Posted By: scasmflop (06/10/2008 11:24:00 AM)
Comment: They got burned on some blitzes, so what. I'd rather be burned on some blitzes here and there than watch the defense just get steamrolled late in the game because they are gassed. This same situation has now happened in multiple games. Defense not getting the stop leading to ultra long drives that keep them out on the field for way too long. Offense is not to blame with 3 and outs. Sully did have that pick that killed them in the 3rd when they needed to have some offensive production to give the defense rest, but what kind of offensive rhythm did you expect when they had been off the field for over an hour? It was like starting a new game for them. I'm not saying blitz every down or anything, but when you have that key opportunity to close down a drive don't be afraid to use it. They used it effectively a few times in the first half like that stunt blitz on 3rd down that McDonald got the sack on. The bend-but-don't-break also has to be more first down marker aware as one key killer play was Terrell Brown giving his man a 13 yard cushion on 3rd and 9. This game was really tough to watch because you saw players who really got up for the game and played their hearts out while they still fell to the inevitable of being severely out-coached. The gamble that leaves you vulnerable to the big play needs to be made in order to close drives sooner. If you get burned its 7 but at least you have something left in the tank, much better than the alternative of getting gassed and giving up 7 anyway while the offense gets cold from sitting so long. Think of the defensive line like a pitcher and a pitch count. They only have so many plays of effectiveness before they are toast. When you spend all of that in the late 2nd and 3rd quarter, there is nothing left in the 4th to stop the power running game or generate a pass rush.

Posted By: Chris (06/10/2008 11:22:20 AM)
Comment: I said all along... JTO is Rex Grossman in disguise. He plays really good and really crappy at the same time. Seriously, Shawn Hill would give us more consistant play and a better chance to win. You can't beat any descent team when the QB keeps turning the ball over.

Posted By: Lee (06/10/2008 9:37:02 AM)
Comment: Give or take, Matt ;) Either way, the game certainly wasn't out of reach. At least we were more competitive than against the Saints, right? Baby steps.

Posted By: Lee (06/10/2008 9:24:12 AM)
Comment: If you looked at the first half stats, even though the Patriots had the ball twice as long as we did, the 49ers had more than half the stats. So really, we were keeping up with them as far as offensive production went. It looked as though all we needed was to hold onto the ball more. And then, of course, the Patriots dominated the possession time in the 3rd quarter, and Martz abandoned the run. It's very frustrating sometimes.

Response: Fact check: The Patriots averaged 5.4 yards per offensive play in the first half; the 49ers averaged a half-yard less at 4.9 yards per play. --Matt M.

Posted By: SF fan in NY (06/10/2008 9:15:24 AM)
Comment: Yeah, we stunk up the place giving up 3rd downs all day. Still, I see progress over last year's team. Let's face facts: 1. Patriots will sweep our division anyways 2. The whole NFC East will sweep our whole division 3. This season comes down to division games (1-1 so far), AFC-non-Patriot games, and the two individual games (1-1 already) 7 winnable games, two against the Rams, we could take this division at 9-7 or 8-8.

Posted By: ERIK (06/10/2008 9:02:40 AM)
Comment: Hey Matt, we need to get Roman Strickland and Franklin off the field period, and does anyone know thw meaning of Second Half asjustments.

Posted By: NW Niner (06/10/2008 7:49:04 AM)
Comment: I think it is clear after that game that it isn't scheme or lack of skill player talent. This loss should clearly go to the O-line and D-Line. The O-line only gave up one sack, but had JTO running for his life the whole game, and usually away from his throwing side. The D-line allowed the Pats OL to get to the second level way to frequently. How many times did they show Pat Light pancaking a LB? F to both Lines if I am grading.

Posted By: Bill Bird (06/10/2008 7:33:34 AM)
Comment: " Matt, In your opinion, At what point in this season will York say that enough is enough and make changes that should have been made in the off season?" Next question: Do the Yorks even know or care that football season has started?

Posted By: Roger (06/10/2008 7:16:05 AM)
Comment: When it comes to blitzing, it's not only whether or not you are doing it, but also, where it is coming from. Many of the blitzes by 49ers when they are in their "sub" package come from the outside. Unless the player comes totally free, those are really easy to pick up and don't really disrupt the QB. When you blitz up the middle (like the Pats did) you might not get to the QB, but he cannot step up and usually has to scramble from the pocket.

Posted By: gms49ers (06/10/2008 7:01:58 AM)
Comment: Matt-- Can you do a check to see what the results are when a team changes head coaches during the season? Does it ever work out for the best? I've been a Nolan supporter since day 1, but after the defenses performance yesterday, I'm wondering if a change IS in order.

