On one hand you can say that the bare bones conservative game plans on both sides of the ball was sound strategy. Why bust out the fine China when you're serving preseason leftovers? They didn't need to do anything fancy to beat the lowly Seahawks, so they saved it for when they will need to out-scheme somebody to win.
On the other hand, you can only hear the "oh, we'll show it later" line only so many times. Until they prove otherwise, the nagging suspicion is that this is what the 49ers are. If they're gonna get more exotic on one side of the ball, I'm guessing it will be the defense that sticks their toes in that pool first.
They have a slim chance of beating what will be a grouchy Cowboys team next Sunday as it is if they go all out, but if they try replicate this approach against Dallas it's going to get real ugly, real quick.
What I liked:
1. I thought the front seven was outstanding against Seattle (albeit against an offensive line starting three guys making their NFL debuts and with just 27 games of experience total), especially the defensive line. I've knocked the 49ers plenty for signing Ray McDonald to a five-year, $20 million contract after he showed nothing for four seasons, but McDonald certainly looked like a player on Sunday. Not only did he get plenty of push in the pocket, but he was tied for the team lead with six tackles. His perceived inability to play the run was the reason he was on the bench in favor of Isaac Sopoaga, but McDonald had no such problems against the Seahawks. Justin Smith was a beast as usual and had two sacks.
What I really liked was the rotation system the coaches used. Ricky Jean Francois and Will Tukuafu both got regular reps and contributed. I was a bit surprised Demarcus Dobbs was inactive, but all the reserves have to be able to contribute on special teams and Tukuafu has more experience there.
Overall the front seven sacked Tarvaris Jackson five times without blitzing much, forced and recovered two fumbles (both on sacks from Parys Haralson), held Seattle to just 64 rushing yards and 2.9 yards per carry, showing no ill effects from the loss of Aubrayo Franklin and Takeo Spikes to free agency. Ahmad Brooks was quiet on the stat sheet but he set the edge well in the run game and just about all of Seattle's gains in the running game came on Haralson's side. NaVarro Bowman was very active and had a great first half. Patrick Willis didn't dominate, but he laid a couple of shots on Jackson and Justin Forsett to force a pair of incomplete passes.
2. Jim Harbaugh got Alex Smith to using one of his best assets -- his legs. People forget that this guy had great rushing numbers at Utah and showed flashes of scrambling ability in 2006 and very early in 2007 before he suffered that separated shoulder. Smith's a little older now, and no one will confuse him for Michael Vick, but once he escapes the pocket he's fast enough to not be chased down from behind by the trailing linemen and linebackers. Instead of being a sitting duck in the pocket when protection breaks down, Smith took off against Seattle and gained whatever he could get. Sure, it's dangerous for a quarterback to dive into two people at the end zone or to be used as a lead blocker on toss plays, but Smith suffered his career-changing injury in the pocket and quarterbacks get hurt a lot more back there than when they're ball carriers. Besides, as Smith showed multiple times on Sunday, he's plenty athletic enough to slide correctly. He looks smooth doing it.
3. No foolishness. It didn't look pretty, but at least the 49ers didn't embarrass themselves out there the way they had in past seasons. There were no issues getting the plays in on time. No emotional outbursts or yelling matches on the sidelines. No obvious strategical gaffes. Nothing Seattle did that the 49ers weren't ready for. Numerous 49ers said after the game that what they appreciated the most about Harbaugh, even more than his football acumen, was that he's the exact same guy Monday-Saturday that he is on Sunday. He makes his points when he's upset, but he's not a screamer. He can offer constructive coaching tips instead of just mindless yelling and hollering.
Most of all, and Harbaugh has shown this all training camp and preseason, is he's not going to hang out anyone out to dry. No matter how bad one unit of the team or an individual plays, Harbaugh won't admit it publicly. He'll say a guy is playing swell and the coaches love him and then quietly bench him a week later with no notice to us. It won't make him popular with the media, but his locker room will appreciate it.
4. No dependance on Crabtree. Not by the coaching staff or by Alex Smith. The former played him about 2/3 of the snaps in the first half, but a lot of those were running plays. They saw he was limping around and not running well and they benched him in the second half.
As for Smith, it was obviously a mistake on his part to miss a wide-open Crabtree in the end zone in the 2nd quarter, but I liked that he only looked Crabtree's way twice in the game. Last year in the season opener he threw to Crabtree plenty even though the receiver had missed the whole preseason with a neck injury and it was clear he wasn't ready to play. He didn't know all his routes and a couple balls clanked off his hands. Now, Smith is secure enough to make Crab prove to him that he knows what he's doing. Smith has other options in Vernon Davis, in Braylon Edwards and Joshua Morgan. Crabtree has to earn his quarterback's trust.
