Why Saints case matters (Lowell column)

My dad followed up and wrote a second column about the Saints bounty scandal. This one directly addresses many arguments he received from readers on behalf of the bums – Sean Payton, Gregg Williams, and NFL rule-breakers in general. These readers blame the league, or “the system,” and prefer not to single out. That’s football, they say. It’s a violent sport. Nonsense. It’s supposed to be civilized, too. It’s not…

March 6, 2012
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49ers still get no respect

Despite beating the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in Week 10 and coming a few plays short of beating them again in the NFC championship game, the Niners only have a one-in-ten shot at winning next season’s Super Bowl according to the MGM Grand’s sports book in Las Vegas. The MGM Grand is wrong. The Niners should be the preseason favorites to win the 2013 Super Bowl. They were…

February 7, 2012
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NFL power pendulum swings back to the NFC

It’s the morning after Super Bowl XLVI, I just woke up and I have two points to make. Here’s the first: The NFL is an NFC-dominated league once again. They’ve won three Super Bowls in a row. Three years ago it was the Saints beating the Colts. Last year it was the Packers beating the Steelers. Now, the Giants beat the Patriots for the second time in four years (Before…

February 6, 2012
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The Niners beat the Saints 36-32: Grades

Here are my divisional playoff grades for the Niners, who beat the Saints 36-32 and will play in the NFC Championship game next weekend. Alex Smith: A+. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first – he didn’t play well in the middle of the game. Ok, now that we’ve established that, let’s talk about the positives. He made two plays to win the game. The first was the…

January 14, 2012
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Live blog: 49ers vs. Saints

SAN FRANCISCO — This is the live blog for the Niners divisional playoff game against the New Orleans Saints. I will update this frequently from the Candlestick Park press box. 12:01 Here are the Niners inactive players: Scott Tolzien, Joe Hastings, Shawntae Spencer, Delanie Walker, Daniel Kilgore, Mike Person and Ian Williams. The Saints inactive players are Lance Moore, Leigh Torrence, Nate Bussey, Tory Humphrey, John Gilmore and Turk McBride….

January 14, 2012
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Can Alex Smith and the 49ers shock the Saints??

Lawrence Dushensky of the NFL blog This Given Sunday asked me six questions about the 49ers. The theme of his line of questioning was this: Can the 49ers shock the Saints? And how could they possibly do it? I’m linking my six answers to my six questions at the bottom. To be clear, I do think the Niners can “shock” the Saints. I think the Niners will win 17-16. I’m…

January 13, 2012
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Drew Brees on Alex Smith: “He looks like he’s playing with a lot of confidence, and yet taking care of the football and being a great game manager.”

Drew Brees spoke to Bay Area writers on a conference call this afternoon. Here’s what he said. Q: What makes the 49ers so difficult to play against? BREES: “First of all it’s a 3-4 system, which we don’t see all that often. It’s been a little while since we’ve played a 3-4 team. They’re built differently. They’re typically a lot bigger, more physical – definitely what you see from San…

January 10, 2012
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Fangio on the Saints offense: “They have weapons everywhere. It’s hard to say, ‘Hey, if we stop this guy we’ll win this game.'”

SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Vic Fangio’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. You’ve just had a few extra days to prepare for the Saints. Does the Saints offense require extra days? Is it that complex? Are you glad you’ve had extra time for it? “Well, the Saints offense, as you all know, is operating at a high efficiency right now. They’ve got everything going for them…

January 10, 2012
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Saints beat writer dopes out Saturday’s game

As part of our coverage, the Press Democrat proposed to Mike Triplett of The New Orleans Times-Picayune an exchange of questions, to which he readily agreed, so the PD could cast light on the Niners and Triplett could cast light on the Saints for Bay Area readers. Here are five questions and answers about the Saints plus a bonus question. 1. The Saints beat the Niners at Candlestick 25-22 in…

January 9, 2012
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Five reasons the Niners have a good chance to beat the Saints

Here are five reasons the Niners have a good chance to beat the Saints on Saturday. 1. The Niners can get pressure on Drew Brees with their front by attacking the weak link on the Saints line – center Brian De La Puente – with Aldon Smith on stunts. Justin Smith can occupy Pro Bowl left tackle Jermon Bushrod and Pro Bowl left guard Carl Nicks and free up Aldon…

January 8, 2012
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Whitner on Harbaugh: “He said a couple things today that surprised a lot of guys. Some guys liked it. Some guys didn’t.”

SANTA CLARA – Donte Whitner spoke for a long time at his locker this afternoon. Here are a lot of quotes from that group interview. Q: All the come from behind wins and the wins on the road – can you look to those for some guidance in place of the playoff experience this roster lacks? WHITNER: Yeah, it’s really handling adversity, understanding that you’re going to be put in…

January 5, 2012
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Something you didn’t know about the New Orleans Saints

Our reader, Big P, wants to jump ahead to next week and talk about the New Orleans Saints. I’m happy to oblige him. Here’s a stat you didn’t know about the Saints: They played five road games on grass this season. In those five games, their offense scored touchdowns in seven of 22 red zone trips. That’s a 31.8 percent red zone efficiency on grass, and that’s horrendous. On the…

January 5, 2012
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Cosell says the Niners are “built in a way that always leads to success,” but he has one final question

NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell spoke on KNBR this morning about the Niners. Here’s the transcript of what he said. Q: Jim Harbaugh is saying that the Seahawks defense is better than the Steelers’ defense is right now. Is that a fair statement? COSELL: I think it’s a very fair statement. In fact, one could easily make the argument that the best young secondary in the NFL resides in…

December 22, 2011
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