Here’s how good the 49ers are in 2011 – they can play a “C+” game, on the road, and still dominate the first 57 minutes and win comfortably.
Did any facet of their operation thrill you during yesterday’s 19-11 win at FedExField over the injury decimated and far too Shanahanned Washington [insert offensive racial euphemism here]?
On offense there were ill-timed penalties that turned an early 3rd-and-1 into a 3rd-and-6 and turned a second half 4th-and-1 where they appeared set to go for it into a 4th-and-6 and another David Akers field goal. There were drops by Frank Gore and Vernon Davis that ruined drives and a bad miss by Alex Smith on third down when he could’ve hit a wide open Gore on a rollout. The Niners converted 3-of-12 third downs and were 0-for-2 in the red zone. Several times plays appeared to come to Smith too late, forcing him to waste time outs and reminding us of the bad old Mike Singletary days.
Defensively they were sensational as always against the run, and after two or three productive carries by Washington rookie Roy Helu, he got nothing the rest of the way. It’s gotten to the point where you wonder why people even bother ever calling a running play against the Niners. It’s a waste of a down, akin to turning a 49ers defensive series into the CFL, where the opposing offense only has two plays and then the punt. However, run defense aside – the locals still haven’t allowed a rushing touchdown all season and haven’t had anybody run for 100 on them in 30 games – it wasn’t a dominating performance by any means.
Patrick Willis was amazing as always, but neither of his forced fumbles on Helu came on a ferocious hit or a powerful strip. Helu just wasn’t securing the ball high-and-tight (think Jeremy Maclin) and “P-Willie” did what he does because he’s a future Hall-of-Famer. Dashon Goldson had a fabulous break on a ball to snatch his second interception in as many games, but let’s face it, it’s not like John Beck has a cannon.
To me, the disappointing aspect of the defense, and maybe I’m picking nits here, was the pass rush, or lack thereof. Ahmad Brooks had the only sack the Niners had, out of 51 Beck drop-backs. Beck attempted 47 passes and scrambled for gains on four other occasions when the pocket broke down on him. Far too often, he had all day back there, especially in play-action situations. It was a credit to the secondary (and an indictment of Beck) that he only had 254 yards on his 30 completions and had to settle for so many check-downs to Helu, but that was the same Washington o-line that gave up 10 sacks to Buffalo last week. Against a better QB and better receivers – such as the ones they’ll face next Sunday – that kind of time in the pocket portends bad things.
Even on special teams, Akers was a perfect 4-for-4, including a 52-yarder; and Brad Seely’s coverage units were solid as always led by Blake Costanzo and C.J. Spillman, but Andy Lee dumped two of his five punts into the end zone and Ted Ginn had a quiet day in the return game.
What I liked about the operation on offense is that Gore wasn’t overtaxed and that Harbaugh got everyone involved, whether it was Bruce Miller or Kendall Hunter or Kyle Williams or Ginn. There were personnel packages aplenty and formations galore. Smith completed passes to eight different receivers and was as sharp (70.8%) as he’s been any game since the season-opener, when he dinked-and-dunked for 124 yards on 15-of-20 against Seattle.
My concern is that at times these guys are too clever by half. You don’t need nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga out there to convert every 3rd-and-1. You don’t always need seven linemen or multiple shifts or this guy motioning and that guy reporting as an eligible receiver. Trickery is fine and good on 1st-and-10 against somebody worthwhile. On 3rd-and-inches how about you just do a QB sneak right behind Mike Iupati’s big derriere and see what happens?
Then there are the red zone issues. At some point Harbaugh will have to give the other team’s run defense some credit. There’s a reason the 49ers haven’t allowed a rushing touchdown all season. It’s not easy to jam it in there in close quarters when there isn’t as much field to defend. It really is easier to pass it in. If it’s a simple matter of saving your “good” red zone plays for the good teams when you’re gonna need them, that’s one thing, but eventually Harbaugh will have to trust that the quarterback who’s been so careful with the ball for him all season will be that same quarterback inside the 10-yard-line. In fact, Smith’s history is that he’s been better in those situations than he is normally. Harbaugh has let Smith pass it in the red zone in games they’ve trailed, but not nearly as much as when they’re playing from ahead. Until that changes, this team will continue to lack that killer instinct.
I must stress that I don’t think Harbaugh coaching this way has any reflection on what he thinks of Smith as a passer. I’m quite aware that the national perception – and that of some local columnists – is that he’s “hiding,” “protecting,” or trying to win in spite of Smith, but that’s not how I’m reading the situation at all. I just think Harbaugh is naturally a run-first coach and conservative by nature and that trying to pound it in fits in with his whole macho persona and tutelage under Bo Schembechler. Still, by-and-large, running the ball up the gut will lead to more Akers field goals than not. I have a suspicion that the Giants will score more than 11 points, so maybe this will be the week that Harbaugh puts the game more in Smith’s hands, especially with Gore gimpy with a bum left ankle.
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Reason Why Jim Harbaugh Is Difficult To Work With – No. 618
Toward the end of his press conference, Harbaugh, perhaps annoyed that no one asked him a special teams question, decided to praise the work of C.J. Spillman for occupying numerous Washington’s blockers and Tramaine Brock for blocking in coverage. Then he said this, about Akers:
“Another four-for-four in the field goals. Now I see you nodding your heads, you like that low-hanging fruit don’t you? ‘Oh four-for-four, that’s a statistic we can mark.’”
That’s right coach. None of us understand a darn thing about football beyond the surface statistics. We’re all total laymen who don’t even watch the games.
Of course, whenever anybody asks Harbaugh an actual football question, such as “what’s the difference in responsibilities between your two safeties,” or “Can you give an example of the difference in techniques the inside linebackers have in Vic Fangio’s 3-4 defense versus Greg Manusky’s defense?” all we ever get is “I’m not going to get into the scheme.”
Eventually the way the NFL is going, independent media will be eliminated altogether and the league will just let team employees disseminate information to the public. Unfortunately, guys like Rex Ryan are the exception in this profession, not the rule. To Harbaugh’s credit, the better you are at your job, the less any of this other stuff matters. Thousands of Giants fans – including myself – cheered Barry Bonds everyday without ever thinking of he treated the beat writers the night before, and we were perfectly right to do so. Harbaugh deserves all the cheers he’s getting as well.
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Game Balls:
Ricky Jean Francois – made his second start of the season and first ever start at defensive end, in place of the injured Ray McDonald. I admit that before this season that I didn’t think much of all as Jean Francois as an NFL player. I loved him as a person, of course, as does just about anybody who interacts with him, but I thought for the most part that when he did see action on the field, that he looked like one would expect a former 7th-round pick to look. However, Jean Francois has been much better at holding the point this season and I thought he had a great game on the nose against Tampa when he starred in place of Isaac Sopoaga.
Yesterday he wasn’t quite as good, but it was obvious that Washington was targeting him and running to his direction early on. Jean Francois said he got some tips from Sopoaga and linemate Justin Smith on the sidelines and after that the running game went pffft. I give him credit for being versatile enough to not just play end on the run downs, but also to be able to take over McDonald’s role in the nickel and do his part as a pass rusher as well. It’s not easy to go from a reserve to an every down player and Jean Francois played just about every snap on defense from what I saw.
Dashon Goldson: In the offseason I openly wondered which Goldson we’ve seen is the real one – the 2009 version or the 2010 version? Well, through six games – he missed the first two with a knee injury – Goldson’s play, while not as consistently spectacular as we saw two years ago, has definitely leaned closer in that direction than last season’s, which saw him get almost no interest in the free agent market. The 49ers free safety is back to his playmaking ways, and has been involved in a turnover in four of the last five games, including yesterday’s interception. He’s always been a ferocious hitter, but if he continues to be a ball hawk, the 49ers will have to shell out the bucks to re-sign him.
Bruce Miller: The 30-yard pass he caught for a touchdown effortlessly in the second quarter gives you a good idea of why Miller, a defensive end at UCF, was drafted to be a fullback. Good coaching can teach a kid to block, if he’s smart enough and strong enough and willing to do it. Coaches can’t teach Moran Norris to run fast or catch. Running backs coach Tom Rathman pointed out that Miller’s blocking game still has more to do with angles and leverage than it does with power, but even in that aspect I’ve seen him get out to make some blocks on the second level there was no way the plodding Morris could’ve made. I think the kid is gonna have a nice career here.
David Akers: He’s now a perfect 4-of-4 on kicks of 50 yards or longer. I can’t shake the feeling that having a kicker as the offense’s most dependable weapon is also its biggest curse. When coaches trust their kickers too much they tend to not be as aggressive in their play-calls between the 25 and 40-yard-lines. I guess the same is true, in a way, of having a great defense. They both detract coaches from the goal of scoring touchdowns. We’ll see how it affects the 49ers down the road.
