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…
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Here are my grades for the 49ers, who upset the Packers 30-22 at Lambeau Field in the season opener. QUARTERBACKS: A. Alex Smith may have played the best game of his life, even better than his comeback win against the Saints in the playoffs. Granted, the Packers secondary was horrendous, but Smith threw 2 TDs and no picks. He averaged a stellar 8.1 yards per attempt….
The Packers will beat the 49ers Sunday, 34-23. The Packers are going to double-team both Justin and Aldon Smith. The left guard and center – T.J. Lang and Jeff Saturday – will take Justin Smith, and the left tackle and running back – Marshall Newhouse and Cedric Benson – will take Aldon Smith. Aaron Rodgers will have enough time to find open receivers and exploit the 49ers secondary, which is…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the full transcript of Vic Fangio’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Fangio praised Aaron Rodgers and Marshall Newhouse, and confirmed that Perrish Cox is the No.4 cornerback. As a defensive coordinator, when you know you have more than four months to prepare for one team, the next team on the schedule, how do you approach it? “Well, me personally, we get right into it…
The 49ers play the Green Bay Packers in three days. In the meantime, I’ll break down a few key matchups a day. ROLB Aldon Smith: 6-4, 258 pounds, 22 years old, 35 3/8-inch arms. vs. LT Marshall Newhouse: 6-4, 319 pounds, 23 years old, 34-inch arms. This is the key one-on-one matchup and if Aldon Smith dominates it, the 49ers should win. Marshall Newhouse got manhandled last season by defensive…
Here are my grades for the 49ers preseason game against the Denver Broncos. QUARTERBACKS: B. Alex Smith and the first-team offense was 1-for-4 on third down and 0-for-1 in the red zone (Peyton Manning was 2-3 on third down and 2-2 in the red zone). Smith did complete 5 of 7 passes, including a deep TD to Vernon Davis. Smith also had one fumbled snap, one delay-of-game penalty and two…
SANTA CLARA – Tuesday was a defense-dominated day in the 49ers’media tent – Vic Fangio, Larry Grant and Ricky Jean Francois all spoke at the podium, and I spoke one on one to Chris Culliver in the locker room. I asked each guy the same few questions, and here are their responses followed by my conclusions. Question 1: How would you characterize this defense? FANGIO: To me it’s in the…
SANTA CLARA – Thursday’s practice was the last 49ers practice open to the media this season. It was a light practice – the players wore shorts and went about half speed. Alex Smith mostly played against the scout-team defense, but when he did face the starters he threw two touchdown passes – one to Kyle Williams in the middle of the end zone – right in front of strong safety…
SANTA CLARA – Injured pass rusher Aldon Smith was a no-show on the 49ers’ practice field today. I haven’t seen him all week – he has not appeared at practice. I don’t know what that means. CBS Rapid Report’s Kyle Bonagura tweeted he saw Smith two days ago at the facility limping and walking with a cane. Delanie Walker, who appeared to hurt his knee at the Fan Fest on…
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke in the 49ers’ media tent this afternoon. He discussed Aldon Smith’s injury, backup QB Scott Tolzien and the overall performance of the defense in Friday night’s preseason opener. He’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. What’s the takeaway, for you, from seeing your first team defense play a couple of series Friday night? “Well, we didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing…
SAN FRANCISCO – Delanie Walker left practice early with a right knee injury. He got tangled with Ian Williams when he was blocking and he fell to the ground in pain. He stayed on the ground for a couple minutes, and then he stood up and took several more minutes before he slowly walked off the field. He watched most of practice sitting on the bench, and the right knee…
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are my Preseason Week One grades for the 49ers defense. Defensive line: B+. Justin Smith didn’t play. The rest of this unit allowed 4.3 yards per carry to the Vikings, which is below the Niners’ stellar standard of run defense. The standout player of this group was Demarcus Dobbs, who completely dominated the Vikings’ backup left tackle. In the second half, Minnesota had to give Dobbs…
SAN FRANCISCO – Here’s the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s postgame press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “We have a game under our belt now. A lot of data to study, on top of what we have been doing in training camp. But, good to have a foundation. Pleased with the way our guys competed. Thought there was a lot of good play out of our starters, and things…
SANTA CLARA – Aldon Smith spoke after Ahmad Brooks on Wednesday. Smith talked about the level of attention he expects to receive from opposing offenses this season, his transition from defensive end to outside linebacker and his friendly competition with Ahmad Brooks. Here’s a transcript. Q: Is there a difference rushing the passer from a three-point stance as opposed from a two-point stance – standing up? ALDON SMITH: Not really,…
SANTA CLARA – It was defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s turn to speak in the 49ers’ media tent on Wednesday. He discussed Friday’s upcoming preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings, the progress of his starting outside linebackers and a couple young defensive tackles. Here’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. What are you hoping to see out of your defense in this first go around, Friday’s game? “I’m anxious to just…
Here are the top five performers in training camp at the end of Week One. Justin Smith – The defense has dominated the offense for most of training camp, and Justin Smith is a big reason why. He’s almost too good. Sometimes when the offense is really struggling, I wonder if they’d look better if only they didn’t have to practice against Justin Smith. Sometimes Jim Harbaugh makes the second-team…
SANTA CLARA – Here are my observations from the second padless practice of the Niners training camp. THE GOOD Mario Manningham – Four catches (two against the first team defense), no drops. He could have had five catches, but Alex Smith overthrew him deep when he had beaten Perrish Cox down the left sideline. Manningham beat Culliver short towards the end of practice. Culliver was so frustrated he slapped Manningham…
SANTA CLARA – Today Justin Smith answered questions about his teammates and about playing both defense and offense. Here’s what he said. Q: How much of a head start does the defense have this year as opposed to last year? JUSTIN SMITH: I think the biggest thing is you can actually see some of the things you did last year and some of the things you need to work on…
SANTA CLARA – Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke in the media tent today, and here’s a transcript of what he said, courtesy of the 49ers. How much more of the defense are you going to be able to install with this training camp compared to last year? “Not much more. We pretty much got everything we wanted to put in last year. And then as a matter of fact,…
