SANTA CLARA – Patrick Willis spoke at his locker Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said. Q: Did your offense surprise you at all against the Bills? WILLIS: We got out here and practice every day and we see the way those guys practice. For them to go out there and put up the numbers that they put up, they were extraordinary numbers. We never underestimate our offense. We know that…
SANTA CLARA – Dashon Goldson spoke in the media tent Wednesday afternoon and he wore Patrick Willis’ jersey as he answered questions at the podium. Here’s everything Goldson said. Q: How much of a threat is Eli Manning? GOLDSON: Eli’s a very good quarterback, very accurate, tough guy. We faced him twice last year, and what I got out of those games is he’s really tough. He’s tougher than he…
SANTA CLARA – Alex Smith sprained a finger on his throwing hand in the fourth quarter against the Bills on Sunday. Here’s what he said about his injured finger Wednesday afternoon. Q: How’s the finger feel? ALEX SMITH: Feeling alright. I think it will be fine. Q: Have you thrown a ball? ALEX SMITH: Played toss a little bit yesterday, a little bit today. It’s one of those things where…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Victor Cruz said about the 49ers-Giants matchup to Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning on a conference call. Q: The Niners have shut down some good QBs and limited opposing passing games. How have they done that? CRUZ: I think it’s their aggressive play. I think their safeties do a good job of being heavily involved in the run. Dashon Goldson, he covers a lot of…
SANTA CLARA – Victor Cruz spoke to Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning on a conference call. Here’s what he said about his rivalry with Carlos Rogers. Q: Do you have a rivalry with Carlos Rogers? CRUZ: I guess so. That’s what the media likes to call it, but I think it’s just friendly competition. Q: Do you have a friendly competition with a lot of cornerbacks? CRUZ: I think it’s…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Tom Coughlin said to Bay Area reporters about the New York Giants Wednesday morning on a conference call. Q: How much of the success of your defense is related to your abilities to get pressure on the quarterback with just four guys? COUGHLIN: That’s always been our strong point. We haven’t gotten much pressure this year comparatively. Obviously it’s something we’re trying to regenerate. Hopefully…
SANTA CLARA – New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin spoke to Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning on a conference call. Here’s what he said about the 49ers. Q: Earlier today you told the New York writers nobody’s giving you a chance to beat the 49ers. Do you really believe that? COUGHLIN: That was my first impression earlier in the week. I probably should not have said it but I…
On Monday, Jim Harbaugh said Randy Moss will have his “big-catch day” soon, meaning Moss will catch a lot of passes. Here’s my question to you: How soon? Do you expect him to catch about eight passes and a touchdown against the Giants? Or do you think he’ll continue to get one target per game and play fewer snaps than Kyle Williams? I think the latter will happen. I think…
The 49ers play the Giants on Sunday at Candlestick. In the meantime, I’ll break down a couple of key matchups per day. WR Michael Crabtree vs. CB Corey Webster Crabtree is having an excellent season – he’s on pace to catch 90 passes and gain about 1,000 yards. But on Sunday he has to face Corey Webster, who absolutely shut him down last season. In two games he held Crabtree…
The 49ers just announced they’ve waived backup outside linebacker Eric Bakhtiari to make room on their 53-man roster for Clark Haggans. Haggans missed the first five games of the season because he was serving a suspension for a DUI conviction. He’s a key backup for the 49ers because he’s the only backup outside linebacker they currently have on the roster. Expect him to suit up against Giants on Sunday.
Frequent commenter “Jack Hammer” has started his own 49ers blog and it’s great. It’s called “Niner Chatter” and you should bookmark it right now. Mr. Hammer’s most recent post is called, “How good are the 49ers?” and it’s very interesting. You can read it here. If you haven’t noticed, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s Inside the 49ers blog has some of the most talented, intelligent 49ers fans on the internet…
The 49ers play the Giants on Sunday at Candlestick. In the meantime, I’ll break down a couple of key matchups per day. TE Martellus Bennett (6-6, 265 pounds) vs. Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman and Donte Whitner With Dashon Goldson and Chris Culliver taking away the deep passes, Eli Manning probably will have to throw short and over the middle against the 49ers. That’s where Martellus Bennett comes in. We know…
The 49ers play the Giants on Sunday at Candlestick. In the meantime, I’ll break down a couple of key matchups per day. CB Chris Culliver (6-0, 199 pounds, 4.36 40-yard dash) vs. WRs Domenik Hixon (6-2, 197, 4.39) and Rueben Randle (6-3, 208, 4.43). When the 49ers played the Giants Week 10 last season, Culliver mostly matched up man-to-man against Mario Manningham, who caught 6 passes for 77 yards and…
The 49ers’ offense played 67 snaps against the Bills. Here’s a snap-count breakdown for the 49ers’ offensive skill players. Vernon Davis: 56 snaps (84%) Alex Smith: 53 (79%) Frank Gore: 41 (61%) Delanie Walker: 38 (57%) Mario Manningham: 32 (48%) Michael Carbtree: 29 (43%) Kendall Hunter: 21 (31%) Kyle Williams: 20 (30%) Colin Kaepernick: 19 (28%) Randy Moss: 18 (27%) Garrett Celek: 14 (21%) Ted Ginn Jr.: 12 (18%) Anthony…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said about the 49ers offense at his Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. We talked to offensive coordinator Greg Roman yesterday. He noted that it was obvious early on that QB Alex Smith was hot. That WR Michael Crabtree was hot. When you see that early on, do you then start to tailor the calls to fit the hot hands, so…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said about the 49ers defense at his Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. What have you seen out of your pass defense that’s allowing the second fewest yards in the league, and just how well they’ve played through five weeks? “Again, for the second week in a row I think you can really say that everybody played well defensively. Nobody played bad….
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said at his Monday press conference about Alex Smith’s development as an NFL quarterback. HARBAUGH: I can’t tell you how much respect I have for him. He’s played so well, handles himself, does all the things that I wish I would have done as good a job as he has done on and off the field (when I was a player). Q: Are…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said about Randy Moss at the Monday press conference. HARBAUGH: Randy Moss has been just great. A lot of people talk about the past or whatever, I’ve seen nothing other than a guy who works hard and wants to contribute, practices and says and does all the right things. Q: What’s been great about Moss’ play on the field on Sundays? HARBAUGH: Assignment,…
SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke for 20 minutes in the defensive meeting room Monday afternoon. Instead of posting the entire transcript in one blog, I’m breaking it up by theme to focus the discussion. Here’s what Harbaugh said about the sprained middle finger on Alex Smith’s throwing hand. Smith sprained it in the fourth quarter on his final pass attempt of the 49ers 45-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills….
The 49ers play the Giants at Candlestick on Sunday. In the meantime, I’ll break down one key matchup a day. CB Carlos Rogers vs. WR Victor Cruz When the 49ers and Giants played last season, Rogers covered Cruz on almost every pass play. That’s because the Giants like to line up Cruz in the slot in three-wide receiver formations and the 49ers counter with their Nickel defense, in which Carlos…