Showing posts with label Ricky Jean Francois. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ricky Jean Francois. Show all posts
Monday, November 7, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
49ers Throttle Bucs But Needlessly Lose WR Morgan
SAN FRANCISCO -- 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh was wrong three times on Sunday afternoon.
1) He went for it on 4th-and-2 from Tampa Bay's 20-yard-line with four minutes to go and a 41-3 lead, instead of kicking the field goal. In fact, he didn't just go for it; he called a pass.
2) After the game he speculated that receiver Joshua Morgan's injury wasn't too serious, even though Morgan's left foot was badly twisted underneath him in similar fashion to the injury that befell San Francisco Giants star catcher Buster Posey on May 25th and ended his year. Morgan needed assistance from teammates to get off the field and was helped onto a cart. A couple hours later CSN Bay Area reported that Morgan fractured his ankle, which likely means he'll be out for the season.
3) In the otherwise cheery postgame presser, Harbaugh gave a reporter (okay, me) some guff for mispronouncing Ricky Jean Francois' name during a question. "It's Ricky Gene, get the pronunciation right," he chided. One would think the "Francois" part would be a dead giveaway of the French roots of his nose tackle's surname, but nonetheless, I went to the Jean Francois himself in the locker room who assured me it is in fact pronounced Zhahn-Frahnswah, not Jeen-Frahnswah.
Whatever. Harbaugh's a football coach, not a linguistics professor. I don't care if he calls Jean Francois "Ndamukong Suh," really. It's his room. And it's hardly the first time he's been condescending to the media when the facts were clearly not on his side. As fans and colleagues have told me ad nauseam, as long as the team is winning, nobody will ever care how Harbaugh acts or speaks.
However, while mistake No. 3 was trivial for Harbaugh the first two certainly weren't, and it casts a pall on an otherwise perfect 56 minutes for the coach, where he made, I'm sure, literally hundreds of correct decisions in guiding his team to a remarkable, stunning, merciless 48-3 win over previously 3-1 Tampa Bay.
Let's focus on the good stuff first.
The Buccaneers came into the game no doubt filled with confidence. Their coach, Raheem Morris, referred to his team as "The West Coast Killers" based on their wins at Arizona and against these very same (well mostly same) Niners last season. He boasted about his squad's confidence on the road playing in hostile environments. The Bucs had won 9 of their previous 12 away games. In last year's meeting with the 49ers, San Francisco came into the game with a two-game winning streak, just like this season. Tampa Bay whupped them up and down the field, winning easily 21-0 and handed the Niners their first shutout at home since 1977. The Bucs defense had six sacks of starting QB Troy Smith that day and hounded him into a 51.5 passer rating, while their guy Josh Freeman had two touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 117.9 QB rating.
However, not everything was hunky dory with the 2011 Bucs, even though they'd won their past three games. For one thing, the schedule was stacked against them. They had to play on Monday night this week and then fly cross-country to face the 49ers, so they didn't have too much time to recover or prepare. Also, Freeman hasn't been the same guy so far this year. Last year he was sensational, with 25 touchdowns, just six interceptions, and a 95.9 rating as a second-year starter. He came into this game with three touchdowns, four interceptions and a 81.1 rating.
As the game unfolded, it because quickly apparent that 49ers QB Alex Smith (11-of-19, three touchdowns, no picks, 127.2 rating) is not very similar at all to Troy Smith except for their shared last name. Smith sliced and diced through the Bucs on the opening possession and hit tight end Delanie Walker on a perfect pass in between three defenders to make it 7-0.
Freeman, meanwhile was very similar to the guy he's been throughout the first four weeks of this season (minus the fourth quarter heroics this time), rather than the one who starred last year. He threw two early picks; one that was returned 31 yards by Carlos Rogers for a touchdown to make it 14-3 and another to rookie Chris Culliver that led to another score to make it 21-3 and the rout was on.
Smith, who didn't have to do much on this day, only showed off one other time. He was red hot to open the third quarter too, hitting Michael Crabtree on a slant on 3rd-and-14 for 15 yards, then Morgan on a bubble screen for a 24-yard catch-and-run and then Vernon Davis over the middle for 23 and a touchdown to make it 31-3.
Mostly though, the 49ers ran and ran and ran it some more. They ran shotgun draws that surprised the Bucs and from jumbo formations with six linemen (right guard Adam Snyder was lining up at fullback) and three tight ends that didn't. It really didn't matter if Tampa Bay knew it was coming or not, particularly after they lost defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to an ankle injury late in the first quarter. The more lopsided the score got, the less resistance the Buccaneers offered.
Frank Gore (20 carries for 125 yards) found wide running lanes between the tackles the first three quarters, and then rookie Kendall Hunter ran a series of student body sweeps and tosses left and right for 65 more yards of his own on nine carries. All in all, the 49ers had a season-high 213 rushing yards, with their backs often not getting touched until they were 10 or 15 yards down field.
The domination of their offensive line didn't just extend to the run game however. Smith wasn't sacked once all game and I can't even remember him being hit. Everyone up front did a great job, but tackles Joe Staley and Anthony Davis in particular deserve kudos for their work.
Defensively there wasn't much to quibble with either. Harbaugh noted how quickly his secondary reacted to the ball, how they read routes and how they got their hands on so many passes. Culliver, the third-round pick with prototypical size and speed but only three games of cornerback experience in the SEC, looked like the real deal and Rogers put the kibosh on his butterfingers reputation with an interception in his third successive game. He never had more than two in any of his previous six seasons in Washington. Also, free safety Dashon Goldson laid out Bucs receiver Mike Williams with a ferocious hit in the third quarter, causing a fumble. It was the first time all season that both starting safeties -- Goldson and Donte Whitner -- played at the same time, and the results speak for themselves.
The front seven stuffed LeGarrette Blount (10 carries for 34 yards) even without starting nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, who missed the game with a staph infection. Jean Francois was superb in relief and the 49ers extended their streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher to 27. They also had three sacks, pretty much all of the "coverage" variety, with first-round pick Aldon Smith collecting two of them. He now has 3.5 on the season, which leads the team and trails only Denver's Von Miller among rookies.
In short, the 49ers were the much better team in every facet a football game could be measured. They won all three phases, controlled the line of scrimmage and thoroughly out-coached and out-executed the road weary Bucs. Harbaugh and his assistants deserve all the credit in the world, not just for having the team absolutely prepared for this game, but also in a big-picture sense, as their fingerprints on the team are easy to see everywhere.
The 49ers, even without the benefit of mini-camps to install the new offensive and defensive schemes, look for all the world like runaway division champs and one of the seven or eight best teams in football. It's taken virtually no time at all for Harbaugh to change the culture of the locker room and to turn Smith into not just a serviceable quarterback, but a good one. Again, they deserve full credit for that.
However, two things can be equally true, and the facts remain Harbaugh totally screwed up the end game.
He tried to run up the score, because it's what he does. It was the same way at Stanford, when he went for two with a billion point lead against USC late in the game, prompting then-Trojan coach Pete Carroll to ask him "What's your deal?"
As Harbaugh said in last Monday's presser, he's "moody and complicated." Part of this complication extends to being a bully when he knows the other team has given up and quit. He doesn't know how to win gracefully and he feigns surprise when people ask him why he enjoys stepping on the opponent's throat and twisting his heel.
"You've got to play," he said. "You can’t take a knee with four minutes left in the game. It could have been a run. Josh was competing; I think he's going to be okay. [QB Colin] Kaepernick is competing; he's got to get to work. We're not taking a knee with four minutes left in the game."
Nobody was asking you to take a knee, coach, and I understand that Kaepernick needs "work" though I'd question the value of that work in a 41-3 game against a defeated team. But that's what downs 1-3 are for. On 4th-and-3 it's just good form to kick the damn ball.
The thing about Harbaugh is that unlike previous 49ers coaches, he's repeatedly demonstrated that he's capable of learning, even though he'd never admit, ever, that he made a mistake in the first place.
The media suggested that mayhaps right guard Chilo Rachal wasn't playing too well? Harbaugh insisted that he was, then benched him in favor of Adam Snyder, who's been tremendous.
Some of us wondered why Kendall Hunter wasn't playing when Gore was struggling early, and voila, Hunter has gotten a lot of work the past three weeks and prospered.
