Posted By: StonerLab (02/10/2008 11:43:36 AM)
Comment: I have to agree with what Danny in Gainesville stated about Nolan. To me he hasn't shown that he can make adjustments during a game in order to take advantage of an opponent's weakness'. As Dan Snyder once said "Nolan is Vanilla" he's not shown since he's been here the aggressivness that you need in order to get the QB on the ground. It's really a shame & a waste of talent because I believe we have the personnel to put pressure & sacks on the opponent. You really have to question wether or not Nolan is a good DC much less a competent one don't you think?

Posted By: mike in MD (01/10/2008 7:55:13 PM)
Comment: Marco from Stockton..I hear what your saying but I think MM should keep playing VD to his strengths not just on the long ball but scheme to get him out in space on the short stuff. Screens, misdirections, & short patterns getting him isolated to one side. Short where he has a higher percentage of making the catch & when he's out in space is where you take advantage of his speed to outrun his guy(s) for yardage. He doesn't have any fakes to put a move on someone so when he starts to hit traffic he has to learn to get physical for more YAC. Once you get passed the LB's you only have CB's & safeties to deal with where he should be pounding these guys. Sure the SS & maybe the FS's will be hitters but if you've just made a catch, have turned upfield, & are already going downhill several yards with momentum right at them his mass going forward has the advantage. Lower the shoulder & blow them up VD!

Posted By: Marco from Stockton (01/10/2008 3:30:10 PM)
Comment: Ever wonder why V Davis is a such a good pass blocking tight end? He is NOT a good route runner so they keep him in to help that poor Oline. The 3rd year is time enough to see if he can get separation. He can't! in the NFL it is all about separation. It is what makes Steve Smith, TO, and Moss great. Same went for Brett Jones. They separate from defenders. Personally I think D Walker is a much better passing catching tight end and football player. They need to play him more at that position so he can develop. Is V Davis a combine wonder? He must start producing or that will be his handle.

Posted By: CW-Fresno (01/10/2008 2:28:12 PM)
Comment: The worst thing that could've happend for the Niners is the Dolphins beating the Pats. They are going to be so fired up and angry about that performance, the niners are headed into the lake of fire right now. I am going to root for the 49ers, as I have for 20 yrs. now, but I will be excited if the Niners score one touchdown. I sure hope I'm wrong. The Patriots are still one of the best teams in the league w/o Brady. I think the Yorks should give the Pats GM as much money as he wants to take over the 9ers.(I know this won't happen)He will be available after this year. My prediction... Patriots 38 49ers 9

Posted By: pressrow (01/10/2008 1:24:24 PM)
Comment: I know there isn't much film to watch yet this season, but let's remind ourselves how well Belichick prepares himself and his staff every week. Gore took one direct snap so far this season, and Belichick picked it up spot-on talking to media.

Posted By: Bensta 49er (01/10/2008 1:13:20 PM)
Comment: Why is Vernon ALWAYS used as a blocker? I understand that he is good at it but come on. Other teams would alreay be throwing VD the ball all game, not in the 4th qt! I am sick of the 49ers getting out coached! Our in-game adjustments are too slow, and our team never seems energetic throughout the game. Maybe Nolan's dry approach has something to do with it. And if we settle for 3 again on the 20 yrd line, I will have a nervous break down.

Posted By: A.E.S. (01/10/2008 11:12:09 AM)
Comment: matt, i know its beginning to sound redundant, but three things are in desperate need. 1) re-tool our pass rush scheme. 2) re-tool our pass protection scheme. 3) re-tool our defensive backfield. wow, it almost sounds like we're back to square one. but the saving grace is that we're only 4 games in and that aside from one blow-out loss the team is better than last years product. on paper, the niners should lose to the next few opponents but i still like our chances more this year than in the past three. wins in the next three weeks would make us a 'cinderella team' but that is a 'pipe dream' more then reality. i just want to see a team that is COMPETITIVE, blow-outs are no longer acceptable to this regime.

Posted By: sandip (01/10/2008 11:01:18 AM)
Comment: 49ers 23, Patriots 17. San Fran should win this game, and if they do, their confidence will gain somewhat and hopefully prepare them for tougher opponents coming up on the road. No one thinks the niners can beat the Giants but all I'm looking for is a decent showing. Hopefully, putting down a brady-less NE team will do wonders for us.