Posted By: GilroyAl (06/10/2008 5:21:51 AM)
Comment: Nolan said a while ago on KNBRs Murph & Mac about learning from every situation. An example he gave was Daniel Snyder (Redskins owner) once put a gallon of Vanilla ice cream on Nolan's desk when Nolan was with the redskins referring to his defensive schemes. I guess we now know why and apparently Nolan is extremely stubborn about not changing up his defenses and a very slow learner to boot.

Posted By: RednGold (06/10/2008 12:05:28 AM)
Comment: 49ers seem to have talents but why do they keep loosing? The answer is they lack confidence. This team is young and has not established themselves an identity. They still don't know how good they are and don't have the mentality of the winners. As you observed from the Saints and the Pats game, they started the game strong, but as soon as OJT turned the ball over, things started to went south. In fact, the players don't know how to maintain intensity for 60 minutes. As soon as JTO throws an INT, the defense loose the will to fight. With their current offense and defense, SF has a chance to win the upcoming games against the Eagles and Giants, as long as JTO DOES NOT hand the ball over.

Posted By: Matthew Crandall (06/10/2008 12:03:14 AM)
Comment: Let's cut Jamie Martin and sign Steve Young. It looks as if J.T. is taking steps bakwards, not forwards.

Posted By: John A in HB California (05/10/2008 11:32:37 PM)
Comment: I was clear that Nolan had know idea what Mr Bill was doing to him. Mike Nolan should be fired tomorrow. Mr Bill knew our d better than Nolan. We have talent, but not at Head Coaching. Fire him now!!

Posted By: Andrew from Rishikesh (05/10/2008 11:32:17 PM)
Comment: Hi Matt, I'm writing from Bangalore India, I don't get to see the games but hear the home broadcasts online when I'm up north. The season is taking on the same appearance as last year. Next week the Eagles will get healthy and after that the Giants will kill us. When do we get rid of Nolan? I read your post about Belichek going up and down our roster and then Nolan knowing one player on the Pats roster, "Wesley Walker", I'm not sure if he meant the 49er tight end or the Jet burner from the 80's or 90's. Point is does Nolan have the smarts to be head coach? I think we all painfully know the answer.

Posted By: A.E.S. (05/10/2008 11:30:19 PM)
Comment: what's going on here? after last week it was obvious that our defensive backfield was exposed to speedy receivers. great experience; poor speed, equals another loss. has noland ever considered using the 'tampa 2' defense? it doesn't require great speed from its d.b's which seems to be our 'achillies heel.' i was perplexed by noland's comment about (in essence) sack's being overrated. of all the football i've seen throughout the years, one thing has been a constant; getting to the q.b. will always disrupt the opposing teams game plan, thereby creating big play opportunities. just like a good offense begins with the o-line, a good defense begins with the d-line. also, i'm disappointed in our 'conservative' play calling of late. its time to become aggressive and begin to have an attack mentality. just finished watching the steelers, jaguars game. good game, but the jaguars lost this game late in the second quarter when with 5 minutes left they went totally conservative, while the steelers went on the attack with about 3 minutes and scored before halftime. we now have much better offensive players than we've had the last three years, lets turn them loose and come out in attack mode! "damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!"

Posted By: Adam (05/10/2008 11:29:04 PM)
Comment: What really makes this tough is that it shows that we aren't a good team, and it is pretty definitive. Our coaching staff is overmatched; we are behind the 8-ball before the game even starts from a game-planning perspective. It is also clear that o'Sullivan simply isn't a good QB yet. He amy be at some point down the road, but let's face it: we wasted a #1 pick on Smith and we are left grasping at straws. He wasn't horrible by any means, but we could have won this game with some better play/play calling (I am still not sold on Martz and his lack of commitment to the running game when Gore is so obviously our best offensive player) and some slightly better than average defense. The fact that we cant get off the field defensively, to me, is an indictment of Nolan--he is a defensive coach, for goodness sake. Stopping the run is defense 101, and we can't do it. Add to that our propensity to give up big pass plays (my apologies, but Deion Sanders, Ronnie Lott and Eric Wright are the only "shut down" corners the Niners have had in my experience) and we have Big Problems. If this game doesn't highlight why Nolan isn't fit to be a head coach, I am not sure what will......

Posted By: Lower Box Section 15 (05/10/2008 11:16:41 PM)
Comment: I took my two boys, ages 10 and 12, to the game today. After exposing them to this Nolan-led team I'm lucky that I didn't get arrested for child abuse.

Posted By: John V. (05/10/2008 11:16:34 PM)
Comment: Are we close to the point where Nolan passes out the 3x5 cards again to solicit "what's wrong" opinions again???

