This article has 956 Comments

      1. Nope ..
        same thing as here, Grant …
        It tries to load .. but, never does ..

        I guess I’ll just have to settle for the
        “Grades” … the guys give you

      2. @Grant : Overuse of the word “serious”. That said, much better than the recent Tomsula interview.

      3. Grant: I watched your video. You did a great job. You seemed right at home speaking in front of a camera — knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

          1. It seems you ‘re taking the Pats in the SB. You just can’t get over it that the hawks are a better team than the 49ers this past season. And that’s lame dude, I keep hearing you say before that the Seahawks are a great team and etc. Wow! In my opinion Brady isn’t going to win his fourth SB you know why the Seahawks are going to pressure him in the get go. He’s not a mobile QB like A. Rodgers, the hawks has a great secondary that will create a lot of havoc for Brady and his receivers and their backs are going to get stopped:-)

      4. I hate to admit it but I think you are absolutely right on this one, Grant. I watched the entire press conference of the announcement of Tomsula’s HC position and was appalled. Baalke kept saying they kept coming back to Tomsula as the one who met all their requirements and needs in a head coach. Really? I’d like to see that list of requirements. One requirement with one box to check: Does he say “Yes sir Massa, whatever you say.” Why didn’t Baalke just appoint himself head coach? Oh, I forgot. Needs someone to blame for his bad decisions.

  1. It is time to update your Press Democrat face shot to reflect how you’ve matured from young nerd intern to hipster journalist.

  2. Balke recognizes and drafts well for the trenches the overall defense and that’s it any offensive skill positions and he’s hopeless. However many times all you need are the trenches

  3. Wow Grant tells us how u really fee? U hate everything about the 49ers amd love evrything the raiders have done, we all knew u were a Raider fan, is what explains ur hate for the 49ers! Thats was a real mature interview calling Tomsula names and u like to talk about Kaepernick that he needs to mature! Look in the mirror and be a professional!

    1. Plus Grant thinks Seahawks will kill NE. I don’t know about that but if we do I will be unbearable.

      1. The game that Patriots won against the Colts is history, regardless they stomp the Colts in that game. The Pats better be prepared in AZ, because they’ll be playing a different and a much better Seahawks team that came close getting eliminated because of their early 5 turnovers and their offense miscues and 8 penalties and playing 3 horrible quarter’s of football in the NFCCG. Unfortunately for the Patriots we all know that this Seahawks team are prime to be a dominant team in the SB, especially their #1 stellar defense.

      1. Manners like oh idk staying on my own teams websites?
        I’m far enough in life to call it mildly successful. And still growing everyday.
        What’s your excuse DS?

  4. I’ve never heard Grant on the air before. Lol, I expected a much calmer, clean cut personality. He has such a nervous energy that it’s uncomfortable to watch.
    After watching this, you would think the Niners weren’t going to win a game next year while the Raiders are going to bring home the Lombardi trophy. The Niner hate is strong, we get it.

  5. I’ll just bet that Coach Tomsula will be anxious to give a real ‘in-depth’ interview….

    1. I guess I didn’t miss much, huh …

      Hey guys … take it easy on Grant …
      He grew up in a household where his dad
      passed down the “Raider Nation” fandom to him …

      He doesn’t know how to be a “Faithful” … but ..
      just maybe

      if he hangs around us long enough …
      He just might learn !!

      (yeah, I know .. and the sky is pink, too)

  6. Despite Rodger’s interception, a couple of inaccurate throws and a couple of drops by Packer receivers), Pack is implementing their game plan quite efficiently. And excellent pass protection of Rodgers. Gotta run the ball to beat Seattle, as Baalke would surely agree :)

  7. What’s wrong Pete? 16-0!!

    I hate Mcdonalds and their stupid slogan that’s been running since 2003 but “I’m lovin it” that Pete is gettin the $hit kicked out of him so far.
    No repeat Pete!!

  8. Earl Thomas is out. They gotta take advantage of that; Rodgers throws a pick because of miscommunication.

    Wilson took a hell of a shot on the Seattle turnover. It will be interesting to see how he plays.

  9. Grant:

    Watched the interview. Agree with little that you said about the 49ers. However, your performance was just fine. The only thing I would suggest is that you looked a little hunched over.

    1. Yeah, pretty much sums up my thoughts too. Didn’t agree with your takes over much, but you handled it well despite some obvious nervous energy.

      1. I’m enjoying how wrong my predix was for the 1st Half. C’mon Pack, prove me wrong in the 2nd too! Lots of football left tho.

    1. Wilson is playing atrocious in the first half. But I don’t like that the Packers did not be more aggressive in their first two drives and look for 7 points instead of 3.

      What’s scary for me? Is that Wilson who has looked worse than ever, is only a couple of scores down. I don’t see Seattle tanking in the 2nd half and if they end up winning this game GB will look back on settling for field goals instead of TD’ in the first Qtr.
      Still a lot of football left.
      But having said that, I’m enjoying the current beatdown at the hands of the Pack.

  10. Hey Mary …

    You are very conspicuous .. by your absence !

    Just wanted to know if you’re enjoying the first half !!

    Bwaaahahahaha !!

  11. Not much change to the formula for beating Seattle in Seattle. Run the ball effectively, especially on first downs, and pass on play action. Play disciplined defense forcing Wilson to throw from the pocket. Limit mistakes and avoid turnovers.
    Packers have done the first two of the three (Lacy 13 carries for 57 yards). What has surprised me so far is how good the Packers O line has been in pass protection.

  12. I’m lovin the camera shots of the look of confusion and bewilderment on the faces of the 12th man.

    On the business side of things, someone could make a killing selling sunless tanning products to the 12th man.

    1. They’ve been exposed. No Wr’s, an average Qb and no breakdown/extension plays.

      If green bay scores a td on its first drive in the second half, it’s over.

      1. Big Niner: Haha. Meanwhile Kaepernick is busy learning how to throw the football, foot positioning, reading defenses and god knows what else while Wilson is busy closing out the NFC Championships.

    1. Cubus: Ha! I predict you’ll be a Seahawk fan b/4 you move back to sunny CA.

      Even I’m getting tired of seeing the replays of the game, except the last 15 minutes — classic.

  13. Update your picture Grant. You look like a straight pimp now. By the I don’t agree with your assessment of the Niners tending down and the Raiders up. Wow!!! The 9ers are has bends?

  14. While they want to avoid turning the ball over, the Packets have to be careful they don’t get too conservative.

  15. The Packers blew the “golden possession” (the first offensive drive of the second half).

    Puts Seattle on good position for a comeback.

    1. Agree. They allowed Sweezey to have a free shot at Matthews. NFL needs to review that during the offseason.

    2. GB declined the penalty. The personal foul was during the play so GB took the sack (4th down instead of 3rd down).

  16. Momentum shifted because the Packers screwed up one too many times and the champions have stepped up their game.

  17. A team with a lead heading into the 2nd half absolutely must do something on its first drive. I call it “the golden possession” that determines how the rest of the game will go,

    Green Bay seemed to sleep through that drive. Now the collapse is underway.

    1. B2W – The sky is falling!
      Chillax bro……Keep the faith or I will remove my old Gene Washington football card from my garage wall. :-)
      #18 was my favorite Niner when I was a little squirt…He had a kickers 2-bar facemask like Fred Biletnikoff.

  18. 49er42 – You could just imagine if Monica is watching this game (while smoking a cigar)……She blushes every time they show Clinton-Dix.

    Rocket wants more comedy from me until training camp, so I’m trying my best. ;)

  19. Jack Hammer and Mike Ditka picked this win.
    Obviously excellent game plans, but from the start the Pack played with great confidence. Very decent pass protection.

    1. Where is Hammer I asked him yesterday b/4 the game started his reasoning for thinking GB would win.

  20. Why would a veteran player like Morgan Burnett slide after he got the interception? Why not try and score with that ball? Why would he give Seattle any hope? Just return it and give your team a field goal to put yourself up 15 points? I don’t get that.

    1. Just plain stupid not to return the interception. Might end up losing the game because of that!!

  21. Packers had this game and now they are about to lose it.
    3 points in the second half. Who called this offense Harbaugh/Roman?

  22. This would be the most undeserving playoff victory I’ve ever seen.
    Hopefully Aaron can at least get this to overtime.

    1. The Seahawks early in the game gave this game to the Packers, in the second half the better team with a lot heart came back and took it back from the Packers. Watching this game at half time the 5 crucial turnovers by the Hawks gave the Packers great field position and gave them the half lead 16-0. If it weren’t for those miscues by R.Wilson and his receivers, and the balls that were getting tipped too the defenders and getting Intercepted this game would’a been a lot different from what we all are watched. It my opinion it would’a favor Seattle more than the Packers because if you looked at statistic the Hawks defense shut down the Packers offense from scoring a TD, they only allowed the packers 5 FG and 1 TD the whole game.

    1. It’s only Morgan Burnetts fault. What the hell was he thinking? How does Dix let the tight end catch that pass for the conversion?

      1. How does Bostick let that onside kick through his hands? More importantly, why did he go for it in the first place? It cleared the first line and Jordy Nelson was right there ready to catch it. It was his ball. No wonder the STs coach gave Bostick a spray.

  23. Why on earth would you take a timeout with 19 seconds left on the clock?!! Surely you milk it down to a few seconds left so the Hawks don’t have time after the FG!!

      1. Not just the timeout, but yeah, why not let the clock run down a bit so you don’t need to kick off and give the Hawks a chance at a TD? Didn’t matter in the end, but this entire GB team is letting the moment get to them.

        1. They eased up their intensity both mentally and physically because of their premature belief in having secured the victory….

  24. Sherman is faking that injury. Watch him wrap up Nelson on that last play before the field goal.

    1. Between Willtalk playing Dr.Melfi and 23J playing Dr. Andrews,this blog is so blessed to have experts in our presence!

  25. If GB loses this game McCarthy will live with the fact that he did not gamble on 4th down on the 1st drive of the game when the Pack were inside Seattle’ 5 yrd line.

  26. What an epic collapse by the Packers.
    The defense just failed late in the game.
    Tough to stomach.

  27. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Can’t believe that Petey will live to smirk another day.

  28. Credit where credit is due – this Seahawks team never gave up. Lots of luck involved (or more accurately, lots of mistakes by GB), but they only win because they didn’t let their own mistakes get into their heads and didn’t stop working hard to come back.

    But GB only has themselves to blame. They completely let the moment get too big for them. Meltdown of epic proportions.

  29. GB had its chances in the 1st Q and could not get the ball inside the +1 yard line and settled for FGs. You have to finish it when you have the chance. Credit Seattle because nobody quit.

  30. Russell freaking Wilson. Dude makes big plays in big moments. Second year in a row he hits Kearse deep down the seam to send his team to the Super Bowl.

  31. GB starting celebrating too early. Starting with Morgan Burnett. They thought they were playing the Bears I guess.

    1. I say NE because of their D. I think they have the D that can keep Wilson in the pocket and corners that will not give up those big plays.

  32. McCarthy should be fired and Capers should go with him. The Capers who didn’t put any pressure on Wilson on 3rd and 19 is the same coach Kaep has molested repeatedly the last few years. And who of us who have been watching Carroll coach weren’t thinking fake field goal there?
    There was talk Rogers wanted a new coaching staff a couple years ago. Now is the time, that was pathetic!

    1. Razor ..

      I think that guy who got the INT .. had he ran it back to
      (at least) FG range … instead of sliding down …
      the Packers would be NFC Champs and going to the SB

    2. Yup, along with the 2 point conversion that looked like a pass that got stuck in mid-air and took about 10 seconds to come down.
      Had the GB defense stopped that play, they win by one point after the ensuing field goal.
      Even with the muffed onside kick, the Pack stops the 2 point conversion and wins this one 22-21.

      1. The few GB fans I know have been calling for Caper’s head for a few years now. If they don’t dump him after this, then they get what they deserve.

        1. I think they should have dumped him after the playoff lost against the Niners last year. But in his defense, their D played pretty well most of the games except for some bone-headed plays after that 4th int. on Wilson.

  33. As big niner asked – who do we want to win this AFC game that has the better chance of beating Seattle. I’m think New England, but I can be convinced.

    1. cubus ..

      I’m pullin’ for Andrew Luck …
      remember … the game is in Ariz

      (not the Clink)

    2. I’m guessing new England but I don’t want Brady to get 4. …maybe gun slinging Luck can light them up.

  34. Packers failed by
    Not getting one TD in the 1st Q.
    Not getting more yards on the interception.
    Not getting a couple of more1st downs in the 4th Q.
    Blowing the Onside kick

    The Packers kept giving the Hawks chances to stay in the game.

    1. How could Dix make that incredible interception where he found the ball in like 0.1 seconds and made the catch, yet be unable to knock down a ball for the 2 point conversion that hung in the air for several seconds and where he was well situated to knock it down.

      1. Cubus, I lost count on how many plays that went the Seahawks way after Wilson threw his 4th int. with 5 mins left in the game. The 4th quarter for them in back-to-back NFCCGs have been magical :(

      2. You don’t recognize a good team when you see it. Luck’s got nothing to do with it and Green Bay’s a good team. But we’re clutch — we don’t know how to quit and we come up with the big plays and we know how to make adjustments. And for Pete Carroll to keep his team in this game is nothing short of Amazing!! Hello SB!!

        1. Mary,
          Kudos for the amazing win, but if the onside kick is caught by the GB TE, Wilson goes from hero to goat.
          Today, you could thank your lucky stars.

        2. Clutch? Pete’s adjustment? You mean a guy just going down for no apparent reason after Wilson threw his 4th int. and a player staring at a pass that stayed in the air forever on that 2-pt conv and a guy who cannot catch an onside kick and hits him in the helmet.

  35. Also, shouldn’t Wilson have gone through some type of in-game concussion protocol after Matthews crushed him. I thought Erin Andrews reported on this and basically said the medical staff talked with him for only about 2 seconds.

    1. Yeah that was interesting but you can make an argument that the reason why the Seahawks was losing was because of the play of Wilson for 3 and a half quarters.

      1. I would say that GB did a very good job of stopping the run and containing RW in the 1st half. Not to mention we don’t have the WRs that GB does (at least that’s what everybody tells us). But as usual we made something happen and Wilson finished it off.

        1. It’s wasnt a comeback Marty, more of a monumental choke. McCarthy should be fired. Wilson was terrible today.

          1. Sour Grapes boys! It’s been 10 years since a teams gone back to the SB the next year or been in the playoffs or won their conference. Poor losers maybe it will happen to you next year. Haha. Congratulations is all you need to say. It’s called good sportsmanship.

            1. If we were playing against one another then yes congrats. But all you are is clown fan coming on here to irratate and then expect respect? Beat it Marty!

            2. I’m glad I’m not a GB fan today because that was a big time choke. Give credit for Russell Wilson making some great passes when he had to, but GB flat out though the game was over on the 4th INT and that was on them for not finishing. They didn’t even try to do anything with the ball and why did the DB go down?
              How many more chances will Aaron Rodgers get?

            3. Mary,

              Are you displaying good sportsmanship? It works both ways. You can’t come here and talk crap (especially when you’re wrong), and not expect to get blow back. It just doesn’t work like that.

              The Seahawks received so many gifts from the Packers. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that, it doesn’t change the fact that the Seahawks are going to the SB, and you lose credibility when you refuse to admit that the Seahawks got lucky today.

              The Packers didn’t cover the fake FG (huge mistake), Ha Ha Dix dropped an INT that hit him in both hands that would’ve effectively ended the game (huge mistake), Burnett gave himself up after an INT for absolutely no reason (huge mistake), and Bostick allowed the onsides kick to hit him in the facemask, instead of catching it (the hugest of huge mistakes).

              Besides all that, since when is telling the truth bad sportsmanship? You’re playing the “bad sportsmanship” card only because you have no other argument. You know the Seahawks lucked into the SB. So what, enjoy it and ignore the asterisk.

              And if you don’t like hearing this kind of thing, then feel free to leave.

              1. Thank you, sir. But I’ll disagree that this makes her lose credibility; her lack of cred was self-exposed long ago.
                If the Seatards win it will be a marvelous accomplishment winning back to back.
                If the Seatards lose, they still will have done very well just to return the next year.
                Either way, Mary and the moron 40 Whiner will always be losers because they have nothing better to do than Troll another team’s site. Losers.
                Ask yourself, if the Niners had just won the NFCCG, would you be trolling the site of a team not in the playoffs? Pitiful.

