49ers 10, Browns 24: Grades

CLEVELAND

Here are the grades for the San Francisco 49ers’ 24-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

GABBERT: F. Sacked himself three times by running out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage. Completed 9-of-15 passes for just 76 yards through the first three quarters, then boosted his stats during garbage time. Led the offense to 10 points against a defense that had given up 28.9 points per game coming into Sunday. Shameful.

RUNNING BACKS: F. Shaun Draughn rushed for 43 yards against a defense that had been giving up 136.3 rushing yards per game. Shameful.

WIDE RECEIVERS: F. Quinton Patton caught a deep pass that didn’t count because he committed an illegal motion penalty before the snap. This was the play of the game for the offense. Shameful.

TIGHT ENDS: F. Blake Bell made three catches and couldn’t block to save his life. Shameful.

OFFENSIVE LINE: F. Gave up nine sacks, but at least three were Gabbert’s fault. Still, nine sacks. Shameful.

DEFENSIVE LINE: F. Gave up 230 rushing yards for the second time in the past four games. Isaiah Crowell, who came into the game with 397 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown through 12 games, rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns against the Niners. Shameful.

LINEBACKERS: F. NaVorro Bowman and Gerald Hodges missed roughly 45 tackles. Corey Lemonier grabbed Johnny Manziel’s facemask in the end zone and negated a safety that would have cut the deficit to five points before halftime. Shameful.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: F. Eric Reid packed it in. He’s supposed to be a run-enforcer, but instead of delivering blows he tried to catch running backs with his chest. Shameful.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B. Hey, these guys were pretty good!

COACHES: F. Geep Chryst kept asking tight ends and fullbacks to block defensive ends, Eric Mangini kept using zone coverages that didn’t cover anyone, and Jim Tomsula kept staring into space with a blank expression. Shameful.

This article has 348 Comments

    1. When does the FO start getting in on these grades each week?
      TRENT BAALKE – F – Let the team spiral from near first to last partly because of failing to restock the players correctly, whether through FA or the draft.
      JED YORK – F – Has failed to see Baalke is a big part of the blame along with himself who picked and still thinks Tomsula is the answer.

      1. DENISE & JOHN YORK – F – Another week has passed without reassigning their son to ‘Director of Event Booking’ at Levi’s Stadium because he’s ruined the football team sharing the facility but shown great skills in landing Lady GaGa types.

  1. With all the injuries, special teams did pretty darned well. If Pinion works out, Baalke’s next job should be a 5th round draft specialist, with Dial, Lynch and Pinion.

    1. Just like we got NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBODY for a QB. They better draft Jared Goff and make Gabert the stop gap QB. They need to write off next year and let AFC, NFC East, Chicago or Det and Tampa or Atl own them.

      1. People need to get off the draft Goff schtic already. What good is his spindly frame and our horrific OL going to do?

      2. From what I’ve read, Goff is not that good of a QB, I think they need to wait
        to get another QB. Goff plays for the Cal bears, and they don’t up to
        NFL standards.

  2. Reid wasn’t the only one to have a bad day in the secondary. I lost track of the number of times Tartt lost track of the guy he was supposed to be covering. With Reid, he had a bad game, but was better than many others on D until the game was over, then he gave up much like most of his teammates.

    So many missed tackles. DL got man-handled. Very little pressure put on Manziel. Zone coverages that had guys coming free far too easily when Manziel scrambled. Ugly.

    On offense, blocking was terrible as an entire group, even letting 3-man pass rushes get pressure. Gabbert was max-Jaguars Gabbert, running for his life and making bad decisions. Looks like his confidence in the pocket has already waned. Ugly.

    1. A lot of those plays GC is writing about the Browns RB’s had already blown through Purcell and both ILB’s with a full head of steam. So you’re right Scooter, he can pick on Reid but its sort of like blaming the goalie after the defense has been beaten badly.

  3. I know we are injury depleted and alot of stalwarts are gone, but the coaching is the worst….no wonder they look like they packed it in. I hope they fire tomsula and company, too bad we cant fire Jed.

  4. I agree with everything. This is as FAIL as it gets in the NFL top to bottom. Jim Tomsula after the game: “…the San Francisco 49ers played a poor football game.” Does that not sound to you like a guy who’s detached himself from the organization and checked out, Grant C?

    1. I never watch the Tomsula interviews without the need to throw my TV and my radio out the window and run to my razor in the bathroom to slit my throat. Tomsula has to be fired. I can not and will not stomach another year of Tomsula. He’s beyond an idiot.

      1. Hes a big, big part of it—who should have never been hired as a HC in the first place. BAALKE is responsible for this product, top to bottom.

  5. Sorry; Grant’s got it right this time.
    Pathetic all the way around. Non-competitive. Painful to watch even.

    The only potential silver lining is that it may get the much-needed house cleaning started.
    Now’s your time Jed.
    If you fumble the ball and say/do nothing after this, you are the moron that everyone thinks you are.

    1. Are you pleading with someone you’ve labeled a moron to take action? Why not ask him to admit he is a football moron, and then ask him to get some football help. Where is Joe Thomas when we need him?

    2. Honestly, without being sarcastic-from his body of work, you can TELL what Jed York is already………

  6. Well, that was the most recent and prodigious organizational failure in team history. I say that because every week has potential to be worse than the previous week. I can’t shake the feeling these performances are a malformed organizational conspiracy. Perhaps I give York Inc. too much credit- this is more than likely mere ownership incompetence.

  7. Bingo Grant!

    I actually feel bad for Tomsula. Baalke picked his co-ordinators for him, and they have the familiar feel of AJ Jenkins. They’ll all be gone next year.

    1. But in all fairness…a head coach who doesn’t care or want to pick his own coordinators should never be a head coach.

      1. the question is…does Tomsula even have a say in the matter…other than being permitted to nod his head?

    2. Your wrong, Baakle let Tomsula make the picks on all coaches and co-ordinators, and that shows how dumb tommy boy is about football, clueless.

  8. The offense continues to be a juggernaut behind Gabbert, once again failing to score more then 13 points.

      1. Come on Cassie is it a shameful juggernaut or a smouldering dumpster. We need to be consistent.

    1. If the team unravels over the remaining games of the season, you have to imagine it will be what a lot of people are hoping for – a complete overhaul of the coaching staff, and potentially a new GM as well.

            1. Cam Inman ✔ @CamInman
              #49ers Anquan Boldin on 9 sacks: ‘No comment about that. I don’t want to seem like I’m throwing anybody under the bus.”

              1. I think it would take some doing to be worse than today. But I’m sure they have it in ’em!

            2. That comment looks a little too terse, so I’ll say it in another way. We thought the Arizona debacle was the low light of the season, and then we saw an uninspired 49ers team coming off a bye week allow a franchise worst 208 yards on the ground by Thomas Rawls. So most of us thought, ” Okay, that is as low as this team can go.” Then we are witnesses to this team getting blown by the worst team in the league and our QB getting sacked a franchise worst 9 times with three of them coming by his own doing. I don’t think we can rule out that it could get worse than even this utter embarrassment.

            3. All it would take for it to be worse than today would be some turnovers or a better opponent. It’s being stuck in the middle or lower for another bunch of York years that will make if feel worse.

  9. Hard to argue with the grades in general. The team played horribly. They did not look ready to play. If they keep this up I see a very high draft choice in their future.

