I presume you all have been glued to Fox today and are watching the World Series right now. Did you happen to notice how many the tight ends had great games today? Rob Gronkowski caught eight passes for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns against the St. Louis Rams. Jason Witten, tight end for the Dallas Cowboys, caught 18 passes for 167 yards against the New York Giants. Perry Fewell, the…
The biggest advantage for the 49ers is the Cardinals QB, John Skelton. He struggles mightily in most situations and unfortunately for their team, it is a battle to get the ball to Larry Fitzgerald. Nothing like having a quality player on offense and not be able to get him the ball. Does that sound familiar? I don’t think the 49ers will blow out the Cardinals. I don’t think the 49ers…
SANTA CLARA – Greg Roman spoke at the media tent Friday afternoon. Here’s what he said about Vernon Davis. ME: Many people consider Vernon Davis the best tight end in the NFL, but he doesn’t catch the most passes in this offense. In fact, he’s third in targets this season. Why is that? ROMAN: “He gets my vote for best in the NFL. Physically, you’re not going to find a…
SANTA CLARA — Alex Smith did not throw a pass to Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis last Thursday Night. Here’s what Alex Smith said about that Thursday at his locker. Q: You didn’t throw any passes to Vernon Davis last week. How important is it for you to get him involved in the offense early and often? ALEX SMITH: He’s a key for us. He’s a great player, a…
Here’s how Greg Cosell explained Vernon Davis not catching a pass against the Seahawks Thursday morning on The Murph and Mac Show. COSELL: “First of all, I don’t think their pass game was very dynamic. I don’t think it was very multidimensional this week. Watching the film, I definitely got the impression they felt this would be a low-scoring game. They were going to run the ball. “I don’t think…
Patrick Peterson spoke to Bay Area reporters on a conference call Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said about the 49ers. Q: In terms of this being a rivalry game, what kind of buzz is going on in the locker room, and what sense are you getting from the veteran guys about how important the Niner game is? PETERSON: This is a huge game. One, it’s on Monday night and two,…
Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt spoke to Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning on a conference call. Here’s what he said about the 49ers. Q: Calais Campbell was talking on the radio yesterday about how much he and Darnell Dockett hate the 49ers. Does that represent your whole team’s view of the 49ers? WHISENHUNT: I certainly can’t speak for the whole team, but I think one of the things I…
There’s been a lot of debate lately about whether the 49ers should pass the ball more to Vernon Davis. Here are some stats to help inform the discussion: Last season, the 49ers targeted Vernon Davis on 21 percent of their passes. They targeted Michael Crabtree 25 percent of the time. This season, Crabtree is still receiving a quarter of 49ers the targets, but Davis’ target percentage has dropped to 17…
Here’s the question of the week: Should Frank Gore play against the Cardinals? He bruised his ribs in the second quarter against the Seahawks last week. He practiced on Monday and he says he can play against the Cardinals, but he probably will not be 100 percent healthy. The 49ers need Gore in December and January for their Super Bowl run. It would be wise to rest him in the…
On Friday, Jim Harbaugh was asked about the Seattle Seahawks cornerbacks “locking up” the 49ers wide receiver with physical play Thursday night. Harbaugh answered by suggesting the cornerbacks – Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner – were holding the Niners receivers. Here’s exactly what Harbaugh said: “I wouldn’t use the words ‘locked up.’ There’s another word I would use. But, we’ll take that up with the officials in New York, and…
I’m passing along Pro Football Focus’ player rankings for the 49ers because I think you’ll find them fascinating. If you want to know how PFF grades players, you can read that here. If you want to see the grades, you have to purchase their premium stats. According to Pro Football Focus, Joe Staley currently ranks as the best run-blocking tackle in the NFL by far. Alex Boone and Mike Iupati…
There’s been a lot of discussion here the past few days about whether 49ers’ offensive coordinator Greg Roman is doing a good enough job getting the ball to his best player in the passing game – tight end Vernon Davis. When designing a passing game, an offensive coordinator has what are called “people passes,” and then he also has “patterns” that have progressions that can be influenced by coverage. For…
I’ve been watching the coaches’ film of the 49ers 13-6 win over the Seattle Seahawks this morning. I’ve been looking for the Y-Stick and the Y-Stick Lookie. Those are basic pass plays designed for the tight end – Vernon Davis. He runs a quick hitch in the middle of the field. The quarterback takes a three-step drop from undercenter and throws the ball to Davis. It’s an easy way to…
SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke to Bay Area reporters in the 49ers’ defensive meeting room Friday afternoon. Here’s what he said about Vernon Davis’ performance against the Seahawks. HARBAUGH: “Vernon had one of his best games. His blocking was outstanding. Certainly, the touchdown block highlights it, but he’s blocking Red Bryant pretty consistently the entire game. He just did one heck of a job and allowed our center, our…
Vernon Davis, the most explosive player on the 49ers offense, caught zero passes in the 49ers 13-6 win over the Seahawks. Alex Smith didn’t throw it to him once. After the game, Davis told the San Francisco Chronicle: “Nothing’s there. When I run my corner routes the cornerback is dropping to the corner. They are just taking stuff away, some of my explosive routes and stuff.” Ironically, various 49er players…
SAN FRANCISCO – The 49ers beat the Seahawks 13-6. Here are the grades for the 49ers’ offense. Quarterbacks: D. Alex Smith did not have a good game, but he did lead one touchdown drive in the third quarter and that was all the 49ers needed to beat the Seahawks. Smith was five-of-five on that drive for 60 yards and a touchdown. On the other drives, he was 9-of-18 for 90…
SAN FRANCISCO – The 49ers just lost 26-3 to the New York Giants. Here are the grades for the 49ers’ offense. Quarterbacks: F. This was Alex Smith’s worst game under Jim Harbaugh. Smith threw three picks – the most he’s thrown since 2007. In the first half he missed a handful of open receivers. Then he tried to force a few passes and got picked off. At the end of…
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…
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…
SANTA CLARA – Vernon Davis gazed at my computer screen and said, “I see I hold a lot of anger on the side of my face.” We were standing next to each other outside the 49ers locker room in the shade. I was holding my laptop in my left arm and we were looking at the self portrait he painted when he was a 22-year-old junior at the University of…
