna take a 3 step dropand throw a 4 yard out. Shaub looks up the middle of the field. Smith is looking for the out./
Our defensive backups looked like defensive backups.
Preseason or not I hate field goals!
Sorry off topic, freaking Zito just gave up 3 run bomb. Down 4-1 now to SD.
Ugh – no pass pressure at all on that play. I’ll be glad when Aldon and Brooks are back.
Alex sucked last year exhibition game against Houston was at the game and he was booed off the field at half time, threw a bad interception.
its 2012 clown, move your clock forward…….
Just saying he sucked last year against Houston Cheech.
you have been saying he sucks every since last year chong…..btw, who cares about last year…..
Doesn’t the clock stop on a penalty??
Keep logging in with multiple names. You look like people agree with you that way.
Kitty just got kicked out! Lol, best play call all evening Grant.
Yes thanks Grant
+1 It’s one thing to dislike a player, it’s another to make every single post about that player.
It’s only pre season so we cant weigh a lot on it but alex wasnt good at all. Started off decent with a few nice passea but then stalled and couldnt complete a pass. We know harbaugh and roman arnt showing any trick, but that was a brutal half to watch.
Eh, Alex was okay other than missing a WIDE open Moss in the end zone. Alex didn’t make any big mistakes that cost the team. He played his usual conservative game.
I’m more concerned with the pass defense really. Didn’t look good at all.
Huge miscommunication with MM. Should have been and int. Then threw high to MC and low to KH. Granted his o line blocked awfully. Moss is looking good. With the exception of that back shoulder dime from kaep that he dropped
Well, the entire team looked our of sync, well except ST:) The team doesnt look as smooth as last week – playing a much better team!!
Grant,
How has Leonard Davis looked? Do you think he has a chance to make the team or even unseat Boone at RG?
Disappointing and sloppy performance by the 49ers. Next week against Denver will be another test for the secondary, which obviously is struggling without Brooks/Condor.
Grant tell your Mom to not be disappointed, the offense will be more or less the same as last year. Maybe a few more wrinkles in on 3rd down but for the most part, Harbaugh will be more run heavy in the play calls. It is what it is!
That’s what I’ve been reporting all training camp – the offense pretty much looks the same. They’ve finally installed the screen pass, though.
Wow dangerous throw
What ever happened to running plays past the first down marker?
Big niner
That was John Madden’s thing. BW designed plays like the last one. The players just made the play.
KH is going to make a real push for the majority of the runs if he keeps this up. Good vision.
That is 2 times for CK now. He’s playing with the devil here. Better sharpen up. And didn’t CK just throw it quickly to the RB Dixon on 3rd down, not giving time for the WR’s to get downfield.
I thought only AS did that. Here is a thought:
That is the playcall. Both do it because their boss (JH) tells them to do it.
One thing doesnt matter who throws the ball, it gets dropped way too many times.
undercenter
How many drops did you count for Houston so far? I have 1. The last drive. How many do you have?
undercenter
How many drops have you counted for Houston so far? I have 1. The last drive. How many do you have?
I dont know DS havnt been paying too much attention to the Texans.
Kaep looking bad. First series with read option looked nice. Throwing? Not so much
How is CK better than AS today? 2 straight 3 and outs to start the half. Those claiming CK is better today don’t know what they are talking about.
Brock is having a rough game so far.
Brock is horrible. He is always out opposition. Amazing that he is projected to make this team. He is killing me.
My concern isn’t so much Kaepernick’s decision making. I understand he is trying to make some timing throws before the receiver is out of his break. I like that. My concern is rather that Kaepernick doesn’t seem to be able to bring the passes down. They are sailing on him, he isn’t putting much touch on passes, and he still looks frazzled like it’s still a little too quick in the NFL for him right now. I am not condeming him by any means. It’s his second year, but I’d be worried if Smith went down and Kaepernick came in.
Chris
We still have a great set of RB’s. A QB’s best friend.
Great throw JJ and nice catch Jenkins
Josh! Great throw!!
oh josh wide open, bad throw……
It’s been 5 minutes now. Time to switch logons Latino Prime.
Josh! damnit!!!!
dont get excited jj will have another turn, then his agent will be making calls to the arena league or maybe the canadian football league……buwhahahahahahahah
We have real expert here.
You ask me to chill. Why would you wish that on a guy wearing the sf logo trying to improve the team? Are you out of dank Latino?
not a good series for jj, oh no, waiver wire………
Please tell us more about how he totally knows Harbuagh’s offense and will clearly be the starter here some day.
I don’t know about all that, but Johnson clearly was the Niners’ best QB tonight.
Oh c’mon, does anyone ever measure the competition before throwing these statements out there. He was playing against scrubs that will most likely not even be on the 53. He could have completed every pass but who cares, if he was actually someone who warranted attention the coaches would have him going up against stiffer competition.
He was playing with scrubs, too.
OK, so our scrubs are better then theirs. /shrug
The Texans were missing 3 starting d-lineman for this game. Alex Smith was basically playing his 1st string o-line against the Texans 2nd string d line.
JJ 1 nice throw. 1 bad miss on a TD to AJ.
david akers… jj new best friend, isnt that what the haters say when the offense with as kicks a fg…..hmmmm, maybe its the playcalling…..
David Akers is adding to his record field goal performance of lat year.
/sigh
M67
eh dont worry everything is very vanilla
True. And the 49ers looked horrible in preseason last year but that turned out ok.
But still… ugh. This offense looks even worse than last year.
worried about Jacobs tho.
Bak is making a case for himself thats for sure.
we want scott……we want scott……we want scott……we want scott……we want scott……we want scott……we want scott……
Need anxiety meds
i use mary jane…shes low manintenance
That explains a lot. Another pot head.
I see the same thing from alex smith happy feet…..as soon as he sees pressure he looks like he gets nervous…no pressure from our D(both olb out) secondary looks suspect at best..run off looks great(especially k.hunter)would like to see tolzien in earlier….
The 49ers aren’t giving Josh Johnson much in preseason snaps. I’m thinking Tolzien ends up as #3.
MSC,
Especially after Tolzein lit it up tonite against 3rd and 4th stringers. Undrafted free agent played just like one. Josh looked like the NFL vet tonight. He overthrew Jenkins, but remember, he also hit Jenkins with the only deep ball we’ve completed in a preseason game.
I want to see our QB’s throw it more than our RB’s running it.