Harbaugh was questioned why he kept a field goal on the scoreboard in a loss to Dallas instead of taking the penalty and accepting what would've been a 1st-and-10 at the 22-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Against the Bucs he gleefully pulled an Akers field goal off the board and accepted a Tampa Bay penalty early in the fourth quarter and then had Smith throw in the end zone to Davis to make it 41-3.
So rest assured that when the grave results do come in on poor Morgan, that Harbaugh won't admit he erred, when his efforts to impress the AP Poll or whatever he was attempting to do cost him one of his best receivers and most popular players inside the locker room. I'm guessing the next time the 49ers are administrating or receiving a whipping, he'll be more conservative and that the explanation he'll offer for his change of heart will bend the truth severely, similar to the way Morgan bent his ankle.
Morgan got needlessly hurt last year too at Kansas City, when Mike Singletary called a pass on the final play with the 49ers trailing 31-3. Morgan scored a cosmetic touchdown to make it 31-10 at the gun and Singletary sent his message -- that he's a terrible coach who could care less about his players' safety.
Maybe next time a 49ers coach calls a pass play in a blowout, Morgan will just fall down.
1) He went for it on 4th-and-2 from Tampa Bay's 20-yard-line with four minutes to go and a 41-3 lead, instead of kicking the field goal. In fact, he didn't just go for it; he called a pass.
2) After the game he speculated that receiver Joshua Morgan's injury wasn't too serious, even though Morgan's left foot was badly twisted underneath him in similar fashion to the injury that befell San Francisco Giants star catcher Buster Posey on May 25th and ended his year. Morgan needed assistance from teammates to get off the field and was helped onto a cart. A couple hours later CSN Bay Area reported that Morgan fractured his ankle, which likely means he'll be out for the season.
3) In the otherwise cheery postgame presser, Harbaugh gave a reporter (okay, me) some guff for mispronouncing Ricky Jean Francois' name during a question. "It's Ricky Gene, get the pronunciation right," he chided. One would think the "Francois" part would be a dead giveaway of the French roots of his nose tackle's surname, but nonetheless, I went to the Jean Francois himself in the locker room who assured me it is in fact pronounced Zhahn-Frahnswah, not Jeen-Frahnswah.
Whatever. Harbaugh's a football coach, not a linguistics professor. I don't care if he calls Jean Francois "Ndamukong Suh," really. It's his room. And it's hardly the first time he's been condescending to the media when the facts were clearly not on his side. As fans and colleagues have told me ad nauseam, as long as the team is winning, nobody will ever care how Harbaugh acts or speaks.
However, while mistake No. 3 was trivial for Harbaugh the first two certainly weren't, and it casts a pall on an otherwise perfect 56 minutes for the coach, where he made, I'm sure, literally hundreds of correct decisions in guiding his team to a remarkable, stunning, merciless 48-3 win over previously 3-1 Tampa Bay.
Let's focus on the good stuff first.
The Buccaneers came into the game no doubt filled with confidence. Their coach, Raheem Morris, referred to his team as "The West Coast Killers" based on their wins at Arizona and against these very same (well mostly same) Niners last season. He boasted about his squad's confidence on the road playing in hostile environments. The Bucs had won 9 of their previous 12 away games. In last year's meeting with the 49ers, San Francisco came into the game with a two-game winning streak, just like this season. Tampa Bay whupped them up and down the field, winning easily 21-0 and handed the Niners their first shutout at home since 1977. The Bucs defense had six sacks of starting QB Troy Smith that day and hounded him into a 51.5 passer rating, while their guy Josh Freeman had two touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 117.9 QB rating.
However, not everything was hunky dory with the 2011 Bucs, even though they'd won their past three games. For one thing, the schedule was stacked against them. They had to play on Monday night this week and then fly cross-country to face the 49ers, so they didn't have too much time to recover or prepare. Also, Freeman hasn't been the same guy so far this year. Last year he was sensational, with 25 touchdowns, just six interceptions, and a 95.9 rating as a second-year starter. He came into this game with three touchdowns, four interceptions and a 81.1 rating.
As the game unfolded, it because quickly apparent that 49ers QB Alex Smith (11-of-19, three touchdowns, no picks, 127.2 rating) is not very similar at all to Troy Smith except for their shared last name. Smith sliced and diced through the Bucs on the opening possession and hit tight end Delanie Walker on a perfect pass in between three defenders to make it 7-0.
Freeman, meanwhile was very similar to the guy he's been throughout the first four weeks of this season (minus the fourth quarter heroics this time), rather than the one who starred last year. He threw two early picks; one that was returned 31 yards by Carlos Rogers for a touchdown to make it 14-3 and another to rookie Chris Culliver that led to another score to make it 21-3 and the rout was on.
Smith, who didn't have to do much on this day, only showed off one other time. He was red hot to open the third quarter too, hitting Michael Crabtree on a slant on 3rd-and-14 for 15 yards, then Morgan on a bubble screen for a 24-yard catch-and-run and then Vernon Davis over the middle for 23 and a touchdown to make it 31-3.
Mostly though, the 49ers ran and ran and ran it some more. They ran shotgun draws that surprised the Bucs and from jumbo formations with six linemen (right guard Adam Snyder was lining up at fullback) and three tight ends that didn't. It really didn't matter if Tampa Bay knew it was coming or not, particularly after they lost defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to an ankle injury late in the first quarter. The more lopsided the score got, the less resistance the Buccaneers offered.
Frank Gore (20 carries for 125 yards) found wide running lanes between the tackles the first three quarters, and then rookie Kendall Hunter ran a series of student body sweeps and tosses left and right for 65 more yards of his own on nine carries. All in all, the 49ers had a season-high 213 rushing yards, with their backs often not getting touched until they were 10 or 15 yards down field.
The domination of their offensive line didn't just extend to the run game however. Smith wasn't sacked once all game and I can't even remember him being hit. Everyone up front did a great job, but tackles Joe Staley and Anthony Davis in particular deserve kudos for their work.
Defensively there wasn't much to quibble with either. Harbaugh noted how quickly his secondary reacted to the ball, how they read routes and how they got their hands on so many passes. Culliver, the third-round pick with prototypical size and speed but only three games of cornerback experience in the SEC, looked like the real deal and Rogers put the kibosh on his butterfingers reputation with an interception in his third successive game. He never had more than two in any of his previous six seasons in Washington. Also, free safety Dashon Goldson laid out Bucs receiver Mike Williams with a ferocious hit in the third quarter, causing a fumble. It was the first time all season that both starting safeties -- Goldson and Donte Whitner -- played at the same time, and the results speak for themselves.
The front seven stuffed LeGarrette Blount (10 carries for 34 yards) even without starting nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, who missed the game with a staph infection. Jean Francois was superb in relief and the 49ers extended their streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher to 27. They also had three sacks, pretty much all of the "coverage" variety, with first-round pick Aldon Smith collecting two of them. He now has 3.5 on the season, which leads the team and trails only Denver's Von Miller among rookies.
In short, the 49ers were the much better team in every facet a football game could be measured. They won all three phases, controlled the line of scrimmage and thoroughly out-coached and out-executed the road weary Bucs. Harbaugh and his assistants deserve all the credit in the world, not just for having the team absolutely prepared for this game, but also in a big-picture sense, as their fingerprints on the team are easy to see everywhere.
The 49ers, even without the benefit of mini-camps to install the new offensive and defensive schemes, look for all the world like runaway division champs and one of the seven or eight best teams in football. It's taken virtually no time at all for Harbaugh to change the culture of the locker room and to turn Smith into not just a serviceable quarterback, but a good one. Again, they deserve full credit for that.
However, two things can be equally true, and the facts remain Harbaugh totally screwed up the end game.
He tried to run up the score, because it's what he does. It was the same way at Stanford, when he went for two with a billion point lead against USC late in the game, prompting then-Trojan coach Pete Carroll to ask him "What's your deal?"
As Harbaugh said in last Monday's presser, he's "moody and complicated." Part of this complication extends to being a bully when he knows the other team has given up and quit. He doesn't know how to win gracefully and he feigns surprise when people ask him why he enjoys stepping on the opponent's throat and twisting his heel.
"You've got to play," he said. "You can’t take a knee with four minutes left in the game. It could have been a run. Josh was competing; I think he's going to be okay. [QB Colin] Kaepernick is competing; he's got to get to work. We're not taking a knee with four minutes left in the game."
Nobody was asking you to take a knee, coach, and I understand that Kaepernick needs "work" though I'd question the value of that work in a 41-3 game against a defeated team. But that's what downs 1-3 are for. On 4th-and-3 it's just good form to kick the damn ball.
The thing about Harbaugh is that unlike previous 49ers coaches, he's repeatedly demonstrated that he's capable of learning, even though he'd never admit, ever, that he made a mistake in the first place.