5. The special teams, obviously. David Akers was 4-for-4 on field goals, Andy Lee had a record-setting day in punting average for a guy with a minimum of four in a game and Ted Ginn had two scores and set a 49ers record for return yardage with 268. What's not to like? Seattle's averages of 22.8 yards on kickoff returns and 9 yards on punt returns weren't bad, but their longest return was 28 yards, which is perfectly fine.
On Ginn's kickoff return touchdown, the Niners had a left return set up and Seattle's two guys on the right, corner Walter Thurmond and safety Earl Thomas, cheated toward the middle and lost backside containment. Ginn saw it and cut back to the right quickly and Colin Jones sealed his guy inside. Thurmond was sucked in too far and Thomas lost the footrace. On the punt return, Tramaine Brock had the initial block to take care of the first man and then Shawntae Spencer got in the way of the last guy at the middle of the field. No one else had a chance.
What I didn't like:
1. Too many dinky college plays. By that I mean the misdirection tosses to Frank Gore with Smith lead blocking, the backside screen to Davis and the bubble screen to Joshua Morgan. All these passes at the line of scrimmage might work against Washington State, but NFL defenders are too fast. Even if they work once, they'll never work again the rest of the year because people will scout it. For a supposed west coast team I sure didn't see many slants or crossing routes out there. It was a lot of short hitches. There was one nice route combination with Crabtree running a post to clear the deep crossing route for Davis, but otherwise it was a bunch of plays designed to get five yards and get tackled immediately.
2. Not trusting Smith on 3rd down. It's silly to expect Frank Gore to gain enough yardage on a draw on 3rd-and-long. The 49ers aren't the Packers or Eagles. Defenses don't respect their QB or the speed of their receivers to totally sell out against the pass. As long as Gore is out there, he will always be the primary focus of the defense, regardless of down and distance. If any team can get away with a play-action on 3rd-and-long, it should be the 49ers. Instead they're running draws. Hopefully it was all a set-up for Week 2.
3. Where was Kendall Hunter? Just two carries for the rookie. Removing him from kickoff return duty is one thing, but giving Gore 22 carries to two for Hunter is just silly. It's a long season and you just gave Gore an extension with some decent guaranteed money, why wear him down by relentlessly hammering him into nine-man lines? How about Anthony Dixon for some of those short-yardage carries. Why is he on the roster if you won't use him there? Why is he even dressed?
4. Too much Moran Norris. 32 snaps in fact. He was god awful, missing blocks left and right. Bruce Miller didn't play one snap on offense. I don't remember how many times the 49ers played a power formation with six linemen, Davis, one receiver and two backs. But it almost never worked. Seattle always had more guys at the line than the 49ers could block. Seriously, knock that stuff off. Look at the Singletary tapes from the last two years. It's not about technique or will or any of that crap. You can't run against nine man fronts in the NFL.
5. Bad run blocking. Norris was by no means the only culprit. Really Joe Staley was the only lineman out there who looked worth a damn. Mike Iupati is supposed to be this road grader, and I just haven't seen it from him in camp or preseason and certainly not on Sunday. Chilo Rachal and Anthony Davis have been hit or miss and on Sunday they both missed, getting no push at all and outright whiffing on some blocks.
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Thoughts after Week 1...
Eagles 31, Rams 13 (+5)... What I wrote before the game:
"Philadelphia's the speediest team in the league and now they play on the fast track in St. Louis? Yeah, I think I like 'em in this one." Eagles 34, Rams 17."
A little early vindication for the "Dream Team" against their critics. Forget the bunk about it being a road game. Anytime the fastest team in football plays in a dome, I'm gonna like their chances. They are vulnerable to the run to be sure, but screw that noise, this is a passing league (I guess the bay area never got the memo on that one).
Texans 34, Colts 7 (+9)... What I said:
"What they don't have: Any talent besides Peyton Manning. Also, that coaching staff is about to get exposed in a bad way." Texans 27, Colts 13.
Houston had all their points in the first half and thoroughly outclassed the Colts in every way imaginable despite not having Arian Foster available and having gotten only a pedestrian performance from Matt Schaub. I really thought Indy would come out with more fire, but they were zombies out there without Manning, only waking up after the Texans had already made their point.