That wasnt good
JJ didn’t help himself at all. AJ though is getting open. And, a big thing for me, he dove for the ball. He’s got the heart. A certain other WR, don’t see him diving.
Rice never dove.
Rice never had to. His QB’s were accurate.
They also had the same offense.
I remember differently Grant. Did you ever hear anybody say JR didn’t do all he could to make a catch, or imply that in any way? I never did.
Of course JR worked out like no other WR/playet ever had. JR practiced more than any other WR/player ever. JR never blamed anybody but himself.
And, JR was here his rookie year to drop passes. MC took an extended vacation that no other NFL player did that year. JR was obsessed with getting better. MC’s comments about not practicing everyday where he points out some other more established players and not say it killed him to not be out there. That is something JR never did.
Did you ever see Rice dive for a pass?
Yes I do Grant, as I said in my opening sentence.
Fair enough. I do not.
Grant correct. Rice rarely if EVER dove….. Rice had great accurate QB’s though. I remember some great one handed catches, but never the dive….
Grant
Not an in-game video, but here is one of JR diving for a Madden Challenge competition.
Considering this was not even up to the level of a preseason game, and he isn’t playing anymore and gets nothing from it, he still dove.
Still showed the heart. That is the whole point. If JR played now, there would be lots of video of him, and it would be easy to find diving catch. Given the circumstances, this should satisfy you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9zNQ6Ndr8Y
LMAO DS!!!! CLASSIC! Madden Challenge! Hahahaha!!! Rice never had to dive in a game because his QB’s were accurate.
Grant
Found this from wikipedia about JR in the 94 NFC Title game:
“Jerry Rice, who made a diving catch in the back-left corner of the end zone with 8 seconds left in the first half.”
So, Rice dove for a ball to score a TD in a huge game. Something I’ve yet to see from MC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994-95_NFL_playoffs
Good find.
Thanks Grant.
It wold be easier to find if JR played now. Everybody has a video camera and youtube.
If you have 30 seconds, check out youtube and type in “Jerry Rice catches”. You won’t find hardly a thing. Imagine the whirlwind which would have surrounded him if he played now. WOW!
Careful DS, 1 catch for 4 yards is pretty good for our #1 WR. “All IN”
Prime
He didn’t light it up for sure. But what I need to see from MC is him coming up big in the 4th quarter. Won’t see that in pre-season no matter what. Would like to see him get some YAC. Same pass as last week. Same result. Then he drops another short pass.
I hear you DS and I’m hoping Crabtree becomes an integral part of our offense. I’m done hoping for the positive attitude from him, now it’s about having a good season.
Did you watch the game, thoughts?
23Jordan why don’t you go back to prognosticating about how Josh Johnson is going to supplant Alex Smith as the starter.
You clearly have in depth football knowledge and we’re all eager to hear about it.
Yeah Prime, and let’s hope we don’t wear out Akers foot like we did last year (lol). Looks like your ‘golden-boy’ didn’t shine tonight. Our #1 QB has to find a way to get us down field and in the endzone. Hey, but if he can’t, you can always blame your wipping-boy MC, right? Hahaha! You are a real joke. Except for your twin DS, your MC rants are tired and futile because MC is still YOUR Starting WR (lol)!
Also, we have bigger things to worry about then MC if AS can not get us in to the endzone bud.
Thank god it’s preseason.
But I’m not going anywhere (just like MC), still
“ALL IN!” (with ALL 49er players)
Prime
I did see the whole game. I already gave the MC eval, so for the rest:
KH is awesome. He is very quick, hits the hole, and his blocking has been decent.
The rest of the WR’s – Were they playing tonight? AJ could have had 2 TD’s, but they were absent too much. Not impressed at all.
Backup QB’s – None were great. The WR’s really failed them all. No QB is looking good when we drop balls. It is hard enough to gain yards. Drops are the 2nd worst thing an offense can have besides TO’s for me. They effect 3rd down conversions by not converting them, and making them harder to convert if they happen on non-3rd down plays.
Niner OL – Was this 2011?
AES
Once again you fire the first shot with your name calling.
Before your “All in” you rarely did. Now you do it all the time. Way to use your love of the team and defending of a player as an excuse to lower the conversation down to your now sadly low level.
“Careful DS, 1 catch for 4 yards is pretty good for our #1 WR. “All IN”” and “Then he drops another short pass.”
You guys are absolutely pathetic. Clearly an overthrow, not classified as a drop. Keep spewing your guys hate. Its so pathetic, i feel sorry for you guys. Clearly clueless and dont understand football.
Adam707
If we are talking about the same pass, the announcers even said it was a pass that should have been caught. That = drop to me. All the QB’s – JJ had the WR’s not make plays for them. The rule is if the ball hits your hands, you should be able to catch it. The ball clearly hit MC’s hands on this play. And if he agrees with you about not beng able to catch it, our #1 WR isn’t going to do what he needs to do to get us over the Title game hump.
And what is up with your attitude? Grow up.
No idea what station you watched it on, but the announcers said it was a “high pass” meaning it was not an accurate one. Could it have been caught? maybe, but it would not be ruled as a drop. Grant described it like this “Then Smith threw high to Michael Crabtree, and then he threw low to Kendall Hunter.” Sorry to say but your love of AS and hatred of MC makes you bias and blind
If that isn’t a drop, then MC had a drop rate much higher than his reported number. You get a hand on it, especially 2 and you don’t catch it, that is a drop.
Did the Texans WR’s suffer any MC like drops? I don’t think so. Plus they caught a few spectacular catches(Johnsons comes to mind). Our WR’s (not just MC) recorded none.
Your need to protect a WR who has never shown a great desire to be a Niner is masking your ability to see that a real leading WR makes that catch, and if he fails, that is on him. Not the QB. A real #1 makes catches average WR’s don’t. That is why they are #1 WR’s.
Randy Moss had the only official drop of the night. The pass to Crabtree was high, like most times from Smith. The dump off to Kendall Hunter from Smith was low. Neither one of those plays would be listed as official drops unless a person that feels that Smith can do no wrong is citing the play.
Pressure makes some QBs perform better, and it makes some QBs nervous. Alex is a bit nervous when he senses pressure. He needs 5 pro bowl offense linemen to make him comfortable in the pocket.
To be honest with you. Our o’ line isn’t good enough to protect Smith. We need more mobility in the pocket and better pocket presence from our QB. he may not be on this roster after all.
I believe the golden/unwritten rule of football pass catching is if it hits your hands, it’s catcheable.