  36. Tough game to watch. GB should have won. Personal foul at start of game and the blown opportunity to put it away wit the int loomed large.

    On another note, what was that cheap looking Russell Brand impersonator doing on TV? He wasn’t funny and doesn’t seem to know much football.

  37. Anyone who watched this game and does not realize how bad R Wilson was tonight needs to stop watching football. This was one of the worst QB performances I have ever seen. Once again this team gets very lucky two straight years to advance to the SB. Mark my words there luck runs out in the SB…. Most overhyped QB maybe ever.. Guy showed that he is average at best. Kaep has never looked as bad as Wilson today. Especially against the packers…

    1. SEATTLE is a different team when you get a lead and can stop Lynch. GB let them off the hook. All this hype about a miraculous comeback is comical.
      Poor fundamentals and lack of killer instinct led to their demise. SEATTLE didn’t do anything worthy today. Most annoying and luckiest franchise escaped again today.

    2. You know you have a great D and running game when your QB threw for 4 int. with about a 100 yds of pass completion with 5 mins. left in a game while playing against one of the best QB in the NFL and still wins the game.

    3. CK-Elite, Don’t ever compare Kaepernick to Russell Wilson. Wilson has already won a Super Bowl and is about to win another in two weeks. Kaepernick has not won a SB yet. Our great defense got the 49ers to three NFCCG not kaepernick:-)

  38. CK=elite,
    Today we witnessed the rarest of games. We saw the worse and the best of R.Wilson. Wilson skunk-out to place in the 1st half and then had enough chances in the 2nd half to win.

    But it takes two to tangle (as they say), and the GB defense/special teams has to take the brunt of the blame for allowing the c-hawks back in a game that never should have reached that point.

    I agree with Prime, this was more of a monumental choke on GB’ part than anything.
    But like Mike Ditka once said; “it’s better to be lucky than good.”

    1. Good points AES. GB and many other teams this year let Wilson run around and make his nothing plays into something. It’s takes a tremendous amount of discipline when playing against him. GB didn’t and they got tired. Also, Capers called/played too much man coverage in the 2nd half.

      1. As bad as RW played, he shows he has heart. Kaep has had similar stinkers but he looks lost. I’m sure he’s trying to win, but that’s shows the difference of maturity between these players.

        Tomsula is going to have a good influence on Kaep, I think..

    2. That was a pretty pass though by Wilson to Kearse to end the game. It painfully reminded me of last year’s NFCCG where Rogers, who was in perfect position, could not swat the similar pass. :(

    3. Also, why didn’t McCarthy go after Sherman when he was injured and virtually playing with one arm? I would have tested Sherman’ resiliency with a couple of sweeps or short passes to his side to get a read on the level of his injury.

      McCarthy played in “safe mode” as was evident in going for field goals in their first couple of drives rather than making a statement with aggressive play.
      McCarthy’ lack of killer instinct will haunt him for a long time especially if the Org decides to go a different direction in the next few years.

      1. Bostick the Green Bay TE that muffed the onside kick tried to be a hero. His assignment was to block the runners and let the guys behind him catch the ball……

        1. Yep. Nelson was right behind me waiting to catch that ball. Man, I don’t want to be him in that plane going back to GB.

      2. Good question, AES. McCarthy now has lost 3 consecutive playoffs games against the NFC West with Rogers as his QB. I don’t think that GB will get rid of McCarthy but I won’t be surprise either if they go in a different direction.

        1. I think Capers should have been let go after last year’s playoff lost. McCarthy? I agree, he could be a very coordinator but it is really hard to judge these coaches when they have a future hall-of-famer as their QB.

          1. Firing successful coaches because of playoff losses really makes no sense at all. I guess it worked once with Dungy/Gruden, but almost always is a disaster for a team for YEARS. Do y’all know how tough it is for a coach to have his team in the hunt EVERY FREAKING YEAR? Let’s see the new 49er coach make the playoffs next year. Or Jeff Fisher. (geez, Jason Garrett finally got his team in the postseason ONCE). McCarthy like Belichik is there year after year after year. Cleveland Browns fans will be lucky to even sniff the playoffs one time. I do notice that many posters on this blog react game by game and sometimes QUARTER BY QUARTER with screams to fire all the coaches. Pretty silly and unsophisticated fans really.

            1. With the Rams and Cardinals quarterbacks back, the 9ers could very well be looking at keeping out of the basement in the NFC West. You can like Harbaugh as a coach or a person or not like him but I don’t think that’s the point. I agree with you KezarMike that getting rid of winning coaches, including Harbaugh, who can put the team in the hunt each year is almost always a bonehead move and should not be undertaken lightly. I will need a lot more evidence before I believe that this was not just the result of a thirty-something year old owner that does not have a clue about anything but the financial end of NFL football. You want to measure the 49ers success going forward, read their financial statements and forget about their record on the field.

              1. Whine Country

                I disagree with you, even though there is strong evidence to each side….I don’t believe that you keep a coach whose strongest point is pi$$ing people off…especially those who sign your checks. JH was a Flim-Flam man whose act got old and the bosses finally saw through it. He’s now where he should be…coaching college kids and trying to beat Ohio State.It’s not magic that we need…it’s creativity; his wore out….

              2. I see a different picture from AZ than you do in OR, my friend. I like the way you wrote pissing as pi$$ing since I see this as all about money. As far as pissing off people, if you want to make an omelette, you gotta break some eggs. The owners make lotsa money and all the fans want is wins. It’s a cold cruel world. We now have one of the lowest paid HC’s in football despite being top 5 in revenues. I’m going to start calling the team the Fiscal Niners from now on. What we got is Moneyball, but unlike the A’s, I don’t see the Fiscal Niners making it back to the playoffs for a good while. Only time will tell.

              3. @Whine Country

                Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, my ‘chosen’ favorite team has been taken over by the wealthy for the wealthy. It’s a damn shame that our passion has been put up on the auction block. The last three days has thrown a pall over the niners, that I’m not sure we can recover from. What a waste of great talent ….Good luck to us the fans….

              4. I don’t really think that all this stuff was about money. By some accounts Jim liked to twist the knife in his style of interaction. The situation passed a point of no return.
                BUT…….its reminding me of the Charles Haley situation. Charles’ behavior was pretty intolerable so they shipped him out. BUT….they never replaced his production. The pass rush disappeared, the DBs suddenly looked incompetent, and the team slipped.
                PS-when the Haley trade to Dallas was announced, Al Davis called Jerry Jones and said (paraphrased) ‘Congrats, you just clinched a SB.’

              5. Brotha tuna, I agree about Charles Haley, I wouldn’t be surprise the same will happen to Aldon Smith as well. The way Jed said it to the media about getting the team to be classy, it might be the end of the road for Aldon playing with the 49ers:-)

      3. McCarthy lost that game for the Pack.
        His decisions of playing not to lose put his team in the very position he was trying to avoid.

  39. Congrats to Seattle, they continue to win because they’re the not the most talented or prepared, but the most confident & persistent. Their squad only has 4 players (Wilson, Lynch, Sherman, Thomas, & Chancellor) in the top 5 of their positions, while our Niners arguably have 9 (Staley, Lupati, Boone, A.davis, V. Davis, J. smith, A. smith, Bowman, & Willis). They have unity while we have dischors. They have leadership while we have chaos. Good luck to Tomsula in out coaching Carrol, Arian, & Fisher.

    1. Nine players in the top five of their positions. Dude have you been watching any of the games in the last few seasons. To many 49’er fans living in the past. Willis and Bowman either missed all or most of the year. V.Davis played like he was bottom five. Lupati was a turnstyle. The only thing you got right was about the leadership vs chaos.

  40. With what happened earlier today, I do not want to declare that it will be NE and Seahawks in the SB. But NE is looking good right now. Man, you could see the media revisiting that Sherman vs Brady a couple of years ago in Seattle to hype up this game. And of course there’s the Sherman vs Revis argument. Carroll against Belichick. Wilson against Brady (new vs old).

      1. no kiddin’ cubus …

        I’m gonna really hate rootin’ for Belicheat in the SB

        Didja see he got busted on a “deceptive” play ?

        (one guy didn’t report as “eligible”) …

        Too bad it was only 5 yds …

        Bad news was Brady just iced the game right after that

        1. Maybe Smith should be given 2 free tickets to the superbowl and maybe he’ll take his boyfriend fan77 with him!

        1. Well … don’t wanna jinx anything .. cuz ..
          you can see how my prediction ended up
          for tonights games !

          (Not what you might call …. “batting 1000”)

      1. People Harbaugh likes to stay a while and move on. Kiffen doesn’t even stay a while sometimes.

    1. Makes me want to say “Jesus, Mary, Joseph” (and I’m a Catholic School Survivor Hippie Atheist)

  41. A Grand Old Onside Kick Nightmare

    “Roger Staubach’s first miracle was ranked #8 all time for all sports. This was the 1972 divisional playoffs in which Dallas trailed San Francisco 28-13 in the fourth quarter. Dallas still trailed 28-16 with less than two minutes left, but touchdown passes from Staubach to Billy Parks and Ron Sellers gave Dallas an improbable 30-28 win.”

    I took my wife to that game. When Dallas recovered the onside kick with seconds remaining she told me that Dallas was going to win. Green Bay made several late mistakes today. Montana had it right.

    1. htwaits,

      There was a phantom defensive holding on a Dallas punt (which back then gave Dallas a first down) and a non-holding call when Fitzgerald tackled Cedric Hardman who was just about to sack Staubach. Instead, Staubach scrambled for 27 yards. If either of those plays don’t go Dallas’ way, they would’ve lost that game.

      BTW, do you remember the player who fumbled the on sides kick?

      1. Preston Riley was drafted in the seventh round of the 1990 draft. He just couldn’t catch the bouncing ball. I think they released him that off season. The poor guy with the Packers is a college undrafted free agent who “tried to make a play” instead of just doing his blocking assignment. I’ll be surprised if he is with the Packers this coming season.

    2. Yes I was there with my father HT remember walking out of the park stunned and silent, it took “the Catch” to remove the spell the Cowboys cast on us with that day!

      1. I was there with my boss. We couldn’t even speak on the drive home. The worst sports experience of my life

        1. It’s ranked 8th all time for sports comeback finishes by someone. That’s one way to get lone term fame for your team.

        1. For me it’s “The Catch, The Horse Collar, The Sack, The Recovery.”

          I guess that’s not as catchy as The Catch, but I was sweating blood after The Catch, given the 49er history with Dallas and all previous championship games in their history.

  42. The Seahwaks right now are the San Francisco Giants of football. I’m watching some of the 2012 and 2014 Giants playoff victories on youtube lately. You know, sometimes there are forces at work …….

    1. You are right, those guys are destined for greatness. As much as I HATE them, the “FORCE” is with them. Jed York just needs to be watching.

  43. Grant, you’re spouting baseless speculation on personality and motivation. I mean they’re popular theories on the interwebs and all…but hardly worth spouting as a “knowledgeable” source.

    On the other hand you’ve gone from the clean cut kid look to the Brandon Crawford, slick long hair and 5 o’clock shadow look.

  44. On the bright side, the Colts loss could means Chudzinski can interview. Hopefully he can talk York out of Kiffin’s Traveling Trail of Destruction.

    What a change a few days make. We went from the possibility of Gase designed offense, to Kiffin. Even a Geep Chryst internal promotion would be better.

    1. “Kiffin’s Traveling Trail of Destruction”……LOL! Though it is rumored that “Lance” speaks Tomsulan.

  45. From La Canfora:

    “Can confirm ESPN report Kyle Shanahan agreed to become Falcons OC. He’s long been linked to Dan Quinn. Strong indication of Falcons intent”

    1. As Rincon Valley-o’s would say, “Falcs are dynamite, yeah Falcs are dynamite!”

      (Niners are better)

  46. Why all the hate for Kiffen? Yes, he has a reputation for being a lying, scummy cancer for any team he is a part of. But, shouldn’t he fit in perfectly with our front office?

  47. Manning had a bad record against Brady in the playoff and now Luck has not started that well either. The good news for Luck though, Brady will be out of the league in a few years.

    1. Maybe it’s just the Colts that have a bad record against Brady in the playoffs. Manning won his last AFC championship against NE when he was a Colt.

  48. If anybody still cares, Ian Rapoport tweeted:

    “The #Broncos are finalizing a 4-year deal with new coach Gary Kubiak, source confirms (as @MikeKlis said). He’ll be their coach.”

    1. Cubus, I feel for you living in Seattle. All you are going to here the next 2 weeks – the miracle comeback :(

      1. Thanks, Ricardo. Up until that last surge by the Seachickens, I was imagining myself strutting down my street thumbing my nose at the 2012s. I even saw myself wearing my 49ers jersey (OK, I know that was akin to a death wish). But now….

        But New England looked very good today, so there’s hope. Thing is you gotta play all 4 quarters against that team. I think BB will have them prepared.

    1. On paper, NE should be the favorite but Brady did not have a good game the last time he was in Arizona. But I hope you are right though.

      1. Revis allows them to play man in the secondary and either cheat down to stop lynch or spy Wilson. Wilfork us also a beast inside.

    2. Maybe. But I already told you I’m happy and anything else is icing on the cake. However, I do think that in the Baltimore NE game that Baltimore was the better team that day. So if the Seahawks offense plays well I think we could win. Just watched the game again and that last 2 minutes is amazing.

    3. Wow! you must have a clear crystal ball that can foresee the future.That’s what they said last season about the Denver Broncos that they’ll stomp the Seahawks in the SB. Well I hope you’re right because the way this Seahawks team played in the NFCCG they wouldn’t die, it will be hard to count this Hawks team out just like last season when they blew pass by Manning and the Broncos.

    1. I liked Ted jokingly begging Tomsula to promise him that the team would stop wasting timeouts under his watch.

      JT talked about the speed and quickness of the red zone. It sounded to me like he was saying that a WR with straightline speed would not be much help in the red zone because of the short confined space. However, I wasn’t sure if his reference to “speed and quickness” was with regards to tempo (which word he used) or player speed and quickness. Did you understand that part?

      1. I think he was talking primarily about tempo of the plays, not so much the players. And in that I think he meant about playing crisper football, calling play that develop quickly, attack and execute the play with speed, and make faster decisions with the ball. Not so much about speeding up the tempo of play-calling, getting to the LOS and snapping the ball.

        1. Obligatory Kaepernick bashing;

          Got to have a QB that can think and see the field quickly. If your QB relies on making the pass he’s decided to throw before he leaves the pocket then he’s not going to handle an uptempo redzone offense.

  49. NE and Seattle.
    Just as I thought.
    GB gave that game to them and I knew they would as soon as the GB player fell down with nobody around him. RW is average, without lynch next year he will be the most overpaid qb in the league.

    NE wins the Super Bowl for these reasons.
    Their coach will play Seattle the same as GB did. They will stop the running game and leave Wilson to lose the game for Seattle.

    BB NEVER let’s his foot off of the pedal. See Indy…

    Brady and his tight ends and quick recievers play right into seattles weakness.

    NE 24 Seattle 16.
    Brady ties his idol. And Seattle goes away for a very loooong time.

    1. NinerMD, Stopped for a moment and gather your thoughts and asked yourself if Russell Wilson and the Seahawks will play another horrible 3 quarters in the Super Bowl and give up 5 turnovers again, and will Wilson throw 4 interception again against New England? The bad news for NE that’s unlikely going to happened, we all know how Pete Carroll prepare’s his players for big games, especially in Championship games.

        1. Nah, big inner …
          I think he’ll be ok …
          (at least for one more year)

          but .. otoh … what the heck do I know ?

          1. They’ve got some free agents this off season they can’t afford to lose. I think Raje and Bulaga are the big ones.

  50. Russell Wilson hit vs Green bay playoffs 2015: http://youtu.be/kkdyMlOadS4
    can’t get enough of seeing Wilson getting smashed. Look at his knee bend sideways. How was he not checked for a concussion after that hit? I wonder If the nfl will look into it.

  51. I personally am not going to root for against any team in the Superbowl. The Niner’s are not in it so everything else will reek of “schadenfrued”. I would like to point out that most of that a lot of the “elite” and more praised QB’s on this site by the Kaep haters did not have very good games during these playoffs. My point? That every QB or player has games in which they perform either subpar or down right horrible. I saw a lot of games where the “elites” were not accurate via overthrown and underthrown passes. They also hit the dirt in front of their receivers, threw multiple picks, made bad reads and decisions. As I stated at the end of the last thread the Kaep haters magnify the importance of every negative or bad play he makes in respect to his overall evaluation as a QB. If the same standards were to be applied to some of the “elites” they would also have to be considered hopeless with no chance of development. In respect to the masses perception always seems to trump reality.

