Posted By: Marc - NJ49er (03/10/2008 4:41:13 AM)
Comment: Mike in SF #2, my point of Vanilla has more to do with his game planning and playing for 3. I hang my hat on the D, no other way to play. I believe the serve and volley in this 'Name Game' had to do with Bill pointing out the gaf on name recognition with Wesley Walker. Bill is nicely pointing out the fact that he knows who he's planning for on Sunday. You'll see another post here where I state that my money is on Martz to devise something. We have a chance with Brady down, but our OL needs to have a stellar game to keep their O off the field. Gore and short controlled passing instead of sell out routes and 3 and outs. We'll see? But no slam intended on Vanilla and D from me. This D just needs to dial up some pressure packages and we'll be fine.

Posted By: Erik (02/10/2008 4:05:17 PM)
Comment: Very funny. This should erase any doubt about who will win this game.

Posted By: niner (02/10/2008 3:12:18 PM)
Comment: wonder if Nolans knows the name of our OL? since they are the most pitiful group in the NFL the last 4 years, probably not. Who would want to know their names?

Posted By: Nick (02/10/2008 2:08:27 PM)
Comment: Seems very unfair to insinuate that Nolan can only name one Patriot player, when you don't even include the context of that conversation. Did somebody actually ask Nolan, "how many Patriots players can you name"?

Posted By: Houston 9er (02/10/2008 1:52:07 PM)
Comment: Steven Girard, you are incredibly naive and foolish if you don't think cheating played a role in Belichick's success. The Pats are better because they work harder??? Give me a break. Do you have any idea how much the men on every coaching staff and scouting department work? The NFL is full of people who work extremely hard. Those same people display a hell of alot more class and ethical behavior than the Pats.

Posted By: PaintSniffer (02/10/2008 12:56:40 PM)
Comment: I bet Belicheater knew the name of Ronnie Brown. I bet he also knew the name of everyone on the Giants D Line who dominated the Patriots O Line in the Super Bowl. Coaches and Knowing the Names of the Players have very little to do with who wins a Football game. What normally decides who wins a game is the Teams players that Tackle, Run, Catch, Pass, Block, Kick and Hold on to the ball better than the other team. It has nothing to do with how a coach name drops players to fill in time at a press conference.

Posted By: Parker (02/10/2008 11:44:21 AM)
Comment: Matt - nice quote you captured from BB. Proof that he does his homework and shows his football acumen. Unlike some other coaches. I miss BW.

Posted By: Robert (02/10/2008 11:40:00 AM)
Comment: Maybe it says something about our beat reporters that the name of a prominant player in the NFL (most receptions in NFL last season ain't too shabby) is mispronounced and the reporter just writes it the way it was pronounced. I think most fans know he meant Welker. Getting to your point Matt, I don't think the number of players mentioned in a press conference means much. Maybe Nolan doesn't want to name any names because he doesn't want any of his ideas to leak out about specific players. He tends to give too much information when given the chance, so I'm glad that he kept his lips sealed this time.

Posted By: mike in MD (02/10/2008 11:35:36 AM)
Comment: I'm with you Marco from NY..but if I were to go for a battle it has to be 1 at a time. The Yorks have to come later, I'm focused on Nolan first. Difficult thing for me is I'm just not programmed to wish for my team to lose so it's going to have to be a silver lining deal for me. Any games we happen to drop is 1 more step in getting rid of Nolan. So that's 100% in total fairness...this is his 4th year & he SHOULD BE ABLE to beat teams with a winning record by now. Hell I'd be somewhat satisfied if we could compete with them. If it reflects badly on him by the Bye week then so be it & I hope that'll be judgment day. About the Defense your so on the mark. You could add Dick LeBeau & Ryan to that list. Nolan..you could just study the past game between Balt vs Pittsburgh. NOW THAT'S HOW YOU BLITZ!! And you definitely have to thrown in Johnson's EAGLES D in there too!!

Posted By: sack daddy (02/10/2008 11:01:57 AM)
Comment: who cares about how many players' names he can remember off the top of his head....the dude has zero class and zero sportsmanship and showed it once again after the super bowl when the Giants beat the Patriots and in the interview after the game he didn't even pay an ounce of respect to the Giants.