Crabtree was slow coming off the line of scrimmage and then slow again turning to the ball. It looked like a hurried throw but he has to make that catch, it was a drop.
Your using the term drop very loosely. A drop what Vernon, RM had. When a throw is made spot on and the WR gets both hands on it and doesnt catch it. the MC play was thrown over his head, no announcer or analyst would call it a drop. Once again, could he have caught it? Definitely, but it is not a catch that is made 100% of the time. I’m defending him because he is a 49er and the coaches speak glowingly of him. I think he can be a difference maker.
Prime
If RM had the only drop, then the definition and use of the term, means nothing. I know a drop when I see one. Are the NFL stat guys part of the Vatican? Who for hundreds of years could not admit Galieo was right?
MC dropped the ball. As did everybody else practically. I don’t go to the Vatican about scientific matters, and I won’t go to the NFL about drops if RM had the only drop of the night. Ridiculous.
Adam 707 it’s a drop, call it what you want or whoever else had them, dropped balls are just that. Whether the ball was too high or not, he gets off the line quicker, turns quicker, gets both hands on it like he did, it’s a catch.
Now I’m not needling this one play, but we have seen this with Crabtree a lot, the big bounce off both hands!
Adam707
How do you define a throw that misses a WR? Or an OL who fails to block? If the OL is run ovev but gets a hand on the DL, is that a missed block? Or do you classify a missed blick as only if the OL doesn’t touch the DL?
I know a drop, missed block, miss an open WR. Don’t play semantics. It is almost impossible to say with 100% on anything. Get any medical test done. None are 100%. Most are close enough. But you can’t say 100% with just about anything.
I consider the VD and RM plays drops. They were completely different from MC’s play. But we all have our opinions. All fans/players have different views on drops. I’m sure MC will blame himself and AS will blame himself. I just view a drop differently than you two
It is funny we are arguing a play that was max 6 yards
That is the concern Adam707. Have you ever heard MC blame himself? AS has. Judging by MC’s answer about missing practice and comparing that to James about being hurt, there is a stark difference.
Here is a deal. You find a quote from MC where he blames himself, and I won’t post another negative comment about him during the real games. If you can’t find anything, that suggests he doesn’t blame himself.
And unlike welcher boy, I keep my deals. Last year I said I would give MC another shot, and after that I didn’t write another negative post on him till after the title game.
If you can’t find anything, then you admit that my concerns are valid, and get off my case regarding MC.
Deal or no deal?
Lol look at ds trying to get someone off it’s back for hating MC. MC had answered what 6 questions since he’s been here? Bs gotta say this. That’s a pretty slick hustler move and if any sucker bites on it. Well….
You are over analyzing his comments about being hurt. He simply stated he didnt really miss any time. He basically shrugged off the fact that reports kept asking about his injury history. You make it sound like he was glad he was injured and missed time or that he purposely sat out longer. He didnt miss any games and has been the best WR in the off season. And FYI when a player gets injured, especially a key player, it is up to the coaches and medical staff to when he comes back, the player has no real say.
Adam707
Yes, I know the player has no real say about coming back from injury. But when FG is hurt, the coaches have to hide his helmet so he can’t get in there. With all the time MC has been hurt, I haven’t heard that said of him. Have you? (Seriously, not sarcasm)
FG is our leading rusher. Our leading WR needs to follow his lead and demonstrate a love of the game. FG can’t be the leading rusher without being a leader. Leaders lead their teammates. FG does. MC does not.
“You make it sound like he was glad he was injured and missed time or that he purposely sat out longer.”
No. I make it sound like he doesn’t have the same desire to play because he hasn’t said things that demonstrate a desire. I look for actual proof of stuff. It has been coming on 4 years now, and the fact he has spent so much time being injured (meaning lots and lots of opportunities to say it, not that I’m mad at him) and doesn’t say something similar to James who is a rookie with all that missed time off is telling of something Adam707. This is the first time James hs been hurt as a pro. And he says this. MC has not.
It isn’t shyness. MC could have stated that “I hurt not to be out there practicing. Others depend on me, and I need to be there.” This is more or less the same number of words as his reply in the intereview. So, he can remain shy and still show the desire FG/James shows.
And, do we have a deal or not?
Hater’s gonna hate.
Jack
How many restraining orders do you have against you? Still don’t get it do you. Stay away. You suck. I hate you. Not MC.
DS, I feel sorry for you, hating someone that you have never even met. Hate is one of the most destructive emotions humans are capable of. The amount of emotional and physical energy you use when experiencing hate drains and absorbs the body. Also although it is a feeling forwarded at someone else and you are the one experiencing it and it is a very nasty emotion that you are responsible for. You created it and own it so therefore you are choosing it. If you consider yourself a good persoin you know in your heart that you are being bad exhibiting this behavior which makes you suffer some guilt as you know it is bad. It really means that you have allowed some evil to reside inside of you. It creates confusion in your good soul and as a result exhausts your body physically from the anger that accompanies it.
@ Jack, really? Is it necessary to post a psycoanalysis on DS? He has his opinion on football, sometimes good bad and indifferent like the rest of us.
It seems that the haters cant handle him or Prime or whomever is indifferent to Crabtree when they make certain comments, why? Cause maybe they post a different position, in any case I don think the blog needs you or anyone to describe in personal detail the essence of DS’s soul or exsistence. Lets keep in football only.
@23 welcher, I thought you vowed to never return if Alex was back in 2012?
I’ve asked Jack to stop replying. He has not. Others have asked the same from me, I have.
The only reason not to do so is if you are a jerk. And jerks aren’t cared for.
DS it’s funny how Jack and AES claim to be neutral on everything 49ers but when we bring up Crabtree it’s we’re haters.
How many times in the last week have they brought up Alex as the focal point of every discussion related to the offense, Crabtree, other QB’s in the league and the one throw to Moss against HOU.
Neutral and all in my fanny, they just love comin after people and stirring it up. They cant let the Alex thing go!
Prime
Jack (when I read his posts) said he was neutral. But he seemed to always find fault with AS more than MC. Count his posts where he moans about AS and ones he moans about MC. If he is neutral, they come out the same. Guess what? They aren’t even close. And he thinks Neal is a great blogger. Uck!