    1. They’re still hung up on Alex Smith, at least most are. If kap gets a guy like Shanahan or chudzinski, he’ll be fine.

      1. I disagree with you Big….CK’s problem doesn’t have as much to do with mechanics, as it does his inability to process what the defense is showing him, and either audible or ‘let it roll’, in the short amount of time before the ball is snapped…mechanics and footwork can be coached to improvement…..informational processing….you got it, or you don’t…he don’t.

    2. I personally am not going to root for against any team in the Superbowl. The Niner’s are not in it so everything else will reek of “schadenfrued”.

      Was the “for” before the “against” in the first sentence something you meant to remove? It would only be schadenfreude if you root against one of the teams. Feel free to root for one of the teams, no reeking necessary.

      1. “It would only be schadenfreude if you root against one of the teams.”

        It that case, I’m going to schadenfrued my ass off on Superbowl Sunday!

        Go Patriots!

        1. Yeah, no kidding. I’ve never been embarrassed to root against a team.
          Seatards? Boo!
          Cowpies? Boo!
          Rams? Boo!
          Falcons, Panthers? Saints? Boo!

          I usually root for NFCC team in SB.
          Not this year or last.
          I usually root for the western team over an eastern team. Fuhgeddaboutit.
          Go Patriots!!!! Bwahahaha!

          1. BroTu,

            Rooting for the Pats was my first instinct, as well (using pretty much the same process you outlined), then I remembered, if Brady wins SB No. 4. That fact makes it tougher for me, but I’ll still root against Seattle, anyway. Is there a way they could both lose?

            1. I can’t root for either. The Patriots aren’t an underdog and I absolutely have no interest in rooting for the Seahawks. I think I’ll just root for the commercials to be good and that’s it.

              1. Hah! My wife likes those commercials too. Only way she watches when the Niners aren’t playing in SB.
                Her other take is interesting too: she likes Brady and loathes the Seahags, but she doesn’t want to root for the Pats due to the Wall Street Jinx. When an NFC team wins the SB the economy trends upwards. When an AFC team wins SB, the U.S. economy trends downward for that year.
                (She’s a banker.)
                It’s not a perfect correlation, but it holds up to the Horseshoes and Hand Grenade standard apparently.
                I think I first heard that one on Louis Rukeyser’s show, and several times since on NBR.

    3. Willtalk,
      I agree that even the elite QB’ have subpar games as witnessed by Manning and Luck (is he elite?). Hey, some elite QB’ like Brees and Rivers don’t even make the playoffs.

      Please don’t get wrong here because I’ve been a fan of Kap since watching him play in high school in the Central Valley. CK needs to put his personal vendettas aside for the good of the team at times.
      Exhibit A > there was no need to force the pass to Crabtree in last year’s championship game when he had Patton open for a winning TD.
      Kap wanted to beat Sherman more than he wanted to beat the c-hawks and it backfired.
      Throughout this past season I noticed that CK seemed to do the same thing in forcing passes to either Crabtree or Boldin while a rb or VD was open.
      It was as if Kap was determined to appease these two rather than look to someone else.

      I like Kap, but imo he plays favorites and until he breaks from that he will not see the whole field.
      Just one man’s opinion.

      1. Luck is elite…make no mistake about it….he is twice the NFL QB that #7 is…..the 49er’s did themselves and the fan base a disservice by not, at least making an attempt to, cut a deal with Indy for the rights to Andrew Luck….we get him, problem at QB is solved for the next 10 years…now, who knows….new coaching staff, new system, new terminologies…he has to process that info, then corelate it to what the pre-snap read shows…..

        1. 55Niners,
          No doubt Luck is a star, but the fact remains that he has yet to go to the SB ~CK has.

    4. You’ve got about 4 monthes to carry that belief around with you, then you’ll see that the ‘haters’ as you call them were correct. No one hates Kaepernick….we just want a QB with QB skills.

  52. PFT reporting that Kubiak will bring Rick Dennison in as the OC at Denver.

    Could Adam Gase still be in play for the OC position with the 49ers?

    1. The OC positions are filling up too. It will be interesting to see what the Ravens do to fill the loss of Kubiak.

      1. Fangio top 5 defense consistently

        Roman top five rushing offense consistently.

        Harbough 700+ winning percentage (if I’m not mistaken)

        Tomsula 1-0. Super nice guy

        Tarver top 22 defense

        Kiffin: lance who? Ah Al Davis.

        So we could’ve hired fangio. Kept defense top notch. And hired chudzinski. Instead we fired or mutually parted ways with a first class defensive staff. For tarver and kiffin.

        Hope they hire someone else on defense and get chudzinski on offense. But right now this looks horrible.

        All we really needed was a new passing game coordinator (like harboughs set up at Stanford) and maybe a new quarterbacks coach and wide receiver coach.

        I think I’m really getting depressed the more this goes on.

        Jed York made this exact mistake with singletary. It’s really tough to watch him make the same mistake over and over again.

      2. It will be especially since it’s clear that they are a very well run organization, will be interesting to see if they interview any of the same names we have.

    2. I hope so. I’d love for the 49ers to grab Gase as OC. They have to be totally familiar with him after the two ultra-long interviews.

    3. Since they went in house, after a wide spread diversion, for their head coach, why not speculate that the all important OC may come from the two in house offensive guys they kept after getting rid of Harbaugh.

        1. Oh that’s right, I got the names confused somehow. I guess they just remind me of each other, two young innovative OCs.

          Then I’m hoping for this. Don’t know what to make of the Kiffin talk. I’m an SC fan so I’ve always like him there. I think most of his issues have been when he’s HC, I think some guys just aren’t meant to be a HC. But I’ve always liked his style of play calling. Even in Tennessee with a limited QB and talent, he still had the offense looking pretty solid.

          Whenever he’s HC, most of the problems lie on the defensive side. But he can come off as an arrogant a** at times, but hey its never stop me from coming back to this blog.

    4. I don’t know if Gase is still in play. It doesn’t appear so, and there are rumors that the Niners either pulled an offer to be HC after verbally agreeing to it, or they low balled him. Don’t know if either is true, but it wouldn’t surprise if they were.

      I am growing increasingly pessimistic about the quality of this staff the longer this search goes on. Kiffin as the front runner is a joke, and a trifecta of Tomsula, Tarver and Kiffin would be among the worst Coaching staffs the league has seen in some time.

      1. Kiffin isn’t a bad coach, in fact he has a good record as an OC (albeit in the college ranks). He’s just a mental case. I don’t understand the interest purely from the point of view that he creates drama wherever he goes. And even this past year at Alabama there are rumours Saban struggled to keep him in check, wanting him to run the ball more often. Just seems a bad fit. In the end I’d be surprised if he is hired as OC.

        Tarver’s record at the Raiders wasn’t good. But he didn’t exactly have exceptional talent to work with. A lot of his “star” players were very much on the wrong side of their careers. And he did suffer from an offense that wasn’t great holding onto the ball. Fangio’s record as a DC when he didn’t have good talent was poor also. I’m not a fan of making Tarver DC, but I think he’ll do a better job with the 49ers than we saw at the Raiders. He does have a reputation for being a creative defensive mind.

        I think it is unlikely many, if any, big names in the business will be hired. But that doesn’t mean the staff will be poor. We’ll just have to wait and see how the team performs.

        1. I felt that Alabama was a better overall team than Ohio St. but were outcoached in all facets.

          At one point during the game Saban and Kiffin seemed to have a little hated moment.
          Sorry, but Kiffin does not come over as a team player to me and if true, why would the team want him unless the Org wants a fallback plan if Tomsula falters during the season.

      2. Scooter,

        I know you’re a glass half full guy, and I am usually that way too, but if the Coaching staff winds up with those 3 at the top, we are in big time trouble my friend.

        I’m an SC guy. I watched Kiffin grow up with SC under Norm Chow and Pete Carroll. Watched him go to Oakland, Tennessee and then back to the Trojans, and all I can say is, I respectfully disagree with your opinion that he is not a bad Coach. Far from it in fact. He has been an ok play caller at times, but did an extremely poor job calling plays as the SC HC, and it was a key reason he was fired. Immediately after he was let go the SC offense improved dramatically. He gets pass happy, and pass happy to the extreme. His offense became throw it to Marqise Lee open or not. He’s not innovative and really does not command respect. He’s also a jerk. Other than that he’s awesome. I do agree he’s a bad fit and I want him nowhere near my team.

        Tarver is being given the “he didn’t have anything to work with treatment” and it’s true to an extent, but his defenses were downright awful. They played a game in St. Louis this year and couldn’t stop anything the Rams did. The score was 52 to nothing and that flattered them. The defense wasn’t just bad, it was putrid for most of Tarver’s time there. The rankings really don’t tell the story because teams really could take the foot off the gas early in the second half of a lot of games because the games were so out of hand. I realize there is some hyperbole in my statement, but there was nothing Tarver did in his time in Oakland that could seriously make anyone think he had potential to be a good DC. It would be a hire made because he’s familiar to Tomsula, much like Foerster, and/or they can’t find anyone better.

        I’ve already said I’d wait until the Coordinators were hired before forming an opinion, but with these two being rumored, I couldn’t wait that long. If we wind up with Tomsula, Tarver and Kiffin, it’s a foregone conclusion that this team is heading downward. Just no other way to look at it realistically.

        1. Rocket-And what’s worse, while SF atrophied the RayDuhs would be getting better (they’ve already hit bottom); it would make Grant right, LOL! F that! Hahahahaha

          1. BT,

            No doubt we can’t have that ;)

            Grant is jumping the gun by saying the Raiders will be the better team next year, as the talent level is still decidedly in the Niners favor, and I’m not a fan of Del Rio, but the Niners are definitely headed south if this is how the Coaching staff ultimately winds up imo.

        2. Fair enough rocket, I’ve not followed Kiffin as closely as you appear to have. All I know is he leaves a trail of disaster wherever he goes. I still find it hard to believe Kiffin will be the OC. If the Tomsula hire is any indication, the front office tend to keep these things pretty close to the vest. Even though Tomsula had been rumoured to be a strong candidate for the job for the past year, in the final lead up to the hire most people in the media were saying Gase or Fangio. Kiffin being rumoured by ESPN as the guy to take over as OC smacks of agent talk to me.

          I understand your point regarding Tarver. But look at it this way – in 2013 the Raiders D performed mostly ok (in consideration of talent level) until the last six or so weeks, which coincided with injuries to some players. In 2014 they brought in a bunch of old guys on the downside of their career (LaMarr Woodley, Justin Tuck, Antonio Smith, Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown), plus drafted of Khalil Mack. How many of those guys truly fit the 4-3 scheme they ran? How much petrol did those guys have left? How many of those guys were just there for a final pay check? How many teams perform well when they have that much turnover in one year? And how many teams perform well when they rely on a bunch of old guys on the downside of their career, many of which haven’t played together before?

          If Tarver is made DC I most certainly won’t be feeling excited by the hire. I’m not a fan. But if he is, I’m willing to wait and see what he does with the talent, cohesion and good mix of youth and experience the 49ers D will provide him, something he didn’t have at the Raiders.

          1. Scooter,

            I will wait and see as well, I have no other choice as I’m a lifelong fan and have no intention of changing that, but I also know that Coaching in this league is extremely important and that group would be among the worst in the league. Let’s put it this way: we had arguably a top 5 Coaching staff this year and went 8-8. Now there were mitigating circumstances of course like the Harbaugh drama and injuries, but at the end of the day a top notch Coaching staff got us to 8-8. What exactly should we expect if the Coaching staff features a first time HC with little experience, a questionable at best DC also with limited experience in that role, and an OC who is looking at the job as a stepping stone to his next one?

            I just can’t look at that objectively and say things are going to be fine. As a fan I will hope for the best, but as a realist, I’d be expecting a 6-8 win season both because of the Coaching and players that will no longer be around and it’s a shame because with Harbaugh they were a SB contender if healthy.

            1. As I said, I find it hard to believe Kiffin will be the OC.

              How would you feel about Tomsula, Chudzinski and Tarver?

            2. Also, all the talk about Mike Shanahan has died down now. To me that means he could well be in play.

          2. Good post scooter….

            I feel the same way. I think Tarver is much easier to swallow, one, due to the talent level we have on that side of the ball, and two, Tarver is a name that has been around since the Tomsula hiring and we’ve all had a chance to digest it and let it settle.

            OC on the other hand is anyone’s guess still. It’s getting pretty frustrating at this point, but I’m still hoping for the best. My preference is still Chud, and if possible Gase. But we’ll see.

            1. Tarver is a name that has been around since the Tomsula hiring and we’ve all had a chance to digest it and let it settle.
              ——————-
              In the same way that when you’ve been in the room long enough you no longer smell the fart even though it’s still in the air.

    1. So if this (cheating) turns out to be true here’s my scenario:
      The Patriots beat (humiliate) the c-hawks in the SB, and then get stripped of their SB win after an exhaustive investigation proves that they got to the SB by cheating.

      C-hawks are awarded the SB win with huge asterisks (*) and live with the fact that they were handed something they never earned.
      Ok, so I have a wild imagination (lol).

      1. As someone who despises both teams and knowing that a tie is not possible and another blackout is unlikely i begrudgingly root for the hawks. Here is why: there is already talk around these parts about the GOAT QB and coaches what I believe to be Montana and Walsh. If they get #4 then brady’s 4 for 6 would in the minds of annoying locals cement TB as the one. The hawks while younger still would only have 2 and no one in their right mind is considering RW for that mantle yet

        1. LOL BOS49er- I was wondering where you’d be on this one since I recall your dislike of your local talent.

          1. BT
            I’ve been slugging down mylanta ever since that epic collapse by GB in anticipation of the nausea thats sure to come around 10 pm February 1st.

            Deflategate is keeping the locals at bay since it directly implicates the golden boy himself. Even the most ardent fanboii cant explain this one away. I read an article on yahoo that said that Godell can pretty much do anything he wants to in order to punish the pats up to and including “replaying the game” although there is a 0% chance that happens, would be a logistical nightmare for the NFL. But in light of RG horrible year I think he has to throw the book at them

      1. True BT. I guess I was lamenting a bit, but the fact that Belichick’ name seems to come in these type of controversies is becoming to common place.

        1. Yes, AES, that was my reaction too when I first saw the headline. Kinda too funny after the recent Shula slam on BB.
          But look at it this way: Clueless In Seattle (Mary) will be able to use the “Cheater!” excuse when BB & The Pats kick some Seatard tail feathers in two weeks.

  53. It is going to depend on what what kind of coaching staff both teams hire plus what they do in free agency and especially in the draft, but as of right now I agree with everything you said in your interview Grant. The 49ers are in too much of a flux to even classify them as a contender in the NFC West let alone the NFC.

  54. It sicekens me as a 49ers fan to say this, but Seattle has the makings of a dynasty and Wilson…well, he just keeps showing that he’s easily a top 15 QB easily and will most likely said in the same breath as the current elites like Brady, Manning, Brees, etc.

    1. You are correct on all topics. Everything has seemingly fallen into place for the seahawks. It’s the craziest thing ever. I pray Tom Brady can move the ball and get Blount rolling. But I don’t see that happening.

      1. Why don’t you see it happening? New England with the 3Bs (Belichick, Brady and Blount) is tailor made to beat Seattle. I see Blount rushing for 100+ with two TDs, Brady throwing for 200+ with two TDs, Revis taking Baldwin out of the offense all night, and Belichick coming up creative ways to bait Wilson into throwing two picks.

        New England 31 Seattle 20.

        Book it.

        1. I like it.

          And I agree. I think Pats take this one. Even though I don’t want to see Brady get his 4th, I even more so don’t want to see Seattle win it back to back.

          Besides it’s better for the Hawks to get all the way to the big game and lose. Less recovery time for next season. I’m hoping for a physical game. Plus its just funnier that way.

      2. And, I forgot to mention…Belichick has balls, unlike that eunuch McCarthy. I just don’t see Belichick settling for field goals from the one yard line twice…

  55. I think we could be experiencing the Singletary effect with the hiring of our coordinators. Now that we’ve hired Tomsultary the legitimate coordinators will look for better places to go.

    1. Unfortunately I do think we are seeing that, not just because of Tomsula, but because everybody knows Baalke is driving the bus; not the HC.