Posted By: Mike in SF #2 (02/10/2008 11:01:45 AM)
Comment: Marc - NJ49er - and others that like to call Nolan D "Vanilla". If you know ANYTHING about defensive football you would know that Nolan and the 49ers D is ANYTHING but Vanilla and is in fact one of the more exotic defenses in the NFL. We change schemes and formations more than any defense in the NFL. We can debate all day long how effective that strategy has been, but as Matt noted before, holding Warner, Kitna, and Hastleback to the numbers we did was impressive. Tampa Bay, the Colts and other run a "Vanilla" straight up Cover 2. The niners under Mike Nolon have always run multiple looks and schemes (3-4, 4-3, 4-2-5). I'm tired of some of you fans on here being DEAD WRONG about this. Watch our team on film and think before you make comments like that. Happy to debate/discuss how effective our multiple looks are, but don't call our defense "Vanilla" when its anything but.

Posted By: CW (02/10/2008 10:42:46 AM)
Comment: There is zero chance for the 49ers to win this game. It pains me to say that, but I'm trying to be a realist. Nolan is such an awful coach. You know the orginization is in bad shape when Nolan wasn't fired last year during that terrible losing streak, and then earned his stay of execution because there was no one better. I would rather have Lane Kiffin take over right now. I think he is going to be a great coach in this league(See Mike Shanahan 1989) The 9ers will be sacrificed to the Pats, and it won't be close. Look for J.T.O. to be sacked double-digit times, and possible serious injury. Look for Nolan to play 9 defensive backs, and claim after the game that he blitzed 5 guys every play. Bill Belichick will make it look like their playing a high school team. Thank God Tom Brady is not playing, or this would be an all out masacre. Even without him, I don't expect the Pats to put up any less than 35 pts. The niners won't even get in the redzone. We need to start over and rebuild AGAIN. Heres to another Ten years.

Posted By: Dean (02/10/2008 10:23:48 AM)
Comment: Matt- Way to toss Nolan under the bus!

Posted By: ToolTime (02/10/2008 9:57:03 AM)
Comment: Thanks Matt, for providing fuel for the anti Nolan haters. I thought the volatility of the comment section was something you were getting tired of? Did you ask Beli how many players on the Dolphins he could name? I will bet he knows who Ronnie Brwon and Ricky Williams are too, but he still allowed them to rack up 211 yards on the ground against them. So far no team has done that to Nolan regardless of how many names he rattled off to reporters. I will bet Beli knows who Chad Pennington is too, especially after he completed 17 of 20 passes in 38-13 win over the Pats. I wonder if he could name Anthony Fasano, Greg Camarillo, or Tedd Ginn Jr., because honestly I couldn't have named those dolphins receivers until I looked them up and saw how they shredded the patriots defense helping the Dolphins rack up over 400 yards against a team that was ranked #1 going into the start of the season by many if not most rankings experts. None of those wide receivers has more than three years experience, but Beli who probably knows each of their names by heart couldn't stop them with his defense. And then there is a the whole cheating scandal and video taping of coaches signals, and cheating during the super bowl video taping the Rams walk through. I guess I am just wondering why your using Beli to throw Nolan under the bus. Genius's cheat Matt, and Nolan might not be a genius but he has won as many games as Beli has this year and hasn't been embarrassed by a far inferior team as of yet this season. So give him some credit.

Posted By: Darth (02/10/2008 9:46:50 AM)
Comment: Everyone here at the office is getting a kick out of how clueless Nolan is. The fact he can't even get one player's name right, on a team of that caliber is pathetic. Just like his press conferences where he does his best impressions of George Bush.

Posted By: Steven Girard (02/10/2008 9:01:02 AM)
Comment: Success is achieved through doing the things that unsuccessful people or organization won't do. You can hang your hat all you want on some cheating angle, it's still a bunch of bunk. Bottom line the Pat's work harder than many other organizations from their owner, to their coaches, to their players to their scouting staff. "Team" effort is not just the players on the field its every one, 24/7.