Detroit 27, Tampa Bay 20 (-1)... What I said:
"I find this line kind of ridiculous, quite frankly. The Buccaneers and Josh Freeman get no respect." Buccaneers 30, Lions 20 *THREE POINT SPECIAL.*
Oops. Mayhaps I overestimated Tampa Bay's defensive line a bit. They hardly laid a finger on Matt Stafford. The Lions showed a versatile, balanced attack, blending three receivers (not even counting rookie Titus Young), two tight ends and three backs seamlessly so the Bucs defense never knew what was coming. I don't really blame Raheem Morris for only giving LeGarette Blount five carries. Against Detroit you want to go after that secondary. For whatever reason, Freeman looked a little off and took too long to warm up, and even missed a few plays with leg craps (which affected Stafford too).
Chicago 30, Atlanta 12 (-3)... What I said:
"I'm not high at all on the Falcons, mainly because I don't think any more highly of their defensive backs than Detroit's, but I'm even more down on the Bears, who might have the worst offensive line in the league." Falcons 20, Bears 13 *TWO POINT SPECIAL.*
Well, I got the Atlanta part of it right at least. For what it's worth, Jay Cutler did get sacked five times in this game and had a late pick-six, but it still didn't matter. Chicago's defense was frisky enough to force a few turnovers -- Charles Tillman might be better at popping the ball loose than any corner in NFL history -- and Cutler let it go enough times to throw for 300 yards, finding Matt Forte and Devin Hester for a couple of long catch-and-runs. Matt Ryan got sacked five times in this one too, gang. The Falcons are overrated.
Cincinnati 27, Cleveland 17 (-7)... What I said:
"Colt McCoy isn't that far removed from being a rookie himself and I'm not about to give him seven points against anyone but Kansas or Iowa State." Browns 17, Bengals 13.
He only played for a half before hurting his wrist, but rookie Andy Dalton for the Bengals looked calm and poised in the pocket while McCoy, the second year guy looked skittish and often threw off his back foot. He only got going once he got out of the pocket and threw on the run. The Browns had had 1st-and-goal at the 1 with a 14-13 lead and had to settle for a field goal. They had three more drives after that to extend the lead and couldn't do so. They kept the Bengals in the game long enough and it cost them. Besides Dalton, what impressed me about Cincy was their defense, as their front seven did a lot better job of shutting down the run and bringing the heat on McCoy than I thought they would.
Buffalo 41, Kansas City 7 (-6)... What I said:
"I like Ryan Fitzpatrick more than most and I just have a hunch the Bills will have a frisky offense, even with a crummy line. A funky upset pick here." Bills 27, Chiefs 23.
The way the Bills decimated the Chiefs, at Arrowhead no less, it sure didn't look like an upset. Fitzpatrick is a legitimate quarterback who's come into his own. If he has time to throw he's dangerous and the Chiefs had nobody besides Tamba Hali to bother him. Kansas City is a running team built to play with a lead. The Bills defense with Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus, are built to shut down the run. Bad match-up for KC.
Jacksonville 16, Tennessee 14 (+1)...
"What a snoozer. Why can't both teams just started Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert? Sure, it'd still be a terrible game, but in an interesting way." Titans 27, Jaguars 10 *FOUR POINT SPECIAL.*
I stand by all those statements. I don't care if he ended his holdout three minutes before kickoff, if you're the Titans you have to give the ball to Chris Johnson more. What other options do you have? Matt Hasselbeck looks just about done.
Baltimore 35, Pittsburgh (+2)... What I said:
"I picked the Ravens to make the Super Bowl. For them to get there, they'll have to win games like this." Ravens 23, Steelers 20.
It was easy to see who was more inspired to play this game. The Ravens sacked Big Ben four times, picked him off thrice and forced seven turnovers in all. Tarell Suggs was a beast all game long with a hat trick of sacks and Ed Reed had two picks and dropped a third. On offense, the Ravens didn't get anything out of Lee Evans or Torrey Smith, but they've found something with the tight end tandem Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta. They're not quite what Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are for the Patriots, but they're getting closer. Also, for no reason whatsoever, they ran a trick play for a two-point conversion to make it a 29-7 game. Oh those Harbaughs... what's their deal?
