49ers fall flat in 33-21 loss to Cardinals

SANTA CLARA — The San Francisco 49ers officially lost to the Arizona Cardinals at 8:33 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday night, and the final score was 33-21. But the game was all but over after the opening kickoff of the second half, when each team had just 7 points.

Here’s what happened during that play: The 49ers’ kick returner, Chris Davis, fielded the kickoff on a bounce at his 3-yard line and ran up field 11 yards, where he met Cardinals’ special teamer Ifeanyi Momah. Davis tried to juke past Momah, who stuck out his right arm, poked the ball out of Davis’ grasp and recovered the fumble at the 49ers’ 14-yard line. A few plays later, the Cardinals scored a touchdown on a 4-yard run by tailback David Johnson.

In a sense, Davis handed the game to the Cardinals right then and there when he put the ball on the ground. But the Niners seemed to be trying to give away the game from the start.

Click here to read the rest of my game story.

This article has 190 Comments

  1. My question is what in the hell is a DB doing fielding the kickoff. Guys are turned into DB’s because they have bad hands. This is just as much on the coaching staff as the player. Good coaches put players in a position to succeed, this coaching staff is not putting anyone in position to succeed.

      1. Davis also was the returner of Aburn’s “Kick Six” in their miracle win over Alabama.

  2. #80:

    It wasn’t that bad. I didn’t get upset once. To be sure, I’m currently in Hawaii and am now thinking it would be a good idea for my sanity to spend every football season here :)

    1. Flying to Kauai on Sunday. I like your idea Cubus. Hoping the 49ers look better from 2,500, + miles away. Right now they remind me of what Curly Howard used to say: “I’m trying to think but nothing happens.” :-)

  3. Hey Grant..to assume the 49ers “fell” to somebody would mean they were actually elevated at one point..I guess your collems should just say 49ers “cruise” to another loss,because that’s the standard. .lol..this team sucks..you know it’s bad when you ain’t even mad..it is what it is..

  4. I am re-evaluating my win totals for this team to be 2-14 this season
    The DC is horrible. They have to change DC’s

    I am sure the Yorks will change GMs but they can’t pick a GM. Only decent GM 49ers had recently was Scot M. Who was picked by Nolan.

    Can the Yorks sell this franchise please? They are sucking money out of it and have hamstrung Baalke to find bargain basement players in FA. And Baalke has not helped himself in the draft

    If the Yorks keep this team it is going to be a long time before 49ers are relevant again

  5. This is the game I imagined the niners would change quarterbacks. They couldn’t bring in Colin on a short week against Arizona, it would be setting him up to fail.

    I maintain the offense will be bad regardless but at some point a coach has to be seen as attempting to do something.
    The problem is the personnel at this point is worse than it was last season.
    On Offense, the line lost Boone who for all his faults would have been a better fit for Kelly’s run game… especially at rt tackle. Brown may one day be an absolute stud, but the problem is he is road grader who is of no use when asked to pull, or hook the end. For all the supposed improvement currently they rank almost identically to where they did last year at this point. To make matters worse Garnet can’t even get on field.
    Our best offensive player is Kerley who was cut in favor of Anquan Bolden (Though admitadly he is a better fit for us ). Overall our offense is almost identical to the one we had last year.

    On Defense, we are worse than last year.
    There is no anchor in the center of the Dline, Armstead has been playing hurt. Buckner, is going to be a good pass rush specialist in the rotation but struggles not to get washed out on run plays. Our starting linebackers would have been backups or practice squad players last year. And while our secondary has improved overall, we are worse than last year as now we are missing our two best defensive players.

  6. Make Harbaugh an offer he can’t refuse. Like Billy Martin coming back to the Yankees.

  7. Despite how bad the run D is, this is a game the 49ers could have won if they had a competent offense. 17 points off turnovers, all occuring in the 49ers red zone (admittedly 1 of those turnovers wasn’t the fault of the offense). But, no, the offense stunk it up, with poor OL play, receivers that mostly struggle to get open, and most importantly, a QB that continually misses big plays and turned the ball over in bad areas. At this point I find it hard to believe Kaep would be any worse. Or Ponder for that matter.

    I almost feel sorry for whichever young QB they are going to ruin next year.

    The run D is horrendous. O’Neil clearly is clearly part of the problem. Poor run D follows O’Neil wherever he goes – he can’t just blame that on the Browns players now. But the main culprits are the players. They just don’t win enough 1 on 1 battles, and too many guys are allowing themselves to be taken out of plays. Missed tackles are also a problem. Armstead is a liability at the moment. And if the middle guys do manage to clog things up for a change, the edge guys aren’t doing any better at stopping the run. Add to that a poor pass rush, and this front 7 is one of the worst in the NFL right now.

    All in all, there really aren’t a lot of positives to find with the 49ers atm.

    1. Scooter, does it look to you like the tackler is coached to attack the ball rather than wrap up and hold for a teammate to come in for the strip? I would submit that this is why their tackling is so sub par….

      1. I am seeing a few ‘tackle’ attempts that are more focused on striking than tackling, yes. Also missing a lot of arm tackles from what I am seeing. Gotta put the shoulders into it. But the biggest issue is just not getting into positions to make the tackle in the first place.

        Also see guys after a long run is made trying to strip the ball 1 on 1 from behind rather than just make the tackle, but I think that is pretty common around the NFL. It does tend to give up a few extra yards though.