Posted By: Marc - NJ49er (01/10/2008 10:46:45 AM)
Comment: So Matt, honest response, who says less at a press conference, Nolan or Belichick? Bill is a man of few words and Nolan speaks plenty while saying about as much. All I can say is, happy for Steve Young Day, and hopefully, we work a short controlled passing game away from Mayo and toward the older slower side. I don't see this as a very pretty position, facing the Pats with 2 weeks to prepare. Ball control, keep away, clock management anyone? Leave the deep stuff on the drawing board this week?

Posted By: Danny in Gainesville (01/10/2008 10:34:56 AM)
Comment: matt...i don't claim to know more about defense than belichick or nolan, but belichick's comment that nolan is good at changing things up according to the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent seems to fly in the face of a mountain of evidence to the contrary. when the niners play teams starting backup wr's (sea & no), nolan plays big nickel??? when the niners play teams with all-pro wr's (ari & det), nolan doesn't play big nickel??? this makes no sense. granted, they beat seattle, but a combined 61 points in the big nickel against teams with backup wr's doesn't sound to me like good preparation for "the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent," unless he means nolan designs a defense that transforms an opponent's weakness into its strength.

Posted By: NinerTed (01/10/2008 10:25:38 AM)
Comment: Belichick is always honest and to the point about players and that's why he's able to plug in different players and still be successful. Who does Cassel remind you giving his short time in the league? Also, what's the status on Manny Lawson?

Posted By: Jon in SoCal (01/10/2008 10:16:48 AM)
Comment: Maybe VD should bulk up and play RT

Posted By: Darth (01/10/2008 10:07:58 AM)
Comment: Hey Matt, Does Nolan do the conference calls with oppositions media too. Just curious.

Posted By: Jason (01/10/2008 9:59:02 AM)
Comment: Unlike some who believe that the Saints loss was the result of bad play, I believe that it was an example of a good team exposing four flaws that were also present against the Cardinals, Lions and Seahawks: (1) our pass protection is somewhere between mediocre and bad (which is exacerbated by JTO's tendancy to hold onto the ball too long), (2) our WRs can't consistently beat man coverage, (3) we can't stop the power run up the middle, and (4) we can't generate pass rush sending 4 men. #1 has be evident in the sack totals in every game except the Lions game, but even that game JTO was running around. #2 has been evident all year, but was really shown against the Saints. Time and again JTO had no one to throw to. #3 allowed the Cardinals to run out the clock, Duece to score his first TD in a year, and the Seahawks to pound us up the middle during that long drive in the second half. Finally, I don't think anyone will question #4. With an extra week to prepare, I believe that Belechik will take advantage of all of these flaws. He'll man up on the outside and send the house to pound Gore and JTO. On offense he'll pound the soft middle of our D with a rotating cast of RBs and occassionally throw a deep ball to Moss. And I expect it to work on Sunday unless there are some drastic changes made. I believe that the OL issue is a talent issue. Barry Sims was getting owned by Charles Grant. Wragge has been less than spectacular in pass blocking and wasn't even drafted. We need to get our highly drafted gaurds (Bass and Rachal) ready to play and into the game. We also need to draft a reliable tackle in the first or second round to replace the Sims/Mr. Glass (Jennings) tandem. While we're waiting for that to happen, we need to either get Jennings healthy or give Sims plenty of help. On D, we need to go to a 4-3 because our personnel simply cannot run a 3-4 as is and consistently stop the run up the middle or generate pressure. We also need to ditch the "big nickle," which has allowed over 30 points both times its been implemented. While our personnel probably won't generate more pressure with a 4-3, at least we'll be more equiped to stop the run. We can then mix in blitzs to generate pressure. Finally, next offseason we need to draft or sign a marque pass rushers. Peppers, Suggs and Will Smith will all be free agents (although some, or all, of these guys might be francised). In any event, its clear from our losses that we're losing the games at the line of scrimmage. Solving that problem must be our priority the rest of the season, and beyond.

Posted By: Dino (01/10/2008 9:32:57 AM)
Comment: Hey Matt, do you think the Niners have a realistic shot at winning this game? If so what are the key points (strategy) for them to have success? Thanks.