Joe Flacco Archives - Inside the 49ers

Vic Fangio says Justin Smith and Ray McDonald “will be ready to return maybe when we get back to San Francisco at some point in the near future.”

Here is a transcript of Vic Fangio’s Sunday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. staff. I’ll ask you the same question I just asked Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Which guys on your defense stood out to you at practice? “We had a few guys that have stood out here in these two practices. [LB] Aldon’s [Smith] obviously been practicing well, is one. Think our safeties have been…

August 10, 2014

This won’t be a rehearsal, this is a game to shape the 49ers’ roster

Here is my Saturday column previewing the 49ers’ Sunday preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings. If you expect the 49ers to treat Sunday’s preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings like a dress rehearsal for the regular season, you may be disappointed. Most NFL teams treat the third exhibition game like a dress rehearsal. The 49ers did that last season – Alex Smith played the entire first half. But, I’ll be…

August 24, 2013

Boldin says he wants to be a 49er for more than just one season

SANTA CLARA – Anquan Boldin spoke with Bay Area reporters Wednesday afternoon in the 49ers’ locker room for the first time as a 49er. Here’s what he said. Q: What was your reaction when you found out you got traded to the 49ers? BOLDIN: Kind of shocked initially. I really didn’t expect to be traded, especially from the conversations I had with the Ravens before I left to Africa. So…

March 20, 2013

Cosell breaks down the QB prospects in the draft

Greg Cosell recently broke down the draft’s quarterback prospects on Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner podcast. Here’s his breakdown. Q: What do you think of Geno Smith? COSELL: There is no question he has an NFL arm. He’s an NFL talent. Now, he’s got some other issues. First of all, he’s got some footwork issues. I think that can be corrected. He plays almost exclusively from the shotgun. He’s a bit of…

March 7, 2013

Cosell on Kaepernick: “He had brain freezes on two of those final three plays.”

Greg Cosell spoke about the Super Bowl on KNBR Thursday morning. Here’s what he said. Q: What did you think of the 49ers’ final four offensive plays? COSELL: Here’s a perfect case where because the plays failed, everybody thinks that they’re bad play calls, therefore something was horribly wrong. The first play was perfectly understandable because Gore had just run 33 yards and he was not in the next play….

February 7, 2013

Grant picks Ravens

I’ve watched the 49ers up close since training camp 2011. I know how dominant they can be. When they’re at their best, they can blow out any team in the NFL. But I don’t think they’re at their best right now, and I think they’re going to lose to the Ravens 20-17. Yes, the 49ers’ offense is hot. Colin Kaepernick is averaging 9.4 yards per passing attempt over the last…

February 1, 2013

Steve Young on Flacco: “Joe is Eli Manning. It’s a compliment, but it’s a back-handed compliment.”

Steve Young spoke on KNBR Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said about Joe Flacco. Q: What do you think of Joe Flacco? YOUNG: Joe is Eli Manning to me. It’s a compliment, but it’s a back-handed compliment. There is no question that Joe can get hot like last week and the week before. Eli would get hot in the worst scenarios – 10 below at Lambeau – and it’s like,…

January 31, 2013

Super Bowl MVP odds: Kaepernick 7-4, Flacco 11-4, Alex Smith 100-1

These are the current Super Bowl MVP odds, according to Bet Firms: Colin Kaepernick: 7-4. Joe Flacco: 11-4. Frank Gore: 7-1. Ray Lewis: 7-1. Ray Rice: 10-1. Michael Crabtree: 14-1. Anquan Boldin: 16-1. Vernon Davis: 18-1. Torrey Smith: 20-1. Ed Reed: 33-1. Aldon Smith: 40-1. Dennis Pitta: 40-1. Randy Moss: 40-1. Patrick Willis: 50-1. Terrell Suggs: 50-1. Bernard Pollard: 66-1. Dashon Goldson: 66-1. David Akers: 66-1. LaMichael James: 66-1. NaVorro…

January 31, 2013

Flacco vs. Kaepernick: Who is the better passer right now?

Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick have the two strongest arms in the NFL. How do they stack up as passers? Here is a brief statistical comparison from this season, courtesy of Pro Football Focus. Deep passes (20 yards or more): Flacco – 116 attempts; 47 completions; 1,516 yards; 32.3 yards per completion; 15 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 127.5 passer rating. Kaepernick – 42 attempts, 22 completions, 695 yards; 31.6 yards…

January 31, 2013

A Super Bowl victory won’t take the monkey off Joe Flacco’s back

By BOB PADECKY Torrey Smith, the Ravens’ wide receiver, was singing the praises today about his quarterback. I brought him to a screeching halt with a question. “If the Ravens win the Super Bowl, will the criticism of Joe Flacco finally stop?” “No,” Smith said. “I don’t think it’ll ever stop. I mean, look at Eli Manning. He’s won two Super Bowls and he still gets it. If Eli can…

January 30, 2013

Whitner: “Miscommunication is why we had difficulties in the first half last week.”

SANTA CLARA – Donte Whitner spoke in the locker room Thursday afternoon. This is what he said. Q: You said Joe Flacco has made improvement. Can you put a time stamp on that? Did you see a change when Jim Caldwell was made the offensive coordinator, or just during these past playoff games? WHITNER: I don’t know if you can say that, but I know since they changed offensive coordinators…

January 24, 2013

Fangio: “I’ve always like Joe Flacco. I was there when he was drafted.”

SANTA CLARA – This is the transcript of Vic Fangio’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Can you go back to just the last game real quick. Those final two pass plays in which LB Ahmad Brooks batted down a pass and LB NaVorro batted one down, can you take us through those plays and how that defense played out? “They played out very good. It was a…

January 23, 2013

Justin Smith on the Ravens’ offense: “The main reason they can chuck it deep is they run the ball successfully.”

SANTA CLARA – Justin Smith spoke at his locker Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said. Q: Are you excited about the HarBowl? JUSTIN SMITH: No, not really. I don’t even know John Harbaugh. Just from playing against him, he’s on the other sideline. But that’s for them. They’re probably focused on it, it’s an awesome deal for their family but, you know, we’re concentrating here on bringing home a championship….

January 23, 2013

Cosell: “Ray Lewis is going to struggle against this offense.”

Greg Cosell spoke on KNBR on Monday and Tuesday. Here’s what he said about the 49ers’ Super Bowl matchup against the Ravens. Q: How much more difficult will it be for the 49ers’ offense to do what they want to do against the Ravens’ defense? COSELL: Ray Lewis is going to struggle against this offense, because they’re going to make him have to run. I don’t think he’s at the…

January 23, 2013

Alex Smith’s problems on third down

Take this for what it’s worth – Alex Smith has always been bad on third down. Before I explain, let me define my terms. “Average” on third down would be a 38 percent conversion success rate and five conversions per game. In 2006, Smith’s first full season starting, the Niners offense converted 34.45 percent of third downs and averaged 4.5 third-down conversions per game. Both figures ranked 26th in the…

April 2, 2012

Greg Cosell breaks down the Ravens and Alex Smith

Here’s the transcript of NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell’s interview from this morning on KNBR’s The Murph and Mac show. Q: Do the Harbaugh brothers coach in similar ways? Do their teams show similar tendencies? COSELL: There’s a toughness, a physical and mental toughness that is instilled in both teams, and that comes from the brothers. That would be the similarity. I think the difference is John Harbaugh is not…

November 23, 2011

Vic Fangio breaks down the Ravens offense and defense

SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Vic Fangio’s Tuesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Vic, what was kind of your role in Baltimore, I know you were sort of a nebulous consultant? “The first few couple years I was there, I was special assistant to the head coach and basically did a lot of work with the coaches, both sides of the ball, and worked with the head…

November 22, 2011

Chiefs’ Pioli notes that a good QB coach is hard to find

Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli made an interesting point this morning at the NFL Combine: The NFL’s most important position doesn’t have enough coaches in a position to coach it well.

February 26, 2011