Posted By: Matt R (05/10/2008 11:11:14 PM)
Comment: The bad has been said... I will say that on special teams, much like Ulbrich from the lions game, on kickoff coverage, Delanie Walker went down the field, took on his blocker, then shed him in time to literally pick up and body slam the crap out of the patriots return man. As a former special teamer myself, that REALLY made me feel good! Props to Delanie Walker!!!

Posted By: Bigsteviej (05/10/2008 10:47:33 PM)
Comment: This game shows how truly awful the Lions must be to have lost to the Niners. I will send an email to the Niners tomorrow letting them know that if they don't fire Nolan I am done as a season ticket holder after 20+ years.

Posted By: Jed (05/10/2008 10:42:17 PM)
Comment: Even if no one on this page knows much about football, the true question is: what is the case for keeping Nolan until season's end, given that there's no flippin' way he gets a news contract in 2009? Since he's gone - and no one in the media or among the stooges has been singing Nolan's praises - what is the downside to canning Nolan and promoting, say, Mike Singletary for three months? Worst case: miss the playoffs and Nolan is canned anyway. Why not? This team needs a change: in the locker room, the X's and O's, whatever. Change. Any dopehead can see it. Maybe someone like Singletary shake the stink of Nolan.

Posted By: kelvin (05/10/2008 10:31:35 PM)
Comment: What ever happened to "Frank Gore is the centerpiece of our offense" talk? Gore today...16 touches? Why are we trusting JTO ie..(Just Turn-Overs) with the offense? He has cost the team 9 possesions with 6 picks and 3 fumbles lost. Nolan has to step in and control Martz. But then again...this defense is pathetic! We made Matt Cassel look like Drew Brees. Before we know it...this team will be 2-7. Philly...loss, NY Giant..Loss, SEA...loss, Arizona...Loss. 2-7 fellow fans. Get ready!!

Posted By: John V. (05/10/2008 10:27:34 PM)
Comment: With the poor play of the defense so far this season I think it is time for Nolan to go. The offense is fine except for the fact that the O-Line still doesn't seem to be able to keep defenders away from the QB very well; and the defense seems to have little aggressiveness/explosiveness and seems to be unwilling to attack the other team. JTO will always throw one brain dead pick per game but I can live with that because his other qualities do stand out (quick release, ability to make throws, etc). The bottom line is I would really like to see Mike Singletary given a chance to be Head Coach. I think he would fire up this team and do the things that need to be don to get everyone motivated. Hall of famers have a tendency to do that....

Posted By: RK in LA (05/10/2008 9:58:02 PM)
Comment: I agree with Wilson. To say JTO had 3 interceptions is misleading. What on earth was Walker doing on the first one? The last one was better than losing the ball on downs at the line of scrimage. The offense is light years better than last year. It's the defense that can't stop the long, time-consuming, touchdown scoring drives. We now have the bend AND break defense.

Posted By: mt (05/10/2008 9:51:00 PM)
Comment: Oops, I forgot one other prototypical aspect to a 49er loss. The inevitable quotes from coaches and players alike stating that they "have to learn a lesson" from this. As in "I've learned we have to stop the run" or "I've learned we can't turn the ball over" or "I've learned we have to score more points than our opponent". At this point they should all be just about finishing up their doctorate degrees.

Posted By: Will Shaheen (05/10/2008 9:47:28 PM)
Comment: Hey Matt, I enjoy the blog you have going here. I have a question regarding potential head coaches for next year seeing as how it is likely that Nolan will get the axe this season. I have grown very fond of Steve Spagnuolo, the DC from the Giants. If we retain Martz, he wouldn't have to worry about the offense and learning from Coughlin would lead me to believe he knows how to manage a game. What do you think of this scenario?

Posted By: Genghis (05/10/2008 9:43:43 PM)
Comment: The niners were simply outplayed and outcoached today. Something needs to change to make this team better. The niners are simply not playing at the level that they are capable of. For example, on paper, the niners look like they have a talented defense, yet they are giving up almost 25 pts per game on average. I just don't think the coaches are getting the most productivity out of their players.

Posted By: Mark W. (05/10/2008 9:42:03 PM)
Comment: Matt, I think your grade for JTO is on the harsh side, but I am afraid you may be right on with the coaching grade. What happened to Gore and the running game? And why can't we use the short pass effectively, and combine the two to rack up more first downs and control the ball long enough to let the D rest? And about the D --why so soft? They play the whole game like they are in prevent mode,and then they give up big plays anyway. I am left with the feeling that we have the talent to win this kind of game, and the failure to do so rests with the coaches. Looking foward to your thoughts after you check the tape!