The media suggested that mayhaps right guard Chilo Rachal wasn't playing too well? Harbaugh insisted that he was, then benched him in favor of Adam Snyder, who's been tremendous.
Some of us wondered why Kendall Hunter wasn't playing when Gore was struggling early, and voila, Hunter has gotten a lot of work the past three weeks and prospered.
Harbaugh was questioned why he kept a field goal on the scoreboard in a loss to Dallas instead of taking the penalty and accepting what would've been a 1st-and-10 at the 22-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Against the Bucs he gleefully pulled an Akers field goal off the board and accepted a Tampa Bay penalty early in the fourth quarter and then had Smith throw in the end zone to Davis to make it 41-3.
So rest assured that when the grave results do come in on poor Morgan, that Harbaugh won't admit he erred, when his efforts to impress the AP Poll or whatever he was attempting to do cost him one of his best receivers and most popular players inside the locker room. I'm guessing the next time the 49ers are administrating or receiving a whipping, he'll be more conservative and that the explanation he'll offer for his change of heart will bend the truth severely, similar to the way Morgan bent his ankle.
Morgan got needlessly hurt last year too at Kansas City, when Mike Singletary called a pass on the final play with the 49ers trailing 31-3. Morgan scored a cosmetic touchdown to make it 31-10 at the gun and Singletary sent his message -- that he's a terrible coach who could care less about his players' safety.
Maybe next time a 49ers coach calls a pass play in a blowout, Morgan will just fall down.
Friday, October 7, 2011
49ers Look To Snuff Out "West Coast Killers;" Week 5 Picks
As you've no doubt heard, one of 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh's trademark inspirational catchphrases is to ask the team after wins, "Who's got it better than us?" where afterward, the team answers, in unison, "Noooooo-body."
The origins of it come from Harbaugh's humble beginnings, where his father would use the saying to rally the family when times got tough. Harbaugh took the rhetorical to heart and adopted it as a coach to lift up his team's confidence, knowing full well that on most day's his players weren't the most talented ones on the field.
So it's a bit odd then, that these days when Harbaugh asks his charges who's got it better than them, the answer they yell back at him is damn close to the truth. According to the gang at Football Outsiders, the 49ers are currently the second-likeliest team to make the postseason, at 89.1 percent, trailing only the 4-0 defending champion Green Bay Packers. Our local gridironers have a two-game lead against division mates Arizona and Seattle and a three game advantage over the preseason NFC West favorite St. Louis Rams, who, in their decimated condition, wouldn't even be favorites in the Pac-12.
The Cardinals and Seahawks next games are both on the road, which has not been nearly as hospitable to them as it has to the 49ers this year. The Rams, meanwhile, get the reprieve of a bye week, but have to visit the aforementioned Packers the Sunday after that, meaning they're a mortal lock for 0-5 (kind of like how the 49ers were at Philly, but mortal-er).
Your Niners, on the other hand, are at home against the wholly annoying Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a squad who dominated them at the 'Stick last season to the tune of 21-0. Then, as now, San Francisco entered the game on the heels of a two-game winning streak and full of confidence. The difference is the last couple of seasons they had a coaching staff that was exposed as lazy, arrogant and under-prepared when times were good and now they have Harbaugh, who might tell his players they're not half bad after wins but spends the rest of the week tirelessly chewing over every last detail like some hyperactive badger. The next time he takes an opponent lightly will be the first, and he's got enough guys on the roster who remember all too well the pounding they took from these Bucs.
Another key difference is this time Harbaugh will have Alex Smith under center, whereas last time they had to make do with Troy Smith. The Buccaneers coaches quickly discovered that the latter was next to useless once you took the play-action pass away from him and the Troy Smith Era, which began with much promise, quickly faded into a footnote in 49ers lore.
You know what? It's aggravating to keep writing "Alex Smith" and "Troy Smith" over and over, so for the purposes of this preview, Alex will now be referred to as "Utah" and Troy will be "Ohio," kapis?
Our Utah is far more accurate -- albeit in a dink-and-dunk fashion -- than Ohio ever was and he's as red-hot (97.7 QB rating, 8th in the NFL) as he can ever possibly be. I dare suggest that it's been fairly established that if he gets a modicum of protection, that Utah can string a few completions together and move the chains.
Therein lies the rub, of course. The Bucs defense had six sacks when they visited a year ago and that was against, again, Ohio, who is a wee bit more mobile than Utah. The 49ers offensive line actually had an encouraging game against the Philadelphia Eagles in that they allowed "only" three sacks, though to be fair to them they dominated Philly's smallish front in the run game.
Harbaugh already benched the main culprit in right guard (now ex-right guard) Chilo Rachal, so now the weak link is right tackle Anthony Davis, who gave up a hat trick of sacks to Eagle end Jason Babin -- and was fined 25 large for a pair of leg-whips -- and who struggled mightily in these teams' previous engagement. His match-up will be Michael Bennett, who had a pair of sacks himself in Monday's win over Indy.
Even more foreboding is the other side of the ball, where nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga picked the wrong week to come down a staph infection. Ricky Jean Francois, who admitted he's not big enough or fast enough to be an ideal starter, will start in his place. Jean Francois was memorably rag-dolled as a rookie against the Packers and said that game woke him up and made him realize he needs to prepare as though he's going to be a starter every week and to focus on his technique to make up for his physical limitations.
Jean Francois and veteran linemates Justin Smith and Ray McDonald will have to be at their best occupying blockers, because the Bucs will be perfectly happy to stubbornly hand the ball over and over to LeGerrette Blount, whom safety Dashon Goldson aptly described as "a load." Blount is bigger than both of the 49ers inside backers, Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman, so it would probably be a good thing for him to not have a head of steam when he encounters those gentlemen. And heaven forbid if it's left to the defensive backs to bring Blount down, because he's the type of galoot that tempts corners across the land to make, as Deion Sanders cheerfully puts it, "a business decision," i.e. getting the heck of the way and preserving one's body in order to be able to cash checks in the future.
The Buccaneers are troublesome because while they're not world beaters, they're not bad at anything. Their defense has talent at all three levels, especially at corner with Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib. Their defensive line features three first round picks and a fourth guy, Da'Quan Bowers, who would've been if the medical people weren't convinced his knee ligaments are about as stable as ramen noodles.
On offense they've got Blount, a great young, athletic line in front of him, a pair of big, mobile tight ends in Kellen Winslow Jr. and rookie Luke Stocker, a top-shelf 3rd-down back in Earnest Graham and of course, QB Josh Freeman, who's the closest thing the NFC has to Ben Roethlisberger, without all the off-field unpleasantness. Freeman isn't Michael Vick, but he can take off and run it when need be, and as Goldson pointed out, he delights in lowering his shoulder into defensive backs instead of sliding like quarterbacks are taught. He also has a pesky habit of saving his best for the fourth quarter.
In short, the Buccaneers, who've dubbed themselves "The West Coast Killers" for their success at Arizona and San Francisco last season, are precisely the kind of team that Harbaugh would love to coach, right down to their backup QB Josh Johnson, who played for him at the University of San Diego and whom he's quite fond of. There are scores of reasons to pick them to win.
However, I'm going with the home side. They've got Harbaugh, they've got Utah, and a couple of talented kids in the backfield in rookies Kendall Hunter and Bruce Miller that the Bucs didn't have to face last time. I think the flight out will sap Tampa Bay just a bit, as will having a short week to prepare for the Niners because they played on Monday night. The 49ers are nobody's idea of a "scheduled loss," but the scales do tip in their favor.
If they wind up winning this one, the ushers might as well hand out "2011 NFC West Champion" T-shirts in the stands. Who'd mind that?
Nooooo-body.
Week 5 Picks...