Arizona 28, Carolina 21 (+7)... What I said:
"I think the Panthers will finish with the worst record in the league if Cam Newton starts all 16 games. They can't draft a franchise QB three years in a row, can they?" Cardinals 26, Panthers 9 *FIVE POINT SPECIAL*
Well... uh... they lost, didn't they? Obviously Newton was spectacular in the game and he threw for the most yards of any rookie QB making his debut in NFL history, but did you see that Arizona defense? My god, they have no pass rush. Another rookie, Patrick Peterson, scored the winning touchdown on a punt return, but as a corner he looked fairly raw. I was surprised the Panthers didn't run more to protect Newton. They've got two good backs and gave DeAngelo Williams all that money, but I guess he doesn't need protecting, just throwing bombs out of the gate. The Cardinals with Kevin Kolb throwing and Beanie Wells running looked as good as advertised offensively, but they've got problems.
San Diego 24, Minnesota 17 (+9)... What I said:
"I like the Chargers, but they typically start slow, and nine points against a team with Adrian Peterson on it is too rich for my blood." Chargers 26, Vikings 20.
I didn't exactly foresee 39 passing yards for Donovan McNabb, and Philip Rivers played a bit worse than I would've thought, but yeah, pretty much par for the course. The Vikings o-line had a lot of trouble keeping pass rushers at bay and a hurried McNabb had no rhythm with his receivers. Rivers kept it pretty simple, with a lot of checkdowns and dump-offs to Antonio Gates but it was enough to win, even if it didn't always look pretty.
Washington 28, NY Giants 14 (-3)... What I said:
"The Giants have zero momentum headed into the game and their defense is so beat up at all three levels. If Washington can run the ball at all, they should spring the mild upset." Redskins 23, Giants 17.
Rex Grossman passed for 300 yards, so I rest my case. The Redskins usually look frisky early before losing a couple of close games in mid-season and then losing their spirit shortly after. The Giants have the look of that team this year, you know, the one that has 20 names on the injured reserve list.
NY Jets 27, Dallas 24 (+6)... What I said:
"I'm high on the Jets, but it's a leap of faith to back them by almost a full touchdown against what could be a high-octane Dallas offense." Jets 23, Cowboys 13.
Should've listened to my (ample) gut. The Cowboys Romoed themselves again, but it wasn't Tony's fault that Witten didn't try out-muscling Jim Leonhard into the end zone or that nobody blocked Joe McKnight on a fourth quarter punt. The fact is Dallas probably would've won the game going away if Dez Bryant didn't suffer some cramping and a couple of their DBs didn't get hurt, but those things happen. They still look pretty dangerous, albeit as mentally soft as always.
New England 38, Miami 24 (+7)... What I said:
"It'll be one of those games where New England sleepwalks through three quarters and Miami takes a three point lead late into the game. Then, of course Tom Brady will throw a touchdown pass to Wes Welker with like 58 seconds to go and they'll win by four, to piss off the bettors AND the people who hate them." New England 24, Miami 20.
Brady threw a fairly late TD pass to Welker, but it wasn't a game-winner and the Patriots -- well their offense at least -- certainly didn't sleepwalk during the game. The Jets showed in the playoffs that Brady can be confused if you drop eight in coverage, but if you send four or five all night like Miami did and don't touch him? Forget it. It might have been a closer game if the Dolphins had some better play-calling in the red zone. Chad Henne certainly didn't look like a joke to me, though I can't say the same for their safeties.
Oakland 23, Denver 20 (-3)... What I said: "I can see a close Broncos victory or a Raiders blowout." Denver 24, Oakland 19.
And I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for that dang Kyle Orton and that wet ball. D'oh. Seriously though, what an ugly game. Just completely unwatchable with all those penalties. Darren McFadden is an absolute beast but without a passing game to rely on, the Raiders will get exposed soon enough.
W-L Record: 11-5
W-L Record Vs. Spread: 8-7-1
+/- Points (all games count as one unless specified): -5. TERRIBLE.
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Power Poll:
1. Green Bay (1-0): Didn't exactly look like a championship defense in their opener, but Brees likes to get rid of it quick.
2. Baltimore (1-0): Steelers have allowed 100-yard rusher twice in 52 games. Both times, it was Ray Rice, the most complete back in football.
3. New England (1-0): Similar to Packers -- offense looks unstoppable, pass defense looks spotty. I like Green Bay's personnel at WR, DB a lot more though.
4. Philadelphia (1-0): They're like a baseball team with a great bullpen. You give those pass rushers and corners a 10 point lead, the game's over.
5. San Diego (1-0): They'll always cobble together a passing game with Rivers, but pass rush's dominance surprised me. Losing Luis Castillo is a big blow.
6. NY Jets (1-0): A bit of a lucky win to be sure, but impressive nonetheless without a running game. They got good pressure on Romo.
7. New Orleans (0-1): No shame in losing to Super Bowl champs on the road, but their secondary stinks. Can't they do better than Roman Harper?
