49ers 22, Chiefs 17: Grades

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers eked out a 22-17 win over the Chiefs Sunday afternoon. But the 49ers should have lost. The Chiefs gave away the game. With four minutes and 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter Kansas City committed one of the stupidest penalties you ever will see: Fourth-and-2 at the Chiefs’ 36-yard line. Phil Dawson was on the field to attempt a 54-yard field goal and, if…

October 5, 2014
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49ers 26, Eagles 21: Grades

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers beat the Eagles 26-21 Sunday afternoon. Here are the 49ers’ grades. KAEPERNICK: B-. Made both of the 49ers’ touchdowns happen. On the first one he scrambled left, drew the Eagles’ entire defense and threw back to the right, across the whole field to Frank Gore who was wide open. One of the most thrilling plays you’ll see. Next, Kaepernick scrambled to the left and threw…

September 28, 2014
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49ers 14, Cardinals 23: Grades

GLENDALE, AZ. – The 49ers lost 23-14 to the Cardinals. Here are the 49ers’ grades. KAEPERNICK: A. Gained 290 of the 49ers’ 318 total yards. Ran 13 times for 54 yards and completed 78.4 percent of his passes. Passer rating was 103.3. The entire offense was Kaepernick. Hard to win in the NFL with a one-player offense. RUNNING BACKS: D. Frank Gore carried the ball 6 times and gained 10…

September 21, 2014
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Top-four questions the 49ers face against the Bears

We all know the 49ers will beat the Bears this Sunday Night. I’m saying the final score will be 24-13. The game will not be close. That said, these are the four questions that interest me most about this game: 1. Who will lead the 49ers in rushing, Frank Gore or Carlos Hyde? The Bears gave up 7.3 yards per carry on 21 read-option runs against the Bills last week….

September 13, 2014
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Will Frank Gore or Carlos Hyde lead the 49ers in rushing against the Bears?

I tallied up the Bills’ rushing numbers against the Bears Week 1. The Bills gained 22 rushing yards on 7 direct handoffs — 3.1 yards per carry. The Bills gained 154 rushing yards on 21 read-option plays — 7.3 yards per carry. With that in mind, who do you think will lead the 49ers rushing Sunday Night against the Bears — Frank Gore or Carlos Hyde — and why?

September 12, 2014
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Greg Roman says LaMichael James is a really good football player

SANTA CLARA — Greg Roman was interviewed in the 49ers’ auditorium Thursday afternoon. Here’s a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “It was great to start off the season with a win. We moved onto a Chicago Bears team on Monday that has a very experienced defense. Starting with their front four, they’ve got one of the best pass rushers over the last decade in [Chicago Bears DE] Jared…

September 11, 2014
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Charting carries for Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde: Week 1

I tallied up these Week 1 stats: FRANK GORE Shotgun/Pistol read-option handoffs: 3 carries, 9 yards (3 yards per carry). Under center direct handoffs: 13 carries, 57 yards (4.39 yards per carry). Weakside direct handoffs to the offense’s left: 3 carries, 3 yards. Weakside direct handoffs to the right: 1 carry, 0 yards. Strongside direct handoffs to the left: 2 carries, 23 yards. Strongside direct handoffs to the right: 7 carries,…

September 9, 2014
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49ers 28, Cowboys 17: Grades

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Cowboys handed the 49ers a 28-17 win Sunday evening. Here are the 49ers’ grades. KAEPERNICK: A. Efficient. Completed 70 percent of his passes, averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt, threw two touchdown passes and zero interceptions and converted 7-of-12 third downs. He found his receivers when they were wide open and he made some terrific throws while taking big hits. RUNNING BACKS: B. LaMichael James was…

September 7, 2014
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49ers 21, Chargers 7: Starters’ grades

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers beat the Chargers 21-7 Sunday afternoon. Here are the grades for the Niners’ starters. KAEPERNICK: D-. Fumbled twice and committed one turnover. Completed 50 percent of his passes. Completed zero percent of his passes in the red zone. Posted a 64.2 passer rating. Performed poorly in areas he needed to improve this offseason – accuracy, touch, footwork and red-zone passing. RUNNING BACKS: C. Carlos Hyde…

August 24, 2014
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Chris Cook intercepts two, Quinton Patton catches eight

