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 – 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…
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….
Dear Jim Schwartz, You want to call a running play against the 49ers, but it doesn’t exist. Il n’existe pas. Justin Smith will stop it while thinking of other things. Take your running plays and throw them away. They’ll only help you lose on Sunday. You have to pass against the 49ers. Remember how Bill Walsh used to set up the run with the pass? You have to set up…
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 49ers play the Green Bay Packers in three days. In the meantime, I’ll break down a few key matchups a day. CB Tarell Brown: 5-foot-10, 193 pounds, 27 years old, 4.42 40-yard dash vs. WR Jordy Nelson: 6-3, 217 pounds, 27 years old, 4.45 40-yard dash The Packers love to match up Nelson against the smallest cornerback in the secondary. The 49ers’ smallest corner is Tarell Brown. Nelson 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…
SANTA CLARA – Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke in the media tent Monday afternoon. He said he did not game plan for the Denver Broncos. He also discussed what the defense did well and not-so-well on Sunday. Here’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. Is it time to push the panic button? “In regards to what? The defense. “No, not yet.” How do you take what happened yesterday?…
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 – 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…
SANTA CLARA – The Niners practiced in shorts today, and some of the time it seemed like they were going half-speed – especially the linemen. The first team offense never faced the first team defense, either. Both starting units mostly faced scout teams – third string players fighting for roster spots. Jim Harbaugh gave Vernon Davis the day off from drills, so Delanie Walker got the first-team tight end reps…
SANTA CLARA – The 49ers’ run defense is the best in the NFL, but their pass defense stood out on Monday. Justin Smith dominated the first half of practice, sacking Alex Smith twice. He constantly forced quarterbacks to abandon the pocket and throw on the run. He sat out the second half of practice and as a result the offense played much better. Perrish Cox picked off Alex Smith. On…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the best of what I saw Saturday Night. Randy Moss had his best practice of training camp. He beat Tarell Brown twice in one-on-one drills. The first time he turned Brown around on a double move, and the second time he beat Brown deep down the middle of the field but Alex Smith overthrew the pass. In an 11-on-11 red zone drill, Moss beat Carlos Rogers…
SANTA CLARA – All four of the Niners quarterbacks struggled in practice today. Alex Smith threw three interceptions – one to Bowman, one to free safety Darcel McBath and one to reserve linebacker Mike Wilhoite. McBath’s interception came after a Mario Manningham tip in the middle of the field, but the other two picks were in the end zone. The entire offense was working on red zone efficiency, so Smith…
SANTA CLARA – Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio talked about what makes NaVarro Bowman and Carlos Rogers so good, the Niners cornerback competition and how good the defense can be this year. Here’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. What are some of the things that have allowed LB NaVorro Bowman to emerge as an All-Pro, as such a young player, in his second year, last year? And also, you have…
SANTA CLARA – Wednesday afternoon Carlos Rogers discussed what he’s taught the younger cornerbacks, what Randy Moss has taught him and what he makes of the newest Niners cornerback – Perrish Cox. Here’s a transcript. Q: What is this group of cornerbacks like? ROGERS: They’re very talented. These are young guys who are asking me: “What should I do? What should I be thinking on this play?” Perrish Cox (is…
SANTA CLARA – Perrish Cox has been getting beaten on the outside pretty consistently so far in training camp, and today he was getting beaten on the inside during team drills by Kyle Williams. Cox’s main value to the team is his ability to play the “nickel back” – the cornerback who covers the slot receiver. The Niners have one very good nickel back – Carlos Rogers – but they…
SANTA CLARA — Despite the fact that Jim Harbaugh called A.J. Jenkins an outstanding football player before today’s practice, Jenkins was not outstanding today in practice. He struggled in the one-on-one press coverage drill against Perrish Cox and Deante Purvis. On Jenkins’ first rep, he ran deep but he forgot to look for the pass, so it dropped 10 yards away from him. On his second rep he caught a…
I was reading a Greg Cosell article this morning called “The Evolving Chess Match” and I found it interesting, so I’m passing it along to you. Here’s the key excerpt from the article: “There are always exceptions, but defensively, if you expect to beat the top passing games, you must be able to stop shotgun offenses with five receivers than can align at any position. That’s the next frontier.” The…