    1. Wont matter about the draft pick. The one whos doing the picking has had 4 years worth of picks. Hows that been working out??? BOYCOTT THIS TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. a lot to cover today:

    1. I continue to firmly believe it would be a huge mistake to draft a qb in the first. I dont think any of the qbs out there are worthy of a top 10 pick. Goff had a decent first 5 games, but not so great in 2nd half. I watched him throw 3 picks on consecutive drives against UT – 5 picks total.

    2. We dont have a suitable understructure to support a rookie qb: Oline, TE, WR, rb all need to be improved or rehabilitated.

    3. We need a playmaker wr and a good slot wr like RCobb, Edelman etc. Our wr are not getting the job done: TSmith – 1 trick pony, Boldin – 1 trick pony (run 8 yards and wait for ball) , Patton – Decent but needs development, Ellington – cant catch consistently (big drop today)

    4. We need to honestly asses the hyde situation. Can this guy stay healthy. His talent is undeniable, but useless on the sidelines.

    5. O line needs an overhaul. Hey jed, it may require you to open your checkbook you cheapskate.

    6. The supporting cast is critical to the success of a qb and offense. Drafting a qb now would yield disastrous results. I could make a list of all the recent first round busts (Manuel, weeden, tebow, Rg3, ponder, bradford) but what is the point. Let’s instead consider one example – The Bills. They draft EJ and it was unsuccessful. They bring in competent new coaches, shady Mccoy, draft Watkins and improve O line and suddenly a former back-up qb ,Tyrod Taylor, is looking like a probowler.

    7. I think I just inadvertently complimented Greg Roman and Richy Incognito. InCognito is a Dbag , but the dude can block. Martin was a nice guy (allegedly) , but had no business in the NFL.

    8. The good news is that we have some capital to spend this offseason. We have approx 40 K in cap space and will have 2 draft picks in the top 40. With that we can bring in Oline help, top WR, ILB buddy for bowman and a replacement for Justin Smith. We cant let Baalke make those decisions however. Baalke is largely responsible for our current mess. He neglected Oline. He scared off top coaching talent. He has F-up top draft picks 4 years in a row. His over-the-hill free agents have not panned out . And project ACL is a trainwreck : Tank, lattimore, Brando thomas, Darnell dockett . If we keep baalke we will be like the browns, titans , rams , raiders etc. We will always have top draft picks, but nothing to show for it. We will be a forever 8-8 team.

    1. I don’t think it’s Baalke. It’s the cheapskate Yorks. Who want bargain basrment coaching and players.
      I bet Brooks, Boldin, Boone, and maybe Stanley are gone next year.

      1. There is the answer: the cheap Yorks and their ego-centric incompetent son
        …please leave!.

        Sell the team: back to winning ways with the likes of Steve Young and Brent Jones (rumored a few years ago that they were interested).

  11. Grant, I thought your grades were overly generous. I had expected a close game, but the game I had to watch was painful. So much to fix it is hard to know where to start.

    Since we will be stuck with this coaching staff at least thru next year (Tomsula is Denise’s favorite [cheap] coach and he will not be going anywhere), we must fix the offensive line first. What an embarrassment. I know that Baalke has some scheme where he will not pay players more than he thinks they are worth, but they must absolutely resign Boone. I love Joe Staley, but he is on the down side and will not last much longer. Boone and Staley can continue to be good for awhile. Except for the possibly Killgore there is nothing. Everybody wants to draft a qb, but nobody could play behind that abortion. The line must be fixed.

    Since I’m sure that Tomsula will be back the only positive I can take from this miserable season is that Chryst will be gone. It will be interesting to watch Tomsula try to hire an offensive coordinator. Who knows, he may get lucky.

    BTW, It was fun watching Johnny Football and many will comment that he should be the niners qb of the future. Johnny will always do well with his back against the wall, but he will never be able to handle success. Yes, he will self destruct once again. Maybe not right away, but it will happen. Book it.

    1. Tomsula will NOT be allowed to hire his own OC. It doesn’t make any difference because who would want to coordinate our talent and our strategy for hanging nothing but Superbowl flags.

        1. Why even grade at this point?
          This team sucks from top to bottom. Let’s just call this season an F!

          1. The really sad part is, with this ownership making the decisions, there is no reason to look towards the future. For the first time since 1970, Im checking out. I have never seen this level of poor mgmt. for the niners. Not worth following. The Joe Thomas years come close, but Eddie did something about that. Jed wont, because hes comfortable.

  12. I think this team so lacks talent it is a draft where they take the best available player regardless of position except Safety.

      1. Hey… My dad isn’t that bad. He did ask my mom out, and then married her. He does have an eye for value…

    1. The guy not playing is always better than the one playing. That’s a starter.

      It’s much too soon to know if Kilgore will improve over how he played before his long time on IR with multiple surgeries.

    2. Because Martin is so bad. Its not the people are high, people are sick of Martin’s performance and believe anything would be better.

  13. Everybody talks about rebuilding and needing draft picks. I believe there were 6 starters from last year playing today including punter, kicker, and returners. That is 6 of 25 including Bowman. Management just cleared away all the talent that did not retire. How can anybody think future when management destroyed the team on purpose?

    1. There seem to be 31 undrafted free agents on the squad including the practice squad. Seem high? Seem cheap? Seem talented?

    1. Those Banners flying over the park are our only hope. To embarrass ownership, mgmt…….that is the ONLY way to make change. Otherwise, with York/Baalke, you will see a very similiar product next year. Right now, york/baalke are looking for scapegoats. But their going to run out eventually……….

            1. Walsh’s goal his second year was that if they were going to lose then at least make it interesting. He did.

  14. What about bringing in Bill Musgrave as head coach? I remember him beating us when harbaugh was coach with Christian Ponder and that basket case of a wide receiver. Seems to have the raiders offense always competitive.

    1. He would cost too much. Besides, the York’s don’t know him so they couldn’t possibly hire him.

  15. Just watched some of Jim Tomsula’s post game comments. It’s painful to watch someone when they run out of cliches.

  16. I don’t think Gabbert is bad. Every QB struggles with pressure. Sure he made three poor decisions with 3 sacks that were his own fault, but 6 were not. This line is that atrocious. His receiving corps is equally as inept.
    Ellington dropped a 20 yard pass and Patton negated a 35 yard pass. Those two account for 55 yards and each was a new set of downs. It’s one step forward and three steps back.
    Gabbert would look like Aaron Rodgers if he was playing for New England. In SF any QB would struggle. The scheme on offense and defense is terrible. It appears this coaching staff would struggle to out coach a California high school team.
    I predicted this loss to Cleveland a month ago. The team was gifted a win against ATL and in Chicago. There are no more wins on this schedule. This team is absolutely the worst in the NFL. Baalke fielded the team, let the blame sit squarely with him.

    1. Kind of ironic that you’re using all the same rhetoric you bashed people for using with Kaepernick.

      1. I don’t think I bashed anyone over Kaepernick. I supported the choice of Kaepernick. I also said at the start of the season with this terrible line the 49ers would do better to trade Kaepernick before he diminishes his value and play Gabbert.
        Now, the team stands in the same circumstances. If they are going to keep Kaepernick, it would be smart contemplate trading Gabbert to New England at the end of the season. No matter who the QB is, they need help.
        Kaepernick would struggle behind this line because he is slow to release the ball.
        At the point where it was obvious the line wasn’t going to protect anyone, receivers would not help Kaepernick with his delivery and lack of reading ability. The opposite is true of Gabbert as long as he can avoid the shell shocking syndrome.

