Yesterday I broke down a couple of 49ers offensive line matchups with the Giants defensive front. I want to point out something. The matchups will not always be as simple as Joe Staley vs. Jason Pierre Paul and Anthony Davis vs. Justin Tuck. If you noticed against the Browns last Sunday, the Giants tried a variety of defensive linemen over all of the Browns’ offensive linemen looking for a soft…
SANTA CLARA – New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin spoke to Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning on a conference call. Here’s what he said about the 49ers. Q: Earlier today you told the New York writers nobody’s giving you a chance to beat the 49ers. Do you really believe that? COUGHLIN: That was my first impression earlier in the week. I probably should not have said it but I…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said about the 49ers offense at his Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. We talked to offensive coordinator Greg Roman yesterday. He noted that it was obvious early on that QB Alex Smith was hot. That WR Michael Crabtree was hot. When you see that early on, do you then start to tailor the calls to fit the hot hands, so…
The 49ers play the Giants at Candlestick on Sunday. In the meantime, I’ll break down a couple of key matchups per day. The 49ers running attack vs. the Giants run defense This is a lopsided match up. The 49ers average 6.1 yards per rush – that’s No.1 in the league by almost a full yard per carry. The Giants defense allows 4.5 yards per carry – 25th best in the…
SAN FRANCISCO — Here are the grades for the 49ers 45-3 demolition of the Bills – a truly awful team. Quarterbacks: A. Alex Smith had the best statistical performance of his career. His QB rating was a near-perfect 156.2. He also rushed 3 times for 49 yards. He completed 18-of-24 passes, but only two passes were bad – a screen he threw too early to Kendall Hunter, and an overthrown…
The 49ers will dismantle the Bills on Sunday, just take them apart. The Bills defense can’t stop the run – they give up an average of 4.8 yards per attempt. I expect the following sequence to happen more than once: Frank Gore up the middle for five yards on first and ten; Kendall Hunter up the middle for four yards on second and five; Brandon Jacobs up the middle for…
Here are the grades for the 49ers 34-0 trouncing of the Jets – the worst team in the NFL despite their 2-2 record. Quarterbacks: C. Alex Smith completed 12 of 21 passes for 143 yards. No touchdowns or turnovers. He did not complete a pass on third down. Twice he was sacked because he held ball for more than three seconds in the pocket. Colin Kaepernick attempted one pass –…
The 49ers will beat the New York Jets 23-13 on Sunday. Here’s how it will happen: The Jets will get the ball first. Either they’ll win the toss and choose to receive the kickoff or the 49ers will win the toss and defer. Tony Sparano, the Jets’ offensive coordinator, will call a Shonn-Green run up the middle on first down, and Green will gain one yard. Sparano will call a…
Greg Roman’s Thursday press conference transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening statement: “Is it afternoon yet? Yes it is, good afternoon. If I appear unshaven I apologize, but this Jets defense forces our whole staff to stay up into the wee hours of the morning. We know [Head Coach] Rex Ryan, I worked with Rex, [Defensive Coordinator] Mike Pettine and [Defensive Backs Coach] Dennis Thruman. Some really good coaches,…
New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan spoke to Bay Area reporters on a conference call Wednesday morning. He talked about the key players on the 49ers’ offense, the seven blue-chip players on the 49ers’ defense and the how the Jets’ defense will adjust to the loss of Darrelle Revis. The transcript. Q: Donte Whitner said the key for him in facing the Jets offense is keeping an eye on…
Put yourself in Leslie Frazier’s shoes. You’re the head coach of the Vikings, you have to play the 49ers this Sunday and you’re probably going to lose. Your offense doesn’t have one matchup advantage over the Niners’ defense. What would your game plan be? How would you strategize to pull off the upset? So I’m proposing a contest to you readers. Write your Vikings game plan in the comment section….
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 – 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’…
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…
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. 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…
Here are my preseason Week 2 grades for the 49ers’ offense. OFFENSIVE LINE: B+. They opened up big holes in the running game and played pretty well overall, but it’s important to note they didn’t have to face two of the Texans’ starting defensive linemen – Shaun Cody and J.J Watt. Alex Smith got sacked twice and took five big hits in the first quarter, but the offensive line wasn’t…
SANTA CLARA – The past few practices, the 49ers’ offense has focused primarily on the red zone. Today, they did a “four-minute drill” where they worked on sustaining drives. In this drill the offense has the lead and they’re trying to run out the clock and end the game. The first team offense went three and out the first time they faced the first-team defense. Patrick Willis knocked away a…