  56. Curious that there’s no mention of the 49ers asking for permission to interview Chudzinski. The Rams have asked for permission. Please don’t let it be Kiffin.

  57. Shameful collapse by the Pack. I’m glad that wasn’t the 49ers showing that. Though we had our shameful collapse during the regular season

    1. Just spoke with a buddy who’s a Packer fan. He says it will take a very, very long time to get over that loss. He’s embarrassed by the way the team just fell apart in all phases of the game.

    2. No doubt rib. Last years meltdown in the 4th quarter was hard to take, but yesterday’s collapse by the Packers was worse for their fans I would imagine. It reminded me of the Tebow led Broncos of a couple of seasons ago, where the other team would dominate for 55 mins and then Tebow would miraculously lead a comeback. That’s what yesterday’s result was for Seattle: miraculous. They either lead a charmed existence or Pete Carroll made a deal with the Devil.

    1. That’s one of the silliest things Ive ever seen. They rated a first year rookie over a guy who’s won 2 superbowls and a guy who’s about to win his second.

      1. Ok rated isn’t the right term but they have labeled it in such a way that suggests that Bridgewater is a better QB then Ben or Russell.

    2. @cubus

      This ridiculous article only goes to show that you can prove anything by statistics

      1. I’m a supportor of analytics and statistics in general. However, I’m a strong believer in looking at the results and applying common sense and visual observation, if possible. I had a professor who once told the class “Given enough parameters you can fit an elephant”.

        1. Cubus: Then maybe you’ll appreciate this stat: when there was 6 minutes left to the game ESPN gave the Seahawks 3% chance of winning.

          1. Exactly, Mary, exactly. Repeat after me: the Seahawks got an absolute gift from the Packers, who suffered one of the all time greatest collapses in NFL playoff history. See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? The truth will set you free.

            1. Ex Great teams, QBs have a way of making the big plays and closing out games. GB did have 5 picks. As Jack said QBs are the most important players on a team. That’s b/c they can win or lose a came for you. This game is going down in history as one of the best last 2 minutes. And face it was anyone really surprised — you’ve seen this gritty team do it b/4. But look at it this way, you’ll have better draft choices than the Seahawks.

              1. “This game is going down in history as one of the best last 2 minutes.”

                lol… says a Seahawks fan. Mary, you do know for that last 2 minutes to be considered as one of the best, BOTH teams have to be playing great, right? Sorry if you and most Seahawks fans want to view it that way. It ain’t happening. Most people, outside of your fan-base, will remember it as one of the biggest choke/collapse in the history of the playoff.

              2. The best last two minutes? Are you serious? GB gave the game away. Best ending of a game in recent memory was SF and NO. Alex Smith, the fricking loser of 1st round pick had to lead the team on two big drives to win the game, when the Saints also had a bunch of turnovers.

                Wilson won a game they had no business winning. GB gave that game away, and Seattle merely had to say thank you.

              3. Mary,
                The c-hawks had a miraculous win yesterday and should be viewed by those lenses and nothing less.

                Aaron Rodgers said that he knew that the Packers were the better team and I happen to agree.
                The Packers bungled away a sure victory that never should have reached that point.
                GB will always know that they were the better team and will forever kick themselves in the butt for their historical collapse.

                The game yesterday was somewhat reminiscent of the championship game of the 49ers vs NYGiants in 2010. We should have won that game except for a bungled muff by Kyle Williams (argh! still hurts). But I felt we were better than the Giants on that day.

              4. Mary,
                Funny isn’t it?
                What you call a great win, I call a great collapse.
                Looks like every one has their own opinion doesn’t it?

          2. Go to your home….are you too good for your home?!?!?!?

            Seriously Marty why do you still come around here? I’m sure there is enough of a “faithful” fan base now, to form a decent blog site where you guys can all chat about the your actual team.

            You should feel good about the win, it was a good game. Why not discuss it with your fellow “12th man”?

            1. Leo- Because she can’t find anyone to talk to her. Wonder why? Couldn’t find anyone to celebrate with so brought her Seafoul (purposeful misspell) guano here.
              Spam, spam, spam, spam, spammitty-spam, Spammitty-Spam, SPAM! SPAM!!!

    1. You are wasting your time here…..I guarantee no one will click on this link.

      seriously dude stop.

      1. I think I should have bragging rights today. I have been on this site for a year. I see this site no differently than all of the others where all team fans get together. It’s called diversity. And besides I’m one of the more positive contributors. So just don’t read my posts and try to understand you don’t have ownership.

        1. “I see this site no differently than all of the others where all team fans get together.”

          So other fans go to the local newspaper blog site of their rival teams where the only subject is the said rival team, and post videos and up to date news about a different team?

          That sounds almost as stupid as a journalist who writes for a team he grew up hating, and continues to pretend his one-sided analysis are truly unbiased.

        2. Mary,
          Yes, you have every right to post here, but why? Wouldn’t it be much more satisfying to enjoy this win with c-hawk fans on their blog sites?
          Again, it’s your right to post anywhere you want, but I don’t think I’m being remiss in saying that nobody on this site shares your victory.

  58. A few things garnered from the video above:

    I don’t know who that was but he looks nothing like the kid who’s pictured adorns this blog.

    Whoever that was, loves the word “serious.”

    Whoever that was is on record as saying the Raiders will be better than the Niners next season.

  59. Rocket: I wasn’t talking about the video, I didn’t even listen to it. I was talking about the GIF below it and I did say look at Kearse’s beautiful catch.

        1. I’m listening to Pete Carroll’s presser on NFL. Pete said so many things had to come together just right to win that game. There was nothing long GB. But so much was on the line for both teams.

            1. Mary,

              Of course, Pete Carroll said there was nothing wrong with what GB did. He and his team were the primary beneficiaries of the Packers’ collapse.

              It’s silly how you’re talking about the win as if it was in the bag the whole time. That’s absolute nonsense.

              The Packers had to give the game away five times, before the Seahawks ultimately cobbled two plays together to win the game.

              BTW, as far as I know, a only one other QB has thrown 4 INT’s in a championship game and been on the winning team (George Blanda, Oakland Raiders). Please don’t try to spin it was Wilson’s greatness that led to the Seahawks win.

      1. It was an easy pass because the Packers brought both Safeties up and left the middle of the field wide open.

  60. The mothers of invention, Frank Zappa – I cant stand it, I cant stand it. That’s what I think about the possible Kiffin hiring.

    1. I found this on PFT by an educated long-time fan:

      “The Seahawks played the worst game they are ever capable of playing (most turnovers in Pete Carroll era) and still won and nearly covered the spread too. They’re going to assassinate Brady and Belicheat just like they did MVP Peyton and his GOAT offense. And don’t even pretend like you didn’t see it coming.” Haha

  61. A feeling, a presence,
    Time is of the essence
    A fear that you’ll be left alone.
    A warning, a presence,
    Delivery of a message
    It’s all there in the unknown.

    Alerting, averting
    It’s all disconcerting
    Shots ring out from afar.
    Swerving, observing,
    The sound is a piercing screech
    Of a speeding car.

    It’s your final journey.
    Destination unknown!
    On your final journey
    You’ll be travelling alone.

    A pitching and rolling,
    Sensation controlling
    You strike while the iron’s a glow.
    Sensing the danger
    One look from a stranger just passing
    Somehow you know.

    It’s your final journey.
    Destination unknown!
    On your final journey
    You’ll be travelling alone.

    Urgent, urgent
    Somehow it’s all converging.
    Your instincts tell you to run
    Away from the blackness, the fear and the madness.
    Onward, into the sun.

    It’s your final journey.
    Destination unknown!
    On your final journey
    You’ll be travelling alone.

  62. My prediction for the next OC in Santa Clara based on how Baalke picked his head coach and the lint I found in my pocket this morning.

    “Ronald Curry, running backs coach Tom Rathman and quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst, are among the few coaches Tomsula retained on his staff. Chryst’s role is undedetermined, as he is not expected to remain in charge of quarterbacks.” … Matt Maiocco

    First on my pocket lint list is Chryst.

    1. htwaits

      Do you think the Niners are going to try to use the same playbook? If so, a Chryst hiring may be what the doctor ordered. Beginning to think that they already had someone selected and once again they are playing the due diligence card which is for their self preservation. The longer this goes the more I tend to think that they intend to use the same playbook. My reasoning is CK seems a little slow to grasp concepts and keeping the same playbook would ease the transition somewhat. However since the parting of the ways the front office has raised lots of eyebrows in their ability or inability to get it right, I suppose anything can happen though.

        1. No matter how badly I wanted to prove a point, I would never, ever use either of those two for validation of my position.

    1. Yup, good stuff MWD.
      Agreed with all 8 reasons why the Packers lost.
      But none will overshadow the Brandon Bostick muffed ball.

      Will Brandon Bostick’ mistake stand right up there with Bill Buckner’ under the wickets miss of a certain out?

      1. No. Bill Buckner was a good fielder. Brandon Bostick failed to do his assigned task, and then whiffed on an easy catch because he looked at the players coming at him before the ball got their. Also, he was an undrafted player put on the field to do one thing — block. Buckner had an impressive baseball history. Bostick will not have much of an NFL history especially in Green Bay.

        The second one in my mind was Ha Ha watching the two point conversion creep toward him and never even attempt to make a play on the ball. Ha Ha.

        1. their > there

          Something else that Tim Kawakami has that this blog doesn’t have — an EDIT function.

        2. Good points htwaits, but I was speaking in terms of the magnitude of a loss based off one person’s mistake.
          Buckner and Bostick were only key figures.

          1. AES I know you were, but the stature of the athlete makes a difference in the dramatic effect. The Giants lost a World Series to a dropped ball in right field but only the locals bring it up anymore. Buckner’s miss had classic tragedy written all over it.

      2. No, simply because the Packers are no where near the title drought that the Red Sox were in at the time. I would compare it more to Kaep predetermining that he was going to throw to Crabtree and then following through instead of taking what the defense would gave him. Both were big mistakes, but nowhere near the epic level of the Buckner blunder.

        1. Yup, Buckner’ mistake was bigger because of Boston’ long draught.

          I personally don’t equate the CK missed pass to Crabtree (and subsequent INT) in the championship game to Bostick’ mistake because the 49ers were not beating the c-hawks the way GB was up until the final 2 minutes.

    1. My estimate of Tomsula’s market prices was $3M or slightly less. Seems like a great deal for both from a budget viewpoint — freeing up money to hire high-priced coordinators and position coaches should York and Marathe choose to do so.

        1. My sources tell me that Baalke is going to institute a new media policy which is the opposite of Harbaughs. Harbaugh limited interviews with assistant coaches. The new policy will give unlimited access to all assistant coaches but the head coach will no longer be available to meet with the media.

  63. It’s going to be fun to see how the current 49ers narrative plays out come September.

    1. Now that I think about it ..

      I was in the Sea-Tac area (awhile back) and ..
      while driving around … I (inadvertently) got behind
      some 300-lb woman who seemed too busy talking
      and texting on her phone to notice the lights
      (yeah more than one)
      … had turned green …

      Now.. I’m SURE … it was our very own
      in-house troll .. (Mary) .. I was stuck behind …

      Wanna know how I know it was her ??

      Well … amongst the hundred (or so) SeaChicken
      and 12th Man bumper stickers ..
      plastered all over her car …

      She had THIS

      prominently displayed in her back window !!

      1. Yeah MWN Sea-Tac. I don’t go to Sea-Tac unless I’m flying out of the city. Must be a great place trying to get 6 hours of sleep living right next to the airport — flights coming and going 24-7. I hope you actually get to visit the beautiful waterfront city known as Seattle . . . haha.

          1. I like the idea of Chud. Young, innovative and might be ripe to coach up a project like CK. He’s worked with Newton and Luck. Now he just needs to get CK to be a little bit of both guys, leaning towards Luck a bit more.
            If not, Mike Shanahan would be the next best thing.

            1. I don’t think he would have worked directly with Luck. He was an assistant to the head coach, not the OC’s assistant.

            2. Prime,

              How about Rathman for Offensive coordinator and Justin Smith for defensive coordinator. Remember, for all the continuity to swore the Niners were keeping? Lol

              1. A guy who has been in the building, worked with that defense for 7 years, knows Baalke and Jed and every other staff member at 4949, the players have publicy endorsed Tomsula, and spoke out about not having whole sale changes, Id say that’s continuity DR. Andrews!

          2. Chudzinski gets a lot of love for a guy who as a coordinator or head coach last had a winning record in 2007.

            1. As an OC I hadn’t realised he was responsible for both offense and defense playing well.

              What is more concerning to me is the high number of INTs his offenses have given up.

              1. No, but he is responsible for the offense scoring points, and in 5 seasons his offense was better than 18th in scoring only twice.

              2. That is true Jack, but then he wasn’t always given the best talent to work with either. In five years as an OC he’s also had two top 8 finishes for points and yards.

            2. The experience, the talent he’s worked with, the thinking outside the box concept. All things that make him a potentially good hire.

        1. Cam Newton is on record saying that Chud put too much on his plate while Steve Smith complained about him getting too cute at times and underutilizing RB Mike Tolbert.

          1. Poor Cam, fancy being given a playbook and system that was more complex than the one he ran in college. I feel for him.

            A few of the offensive players said he got too cute at times, and that he appeared more focused on building his resume. That is a fair concern.

          2. Poor Cam, fancy being given a playbook and system that was more complex than the one he ran in college. I feel for him.

            That could be a concern as well if Kaep continues to struggle with progressions.

            1. I think Newton’s comments very much reflect a naive young QB that didn’t have proper appreciation for how much more complex an NFL offense is compared to a college offense.

              As for Kaep, locking onto your targets has nothing to do with learning the system. From all reports Kaep is a bright guy and knew the Harbaugh system very well. He’s now got experience learning an NFL system, and I’m sure he can take whatever the new OC throws at him, though obviously there will be a learning curve.

    1. Yep, or at least he is first choice. Tomsula pretty much gave it away during his interviews.

              1. According to a couple of beat writers — maybe the two Matts — Geep Chryst doesn’t have an assignment yet, but whatever it is, it’s not as QBC.

            1. From earlier today based on Baalke’s HC search and pocket lint.

              January 19, 2015 at 12:30 pm

              My prediction for the next OC in Santa Clara based on how Baalke picked his head coach and the lint I found in my pocket this morning.

              “Ronald Curry, running backs coach Tom Rathman and quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst, are among the few coaches Tomsula retained on his staff. Chryst’s role is undedetermined, as he is not expected to remain in charge of quarterbacks.” … Matt Maiocco

              First on my pocket lint list is Chryst.
              Reply

    2. I don’t know, Jack. The Rams and Bears have asked permission too. How can we compete with those animals?

  64. @MaioccoCSN

    #49ers request permission to interview Colts assistant Rob Chudzinski (via @RapSheet). No word yet on an answer.

      1. Currently I’m avoiding looking at prospects until we know who the coordinators are. That way I can look at players that can fit the scheme.

        1. Yeah ..
          behind Doors #1 … #2 .. and #3 ..
          we have Kiffin, Chud .. and Shanny …

          Guess it all will depend on which one
          Tomsula

          u-hhhh … I mean
          Baalke …. chooses, huh ?

          1. If Baalke is serious about running more, then he would hire Shanahan because Headcase and Chud both have the complaint on them of not running the ball enough. Either Shanahan or Gase.

            1. The complaint on Chud wasn’t about not running enough. It was about not using Tolbert enough. They ran plenty with Chud, but he used Cam Newton as a runner quite heavily.

              1. That actually makes selecting Chud sound worse Scooter. In no way do I want to see Kaep run more than he has.

              2. Newton ran pretty much the same number of times in 2011 and 2012 as Kaep ran this past year.

              3. What would you like them to do with Kaep, Mid? Make him play almost exclusively from the pocket, even if it isn’t a strength for him? Never give him designed runs even though running is one of his assets?

                We had this discussion previously so I won’t go into detail again, but treating Kaep like he is a pocket QB makes little sense to me. If that is what they are after, go get a pocket QB. Kaep can run, it is a weapon in his arsenal, and it should be used. I’m not suggesting he should be run often, but 5-8 carries a game (some designed, some scrambles) brings a threat to the defense they need to account for.

                Its worth noting this is nothing the previous coaching staff weren’t already doing with him. The key thing is about changing Kaep’s instinct to drop his eyes if his first read isn’t there and looking to take off.

              4. That’s not what I’m referring to Scooter. Bottom line is that I don’t want Kaep to be either our lead or second best rusher. It just has disaster written all over it.