    2. “Gabbert would look like Aaron Rodgers if he was playing for New England.”
      ~ Matt

      Was kinda enjoying your take until you wrote this ^. Sorry for the loud SCREEEECHING sound. I’m out!

  17. Just replayed the 9er/Browns game on electric football.. 9ers lost. The Tomsula figure fell over and vibrated out of the north end zone…

  18. 9 sacks, hurried All game and penalties dropped passes and 3rd and forevers..
    Can’t put all the blame on Gabbert!
    He looked the worst he has since starting but anyone name a qb in the league who would have done decent with today’s pressure.

    Drougn was given the ball 11 times. ELEVEN TIMES!!!!

    This game was a train wreck on every part of this team. Leading with the coaching! Absolutely pathetic.
    Was Denise there to give tomsula a hug today? This is a day he really needed it!

    A rookie draft pick will have his career destroyed by this team!

  19. Sigh…

    This was a nightmare. The worst part is the components are in place for a repeat for this year and the next few years…

  20. One of the more troubling aspects of the 2015 team is the waste of an entire year of rebuilding. In other words, because of the choice in coaching personnel, as well as not actually embracing a rebuild, we are now a year behind by having to do it all over again.

    For example, the above reasons led to the following:
    – a rag-tag collection of coaches ill prepared to coach winning and sound football
    – the above group will now be partially replaced, at the least, which means implementation of new schemes
    – players will have to learn new schemes, again putting us behind learning curve
    – young players have only been given opportunities out of necessity (read: injury), thus young players like Brown, Hayne, Thomas, and to an extent Armstead and Carradine, have not been given ample experience to be evaluated and/or ready to make effective and prominent roles next year
    – those who have been forced to play have been provided with questionable coaching, thus delaying their development
    – we have no system or identity to build around

    We now have to reasses our core of players, draft needs, and coaching staff similarly to last year. Other than some extra young talent, we’re no further along in our rebuilding than in March.

  21. Think back to the glowing press releases and controlled interviews coming out of 9ers HQ last spring…leading up to training camp. Win with class, importance of teaching, what a fabulous coaching staff was being assembled, reloading… Remember??

  22. After this season Tomsula is owed $10.5 mil over the next 3 years whether or not he is the HC…

  23. Wow that has got to be, by far, the worst team performance in a very long time against a very bad team with a mediocre team. Gabbert had CK’s deer in the headlight look most of the day. The main difference between the teams was the pass rush. The Niners could not get to the QB and the O-Line, which was all knew was bad, gave up some really bad sacks. Gabbert held the ball way too long and it also look like the team just lacked focus. Getting beat by a really bad team is a really bad sign.
    Chryst has got to go. Gabbert is fine for now. Hard to gauge how good he really is because he has no RB and no TE.

    1. The thing that really disappointed me about Gabbert today was that he didn’t throw the ball away while running for the sidelines behind the line of scrimmage. Technically, that was two or three sacks, but I thought he was smarter than that.

              1. There is genuine like, but I don’t think you’d call it love. He’s not Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady, etc. Those guys are loved because they win games on their own. But Gabbert has generally been effective at what he is asked to do. Not so much this last game.

                He’s better than he looked this week, and perhaps next year he will have legit skill position players to work with, along with a functional OL. Then we’ll see. All that said, he’s better than Kap. For those of us who watch the game no matter what, it’s an improvement, as Kap was clearly in over his head. When defenses forced him to stay in the pocket and think, he proved incapable.

      1. Colin and Blaine both do that. Now I wonder if they are trying to keep their completion percentages up when they take short losses for a sack. Rogers backhanded a pass into an empty area of the end zone while he was being spun around today. He was trying to protect a good field goal spot.

    2. Still riding the Gabbert ship with hopes he’ll turn out to be Carson Palmer eh? We’ll average 13 points a game for the rest of the season. He’s just as bad as the previous QB, just less miles and hits. He looks a little prettier in a loss but all the tangibles are the same.

      I think we can conclude this team needs much more than a QB and no matte how much people want to blame the old QB we suck every where.

      1. Carson Palmer had a lot of bad years after his injury. It wasn’t until he landed in AZ that he became a MVP QB. Gabbert looked like CK7 today, but the one silver lining was he made a nice strong throw in the red zone.
        The team has a lot of needs, he’s going to turn out fine. The game really falls in the coaching staff. They are, who we thought they were. The defense does not travel at all. They have players outside of a pass rush specialist.

        1. Man you would have blasted CK for that throw that was slightly behind the receiver making him reach back for the ball and giving the DB a chance to catch and compete for the completion. Simpson almost lost that TD. How can 13pts a game be fine? 125yds in 4 quarters last week. He’s not fine. He’s the same. And now the game falls on the coaching staff? Irony of ironies.

          1. Wilson you seem to look past the fact that he was sacked 9 times and running for his life. I can’t remember a single pocket that was comfortable today. I don’t think some of you realize how important an o-line is.
            Look at Denver today. Same thing in the second half.
            The rb gets the ball 11 times. Against one of the worst run defenses in the league. How do you explain that?
            I’m SHOCKED he didn’t throw multiple ints today.
            I will say he screwed up big time with the run out of bounds to lose 3 yards, but what did it matter? The next play was a horrendous one anyways.
            Again I’d like for somebody to name ANY qb who would have won this game today.

            1. Oh I get it ninermd. What I don’t get is people blaming all the sacks on Kaepernick and then excusing Gabbert. And now all of sudden its the coaches fault not the QB’s. All I am asking for is consistency in one’s criticism.

              1. Yeah, hard to imagine Kaep could have been much worse than Gabbert today (though with the OL it is also hard to imagine he could have played much better). Actually its hard to imagine Gabbert could have played much worse either, for that matter. I guess he could have thrown a pick or two, just for good measure. Maybe that’s what Kaep would have done differently. :-P

                At least Gabbert’s poor play comes at a much cheaper price.

              2. The team is obviously over matched starting from the sideline and coaching booths. Kaepernick would have had a really rough day too. The defense is really young. Man we loaded with injuries and weak lines on both sides of the ball.

              3. I hear you there. Fan did put a lot of blame on CK.
                As did I after the meltdown in Arizona.
                But I have to say yesterday was probably the worst job from the o-line I’ve ever witnessed as a fan.

              1. Go back and look at some film when NY and Chicago was destroying our o-line and forcing Montana to look human. And a human having a bad day. Not even the great Montana wins that game yesterday.

          2. Gabbert played really bad. I’m not making any excuses for him. At the same time, let’s look at what he has — a 3rd string RB. and a 3rd string TE. The line has been bad all year but it was horrendous today.
            Boudin made some nice possession catches, but also dropped a few. They also dropped Kaep’s passes, so no excused there.

            This is only Gabbert’s 5th game, you almost have to throw out his 2 seasons in JAX. He has a ways to go but at least he looks like he has some fundamentals to work with. He did run out of bounds but I think those were really short 2 yard losses.
            What I don’t know is why he was throwing to Simpson and Patton. Simpson is a really bad route runner.

            The worst part was Gabbert looked flustered and rattled, that’s not good.