  8. It’s time to give Torrey a little credit. He isn’t worth the money, but he has gotten open deep in the last two games. If we had a decent TE and a good #1 receiver he would be very effective.

    Gabbert has got to go. If Kap isn’t ready start Ponder. Aside from one game Ponder had a solid preseason. He can’t be any worse than Gabbert.

  9. At year’s end we’ll have another heart felt apology from Jed. More banners will have flown. Trent will have left. More shake up in the coaching staff. Most of the posters on this site will be abuzz as the 2017 draft draws closer.

    1. Cassie ..

      You’re calling for your Dad’s exit ?

      Color me surprised !

      So-o-o ..
      are you planning on doing the books
      at his new bait shop ?

      1. The bait shop deal fell through. I’m old enough now to move out on my own. I’ll be starting this spring at the College of San Mateo. My dad and mom might move to Buffalo, NY.

        1. C.S.M. Bulldogs … yeah! .. Cassie …

          (When I attended there, back in the ’70s ..
          we called it … “College of Small Minds”)

          ;-}

  10. Seb- I thought about you last night when Cowher was talking about Kaep, given that you’re probably the most outspoken supporter of his here. If you missed it, Cowher said he was OK with the protest, and that Kelly is, too (“Kneeling isn’t disrespectful…we kneel when we pray, we kneel when another player is injured…”).

    But (paraphrasing), Kaep didn’t even show up for OTAs. He seems aloof; I don’t think he’s a leader, I think he’s a loner. It’s in your heart, or it’s not; you’ve got to love this game. Your QB has got to galvanize the team–he’s not the guy who sits alone. He’s the guy you fight for in the 4th quarter. He’s got to have the heart. I don’t see any degree of passion that says he wants to be the QB for this team. I think he’s comfortable with what he is — a backup.

    I don’t think I’ve ever heard that much negative commentary from these talking heads, who are largely shills for the league, and it got my attention. I was wondering what your thoughts are?

    Personally, I’d like to see what Ponder looks like…though they’ve been watching him in practice, and short of any political considerations, I guess he’s not been overly impressive. And with this O line, I guess anyone would have trouble back there. But if Cowher’s right, I’d still like to see Ponder.

    1. Rusty, it is just his opinion, and the blow back from his protesting has angered lots of front office people and coaches. He is just regurgitating old tripe.

      The important thing is how he does in the locker room. Kaep seems to be friendly with lots of players. Gabbert sat down next to Kaep after his interception. Kaep was studying the note pad, but they seem to be fine with each other. I remember Joe and Steve. Joe was not only aloof from Steve, he was antagonistic at times, because he thought Steve was trying to steal his job.

      Kaep will play, because the players want to win, and when Gabbert misses 2 wide open players that could have been TDs, and throws 2 picks, he is hurting the team.

      Kaep is playing it smart. From not saying a word during the off season, to his support of Gabbert, he is doing all the right things. He realizes that he should not make waves, and that he is one play from starting.

      At the start of the season, I supported Gabbert, and hoped he would succeed, but obviously, he is shooting himself in the foot with his play. I really do not care who plays, just as long as he leads the Niners to victories. Now, I see Kaep as the best QB to lead them to winning, but if Ponder could do that, I would support him, too.

  11. The only way to show improvement is to clean house – coaches and front office…. It really can’t get much worse than this although with Yorkie it probably will since he always seems to hit new depths with this once glorious franchise.

    The offense is a finesse mess; same goes for this sorry azz defense. The best player on the team could very well be KERLEY and overall this collection of scrubs in 49ers uniforms shows no enthusiasm or bite. They’re too busy protesting before the game and slapping the opposition’s butts throughout the game (Niners of old never did that).

    And here I thought Kid Yorkie “only hung championship banners”. I’m sure Harbaugh agrees with him.

  12. 49ers WR’s in the last 21 games, 13TD’s. Michael Crabtree in last 20 games since leaving SF, 13 TD’s.

    1. If you’re going to compare the WRs then you need to compare the QBs which is no comparison

    2. If Crabtree was on the 49ers this year he would have similar numbers to Patton and Smith unless he could bring Derek Carr with him

  13. I thought Brock in particular followed by Bethea and Reid underperformed. I have never seen Brock so off kilter in his career. Reid seems to be slow reacting to the ball and ball carrier repeatedly he is in improper position to purse plays with a failing line this is a problem. Reid almost seems to be playing scared. Bethea appears a bit slow as well. Watching the 49ers play gives me a feeling of disorientation maybe I am unaccustomed to Kelly’s and O’Neil’s styles.

  14. Baalke is obviously god awful at drafting. But I wonder how much of his free agency nonsense is really him. To have this much cap space and not spend any of it on a team this bad had got to be mama Yorks doing. Even if we get a GM who can draft well, will he be allowed to resign them? Will he get any decent free agents? As much as I wish to see Baalke go it may not make much of a difference.

    1. Well the only way to find out is to fire Baalke and see what Gamble does and that’s how we’ll find out if it’s the Yorks

  15. I think it is difficult to determine how bad or good the coaches are. While I am not a fan of the Kelly offense, the biggest problem is talent.
    The lines are suppose to be the strength of the team. We can see they are not even ranked in the top 1/2 of the NFL.
    Draft pick after draft pick was made to make the defense better and that has not helped.
    So while ignoring during the first three rounds QB’s, WR’s and TE’s the Niners have not improved the talent level to any great degree at any position. The offense is terrible and minimal effort has been made to improve it.
    The bottom line is the current approach to the draft as failed. The question is; will the Yorks care enough to go out of their comfortable zone and make real changes or will they be satisfied to simply rake in the money NFL teams make?