              5. “Bottom line is that I don’t want Kaep to be either our lead or second best rusher. It just has disaster written all over it.”

                Well, that’s been what Kaep’s done ever since he’s taken over the QB role with the 49ers. The second leading runner on the team in terms of both carries and yards.

                Interestingly with Chudzinski, he had DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart as #1 and #2 runners in terms of carries per game. Newton was the third guy.

              6. Well, that’s been what Kaep’s done ever since he’s taken over the QB role with the 49ers. The second leading runner on the team in terms of both carries and yards.

                And our opponents have figured that out.

              7. We need a coordinator that will utilize Kaep as a passer first and a runner second. Leave the ground game to the RBs and use Kaep in it only to mix it up.

              8. Mid, that’s exactly what the 49ers have been doing with Kaep, and what Chudzinski did with Newton.

            2. MidWest, I think Baalke prefers Gase among all the candidates out there. I say that because he interviewed him for HC. It appears Gase is looking at all his options before he makes any decision. If Gase says no, I have no idea who Baalke’s second choice is. I suppose that would depend on how his interview with Chudzinski goes, assuming Indy allows it.

    1. I think 49ers leaked lane kiffin as front runner try and put bargaining pressure on gase or chudzinski for contract negotiations. If they are turned down by both they will take kiffin and pretend like that’s who they wanted the whole time.

      The 49er leaking machine has been in full effect for a good two years now.

      Disappointing how they are putting more energy in trying to sway public opinion or undercut people instead of spending that energy in more productive ways.

      1. htwaits: No, I don’t think so. It will be an inside promotion. Maybe secondary coach Chris Richard.

  65. The funniest part of the G B debacle was when the announcers were ready to Crown Don Capers as the best defensive mind with 5 minutes left in the game. They were ready to give him any head coaching position and unbeatable status.
    Then reality sunk in. The same squad that couldn’t beat the 49ers the last two years got back on the field. There wasn’t another Don Capers reference the entire game. That script has been burned and the ashes scattered in the urinals on the way out of Seattle.
    Someone please tell me how a defender can’t make a play on a two point conversion that hangs in the air for 2 seconds…He just stood there…Unbelieveable.

    1. Brent Jones said on KNBR that Ha Ha looked like he had bought a ticket to the game on the two point play.

    2. Matt: I actually listened to Dom Capers video on packers website talking about the upcoming game. I thought he sounded very knowledgeable and looked him up on Wikipedia and realized he’d been a HC/DC now with lots of experience. I was going to recommend him to the “group” but figured why bother.

      Anyway since the game the Wisconsin fans want to fire the whole shebang. They kind of remind me of you guys. But it’s much easier to be sitting in the comfort of your homes criticizing than in the heat of it all.

      Green Bay did a good job up until the last quarter. And in the last 6 minutes it all started to unravel.

      Grant thinks we’ll “kill” NE — wish I were as confident. But if we do, it won’t be for lack of trying. I daresay they want this as much as Tommy.

    1. Like he’s playing Caesar at the Fresno Shakespeare Festival, and they are very short on makeup funds.

  66. According to La Canfora, one quarter of the NFL is looking for an OC. Teams include OAK, SF, STL, BAL, CLE, JAX, NYJ, CHI.

    If the FO doesn’t show some urgency, we’ll likely get someone like Chryst as the OC.

    1. The appeal to our job is that tomsula does not know anything about offense aside from saying “maybe we should run.” Our OC will have almost free reign to run their ship. But I don’t know if I would want to work for jed if I was a coveted OC.

            1. Very possible. It’s going to depend big time on what this team does during free agency and (more importantly) the draft.

        1. Isn’t that how it works thought? When you hire a person you late looking for someone who has a similar philosophy.

          I really don’t see why this is a negative.

            1. The philosophy put them two muffed punts away from a Super Bowl in 2011. It’s effective.

              1. Exactly right Jack.

                Plenty of Negative Nelly’s out there. But Baalke’s philosophy and vision on football is a proven formula. As to whether the coaching staff they put together is capable of seeing that vision through is a different question, but we won’t know that until next season.

              2. But Baalke’s philosophy and vision on football is a proven formula.

                So was that Baalke’s vision this season or Harbaugh’s?

              3. You think Baalke was happy to see the pass happy game plans this past season? You think Baalke’s daughter tweeted for the team to get rid of Roman because the team was seeing out her father’s vision?

              4. “So we should’ve kept Roman?”

                No. Starting mid-2012 he and Harbaugh began to stray from the philosophy. By 2014 it looked completely different.

              5. A great game by Alex Smith put them into the place where two muffed punts cost them a trip to the Superbowl. But the fact that their offense couldn’t put the Giants away, really kept them out of the Superbowl.

                The 2011 season indicated to me that they needed more scoring, and that’s what Harbaugh and Roman had trouble producing.

                In the era of free agency and salary cap, only one organization has been consistently a serious contender year after year. Their key is to game plan based on who they have and who they are playing on a game by game basis. Without that flexibility, no NFL team will stay near the top year after year like New England.

                In 2011 Romans blocking schemes came as a surprise to the NFL, not so much in 2014 given the learning curve and the condition of the OL personnel.

                In 2011, with a great defense, we won five games by less than a touchdown, and lost three games by two, three, and three points.

                We had a monster turn over ratio that wasn’t exceeded in years 2, 3, and 4.

                If Baalke thinks he can perennially be in the Superbowl and win most of them going forward, then he better build a Super Power Running attack like Singletary dreamed of. Here we come, surrender!

              6. You think Baalke was happy to see the pass happy game plans this past season? You think Baalke’s daughter tweeted for the team to get rid of Roman because the team was seeing out her father’s vision?

                Baalke is the one who traded for Stevie Johnson, signed Bradon Lloyd, and drafted Bruce Ellington. So while he may have not been happy about it after the fact, it seems like that was what he wants the offense to go towards.

              7. I think he made those moves because he didn’t want to be found out short again if one of the top WRs went down injured for the year like what happened in 2013. It was obvious after 2013 they needed some more WRs.

              8. Maybe. Seems strange that he made a point of saying in the press conference the team will be running the ball if he was the one pushing for the team to pass more in 2014 though.

                Here’s a transcript of a question asked of Baalke following the introductory press conference of Tomsula:

                “-Q: You mentioned how much you want to run the ball. But last off-season you added receiving weapons. Why do that if you the focus of the organization is to run the ball?

                -BAALKE: I’m not going to speak for the past staff. I think their focus was to continue to run the football and look for combinations on the perimeter that at certain times would give us an advantage. I’m not going to get into all the schematics because, just like I won’t with this staff, I didn’t with the last staff. I’m not the X-and-O guy; I’m not the scheme guy. I’m not the coach.”

              9. Scooter, one of the few things Baalke is willing to go on the record about is his absolute contractual control of the roster.

                He just refused to answer the question about why he acquired receivers. All he had to say was that we want balance in the offense, and we needed more healthy receivers.

                His comments about 2014 are mostly directed at implying Harbaugh kept us out of the Superbowl four times. And his lack “class” in the way he handled “troubled” players acquired by Baalke.

                Their theory is that they overpaid for a coaching staff, and that’s something that they can correct easily. Will it defeat the Patriots, or Seahawks, Cardinals, or Rams of this world? We’ll know more as we move through November and into December. First we have to still be in the race for the playoffs by that time.

              10. It doesn’t matter whether I believe it or not Scooter. My main point is that Baalke could have acquired those WRs because he wanted the offense to pass more in 2014.

              11. htwaits, I think he did answer the question. It was about matchups.

                “Their theory is that they overpaid for a coaching staff, and that’s something that they can correct easily.”

                As Matt Maiocco said, “I don’t think move from Jim Harbaugh was about money. It had more to do with working relationship/compatibility with upstairs.”

              12. htwaits, that entire article is based on supposition. It sure makes for a great story.

                Maiocco is right on a lot of things. If he says it is more about the personality conflict, it isn’t just his idea – he’s got the best inside information of all the local media.

  67. Bill Walsh installed WCO, left and Seifert (defense) became HC and Holgrem was his OC, WCO was still the mainstay.

    Jim Harbaugh installed an offense and left, Tomsula (defense) becomes HC and the OC is – I think everyone needs to check their lint, htwaits did and found Chryst, I had to check my belly button lint and…..

    Lots of opportunity to hire OC and they have not. The search seems to be paralleling the Tomsula search.

    1. @undercenter

      Thanks for prying the lid off of that question….just what are we trying to do about the Offensive coordinator position ? If this is a dance, let’s change the tune and quit the guessing games…the quality ones are flying off the board. At this point, I really don’t care who, just get it done….’tired of feeling like a cheap hollywood gameshow. Do we even have a board? C’mon guys, it’s next season already….

  68. The Seahawks early in the game gave this game to the Packers, in the second half the better team with a lot heart came back and took the game back from the Packers. Watching this game at half time the 5 crucial turnovers by the Hawks gave the Packers great field position and gave them the half lead 16-0. If it weren’t for those miscues by R.Wilson and his receivers, and the balls that were getting tipped too the defenders and getting Intercepted this game would’a been a lot different from what we all are watched. It my opinion it would’a favor Seattle more than the Packers because if you looked at statistic the Hawks defense shut down the Packers offense from scoring a TD, they only allowed the packers 5 FG and 1 TD the whole game.

    1. What the Yorks want, and it follows that it’s what Baalke wants too.

      “Because the Yorks–and Baalke now agrees–don’t want this to be about coaching power or about coaches making a lot of money.

      The Yorks want it to be about winning Super Bowls, making gobs of money, and still simultaneously downplaying and downgrading the importance and financing of the coaching staff as much as possible.” … Tim Kawakami

      Cheap HD (third from the bottom), even cheaper coaching staff, and no star power.

      If you want Star Power coaches, watch the Superbowl.

        1. Looking forward to watching the SF Fiscal Niners in 2015! The gold miner mascot will be changed to a Wall Street Banker.

      1. If you read MM’s article regarding the Tomsula’s salary, he states:

        “Tomsula’s salary appears to come in where it would be expected. Tomsula, unlike most NFL coaches, did not have any coordinator experience on his NFL resume before receiving his promotion from defensive line coach. He did not interview for any other NFL head-coaching jobs after the season.”

        I wouldn’t yet call Jed cheap with regards to coaches’ salaries. Let’s see what the OC and DC will be paid.

        Now, if you want to argue that they purposefully hired Tomsula because they wanted a relatively cheap HC, that’s a different argument. But Tomsula’s salary is inline with his experience.

        1. You are correct but, yes, I do want to argue that this is about money. Eddie D knew you get what you pay for. Like the Morabitos, Jed seems to be missing that gene. From their inception in 1946 through 1981, the 49ers had four shots at a championship. The Lions beat them in a 1957 playoff game when the two were tied for the West Conference lead. In 1970-1972 the Cowboys eliminated them all three years. For us old timers the first championship came after 35 years of suffering through re-building years and some really bad players and teams. Yes. Eddie D changed it and created the winning tradition. But, with no offense intended to anyone, what makes you think that Jed is capable of carrying on that tradition. When the Giants won their second WS, Tim McCarver kept repeating: “This is the second Giants championship in two years”. I told my kids, yeah, it’s also the second championship in 50 years. I guess this is another of the downsides of being old. Mark Twain said: “History does not repeat itself, but it does sometimes rhyme”. You tell me, does York rhyme with DeBartolo or does it rhyme with Morabito?

        2. If you want to know what the 49ers intend to do then Matt Maiocco can be a good source. He knew Tomsula was it almost a year ago. If you want to know why the 49er front office does something, then Matt isn’t going to comment unless they want him to. He’s protecting his source.

          I don’t know of any time that Matt critiqued 49er front office practices beyond putting a work like class in quotes.

    1. Doug Marrone sure ‘fell down a well’, didn’t he? Disappeared completely. Taking his $4M south to hang with Jamaican49er I guess.

  69. From La Canfora:

    “I’d expect Vic Fangio and Ed Donatell to agree to join the Skins coaching staff by Tues AM. Would be very surprised if they did not”

      1. Fangio’s taking the job of leading one of the worst defenses in the league last season.
        I’m sure the Bears defense will be greatly improved, but it will be interesting to see what Fangio can do with a less talented roster than he’s had in SF the last few years. I wish him the best and I hope he does well. The 49ers made a huge mistake by firing Fangio.

        1. We’ll know a whole lot more about how good Fangio is now that he’s running a less talented D.

      2. The 49er defense was so injury diddled, by season’s end they had three starters. At many points in the season the injuries/absences got got absurd.
        – Aldon out for most of the season
        – Bowman out all year
        – Dorsey, Williams out all year
        – Starting CB out all year
        – Slot man out most of the year
        – McDonald playing under a cloud (it showed)
        – 5th best MLB’s starting
        – 5th, 5th best CBs starting

        To make it more fun, the 49ers offense couldn’t sustain 2nd half drives, so the defense was on the field longer.

        Yet, it was still one of the top 5-8 defenses.

        The 49ers defensive coaching staff was not just “good” this year. Fang and the boys did a historically good job.

        I wonder if Chicago fans know how lucky they are to get Fangio.

  70. Now that Florio and Kawakami have asserted that its all about the money savings between Harbaugh and Tomsula I can rest assured that it is not about the money.

    1. Get the data once the staff has been assembled and compare it to 2014. Don’t even bother adding in what an extension for Harbaugh would have cost. Then look at that data next November and December. Did we get a bargain or did we go cheap?

  71. One of my favorite quotes from an old article on Dr. York.

    It wasn’t long before fans, employees and some coaches and players worried York was more committed to the bottom line than to winning. A few even invoked the name of the Bengals, the NFL’s most notoriously cheap franchise.
    After a win at Indianapolis two years ago, three of Mariucci’s assistants were awarded game balls, and, sources say, those coaches subsequently were charged $82 each for the balls. The issue was cleared up once the business side was clued in — but the damage in perception was done. There was even a running joke for a while, with coaches yelling, “No! No!,” when Mariucci went to dole out game balls.

  72. Matt Maiocco
    Follow: ✔ @MaioccoCSN
    RT @LesBowen Tom Gamble says he’s doing well, has “a couple things” going, no details yet. > Got to believe he’s option to return to #49ers.

    1. Geoff Mosher ‘s Tweet: ✔ @GeoffMosherCSN
      Ran into Tom Gamble at local coffee shop. Didn’t wanna talk Eagles. Interesting: Had just wrapped up a long talk with 49ers GM Trent Baalke.

      1. 49ers have a history of highly visible meetings at local eateries with guys they want to sign.

        1. How would Gamble fit in with Baalke? Hasn’t his background always been in personnel? Wouldn’t that function intrude on Baalke’s turf?

          1. Gamble could assist Baalke with talent evaluations now that Trent is so busy with coaching and all.
            Heehee, couldn’t resist. ; -)
            Actually, didn’t they work together previously in SF? They may have a trusted rapport.

            1. “Gamble could assist Baalke with talent evaluations now that Trent is so busy with coaching and all.”
              Ouch!

          2. “Gamble spent his final two seasons with the 49ers working closely with Baalke as the team’s director of player personnel. From 2005 to February 2011, he was the director of pro personnel.”

  73. I’m so impatient. Is there a time frame on naming the Defensive and Offensive Coordinators? This is beyond ridiculous. I know they have to do their “due diligence” but GEEZ. Give us some coaches so we can see which players are going to be let go.

    1. What’s so very depressing about Dickey’s take that
      ” Baalke and York have dug themselves a very big hole. It could be years before the Niners are competitive again. Harbaugh will get the last laugh.” is that he’s only echoing the same thing the vast majority of sports writers and pundits are all saying.
      Basically this; the dark ages are returning again…

      1. It’s the Harbacolypse that was prophesied earlier in the year come to pass. Seven years of downward slope, seven bloodied hopes….

      2. Glenn Dickey has the advantage of knowing the 49er history, and much of it first hand. Tony Morabito always cut corners on defense. Eddie DeBartolo didn’t cut corners but he suffered from his sister’s wrath as a spend thrift. Jed answers to his mom. Family first.

  74. Harbaugh and/or members of his team were on the cover of Sports Illustrated several times between 2011-2013. Does anyone seriously think that Tomsula will ever grace the same cover?

      1. Just like your idea of the smash mouth spread the Niners are supposedly acquiring talent for!

      2. Razor, I’m very doubtful too. But, will hang on to a very faint glimmer of hope, and wait until about Oct 1st to decide. If Tomsula wins 3 of the his first 4 games I’ll be thrilled.