        2. Was that nice strong throw in the red zone his last of the game when Cleveland was up 28 to 3 with about a minute remaining in the game?

          Colin did that against the Steelers more than once. Didn’t mean a thing.

    3. Well, Fan, Kaep did not even play, so how are you going to blame this loss on him?
      Maybe all the quarterback woes were not all his fault.
      I think the players were terrible, but I put most of the blame on the coaches. They were unprepared. They did not have good schemes. They did not put players in positions to succeed. They waste talent by not playing Hayne. They made no adjustments. They were incompetent, and were easily shaped. They were out thought.
      Grant was right. This was a shameful performance, and heads should roll. Chryst must be cut, or they will not win another game.

      1. I didn’t blame the loss on Kaep. This loss is on Tomsula. The team was not prepared, for the umpteenth time. But in this case it was against a very bad team. The coaching staff has no answers.

        1. The staff hasn’t had answers all year. They haven’t been prepared all year. Not with Kaep and not with Gabbert. The line has been terrible all year. Today was more of the same. They are a terrible team, from the ownership to the turf manager. Gabbert is a backup QB at best. If he is your starting QB you aren’t competing for a championship, regardless of the talent level around him. QB’s need to be difference makers, not shepherds of not screwing up.

  24. Dear 49ers.
    I am a life long fan. I’ve been there through the good times when tickets weren’t available and bought in when the times were bad.
    I ask of one Christmas present this year.
    A present that isn’t asking to much for a fan that’s been a pretty good boy and hasn’t destroyed his 49er belongings or stopped watching the atrocious season you’ve set before me.
    I ask that you just lose the rest of your games. Even if you have a fighting chance at the end of regulation. Please lose the game.
    That’s it. That’s all I want.
    Sincerely, ninermd

  25. Can’t argue with the grades. Only thing I’ll say is the team looked tired. Back to back east coast road trips late in the year will take it out of a team. I expected a better performance but a poor game in all aspects wasn’t really a surprise.

    1. Harbaugh’s teams were always exhausted on the road. No one can win back east.

      Jim Harbaugh, who was 3-1 on the road in the playoffs alone and 21-11 in regular-season road games.

      1. Happy he didn’t go after my dad. My dad really is a good guy–makes the world’s best grilled cheese.

      2. Good article. Props to your dad Grant because he nailed it with this article.

      3. No doubt. Jed York is soiling the San Francisco franchise. He must fire Baalke and find a new coach. If he doesn’t then fans need to make their feelings known by closing their wallets.

      4. Yep- pretty much says it all.
        Well written.
        It seems our fate- at least for the short term- is to become the Cleveland Browns.

        Who’s fallen harder than us?
        Nobody.

  26. Hey, everyone, can someone tell me where the number 31 for undrafted FA’s on the roster came from? I just went through the roster and counted every player I wasn’t at least pretty sure was drafted and came up with a number of 19. The 49ers have serious problems, but let’s not get crazy, please.

    1. Number came from a blogging mole from the 9er PR department. Intent is to make us posters look like morons…

      1. Where are you at now, Scooter, with regards to who remains on the CS? Do you see Geep relieved of his position this coming week?

        1. My guess is if Geep stays and no changes are made before week 17, they are all gone. If he or another position coach gets turfed, Tomsula stays.
          The only problem is how does Tomsula justify firing anyone when he himself is the main issue this team can’t perform.

        2. I don’t think they’ll make any coaching changes until the end of the season.

          After that debacle I would now like to see a complete overhaul of the coaching staff. Even Mangini and the defensive coaches, who up until now I was on the fence about. Some of the position coaches may be alright, but if they are they’ve been hiding it pretty well.

          However, my expectation is the coaching staff changes at the end of the season will still be minimal unless they have a couple more games like that to close out the season. I think Chryst will be gone no matter what. Foerster may also be sacrificed.

          But, if they throw up another clanger or two in the coming weeks, I expect there will be sweeping changes.

          I would also like to see Baalke replaced, but I think that is less likely than the coaching staff being replaced.

          1. I agree with all that, especially Baalke.
            The only mulligan is the back to back east coast trips but that could have been avoided by possibly staying after the CHI trip.
            Regardless they have not played well all year. The lack of talent and depth is significant. Throw in the undisciplined play lately and poor prep to start games and a complete overhaul is necessary.
            For anyone questioning or leaning toward keeping this regime let me remind you that this is the exact same scenario as when the 49ers had to fire Mike Singletary.

            1. Does firing coaches in the middle of the season do anything but appease the fan base and get an early start on a good replacement? I do think we need a clean start and let the HC choose his coordinators.

            2. I think this team has some talent. They are not as deep as before but if you can’t compete with the Browns with Manziel as a QB, you have some serious problems.
              Harbaugh would have had this team competitive. The only team he couldn’t beat was SEATTLE.

    2. The number of UDFA on the active roster is 18 and 9 on the pratice squad. The number of players on IR mitigates this, somewhat.

      I’m also no longer on the fence and would like a house cleaning, although I’m afraid that Chryst may be the only significant change.

    3. Who’s on your list? I have 15 so far.

      Wilhoite
      Ian Williams
      White
      Thompson
      Purcell
      Jerod-Eddie
      Gaskins
      Brock
      Boone
      McCray
      Skov
      Leonhardt
      Devey
      Cadet
      Armstrong

      1. Here are the players I counted:

        Dylan Thompson
        Cadet
        Draughn
        Gaskins
        DeAndre White
        Celek
        Boone
        Devey
        Pears
        TJ Edie
        Ian Williams
        Ray Ray Armstrong
        Bellore
        Wilhoite
        Brock
        Cromartie
        Chris Davis
        Kyle Nelson

    4. It came from the broadcast and, as I wrote, included the practice squad. If you want to verify the count, you would have to verify each guy’s status. I don’t think it’s worth the effort.

      1. Its not correct from the broadcast. So far we are between 16-18 undrafted players. We have a lot of guys on the squad in important positions like RG Devey and RT Pears who are undrafted. It explains a lot. Like we are cheap and have bottom of the barrel talent in some positions. Do other teams have this many?

        1. According to ESPN, the Seahawks have a total of 37 UDFA’s. I would think that this includes practice squad players, at a minimum, and might include all reserve lists, as well.

        2. It appears that the broadcast number was off by three since they included the practice squad. With people moving on and off the team so rapidly it’s hard to tell exactly at what point in time they took their count. Eighteen seems high to me for a team that is “retooling”.

          The number of undrafted free agents, on the the active squad, at the start of the season is probably a more interesting number. Also the fact that we traded for two of them to be the right side of our OL to start the season is even more interesting.

          There is a pattern there but for some strange reason I can’t seem to identify it. I know that Jed and his parents want to win more Superbowls than Eddie, so it can’t be them mucking up the works.

  27. Look at the bright side, we lost to the worst team that means now WE are the worst team!!!
    No longer second worst!!!

          1. You lost me there. We have a win that would have been a loss over 90% of the time. Maybe the favor is that if we were drafting fourth or better the chance to screw up gets progressively higher.

    1. I think everyone is being too tough on the team.

      I don’t really think the 49ers lost the game today, as much as they ran out of time. Did you guys see that final TD drive? Did anyone else love the quick strike offense the 49ers showed?

      Even if the boys were cheated out of a win by the clock today, this game is something to build on, going forward. I, for one, am encouraged!