    1. Knowing the Yorks they are content raking in the money. Winning championships has never been their interest. The should be ashamed of themselves and just sell the team already.

  16. Well, you heard it here first. I hope Gabbert does the classy thing, and allows Kaep to play.

    Chip should just make it competitive. Let Gabbert start, but once the Niners fail to score, they should let Kaep play, until he fails to score. Then Gabbert can try again. It would reward success, and punish failure. If Gabbert can lead to the Niners to several consecutive scores, Kaep would have to sit. however, I would be jumping for joy because that would mean that the offense is doing well. If Gabbert throws a pick, maybe let Kaep have 2 consecutive series.

    Some will say that this strategy is never done, but any team with a 4 game losing streak should be desperate enough to try it.

    1. Yea, I’m pretty much over my intrigue and excitement of seeing Kaepernick in Chip Kelly’s offense. I’ve seen enough to believe the Eagles were correct. Chip Kelly isn’t a very good coach, let alone an ‘offensive genius’. I think it would be wise to cut bait from this coaching staff. The longer you take to acknowledge the mistake, the longer you set the franchise back….

      1. Well, if Kaep can play and make those easy throws, and lead the Niners to victories, Chip will be hailed as a genius.

        Gabbert has been given every opportunity to succeed, but has failed. Maybe it is time for him to cut bait.

        I said from the start that O’Neil and Modkins were the weak links in the coaching chain. I would start with them before jettisoning Chip.

      1. Well, Gabbert really wants to play, but even he now acknowledges that his play is hurting the team.

        Gabbert would be doing a classy move to tell the coaches that he wants Kaep to play.

  17. When Jimmy Ward gets healthy, Brock has to get benched. He was never as good as Prime thought he was. He got a new contract and quit improving his game.

    1. I was wrong. I didn’t expect the Niners would play by far their sloppiest game of the season.

      1. If you thought that was a new low, we haven’t seen Trent’s 11 draft picks on the field at the same time…..They’ll check for some midseason football follies soon!

      2. Yes they were sloppy but most of all there not good enough with Gabbert to win games right now so the Rams game is starting to look like a fluke. So when do you think they fire Baalke? Thanks for admitting you were wrong Grant but you are right about a lot of things about this team. Thanks for keeping us informed about our 49ers is just hard to watch right now.

  18. I don’t even think Kay wants to play for tge Nines at all. His body language is horrible. He looks more interested in shaping his afro than he is in studying defenses. The Niners have nothing to lose. Gabbert is trash. Always has been. Always will be.

    1. lol did you see him sitting on the bench. He was intently staring at his tablet even when Gabs would come sit down next to him. What was he reading?

  19. Funny,

    We never hear from Oregon-(Chipster)-Niner after Chips’ hideous “College Offense” collapses, but he seems to check in midweek to give us a Chip pep talk, saying, “give it time.’

    How many times have we heard that, or the draft pick needs time to develop, or I need to review the game film?

    What a sorry, unprofessional franchise….How sorry? We’ll find out next week when the Bears “open a can of whoop AS- on us.

  20. 1. DB’s returning kicks & punts is commonplace in the NFL. Look at the Cardinals for one.

    2. Cowher & the announcers praise of Gabbert and repeating story lines that Kap is a loner and bad in practice is just them repeating stories planted by the Niners front office. Paraag was doing that for years. Planting rumors with the visiting TV types. Remember the infamous study of tape showed Kap has left 20 TD’s on the field? Jed inspired undermining of his scapegoat du jour. Please note: no whisper against Baalke yet. It’s all that Gabbert is a marvelous player with the subtext that the coaching is letting him down.

    3. Kerley isn’t the teams best player he’s just the only receiver that has basic catching skills that operates within Gabberts range of accuracy i.e. close to the line.

  21. If the the 49ers have receivers running free and the ball isn’t delivered to them, isn’t that the fault of the QB, rather than the scheme?

    Same thing goes for dropped passes, like Celek’s last night. That would’ve been a first down catch, the 49ers would’ve kept the ball and momentum, but, no, Celek dropped it.

    Before Kelly’s system is discarded as worthless, maybe improving the skill position talent is in order.

    1. That’s correct.

      But the hallmark of a bad team is just when you think something is fixed under York/Baalke, such as the offensive line, it springs a leak, such as last night’s disaster.

  22. It was Gabbert’s fault, Kelly’s fault, the receivers’ fault, the defense’s fault, Baalke’s fault…

    And especially York’s fault, because he built this stadium, he is reaping the cash rewards, he fired Jim Harbaugh in 2014, and he handed this franchise to Baalke, who has left the 49ers without a viable answer at QB and wide receiver and with a young defense that got split apart again.

    The result: The 49ers are now 6-15 since firing Harbaugh, who has to be quite amused by all this as he watches from his perch in Michigan.

    T. Kawakami

  23. It is ridiculous to me that Gabbert was the starter for the last two games- the niners would have had a good chance to win both games with Kaepernick as QB.