As for AES, he is a HUGE disappointment to me man. For somebody who “wavered” back and forth on AS among others (hello Chilo), and for somebody who has most definitely in the past been negative of a Niner player, to suddenly say “I’m all in now. If you are not, as of this moment, then you aren’t a fan, and you are hater.” is just utter crap. If there was a regular on this blog who should understand a persons concerns about a player, it should be him. Because his posts the past 2-3 years have been “Well, I don’t know.” Now to tell anybody “I do know and if you disagree, you aren’t a fan, and you are a hater. It was ok if you weren’t all in the day before like me, but if you aren’t all in when I decide it’s time to be all in, then you suck and I’ll be hounding you calling you names” is him trying to convince himself that he isn’t a fence sitter. Give me a break. Lost all respect from me.
Well said DS, why else is AES known as the flip flopper? As for Jack, waste of time, he just looks to irritate people and I’m done addressing him.
Regardless my one concern going into the season is our offensive line. Great run blockers but pass protection looks very concerning. It seems that when we face teams with a strong front like BAL,HOU, we struggle. Solari and Drevno have not done enough to improve this unit which considering where everyone was drafted, has underachieved. Like I said, the one unit I expected to be much improved has remained the same.
Prime
We got all these new toys, and we want to play with them. Think back to when you were a kid though. You nee to assemble them first. Give them time. We’ll be a much better offense when the playoffs come than we are now. That is when it matters. Gotta give MC time as well. BUT the guy needs to show his love and defend his teammates, point the finger at himself for not making a play, and no more of this throw it up there crap. He can do that NOW.
JJ has the any 2 preseason completions covering over 20 yards. We watch alex throw 4 yard outs. We watch Kap throw picks that get dropped. We saw everyone’s hero Tolzeien look like an undrafted free agent. Missing his wide open guy on 3rd down. At least Josh actually throws the ball down the field instead of to the sidelines. look at everyone’s hero from last week, Tolzein. I can’t wait to hear how JJ hurt his chances and how Tolzein shined like new money. Smith played like crap, still holding the ball forever. Kap is a pick waiting to happen and Tolzein doe not have the arm strength tonthrow an 18 yard out without the safety picking it off. Somebody tell me why JJ gets cut? If you can be unbiased.
Of all the QB’s mr safe held the ball the longest and paid the price. Amazingly enough, nobody else took a sack. Doesn’t that say something???
Jordo,
Are you related to Johnson somehow?
Yes I am, can’t you tell??
Johnson played well. His throwing motion reminds me of Cam Newton.
A 5th year man that is 3rd on the depth chart of a team with average QB’s. How else does this guy have to look mediocre before people stop expecting anything else from him?
102.1 rating.
His playing time tells me everything I need to know. If the coaches thought he was better we’d see him in the second or maybe even the first quarter but we don’t. He can put up a perfect passer rating for all I care, if it’s against players that might not even be on the team come September then it’s mostly pointless.
Grant,
He did have a good game. He missed on the deep ball but you can tell how important his arm strength is against better, faster defenses like Houston. Kap has the same arm strengdth but he’s got the same interception issues as last year. The DB’s are reading him and they just dropped 2 picks tonite.
Tolzein does not have the arm strength nor the mobility to beat better defenses. Look at how he played against the Texans 3rd and 4th stringers. Not a peep from the Tolzein camp tonight!
JJ did look like the better QB tonight on a night where none of the Niners QB’s looked very good.
Coffee,
He has to start somewhere. He couldn’t come here and take Smith’s job. Harbaugh has nurtured Smith’s weak ego since day 1. Now JH has to continue to stroke his ego in hoes that Smith buys in, knowing he’s still butt hurt behind the Manning ordeal. Josh can outplay both Tolzein and Kap, just like he did tonite. You’re right about 1 thing, he needs the reps.
Gotta remember, everyone can’t start. Look at his body of work and compare it with Kap and Tolzein’s. If we lost Smith, I think JJ looks like the best 2nd option on the team. Lets see what happens in this 3rd game. Also in the finally. I certainly believe he will be on this team.
As soon as a single person on the team thinks the same way you guys do then we’ll see JJ start coming in sooner then the second half of pre-season games. Until then you’re talking about a 5th year player that is nothing more then a third string player, prove me wrong by showing me a depth chart that says otherwise.
Grant
He only attempted 6 passes. Too small a sample size to use QB rating. The 2 misses were on throws where he nets 2 TD’s if perfectly thrown. That fact is ignored by the rating system. And I don’t think his WR’s dropped any balls like they did for AS/CK/ST. That really lowers the rating when none of the QB’s throw even 10 times. 2-3 drops there really skews the results to a point of being useless as any reliable indicator of performance.
BS, you’re a real idiot. You watch the game but you don’t look at it. The 3rd deep ball to Jenkens was called back because of a holding penalty. It wouldn’t have counted anyway clown. Why are you still here. You are the most uneducated alien I know. What is wrong with you?
Welcher
“BS”
Well, you certainly are the last letter of your term. You’ve known it better than a pig farmer.
Do the blog a favor and depart. Never to return.
@DS ” A certain other WR, don’t see him diving.”
You really want to see a “certain other WR” dive for passes 5 feet over his head?
MSC,
BS claims that crabs dropped the either pass that smith threw to him. The alien is a head case!
@Jordan, I don’t call people names and I rarely respond to you because you are, quite simply, rude.
I don’t agree with DS about much but I also don’t call him names. There’s no reason for it. We can disagree and debate without acting like children.
Frankly, it is embarrassing that you agree with me about Alex Smith. I would prefer better company.
Hahaha MCL!
According to DS and Prime MC should make any and every catch their ‘golden boy’ throws!
These two haters are the blog comedians. Except that we don’t laugh with them, we laugh at them!
@AES I completely agree that Prime (and his multiple personalties) deserves as much invective as Jordan. He’s not a positive contributor here.
DS keeps it civil though even though I disagree with him most of the time.
Snap!
MSC,
It’s sad that you agree with me about Alex Smith. I make it a point not to address you at all and I’m sure that I can expect you to do the same. I address DS, I mean Bs the way it does because it does the same with me. At least we have an agreement.
baby brees in…..yeah buddy…….
With 10-plus minutes to go in the game, the 9ers are 2-10 on 3rd downs and OH for the night again in the Red Zone, with 3 FGs to show for the evening’s work. Looks like more of the same with regard to last season’s production in those areas despite the addition of some key personnel on offense.
David Akers – Offensive MVP
DSL is a pompous arse. An ignoramus of uniquely ginormous proportions. Rice never dove, and in his legends program he explained why. If someone wants to speak with a tone of authority on the Niners, learn about the team’s epic heroes. Until then, shut your goddanmnmnmnd mouth.