  75. I heard a new Hollywood movie is being filmed
    at Levis Stadium …

    it will be called ..

    “Dumb and Dumber 3” .. starring ..

    Trent Baalke and Jed York

  76. Mike Tanier on Niners free-agency priorities:
    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2333895-big-names-big-nfl-cap-hits-what-does-future-hold-for-contenders-key-players

    Interesting bit on Vernon and Tomsula relationship that I don’t think any local reporter pointed out. The latter are busy pontificating on the impending demise of the Niners.

    “Davis is close to new 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula; they are neighbors whose children play on the same flag football team, according to ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez. Tomsula doesn’t exactly wield Bill Parcells-level personnel power, but neither he nor Davis will agitate for a change. Davis’ contract expires at the end of this season, and the 49ers might opt to enjoy a “contract year” from a happy and motivated Davis, albeit at inflated prices.”

  77. Glen Dickey, who thought Walsh was stupid and complained about Montana’s wife having a baby during the season because it was a distraction is down on the Niners. I am shocked to hear it.
    Also, Memo to Mike McCarthy: Your coaches might not be getting calls for new jobs because of either losing big in the playoffs or being parties to one of the biggest team choke jobs in sports history.

    1. 49er42,

      I agree Glenn Dickey’s a first class Dbag. I was only pointing out the common among his ilk perception that exists regarding the Niners and Tomsula’s promotion to HC.

    2. Bill Walsh never did anything stupid?

      Among Glenn Dickey’s 14 published books:

      “Building a Champion, co-authored w/Bill Walsh, which shows how Walsh built the 49ers into five-time Super Bowl winners.”

      Note the co-author.

      Does he think the Yorks know what they are doing? No.

      “Glenn Dickey’s 49ers, the story of the rise and fall of the San Francisco 49ers.”

      Does he know the history of the 49ers? Yes.

      “The First 50 Years, The Story Of The San Francisco 49ers, 1946-1995.”

      1. htwaits:
        I am aware of that, but Dickey is hypercritical of the Niners and his books are pretty surface, they are not a deep analysis.
        I also recall his relationship with Walsh was rocky.

        1. I don’t know about a rocky relationship between Dickey and Walsh, but what difference does that make. Montana had a rocky relationship with Walsh and didn’t make up with him until late in Walsh’s life.

          Do you equate criticizing the 49ers with being hypercritical? Dickey has certainly criticized the 49ers for using Colin Kaepernick, and for the way they got rid of Harbaugh.

  78. From Maiocco:

    “While on my #49ers chat… @Ravens hired Marc Trestman and Jaguars hired Greg Olson (via @JasonLaCanfora) to offensive coordinator jobs.”

    Gase is still in play as is Chud.

    Interesting that the Ravens moved so fast (well fast compared to our beloved team).

    1. Maybe Baalke’s plan is to take what ever is left over. Of course he still needs to find someone happy to work with him.

    2. Well Maiocco has been pretty adamant, even on his chat today, that it will not be Gase. Apparently that bridge was burned sometime before the JT hire.

      I still like Chud. I think almost everywhere he’s gone the TE has played a big role (Cameron, Olsen, Winslow). He could be just what we need to get Vernon going.

      Now I’m hearing Mangini @ DC, which I don’t hate, maybe better than Tarver.

      I don’t recall, is Mangini a 3-4 or 4-3 guy???

      1. Mangini would be much better than Tarver. And I’m sure he’s a better DC than TE coach.

  79. According to Inman, five teams still searching for OCs (49ers, Bears, Browns, Jets and Rams).

  80. Maiocco response to questions on if Gase is OC candidate and if he prefers Chud over Kiffen:

    “From what I understand, there’s no chance of that happening. Apparently, it didn’t go down very well on that end. As far as your second question . . . Rob Chudzinski is the best option, and it’s not even close. But: 1) I don’t know the Colts will let him leave; and 2) I don’t know Chud would pick the 49ers over other options he might have.”

    1. Yea, I’ve never been convinced Chudzinski would want to work for the 49ers. I think they’re stuck with Chryst….

      1. “I think they’re stuck with Chryst….”

        The Bears requested permission to speak with him regarding their offensive coordinator opening.

        1. I saw that too….

          Please correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t he our Redzone coordinator. That should tell you all you need to know about Chryst.

          Jack was your thoughts on Chud?

              1. Maybe you can put in a good word for Baalke, but Detroit may still hold a grudge because of Harbaugh’s behavior in the past.

  81. Cubus
    So the Niners have the best team of those still looking for a OC, which should mean we have a chance of getting a good Coordinator.
    I do have to admit I would like at least one of the Coordinators to have head coach experience, so long as he is not named Kiffen.

  82. With all the quotes from MM’s live blog today, I thought the last one was revealing.

    Question: Do you think the 49ers will be able to attract high-quality assistant coaches given the events of the past few months?

    MM: I think it’ll be difficult to get coaches who have a lot of options.

    Does that sound like Nolan’s third year or Singletary’s whole tenure?

  83. Baalke should be on the phone to the Bears seeing what they’d give up for Mr. Brooks.

  84. Anyone else look forward to getting all the up to date news from this site???

    Not from Grant of course.

      1. Well I feel like an idiot…

        My condolences Grant. Sounded like a great woman. I’ll be praying for your family.

    1. That wouldn’t be a bad hire. His group in NY last year graded out close to what the 49ers posted.

      1. He’s neither a good nor bad hire. He’s got plenty of experience coaching STs, but the Jets weren’t exactly a good STs unit last year. I would grade it a “meh”.

        1. There was a bit of difference in the talent level on the Jets special teams compared to the 49ers, and he brings a Super Bowl and National Championship with him.

          1. Sure. Though the SB victory he was an assistant, not the STs coordinator. And LSU were pretty darn talented.

              1. Were LSU National Champions because of STs excellence? I’ve no idea how the LSU STs performed.

              2. That’s important. If you’re not great with great talent, when and where will you be great?

          2. Eric Branch pointed out that Seely has had 26 years of experience with ST whereas McGaughey only has one.

            On the flip side of the innuendo with that statement, it makes one wonder why anyone would spend 26 seasons as a ST coach.

            1. Seely is one of the most overrated coaches around in my opinion. He does well when the team is willing to have a bunch of guys on the roster that are STs specialists.

          1. Could be. In fact likely will be. Not many exceptional coaches available. Even a guy like Chudzinski is a bit “meh”, not exactly a dynamo of offensive coaching/ game planning, but solid and good enough to get the job done with the right mix of players. I can handle “meh”, with a talented roster a decent set of coaches can go a long way.

            So long as they don’t make “ruh roh” level hires (e.g., Kiffin) I’ll be ok with it.

              1. I’d be fine with Chudzinski, I think he suits the personnel well. Mike Shanahan would bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, and from all reports is eager to get back into coaching, so I’d be good with him too.

                Two names that I haven’t seen mentioned that could be a decent fit are Cam Cameron and Matt Cavanaugh.

    2. This reminds me of a funny story I heard long ago when Bill McCovey (that was how he was known before he was brought up to the bigs) was brought up from Phoenix to the Giants. One reporter told the story that his father called him up when he heard the news and said that he was excited that an Irishman was about to join the Giants. That said, the only thing that will excite me is if Thomas can return our special teams to what they were in the earlier years of Harbaugh’s tenure.

  85. Saw this on PFT:

    “SiriusXM’s Eddie Borsilli reports the “buzz” at the Senior Bowl is that Adam Gase “screwed up” getting the 49ers’ job in his final interview.
    Per Borsilli, Gase had the 49ers’ job “locked up before the final meeting.” It’s unclear what Gase did to lose out to Jim Tomsula. Gase was a candidate for the Ravens and Jaguars’ offensive coordinator vacancies, but was passed over in both towns. The 49ers, Rams, Jets, Browns and Bears are all still in search of play-callers, but Gase can probably be ruled out in San Francisco.”

      1. What do you think he might have said/done that would have become public to the other teams looking for an OC?

        1. No idea. But if this rumour is true, and given he is now struggling to find an OC job, it may be he has displayed something negative in interviews. Not just at the 49ers either.

        2. He probably refused to do the Nolan ball manipulation exercise that flunked Rogers. Does anyone know exactly what that exercise was?

        1. Not Jack, but if the Colts give permission to the 49ers to speak with Chudzinski, I think he’ll be the one.

  86. Speculation abounds….Chudzinski is my present favorite…could they still be entertaining the prospect of McDaniels…? I’d be O.K. with that also….

    1. Doubtful McDaniels would want to make a lateral move and that the Patriots would even allow him to interview. I hope the 49ers aren’t waiting around for that improbable scenario.

    2. He’s an aho. Pass.
      I wouldn’t let him or Kiffen in the building.
      You can imagine how pleased I’ll be if they hire the “Front Runner.”

  87. Vance Joseph would have been an interesting DC prospect but the 49ers were denied permission to interview him.

  88. New rumor circulating that it’s gonna be Tomsula’s OC from the Claymores. It’s taking so long because the guy’s in an assisted living facility and having trouble remembering his name in order to sign the contract.

    Seriously, the fact it’s taking so long is not a good sign.

  89. I had forgotten this line from JimT:

    “Tomsula indicated last week that compiling his ideal, “streamlined” staff wouldn’t be a quick process.”

    Inman put streamlined in quotes. That translates for me as orders from MOM to cut the coaching budget.

    George, by waiting until all other OC jobs are filled, the 49ers won’t have to compete with any other NFL on the price they pay for their coordinators. MOM is in favor of in-house hires.

    1. This is all so strange, h. I was dumbfounded when they went with Tomsula over Fangio. Then I became optimistic thinking these guys must know what their doing. Now we have a deafening silence and I don’t know what to think, maybe because I don’t want to think that what’s on the surface is all there is. Baalke’s in Mobile. Who’s minding the store?

        1. Someone here, I think, made the analogy between Tomsula and Tommy Boy. That’s kind of the way I perceive him when it comes to organizing a team at this level.

      1. “Who’s minding the store?”

        George: Now you’re making nervous. It doesn’t seem like Baalke would entrust Jim to select an OC and basically get the deal ready. If Baalke is in Mobile, then I’m starting to think that they don’t seem to have much urgency. So an inhouse hire or perhaps waiting for someone after the superbow? Or as somebody mentioned (maybe HT), they’ll just take who is left at the cheapest deal.

        Why did they keep Chryst anyway?

        1. *Now you’re making me nervous.* *superbowl*

          Sheesh. Maybe we can “pass the hat” and take up a collection to have PD implement an edit button.

        2. According to one or both of the Two Ms Chryst’s role is undefined except for the fact that he won’t be the quarterback coach.

            1. That may be something to worry about because it reminds me too much of John the father who is married to MOM.

      1. Rules? Rules are for chumps.
        “Never give a sucker an even break.”
        “you’ll never go broke underestimating the American public.”
        Quotes from PT Barnum. Not Donald Trump; he’s not nearly that smart.
        OK, for discussion:
        John Harbaugh got all p.o.’d at BB’s trick play. I thought it was like any other trick play like a Hook&Lateral or a Fumblerooskie; ‘Aw Sh**t!’
        But you don’t whine and complain about it; you got snookered!

    1. Since each team gets their own set of game balls, I don’t understand why the NFL feels the need to dictate the amount of air pressure in each ball. Do they also dictate the elevation and temperature of the room in which the balls are inflated, or how much natural leakage is allowed?

    1. Should be a great SB. Two teams that know how to cheat with the best of them. The Hawks for performance enhancing drugs and Belichick once again playing dirty scoundrel with deflating football. Screw winning with class, just win baby!

      1. The Seahawks are taking steroids, and the Patriots are deflating balls. No wonder the NFL broadcasts so many Cialis commercials.

        1. Jack: To continue with the fun. From Cam Inman:

          “Belichick: “I am not going to address the claims about the footballs last weekend. We’re focused on deflating a different Wilson this week.”

        2. Is there a “football Cialis”? Cause I’m gonna have a tough time getting up for 49ers games next season.

              1. “knee”-sorry Mary that wasn’t aimed at you particularly,just still P’d at that event.

        3. I love how those commercials always feature an older dude going MacGyver on some random task on a ranch as an analogy to going MacGyver on his old lady back at home. They are classic.

  90. Sean Payton was suspended for one year for the bounty gate scandal. With Belicheat having already been caught for the Spygate scandal before, if deflating the balls is indeed true, he should be suspended too.

    1. Dude-
      Competitive advantage? I agree to standardization, but perhaps that requires Institutional quality assurance……..?
      Pushing boundaries requires reactive adjustments; innovation achieves advantage, if only temporary. Remember Andy’s turbine at Indy? DNF, but served notice.

    2. It will mainly depend on what they find out Scooter. The league knows that the balls were deflated, but they don’t know how they came to be like that. Did the Patriots knowingly supply deflated balls? If so, then why did they pass inspection before the game? Did the ball attendant do something to them?

      1. Yes, thus why I said “if indeed true”.

        Quite possible they deflated the balls after they had been inspected and returned by the game officials.

        1. Yes. Someone should have added the pressure back. BTW I guess it was the Ravens who tipped the Colts off.

          Personally, I’m not so sure the weight difference in the outcome of a game.

          Talk radio in Boston is saying that Craft should fire Belichick. Let the drama begin.

  91. A few tweets indicating the Rams have been denied permission to interview Chudzinski. Would have to imagine it is unlikely they would deny the Rams but allow the 49ers to interview him.

      1. I wouldn’t worry about the “lack of urgency”. This wait has been because Chudzinski is their #1 candidate, and they had to wait to interview him. Now that it looks like they will be denied permission to interview him I expect a decision will be made some time soon.

          1. If the 49ers are indeed denied permission to interview Chudzinski, I think Mike Shanahan will be the OC.

      2. Shockingly the two that I mentioned as OC candidates a while back may well in fact be our new coordinators.

            1. I was hopin’ you were tired enough
              (given the same time zone) .. and
              you might have been sipping’ some coffee
              while you read that ..

              1. Can’t drink coffee because of my medical condition. And I was trying to think like Baalrk at the time.

              1. It’s actually not that bad of an idea. He’s a 3-4 guy that could also double as the secondary coach. That would be a plus given the youngsters that we have in the secondary.

              2. Good point on the secondary MidWest, I had forgotten he spent a lot of years working as a secondary coach. I’m not sure why he’s got a reputation as being a good defensive mind, his defenses have never been particularly good, but I’d prefer Mangini over Tarver.

              3. There’s a rumor that Paarag is working on an Excel spreadsheet program that will eliminate the need for any assistant coaches. Tomsula will have no-name assistants that can each have a designated MS Surface Tablet and Tomsula will communicate via texting to whatever coordinator/assistant tablet he needs to. The delay is so that he can finish up the programming. I hear there’s an argument about the encryption with one side believing it is not necessary because no other team would be interested in a program for the destruction of their team. But, just think how much money that will save! Jed is targeting the same Bay Area fans that each year invade Scottsdale for the Giants Spring Training. They spend enormous amounts of their funny money while driving up prices and making all the businesses really rich, simply because they can and even though they have very little interest in baseball. When the new system is implemented, the second generation will include an app so that fans can text plays and comments to the various coaches’ tablets. I am so looking forward to it. NOT!

  92. I’ll hafta take yer word for it MidWest ..

    I know he’s bounced around the league for
    quite awhile, and for the life of me ..
    I can’t put my finger on any of his past
    accomplishments .. that
    impressed me

    This whole soap opera Jed and Baalke are
    puttin’ us through .. with all the waitin’ and all ..
    just makes me think Golden Boy wants “frugal”
    (see cheap) ….

    and my late dad once taught me ..
    ” .. you can buy a cheap car (a beater) ..but
    you’ll end up paying lots more in the end …”

    In other words ..
    you get what you pay for …

    And that’s the polar opposite of his uncle’s
    philosophy !

    1. What makes York and co. even less credible is that without Harbaugh’ ability to change the losing culture of the franchise there’s a good chance that the new stadium would have been a much tougher sell.

      York got his stadium which will be a feather in his hat, but now they must live with a scaled down version of the 2010-2014 49ers because of cost factors.
      We’ll see by the mid-way point of the season what the York Plan has wrought.

  93. When I lived in the Bay Area .. I knew a guy
    who went to games with me …and
    I’d wear whichever jersey I happened to grab ..
    and he would always wear his red T-Shirt
    with the large gold letters proclaiming …

    “DUMP YORK” …

    I’m gonna see if I can find one of those ..
    if not …
    hey … a good way to make some bucks !!

