The Giants are going to beat the 49ers 21-20. The Giants are going to view this game as a battle against an opponent who is attempting to mount a push to dislodge them from the throne. This game will not be just another ordinary non-divisional contest for the Giants. Because of Tom Coughlin, the Giants have the ability to rise from the ashes when everybody counts them out. Don’t be shocked…
I’ve got another game we can play as we spin our wheels this offseason. What will the Niners regular record be next season? This is not a fruitless exercise. This is another way of examining how the Niners currently stack up against their competition. Some questions to consider while making your projections: How will the Niners change next season? How will their opponents adjust? How will the Niners adjust to…
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…
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…
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has not posted my sidebar on poor Kyle Williams yet, but they just posted my dad’s column. He puts the Niners season in perspective like only he can. He gives credit to Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith in general, but in particular, in this game, he points out their shortcomings, which is a fair thing to do. To read my dad’s column, click here.
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are my grades for the 49ers, who lost 20-17 to the New York Giants in the NFC championship game. Alex Smith: D. Most of his 196 passing yards came on two long completions to Vernon Davis. Besides those two plays, Smith completed just 10 of 24 passes (42% – a Tebowesque percentage) for 95 yards. That’s awful. His best plays came when he scrambled – he…
SAN FRANCISCO — This is the live blog for the NFC championship game at Candlestick park between the Niners and the New York Giants. I’ll be updating this frequently from the press box. Since I’m sure all of you are watching or listening to the game, I won’t give play-by-play descriptions of action. Instead, I’ll give my feelings and analysis. 2:10 Ted Ginn Jr. (knee) is inactive today. So is…
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat just posted the article I wrote for their Sunday paper. It’s about the art gallery that’s growing on the hallway outside the team’s meeting rooms. Not just everyone can view the gallery, though. Only players and coaches and certain football-related personnel can. 49ers public relations director Bob Lange graciously invited me in to see it this week. In my article, I describe it and I…
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat just posted my dad’s prediction column for the Niners-Giants NFC championship game. We agree that the Niners will win, but we disagree on the score. He says they’ll win by one touchdown (27-20). I say they’ll win by two (31-17). To read his reasoning, click here.
Here’s my prediction for the NFC championship game. The Niners are going to beat the New York Giants 31-17 because they have better players and better coaches. Oh, and they have home field advantage, too. The Giants defensive game plan is going to be too simple. They’re going to commit eight defenders to stopping Frank Gore and the inside run game, and then they’re going to double cover Vernon Davis…
Here’s how I expect the Niners offense to attack the red hot New York Giants defense. I expect the Niners to split out Vernon Davis at wide receiver often, much more than usual. The Giants are going to double team him, probably with a cornerback and a safety. I expect the Niners to use that against them. They’ll split Davis out wide and have him run deep. Two Giants defenders…
Part of the reason the Saints lost to the Niners on Saturday is that their defensive game plan was too simple. They acted as if stopping Frank Gore would stop the entire Niners offense. They committed eight, nine, sometimes ten defenders to the box to shut down Gore and they left every single receiver in single coverage – even Vernon Davis. This was a bad strategy. You can’t single cover…
Since we’re all watching football today, I have some thoughts on the Giants and the Falcons. First, the Falcons. They need a new quarterback and a new coaching staff. Matt Ryan is like Alex Smith without any of the good qualities. His arm strength is nothing special, he never makes a play and he chokes. He won’t win a playoff game – he’ll probably lose it. So it’s time for…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Frank Gore said in the locker room today. Q: You missed practice yesterday. Was that related to the knee or were you getting some midseason rest? GORE: Rest. Q: The knee’s fine? GORE: Yeah, it’s fine. Q: Are you going to practice today? GORE: Yeah, I’m going to practice today. Q: So you’re expecting to play Sunday? GORE: Yeah I’ll play. I’ll play good. Q:…
Here are my week 10 NFL picks. 49ers vs. Giants: 49ers. The Giants allow an average of 127.1 yards rushing per game. So, I’m setting the over/under for Gore’s rushing total at 160 yards. I’m also setting Brandon Jacobs over/under at 30 rush yards. It’s tough for any team to win when you can’t run or stop the run, so the Giants are going to lose. Score prediction: 27-20 Niners….
Murph and Mac interviewed NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell this morning on KNBR. They talked about Tim Tebow, Carson Palmer and Philip Rivers first, and then they talked Niners matchup with the Giants after. I’m giving you the Niners stuff first, but I’m including the rest of the interview below. Enjoy. Q: The 6-2 New York Giants against the 7-1 San Francisco 49ers. Eli Manning and Alex Smith are ranked…