Posted By: patsmear (05/10/2008 9:38:23 PM)
Comment: I had to quit watching the game in the early third quarter. this is one of the most pathetic run defenses I have ever seen!!! I think if the 9ers put 12 men in the box they still couldn't stop the run. It's time to rebuild this team from the top down. Fire Nolan. Martz insn't the answer either, after a few games he went back to his bad tendencies (only deep balls, no run game). JTO isn't the answer either, granted he's still better than Smith was (can lead a receiver with a pass). Hopefully we'll do bad enough to draft Sam Bradford or Chase Daniels. Begin the all out recruit of Bill Cowher!!! Please sale the team Yorks, you are running the organization into the ground.

Posted By: Mike in SF #2 (05/10/2008 9:33:48 PM)
Comment: Why is the O-line being mentioned? I was at the game and JTO was protected well all game. In fact, we gave up 1 sack and it came on the final drive when the game was over. This is still the mighty Patriots minus Brady. Last I checked they still have about 6 probowlers on that Defense and we protected JTO and allowed 1 sack. Bottom line, at least from a fan who was at the game - this team cannot stop the runs up the gut. It happened in game one with AZ and Edge, game 2 was all about Seattle ripping long runs up the gut, then we got a bye week with the Lions. Saints and Deuce got all their yards up the gut and now the Pats have burned us up the gut. Smith and D Mac look good, but the rest of that line isn't getting the job done. Willis and Spikes make their tackles after 5-7 yard gaines. We are now faced with a must win this weekend against the Eagles or this season is in trouble.

Posted By: Bob (05/10/2008 9:29:58 PM)
Comment: It's very very simple. Mike Nolan needs to be fired. He's a pathetic excuse of a coach. After 4 years, his alleged "genius" as a defensive minded coach translates to a defense that gets slapped around. I hate Nolan.

Posted By: Jose Adrian (05/10/2008 9:24:27 PM)
Comment: Please release Nolan. He has had his time to show some turn around. He fields a very vanilla team. He's a defense guy, and this is the best he can do? Where are the back to back three and outs? Broke down teams are able to put together solid scoring drives against this spongy soft krispy kreme defense. You can always get yards on them. Offense, has shown a great deal of improvement. I expect to see JTO try and carry the team on his shoulders and do too much, I think that is why he has all these interceptions. He wants to win, and he forces throws.

Posted By: mt (05/10/2008 9:15:01 PM)
Comment: Another prototypical game by the 49ers. The opponent's QB has a career day. The defense never attacks the opponent's weakness (this week an inexperienced QB). Several "firsts" occur - NE scores a first quarter TD, rookies get their first INT, on and on it goes for year number 6. At what point does Mike Nolan's defensive expertise come into play? Is there anything at all that he can hang his hat on - such as "a Nolan team is always good at "fill-in-the-blank"? I just don't see any positives. The defense can't get off the field, the offense can't protect, the game-management and in-game adjustment is terrible. All the talk of him inheriting a poor team is an excuse for still being bad. Bill Parcells just inherited a team worse than the 49ers and in 5 games (let alone 4 years) has already beaten two of the premier teams in the AFC. Every team has a high percentage of turnover in a 3-year period. Nolan and McCloughan's choices haven't been very good - as a matter of fact they've been pretty bad. Alex Smith, Vernon Davis, Billy Bajema, Adam Snyder, Darrell Jackson, Johnny Morton, Taylor Jacobs, Zak Keasey, and the list goes on and on, just like the losses. Matt - just out of curiosity - are the Niners the only NFL team with an all-white O-line? What is Eddie D's health situation?

Posted By: ninerindallas (05/10/2008 9:08:34 PM)
Comment: we certainly should have won this game. i do not think 16 touch's a game is enough for gore, what happeded to 25-30 touchs? jto again had a "bad outing". the coaching on both sides of the ball failed us....it's pretty tough to swallow. now with all the being said lets not forget these were the patriots and even without brady, guys like seymour,wilfork,hobbs,moss,welker and all the other high qaulity players are still there and we hung for most of the game.....it's still really really hurts though

Posted By: Coach Hudd (05/10/2008 9:07:45 PM)
Comment: Come on Jed York you want to play owner step up and say something. Take some action. We want results we are sick of the same ole song and dance. Dump Nolan and pump some money into getting Bill Cowher and lets get this once proud organization turned around. I admit I was giving Nolan the benefit of doubt but not now. This is unexcussable.

Posted By: SFJay (05/10/2008 9:02:41 PM)
Comment: You know the thing that really sucks is the reality of how far away we really are to establishing a winning program. I would venture to guess that after we go 1-2 or 0-3 in our next 3 games, Nolan will be fired. Our season will pretty much be lost at that point and we will have to start over. Except that most of the guys we drafted really do suck and many of the guys we brought in are here on 1 or 2 year deals. We need to just gut this whole organization and do what Miami did this year. Start over from pretty much scratch, oh except we first need to find a new GM and Coach and no not Martz, but who?