      Sarcasm intended.

  28. I take back what I said last week about Gabbert being better than Tom Brady. I now think he is “the poor man’s Cody Pickett.”

  29. Is Tomsula “the white Art Shell”? *except that Shell was 50 times smarter than JimmyT. **I am still completely mystified about how this team has won 4 games this year.

    1. The only game that didn’t need help was the Vikings game. It’s a mystery that they couldn’t expose the OL. It’s also a mystery that they weren’t able to pass effectively.

  30. I’m not a big Gabbert fan but I sort of wonder how Tom Brady would do with this offensive line and coaching staff. Put them together and they are probably the lowest paid group in the league. The 49er management paid little and that’s what the 49er faithful fans got.

    49er faithful fans = suckers

    1. People keep saying that but I am not sure its a good comparison. Have you ever seen Bellichick’s OL’s play like this? You won’t ever. Its Why Devey is a 49er. Bellichick is still laughing. Brady’s smart enough to spot where the blitz is coming from. Better than Gabbert or Kaep.

      1. I think the point is that if the line plays as poorly as it did today even the best QB in the league would look bad.

        1. Yes that’s true Jack. But as we’ve heard till our ears bled with Kaepernick, that the best QB’s still do better than the ones we have.

          1. Isn’t there a range of “better performance” that really makes no difference to a bad team?

          2. Wilson today’s performance by the oline was probably the worst I have seen since Alex Smith’s rookie year.
            Prior to that they played poorly but #7 made them look worse by his free lancing style.
            Gabbert had nothing to work with today. I don’t think a CK- Gabbert comparison is fair today.
            No one was ready to play today. No one wanted to get their uniform dirty today. Complete melt down.

            1. They were terrible last week too. But you’re right this was the worst in history of the 49ers. Gabbert’s on pace to match Kaep’s sacks. Nobody plays well with an O line performance like this. Its killing our offense.

              We’re recycling all the same things we did with Kaep earlier in the season. Its my only point here.

              1. We cannot continue with #7 for the simple reason is his contract. No way he can be paid more than 10 million a year behind a team that needs to be rebuilt in every which way. This is why Gabbert is the best guy moving forward. Cheap and will buy time till we groom an heir apparent.

              2. Not arguing that we should continue with CK. Gabbert is cheaper. Not sure he’s the best option moving forward but he is an option. I don’t see a clear cut developmental QB. We’re going to stink for a few more seasons unless someone finds us and amazing GM to gather talent quickly.

              3. Keep Gabbert, sign a NFL vet and draft Connor Cook(my choice)or best available QB within the draft.
                After that there are so many holes to fill. Maybe Baalke resigns knowing he can’t do the job. In fact, who would want the job of trying to rebuild this roster. It’s daunting!

              4. What vets are going to be available? The free agent list is crap. It will have to be someone changing teams.

              5. Think real hard boys. Who was the last QB groomed by the 49ers? Hint. Both of them are in the hall of fame, and the same guy and his assistants groomed both of them.

                Now look around for groomers. If you see any, you’ve got a better understanding of QB play than I do. Enjoy.

            2. This is a weak minded, undisciplined team led by a back up quarterback and a staff from misfit island….

            3. Prime, Gabbert just proved that the O line ineptitude will make any QB look bad, even Kaep.
              The Niners must draft an O lineman in the first round, or even Joe Montana would not succeed. They must draft a pass rusher, too, or even a QB like Manziel will pick apart the secondary.
              Gabbert was set up to fail because he did not get any support in the running game. Wasting a talent like Hayne while playing rejects is just a recipe for failure.

              1. why don’t we also draft a super bowl winning coach and a non-meddling owner as long as were drafting…I mean shoot for the moon

          3. And Gabbert has done a pretty good job until yesterday. Nine sacks! Even if 3 were his fault that’s still 6 sacks. Again worst o-line play I’ve witnessed in decades.
            To throw Gabbert out of he window and want a rookie to come in and fail is a bad way to go about this offseason. So expect he Niners to do just that!

  31. Folks, there’s no solution to this team’s woes. This is what they got in firing Harbaugh. They’re not gonna eat 10 mill of Tomsula’s salary. But wouldn’t matter if they did. No top prospect coach would work for this bunch if he had ANY choice of teams to coach and the top guys always do. No top ASSISTANT coach would even join this team which is why we have the worst coordinators in the league as well as the worst GM. Yeah, wouldn’t even interview Holmgren who wanted the job. Only hope us ti hire a TOO PRESTIGE NFL guy to run the whole shebang. Think there’s any chance of THAT happening? Settle in for a looooong run.

  32. Do what it takes to get this guy.

    Bart Hubbuch ‏@BartHubbuch 5h5 hours ago
    Good lord, this Mo Wilkerson line today: 3 sacks, 3 QB hits, 2 tackles for lost yardage, 5 solo tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass breakup.

    1. It’s going to take a lot. Probably more then what we should be paying to one position with so many gaps to fill.

        1. He’s already making 7 million a year. When you look at the contracts for the current top 3-4 DE’s he’s likely to earn around 12-14 million a year with his next contract. With the increase in cap space if teams don’t feel good about the draft or there position to get a solid DE you could see that number rise to 16 million +.

          He’s going to be if not the #1 the #2 defensive free agent next year.

        2. Traditionally 3-4 OLB’s are paid more then the DE’s. If Baalke was only willing to give Aldon 10 million I have a very hard time seeing him give up 14million or more to a lineman.

          1. In the past I’ve always thought that only teams with large cap space could sign these types of FAs. Well, this year we’ll be one of those teams. If I were the GM, I would attempt to get him, but would also release (trade if possible) Kap and Brooks.

            1. I’m not suggesting the team won’t try.

              The problem with going after Wilkerson is that the team isn’t ready for him. I feel if you’re going to pay a guy that kind of money you are a team that is only a player or two away from being a real contender. A team that is already there but keeps coming up short on defense is the team that is going to shell out that kind of cash. On a team like ours that is only just starting the rebuild process he’ll languish taking up huge cap money while not really supplying what this team needs to turn itself around.

              We could be at least 3 seasons away from being a serious contender again and what’s his cap hit going to be by that point?

              We have the money but the team isn’t in the right window to sign a guy like him at this point.

              1. I take your point, but despite today’s game I do think the D isn’t that far away from being pretty good. And one of the key missing ingredients in my opinion is a dominant DL player.

              2. The D doesn’t feel that close to me. I feel like we get good individual performances from players from game to game but who has been consistently good all year? I’m not saying we can’t wade through and come up with a couple names but you need more then a 2 or 3 players playing good each week to compete.

              3. We need to sign a bunch of mid level mid priced veterans that can help the team to win some games and keep the moral of the team up while they’re rebuilding through the draft. In 3 years when the offense is fixed and Wentz is kicking butt that’s when we break the piggy bank for a Wilkerson type player and ride his butt to our next Lombardi.

              4. I understand that. I’m possibly being overly optimistic. But I feel with a dominant DL player the rest of the DL would be much improved, as would the LBs. They would still likely need to add another pass rushing OLB and an upgrade at ILB to be a good D, but I think there are quite a few building blocks there.

              5. I don’t know what their cap space is but looking at sack totals versus the strength of the overall team I’d say the Cardinals are the ones that should be going all in for Wilkerson.