    I am starting the think that the niners choice on QB may be more about Kaepernicks politics than playing ability and it is BS. I won’t watch another niner game until they are starting their best player- I am done watching Gabbert flail around.

    1. Gabbert in last 13 starts: 4-9, 61.3 cmp pct., 80.4 QB rating

      Kaepernick in last 13 starts: 3-10, 58.6 comp pct., 76.2 QB rating

  24. Jed uses 49er Broadcasters to tow the company line…He also uses sites like this:

    Tim Kawakami Verified account 
    ‏@timkawakami
    I’ve been discussing the 49ers broadcaster-mouthpiece strategy for years. They keep doing it and now everybody can see it.

    Jesus Ramirez ‏@juicer5024 · 20m20 minutes ago

    @timkawakami Yesterday’s broadcast commentary was so bad. I don’t know how the team keeps getting people to do this for them.

    0 retweets 1 like

    1. It’s “toe the company line” (as in, standing with toes on the line the company has drawn on the ground, much like the military), not “tow the company line” (as in, your screen name should be Mr. Malaprop).

  25. Tim Kawakami Verified account 
    ‏@timkawakami
    Tim Kawakami Retweeted SdotLow

    Don’t know this specific case, but 49ers mgmt shmoozes insecure broadcasters, whispers info, makes them feel knowledgeable

    @timkawakami what could the 49ers provide Simms to make himself look so absurdly stupid on national TV? I don’t get it.

    SdotLow ‏@SdotLow · 35m35 minutes ago

    @FLADaveJ @timkawakami @PhilSimmsQB as I said, that’s a breathtaking amount of stupid on display. Especially as an ex-qb

  26. Let me point something out and then hopefully you cant start putting your energy towards the right thing:

    Offensive points per game:

    2016: 22.2
    2015: 14.9
    2014: 19.1
    2013: 25.4
    2012: 24.8

    The offense is scoring nearly as many points per game as the SuperBowl team did.

    Here’s the difference, here’s what’s changed and why the team is still losing even though the offense is scoring more points:

    Defensive points given up per game:

    2016: 28.0
    2015: 24.2
    2014: 21.2
    2013: 17.
    2012: 17.1

    O’Neil certainly deserves some blame but this falls on Baalke. The defense has been slipping every year since 2012. He’s spent 2/3’s of our top 3 draft picks on defense through these years and has it shown up on the field? Nope, the defense just keeps getting worse.

    Stop worrying about Gabbert and Kelly and focus on the real reason this team is going into the toilet; Baalke’s drafts.

    1. The Niners scored a good chunk of their points during garbage time. They’re the worst offense in the league when it comes to moving the ball.

        1. TOP/G

          2016: 26:26
          2015: 26:42

          The TOP is no different then last season so can we just go ahead and drop that one already?

            1. What’s that got to do with us and Kelly. Our top/g is the same before Kelly showed up, he had no effect on it.

              1. The 49ers, currently ranked 31st in the league in TOP. It’s the same system he had in Philly, where they ranked at the bottom of TOP too. You cannot win football games in the National Football League with that system. At Oregon you can, because you have dominant players and more of them. Doug Pederson have called just six more passing plays than runs and lead the NFL with an average of 36:47 per game. That’s how you win in the NFL, and if you can’t understand simple concepts like that, you and Chip have something in common….

      1. Average yard per play doesn’t mean squat, when the final whistle blows all that counts is how many points did you score. The team is scoring more points this season then it has since 2013 and the time of possession is no different then last season.

        The only aspect that has changed significantly for the negative is how many points per game the defense is giving up.

        You can blame the offensive coordinator if you want but you’re pissing in the wind on that one.

          1. The mark of a good coach is one that adapts his offense to his personnel. What we see instead is Chip putting square pegs into round holes and believing his system will overcome all. Ego over substance….

            1. That’s on York and Baalke imo. They knew who Kelly was and the type of offense he ran. If you hire a guy and don’t have the players in place for him to run his system, that’s on you. Kelly is who he is and isn’t going to deviate from that. That’s one of the reasons he wasn’t sought after this offseason.

              1. Until you change the culture at the top of the franchise, that’s all you’re going to get. NFL castoffs….

              2. Gabbert has been missing wide open receivers for big chunks of yards, if not TD’s. How exactly is that on Kelly?

                It seems we really don’t know if Kelly’s scheme is good, bad or indifferent, because the execution of the players has been so poor. If anything, Kelly’s scheme looks OK. If Gabbert could just hit a couple of those receivers running free, the 49ers score more points and most likely open up the running game, a bit.

                I’m just not sure, how Kelly’s system can be judged with Gabbert running and a dearth of WR talent.

              3. Agreed ex. We’ve seen the opportunity to make big plays every week and they are just flat out missed by Gabbert and sometimes by guys dropping balls. The Oline has done a piss poor job in the running game and there is nobody that makes defenses have to adjust their pass defense. Last night we added poor pass protection to the equation so who knows where things go from here.

              4. It’s a simplistic system that runs the same plays over and over counting on the repetitive precision for success. He refused to adapt to his personnel and this is the result. He’s not a good coach in my opinion….

              5. Razor,

                I don’t know how he’s supposed to adapt to bad players. His system is his system. They hired him based on what he ran in College and in Philly. What is it he’s supposed to adapt to?

              6. I just told you. Power running game and the Harbaugh offense he used for Alex Smith. That’s how. Why would you hire a guy that’s not a match, and then expect any success?