    1. Sounds about right, the NFL is all about deflated balls and inflated ego’s. Two extremes that somehow rake in billions of dollars from corporate America and their growing fanbase.

        1. Mary do the Seahawks have a similar blog like this where fans can come in and talk Seahawk football? If so, can you provide link?

      1. funny, if Dan Quinn doesn’t get the Falcon’s job, maybe the Niners can hire him as Receivers coach.

        didn’t Nolan spend a season as a WR coach for the Raven because they wanted to stockpile him on their staff before he later became their DC?

        1. That’s not a joke AFFP. Sparano has spent most of his time as a line coach, so working with the TE’s isn’t a leap.

          1. Not that it matters much, but I’d be glad to have Sparano on staff. I’ll bet Trent will be relieved to have my support.
            Idle thought: steal Jeff Ulbricht away from UCLA as LBs coach.

          2. I just saw that the Niners are serious about Sparano as TEs coach. It says he has coached TEs but has coached TEs before; I didn’t know that.

            Actually, I joked about it earlier but it would be a strong hire as far as adding some much needed experience on Tomsula’s staff (and you already have an interim HC in waiting!). I think it also shows how much the organization is committed to the run as an offensive philosophy by employing a guy mostly known for his O-line work at position that both blocks and catches the ball.

    1. Maiocco’s report included this:

      “The Colts will not be able to block Chudzinski from another job after next week, when his contract is set to expire, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”

  94. A lot of OC spots being filled this morning.

    The trend seems to be the promotion of QB coaches to OC (Raiders, Browns, Jags).
    I wonder if that is due to the limited variety available, or the limited variety making themselves available to these teams???

    1. I think Jeep Chryst is a Niner’s candidate for some reason. They want their new OC to bring a better offense and get better production and development from Kaepernick so let’s consider hiring his former QB position coach!

      1. That’s been my contention, and it’s because none of their top choices want to work for Baalksula….

          1. What’s Seifert doing these days? He did voice some interest in the offensive side of the ball before he was terminated.

      2. I think I asked this a few days ago…

        Wasn’t Chryst the redzone coordinator during Harbaugh’s tenure?

        That can’t bode well.

        1. Chryst designed the plays. But I think it was Roman that incorporated and called them.

  95. Amid all the hubub over deflationgate, Brad Johnson admits he bribed some guys (?) to scuff up the footballs before the Chuckie SB. Advantage both QBs.
    IMO, the League is to blame. The NFL should supply and control the game balls to counter the natural competitive instinct to seek advantage. It has to be prevented for fairness and has to be caught & penalized on the field. Due diligence would require that the NFL’s people should verify it before kickoff to ensure their own folks got it right and didn’t get ‘touched’ somehow. ($7500).
    Baseball pitchers are always looking for an edge and will take any advantage that they can get away with. If they get caught they get ejected. Can you imagine if Brady had been tossed mid playoff game? Wooooo Baby!!!

  96. Donte Whitner: “Congrats to Vic Fangio on becoming the Chicago Bear D coordinator! Tremendous pick up for the Bears. Tremendous loss for the 49ers!”

    Ahmad Brooks: “Congrats Fangio. Definitely one of the best DC’s in the game. No question.”

  97. Gase to interview with the Bears for OC. If he’s hired by Chicago, what does that say about his opinion of Kaepernick and/OR 49er management.

    Wanting to take Cutler and a far less talented line Kaepernick would speak volumes.

  98. Yoo hoo, Grant, anybody there? It’s January 21st and I haven’t seen any work product from you since the 17th. Are you still drawing a paycheck? You still drawing breath, bro?

  99. It’s really embarrasing how we’ve looked as a franchise over the last year and going forward. Our front office and ownership appear to be a rudderless ship. We don’t have a clue what they are doing and neither do they. WTF!!!!

    1. This has been a nightmare like re-run of Singletary’s offensive coordinator search. Big names thrown around, only to see them reject the 49ers outright or not available.

      What would scare OC candidates away?
      – 49er management’s insistence on slow paced grind out conservative offense. Scared off candidates in 2009. Might be doing the same thing now.

      – An offense can be no more sophisticated then the quarterback’s ability to run it. The scheme was “simplified” for Colin this season. Did not yield results.

      – 49er management hasn’t shown loyalty to assistant coaches that have done a great job. This has to turn off alot of candidates.

      – 49er management interviewed HC coaching candidates far and wide, all the while intending to hire internally. Coaches thought they were interviewing for their dream job, but in the end were only participating in a dog and pony show. Many candidates have to feel jerked around.

        1. Which offensive coordinator candidates do we know for sure that they have spoken to?

          Chudzinski is the only known block among the OC candidates, but it’s not only the 49ers who have been blocked.

          Same thing with DC candidates. The only known block has come from Cincinnati with Vance Joseph, and that just became public knowledge last night in a roundabout way.

          1. Tons of HC interviews. Very few (if any) OC interviews as of yet.

            Gase and M. Shanahan were interviewed for HC. Not sure Gase would be interested in the 49ers OC job.

            So like in 2009, we hear lots of names… but nothing about interviews or even candidates showing interest in the job.

            Singletary expected candidates to come begging for the plum job of being his OC. Never happened.

            Worse case scenario: Its a 2009 re-run and the 49ers settle for someone.

            Best case scenario: Its similar to free agency, where we panic early on hearing about all the great 49ers lost to FA, and all the sexy candidates choosing other clubs. Then patient, methodical Baalke scoops up bargains like Bethea once the dust settles.

              1. I think everyone freaked out on Thanksgiving Day, followed immediately by anger. Their illustrious historic franchise is now being ran back into the NFL basement by a couple of inglorious bastards….

              2. People freaked out on Thanksgiving for very good reasons. The QB threw the ball to the other team mindlessly! Then that trend continued throughout the year.

              3. Yeah, I think we can forget that Jack. Apparently it is more fun panicking and buying into the idea the 49ers are doomed.

                I find it amazing that people are up in arms that we haven’t hired an OC yet, when the team only just found out it has been denied permission to interview Chudzinski, who was clearly very high on their list of candidates.

              4. No panic, just skepticism. My arms are not up, but don’t shoot.(teehee)The writing on the wall says the 2015 staff will not be nearly as good as the 2014. Good news is it will be classier. Bad news is that doesn’t translate to victories….

  100. MM tweeted Chudzinski’s contract with the Colts is up in a week. But it seems to me it’s reasonable to assume they are working on an extension of some kind.

    1. Its interesting that they are denying permission to interview. Very likely they are trying hard to re-sign him, but why block interviews? Could mean one of two things:

      – They are worried about getting into a bidding war so are trying hard to get this done before he can talk to other teams.
      – Chudzinski has already told them he wants to stay so asked them to deny permission.

      I mentioned yesterday the OC hire would likely happen fast after the 49ers were either granted or denied permission to interview Chudzinski. I take that back – I wouldn’t be surprised if this plays out until Chudzinski is off contract next week or until Chudzinski officially re-signs with the Colts.

  101. We are a clueless organization. We are the new Raiders and it only took 18 months to go from sugar to sh-t!

  102. You interview Gase for 8 hours and don’t hire him???? Why?? Because you don’t want to pay him??

      1. For you Bar None:

        James • 2 days ago
        I’m a Bear fan and I’m hurting from this loss – how insane is THAT?

        James: Jason • 2 days ago
        Maybe yesterday you were less of a Bears fan and more of a football fan. That game was a beauty if you like defensive football as both defenses were suffocating.

  103. The Browns have their sixth offensive coordinator in six years.
    Cleveland has hired Oakland Raiders quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo to run its offense.

    Is this new?

  104. I doubt if any quality candidate will take a job here unless it is even slimmer pickens elsewhere.

    The ’15 season results may be pretty good — say 9-7, 10-6 because of the leftover talent. On the other hand, don’t be surprised if Baalke doesn’t gut the team in trades for draft picks. Sooner or later it will be free fall…

    1. Ghost ..
      I fear it’ll be sooner ..
      rather than later …

      I have zero confidence in the so-called
      “leadership” of this team …

      DUMP YORK !

  105. Air Pressure:

    The link about USC reducing the air pressure in two balls that got into the Oregon game referred to the practice in terms like despicable. They likened it to the advantage gained by manipulating a baseball.

    “For me, that all points to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and if Belichick is connected to manipulating the footballs last Sunday, he probably shouldn’t get a bust in Canton.” … Tim Kawakami

    There is no parallel with baseballs. Each team controls the footballs their quarterback will be using during a game — either college or pro. Why can’t the ball be inflated to match the preference of the quarterback?

    I don’t get the reasoning behind the rules. Any explanations?

    1. “..I don’t get the reasoning behind the rules.
      Any explanations? ..”

      Goodell ! … any more questions ?

    2. Yes, Radio Boston is saying Coach B will be kept out of the HOF. Also Brady is coming into question. Someone had to give the order to the ball boy to deflate the ball. The rules say the penalty is a fine, or more. All balls are roughed up b/c they are slippery when they come out of the box. Aaron Rodgers said on Milwaukee radio he likes his balls inflated. Rodgers said he thinks in the rules they should have a minimum weight as well as a max. The game will go forward. Belichick will speak tomorrow @ 9:30.

      1. Oh oh, my avatar is different. my specs are missing and my mouse is different. Claudia is behind this.

        1. Mary ..

          Why not go and see if it’s the same
          on the SeaChicken blogs ..??

          (and stay there, while yer at it, too)

  106. Sending my deepest condolences for you and for your family, Grant.
    .
    Please also send my best to your Dad as I can no longer access his blog.
    .
    Take care.
    .
    .
    .
    ~ALOHA~
    .
    KR

    1. Uh-Oh… what did you do Robert? And did you know John Chamberlin when he lived on Kauai, like maybe 15 years ago?

      1. Don’t know him…but I think I recall an attorney by that name a long time ago.
        .
        I wasn’t kicked off of LC’s blog, I just can’t access it from work, and work time is when I visit the blogosphere.
        (Shhhhhhhhh…)
        .
        I posted there for a few years up until early last year.
        .
        Guys may disagree with LC’s opinions at times, but that man is a helluva writer.
        .
        .
        .
        ~ALOHA~

  107. Round 1 Pick 15: La’el Collins, OT, LSU (A)
    Round 2 Pick 14: Arik Armstead, DE, Oregon (A)
    Round 3 Pick 15: Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska (A)
    Round 4 Pick 27: Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State (B-)
    Round 5 Pick 15: Roberto Augayo, K, Florida State (A)
    Round 6 Pick 14: Cody Fajardo, QB, Nevada (B)
    Round 7 Pick 29: Devante Davis, WR, UNLV (B)

  108. While we try not to die of boredom waiting for the Niners to hire an OC, here is a little comic relief related to Rob Chudzinski.(Nickname Chud).

    The other day I happened to mention Chudzinski’s nickname to an Indian coworker of mine. The man burst into laughter as he explained to me that Chud in Hindi is a slang word for Vagina.

    Now I don’t speak Hindi so I don’t know if the dude was pulling my leg or not, but if true it reminds me of the classic Seinfeld scene where Jerry and George are trying to remember a woman’s name with the only clue being that it rhymes with a female body part. I remember their first guess was Mulva…

      1. OK, Razor and Jack, explain the inflation rule in football when each team has their own supply of footballs.

        1. So Tom Brady likes handling soft balls. Big deal. If players on the team that lost the game don’t care about it why should anyone else?

          1. Some like ’em hard, some like ’em soft. Me? I like ’em crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle….

          2. So it’s a conspiracy Jack?
            You should say…
            “Since the NfL cheats to get ratings, why should
            They care if NE cheated to win”
            But hey. In your world it’s a clean multi billion dollar business. Gthoh

  109. Watching Senior Bowl practice feels pretty nerdy, but Oh Well. My boy Nate Orchard uses his hands well. The DT from Washington looks terrific.

      1. They’re going to hire Jimmy Raye as the DC. The man really knows how to f-u an offense.

      2. It always cracks me up when teams invent silly titles like Assisant Head Coach or Senior Defensive Assistant. Is this supposed to make Tarver feel more important than Tomsula did when he was the D line coach?

        1. I think it is also often used to justify why some position coaches get paid more than others. To be fair, I’m sure his role on the team will extend beyond simply coaching the LBs.

      3. Funny how they had to add “Senior Defensive Assistant” to his title of LB’s coach….

    1. I like it. A good fit. Qualified. He knows the 49ers 3-4 (4-3 Under), but ran 4-3 in Oakland.

      1. I’d like to see Aldon and Lynch’s hand in the dirt more often, no matter what the base defense is. Any thoughts on that?

        1. I’ve discussed this with a few people already. In the base D having Aldon and Lynch as the two DEs (I assume this would mean a 4-3 alignment) means you have a guy that isn’t well suited to stopping the run playing the strongside DE spot.

          1. Scooter
            I thought Lynch showed steady improvement vs run from SOLB spot in 2014. Did you?
            That said, 4-3 strong DE do need to be stout in base.

            1. Big difference between playing SOLB in a 3-4 (effectively the Sam LB role in a 4-3) and strongside DE in a 4-3

        2. Not advocating converting Aldon or Lynch to DE on base downs (though I think Lynch could grow into a 4-3 DE, not a 3-4 DE). They are sterling OLBs.

          But on obvious passing downs, I think occasionally rushing Aldon/Lynch from a 3-point stance would provide dividends. Alternate them… one stands, the other 3-points.

      2. From memory, wasn’t the 3-4 system that Nolan/ Manusky employed a bit different to the 3-4/ 4-3 hybrid system Fangio used?

        1. I never knew how much it was Manusky and how much Nolan, then Singletary.
          My memory is they used different coverage schemes and wanted more speed and agility (and pass rush) from their OLBs, while Fangio liked beefier guys on the edge. The earlier era seemed to have trouble setting the edge or get a rush.

          1. My recollection is under Nolan and Manusky they played more of a traditional 3-4, with the NT playing 0-tech and both DEs playing more of a 5-tech role. But I’m not 100% certain on that.

            1. I think that’s right. It seems like they had the corners playing off much more often.

            2. That’s my recollection. Fangio shades the NT over to cover just one gap. Dorsey thrived in that role.

              1. Yeah. So I’m not sure Tarver would be familiar with the 3-4 system the 49ers have been using. He was never here during the Fangio era.

              2. Scoot
                Isn’t it just a tweak on the evolution of the 3-4?
                Parcels version
                Fangio @ Saints version
                Greg Robinson @ Saints
                Ravens version
                Fangio @SF version
                All about cohesion with different emphases.

              3. Sure. They are all related. I didn’t mean to suggest Tarver would have no idea how it works.

                But as far as I’m aware he’s never coached the 3-4 system the 49ers have been using.

              4. Does anyone run Shumer’s Eagle 5-LB defense anymore?
                .
                What would it be like to get Willis, Bowman, Smith, Lynch, AND Borland on the field at the same time?
                .
                Just daydreaming…
                .
                .
                .
                *ALOHA*

  110. The past few weeks have really crystalised something for me. 49er fans have actually earned the moniker the 40 whiners. I can’t recall ever seeing so much b&%$#ing and moaning about the team.

    While I know some of it is well earned, some of it is purely driven by the new belief the front office can’t do anything right.

    – Tomsula has already been crucified, all because he had the gall to be named HC after the Messiah and didn’t attend finishing school.
    – The 49ers HC search was a farce because they hired the guy everyone knew they liked heading into the search after having the gall to actually interview some other people.
    – They are going to hire a rubbish and cheap as chips coaching staff, because that is what they do (yet so far all of the assistant coaches they have hired are actually pretty well respected, and they have also brought back Bill Nayes who is a long time administrative assistant).
    – They haven’t immediately hired an OC or DC despite only learning today they have been denied permission to interview candidates for both roles.

    1. I respectfully disagree.
      .
      Any fan base would be upset after the firing of such a top notch coaching staff.
      .
      After all, the record of success spoke for itself.
      .
      And I would argue that the coach that most likely would’ve had the toughest time catching on with another staff was the one they ultimately chose to lead this team.
      .
      All others got snatched up immediately, which was a suprise to noone.
      .
      As a devoted fan, those types of decisions don’t sit well with me.
      .
      I don’t see it as whining…I call it giving a sh*t.
      .
      .
      .
      *ALOHA*

      1. “I would argue that the coach that most likely would’ve had the toughest time catching on with another staff was the one they ultimately chose to lead this team.”

        John Morton is the new head coach?