Philadelphia at Buffalo (+3): The Eagles are a desperate team and going on the road is probably the best thing for them right now after two home disappointments have turned most of their rabid fanbase against them. The defense figures to have problems stopping Fred Jackson and their pass rush takes a hit too without Trent Cole, but I don't see that Bills secondary or so-so pass rush bothering Vick and Co. too much either. Eagles 30, Bills 20 **TWO STAR SPECIAL**
Kansas City at Indianapolis (-3): Both of these teams have played better than their records would indicate the past two weeks. Even though the Colts are on a short week, I like 'em here against a Chiefs team that got destroyed the last time they went on the road against a dome team. I think they'll have some issues in pass protection against Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Colts 20, Chiefs 13
Arizona at Minnesota (-3): For two teams that are a combined 1-7, this is an oddly compelling game. On one hand, Larry Fitzgerald always plays well when he goes back to his home state (he was a Vikings ball boy). On the other, if Donovan McNabb has any pride at all, he'll play well against Kevin Kolb, who Andy Reid decided he was worse than when he shipped off from Philly to Washington. I'll give the tiebreaker there to the team who's at home, has the better pass rush and the better running back. Vikings 27, Cardinals 20
Seattle at New York Giants (-10): The last time Seattle visited the east coast, they got positively slaughtered by a Pittsburgh team that's had a whale of a time stopping anyone else they've played. Good enough for me. Besides, this is as hot as Eli Manning and the Giants are ever gonna get. Giants 31, Seahawks 10
Tennessee at Pittsburgh (-3): Mini-upset special, just to see how real this Titans team is. Their pass rush looks fearsome, and Ben Roethlisberger is a bit gimpy with a bad foot and he's playing behind a beat up line. The Steelers have also been having trouble stopping the run and Chris Johnson is starting to heat up. Also, I want to see if Matt Hasselbeck can keep up his hot streak. Titans 23, Steelers 20
New Orleans at Carolina (+7): With Cam Newton going absolutely insane, the Panthers at home seems like the obvious pick with the points. I'm going the other way. I think Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will have a little something for the rookie and I happen to believe the Panthers defense, who are without their two best linebackers for the season, is terrible. If Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram can't run through them, then Drew Brees will simply pass over them. Saints 41, Panthers 24
Cincinnati at Jacksonville (-3): What an ugly game. I'm kind of surprised the Jaguars are favored, to be honest with you. I'll go with the team with the better defense, the slightly more experienced QB, and the better receivers. Bengals 20, Jaguars 13 **THREE STAR SPECIAL**
Oakland at Houston (-6): Both teams can run it, but I think the Texans can stop it better. Their defense has been excellent at home and they have a multi-pronged pass rush led by Mario Williams. I don't think they're gonna miss Andre Johnson too much this week. Texans 30, Raiders 20
Tampa Bay at San Francisco (-3): I've always liked the 49ers to win this game, even before the season started and I had them being a 7-9/8-8 second-place team. I think the Niners, coming off a two-game winning streak last season, badly underestimated the Bucs (their arrogant coaching staff was prone to doing that, unfortunately) and Tampa Bay took advantage of Troy Smith defensively. I think the Niners match up pretty well against these guys, even though their run defense will take a hit without Isaac Sopoaga. I see the offensive line having a good showing at home and the defense holding on for dear life. 49ers 24, Buccaneers 20.
San Diego at Denver (+4): The Broncos allowed 49 points at Green Bay and the fans are gonna riot soon if they don't see some reason for encouragement, either from the defense or in the form of Tim Tebow under center. Kyle Orton has a good thing going with receivers Eric Decker and Brandon Lloyd and I think they're gonna keep it close if not win outright against an underachieving Chargers squad. Chargers 29, Broncos 27
New York Jets at New England (-9): The Jets offense is in shambles, but they're playing one of the worst defenses in the league. The Patriots offense is a juggernaut, but the Jets are almost impossible to pass against. I'm gonna take the wimpy way out and feel very stupid about it midway through the second quarter when New England is up three touchdowns. Patriots 27, Jets 20
Green Bay at Atlanta (+6): I don't like the Packers here, I love them. I know it's stupid, juvenile stuff, but I think Aaron Rodgers was legitimately offended that Roddy White had the gall to suggest the Falcons were the better team last year and that the playoff win was some kind of fluke. Rodgers was in an ornery enough mood after Brett Favre's comments earlier in the week that he came into a stacked team and should've won a Super Bowl earlier. Packers 41, Falcons 20 **FIVE STAR SPECIAL **
Chicago at Detroit (-6): The last time the Lions played at home, they won by 45. I don't think they'll blow out the Bears, but Matthew Stafford and the gang will get off to a quicker start than they have been and Chicago's offense couldn't run away from them anyway. Lions 27, Bears 17 **FOUR STAR SPECIAL**
Last week's W-L: 11-5
Season W-L: 43-21
Week 3 Vs. Spread: 9-7
Season Vs. Spread: 26-36-2
Week 3 +/- Points (All games count as one point unless specified): +4
Season +/- Points: -18
The origins of it come from Harbaugh's humble beginnings, where his father would use the saying to rally the family when times got tough. Harbaugh took the rhetorical to heart and adopted it as a coach to lift up his team's confidence, knowing full well that on most day's his players weren't the most talented ones on the field.
So it's a bit odd then, that these days when Harbaugh asks his charges who's got it better than them, the answer they yell back at him is damn close to the truth. According to the gang at Football Outsiders, the 49ers are currently the second-likeliest team to make the postseason, at 89.1 percent, trailing only the 4-0 defending champion Green Bay Packers. Our local gridironers have a two-game lead against division mates Arizona and Seattle and a three game advantage over the preseason NFC West favorite St. Louis Rams, who, in their decimated condition, wouldn't even be favorites in the Pac-12.
The Cardinals and Seahawks next games are both on the road, which has not been nearly as hospitable to them as it has to the 49ers this year. The Rams, meanwhile, get the reprieve of a bye week, but have to visit the aforementioned Packers the Sunday after that, meaning they're a mortal lock for 0-5 (kind of like how the 49ers were at Philly, but mortal-er).
Your Niners, on the other hand, are at home against the wholly annoying Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a squad who dominated them at the 'Stick last season to the tune of 21-0. Then, as now, San Francisco entered the game on the heels of a two-game winning streak and full of confidence. The difference is the last couple of seasons they had a coaching staff that was exposed as lazy, arrogant and under-prepared when times were good and now they have Harbaugh, who might tell his players they're not half bad after wins but spends the rest of the week tirelessly chewing over every last detail like some hyperactive badger. The next time he takes an opponent lightly will be the first, and he's got enough guys on the roster who remember all too well the pounding they took from these Bucs.
Another key difference is this time Harbaugh will have Alex Smith under center, whereas last time they had to make do with Troy Smith. The Buccaneers coaches quickly discovered that the latter was next to useless once you took the play-action pass away from him and the Troy Smith Era, which began with much promise, quickly faded into a footnote in 49ers lore.
You know what? It's aggravating to keep writing "Alex Smith" and "Troy Smith" over and over, so for the purposes of this preview, Alex will now be referred to as "Utah" and Troy will be "Ohio," kapis?
Our Utah is far more accurate -- albeit in a dink-and-dunk fashion -- than Ohio ever was and he's as red-hot (97.7 QB rating, 8th in the NFL) as he can ever possibly be. I dare suggest that it's been fairly established that if he gets a modicum of protection, that Utah can string a few completions together and move the chains.
Therein lies the rub, of course. The Bucs defense had six sacks when they visited a year ago and that was against, again, Ohio, who is a wee bit more mobile than Utah. The 49ers offensive line actually had an encouraging game against the Philadelphia Eagles in that they allowed "only" three sacks, though to be fair to them they dominated Philly's smallish front in the run game.
Harbaugh already benched the main culprit in right guard (now ex-right guard) Chilo Rachal, so now the weak link is right tackle Anthony Davis, who gave up a hat trick of sacks to Eagle end Jason Babin -- and was fined 25 large for a pair of leg-whips -- and who struggled mightily in these teams' previous engagement. His match-up will be Michael Bennett, who had a pair of sacks himself in Monday's win over Indy.
Even more foreboding is the other side of the ball, where nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga picked the wrong week to come down a staph infection. Ricky Jean Francois, who admitted he's not big enough or fast enough to be an ideal starter, will start in his place. Jean Francois was memorably rag-dolled as a rookie against the Packers and said that game woke him up and made him realize he needs to prepare as though he's going to be a starter every week and to focus on his technique to make up for his physical limitations.
Jean Francois and veteran linemates Justin Smith and Ray McDonald will have to be at their best occupying blockers, because the Bucs will be perfectly happy to stubbornly hand the ball over and over to LeGerrette Blount, whom safety Dashon Goldson aptly described as "a load." Blount is bigger than both of the 49ers inside backers, Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman, so it would probably be a good thing for him to not have a head of steam when he encounters those gentlemen. And heaven forbid if it's left to the defensive backs to bring Blount down, because he's the type of galoot that tempts corners across the land to make, as Deion Sanders cheerfully puts it, "a business decision," i.e. getting the heck of the way and preserving one's body in order to be able to cash checks in the future.
The Buccaneers are troublesome because while they're not world beaters, they're not bad at anything. Their defense has talent at all three levels, especially at corner with Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib. Their defensive line features three first round picks and a fourth guy, Da'Quan Bowers, who would've been if the medical people weren't convinced his knee ligaments are about as stable as ramen noodles.