              7. I just told you. Power running game and the Harbaugh offense he used for Alex Smith. That’s how. Why would you hire a guy that’s not a match, and then expect any success?

                That’s what I’m saying. Why do you expect Kelly to do something completely different from what he has before? This is who he is and the fault lies with the people who hired him. If you don’t give the man anything to work with then you can’t blame him for the problems. I’m not absolving Kelly of blame, but honestly I’m not sure what people expect here. We have no playmakers on this offense at any position.

              8. This year was simply an evaluation year for Kelly. That’s why I am thinking they never addressed what he needs on offense till he has had a full year to evaluate the current personnel.

                This is why I am thinking Gamble takes over after the year as the 2 of them now know what they need to address.

                I said it was 2 year rebuild, now it looks like a 3 year rebuild having to address many things on the defensive side of the ball!

              9. Why do you expect Kelly to do something completely different from what he has before?

                Because it didn’t work and this is his last chance. I come into this team and I recognize what I have and innovate my offense around those players, accentuating their strengths. You’re kidding me right now….

              10. Because it didn’t work and this is his last chance. I come into this team and I recognize what I have and innovate my offense around those players, accentuating their strengths. You’re kidding me right now….

                No actually it did work. His offenses in Philly were among the highest in yards and points scored every year he was there. They didn’t hire him to come in and run a Greg Roman offense Razor. They hired him to do what he has his entire HC career. The problem is they didn’t give him anything to work with at the skill positions.

                Look you know I’m not a Chip Kelly fan. He’s not the guy I wanted them to hire, but his system isn’t the biggest problem here. There have been players open for big plays and the QB hasn’t hit them. When Gabbert makes a good throw, often there is a drop. There just isn’t enough talent to work with here.

              11. They worked when he had an all pro receiver and an all pro running back. After Cooper(white dude) made the racist comment and was slapped on the hand, Kelly Chipped out his all pros(black ones) and traded for square players to fill round holes. His offense was stymied and he had nothing. Just like now….

              12. The Eagles offense finished last season ranked 12th in yards and 13th in scoring. I’d hardly call that being stymied. I agree that Kelly was his own worst enemy in what he did with the personnel, but he still got some pretty good results with the leftovers.

            2. “adapts his offense to his personnel”

              Stop. This team has no personnel on offense.

              The QB’s suck.

              The best WR was on the verge of being cut before they traded for him. Now he’s already got career highs for a single season.

              The offensive line is highly overrated. Yes before last night they weren’t giving up many sacks but that’s because the ball was always coming out so quickly. They were at a worse ypa going into last night than a season ago and were helped out by some scrambles last night.

              The TE’s can’t catch the ball consistently.

              Bill Walsh could be coaching this team and they’d still be under .500 right now.

              The talent on offense is almost non existent and the same goes for the defense. They got lucky last night because most of the time Stanton couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Guys were wide open and he’d just miss them.

              1. Bill Walsh could be coaching this team and they’d still be under .500 right now

                No way in hell

                The right side of the OL is a power running personnel, not a zone read. He picked Gabbert over Kaepernick, so don’t ask him to throw downfield ever. Give him the offense Harbaugh gave Alex Smith. You needed to build up Gabbert’s confidence through the season, not expose it….

              2. Bill Walsh could be coaching this team and they’d still be under .500 right now.
                —————–
                Maybe but if Joe Montana could be playing on this team they wouldn’t still be under .500 right now. It’s really more about the QB then the offense as a whole. They say the QB can elevate the team around him well Blaine is doing the opposite.

              3. Joe Montana could be playing on this team they wouldn’t still be under .500 right now.

                Montana wouldn’t allow it. He was the greatest leader on the field I’ve ever had the privilege of watching. That’s why we need to go back to the well, and get Kizer!

              4. Agree with that Coffee. There’s been a large amount of yards and points left off the board due to missing wide open receivers with nothing but green in front of them.

              5. I told you they’d be lucky to win 4 games with Gabbert. Jack, what was your prediction again?

              6. 8-10. I’m not worried about being wrong.

                There’s still a lot of time to get this turned around. The Chipster started his rookie season 2-5. That being said, I’m beyond frustrated with so much of what I see and don’t have a whole lot of faith that it’ll turn around this season.

              7. I’ll go out on a big limb and predict a top 5 pick for the San Francisco 49ers in 2017!

              8. I wouldn’t play him, Prime. I’d cut or trade him. His heart is no longer in San Francisco or football….

              9. I don’t know man. It sure seemed like both Cowher and Simms were going out of their way to parrot the view shared by the Niner front office.

          2. This isn’t about how coaches this is about whats wrong with the team. If you want to continue focusing and spending your time on the wrong subject then you’re entitled but you’ll look silly when you’re peers are writing about the defense and you’re still complaining about a lack of half time adjustments.

            Here’s what yards per play on offense gets you in the NFL. Of the 10 teams with the highest yards per play on offense 6 of those teams have a combined record of 7-17. Clearly having a high yards per play doesn’t mean you win games and you might think coaches are worried about yards per play but I know that they’re far more worried about winning games.

            1. 2016
              Combined record of top 10 yards per play teams: 19-21
              Combined record of top 10 points per game teams: 22-17

              2015
              Combined record of top 10 yards per play teams: 93-67
              Combined record of top 10 points per game teams: 105-55

              It’s the bottom line, scoring more points per game wins more often then gaining the most yards per play. If you can only do one of them, like apparently we only can then it’s better to score more points then to gain more yards.