          1. Try keeping up Yoda. Robert said the coach that would’ve had the toughest time catching on with another staff, nothing about head coach.

            Would another team have hired Tommy as their HC? Probably not, but that has nothing to do with what the results will be come September.

            Back when the 49ers hired Mike Nolan it was lauded around the league as a terrific hire.

            1. 49ers didn’t hire a big name with the NFL Network and other media tick of approval. We’re doomed.

              1. I don’t know about Robert, but I was referring to KauaiRober’s post which seems to be to be about Jim Tomsula.

      2. I have no problems with people being sceptical with what is happening or disappointed a coach they like is gone. Or in the manner it went down.

        But its one thing to voice concern over the direction of the team, another to completely write the team off and everything they do as rubbish. To believe every little negative rumour is gospel truth.

        These are the same people that hired Harbaugh in the first place.

        1. “These are the same people that hired Harbaugh in the first place”.

          What does that tell you? They knew full well what they were getting when they hired him….

            1. Yep, they got their stadium built and decided they didn’t need to tolerate Harbaugh anymore. So they undermined him through leaks to the media and used Tomsula as leverage….

              1. … and kept him around for an extra year in a pitiful attempt to justify the move they should have made back in February.

                There is a good chance that Jim Tomsula will be a better coach than some the 49ers have hired.

                From what I’ve observed, most coaches that aim at being a head coach put a plan in place and refine it as they gain experience. My impression is that, even with months of knowing what might happen, Jim waited until after his first press conference to get down to work on that plan.

                One item that stands out is “How will I handle being the face of a franchise that’s just fired it’s winning coach?”

              2. “From what I’ve observed, most coaches that aim at being a head coach put a plan in place and refine it as they gain experience.”

                Sure, its one thing to have a general plan in place, but most won’t come replete with a staff ready to go, or actively work the plan until they actually become a HC.

                Also, seems strange that someone that apparently (according to some) knew he was going to be the HC in 2015 since the beginning of 2014 wouldn’t have the details ironed out, wouldn’t you say?

              3. I find it comical that you refuse to connect the dots Scooter. It’s no coincidence that M&M reported Tomsula was the ownerships chosen replacement in January 2014, and it’s no coincidence he is now the 49ers head coach….

              4. As I’ve said previously razor, I’m sure Maiocco had good information that the FO liked Tomsula as a potential candidate for a long time, and Tomsula had an idea he’d likely be a strong candidate for the job. I highly doubt he was flat out told he would have the job a year ago though, or that he worked behind the scenes to oust Harbaugh.

              5. If you take the totality of events leading up to the present situation, it makes for a compelling case of ineptitude. I don’t think it’s inconceivable Tomsula was told the job was his at some point during the 2014 season, although I do not have any evidence to suggest it other than the leaks. Scooter, why do you think Baalke leaked the information on Tomsula to M&M when he did? As far as working behind the scenes to oust Harbaugh. I have no evidence he did just as you have none that he didn’t, but I will say this. Tomsula admitted to imagining himself in the role of head coach of the San Francisco Forty Niners. He said the situation made him feel uncomfortable. He attributed the 2011 success to anything but Harbaugh, which suggests maybe a little disrespect similar to York/Baalkes’ train of thought….

              6. “Scooter, why do you think Baalke leaked the information on Tomsula to M&M when he did?”

                I don’t think he did. I don’t think Baalke is the one leaking stuff to the media.

                “Tomsula admitted to imagining himself in the role of head coach of the San Francisco Forty Niners.”

                When? I know he said he felt uncomfortable with the talk he could be the next 49ers HC, but I don’t recall him saying he imagined himself taking over the job.

                “He attributed the 2011 success to anything but Harbaugh, which suggests maybe a little disrespect similar to York/Baalkes’ train of thought.”

                Also a great way to boost yourself in the eyes of your new charges to say their success was due to themselves, their own efforts, and the team spirit they built.

              7. Scooter, who do you believe was the one that wanted M&M to know Tomsula was the guy and thereby leaked the information to him? Why did they want him to have that information? I don’t remember M&M ever disclosing the identity of the individual who gave him that information….

              8. If I had to hazard a guess, Maiocco’s source would be a little lower down the pecking order than York or Baalke. Not sure who.

                Though it wouldn’t surprise me if Baalke’s boss is the one that instigated the leaks by talking out of school. Jed strikes me as someone that doesn’t mind talking.

              9. What do you surmise was the intent of the collective leaks? I hope someone asks Matt who his source was back then, although I doubt he would divulge that information….

              10. Maiocco has way too much integrity to ever divulge that info, so unfortunately for us it will only ever be speculation.

                The intent of the leaks is unclear. Many leaks are a result of jaded staff or staff that feel under appreciated, or staff that want to feel like they are important. Or it is possible the leaks were intentionally designed to undermine Harbaugh.

                But there have been leaks about Harbaugh and Baalke not seeing eye to eye for a long time. I don’t see how Baalke would have benefited from those leaks at the time, in fact they would have been detrimental, so I don’t think he is the one driving the leaks.

              11. Could be. Or it could be a disgruntled employee. Or someone that wants to feel important. No way to confirm at this stage.

              12. Not sold a low level employee would have access to the owners intentions without it being intentional….

              13. Doubt it is a low level person, just someone below York and Baalke. Like I said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some out of school talk that goes on.

              14. Obviously with the evidence from Cassie Baalkes’ tweet, loose lips sink ships is applicable here. The only humor to be found was at the time the offense was ranked one slot higher than the previous year….

        2. This thread is interesting because some fans seem to vacillating between a conspiracy theory and one of utter ineptitude of the front office.

          It reminded me of a Slate article I’d read more than an year ago:
          http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/11/conspiracy_theory_psychology_people_who_claim_to_know_the_truth_about_jfk.html

          It talks about the lack of trust and the fundamental attribution error. I think both are at play here.

          We fans outside the organization have very little information to base our decisions. We depend on beat reporters and talking heads and leaks as sources our information.

          Niners hired two bad coaches in the past with Jed and Paraag playing an active role. Then Baalke hired Harbaugh, a very successful coach. They could not agree on the terms of an extended contract and so Harbaugh was forced out an year early. The promoted a coach from within and are getting around slowly to hiring the rest of the staff. The power structure is well-defined with the GM playing a significant role in searching for replacement coaching staff.

          Based on this sketchy information, it’s difficult to see what clear lines fans are drawing and jumping to major conclusions.

          1. Mood,

            “This thread is interesting because some fans seem to vacillating between a conspiracy theory and one of utter ineptitude of the front office.”

            Ineptitude can trigger the need for conspiracy. But my biggest gripe with Jed is that he didn’t replace Harbaugh last February, take the heat, and avoid the inept conspiracy.

            “They could not agree on the terms of an extended contract and so Harbaugh was forced out an year early.”

            That’s where we differ. They were a year late because they felt that they had to lay some public relations foundation for what they wanted to do financially — increase profits.

      3. Aloha Robert
        Whether one agrees or not, yours was an elegant response.
        I think there’s a little ball of fear in a lot of bellies of a back-slide to the dismal years. Apprehension drives angst.
        The Harbaugh Road ahead is washed out. We’ll be finding a different route.
        Now JT starts to build something, with a solid framework already in place. The trouble is that we “Instant Gratification” fans don’t want to build, we want to buy and win now and live happily ever after.
        We can’t fire Jed; ‘kay?

        1. I never even hinted that anyone could or would fire Jed.
          .
          I don’t deal in silliness.
          .
          I just don’t agree with the “forty-whiners” label.
          .
          Are upset fans of other teams considered whiners too or do we just get that moniker because it happens to rhyme?
          .
          I mean, it’s not as if we’re complaining that a crappy, subpar, losing, coaching staff was let go and we’re upset because we think they’re really great guys who got the shaft.
          .
          Winning matters to fans and winning is what Harbaugh et al did over the last four years.
          .
          And maybe we’ll be even better next year…who knows?
          .
          Anyone here truly believing that at the present time???
          .
          Maybe that can be Iggy’s next pole….
          .
          .
          .
          *ALOHA*

    2. John York fired a winning coach with no plan in place.

      Jed York fired a winning coach with no plan in place other than knowing for almost a year that it would be Jim Tomsula.

      I haven’t forked over a penny for a seat license at $2,000 – $30,000 or $80,000, but I have seen an ownership that spent almost a year undermining their “winning” coach.

      “While I know some of it is well earned …”

      Jed want’s to be held accountable, or so he says. How would you suggest holding him accountable? Would public discontent with his operation be a possibility?

      1. No public discontent doesn’t matter. I lived in Florence, KY for 3 years. Right across the bridge from Cincinnati. Mike Brown raised ticket prices, food, and beverage prices while the Bengals were losing. Fans stopped going to the games and the Bengals could not sell out a game. Every weekend Chad Johnson would partner with Kroger or Cricket to buy the remaining tickets to give to underprivileged kids so they could go to the game. Also so it woul be on tv. Mike Brown has the most lopsided contract with the county. They pay him for empty seats. All that man cares about was the bottom line. He could care less about people showing up or being discontent.

          1. An Owner Oversight Committee should be formed by Congress to hold all owners accountable. If they are found to not be committed to winning, they would be stripped of their ownership….

        1. Hey KY,

          I used to have to travel to Ohio on business, and I think I remember driving through Florence a few times. The plant I worked at was right outside of Cinci, in a little place called Batavia. Heard of it???

    3. Understandable position Scooter and there certainly is a great deal of extrapolation and conjecture based on a rather charged emotional situation.However a quick glance at other fan sites would dispel the notion that we unique in this regard

      1. I’m an optimistic person but I’m also a student of history. History tells me the odds of this working out well is slim to none, and none just left the building….

          1. As in Network back in 1976, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

        1. I’m with you Scoot….

          I’m still waiting for this to play out. The staff is slowly taking shape and I like some of the names I’m hearing. I liked Tarver, but wasn’t so sure I liked him at DC. I’m hoping Sparano is brought on as well. I’m still impatiently waiting for OC hire though.

  111. Reading some of our 49ers faithful’s comments who will win the SB it make’s me shake my head. If Brady and Pats had a hard time beating the 49ers defense, how can he beat the Seattle’s defense as well. The 49ers and Seahawks defense are a mirror of each other.Defense wins championships in the past and the Seahawks are a much better defensive team the 7 games they played. They might not have a great Qb like Brady, but they have a Qb name Wilson who has a lot of heart and he wins a lot of football games and Championship. Don’t count Russell Wilson out he can beat you a lot of different ways he just have the gift and the talent to win championship football games.

    1. Two reasons
      1 this year they have a running game.
      2 they have gronk.
      One weakness in that Seattle defense is the middle and with right ends.
      You have two starters for Seattle with injuries. Try hitting someone with a seperated shoulder even two weeks after.
      Unless Dick Sherman mastered holding with one arm they might have a shot. This Seattle defense isn’t much better than SF’ last year. In fact I wouldn’t say they are better.
      And remember. NE woke up and made it a game.
      New England wins this game. They don’t play conservative they have a better defense than GB and te same offense. Seattle is done!

      1. Chancellor won’t intimidate Gronk down the seam like VD and if you think Dom had a good scheme against Seattle, wait until you see BB’s….

        1. Chancellor is playing the best ball of his very accomplished career. But Gronk is Gronk; neither intimidated, both will make plays.

      2. yes, you’re right I agree with you the Pats has a better defense than the Packers. But you’d got to go back and looked at the way the Seattle team destroyed both Arizona and the Carolina Panthers great defense. Which the Patriot and Packers are no where near both of this great defense the hawks beat decisively. Like i said earlier there’s no way that the Seattle offense will play another 3 horrible quarters and give up 5 turnovers that resulted with 16-0 lead by packers.

        The reason I believe Seattle will win the Super Bowl:

        1) Because Wilson will not throw 4 interception in the SB

        2) Seattle offense will be more sharper and they’ll put up more points on the score board early in the game.

        3) Seattle defense will hold off Brady and the Patriots offense. And Seattle offense will keep the Pats defense on the field and frustrate them all day long.

        4) Seattle will dominate this game defensively and the hawks offense will have a lot success against the Patriots defense.

        5) Knowing Pete Carroll and his coaching staff they’ll get their players ready and in the past they had a lot success in doing so. .

  112. Jaguars tap Greg Olson as new OC. Gase was considered a hot prospect for that position. I think now he’s being linked to the Bears.

      1. I just don’t know. Maybe they’re going to make a push for Chud and Chryst will be a fall back position. Mood Indigo indicated yesterday that Gase is still a possibility, but I haven’t been able to find anything except one tweet posted by someone at Niners Nation in the comments.

        There just doesn’t seem to be much movement on either OC or DC.

          1. If true, the Bears did well picking up Gase and Fangio/Donatell.

            It’s looking more like we will get leftovers since Chud will most likely be out of play. Not feeling positive about the OC position.

            To me it doesn’t seem likely that Shanahan will mesh well as a coordinator. He’ll be strongly opinionated and eventually will have issues with the Baalke/Tomsula.

            1. Yeah, Bears have put together a good staff.

              Chudzinski is still in play until he signs an extension with the Colts.

              1. Can’t see why he wouldn’t want to stay with the Colts. Why come to the 49ers – there’s no advantage that I can see, unless York/Baalke offer significantly more money, which is highly unlikely.

                Assuming Chud is out, besides Shanahan, who else is being pursued for an OC position by any NFL team.

                The entire search for OC and DC seems so uninspired.

              2. The Bears have the type of staff that the 49ers once had. This is shaping up to be like the day after Thanksgiving. Leftovers….

              3. The advantage would be that he’d be the OC at the 49ers. He’d be running the offense. Something he isn’t doing at the Colts.

              4. Yeah, I’d forgotten that he’s not currently the OC of the Colts. Well a glimmer of hope I guess, but this could be another Gase head fake. I’m starting to feel myself going dark here, but I’ll try to keep positive until the announcements are actually made.

  113. In reference to Scooters concern …
    I haven’t written the whole team off … Heck …

    I’ll continue to wear my jerseys proudly .. even if
    the Niners peer upwards from the bottom of the NFCW
    or even from the entire NFL … No … The Niners are ..
    and always will be … my favorite team !!

    But… having said that … there is a dark feeling
    in the pit of my stomach .. that says .. Jed is taking his
    marching orders …
    from his Dad … (and not his uncle) …

    And … we all know how “well” .. his Dad’s decisions ..
    affected the team

    1. MOM > Dad > Jed

      Sister was very mad at Brother for being a spendthrift before the takeover by Sister.

  114. [This got buried in the mess above}
    .
    .
    Does anyone run Shumer’s Eagle 5-LB defense anymore?
    .
    What would it be like to get Willis, Bowman, Smith, Lynch, AND Borland on the field at the same time?
    ..
    .
    .
    *ALOHA*

  115. I wasn’t paying attention at the time, but does anyone know when the new stadium idea was pitched and approved? Was it prior to Harbaugh, overlapping, or entirely during Harbaugh’s tenure?

    1. Before, but there was no reality to the pitch until Jed got financial backing which came after Harbaugh.

    2. From Wikipedia
      “In 2006, the 49ers initially proposed constructing a new stadium at Candlestick Point in San Francisco, the site of their now-former home, Candlestick Park. The project, which included plans for retail space and housing improvements, was considered to have been of great potential benefit to the nearby historically blighted neighborhood of Hunters Point. After negotiations with the city of San Francisco fell through, the 49ers focused their attention on a site adjacent to their administrative offices and training facility in Santa Clara, a South Bay city adjacent to San Jose..
      In June 2010, Santa Clara voters approved a measure authorizing the city government to lease land to the 49ers Stadium Authority to construct a new football stadium. The necessary funds were secured in December 2011, allowing construction to start in April 2012.”

      The groundwork for the new stadium was done well before Harbaugh arrived. The victories in 2011 may have helped in raising funds. I recall Jed York putting a lot of effort in neighborhood meeting of concerned Santa Clara residents in their homes trying to appease them.

      1. Yeah … yer right, mood .. but ..

        I gotta feeling that Levis Stadium will live on
        in the hearts of The Faithful as …

        “The house that Harbaugh built”

  116. Again I’ll mention: no high profile or sought after coach who feels he has a CHOICE is going to work for the 49ers. It is now one of the LEAST attractive teams to go to in the entire NFL. Work for Baalke if you can go to another team? Ha ha ha ha. Chud will only come to the 49ers if he thinks is a better path to a HC job than the Colts. Which I highly doubt it is.

Comments are closed.