Hi fellow “it”
May want to check out my post above at 10:08 above. Will you apologize? I wager you won’t.
Typical hater. Just hating before you bother to even investigate at all. Watch and listen/believe every word from FOX news? I know you do.
Ta-ta!
looks like dixon is getting extra work late in the game….and he isn’t showing as well as he did in the beginning
well clearly something is wrong with this blog’s chronological posts
Grant booted someone and when that happens the blog gets screwed up.
Should I start a new one?
Yes
Second.
I’m just joining the party, but from what I’ve noticed from the posts is the passing game is awful from the starters on down, the offensive is trying to one-up their horrendous performance against the Saints in last year’s preseason game, and our secondary has the elite QBs salivating. Please tell me I’m wrong. Please.
Offensive line.
Thats pretty much it, whole team isnt sharp tonight.
It’s been pretty bad MWN. None of the units have looked good – offense, defense or special teams.
Thankfully it’s preseason so this disaster doesn’t count.
maybe if you didnt drink so much,the game would have been better bozo………
Time to switch to your other account Latino Prime.
At least the running game looks good. Speaking of which, any update on Jacobs’ injury?
I havnt heard of an update on Jacobs. The running game is probably the only thing that looked ok I wouldnt say great.
This isnt looking good Jacobs now LaMic
And… we’re back to square 1! Let’s go Boobie! Is it too late to sign Jeff Demps? (jk)
Well, we’re down to the same rb’s we had last year! This sucks!
JH:
“As for Jacobs, he’s working through something, probably for the next 6 months.”
“As for LaMic, I think we dodged a bullet there.”
HAHA Thanks for the laugh!
Well, we’re down to the same rb’s we had last year! This sucks!
oops! computer actin up!
One thing I’ve learned as an NFL (and 49er) fan since 1967 is not to get too excited about preseason games (just really learned that about 3 years ago – I’m kinda slow) – they usually don’t carry over into the regular season. We’ll know by the end of Sept how Alex and the offense are doing. Having said that, from his college videos, I thought Kaep had a tremendous ceiling – would really like to see him show something.
Grant
Idea… For the season: check out Branch’s blog and emulate his quarter by quarter approach. While you’re facilitating the realtime gameblog, compose a parallel, more prosaic fabric of impressions that relates to the Superbowl expectations we all share. It would be cool to see.
Everything was messed up today, offense, defense, special teams, play calling, injuries, refereeing, post game show, commentating, this blog screwing up the order, and everyone here tonight. lets just CTRL+Alt+del this evening!!
chuckling
wow cbs get rid of vern glenn please, this guy is just awful
lol, horrible and really short too
- The the defense looks pretty mortal sans Aldon and Brooks
- These officials are awful
- AJ Jenkins at least showed he can run good routes and get open deep. Great signs, despite the overthrown balls.
- Kaep HAS to learn to read underneath coverage, and stop telegraphing his throws so much. Funny, his delivery has no wasted motion on rollouts, but in the pocket DBs are jumping on passes.
- Dobbs got nice pressure. Looks like the 49ers are in a 4-3 defense on passing downs with Dobbs at OLB (really DE).
PS… What’s this guy on radio 810AM smoking? Five minutes ago he said LaMichael was “marginal” and a “longshot to make the team” so his injury was not a big deal, and just said Jenkins was “on the bubble” as far as making the final roster. LOL. Yeah right.
Good stuff B2W. Jenkins’ play was encouraging, as was Dobbs’.
Prime Time says:
August 18, 2012 at 8:23 pm
“I hear you DS and I’m hoping Crabtree becomes an integral part of our offense. I’m done hoping for the positive attitude from him, now it’s about having a good season.
Did you watch the game, thoughts?”
@Prime
“now it’s about having a good season.”
Ahhh, like leading the team in receptions? Wow, your hate for MC is off the charts bud.
Have you and DS contacted the 49ers front office yet? Surely you two must continue to be livid over MC as YOUR Starting WR (lol).
Pretty putrid effort from team 1 to team 4.
Alex and Kaep both had nice moments and Kendall Hunter looked good. Moss showed he can still burn cornerbacks. Akers hit 2 50+ yard FGs. So there was some good in this game.
But yeah, overall, blah. Pass defense really worried me.
yep pass defense and OL play,
along with proper pre-snap readings of opposing defense by QB to recognize Moss could be in a favorable setup and to sneak a quick look first before checking down….i think this is a legitimate request on AS’s improvement…that would demonstrate to me accuracy in the accolade “expert in the offense”, i.e. QB knowing at any moment any of the rcvrs have a favorable potential match up and needs the play/route to develop a bit more before checking down
it is like i would call time out and just ask AS did he see moss open….or did he have an inkling moss was in a route that would resulted in a big game with little chance of a defense play being made…did he recognize on post-snap the safety out of position i.e. not being able to close the gap on moss …. this is probably what JH needs to do to challenge AS to take it to the next level…. i still remain hopeful AS will begin to recognize potential big play situations as he barks out the signals and acts on them….just doing that one play to moss up the middle would probably have tempered a lot of negativity towards AS….
“gain” instead of “game”
JG, quite a few good points (questions) you present. I’ve been watching the replay (since I missed the game real time) and you’ll see that on the Moss play you reference that VD dropped the ball for what would have been a good gain. Remember this was preseason. They will have designed plays for RM during the season. Not to worry. They”ll connect.
If we wanna make predictions based upon good play against third stringers in the pre-season then we should discuss how it looks like Russell Wilson might just be the Seachickens starting QB.
Coffee,
That’s what the Tolzein fans did last week. I guess you were busy on th Seahawks site instead.
“I guess you were busy on th Seahawks site instead.”
Woah nelly, I guess I’ve been put in my place. I almost feel like reenacting the scene from Roxanne when Martin tells the guy to throw a dart to see how many better put downs he has to come up with and then of course just torches the guy for the next 5 minutes.
hmmm, very canadian like…..nelson, b.c. very close to seahawks country
I’ve missed all preseason games of the Raiduhs and Fort nineurs…and don’t feel like I’ve missed anything important. Have I?
When the starters were in, this game looked like a repeat of the 2011 team. Running game looked good. Passing game was rough, both Smith and the o line have some work to do. Defense gave up some yards but kept them out of the end zone.
The injuries to Jacobs and James really sting. From what Harbaugh said Jacobs looks to be out for a while but should be able to come back.
The defensive secondary is the issue againt this year There wasn’t any change to it from last season and that’s going to be the biggest issue this year.