            2. Too many mistakes not to edit:

              “This isn’t about how coachesthink this is about whats wrong with the team. If you want to continue focusing and spending your time on the wrong subject then you’re entitled but you’ll look silly when your peers…”

    2. First there was plenty of garbage time in 2015 and yet the team couldn’t manage to score 22 points a game and second the reason there is garbage time is because the defense has let the game get away.

      1. The defense is giving up 5.4 yards per play. Last season it gave up 5.7 yards per play. Yards per play is how coaches measure offense and defense. Points can be skewed by many different factors.

        1. Don’t let the Flashy Stats Fool You: By David Fucillo

          Nick Bellore made plays, but underlying numbers are not good

          by • David Fucillo • @davidfucillo •Oct 7, 2016, 9:30a

        2. The Patriots are moving the ball 5.5 yards per play. Are they 3-1 because they’re moving the ball .3 yards per play more then us?

            1. yes, I’m sorry I don’t know where I got the 5.2 yards per play. I’ve gone back and I still don’t see where I got that. guess I’m just making stuff up.

          1. Or is it their 30.6 points per game on offense and their 15.6 per game on defense?

            You can 500 yards on offense and score 3 points and you can have 200 yards on offense and score 30 points. So whats really more important, the points per game or the yards?

    3. Yeah I agree with Grant. The scoring is deceptive because a lot of it has come with the games already decided. There is no doubt that the rosters lack of talent plays a huge part in this though. When you use that many picks on one side of the ball and it’s still languishing at the bottom of the league, there’s a personnel issue.

    4. CFC:

      Thanks for posting those stats; they confirm what I was thinking last night. Other than that I have little to say except that it is an epic failure everywhere on the team (except Kerley and Robinson) and within the organization.

  27. Tim Kawakami Verified account 
    ‏@timkawakami
    Tim Kawakami Retweeted Mr_Marcus55

    Expect this excuse to be shouted by Trent-bots: “What roster could recover from all those sudden retirements!” (Two years ago, FYI.)

    Mr_Marcus55
    ‏@Mr_Marcus5466
    @timkawakami I mean honestly…he’s (Jed’s) crazy to think it will with current roster. Balke has killed team with bad drafts.

  28. I think it’s time for the annual banner flying circus we’ve enjoyed throughout the years.

    Jed’s right, we do fly banners. Maybe he’ll get on board and spend some of that cap money to help with this effort to improve his team.

  29. Peter Panacy:

    At times, we see what a Chip Kelly offense can do. The only problem is if one of the key elements isn’t functioning properly, the entire system is thrown off.

    TomD: Peter is correct. When I researched why Chip Kelly was fired in Philly, the Philadelphia media was all over this one, and commented on it .

  30. The offense is devoid of talent across the board. The defense has talent but plays worst then the offense. Mistake after mistake after mistake. Hyde you are jerk, I feel your personnel foul change the momentum of a boring game. I would bench you in a heartbeat. The team is struggling and you pull a bone head play like that. Your penalty is definitely of the stupid variety you can’t fix stupid.

    We don’t have a QB on the team regardless of what the scheme is. We can’t stop the run, and special teams are not special at all. The Niners suck and it’s why they are 1 – 4.

  31. This team has very few NFL caliber players.

    Staley, Kilgore? Their line gave up 7 sacks in a quiet, half full, home stadium.

    You’re very good at rankings…out of the 22 starters on offense and defense…who’s any good relative to the talent in LA, Seattle or Phoenix?

    Who starts on any of those 3 teams?

    That’s a column from you that would be worth reading.

  32. Crickets from Jed. The no sound is deafening.

    But when Jed does check in, expect this: “Trent’s draft picks need time to develop, therefore, I can not terminate him until we can analyze this. It would be unfair to Trent and unfair to the 49er organization.”

  33. Hey look, the 49ers are bad. I didn’t expect them to be this bad but they are awful. The most astonishing thing to me is the absolute putrid level of play from the defense. The offense is bad but you can see the scheme is decent. They have open receivers – its just that Blaine Gabbert couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. On defense, they seem to have poor talent AND bad scheme. If Bill Belichick decided he wanted to move to San Francisco today and told Chip Kelly he would be the DC for free, I think Bill would attend 1 practice and walk directly into Trent Baalke’s office and punch him right in the mouth for failing so miserably in the past 6 drafts.

    What more does Jed York need to see to realize Trent Baalke is a miserable failure?

    1. Jed probably does. But he may have a hard time persuading a good football guy to come work for him.

    2. You’re wrong H9er, he would smack the York!
      Like Razor said it starts at the top, they set the tone and tell people what can and can’t be done. Eddie deB wanted people to be happy and used his money to accomplish that. Yorkie is trying to MAKE money and hire on the cheap, spend on the cheap and not pay attention to details.

  34. Both Lines looked better at end of last year with Jimmy T, Gabbert looked better with Jimmy T, they played the run better with Jimmy T &and so far last year they had better record with Jimmy T. That’s how bad things are!!

    The Yorks Suck!!

    1. Wow. Maybe a Good pick by Baalke. You don’t hear that too often. Now let’s talk about the first round o-lineman that can’t break the starting lineup and the first round d-lineman that are giving up over 5 yards per carry to backup o-lineman.