              6. I also feel like the safeties are too jekyl-hyde’ish. Frankly I still don’t know if the CB’s are any good either. They’re deceptively average I believe.

              7. I just think most of the top teams will struggle to pay the sort of money Wilkerson will be able to command from teams with plenty of cap space.

                With the 49ers safeties and DBs in general, I think they are plenty good enough if the team actually had a good front 7. But hard to know for sure until we actually see them with one!

              8. Add Wilkerson to the DL and the whole group is elevated. Elevate the front seven and the back end is better, and the back end already looks pretty good. At least, it looks good st times.

                Plus all the young players on the defense will be one year better.

              9. Here’s a possible data point for pricing DEs:

                Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 4h4 hours ago
                #Packers Mike Daniels signs a 4-year, $42M extension, including $22M in first 15 months, $12 million SB, per source.

              10. Wilkerson is very much in a different league than Daniels.

                Look at the JJ Watt and Marcel Dareus contracts as a guide to what Wilkerson will likely get, though these are probably slightly under what he’d command on the open market.

        3. Wilkerson will get Suh/ Mario Williams like money. Around that high teens of millions per year on average. And I think he is worth it.

            1. Yeah, I think his average salary will fall somewhere around the $17M to $19M a year, likely over a 6-year contract.

              I’m not sure how Baalke will feel about paying that sort of money for a DT/DE. You could be right and that is more than he’s willing to pay. But I think he’d be willing to pay very big money for the right guy, that can play all 3 downs and be an excellent run defender as well as pass rusher. Which Wilkerson is.

      1. It’s gonna take 40 million in free agency and a draft that produces 8 instant starters at QB, WR, TE, LT,LG,C,RG,RT, OLB,ILB,DT

      2. If he commands Suh like money he wont be worth it.
        My personal opinion is that that there are certain positions you invest in in free agency and others that you don’t. I love getting Centers, Offensive Guards and Right Tackles in free agency because they are cheaper but have high value in terms of immediate production.
        Top level D linemen and corners command too much salary space and can be schemed around, that’s why I like the second tier guys at those spots. They are still productive but allow teams to surround them with more talent because of the available space they leave. This hopefully allows for a more complete defense.

    2. MW will not even think about coming here. He will want to go to a contender. Niners need 5 years of good drafts before it will even sniff the playoffs.

          1. He’s already signalled he wants big time money by rejecting the Jets contract offer last offseason and backing himself to earn a big contract this year. A SB ring would be nice for him, I’m sure, but clearly money is a big factor for him too. Money will talk and the teams that are truly in SB contention are unlikely to be able to afford him.

            Of course there is a good chance all this talk is for nothing, as the Jets could easily just franchise tag him.

            1. as the Jets could easily just franchise tag him.
              —————-
              This is by far the more likely scenario. The Jets have never shied away from paying players they want to keep. They’ll either tag him or give him the type of money he wants.

  33. Silver lining is that with such a lousy team we don’t have to worry about using next years cap space to extend or re-sign anybody.

    See I can be positive.

      1. Probably because of my age, I’ve been pessimistic since Bowman’s knee was crushed. Without a brain, the 49er body has been withering since February 2013.

  34. Baalke has whiffed on too many personnel moves, so the team has little chance of winning.
    Tomsula was dealt a bad hand, but he folded like a house of cards. Chryst and Manginius both proved to be imbeciles for their moronic play calling and sieve like defenses.
    If Tomsula is fired, no one in their right mind would take over this dumpster fire, therefor, Chryst and Mangini need to take the fall for this debacle.
    Jed is responsible for this mess and Levis will become a mausoleum because he does not have a clue. Since York took Marathe’s advice over Bill Walsh’s, he deserves everything that has come to him.
    I have never been more ashamed of this team. Even in those 2-14 years, at least they tried.

    1. Chryst, yeah, he should probably be gone. He hasn’t shown much and he’s never been in this elevated a role before. Mangini has had up and down performances, but the complexity of his approach may be more successful if given another year.

      Don’t forget that we were operating with a very weak front 7, without our only skilled pass rusher (Lynch), back-up DL like Purcell, and two very suspect MLBs. No ability to stop the run, and no pressure on a scrambling QB destroyed us.

  35. I have tried to help the Niners. I have posted many things that they can do to improve. One thing that I have said many times is to consider time outs to be precious, and saved until the last 2 minutes of each half. So what do they do? They call time outs with over 3 minutes left to stop the clock, but those time outs let the Browns conserve their time outs and strategize during those time outs so they made the third down play for a new set of downs. In other words, those time outs benefited the Browns more than the Niners.
    I have also said they should stop shooting themselves in the foot.
    These coaches are obtuse.

    1. Seb, in a parallel universe you’d be the GM and Denise York would never have had Jed, she would be the hands-on owner…giving you full control.

  36. Vernon Davis, what a fraud. He’s the NFL version of a c**k tease. You always think he’s going to be Gronkowski but he usually ends up being Johnny Mitchell.

  37. 1way to make the statement. Do Not Anyone go to Levis. Do Not Anyone buy any team gear. Do Not Anyone put a dime towards Niners. Stop Bitching, simply stop spending. That is the only way to protest effectively. I’m practicing now. No $’s to 9ers. F this FO. Actually F Jed,Trent.

    1. Do you honestly think that will hurt them? The only thing that will result from that is the Yorks booking more events for Levi Stadium while the team and fan base continues to suffer.

        1. They already have those, and it’s done nothing to make them change their ways.

    2. Throughout my early school years. I used to think that “if we all said something or did something” we would have power in numbers. But I do not think that it has ever worked.

      95 % of people are status quo followers. Limited ability to take a stance. Limited ability to bond together as one.

      If every single fan stopped buying all Niners gear, tickets, etc. It would make a huge statment. Problem is the stupid seat licenses that people have paid for that they would have to default on.

      Never will happen.

      But I would love a day during a nationally televised game for no one to show up. Or for every fan to wear a “Jed ruined the 9ers” all black t-shirt.

      1. You realize that when seat license holders default on their annual payment it’s the city of Santa Clara that holds the note, and that they will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law available to them.

        A large amount of defaults might embarrass the Yorks, but when have you ever heard of a billionaire family being hurt by embarrassment?

        1. That’s why I said never would happen afterwards. I guess I wasn’t clear.

          It’s so irritating to watch this unfold. I can just see Jed and company sitting and calculating all this. Knowing that they now have a cash cow in stadium and winning doesn’t matter for a good 10 years or so.

          To make things worse. Stadium is a piece of crap and not in San Francisco.

          I can’t believe that they are wanting to use same design firm for soccer team

  38. Worst news all day is Dalton’s broken thumb. Followed by the fact of who our opponents are for our last 3 games.

    We desperately need to lose to get better draft pick, increase chances of coaching change, gm change and more ego deflation to Jed.

    Bengals I had circled as a definite loss. But now w/o dalton it’s a little more iffy

    Detroit and Rams are next. I’m thinking we can lose to Detroit if we try hard enough.

    But Rams seem to have called it in as well as usual.

    A 4-16 season would most likely get us a top 5 pick.