The Qb’s we face thsi year can drive down the field at will, but the majority of the scoring is on long bombs. Just the thing our secondary can’t cover. They can stop the redzone play when it’s inside the 10 because the OLBs can help in coverage. Going to be a long season if those CBs aren’t fixed.
DS94everXev says:
August 18, 2012 at 9:28 pm
AES
“Once again you fire the first shot with your name calling.
Before your “All in” you rarely did. Now you do it all the time. Way to use your love of the team and defending of a player as an excuse to lower the conversation down to your now sadly low level.”
@DS
I told you that I would be here all season DS. As long as MC (our leading WR) continues to be bashed by you and prime, I will be lurking in the shadows (lol)!
You said that MC should have dived for a low pass from AS. Funny isn’t it, that MC is criticized for not diving while you fail to mention AS’ missing RM on what may have been a TD, or fail to say anything about VD’ drop.
Just call me the ‘cape crusader’ (lol), who will call you out on your insatiable hate of MC.
“ALL IN!” (with ALL 49er players)
LaMichael James Tweet from an hour ago “I will be 100% at practice Monday In full force believe that go 9ers thanks for all the support I love you guys!”
Watched the game tonight. Lets remember, they were playing the Texans. The Texans are the real deal. Offense, defense and special teams are strong for the TExans.
The Niners defense will settle down and be ok. We need JS and Aldon Smith in there to reak havok and we will be fine.
Offense. First lets start with the unfortunate. BJ got dinged up. Lets hope it’s minor. We have not had a short yardage o
Continued- We have not had a short yardage option since, well since I don’t remember when…While Gore looked good, hunter looked incredible. He runs like Gore, looks to finish his runs, but he is quicker and faster. Unlike Gore, Hunter will not get caught from behind regularly.
QB’s. Smith looked average tonight. And he got his ass kicked while doing it. I see NOTHING in Smith that is going to improve his third down percentage, his overall yardage or his scoring.
Kaepernick looked better and more comfortable from the pocket than last week. He is looking to establish chemistry with Moss. That is obvious. Kaepernick’s numbers looked average tonight. He had a beautiful backshoulder pass dropped by Moss. Overall, pocket passing improved, needs to continue to work on reading defense. Almost had a pick six. Best thing about Kaep is his attack mentality. Love his aggressiveness.
Glad JJ got a chance to play with the 3′s. He actually looked like the best QB on the field tonight. Doesn’t mean much. Need to see more of a sample of that. My feeling is that I was too quick to proclaim Tolzien king. I am beginning to think ST is going to be the odd man out if they do not suit up 4 QB’s….
David Akers you are my fantasy kicker and you ARE THE MAN…..
Bay, it is preseason and there is no game planning. The whole team will be fine. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Really, you saw “NOTHING”? I guess that 25 yd pass to ginn on 3rd down was a fluke.
Kaepernick still has the tendency not to see all the defensive players converging around his target. He should have had a couple of picks but was lucky. Until he corrects that I’d be very nervous if he were put in as a starter, I could see game-changing and game-killing TOs like clockwork. Sort of like the Alex of years past ;)
9ers have alot to clean up before the season starts. Just like last year the o-line did well run blocking but were not great in pass blocking. You can say the Texans deserve the credit but they were missing 3 starters on their d-line. The passing game just isn’t very good. Watching Alex Smith play football is extremely frustrating. He has talent. He’s smart. BUT he has HORRIBLE pocket awareness and his pre-snap calls to help set up blocking assignments is terrible. His reads are extremely slow and he checks down for small gains when he has wide open receivers running down the field. There was one play in particular where Smith tried to hit a shallow route when Randy Moss was open 25 yards down field. There wasn’t a Texan within 10 yards of Moss. Alex Smith is an 8 year pro with many starts under his belt. If he can’t see those throws by now you have to wonder when it will be time to cut bait.
“he has HORRIBLE pocket awareness”
Very true. He as no “feel” there. Anytime the D gets close to him in the pocket, he drops his eyes and is looking for an escape instead of keeping his eyes downfield and sliding from the rush. This is something that the elite QB’s do. He missed a play last week against the Vikings because of it, and missed at least 1-2 more this week because of it.
Wow! I’m getting nervous again about smiths pocket awareness and field vision. I hoped he would be more advanced by now. The moss miss was a concern because it’s the same 2 that he didn’t see in the NFC title game. When playing defensive type games those 1 or 2 misses or connections are what usually,
A: win or lose games
B: separate top flight qb’s and average qb’s
There was some pressure but Houston’s defense is very good. I thought smith could have used another second or two on a couple of plays before panicking and running out of the pocket. These are the things I’ve seen over the years that negates every alexcuse there is. I did like the roll out pass and vision he had to hit ginn. I hope that’s just a sign of things to come. CK looked inexperienced, JJ took shots like I want to see from smith, Tolzein looked like he was trying to do to much. I liked the aggressiveness but the accuracy was bad.
Defense (starters) played like they always do, but what scares the living hell out of me is the reserves. And with the injuries from yesterday it reminds me that no team goes all year as healthy as the 49ers did last season. So I’m hoping the reserves will be better prepared in case of injuries this season.
Akers is the man. I didn’t think he had a leg like that. I know he’s hit a couple of long ones, and is nails with his accuracy, but those two fg’s had plenty more room for another 5 yards or so.
My overall opinion (watching the starting units) is that the offense really hasn’t improved from last season. The defense and st look the same. I’m not hitting a panic button, but I’m hoping the offense led by Mr Smith comes out next week and shows some improvement the coaches and players have been talking about. Smith STILL NEEDS to work on the pocket presence and field vision. Let’s see if #11 can get it done.
One last thing. And I can’t let this one go because it’s so ridiculous I almost threw up. Ds the second biggest Alex smith fan on here says this of a first ballot hall of fame wide reciever KNOWN for these two moneymaking, td grabbing weapons he has on the end of his arms called hands. “add RM to the list of needing softer hands” I can’t help but think of the worst comments I’ve EVER read on here “and it’s been a long time since I’ve been on here and reading onelames comments” that this is by far the most embarrassing and ridiculous comment I’ve ever read. WOW!
Good stuff md. Agree with almost everything you said.
MD,
Great and balanced perspective. I think we’ve all been saying throughout the TC and preseason process that these are the areas on offense that need improvement.
The weapons are there, now AS has to use them. Safe Alex will need to take some chances.
