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…
SANTA CLARA — Greg Roman’s Thursday press conference transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “Good afternoon. Really proud of how our guys finished out that road trip and we’re back here working on the Bills. Got a lot of respect for what we’re seeing of the Bills. They had tough second half the other day, but really it’s just as much a credit to the team they were…
I had a gut feeling about the 49ers’ pass distribution, so I checked it out. I don’t believe any other analyst has noticed this. Michael Crabtree leads the team in targets with 31 – almost a third more than Vernon Davis, who’s in second place with 22. There’s more. The 49ers’ first pass has gone to Crabtree in three of the first four games. And there’s even more. The 49ers’…
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 –…
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,…
Jim Harbaugh’s Friday press conference transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. Is this time away going to be rough on you, the new dad? “Yeah, away from the family. But, with our other family here, we’re with our 49er family. And a lot of opportunity there. A lot to look forward to. But the main thing is we’re focused on this game. The all importance of winning this ball game….
On Wednesday at his locker, Alex Smith explained to Bay Area reporters why taking a sack is not all that bad. Here’s Smith’s exact quote: “A sack’s not the end of the world. Sometimes the best thing is to protect it in the pocket and take a sack. A lot of times, the ability to make plays with your feet, you get out of the pocket, you scramble, you run,…
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…
One curious stat from yesterday’s dominating win over the Green Bay Packers: The 49ers offense converted just 2 of 9 third downs – 22 percent. That’s worse than their average last season – 28 percent. Granted, the two third downs they converted were impressive. One was a 20-yard completion to Michael Crabtree on third and 8, and the other was a touchdown to Vernon Davis on third and goal from…
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….
SANTA CLARA – Yesterday I asked the defense five questions. Today I asked Greg Roman and Alex Smith four questions. Here are their responses followed by my conclusions. Question 1: Now that Moss and Manningham are on the team, can we expect more long passes in the games? ROMAN: It all depends on who we’re playing. If (the cornerbacks) are playing way off (the line of scrimmage) then I doubt…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Greg Roman’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening statement: “Good afternoon, looking forward to playing the Houston Texans this week down in Houston. It will be our first time on the road, obviously, dealing with crowd noise and all the things that go into playing offensive football on the road. We’ve had a really good week of practice thus far and…
SANTA CLARA – When Michael Crabtree speaks to the media – he rarely does, but on Wednesday he did – he’s detached, like he’s watching himself talk. He keeps an ironic distance from the interview. It always seems like he has another private thought and you’d love to know what it is, but he’ll only give you 25 percent. He looks at you through sleepy, mysterious eyes. These are all…
SANTA CLARA – Greg Roman spoke Tuesday about Colin Kaepernick, Kendall Hunter and the team’s approach to the preseason, among other things. Here’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “How’s everybody doing today? Getting ready for our first preseason game. Obviously for a lot of the young guys, it’s a really exciting week for them. They got their first game plan book handed to them today. Kind of…
SANTA CLARA – Greg Roman spoke at the podium this afternoon and discussed the red zone offense, the running back rotation and his impression of undrafted rookie wide receiver Nathan Palmer. Here’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening statement: “Hey, good morning. How many practices have we had now? [media response: 6] Yeah, you lose count sometimes. It’s all about the next day. [Head] Coach [Jim Harbaugh] was just…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what offensive coordinator Greg Roman said at his Sunday afternoon press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening statement: “We’re deep into camp now, in the swing of things. We get the pads on today, working through a lot of things. This is really the fourth time for guys that have been here through our whole offseason program that we’ve been able to install our offensive…
Here is the Niners’ current weekend interview schedule, which is subject to change. If you have any questions you would like me to ask, please leave them in the comment section below. Friday, July 27 between 12-1pm Head Coach Jim Harbaugh QB Alex Smith WR Randy Moss Saturday, July 28 between 12-1pm Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio DT Justin Smith LB Patrick Willis Sunday, July 29 between 12-1pm…