On offense they've got Blount, a great young, athletic line in front of him, a pair of big, mobile tight ends in Kellen Winslow Jr. and rookie Luke Stocker, a top-shelf 3rd-down back in Earnest Graham and of course, QB Josh Freeman, who's the closest thing the NFC has to Ben Roethlisberger, without all the off-field unpleasantness. Freeman isn't Michael Vick, but he can take off and run it when need be, and as Goldson pointed out, he delights in lowering his shoulder into defensive backs instead of sliding like quarterbacks are taught. He also has a pesky habit of saving his best for the fourth quarter.
In short, the Buccaneers, who've dubbed themselves "The West Coast Killers" for their success at Arizona and San Francisco last season, are precisely the kind of team that Harbaugh would love to coach, right down to their backup QB Josh Johnson, who played for him at the University of San Diego and whom he's quite fond of. There are scores of reasons to pick them to win.
However, I'm going with the home side. They've got Harbaugh, they've got Utah, and a couple of talented kids in the backfield in rookies Kendall Hunter and Bruce Miller that the Bucs didn't have to face last time. I think the flight out will sap Tampa Bay just a bit, as will having a short week to prepare for the Niners because they played on Monday night. The 49ers are nobody's idea of a "scheduled loss," but the scales do tip in their favor.
If they wind up winning this one, the ushers might as well hand out "2011 NFC West Champion" T-shirts in the stands. Who'd mind that?
Nooooo-body.
Week 5 Picks...
Philadelphia at Buffalo (+3): The Eagles are a desperate team and going on the road is probably the best thing for them right now after two home disappointments have turned most of their rabid fanbase against them. The defense figures to have problems stopping Fred Jackson and their pass rush takes a hit too without Trent Cole, but I don't see that Bills secondary or so-so pass rush bothering Vick and Co. too much either. Eagles 30, Bills 20 **TWO STAR SPECIAL**
Kansas City at Indianapolis (-3): Both of these teams have played better than their records would indicate the past two weeks. Even though the Colts are on a short week, I like 'em here against a Chiefs team that got destroyed the last time they went on the road against a dome team. I think they'll have some issues in pass protection against Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Colts 20, Chiefs 13
Arizona at Minnesota (-3): For two teams that are a combined 1-7, this is an oddly compelling game. On one hand, Larry Fitzgerald always plays well when he goes back to his home state (he was a Vikings ball boy). On the other, if Donovan McNabb has any pride at all, he'll play well against Kevin Kolb, who Andy Reid decided he was worse than when he shipped off from Philly to Washington. I'll give the tiebreaker there to the team who's at home, has the better pass rush and the better running back. Vikings 27, Cardinals 20
Seattle at New York Giants (-10): The last time Seattle visited the east coast, they got positively slaughtered by a Pittsburgh team that's had a whale of a time stopping anyone else they've played. Good enough for me. Besides, this is as hot as Eli Manning and the Giants are ever gonna get. Giants 31, Seahawks 10
Tennessee at Pittsburgh (-3): Mini-upset special, just to see how real this Titans team is. Their pass rush looks fearsome, and Ben Roethlisberger is a bit gimpy with a bad foot and he's playing behind a beat up line. The Steelers have also been having trouble stopping the run and Chris Johnson is starting to heat up. Also, I want to see if Matt Hasselbeck can keep up his hot streak. Titans 23, Steelers 20
New Orleans at Carolina (+7): With Cam Newton going absolutely insane, the Panthers at home seems like the obvious pick with the points. I'm going the other way. I think Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will have a little something for the rookie and I happen to believe the Panthers defense, who are without their two best linebackers for the season, is terrible. If Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram can't run through them, then Drew Brees will simply pass over them. Saints 41, Panthers 24
Cincinnati at Jacksonville (-3): What an ugly game. I'm kind of surprised the Jaguars are favored, to be honest with you. I'll go with the team with the better defense, the slightly more experienced QB, and the better receivers. Bengals 20, Jaguars 13 **THREE STAR SPECIAL**
Oakland at Houston (-6): Both teams can run it, but I think the Texans can stop it better. Their defense has been excellent at home and they have a multi-pronged pass rush led by Mario Williams. I don't think they're gonna miss Andre Johnson too much this week. Texans 30, Raiders 20
Tampa Bay at San Francisco (-3): I've always liked the 49ers to win this game, even before the season started and I had them being a 7-9/8-8 second-place team. I think the Niners, coming off a two-game winning streak last season, badly underestimated the Bucs (their arrogant coaching staff was prone to doing that, unfortunately) and Tampa Bay took advantage of Troy Smith defensively. I think the Niners match up pretty well against these guys, even though their run defense will take a hit without Isaac Sopoaga. I see the offensive line having a good showing at home and the defense holding on for dear life. 49ers 24, Buccaneers 20.
San Diego at Denver (+4): The Broncos allowed 49 points at Green Bay and the fans are gonna riot soon if they don't see some reason for encouragement, either from the defense or in the form of Tim Tebow under center. Kyle Orton has a good thing going with receivers Eric Decker and Brandon Lloyd and I think they're gonna keep it close if not win outright against an underachieving Chargers squad. Chargers 29, Broncos 27
New York Jets at New England (-9): The Jets offense is in shambles, but they're playing one of the worst defenses in the league. The Patriots offense is a juggernaut, but the Jets are almost impossible to pass against. I'm gonna take the wimpy way out and feel very stupid about it midway through the second quarter when New England is up three touchdowns. Patriots 27, Jets 20
Green Bay at Atlanta (+6): I don't like the Packers here, I love them. I know it's stupid, juvenile stuff, but I think Aaron Rodgers was legitimately offended that Roddy White had the gall to suggest the Falcons were the better team last year and that the playoff win was some kind of fluke. Rodgers was in an ornery enough mood after Brett Favre's comments earlier in the week that he came into a stacked team and should've won a Super Bowl earlier. Packers 41, Falcons 20 **FIVE STAR SPECIAL **
Chicago at Detroit (-6): The last time the Lions played at home, they won by 45. I don't think they'll blow out the Bears, but Matthew Stafford and the gang will get off to a quicker start than they have been and Chicago's offense couldn't run away from them anyway. Lions 27, Bears 17 **FOUR STAR SPECIAL**
Last week's W-L: 11-5
Season W-L: 43-21
Week 3 Vs. Spread: 9-7
Season Vs. Spread: 26-36-2
Week 3 +/- Points (All games count as one point unless specified): +4
Season +/- Points: -18
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Defensive Injury Woes, A New Guy on the Practice Squad, and the Week 5 Power Poll
There’s bad timing, and then there’s losing your nose tackle right before the Buccaneers come to town. Isaac Sopoaga has reportedly come down with a staph infection (per Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee) and wasn’t practicing on Wednesday. That’s the kind of thing that typically lingers for a while, and I’d be pretty surprised to see Sopoaga practicing anytime soon or playing on Sunday. I’m guessing they want to keep him quarantined from his teammates.
The 49ers haven’t allowed a 100-yard runner since a November game at Green Bay when Ryan Grant did the honors, but Tampa Bay’s LeGerrette Blount is precisely the type of big, physical burly back that you need Sopoaga for. It’d be one thing if they were facing a guy like Shady McCoy with the Eagles, who spends most of his time outside of the hashes anyway, but Blount is a between-the-tackles runner who likes to punish defenders and wear them down over four quarters. We know the 49ers aren’t likely to blow out anybody with their offense, so expect the game to be tight the whole way through. They can’t afford to get fatigued and stuck on the field during long stretches of the final quarter.
Ricky Jean Francois will likely start in Sopoaga’s place, and while he’s an athletic guy, he’s not as strong on the point as Sopoaga is and has been known to be rag dolled at times by opposing linemen. With DE Will Tukuafu on Injured Reserve because of a wrist injury he sustained at Philadelphia, it appears that both DT Ian Williams and DE Demarcus Dobbs (the preseason sensation) will be making their regular season debuts on Sunday. If Sopoaga’s ailment is as serious as feared, then you can expect the 49ers to sign another defensive lineman. Having just five able bodies there is playing with fire, and there aren’t any others on the practice squad.
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The 49ers are also a bit shorthanded in the secondary. Tramaine Brock apparently aggravated his broken hand against the Eagles or in practice leading up to the game, because he has already been declared out for this week. Shawntae Spencer missed practice with a toe injury and it remains to be seen if that’s serious enough to keep him out this week. Rookie Chris Culliver, who did okay against the Eagles playing in the fourth quarter, may be forced into an extensive role on Sunday.