“The moss miss was a concern because it’s the same 2 that he didn’t see in the NFC title game. When playing defensive type games those 1 or 2 misses or connections are what usually,
A: win or lose games
B: separate top flight qb’s and average qb’s”
YOU ARE totally jumping the gun here! I’ve got the play stopped on that exact play on my Directv box and AS has released the ball at the 9ers 35 (in stop action the ball is in flight at the 31) VD has his man beat at the 24.5 yd line, and RM is at the 16 in lock step with his man (hasn’t beaten him yet). The point is the ball has been released and in the air before RM is open.
The point is he didn’t miss him. The ball was already out before RM beat his man. Take a look!! BTW, if VD catches that ball it is a big gain or a score. That side of the field is wide open.
It’s fine to scrutinize every play but make sure you are correct in your assumptions. Like I said, I have it on stop action right now and I’m telling you what I see.
The man covering Moss is running right with him but on the outside, and the safety is already beat. If Smith throws it to the inside the DB would have to go through the much bigger Moss to get to the ball.
Smith just missed the shot on that one.
Jack, I wish I could agree but you are incorrect. Like I mentioned, I have it on stop action now as we discuss. It is the exact frame I described. The ball is out *before* RM beats his man. RM is at the 16 yd line with his man in step next to him, the ball is in the air at the 30.5 yd line, and VD has a step on his defender at the 24.5 yd line. The ball was already out.
…..Finally Hoferfan67 thinking outside the hater box……
“I’ve got the play stopped on that exact play on my Directv box and AS has released the ball at the 9ers 35 (in stop action the ball is in flight at the 31) VD has his man beat at the 24.5 yd line, and RM is at the 16 in lock step with his man (hasn’t beaten him yet). The point is the ball has been released and in the air before RM is open.
The point is he didn’t miss him. The ball was already out before RM beat his man. Take a look!! BTW, if VD catches that ball it is a big gain or a score. That side of the field is wide open.”
I didn’t watch the game but detailed breakdowns like this really help clean the blog of haterade comments…
Oneniner says, “I didn’t watch the game” Yet you continue to weigh in with no idea what you are talking about. AWESOME!
oneniner
I agree. If hof is correct (and I am assuming he isn’t lying to us here), AS threw it to the right WR. Perhaps you an argue that AS should have waited to throw the ball, but if RM wasn’t open when AS is in the process of throwing the ball, while VD is (and he was) then it is just one of those plays where it sucks AS doesn’t have a DVR in his head and TC cameras to look at while playing.
I don’t know if VD gets a big play, but it is certainly a nice gain of at least 6-7 yards since he did get some nice seperation from his DB, and had room to run on the sideline. A gain of 6-7 on that play makes the rest of the drive a lot easier. Maybe we score a TD later.
VD is blaming himself for that play. AS will probably wish he should have waited longer before throwing it. Considering VD is AS’s BEST playmaker with the ball, can’t much blame him when he throws to him when he is open. But best they figure this all out now in the pre-season, right?
It’s true. Let someone tell me anything different. Now if those that disagree want to say AS should have held the ball longer until RM released from his man, that’s one thing. But to say he missed him, is completely false. It was a bang bang play that VD simply dropped.
hof
I didn’t mean anything offensive towards you in my opening sentence. There is a way of reading that which doesn’t sound very nice towards you. I didn’t mean it like that.
Hof… You’re crazy brotha. That was my point if smith waits and reads the field just a little longer it’s a td. Moss was open and he’d the safety beat also. The announcers said it, the writers said it, and my boys that were over watching it said it. I picked that play out out watched it over 3 times and even we all agreed and I will say 2 of my boys are smith backers. Gotta say you’re wrong on this one Hof.
You know I got smiths back again Hof, but I still have to keep it real with with deficiencies. I’m saying he’s got his confidence finally, he’s got some leadership skills now, his accuracy has gotten better. Now he needs to work on the vision and pocket awareness. That’s not hating, that’s just wanting to see a player get better for the teams sake.
And onelame shut up. Like you would ever agree to a fault on Alex smith. The day you actually keep it real will be the day you earn a spec of credibility. I won’t hold my breath.
MD, wait? Why? VD had his man beat by a step and had that side of the field open. It was a bang bang play that should have picked up 10+ yds or a TD. Take a look. Do you have Directv or Tivo? I know what I saw and you know I don’t (would not) make this up.
It is funny. They are airing the replay of the game on NFL network right now. Totally different announcers calling the game, don’t know if they are Houston’s or not, but on that play there is no mention of Alex totally missing a wide open Moss. I agree with Hofer. Smith saw Vernon on the crossing route, with nothing but open territory thanks to RM clearing out that side of the field. He throws just before/right when Randy maybe has one step up on the DB, but to say he flat out missed a wide open RM is dumb. Smith has missed plenty of wide open receivers for would be TD’s, this however, was not one of them.
……just like any un-informed comment……it starts on way then flips to the other….
Ninermd the clown wrote …”The moss miss was a concern because it’s the same 2 that he didn’t see in the NFC title game.”
(jack as usual jumps on anything to bash Alex)
After getting debunked by Hof…….
Ninermd the clown now says “That was my point if smith waits and reads the field just a little longer it’s a td. “……
That was your point???….lol…lmao…..dude you are a total loser……
@jack……Hof was pretty clear in his post, if you had a brain you would have figured out he is not lying or trying to make stuff up……….especially Hof who we all know never questions the haters……
@oneniner
Had AS waited for RM possibly getting open, he would have lost VD who WAS open on an easier pass to throw to a playmaker he knows best.
Some here need to consider that. I know they won’t. But they should.
Hof……Top tier qb’s see and take the Moss route because he was also open. Why is it OK to settle for a crossing route 8 yards up instead of seeing one open 15 yards up and a sure td? We will not win unless Smith takes more time and makes his decisions better and making those throws. He’s gotta get better at that plain and simple. Any top 5 qb hits Moss and its a td. My problem isnt with the pass to VD, Its that Smith always throws the ball to hot reads to quickly. Had he taken the time he was clearly givin Its a td. I have Direct and paused it. And you see he had time, and didnt look for Moss on his route, if he had at least looked for a second its a wrap. Thats what Im hoping he works on. You know he has a history of checking down waaay to early. And that was another time he did so. NO field vision at all.
And Onelame….You didnt watch the game and you’re on here talking. Yeah Im the clown. Good to know you get your Alex Smith reports from other bloggers who favor Smith rather than your own eyes. Now its clear. Now we know why you’re a Moron. All clear now. Pathetic! HA HA HAAAA CAANT WATCH THE GAME. WHEEEEW
oneniner,
Try watching the game before commenting on it.
oneniner says:
August 19, 2012 at 10:37 am
……just like any un-informed comment……it starts on way then flips to the other….