  35. If I were coaching this team I go to Buffalo with Smith, Kerley, and Streater as my starting WR’s. I keep Gabbert in through the bye. I fire Jim O’Neill and replace him with Jason Tarver. If Ward is healthy he replaces Brock in the starting lineup. I lean on the trainers to make sure Dorsey is ready to go. Shayne Skove starts in place of Bellore. I start getting Tartt down in the box. And I start looking for strong candidates to help transition this D to a 4-3 next year.

    1. That’s a good plan on paper, but I doubt it makes any difference. I would add to your plan and fire Baalke, make Gamble interm, cut or trade Kaepernick, and get Ponder ready for the Saints….

    2. All good thoughts except I’d replace Gabbert with Ponder immediately. I think promoting Tarver to replace O’Neill would have an immediate effect on improving the run defense.

      1. My opinion, i dont, tarver cant even get the linebackers to the qb and hes the linebackers coach. What makes you think he will help the run defense

            1. How bout mikebarrow or dwayne board, or jerry gray or Andre Patterson. Just to name afew

              1. In my opinion, you do t promote a position coach if his position stinks.. our linebackers miss tackles and dont get sacks. What in the world is promotable about that

              2. Dude, they’re all employed and aren’t going to come to this dumpster fire in the middle of the season, leaving their teams high n dry….

              3. All good names. All currently with other teams so unable to take over this season. Try to keep up.

              4. Dude, so why replace garbage with garbage. Let the stink rott til seasons end then throw it out. All of it

              5. Jack ive kept up. Your plan is to replace incompetence with incompetence! Let it all go til the end of the season. I know those guys are employed but he asked whos better not whos the better inhouse option. And in my opinion there is no better in house option.

              6. Dude, so why replace garbage with garbage. Let the stink rott til seasons end then throw it out. All of it

                That’s what I’ve been saying, but Jack’s plan is bone for the fans in an attempt to right the Chip….

        1. My thoughts exactly. Why is Tarver the answer at DC? Scheme looks bad but even if you fix the scheme you still have deficient talent to be effective. The defense requires a major overhaul. The offense requires major upgrades at every skill position – except RB where I think Hyde could be the guy. The 49ers are not in a retooling stage. They are in a multi-year rebuild it from the ground up transformation to recover from the catastrophic Baalke years. Firing O’Neil and replacing him with the position group coach of the position playing perhaps the worst on the team seems like fiddling while Rome burns.

          1. It would be a temporary fix. One would have to wait till the firings at the end of the season to get a more experienced DC.

          2. Who said that Tarver is the answer? You make the change in hopes that he can simplify things and get guys to line up correctly, do their assignments and play fast. None of which is happening on a regular basis right now.

            1. Yup — the change would stop digging the hole. The DC next season can figure out how to get out of the hole.

            2. That’s what is so puzzling about this. An NFL defense can’t even get lined up correctly half the time. That is unacceptable at this level, and is an indication that what the players in Cleveland were saying about O’Neil’s defense last year, likely has merit.

            3. I guess but I don’t think firing O’Neil helps anything. In a purely Machiavellian move, I would say keep everything as is which maximizes the chances of getting the highest possible draft pick.

  36. Alot of you keep talking about guys that cant get open!!! Jesus u guys watched the game,use your eyes, dont parrot crap off tv. Their were plenty of guys open all night. Blabbert just missed them. This offense. Isint the problem, the man running it is, and if the head coac and gm are that fu***** stupid to understand, then they get What they deserve. Blabbert was never the awnser, just part of the bigger problem. Grant, you chastised Hyde for averaging 4.0 yards a carry. Well running into 8-9 men fronts and still getting 4.0, thats amazing. Imagine a freaking competent qb running this offense where teams couldn’t put that many in the box. We would actually have a good offensive team. But when your qb cant hit open men deep, week after week, then that’s a qb problem, not a scheme problem. In my opinion there was 21 points, at least, left on the field from missed da** throws to guys deep. Those are the throw’s qb turned sucker, nick foles used to make with ease. So why, i repeat why is Glain freakn Blabbert still the”unquestioned” starter?

  37. I don’t understand how people can be surprised by this teams performance and record. It seemed pretty obvious to me that they would be terrible. There is no quick fix coming. The York juju has poisoned the franchise in self inflicted fashion.

    The next major York mistake? Allowing Kelly to manage the draft and $50+ million in cap space next off season. It’s an absolute disaster waiting to happen. Kelly will have two more losing seasons before being terminated, at which point a new GM and coach will come in and immediately start jettisoning the players that were acquired specifically to run Kelly’s system.

    The only thing the York’s have shown competency at is destroying a once great franchise. They are so bad that Mike Brown, Bill Bidwell and Mark Davis are seen as excellent owners in comparison. Think about that for a second. A team without a GM, an owner known for locking the Gatorade refrigerator and the bowl cut man child look like poster boys for NFL success compared to Jed.

    A conversation with David Shaw would go like this:

    Jed: “David, what would it take for you to leave Stanford and coach the 49ers?”

    Shaw: “New ownership and the keys to the car.”

    1. Athlon’s top 10 college coaches: Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, Mark Dantonio, Bob Stoops, Gary Patterson, Jimbo Fisher, David Shaw, Dabo Swinney, and Brian Kelly.