Safety Donte Whitner who missed almost two full games with a hip injury, practiced in full on Sunday, so at least the Niners are getting healthy there.
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Tukuafu’s injury enabled the 49ers to promote rookie safety Colin Jones, who’s pretty much just a special teams guy, onto the active roster. That meant they had a vacancy on their practice squad, which they’ve filled with receiver John Matthews.
Matthews, 25, is the standard 6-0, 200 and played for Jim Harbaugh at the University of San Diego during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. He had 195 receptions for 3,615 yards and 50 touchdowns in his collegiate career, but interestingly enough, had his best year as a senior (102 catches, 1,478 yards, 21 touchdowns) in 2007when Harbaugh had already left to coach Stanford.
Matthews was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent and has also spent time with the Jaguars and Dolphins. From what we saw in practice Wednesday, he was on the scout team, impersonating Tampa Bay receiver Arrellious Binn.
I guess for a perennial fringe guy like Matthews, being on the scout team is a case of Binn there, done that. (HEY-O).
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Power Rankings (I hate the Eagles edition)
1. Green Bay (4-0): That game against Denver was every bit as easy for them as it looked on the schedule (good thing this genius took the Broncos to cover). When a guy is wide open, Aaron Rodgers hit him. When a guy was mostly covered, Rodgers darted the ball into a tight window. Other times, when he felt like it, he just ran with it. All in all they had 49 points and he accounted for six touchdowns. I know it’s early, but I’m starting to question if they can be beaten if all their main parts are healthy.
2. New Orleans (3-1): I think you can forgive them a little bit for not exactly putting their best foot forward at Jacksonville. C’mon, it’s Jacksonville. Who could possibly get up to play that outfit? Tight end Jimmy Graham continues to emerge for them, and Brees has Darren Sproles to throw check downs to, and Lance Moore and Marques Colston for short stuff and Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem for long stuff and quite frankly I’m just not buying that they only scored 23 points because of something the Jaguars did.
3. Baltimore (3-1): On one hand they had three defensive touchdowns and the usual awesomeness from their running back tandem of Ray Rice and Ricky Williams. On the other hand, Joe Flacco continues to alternate good games with horrific ones and he’s completing less than half of his attempts, which in this day and age is unheard of. The good news is, they might not need him to throw a pass to beat half the teams in their schedule.
4. Houston (3-1): They’ve played superbly on defense in three of four contests, and they would’ve won at New Orleans if the offense hadn’t spazzed out in the red zone all Eagles style. Arian Foster has returned to form at last, but now they’ll miss Andre Johnson for a month, and they don’t have nearly the depth at receiver they had at running back. What they do have, however, is too good tight ends and a quarterback who excels at play action, so I don’t think they’ll miss Johnson as much as people think.
5. New England (3-1): Anyone who says Tom Brady and Wes Welker are putting up video game numbers has never played Madden on “All-Madden” mode. That shit is way hard. Meanwhile, on defense the Patriots don’t even pretend to try anymore until they’re in their own red zone, kind of like how the Niners played at Philadelphia, but every week. Still, I’ve got an annoying feeling that Brady will figure out the Jets defense this week more than Mark Sanchez will stop being terrible.
6. Detroit (4-0): Being able to throw just any old pass to Calvin Johnson anytime you want is a nice luxury to have, but at some point I’m thinking that falling behind by three touchdowns to mediocre teams on the road is going to hurt them. I can’t say I have any confidence in their secondary, but at least those guys have shown they have ball skills when they are within the same zip code as their guy.
7. Tennessee (3-1): I can’t deny it any longer, Matt Hasselbeck is just playing out of his mind. Also, the defense hasn’t missed Jason Babin one bit. They just toyed with Colt McCoy, letting him have as many 3-yard completions as he pleased, and were happy to knock the stuffing out of those poor receivers. No Kenny Britt? No problem, Hasselbeck just threw to Nate Washington and Lavelle Hawkins. Interesting roadie coming up against a banged up Steelers team.
8. Tampa Bay (3-1): The thing about the Bucs is that while they’re not flashy, they’re not really bad at anything. They hang around, keep things close with their young talented defense and ample doses of LeGerrette Blount, and then have Josh Freeman win it for them late. If you’re a Niners fan, aren’t you nervous on Sunday with anything less than a 17 point lead going into the fourth quarter?
9. San Diego (3-1): Hard to get much of a read on them. They’ve played three terrible teams and at New England. No games against those 8-8 to 11-5 range teams that we can use to give us some kind of idea. All I know is they’re still missing Antonio Gates, that Malcolm Floyd has been terribly disappointing and that Takeo Spikes’ sack dance was all kinds of wrong.
10. New York Giants (3-1): Has Eli Manning put together a three game stretch like that since January of 2008, you’re asking. Why yes. He does it pretty much every damn October. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have the flashy reputations for this month in New York, but Manning has just been a beast over his career (21-4) in October. December, of course, is a different story. For the record, I think the dead ball call at the end that won them the game was the right one.
11. New York Jets (2-2): They’re like the Ravens, but less so. I’m starting to think Shonn Greene belongs in that pile alongside Jahvid Best, Reggie Bush and Marshawn Lynch as guys who are way worse than backups like C.J. Spiller and Toby Gerhart. Yet, that defense, man, that defense.
12. Washington (3-1): Speaking of defense, I’m all aboard on the Redskins. They’ve convinced me that they’re legit. Great pair of ends in Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo, a super middle linebacker in London Fletcher, and a destroyer of worlds in safety LaRon Landry. Three decent backs, a pair of tight ends and Santana Moss on offense. If Rex Grossman can’t make them look terrible, then they must be pretty good.
13. Buffalo (3-1): Pretty inexcusable loss at Cincinnati. When you have a 17-3 lead on anybody you should win, but when it’s a rookie QB? What gives, Bills? Ryan Fitzpatrick looked very ordinary, and apparently didn’t get the memo about just throwing to whoever Nate Clements is on. No, that’s unfair to Clements. He did try that. Just a bad day all around. As you might guess, I’ll be following their game against the Eagles pretty closely. If they don’t score 30, then the party is over, yes?
14. San Francisco (3-1): Not sold yet. Oddly enough, I’m more encouraged by the offense than the defense, even though I like the front seven a lot. It’s just troubling how easily teams with good quarterbacks move the ball between the 20’s on them. I mean, why even bother calling a running play against the 49ers at all? And shouldn’t a defense facing so many pass attempts have more of a consistent pass rush? If they manage to beat the Bucs, you might as well print up those division champ T-shirts.
15. Dallas (2-2): Nothing in the NFL is more enjoyable than watching a Tony Romo meltdown. Nothing. What made it particularly surprising was that their offensive line was playing annoying well and Ndamukong Suh never got a chance to find out if Romo’s head was a screw top. Romo just threw up (in both senses) three balls into coverage for no reason whatsoever, after spending the better part of three quarters hitting one open receiver after the next. Also, the Cowboys have a rookie kicker who has a filthy habit of booting every kick right down the middle like he’s facing arena league goal posts. I don’t want to live in a world where Dallas has a better kicker than Philly.
16. Oakland (2-2): That game against the Patriots should’ve been closer, and it was Jason Campbell’s fault that it wasn’t. Also, as someone who didn’t watch the game really carefully, I can only assume Campbell was also the guy assigned to cover Wes Welker, yes? 19 points seems a tad low for a team with 504 yards, and they let the Pats run for damn near 200 on them, which is mind-boggling. It’s one thing to get shredded by Brady but…
17. Pittsburgh (2-2): I made the roster update in my Madden game for the Max Starks signing before the Steelers actually signed him. Sometimes you can see these things coming.
18. Chicago (2-2): Even with Matt Forte running for 205 yards, they really had no business beating Carolina. I hate literally everything about their passing game.
19. Atlanta (2-2): I don’t get the sense they can beat anyone remotely worth a damn, but just for shits and giggles, let’s see how they do with the Packers coming to town on Sunday. This is why they drafted Julio Jones, right? I want to see if that investment, where they surrendered pretty much half their draft, plus a first rounder next year, was worth it instead of taking, oh, I don’t know, a defensive back let’s say.
20. Cincinnati (2-2): I can’t quite figure it out, but they seem to have an excellent defense. I need to watch them more to get a handle on it. It won’t be next week though, because their next game, at Jacksonville, promises to be particularly ugly. Also, I like A.J. Green more than Julio Jones, just because.
21. Philadelphia (1-3): A 15-place drop in the Power Rankings and it should be 25. What an abomination. Can’t stop a running game when you know they’re gonna run. Can’t manage more than three sacks on the 49ers woeful offensive line. Can’t stop turning it over in the red zone. Can’t kick field goals. Can’t keep people healthy. Can’t draft worth a damn anymore. Buffalo game should be a real blast.