Posted By: Houston 9er (02/10/2008 8:36:26 AM)
Comment: Very impressive. Did anyone ask if he saw all those players on an illegal bootleg video of the 9ers practice? Did anyone ask Belichick about Owen Pochman's book where Pochman says the Pats asked him to fake an injury so he could be put on IR for the year. Belichick may have a great coaching mind but he has zero common sense. Belichick cheating in all those games was like Stephen Hawking cheating on a 3rd grade math test. It makes absolutely no sense to commit the crime. It would be glorious justice to have the Pats lose a bunch of games and miss the playoffs. Belichick may be a great football mind but he doesn't have half that success without the emergence of Tom Brady.

Posted By: wsmith (02/10/2008 8:25:34 AM)
Comment: News Flash: Nolan is an idiot.

Posted By: Marc - NJ49er (02/10/2008 8:02:54 AM)
Comment: Face facts, Tuna knew Belichick very well and knew the dice to roll. I'm hanging my hat on Martz to devise a wrinkle and PRAY we can execute. It probably won't be pretty.

Posted By: oneniner (02/10/2008 8:00:23 AM)
Comment: ---"what does 8 years in the league and never being a starter have to do with anything??....late bloomer my butt. If after 8 yrs in the league you cant be more creative on your own but simply follow the playbook, there is nothing to bloom into. We have all seen the 4 games JTO has played, he does the same thing, no creativity, no signature plays, just plays the same way.....If JTO is who we think he his, you can pretty much predict we have no chance of winning against good teams talk less of really good team.....he lacks that "IT" you want in a franchise QB.

Posted By: Jon in SoCal (02/10/2008 7:47:22 AM)
Comment: That just shows the difference between those who are prepared at at the top of the game...and Nolan

Posted By: Mike (02/10/2008 7:00:52 AM)
Comment: Patriots didnt tamper with Moss Sean. Al davis is a lunatic...

Posted By: Lance (02/10/2008 6:05:13 AM)
Comment: Mike Reiss from the Globe sent me. Like this blog entry because it conveys what Patriots fans have come to appreciate the past 8+ years. The press vilifies Belichick because he doesn't speak in sound-bites or write headlines for the papers. No, Coach Belichick knows his football, it's his passion, his life and he's got a great mind. Guaranteed a person learns more about the game listening to him for 5 minutes than reading any book. He really isn't the ogre the press has made him out to be - he just doesn't suffer fools gladly and the press is a beehive of fools (outside Mr. Maiocco, of course). Good luck to the 49ers on Sunday.

Posted By: Jillian (02/10/2008 6:05:02 AM)
Comment: I wouldn't anticipate the patriots to blitz too often. They use a 3-4 defense which calls for their lineman to hold the line and let their linebackers do the damage. Problem is most teams need to double team Seymore at the line of scrimmage. 3rd and long will see blitzing, other than that, I don't think so.

Posted By: Marc - NJ49er (02/10/2008 5:17:14 AM)
Comment: New England will keep us off balance, something Nolan knows nothing about. Vanilla sums it up pretty well for Nolan. Like all of us, I'll be amazed if we find anything that will surprise Belichick & Co. Moss and Welker will be a HUGE challenge, and forget Maroney if he gets involved early. Also, what is Singletary's role in adding to the defensive packages? Is he strictly a position coach, or does he get involved with planning week to week? Can't help but be reminded of his playing days, and, hoping for similar results from those Monsters of the Midway Days here in SF.

Posted By: James in GB (02/10/2008 1:40:52 AM)
Comment: Wow. BB certainly likes to wear his knowledge heavily. Is he trying to play mind games?

Posted By: Billy (01/10/2008 10:30:12 PM)
Comment: Haha that made Nolan look like a moron!! I dont know if you did that intetionally Matt but it was funny thanks you made my day!!

Posted By: Joseph Granata (01/10/2008 10:15:58 PM)
Comment: I expect the Patriots to be ready to play this game like they are every week, we just have to exploit their weaknesses. I actually think we should start the game passing on them. They expect us to use Frank Gore a lot in this game and so I say we use our other weapons, Davis, Bruce, Johnson, Battle, Morgan, Hill. I also think we need to blitz in this game, if we can rattle Cassle we could have the upper hand. And on Offense lets use the no-huddle, tire out their defense, we could actually do some damage on this team, but we have to play well, and get their QB.