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me during Monday afternoon’s padded practice in Levi’s Stadium. THE GOOD 1. Chris Cook. His biggest weakness is defending the deep pass and he picked off two of those today. First he picked off a deep pass intended for Devon Wylie (Josh Johnson threw it), and then Cook picked off a deep pass intended for Chuck Jacobs (Blaine Gabbert threw it). Cook…

August 4, 2014
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Kaepernick throws interceptions during crunch time

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at Sunday morning’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Bruce Ellington. Dropped a pass during one-on-ones, but during team drills he made seven catches, more than any other receiver. He made half of those catches running routes out of the backfield. That was new. He made his best catch as an outside receiver, though. He lined up against Dontae Johnson and ran…

August 3, 2014
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Chris Borland on Carlos Hyde: “You can never be on your heels when he’s making a move because he can run through you.”

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Chris Borland said about Carlos Hyde Friday morning Q: Does he look like the same running back he was in college? What do you see from him? BORLAND: As far as what he does well, I think he has carried that over. Like any rookie, there are things to learn and there is a learning curve. I think he has handled that well, too. Q:…

August 1, 2014
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Borland beats Hyde again

SANTA CLARA — Here is what stood out to me at the 49ers’ non-padded practice Thursday afternoon. THE GOOD 1. Patrick Willis. Forced a fumble. Will Tukuafu caught a pass over the middle, turned and took two steps upfield when Willis punched the ball out of his hands. 2. Michael Wilhoite. Punched a ball out of Quinton Patton’s hands during a red zone drill. Patton hadn’t taken a step with…

July 31, 2014
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Greg Roman says Carlos Hyde has “a Frank-Gore type of trait”

SANTA CLARA — Greg Roman was interviewed by Bay Area reporters in the 49ers’ auditorium Thursday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. staff.   Opening comments: “Good afternoon. Into the meat of training camp right now. Guys are working hard. You get to this point in training camp and you’ve kind of installed your base offense. It’s about the fourth time that we’ve done it. Now…

July 31, 2014
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Dontae Johnson shuts down Anquan Boldin, Brandon Lloyd and Stevie Johnson

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at the 49ers’ second padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. Dontae Johnson. Played like a monster. Broke up three passes. First, he swatted away a Colin Kaepernick pass intended for Anquan Boldin in the back right corner of the end zone. You rarely see a cornerback beat Boldin on a jump ball. Next, Johnson almost intercepted a Kaepernick pass…

July 27, 2014
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Bruce Miller on Kendall Hunter: “This year we were really looking to bust him out and use him a lot early.”

SANTA CLARA – Bruce Miller was interviewed Saturday afternoon by Bay Area reporters outside of the 49ers’ locker room. Here is a transcript. Q: Does your heart sink for what happened to Kendall Hunter? MILLER: Yeah. One, just being a close friend, a teammate, a brother – you don’t ever want to see that happen to a guy, especially a guy like Kendall who puts in so much work, so…

July 26, 2014
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Carlos Hyde: “In practice right now, you don’t get too many chances where you get to run somebody over.”

SANTA CLARA – Carlos Hyde was interviewed Saturday afternoon by Bay Area reporters outside of the 49ers’ locker room. Here is a transcript. Q: Are you excited to put the pads on today? HYDE: Yeah, I’m pretty excited. It has been a while since I’ve had the pads on. Well, I take that back. I just had the pads on when the rookies had to report. I had the pads…

July 26, 2014
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Jimmie Ward catches one, Carlos Hyde drops two

SANTA CLARA — Here’s what stood out to me at the 49ers’ first non-padded training camp practice of the year. THE GOOD 1. Jimmie Ward. Faced Stevie Johnson once during one-on-one drills. Johnson faked a move to the outside and quickly cut back to the inside but couldn’t shake Ward. Ward ran in front of Johnson and swatted the ball to the grass. Ward played with the second-team defense during…

July 24, 2014
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Five key questions for the 49ers

This is my Sunday article on the 49ers. For the 49ers, training camp is about becoming the best. Second place isn’t good enough anymore. Enough with second place. Win the Super Bowl before the window of opportunity closes. With that in mind, here are five key questions the 49ers will face in training camp. 1. Will Carlos Hyde rejuvenate the 49ers’ running game? Frank Gore is slowing down. In the…

July 20, 2014
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