8. Chicago (1-0): By hook or by crook they did host NFC title game last year and looked good against Atlanta. Let's see how they do against Saints.
9. Detroit (1-0): A bit too reliant on Jahvid Best late when they still had Maurice Morris and Jerome Harrison. Great game from the offensive line.
10. Buffalo (1-0): Running game more effective now that they stopped forcing half the carries to C.J. Spiller and gave them to Fred Jackson.
11. Houston (1-0): Great first half, bleh second half against Indy, but what does it mean? They might've beaten the worst team in the league. Need more info.
12. Pittsburgh (0-1): They only get this spot out of respect, not merit. Troy Polamalu got that contract for past accomplishments, not future ones.
13. Dallas (0-1): Shaky offensive line, inconsistent secondary, enigmatic receiver, and it still took a Romo choke for them to lose. Same ol' Cowboys.
14. Atlanta (0-1): Good passing game with Matt Ryan, good runner in Michael Turner, OK pass rush, so how'd they get crushed? Team is less than sum of parts.
15. Washington (1-0): They didn't show many holes, but it's early. Not sure I can trust their pass rush or their offensive line for the long term.
16. Tampa Bay (0-1): Almost made an impressive comeback against Lions. They're a young, talented bunch, but still suffering some growing pains.
17. St. Louis (0-1): Injuries to corner Ron Bartell, Denny Amendola and Steven Jackson. Sam Bradford has a sore finger. Otherwise they're in good shape.
18. NY Giants (0-1): The battered defense desperately needs the running game to carry them. Eli Manning might too. They're on the brink of disaster.
19. San Francisco (1-0): Dominating special teams, great run defense, consistent pressure from base four man rush. That's all great, but preseason just ended.
20. Oakland (1-0): Stop me if you've heard this before -- Raiders need to find a passing game, clean up penalties.
21. Arizona (1-0): If they don't find a way to pressure the quarterback, they're gonna give up some "fortyburgers" whenever they play someone outside of division.
22. Miami (0-1): The offense looked like it had a pulse, at least. Tough to gauge defense against Tom Brady and Co. Cramping problems in Florida humidity.
23. Cincinnati (1-0): This might be their high point in the power poll, but you never know. They've got Broncos coming up. I like Andy Dalton.
24. Cleveland (0-1): It's year two, Colt McCoy. Quit looking like such a spaz in the pocket. And tell your defense to line up in time for the snap.
25. Minnesota (0-1): I'm guessing they'll come out throwing next week, just to spare Donovan McNabb the humiliation. Home against Tampa? Interesting game.
26. Carolina (0-1): Yes, Cam Newton looked great, but they might not play a worse defense all year. Plus, they lost Jon Beason for the year.
27. Jacksonville (1-0): It's not fair, but probably honest, if I put Tennessee ahead of them. I mean, what did they show, really?
28. Tennessee (0-1): Well, they showed they were better on Sunday than Tennessee, jackass.
29. Denver (0-1): They need to find a back from somewhere. Knowshon Moreno is a bust. He just is. Just admit it to yourselves already.
30. Kansas City (0-1): The anti-Eagles. You get them down a touchdown and that's the ballgame. Lost Eric Barry, so below average secondary gets worse.
31. Seattle (0-1): Showed some second-half spunkiness at SF, but their offensive line has a lot of problems and their kick coverage was a joke.
32. Indianapolis (0-1): Embarrassing. They've got five great players and 40 awful ones. How does a GM build a team like that? This isn't fantasy football.
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Three teams that might be better than I thought:
3) Buffalo: I don't care that it was just Kansas City. It was still 41-7 and it was on the road in a tough place to play. The Bills have the potential for a balanced offense, which is fairly rare in the NFL and they can stop the run, which helps. Home against Oakland on Sunday, so a great chance for a 2-0 start.
2) Detroit: The jury is still out on Jahvid Best, who doesn't have great acceleration, but I was surprised how easily they won at Tampa.
1) Chicago: The Bears might be one of those teams we don't want to be good, so we look for nits to pick. If Jay Cutler is upright, they'll be in every game.
Three teams that might be worse than I thought:
3) Pittsburgh: Not competitive at all at Baltimore. Tackle Willie Colon out for the year. Mike Wallace only playmaker on offense. Defense looks very old.
2) Kansas City: If Jamaal Charles isn't going off, their goose is cooked. Are they tuning out Todd Haley already?
1) Atlanta: Something is off about them besides just the secondary. I'll be watching closely Sunday night against Philly.
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