Vic Fangio’s Thursday press conference transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. From what you’ve seen, does RB Adrian Peterson look like a guy who is coming off an ACL injury? “No, he really doesn’t. He still has his great speed, cutting ability and I’m sure that he’ll get better and better as he goes throughout the season. Week one to week two he was better. I’m sure he’ll be better…
Here’s how you know the Vikings are going to lose to the 49ers on Sunday: Head coach Leslie Frazier said, “We want to get the run established,” on a conference call Wednesday morning. Leslie, look at me. Listen to what I have to say. That’s not the move you want to make. You can’t establish the run against the 49ers. Understand? It’s a losing strategy. As long as All-Pro linebackers…
SANTA CLARA – Alex Smith’s Wednesday press conference transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. How’s that gash doing? “Doing alright. Healing up hopefully.” Kind of makes you look like a football player. “It’s tough for me to look any tougher, but I guess it does.” Is it sore? “Pretty cosmetic, not too bad. Just kind of a surface thing.” Has T Joe Staley been swapping tales about…
SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh’s Wednesday press conference transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. You added a new/old outside linebacker? “Added yeah, [LB] Eric Bakhtiari.” Is that a guy that when you released him you told him stay close by the phone? “No. I wouldn’t say there was anything said like that. We knew that whenever you let somebody go they’re exposed to the rest of the teams in…
SANTA CLARA – We were sitting in little school chairs facing each other, alone in the media tent, elbows resting on our wooden foldout desks. I asked the coach, “If I say Frank Gore is a player with a great heart, do you know what I mean by that?” The coach sat up in his chair, elbows off the desk now. He said, “Great heart?” as if he hadn’t heard…
My Week 2 Power Rankings, in tiers. Tier 1: The 49ers. Tier 2: Empty. Tier 3: Empty. Tier 4: The Texans and a few other teams. Tier 5: It doesn’t matter. No team ranks anywhere near the 49ers right now. They’re in another universe. They’re so good, it’s more interesting to rank the 49ers players against the other 49ers players. So let’s forget the Power Rankings for now. Let’s create…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the complete transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Harbaugh explained why he suited three quarterbacks against the Lions. He also told two Muhammad Ali stories, praised Michael Crabtree’s “frog-like” catching ability, and more. Enjoy. “Sorry I’m late. I was getting a little something to eat. A little hungrier today than normal.” Did you have a $2 steak? “No. It was…
SANTA CLARA – This afternoon at Jim Harbaugh’s Monday press conference, I asked him two questions about Alex Smith. Here they are, followed by Harbaugh’s responses. ME: How has Alex Smith matured and progressed when it comes to choosing between two plays at the line of scrimmage? HARBAUGH: He’s an expert in this system. To accomplish that in just a year speaks volumes. How has he matured? He’s matured intellectually….
SAN FRANCISCO – The Week 2 grades for the 2-0 49ers, who dominated a very good opponent for the second week in a row, yet won by only 8 points for the second week in a row, too. ALEX SMITH: A. Smith may have played even better Sunday night than he played against the Packers last week. He completed 20 of 31 passes. At least six of his incompletions were…
SAN FRANCISCO — The live blog, which I’ll be updating frequently from the press box. Update 1: The first thing I saw as I walked into the stadium was a guy in handcuffs, real chagrined-looking. The police were leading him out of the stadium. This was around 3:15. How long did he last in the stadium before he did whatever he did? Update 2: The kickoff’s been moved back 10…
Here are my Week 2 picks. This is hard to do. I bet some of you could do better than me, so leave your picks in the comment section. To read my Lions-49ers prediction, click here. Chiefs @ Bills: Chiefs. Kansas City WR Dwayne Bowe will score at least two touchdowns on Buffalo’s rookie CB Stephon Gilmore. Browns @ Bengals: Bengals: The Ravens embarrassed the Bengals Week 1, winning 44-13….
SANTA CLARA – Friday in the media tent, Jim Harbaugh compared Frank Gore to Walter Payton, evaluated Kyle Williams’ Week 1 performance and the offense’s third down production. Here’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. I’m not trying to be fresh when I ask this, but how did WR Kyle Williams do? I think he had six punts in Green Bay? “Yeah, he did really well. Got to love it…
The 49ers will blow out the Lions on national television Sunday night, 33-13. Take this prediction with a grain of salt. I was way off last week, predicting the 49ers would lose by 11 to the Packers. Whoops. Here’s why I think the Niners will beat the Lions by 20: Detroit’s offense will be one-dimensional. They’ll pass almost every offensive snap. Detroit’s offensive line is completely overmatched by the Niners’…
Part III of the Lions-49ers matchup series. Calvin Johnson vs. the 49ers secondary: Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown, Chris Culliver and Dashon Goldson. It’s almost impossible for any secondary to match up with Calvin Johnson, perhaps the best athlete in the NFL. He puts you in a bind. How many snaps can you afford not to double team him? Double-teaming him leaves the rest of the Lions’ skill players – Brandon…
SANTA CLARA – The transcript of Greg Roman’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “Getting ready for a good Detroit team, playoff team. The strength of their front, probably lies with their front four, they bring a lot of D-linemen to the game. They roll them through there to keep them fresh. There’s times when they’ll load up the front, it’s no secret. Kind of an old…
SANTA CLARA – The transcript of Vic Fangio’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Facing another team that likes to throw the ball around, is there much carry over from last week to this? “Well, there is in the sense that they play a lot of the similar personnel groupings, and they have some similar talent. So, there is some carry over.” They don’t do as many four…
Some things I forgot to mention about the 49ers’ performance against the Packers: Alex Smith and Greg Roman called brilliant running plays. What Smith did: Each time the Packers brought an extra linebacker or a cornerback to the line of scrimmage, Alex Smith audibled to a running play away from the blitz. These audibles worked beautifully. Peyton Manning couldn’t have made better pre-snap adjustments. Smith’s were near perfect. Before the…
The 49ers play the Detroit Lions Sunday night at Candlestick Park. In the meantime, I’ll break down one key matchup per day. Alex Smith vs. the Lions’ secondary: CB Drayton Florence, CB Chris Houston, CB Jacob Lacey and FS John Wendling. The key for Alex Smith is to avoid obvious passing downs, like third and 9, because the Lions can put a ton of heat on him with only four…
The 49ers play the Detroit Lions Sunday night at Candlestick Park. In the meantime, I’ll break down one key matchup per day. The 49ers run offense vs. the Lions run defense Upon first glance, this matchup seems completely one-sided in the 49ers’ favor. Last season when these two teams played, the 49ers averaged 7 yards a carry. For the entire 2011 season, the Lions gave up an average of 5…
SANTA CLARA – Matthew Stafford spoke on a conference call Wednesday afternoon. He talked about the 49ers defense, what the 49ers offense does well, and what he remembers from their game last season. Here’s a transcript. Q: What jumps out to you about the 49ers’ defense? STAFFORD: It’s obviously similar group to the one we played last year. Physical up front, good in the back end, two really good linebackers….