And this moron didn’t even watch the game. How does anyone take this clown seriously? Smh
Reflections of the game:
1. We are playing very vanilla right now.
2. The Texans are a very good football team.
3. QB play was not good. And not one was better then the other.
4. Receivers continue to drop the ball
5. O line great on runs, not so good on pass protection
6. Hunter looks very very good.
7. Jenkins looked better
8. James is going to have to put on some muscle
9. Ackers is still Ackers :)
10. Special Teams had its issues also.
11. 3rd down and red zone, different year same problems.
14. Very little pass pressure from our defense
15. Pass defense continues to be a concern.
All in all not a good performance against a top tier team. The offense looked ragged no matter who the QB was. I was really hoping to see the QB play improve, it did not. Still its only pre season and without a doubt we got some improving to do across the board but I am confident it will work itself out.
Good post
Whew… this was a rough one.
1) O-line (again) still having some issues.
2) Smith got lucky, slight turn to the side when he had that big feller land on him and he’s got another shoulder separation. That had to hurt. Smith looked 50/50 out there to me. Did a couple good things, missed a few.
3) CK’s big wind-up might as well be the PA announcer telling the secondary where he’s going with the ball. At some point a DB will hang on to the ball and take it to the house. Nice deep shot to Moss (which he will catch nine times out of ten.)
4) No game planning takes a lot of the fun out of this, not much in the way of multiple reads – one take and gone for the QBs. That’s a bit dull but I guess they’re trying to see a few specific things work.
5) I still like watching pre-season games for the kids trying to make the team (the only redeeming value of pre-season in my opinion.) It always seems like there’s one or two guys that will step up and make a name for themselves and Bakhtiari for example seems to be that guy this season. I think it was Dobbs last pre-season (if I remember right.)
6) JJ had a couple of nice tosses out there for some good yards but I agree with Tim Ryan, Tolz is the better QB. I also agree that its possible the #2 isn’t set yet and Tolz could / should be competing for that spot. Also agree that we should take anything Harbaugh says at face value.
7) That Tavechio (spelling?) kid has a good leg, hope he finds a good home somewhere because Akers is still the man. 55-yard FG, sweet!
8) LaMike needs a season. All I’ve got to say about that is: Kendall Hunter!
9) Brandon Jacobs’ injury looked like an MCL. Better than an ACL but that might just have given Boobie a bit of breathing room, although I don’t see much difference between him and Rock Cartwright.
10) Secondary needs to get its act together. I’d say Brock is on the bubble at this point but no one played all that great out there.
11) We certainly missed having Ahmad Brooks and Aldon Smith. The intensity isn’t the same without those guys.
12) I think starter-to-starter we’d have beaten the Texans but we’ve got some injuries at key positions and at the depth positions that seemed to have put a bit of a damper on this (so it would have been a slugfest if it were real.)
All-in-all a lackluster (and unlucky where injuries are concerned) effort by the Niners. I’d say a “D” performance overall. They just weren’t that sharp at any position group, in my opinion.
#6 …should *not* take anything Harbaugh says at face value.
“should *not* take anything Harbaugh says at face value.”
Harbaugh actually says very little, so there isn’t much to take. As for the other “stuff” I think he believes what he is saying. The Manning stuff was an exercise in semantics, and when he talks about Smith, Crabtree, or any other player in glowing terms that is how he views them.
He may believe it but it doesn’t mean the rest of us should and/or it doesn’t make what he says true. But I think most of us have that figured out by now.
Adam,
What do you think he has said that isn’t true?
Missed the refs: Mediocre at best. Clocks running off, missed late hits, missed pass interference calls. They caught some righteous stuff: Anthony Davis, Anthony Davis, Anthony Davis, but blew some obvious calls.
BTW: Anthony Davis needs to get it together, the snow plow that pancaked Smith was on him. Offsides and false starts were also on him. Dude has some work to do.
I also missed Michael Thomas’ nice safety blitz on Yates or Keenum (forget now who was in.) I still like Keenum, I think he has a future somewhere, somehow. Hard for these run-and-gun guys or specialty QBs to get a toehold but… maybe.
Grant its time for a new blog eh!!!
Watched the 1st quarter over again this morning. the interior pass blocking was very poor. i understand that smith took responsibility thats what a leader does regardless of how poorly the O line blocks the QB puts it on his shoulders, the O line will only play harder for him next time. now before everyone starts screaming that i’m defending smith let me make it clear i dont give a damn about smith i’m a 9er fan. i like kap, tolzien and jj and will root my ass off for whomever harbaugh decides on but it does’nt matter who he chooses the o line play especially the interior line has to improve greatly. i wonder if the coaching staff does’nt emphasize run blocking ability over pass blocking. the starting line certainly can run block but pass blocking ……
Old Coach,
I too watched the game again this morning. I agree with your assessment. They give up on their plays too soon. Part of the OL play is lack of game plan, the other is just poor play as you mention. AS will always put the blame on himself – the consummate team player – but I (we) know what we saw.
So does Barrows Hofer
http://blogs.sacbee.com/49ers/archives/2012/08/film-review-good-thing-alex-smith-wore-his-mouthpiece.html
While Hofer will say that Smith is a leader that is taking the blame for weaknesses on the team, I see an average QB that is accountable….
http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-san-francisco-niners/niners-talk/Smith-blames-self-not-line-for-punishmen?blockID=759359&feedID=2800
What has a better chance of happening? Can a guy like Smith “finally get it”? The fact that he needs to attack more early, versus when we are down. Or can a guy like Kaepernick become less predictable for safeties to read so that he won’t be so susceptable to turnovers in the flat?
We know that experience will help Kaepernick grow in this area. How come eight years of NFL experience have not helped Smith look downfield?
Observation, LeMichael James does need to muscle up. He’s not ready for more than a small handful of touches a game right now…. Brooks, Aldon and Justin, we desperately need you young men….
…can we please get a new page…..
I missed last night’s game due to a social obligation; sounds like I had a better night than those who watched! Kidding; mostly. It’s P#2, if the guys take it as a wake-up call we’re probably ok. I caught Harbaugh on Sports Center in his post-game presser: the expression on his face told me plenty. I hope they mug F.P. Soft in the locker room! (the attitude, not the poster here)