Posted By: Embarrassed.... yet again! (05/10/2008 9:00:08 PM)
Comment: No surprise here. Just more embarrassment. Please Dorks, let this end soon! An emena is what the doctor should order at this point. It can't get any worse...

Posted By: Marco from Stockton (05/10/2008 8:56:00 PM)
Comment: The Pats just had superior personnel and a better game plan. Belichick used his old scheme against Martz and it worked. The Pats were able to pressure with a three man rush and a LB. They forced JTO out of the pocket. He had no where to throw and made mistakes. Again we see why Martz was fired in his last two jobs. He puts pressure on the defense which is why we giving up lots of points despite better personnel. Let's see what happens in the next three weeks? BTW V Davis continues to be missing in routes, but does a nice job blocking. On the good side they are better than they were last year and are at least "in" the game.

Posted By: Mike in Sac (05/10/2008 8:43:55 PM)
Comment: Quit bashing JTO. This offense is soooo much better than last year. Oneniner, com-on...the three man rush kills out o-line and that is JTO's fault. That's 3 on 5 dude, JTO should have time to eat a sandwich with a three man rush. Instead he is running for his life. Additionally, the o is seeing less 8 in the box and they still can't get good lanes for Gore. What is the problem. I will tell you, the line play SUCKS! As I mentioend before, the d-line is no better. We need an animal in the middle, both on o and d. We have none. The NFL knows that as well and know we can see how it gets exploited.

Posted By: Andrew G (05/10/2008 8:37:39 PM)
Comment: Is it OK to fire Mike Nolan yet? How many more times are we supposed to watch his defense get pushed around the field for the ENTIRE third quarter? They go in for his halftime "pep talk", and then come out flatter than flat.

Posted By: niner (05/10/2008 8:36:08 PM)
Comment: i agree with wsmith. What in the world do 49er fans ( over 18) expect? The OL is bad ( worst in nfl last 3-4 years) DL cant keep guys off the lbs. ST has never recovered from losing their coach. This team had a rT who never finished a full season and they bring in a guy the Raiders got rid of and a 2nd OL coach, to fix the problem.Didnt work! Watch Miami, they will be in the playoffs next year for sure. What a turn around! Thats what you can do with a real GM, who hires a real coach, backed by a real owner.

Posted By: Vienners (05/10/2008 8:35:22 PM)
Comment: Here is what I think Niners should do. 1. Fire Nolan, right now 2. Hire Mike Martz as Head Coach Best case, Mike Martz will turn things around. Worst case, we will use this season to evaluate Mike Martz instead of offering the coaching job next season.

Posted By: danvilledan (05/10/2008 8:32:36 PM)
Comment: I think your grade of the Offensive line was to generous. JTO was constantly chased to his left. If he was Steve Youg that would be OK, but He is right handed. I don't know if Sims was the problen or not but JTO never rolled to his right. Im sick and tired of Nolan making excuses instead of givig us the truth. He is a bad coach and He does not know how to evaluate players. All the players on the team, He is responsible for them being here. I think if he would ask his DB's they would say how important a pass rush is. I'm this close on giving up my tickets.

Posted By: shootme (05/10/2008 8:31:53 PM)
Comment: Well... as poorly as the D Line is playing (that was REALLY embarrassing), Willis should be at the top of the league in tackles again. 18 today alone? That's insane.

Posted By: Ryan in SoCal (05/10/2008 8:31:45 PM)
Comment: What a shocker! Martz abandons the run early, and we are unable to get any first downs outside of the first quarter. I've been saying it since Martz was announced as OC, and I'll be saying it until he's gone...Should've selected Cam Cameron.

Posted By: SonocoNinerFan (05/10/2008 8:21:04 PM)
Comment: It has come to the point that I have to look away from 49ers games on third down, offensively or defensively. The odds are that something bad will happen. This team is a big bag of let-down.

Posted By: GilroyAl (05/10/2008 8:16:05 PM)
Comment: To everyone that wants to blame poor drafting, you just might want to look at the coaching. Which players have they been able to develope into quality players(offense or defense) during Nolans tenure(Gore and Willis were already studs). They've spent a bunch of money on defensive free agents these last 3 years but the D is still as soft as ever. They're still not a cohesive unit. This isn't just a personnel issue, even teams with poor personnel play a good game once in a while against a good team if the game plan is good(i.e. Miami). Can you say that about Nolan's team. Anything even close to Miami's 2 wins? Both Billy Davis and Manusky were 1st time DCs, so it's totally Nolan calling these IN-EFFECTIVE defenses. Anybody see anything that leads you to believe the D is going to get any better? We need someone a whole lot stronger with the Xs and Os and general common sense.