    If we had actually lost like we should’ve last week we could’ve had a much better shot at number one pick

  39. Well when you lose Willis, Borland, Aldon Smith, Iupati, Cowboy, and 90 percent of your o line, and on and on… Plus add a whole new coaching staff.. What do you expect?.. there are just a hand full of players on this team that can be considered all pro’s or even somewhat Great players…Bowman, Boldin, Staley, maybe Hyde, and beyond that? Not too many… I think we have alot of young guys on this team that are going to be great players down the stretch.. (C.Lemonier, J. Tartt, Q. Dial, E. Armstead, Q. Patton, E. Herold, and a few others…. but when it comes down to it… We have no run game.. yah, Draughn has had some nice games, is a decent reciever, but it doesnt matter what skill players you have when it comes down to your OFFENSIVE LINE not being able to block, your TE’s not being able to block, and then you have a young QB who has no time to throw? 9 sacks? you say 3 was his, well like it makes a difference when he is on the run all day long.. I didnt see a whole lot of great play calling either.. On Defense or on Offense.. These coaches arent putting anyone in a position to win.. When you cant call traps, or counters, a few screens, or draws.. you know.. blitz beaters, than what do you thinks gonna happen.. Tomsula is a great guy, just not top of the line material, and i dont think even some of the greatest coaches could do much with this offensive line, and whats up with our d not tackling? even bowman looked like a rookie today…? Maybe we just are trying to get a better draft pick selection? at this point… thats all im praying for.. not giving up, just being realistic…

    1. And equally important, let’s not forget the ownership–Jed in particular, who crafted the coaching solution. My dad was pretty much forced to support Jed’s vision…

  40. Total Quarterback Rating:
    Colin Kaepernick…….47
    Alex Smith……………….60

    Advice for Kapurnicus:
    1. get rid of the beard
    2. liquidate the sneaker collection
    3. laser removal of some tats
    4. trash the earphones
    5. load up the U-haul

    1. Good grief Monkey, find some new material already and quit acting like Eddie Murphy.

  41. “the 49er faithful” = Clueless fans that will put money into producer Jed Yorks pocket regardless the quality of the production.

    1. Take a cold hard look at the truth before you post something this ridiculous.

  42. I still struggle to understand why the coaching staff cannot have this team mentally prepared for their games.
    To think you can be so mental switched on one week, displaying the mental toughness required to win in overtime. Then next week come out mentally switched off and cop a flogging.
    This has been the same story all year, slow starts to their games unable to put first half points on board. Why is it so hard to find this mental consistency?.

  43. Last year under Harbaugh, the team was 8-8. It was an up and down year, but there were 3 games they probably should have won, CHI, STL, and SAN DIEGO. They win those games and the team is 11-5. A playoff contender.

    Look how far we’ve fallen!

    1. And this year, we probably should have lost to Baltimore and Chicago had it not been for the other teams FG kickers. Seriously, we should be 2-11.

    2. Fan, the Niners have fallen from almost winning the Super Bowl, to almost returning, to almost getting back to the playoffs, to this pile of excrement.
      Lo, how the mighty have fallen.

  44. JED SELL THE TEAM–You have made a disgrace of a once proud team. We cant even compete. We need a qb.,offensive line,pass rushers, running backs,cornerbacks,linebackers, and coaches.G.M. has failed miserabily. What we need will take years to rebuild and years of this franchise being a loser.Shame on you JED.

  45. For all those who think the team doesn’t have talent, remember Harbaugh? He took the same team with the pretty the same players and got them to perform at a high level. The team gutted out wins that first year, but they built something, and got within a couple of plays of going to the SB.
    We can’t even gauge the talent level on this team because the coaching is inconsistent, and let’s call it like it is — it’s mediocre. You have to be insane and have an incredible desire to win to be a head coach in the NFL. The NFL is not about teaching, that’s High School. The NFL is about performance and getting the right coaching staff to maximize the talent level of the player.
    I was optimistic to think Tomsula might be good change of pace but this year has been utter failure.
    Let Tomsula and Kaep go, bring in a solid HC to has done something that will keep Jed York i in his place, and we’ll see this team become competitive again.

    We thought Seattle was dead, but Russell Wilson is playing lights out now. This division used to be ours just a few years ago..

    1. Fan,
      Same players???
      Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Ray Mcdonald, Ian Williams, Aldon Smith, T. Brock, T. Brown, Chris Culliver, Dan Skuta, Dante Whitner, and Glenn Dorsey were all healthy and playing for Harbaugh on Defense. We now have Reid, and a Bowman who is a shell of himself leading the charge.

      Offensively he had an Oline that had Staley, Iupati, Goodwin, Kilgore and Davis. This team has had Staley, Boone and whatever fat guy they could find in the unemployment line.
      While they had Gore,Crabtree,and a Prime VD… now they have Droughn, an old Boldin, and Vance McDonald/Blake Bell combo depending… on who is healthy that week.
      While Tomsula is not proving to be a good coach… keep in mind he is a cook that is trying to make something good with other teams cast offs and/or spoiled ingredients.

    2. ‘Remember Harbaugh? He took the same team with pretty much the same players’.
      Wrong. The Niners Lost 5 starters on offense and 6 starters on defense. Two fifths of the team is UDFA, and it is one of the youngest teams in the league.

    1. Yep, Lindelof announced it the other day. I was quite pleased.

      Alan Sepinwall(my favorite tv critic) had a great quote: “Against all odds, the best show on television won’t depart just yet.”

  46. Well I finally got around to finishing the game and it was excruciating. I always try to watch a game twice so I can concentrate on different areas I may have overlooked the first time, but I can’t watch this again. That was such a garbage display in every area I feel like I will begin hating football if I have to suffer through it again.

    Much has already been said about how poorly they played, how bad the Coaching was etc., but it goes beyond that. This is a team that was delusional enough to celebrate a win that was handed to them last week, and if you believe some of the sentiments from the players, affected their mindset and preparation for this past game in Cleveland. The only thing missing here is Tomsula taking them out for ice cream. How in the world a team could be thinking they are headed in the right direction, had turned a corner or had finally arrived and were playing the way they thought they should, after a gift win in a game they were outplayed in, is beyond me.

    This is one of the reasons I was not happy with the win last week. It gave a false view to many fans on here – and apparently the HC and members of the team – that the team was improving, when the play on the field said otherwise. What this team can do is rise to the occasion once in awhile and make you think they are better than they really are. Good or even average teams, show some form of consistency week to week, bad ones have wildly fluctuating performances and that is what the Niners are: a bad football team.

    The Coaching is even worse than I thought it would be going into the season, and my expectations were low to begin with. I like Jim Tomsula the Dline Coach, the scrappy guy from the neighborhood who loves the game and loves to talk about it, but he’s an embarrassment as a HC. He really has no idea why this team is so bad and even less of an idea on how to fix it. He was not qualified for this job – 1 year as a HC in a defunct league, no experience as a coordinator of any kind in the NFL, no connections around the league to put together a quality Coaching staff – I mean there was absolutely nothing to suggest it was a good idea to hire him as the HC other than he was a good guy who the owner and players liked. That is how you become a bad team and organization. Making decisions and proclamations based on limited examples that are at odds with the overall picture being presented.

    The biggest problem we have now is that even if they fire Tomsula – and there’s every indication they won’t – who is going to come in to this gong show and take over? What confident and qualified HC candidate is going to look at this team and the backseat he has to take to Trent Baalke in the teams Personnel structure, along with the in house backbiting and passing of blame that is unearthed by national media every season, and see any chance at success?

