Can San Francisco solve their problems by Monday night?
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Don’t look now but here come the New Orleans Saints so can the San Francisco 49er’s solve their problems by Monday night? The 49er’s laid an egg on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. Against a team with the most roster turnover in the NFL and surrounded by many questions, the San Francisco 49er’s only managed to score 6 points in a shocking blowout. I understand that Seattle is a difficult place to play but to get blown out by 25 points? That’s disturbing.
Can the Niners beat the New Orleans Saints? Sure. Will they beat the Saints? Not if they repeat their performance from Sunday. The Niners secondary will be under immense pressure from Drew Brees and his trio of wide receivers. The best way to beat the Saints is to control the ball. Alex Smith cannot afford to commit any turnovers. But I feel the key to a victory on Monday night is going to be a successful ground game and a heavy dose of Frank Gore.
Gore was limited to 38 yards on 17 carries. I think he should have seen more action during the pre-season. The argument that you don’t want to risk injury to an elite player simply doesn’t hold water with me. Gore didn’t need to be taking 20 snaps a game in the pre-season, but he defiantly needed more work.
But now it appears that there are even more problems with the Niners than Gore’s inability to get rolling on Sunday. Head coach Mike Singletary called for a mandatory team meeting after the team arrived back home from the Seattle game. And now today, sources are questioning the lingering problem of getting plays called in a timely manner. This is something that should be as basic as the center to quarterback exchange and addressed in pre-season.
Yes, the Niners are 0-1 and they were embarrassed in Seattle. The season is not lost, Monday night’s game is going to be difficult to win but not impossible.
Did the San Francisco 49ers get on the plane?
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What was that? Did the San Francisco 49ers even bother to get on the plane to play the Seattle Seahawks? That couldn’t have been RB Frank Gore rushing for 38 yards. No way that was WR Michael Crabtree hauling in 2 passes for 12 yards. QB Alex Smith finished the game with a 52.5 passer rating? Talk about a lousy way to start the season.
The 49ers got off to a 6-0 lead on the strength of two field goals by Joe Nedney but that was it for the scoring as the Seattle Seahawks scored the next 31 points. Despite the Niners running 66 plays to Seattle’s 47, San Francisco was just 1-15 on third downs. They committed 8 penalties. San Francisco committed two turnovers, both interceptions and one was returned for a Seattle touchdown.
RB Frank Gore only rushed for 38 yards on 17 carries. His longest run was 10 yards, and you subtract that from his rushing total, he ran for 2 yard per carry average. Should he have played more in the preseason? That’s a question that seems fair at this point. Michael Crabtree only managed 2 catches for 12 yards despite being targeted 8 times. Should he have played more in the preseason? Most likely. QB Alex Smith attempted 45 passes and only completed 26 for a 5 yard completion average. That is not a formula to win football games.
Now the San Francisco 49ers find themselves with a divisional loss and getting ready to host the New Orleans Saints next Monday night. Head coach Mike Singletary needs to find some answers this week.
49er’s to roll over Seattle Seahawks on Sunday
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The drive to the NFC West championship starts on Sunday for the San Francisco 49er’s and they should roll over the Seattle Seahawks. The Seattle Seahawks have hired former USC head coach Pete Carroll and he has wasted no time in putting his mark on the franchise, virtually turning the entire roster over this offseason, but it will take a couple seasons before Carroll can mold the team into what he envisions for the franchise. The San Francisco 49′ers bring too many offensive weapons to the table and in case you participate in NFL betting, you can see that the San Francisco 49ers are favored in Seattle.
The Seahawks return Matt Hasselbeck under center this year, but Charlie Whitehurst is the heir apparent waiting in the wings to take over the Seahawks offense. Seattle cut ties with their leading receiver from last season, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who is now with the Baltimore Ravens. They have added former first round WR draft bust Mike Williams. Williams, out of USC was drafted and released by the Detroit Lions and is trying to resurrect his NFL career. Seattle also selected WR Golden Tate in this years NFL draft.
The Seattle Seahawks backfield remains the same from last season with Julius Jones and Justin Forsett back again. The Seahawks did add former New York Jets RB Leon Washington via trade and signed former San Francsico 49 special teams ace, Michael Robinson.
Seattle is a team in need of a direction, they lack offensive firepower and this should be a win walking away for the 49ers this Sunday.
49ers coach Mike Singletary wants to change
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The San Francisco 49ers are the preseason favorites to win a weak NFC West division, but the team is not without it’s questions. Will Alex Smith have a successful season? Will the bickering between WR Michael Crabtree and TE Vernon Davis come to an end or linger throughout the season. To answer these questions and more San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary appeared on the Murph and Mac show on KNBR in San Francisco. You can listen to the entire interview right here.
Singletary had nothing but praise for the starting quarterback, Alex Smith. “The best thing about Alex Smith, you ask me where he’s at, I think everbody has had a chance to see him and made their own opinions about where he is at. I think going forward, he’s going to show you……Starting this Sunday, I will let him, by his play, tell you where he is at.”
Singletary added that he doesn’t think the Niners players are rusting from sitting during the preseason. He said that fans could expect to see a couple new wrinkles in the offense but it’s going to be the same old 49er’s offense.
When he was asked about doing anything different this season, he responded- (as transcribed by sportsradiointerviews.com)
“I wish I could change sometimes. But, unfortunately, I think I’m just going to stay the same old guy. Just little changes. Consistency is what we are strive for around here. I’m just going to hold to that.”
San Francisco 49er’s sign Davis to practice squad
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The San Francisco 49er’s signed Troy Smith a few days ago, and to make room for the former Heisman Trophy winner, the released QB Nate Davis. This afternoon according to Adam Schefter of ESPN via Twitter, the former Ball State QB has been re-signed to the Niners practice squad. The addition of Davis to the practice squad does not preclude him from signing with another team in the league, any team can sign any player on a teams practice squad.
In order to make room for Nate Davis, the 49ers have released Jarrett Brown. It was rumored earlier this afternoon that the Seattle Seahawks, who passed on Arizona Cardinals QB Matt Leinart, might put in a waiver claim for Davis. Davis had an up and down preseason for the Niners and came to the team with a grocery bag full of passing records from Ball State and the MAC player of the year award in 2008. Judging from many comments to this writer, Davis was popular with the fans and several fans didn’t want to see the young player released. He is back with the team and fans will have to wait and see if he’ll be able to beat out David Carr for the number three back-up position.