Posted By: Jason T. (05/10/2008 8:12:16 PM)
Comment: FYI, firenolan.com AND firemikenolan.com are available. I'd buy 'em and build up a good site with facts and figures to support his ousting, but I suck at building webpages...

Posted By: The Real Rathman (05/10/2008 8:11:16 PM)
Comment: It's all been said pretty much. What a tough game to watch, when your defense is manhandled and your offense is 3 and out for a whole 2 quarters. I think JTO did the best he could, he made some mistakes but let's not forget he is one of the players paid the least amount of money on the entire team. Which says to me, some players are not earning their money: Clements, Lewis, Franklin, the list goes on and on. We have given up 30 points in two games in a row. Fix it or I have a feeling your going to be fired Nolan. I also wanted to mention how physical the Patriots are. Those O-linemen Minisky, and Light are borderline dirty, they routinely throw cheap shots and keep blocking and shoving well after the whistle and they mix it up with everybody and even punish our DB's. Of course their defense is always physical and Rodney Harrison delivered a cheap shot flying elbow on Battle at the end of the game and not one of our players (including Battle) had his back. You win some and lose some I guess but this team has to get tougher, the remaining schedule is daunting.

Posted By: Rob (05/10/2008 8:08:58 PM)
Comment: The bottom line question is will this team get any better with Mike Nolan as the coach. He has had 4 years now and their has been no improvement. Even his best year when the team was 7-9, Matt has pointed out that they were statistically the worst 7-9 team in NFL history. Management must see this. Whether Nolan is a horrible coach or just a below average coach, it doesn't matter, the team will not get any better with him as the coach. Let someone else (Martz, Singletary, Manusky - I want Martz) take over for the remainder of the season so that he can be evaluated as a potential coach for the next season.

Posted By: A to the F (05/10/2008 8:05:27 PM)
Comment: Nolan can't make a half time adjustment to save his life. He continually gets outcoached in the second half of every game.

Posted By: jtniner (05/10/2008 8:01:15 PM)
Comment: In Nolan's press conferences, why does he always talk about the obvious ie, the reasons why we lost? I wish for once he would show some emotion and take responsibility for the loss himself. He always says that the blame falls on the team as a whole, but what about his poor coaching and inability to motivate his players. Alex Smith is not a bust, Vernon Davis is not a bust, MIKE NOLAN IS A BUST!!!!! He is absolutely a terrible head coach. How much longer will our Niners be a disgrace? I am so ashamed.

Posted By: MARCO from New York (05/10/2008 8:01:00 PM)
Comment: Nolan is an terrible coach, but as the saying goes, the fish stinks from the head down. This starts with the retard duo of John and Jed York. Unless they sell the team, this dark cloud that has settled over our beloved team will not move on. As I posted at the end of last season, the only way to get through to the Yorks is an empty stadium the rest of the season and MOST important, DO NOT renew your season tickets. Let the Yorks move the team to L.A., the city will sue to keep the 49er name and a few years later the 49ers will be re-born under the ownership of Larry Ellison.

Posted By: Beall (05/10/2008 8:00:08 PM)
Comment: Matt, any idea how Mike Nolan still has a job? Which executive does he have naked pictures of? And to the people below; its not JTO or the O-line, or the D-Line. There is only one person that can fix this situation.....it's whoever fires Mike Nolan. ~Holics

Posted By: Craig (05/10/2008 7:58:43 PM)
Comment: I believe if the niners lose till the bye week Nolan is gone over that bye week stretch. He just does not get the team prepared to play. They are talented enough both sides of the ball, but lack confidence in their head coach and it shows in the game. Heck, I watched the Dolphins/Chargers game today and they play way harder than the Niners do with far less talent. It all comes down to the coaches and how they prepare the team and Nolan and his staff seem to fail week after week. Change is coming soon, because after today it just does not seem they will win anymore than 3-4 times more this season, if lucky.

Posted By: Jed (05/10/2008 7:31:25 PM)
Comment: Four years of high draft picks, big dollar free agents, two def. coordinators, several ex-Ravens - and a defense who can't stop the likes of Matt Cassel, Kevin Faulk, Sammy Morris, and other 2nd stringers. Nolan has burned through all his excuses. He can run his own defense. Period. Look at the Dolphins: new coaches dumped Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas, have several no-names, and they've held Jets, NE and SD under 21 pts. In the first month! Nolan is the empty suit. Today's quote re "see what blitzes got us" is a weak effort to mask his move to rush three when down 6 pts on 3rd and 20 with NE out of FG range. Soft gain, FG, game over. Sounds a lot like excuses after the Rams debacle in 2007. "The book says 'prevent,' so that's what we did."