    We have some talent here, not very much impact talent or difference makers, but enough to at least compete with key additions, but this team is in such disarray that it’s hard to see anything positive in the near future. The only way to salvage this situation and change the perception outside the organization, is for Jed to move to some other area of the team not related to football operations, clean house, hire a respected football man to take over as President and let him hire the GM to remodel the football structure. I cannot see any way this team competes for the playoffs never mind the SB without drastic changes.

    1. “this team is in such disarray that it’s hard to see anything positive in the near future.”

      This is exactly why I so badly wanted the team to play well the back end of the season. Who cares if Tomsula and co get fired. If the team is as bad as they showed in Cleveland, we are many years away from being competitive no matter who they bring in to coach the team, no matter how high a draft pick they get.

      My sincere hope is they play well the final three weeks to give us some encouragement, but I think at this stage we now know what we have and don’t have. I still think the D isn’t light years away from being competitive – a few good additions and that could be a pretty good unit. But the offense needs a lot of work on the OL, and Gabbert is showing he’s just an ok stop gap/ decent backup QB. Not to mention better depth at RB, TE and maybe even WR.

      1. Scooter,

        The loss yesterday falls squarely on the Coaching staff imo. That was a clear example of a team not being prepared to play, and when I read the Coach talking about how the win over the Bears was emotional and Staley/Brooks saying it may have played a part in their lack of preparation, it is a clear indictment against the Coaching staff.

        I don’t think this team is as bad as it showed yesterday. The Coaching just makes it seem that way. There is no doubt they need a talent infusion in many areas, but there is no chance to win when you have piss poor Coaching in this league.

        1. Rocket:

          I’ve posed this more than once and never really gotten a satisfactory answer (maybe there is none).

          I just don’t understand how week in and week out we see and hear the coaches bemoan the poor tackling. Isn’t tackling fundamental to defensive players? Shouldn’t they all know how to be good tacklers by now? And if it is about coaching, shouldn’t they be improving during the season and not regressing?

          Isn’t some of what we see as and hear as poor tackling more likely just being out of position due to poor decision making during the play and/or poor schemes putting players in bad situations?

          1. Cubus, what I have noticed is that the players aren’t squared up to the player with the ball as much as they have been in the past – a lot more one arm tackles and lunging tackles. I think you are right that positioning is a problem. They are a little slow getting to the spot. I think part of the problem is the DL aren’t doing enough to clog things up and slow the play down in the running game to allow the LBs and safeties to square up before attempting a tackle.

              1. Nw cubus. As rocket points out, some of it is also just poor commitment/effort (as well as technique) too. There have been far too many missed tackles when the 49ers player has had a good shot on the ball carrier. Case in point, Marlon Moore’s broken attempted tackle by Hodges that resulted in a first down. Hodges had great position, just “didn’t execute” as Tomsula will tell us (read: made a piss poor effort at it).

          2. Cubus,

            A lot of it is Coach speak for getting outplayed by the opponent. Poor tackling is as much about desire as it is practice. It’s focused on in TC to a degree, but there aren’t many live tackling drills in the NFL anymore due to fear of injury. Players have to be invested to throw their bodies around and you see quite often that teams who aren’t very good, have a poor record etc, show evidence of players giving poor effort in areas like tackling. Some of it comes down to scheme fits and preparation, but tackling is essentially about attitude and the willingness to do what it takes to get an opponent to the ground. These guys learn how to tackle going back to Pop Warner. It’s want to vs. not today.

            1. Why would any current player sacrifice his body for a 4-9 season?
              The problem like you mentioned was Tomsula was too easy on them in OTA’s, TC and throughout the season. The complete opposite of Harbaugh. This is why we need a proven HC who knows how to prepare a team. A guy who’s done it with rookies and veterans and got everyone to buy in.
              Sean Payton to me is the best candidate out there. Jed needs to open up the wallet!

              1. I like Payton because he is an offensive guy and might be perfect to groom a young QB.
                He’s won a SB and a change of scenery might revive him.
                The Saints have not been able to get it right on defense but otherwise they have been decent. SF might be the right situation for him. Who do you think would be a good fit?

              2. I don’t think it matters who the coach is. This team is bereft of talent on the o line. Until they fix that issue the rest of the conversation is moot.

              3. I agree that the talent isn’t there on the Oline Jack, but disagree that it doesn’t matter who the Coach is. Most of the season and yesterday especially, have provided clear evidence that Coaching matters in the NFL.

              4. I agree but with a proven guy who has run some pretty darn good offemses, he might know how to select the right personnel.
                I’ve always said Baalke should be the first to be fired followed by the tobacco chewer!

              5. Payton has won a SB, and his onside kick in that game was innovative and daring.
                Saints will not part with him because he is their best chance to win. They do need a defense, tho.

              6. Payton is going to make Pears a better tackle?

                Of course coaching matters, but they need players. There are coaches in the HOF who looked bad when they didn’t have the talent.

                I’m not saying that Tomsula should stay. I just see the acquisition of talent being a bigger problem for the organization right now and the OLine is the best example of that.

              7. Quick question. Why is the Saints D struggling so much?

                What caused them to go from #4 in 2013 to #31 in 2014 and #32 this season?

              8. Poor scheme, lack of talent and poor coaching on their part.
                Of course it starts at the top. I’d start with appointing Tom Gamble GM followed by hiring Payton.
                There is no guarantee he will stay in NO. They might want a new voice as well.

              9. What caused them to go from #4 in 2013 to #31 in 2014 and #32 this season?
                —————-
                A deeper look back shows that they have an odd history of being up one year and down the next. It’s not just 2013 and 2014.

                2012: 32
                2011: 9
                2010: 29
                2009: 8

              10. Prime, if they get rid of Baalke, I’d actually hope they try and hire someone from outside the organisation. I still really like razor idea from a few months ago about a Nick Casiero and Josh McDaniels tandem.

              11. Scooter I’d take that combo hire. The only reason I said Tom Gamble is because the Yorks know him and according to TiM K, they like to hire within.
                The thing about Gamble is he has done it at all levels.

              12. “Poor scheme, lack of talent and poor coaching on their part.”

                Two of the three were the same, scheme and coaching staff. The difference was the talent of the players.

              13. Razor,

                Gabbert has shown improvement from where he was in Jax.

                The OLine is pathetic. Baalke has drafted something like 9 linemen recently, but still had to turn to Jordan Devey and Erik Pears? That’s awful.

              14. Ideal GM replacement is DeCosta but he isn’t leaving Baltimore.

                A couple of names I would look at are Eliot Wolf and Chris Ballard. I also wouldn’t rule out Tom Heckert.

                I’ll look at head coaching options once I know who the GM is going to be.

              15. And Jack nothing in the pipeline. I mean did Trent Brown even get a legit shot? They traded for Nick Easton and he lasted what 2 weeks?
                Brutal!

  47. Did anyone look at the 9ers offensive line as the Bangals rushed only 4 and sometimes 3 defensive lineman still getting to Gabert.

    Ganes are won on the line and this was a major indirect contributor the the above grades.

    Doc

  48. You have to wonder about any parents that would expose their idiot son to the public glare as badly as Mr & Mrs York…. they must be really really hate him to do this to him…..

    There must be a place in the South looking for a village idiot to hire…… C’m Ma & Pa….. get him a job he can do.

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