          1. Kelly hasn’t won anything Razor. He doesn’t belong ahead of those Coaches who have won a ton.

            1. Tell that to Athlon, and you’ve made your point quite clear you don’t like Kelly. Meanwhile, he’ll have a quarterback drafted number one, and it’s not just Luck….

              1. It’s not that I don’t like him. It’s that I think he’s being overrated for what he’s actually accomplished. He’s a good HC, but he doesn’t belong ahead of Coaches who have won multiple NC’s and Bowl games.

              2. Most of those coaches don’t strike me as HCs that could handle the coach/player power dynamic in the NFL. Including Kelly.

          2. Know anything about Mark Dantonio? I’ve only watched a few Michigan State games. The Rose Bowl vs Stanford a few years back and their Oregon game last year (to review Buckner snaps).

            In both instances they seemed very well prepared. Played over their heads vs teams with better recruiting. High execution. On the road in big games.

      1. How is Tom Herman not on this list? He’s the hottest name in all of college coaching. What is this a list of – top 10 salaries of college coaches? Bob Stoops is living on reputation and Jimbo Fisher is not doing a good job with all of that talent. They don’t belong on a top 10 list in terms of performance.

    2. BigP,

      Some harsh truths there for sure, but it shouldn’t be that much of a shock for those who weren’t blinded by the rose colored glasses.

      1. Rocket,
        No doubt. I just don’t think most fans realize exactly where this team is at. You’ve seen both the father and the son fire excellent, winning coaches. This is the post Mariucci era all over again. The HC of the 49ers is a glamorous position. If should be a highly sought after job. A dream job. The York’s are the common denominator in destroying that legacy. Twice.

        It took almost a decade for them to recover from the Mariucci disaster. In hindsight, they lucked into Harbaugh but still managed to rehabilitate their reputation because of it. They won and they got a new stadium built. As soon as they got the keys to the stadium the situation went South. Jed sabatoged the season and fired Harbaugh. As Jed, supremely confident, crowed about only raising championship banners, the rest of the NFL watched in amusement at how the York’s destroyed one of the NFL’S premiere franchises twice in one decade.

        The York’s aren’t football people and they lack the passion to be great on the field. They are business people and they are content unless the product on the field affects their bottom line. Reactionary ownership groups are doomed for disaster because they’re never ahead of the curve. By the time the change is implemented it’s already outdated and further forced change is inevitable. There is no vision and Jed is blind to his weak spots, just like his father was.

        1. BigP,

          The Yorks have been a disaster from day one and it looks like it will continue indefinitely. Both Jed and his Father are far too sensitive and make rash decisions with no common sense involved.

  38. The changes I would make.

    Ponder at QB. Probably won’t make a difference but why not. Gabbert backup and Kaep inactive.

    Garnett starts at either guard, time for him to get some experience.

    Start Davis at RB promote Taylor and place Hyde on the inactive for being stupid.

    Its taking me awhile but I finally am on the fire Baalkie bandwagon!!

    Not sure if anything can be done with the defense at this stage of the season but for sure O’neil – gone after season.

  39. Five weeks ago my first round draft wish list was edge rusher. Today my first round draft wish list is quarterback, edge rusher, receiver, MLB.

    Basically, the rebuild will be two years longer than I thought, even if we draft well next year.

      1. A 0 Tech hasn’t been drafted in quite some time, but I like the idea of moving to a 4-3

        1. We might have to. A 3-4 needs an NT that can “grab grass” vs double teams, and at least one ILB with the reflexes of a puma. Can those be had if you already spent picks rounds 1, 2, 3 on an Edge Rusher, Quarterback and Receiver?

          4-3 might be a better shortcut to respectability.

  40. Baalke is the problem.The fallout from decent FAs avoiding the Niners like the plague resulted in 49 mil in cap space, but also resulted in the dearth of talent. Coupled with that, the paucity of elite players from the draft has resulted in the weak roster and a 4 game losing streak. His ACL strategy has been a colossal failure.

    The Niners cannot get better until Baalke is gone. Madden said that suits are cheap and easily replaceable. Jed should get rid of Baalke, or kick him upstairs since he is a gutless wonder.

    That empty stadium is proof that the Niners are on the wrong track. Jed, since he does not like to be humiliated, should be bold and decisive. Once Baalke is long gone, the Niners may become relevant again. Even if Kaep starts and gets the Niners back to winning, I will give Chip sole credit, and Baalke none at all.

    1. After all these long years, still hanging on to the Kap dream ?

      Please see Robert Deniro’s, “The Fan” for further illumination.

      Wiki:

      Gil “Curly” Renard (Robert De Niro), a knife salesman, is a mentally unstable temperamental divorcé who has been neglecting both his young son and his job, which he is on the verge of losing due to poor sales. Gil has a fervent loyalty to his favorite sport, baseball, and his favorite team, the San Francisco Giants. Gil is obsessed with the Giants’ newest player, San Francisco native Bobby Rayburn.

      He risks his job by attending the opening game of the season while he should be meeting a client. In an attempt to bond with his son, Gil takes him to the game, but leaves him there to attend his sales meeting.

      1. *(Above) Why do I feel that Seb is Gil Curly, but sells guns instead of knives. Bobby Rayburn is actually Colin Kaepernick, and instead of the Giants it’s the 49ers.

        1. TrollD, you are the creep who fantasized about breaking into gun safes and creating nightmares, not me.

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