Posted By: Niners420 (05/10/2008 7:24:01 PM)
Comment: FIRE NOLAN NOW HE HAS NO CLUE WHAT HE IS DOING

Posted By: oneniner (05/10/2008 7:21:47 PM)
Comment: you can't blame the o-line for this loss.....bottomline JTO is a tease...he can't manage a game.

Posted By: J-Nap (05/10/2008 7:12:20 PM)
Comment: I agree comletely the Niners are playing Soft in the trenches!!

Posted By: Terry (05/10/2008 7:11:38 PM)
Comment: What good is it to have Martz's quick strike offense that can at times score fast, but puts the 49ers weak defense right back on the field to give back the 7 points to the opponent?

Posted By: J-Nap (05/10/2008 7:08:09 PM)
Comment: It's time to start looking at the really poor drafts the niners have had. Besides Gore and Willis who the hell have the drafted that's any good. They keep drafting offense and defensive linemen and i can't name one that you can say now that guys going to be around for awhile. Ok maybe Staley but will see there he still gets bet with the bull rush. I'm getting so pissed off with the niners!! They play with no fire at all on D we're the people flying around to the ball come one Defense. I guess it's coaching it looks like Nolan can't seem to fire these guys up! Ok now it's time to say it FIRE NOLAN!!!

Posted By: philly49er (05/10/2008 7:04:46 PM)
Comment: im not saying Nolan is a world beater but it seems simple enough to me.You can not win with a qb that turns over the football with the regularity of the guy we have.Alex Smith probably isnt the answer but this other guy is certainly no better imo.

Posted By: Giovanni Carmazzi (05/10/2008 7:04:32 PM)
Comment: The niners are a middling team, with a middling quarterback, a middling offensive line, and defense that can't rush the passer. We're better than last year, but we're not going to beat any good teams this year.

Posted By: Wilson (05/10/2008 6:54:25 PM)
Comment: JTO threw one horrible interception but the two others weren't really his fault. The one where Delaney Walker turned the wrong way and the ball happened to land on the defensive player on the ground was just bad luck, and at the end of the game you have to try to make something happen - throwing it up for grabs is what you should do rather than throwing it away. Three pretty touchdowns through the air against one bad interception should get him a better score than he received. Last year we could only dream of three passing touchdowns in a game. The real problem is that the offensive line can't even keep out a three man rush - that's pathetic. And the defensive line is awful. Soft in the trenches. Can't win that way.

Posted By: Jason T. (05/10/2008 6:54:11 PM)
Comment: Yo, Matt... A few Nolan questions for you. Since Martz has come in, the O has shown massive improvement. With the turnovers and sometimes abandoning the run, it's not perfect, but it's light years ahead of last year. We can all agree that Nolan has NOTHING to do with it, right? OK, he hired a better coach than himself in MM, so he gets some credit for that, I guess. So, Nolan's responsibility is the defense. Do you think that to show he's still in charge he gets a little too involved with it? Is that what we're seeing? Do you think he not only has to win, but show the Yorks that he can win with his defensive game plans? For example, if we went out there with a basic 3-4-4, or 4-3-4 with the occasional nickel and some blitzes mixed in, and got in the QB's face a little more, would that be too simple? Does Nolan have to come up with over-thought strategies and schemes with his own personal stamp to prove that he's relevant or something? BTW, if that IS the case, he's failing miserably... I don't know, I'm just trying to figure out how our D can be on the field for FORTY MINUTES... BTW, JT, you might wanna put your head down a bit more on your runs. I'm not asking you to be foolish or take massive hits, but the sliding and avoiding ALL contact thing today was kinda lame. You gotta go all out for a few years (see Young, Steve and Garcia, Jeff) before you can start acting like you're Joe Montana circa 1990 on your scrambles. Other than that, take care of the ball a little bit more and you're money.

Posted By: dave (05/10/2008 6:52:17 PM)
Comment: matt who is to blame for the defense? manusky? nolan? bad players?

Posted By: jsl (05/10/2008 6:40:06 PM)
Comment: Sure, JTO had another bad game. And we re-learned that 27 and 22 don't add up to 81. But this game, like many recent Niner games, was lost by poor coaching (and once again, we see -- painfully -- how inept this team plays in the second half of close games, when good coaching almost always wins out). As always, Nolan showed what a terrible game day coach he is, pushing virtually all the wrong buttons (you finally got THAT right, Matt)at the wrong time. You just knew this game was lost after that tortorous drive to start the second half. Granted, Martz didn't help things at all by stupidly sitting on the lead in Q2, and JTO's interception in Q3 was an incredibly bone-headed throw, but Nolan's inability to get HIS defense to make third down plays has been, is, and will remain the Achilles heel of this team until someone guts up and gets Nolan out of there. BTW, if anybody's listening, would you please at least get Baas -- the best OL by far on this team -- in the game and slide Snyder over to RT? They were just killing us by forcing JTO to his left play after play. This was -- after a nice start -- just ugly, uglier, and ugliest.

