As good as the 49ers are on defense, just remember the Patriots’ first three offensive series Monday night against the Texans. The Patriots emasculated Houston, sliced them and diced them, put them through the Veg-O-Matic. Their defensive coordinator, Wade Phillips, stood there in awe. It was a masterful production. Tom Brady was brilliant. Can New England do that to the Niners? The Niners have a better secondary than the Texas…
Steve Young spoke on KNBR Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said the 49ers have to do to beat the Patriots on Sunday. The Patriots are currently favored to win by five-and-a-half points. Q: How many points do the 49ers have to score Sunday to beat the Patriots? YOUNG: The Patriots look hot to me. They look energized. Defensively, they’re all over the quarterback. Vince Wilfork is killing it. They’ve got…
SANTA CLARA – This is what Vic Fangio said about the 49ers’ upcoming matchup with the Patriots in the media tent on Thursday. Q: What jumps out at you about the Patriots offense? FANGIO: They’re not only the top rated offense in the league – they’re way ahead of who’s in second in all the important stats. It’s not like they’re just a little bit ahead of team 2 in…
SANTA CLARA – Aldon Smith will face Patriots’ left tackle Nate Solder on Sunday. The two players faced each other once in college, and Smith beat Solder for four sacks. Here’s what Smith said in the locker room Thursday afternoon about the upcoming matchup against Solder and the Patriots offense. Q: Do you remember what happened when you faced Nate Solder in college? ALDON SMITH: I had a good game….
Greg Cosell spoke on KNBR Thursday morning. Here’s what he said about the 49ers. Q: What stood out to you in the 49ers win over the Dolphins? COSELL: The 49ers ran 17 snaps in the pistol formation. 31 percent of their offensive plays were in the pistol. I think that’s indicative of the fact that the transition has likely been made, because when you go that heavy with pistol –…
SANTA CLARA – On Sunday, Carlos Rogers will match up against the Patriots’ two best receivers – Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez. Here’s what Rogers said about that Wednesday in the media tent. Q: What makes Wes Welker so tough in the slot? ROGERS: Number one, his quarterback. Tom makes this offense go. [Welker] runs a lot of routes, a lot of option routes. Those quick guys like that, when…
SANTA CLARA — This is what Jim Harbaugh said about the Patriots at his Wednesday press conference. Q: When you look at the Patriots on film, is it a daunting task when they’re playing they way they are at this time of year? HARBAUGH: “Definitely a big challenge and a big task. That’s what we’re preparing for right now.” Q: Patriots QB Tom Brady and the Patriots don’t give up a…
SANTA CLARA – Colin Kaepernick spoke in front of a pillar in the locker room Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said. Q: What challenges do the Patriots present to you? KAEPERNICK: They’re going to give you a lot of different looks on defense. Q: How much does that help your process of development as a quarterback? KAEPERNICK: You just have to prepared for it. You have to be ready for…
SANTA CLARA – Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick just spoke to Bay Area reporters on a conference call. Here’s what he said about the Patriots. Q: How are you feeling about the way the Patriots are playing right now? BELICHICK: It’s all about this game. We need a good week of preparation here against the 49ers. They’re a real good football team. They’re well coached. They have a lot of…
SANTA CLARA — Tarell Brown spoke at his locker Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what he said about the Patriots’ offense. Q: What is going to be key for your defense against the Patriots? BROWN: We all have to go out there and win out one-on-one battles. They have a lot of different weapons, a lot of guys that can make plays, but we’re really fighting against Tom Brady. He has the…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said at his Monday press conference about preparing for the 49ers’ upcoming opponent, the New England Patriots. Q: You’ve been undefeated in prime-time games this season. You notice anything about your team in these games? HARBAUGH: No. Somebody else mentioned that, that we’ve been pretty darn good in those type of games. Just locked in on this one here, going to New England,…
SAN FRANCISCO — Donte Whitner spoke at the podium after the 49ers beat the Dolphins on Sunday. Here’s what Whitner said. Q: Can you talk about your body slam of Reggie Bush? WHITNER: We just want to be physical any way we can. When you’re physical as a defense, it gives the offense something else to think about – not just your scheme, not just your pass rushers, but they…
ESPN’s fantasy football guru Matthew Berry just posted his top-10 fantasy quarterbacks for Week 12. They are: 1. Aaron Rodgers 2. Peyton Manning 3. Robert Griffin III 4. Matt Ryan 5. Tom Brady 6. Andrew Luck 7. Drew Brees 8. Colin Kaepernick 9. Cam Newton 10. Andy Dalton Who’s not on the list: Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford, Alex Smith.
SAN FRANCISCO – Here is the complete transcript of Vernon Davis’s postgame press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. What did you think of QB Colin Kaepernick? “Colin is the man. I think Colin did a great job. I’m very proud of him. I take my hat off to him because he stepped up today. He did some great things out there to help us win this game.” After…
Mike Florio interviewed Alex Smith on Pro Football Talk Live Friday morning. Florio asked Smith what is the biggest difference between playing quarterback in college and in the NFL, and here’s what Smith said. ALEX SMITH: “For one, decision making. It starts there. You have to be able to make the decisions. You have to be able to process fast. There’s so much more volume offensively and defensively. You have…
49ERS DEFENSE VS. PATRIOTS OFENSE: Arguably the best offense against the best defense in the NFL, but San Francisco matches up well and here’s why. The Niners can harass Tom Brady with their four defensive lineman – Aldon Smith, Justin Smith, Ray McDonald and Ahmad Brooks – and cover the skill players with their seven other defenders (linebackers and defensive backs). The Niners can do what the Giants defense did…
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat just posted my dad’s Tuesday column on the Super Bowl. Before the Super Bowl he asked if Tom Brady was as good as Joe Montana – the greatest quarterback of all time. Now, we know that he ain’t. So, in this column my dad asks a new question: Could Eli Manning be the closest quarterback to Joe Cool in the NFL right now? To read…
As a prelude to the Super Bowl, my dad wrote a column comparing Joe Montana and Tom Brady. If the Patriots beat the Giants in the Super Bowl on Sunday, Brady will have won just as many Super Bowls – 4 – as Montana. Would they be equals? To read my dad’s column on the subject, clicker here. Also, I’ll be blogging during and after the Super Bowl, so come…
After Troy Smith’s virtuoso performance against the Rams in mid-November, NFL teams appeared to piece together an effective game plan for stopping the 49ers quarterback: Keep him in the pocket and force him to make accurate passes. That blueprint — or book, if you will — severely limited Smith’s effectiveness and eventually led to his demotion.