Posted By: PD (01/10/2008 9:41:56 PM)
Comment: I love the comparison you did..15 players off the top of his head vs "Wesley Walker"..I think that about sums up the difference in the type of head coaches we have.

Posted By: BHF (01/10/2008 9:13:45 PM)
Comment: Matt, how long has Parag been calling the replay challenges? This is ridiculous. Nolan game management gaffes are beyond belief and now he has the salary cap guy calling the replay challenges.

Posted By: sack daddy (01/10/2008 8:09:38 PM)
Comment: I don't care how many players' names he can name off the top of his head.....the dude showed absolute zero class & zero sportsmanship after losing in the super bowl this past year. rather than "tipping his hat" to the giants for their great win, he chose not to say one word about them. i'll never forget that.

Posted By: harsh (01/10/2008 7:54:31 PM)
Comment: i smell another loss coming. we might win it, if our offensive line can hold it together. It shudn't be much of a problem in front of a home crowd, but then our crowd is so bad, even new england shouldnt have any problem.

Posted By: MarcCab (01/10/2008 7:36:50 PM)
Comment: Matt, I know that things are totally different in the preseason, but earlier this year I remember one of the National pregame shows showing why te Niners were so effective in sacking the oppositions QB. They had gotten to him with an average time of 1.5 seconds. Of course they were blitzing, but it worked. Why isn't it happening now?

Posted By: Razoreater (01/10/2008 7:35:03 PM)
Comment: Maybe Nolan can pick Belichicks' mind on how to coach and gameplan in the NFL. I'm sure we'll be schooled so let's hope he at least will take notes.

Posted By: mike in MD (01/10/2008 7:30:25 PM)
Comment: This is gonna be interesting. Belichicks mind has already dissected us. Every starter & our past schemes & where all the mismatches are for his guys & how to attack them. I so look forward to Round 2 with Martz on the rebound. He's sort of low key so I wonder what kind of fire Martz has when he's playing his chess matches. I hope his ego's up to the challenge & inside he wants to tear Belichick up. That 1 week extra preparation is a hard advantage to swallow. If anyone can do it Martz's got in him. Get that OLine re-coordinated & get ready for the on the fly adjustments. C'mon MM & JTO & lets get a good bounce back from the Defense!!

Posted By: Mike in Sac (01/10/2008 7:29:05 PM)
Comment: Very illuminating to see that so many of our players have come from other rosters. Further support that McNolan has done a poor job of drafting and developing much quality home grown talent. Go back to some of those epic Walsh drafts....he would find quality long term starters in all rounds and gain quantity by trading back. Not wasting picks on guys who you convert to another position!! We have a long way to go.

Posted By: mack49 (01/10/2008 6:50:39 PM)
Comment: Belichick vs. Nolan's comments... reminds me of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore debates... and I don't exactly mean that in a good way.

Posted By: MARCO from New York (01/10/2008 6:28:42 PM)
Comment: As 49er fans, we are seriously living in a state of confusion. Anyone who thinks that Nolan is a quality defensive coordinator, should take a look at how Bill Belicheck, Monte Kiffen, or Jim Johnson run their defenses. They are ALWAYS able to devise schemes that allow their players to knock down the QB. Players get injured, they insert someone else, and the success continues. Nolan had success with the Ravens only because the talent was so overwhelming, that even Nolan could not screw it up. What we 49er fans need is a complete house cleaning, starting with John and Jed. Stay away from the stadium and write letters to Larry Ellison begging him to buy the team.

Posted By: Sean (01/10/2008 5:35:41 PM)
Comment: Matt, I think that was just Nolan's way of protecting against future tampering charges. If you don't know his name, you can't tamper. Should we expect anything but a full on blitz/stunt package from the Patriots this week? With our breakdown in pass protection, this seems like an obvious choice until/unless we prove we can block them.