Posted By: Mike in Sac (05/10/2008 6:38:23 PM)
Comment: Matt- C-minus for the o-line...you are kidding me. These guys could not stop a pop warner team. We need to see the desire to impart their will on another man and then maybe we can win another game. JTO was running for his life all day. Lets not rip him apart, this is the NE defense that has won just a few titles. Now the defense...the interior line play is HORRIBLE. Until one guy shows up who requires to be double teamed Willis and Spikes are going to be making lots of tackles five yards down field. To come into the season with Franklin as your starter is embarrasing. He was average last year and now teams have it all figured out. Scot M....his lact of skills is being exposed!

Posted By: Transporter (05/10/2008 6:37:08 PM)
Comment: Matt- You hit the nail with the hammer. This coaching staff seems to make all the wrong calls at the other teams right moment. The third and long we should have tried to apply preasure and we go after them. No not us, we call a soft defense, and let NE make a play and they end up with a FG. This puts the game out of reach at this point. This game should be played with some emotion. Nolan acts like dead fish out of water...

Posted By: norm (05/10/2008 6:33:37 PM)
Comment: I credit Nolan for bringing in "good character" guys. Sometimes though, you need that edge on a player to win ball games.

Posted By: oregonboy (05/10/2008 6:19:46 PM)
Comment: The defensive line got handled, and really misses BY. Arizona, Saints, Pats have killed us up the middle with long sustained drives. The offensive line seems like it has talent, but just can't buy the time for JT to execute the Martz offense. Three man rushes can't be stopped, and when they bring in Baas at TE we still can't get one yard when we need it. We will never be successful until we can control the line on both sides of the ball. On the D side we need better interior players, on the O side it seems more like coaching/scheme.

Posted By: Danno49 (05/10/2008 6:19:38 PM)
Comment: Nolan needs to be fired now before the season gets completely away from the 49ers. The guy is one of the worst game day coaches in history. He doesn't know how to manage the clock. He doesn't know when it is a good idea to throw the challenge flag. He doesn't know how to make adjustments. For someone who is supposed to be a defensive genius, he's not fooling anyone in that regard except the Yorks and himself. Get rid of him yesterday, please.

Posted By: Err76 (05/10/2008 6:18:12 PM)
Comment: Matt, In your opinion, At what point in this season will York say that enough is enough and make changes that should have been made in the off season?

Posted By: THA GRINCH (05/10/2008 6:17:02 PM)
Comment: Cardinals are gonna run away with this division..I seriously beleive USC's d-line would run over are o-line.Seriously..Great job McCloughan.. Matt where did McCloughan get the reputation of being a draft guru when his draft picks all pretty much suck?

Posted By: oneniner (05/10/2008 6:06:07 PM)
Comment: nice read Matt.......Nolan is also right about the offense...........a niner fan - " I dont want Martz as the HC ..., if he leaves and take JTO, fine. JTO needs to show me something. He has incredible heart, accuracy and scramble ability, but at the end of the day you can not afford to turn the ball over as much as he does if he his your starting QB. Don't you guys know that is the reason some studs out of college with great arms and physical tools dont make it? Its all about making plays when it counts, which is something he hasn't done. I have yet to see JTO put together a fourth quarter drive, unlike some 49er QBs that will remain unnamed. With that said, if JTO didn't turn the ball over he would be a very very good QB"......

Posted By: Tha Grinch (05/10/2008 6:04:16 PM)
Comment: This team lacks talent as well as knowladgable coaches.McCloughan should be fired as well our drafting habits are terrible.Balmer gets dominated at the line and Rachal is planted firmly on the bench.Hey anyone else see that punt return by Deshawn Jackson.Rice told us to draft him but we got Balmer and Rachal.Yea what would that Rice guy know about football anyways!This whole organization is rotten.I dont know how Singeltary can sit there and witness this.Its just a matter of time before Nolan is fired but just like everything else it will take to long per the Yorks.Doesnt matter cause McCloughan will keep drafting "character" guys that arent anyt good at football anyways.Like I said same old thing just like Groundhog day..Hey Nolan dont even bother with a press confrence tommorow,just play one of the other post loss ones they all sound the same anyways.

Posted By: wsmith (05/10/2008 6:00:06 PM)
Comment: Is this game really any big surprise? Nolan is a horrible head coach, as he continually gets out-coached week to week. Bye-bye Nolan, can't wait to see you go.