22. Arizona (1-3): Anyone notice that Patrick Peterson, the No. 5 overall pick of the draft, has been awful at corner so far? I know, I shouldn’t pick on a rookie so early. But remember, there were warnings that he was too big to play corner and that he needs to be a safety at this level. Something to keep an eye on.
23. Carolina (1-3): They throw the piss out of the ball, and now they’re starting to run a little bit with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, too. Pretty soon they’re gonna be impossible to play against. Fortunately, the defense blows.
24. Cleveland (2-2): Secretly terrible. They’re bad at everything. Also, their quarterback is a dink who dinks. 350 yards on 40 completions and 61 attempts? That’s just goddamn awful. Whispers of locker room problems too between Peyton Hillis and some of his teammates.
25. Seattle (1-3): Say what you want about them, it’s all true. But they do have a pulse at home.
26. Jacksonville (1-3): Kinda good on defense. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m so fed up with the Eagles I’m bumping up the rankings of any team that can stop somebody.
27. Denver (1-3): Eric Decker? Brandon Lloyd? Pretty good. The rest of them? Not so much.
28. Kansas City (1-3): Back-to-back not terrible performances deserve a bump. I have no idea how they ever move the ball anymore.
29. Indianapolis (0-4): They still haven’t quit. But they will. Oh yes, they will.
30. Miami (0-4): With Chad Henne out, they’re starting Matt Moore. Not that anyone will notice or care. “Suck For Luck” fully underway.
31. Minnesota (0-4): Because they’d find a way, somehow, to lose to each of the 30 teams above them, that’s why.
32. St. Louis (0-4): I can’t believe an offense coached by Josh McDaniels is struggling this terribly. It’s almost as if Tom Brady had that success on his own or something.
The 49ers haven’t allowed a 100-yard runner since a November game at Green Bay when Ryan Grant did the honors, but Tampa Bay’s LeGerrette Blount is precisely the type of big, physical burly back that you need Sopoaga for. It’d be one thing if they were facing a guy like Shady McCoy with the Eagles, who spends most of his time outside of the hashes anyway, but Blount is a between-the-tackles runner who likes to punish defenders and wear them down over four quarters. We know the 49ers aren’t likely to blow out anybody with their offense, so expect the game to be tight the whole way through. They can’t afford to get fatigued and stuck on the field during long stretches of the final quarter.
Ricky Jean Francois will likely start in Sopoaga’s place, and while he’s an athletic guy, he’s not as strong on the point as Sopoaga is and has been known to be rag dolled at times by opposing linemen. With DE Will Tukuafu on Injured Reserve because of a wrist injury he sustained at Philadelphia, it appears that both DT Ian Williams and DE Demarcus Dobbs (the preseason sensation) will be making their regular season debuts on Sunday. If Sopoaga’s ailment is as serious as feared, then you can expect the 49ers to sign another defensive lineman. Having just five able bodies there is playing with fire, and there aren’t any others on the practice squad.
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The 49ers are also a bit shorthanded in the secondary. Tramaine Brock apparently aggravated his broken hand against the Eagles or in practice leading up to the game, because he has already been declared out for this week. Shawntae Spencer missed practice with a toe injury and it remains to be seen if that’s serious enough to keep him out this week. Rookie Chris Culliver, who did okay against the Eagles playing in the fourth quarter, may be forced into an extensive role on Sunday.
Safety Donte Whitner who missed almost two full games with a hip injury, practiced in full on Sunday, so at least the Niners are getting healthy there.
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Tukuafu’s injury enabled the 49ers to promote rookie safety Colin Jones, who’s pretty much just a special teams guy, onto the active roster. That meant they had a vacancy on their practice squad, which they’ve filled with receiver John Matthews.
Matthews, 25, is the standard 6-0, 200 and played for Jim Harbaugh at the University of San Diego during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. He had 195 receptions for 3,615 yards and 50 touchdowns in his collegiate career, but interestingly enough, had his best year as a senior (102 catches, 1,478 yards, 21 touchdowns) in 2007when Harbaugh had already left to coach Stanford.
Matthews was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent and has also spent time with the Jaguars and Dolphins. From what we saw in practice Wednesday, he was on the scout team, impersonating Tampa Bay receiver Arrellious Binn.
I guess for a perennial fringe guy like Matthews, being on the scout team is a case of Binn there, done that. (HEY-O).
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Power Rankings (I hate the Eagles edition)
1. Green Bay (4-0): That game against Denver was every bit as easy for them as it looked on the schedule (good thing this genius took the Broncos to cover). When a guy is wide open, Aaron Rodgers hit him. When a guy was mostly covered, Rodgers darted the ball into a tight window. Other times, when he felt like it, he just ran with it. All in all they had 49 points and he accounted for six touchdowns. I know it’s early, but I’m starting to question if they can be beaten if all their main parts are healthy.
2. New Orleans (3-1): I think you can forgive them a little bit for not exactly putting their best foot forward at Jacksonville. C’mon, it’s Jacksonville. Who could possibly get up to play that outfit? Tight end Jimmy Graham continues to emerge for them, and Brees has Darren Sproles to throw check downs to, and Lance Moore and Marques Colston for short stuff and Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem for long stuff and quite frankly I’m just not buying that they only scored 23 points because of something the Jaguars did.
3. Baltimore (3-1): On one hand they had three defensive touchdowns and the usual awesomeness from their running back tandem of Ray Rice and Ricky Williams. On the other hand, Joe Flacco continues to alternate good games with horrific ones and he’s completing less than half of his attempts, which in this day and age is unheard of. The good news is, they might not need him to throw a pass to beat half the teams in their schedule.
4. Houston (3-1): They’ve played superbly on defense in three of four contests, and they would’ve won at New Orleans if the offense hadn’t spazzed out in the red zone all Eagles style. Arian Foster has returned to form at last, but now they’ll miss Andre Johnson for a month, and they don’t have nearly the depth at receiver they had at running back. What they do have, however, is too good tight ends and a quarterback who excels at play action, so I don’t think they’ll miss Johnson as much as people think.
5. New England (3-1): Anyone who says Tom Brady and Wes Welker are putting up video game numbers has never played Madden on “All-Madden” mode. That shit is way hard. Meanwhile, on defense the Patriots don’t even pretend to try anymore until they’re in their own red zone, kind of like how the Niners played at Philadelphia, but every week. Still, I’ve got an annoying feeling that Brady will figure out the Jets defense this week more than Mark Sanchez will stop being terrible.
6. Detroit (4-0): Being able to throw just any old pass to Calvin Johnson anytime you want is a nice luxury to have, but at some point I’m thinking that falling behind by three touchdowns to mediocre teams on the road is going to hurt them. I can’t say I have any confidence in their secondary, but at least those guys have shown they have ball skills when they are within the same zip code as their guy.
7. Tennessee (3-1): I can’t deny it any longer, Matt Hasselbeck is just playing out of his mind. Also, the defense hasn’t missed Jason Babin one bit. They just toyed with Colt McCoy, letting him have as many 3-yard completions as he pleased, and were happy to knock the stuffing out of those poor receivers. No Kenny Britt? No problem, Hasselbeck just threw to Nate Washington and Lavelle Hawkins. Interesting roadie coming up against a banged up Steelers team.
8. Tampa Bay (3-1): The thing about the Bucs is that while they’re not flashy, they’re not really bad at anything. They hang around, keep things close with their young talented defense and ample doses of LeGerrette Blount, and then have Josh Freeman win it for them late. If you’re a Niners fan, aren’t you nervous on Sunday with anything less than a 17 point lead going into the fourth quarter?
9. San Diego (3-1): Hard to get much of a read on them. They’ve played three terrible teams and at New England. No games against those 8-8 to 11-5 range teams that we can use to give us some kind of idea. All I know is they’re still missing Antonio Gates, that Malcolm Floyd has been terribly disappointing and that Takeo Spikes’ sack dance was all kinds of wrong.
10. New York Giants (3-1): Has Eli Manning put together a three game stretch like that since January of 2008, you’re asking. Why yes. He does it pretty much every damn October. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have the flashy reputations for this month in New York, but Manning has just been a beast over his career (21-4) in October. December, of course, is a different story. For the record, I think the dead ball call at the end that won them the game was the right one.
11. New York Jets (2-2): They’re like the Ravens, but less so. I’m starting to think Shonn Greene belongs in that pile alongside Jahvid Best, Reggie Bush and Marshawn Lynch as guys who are way worse than backups like C.J. Spiller and Toby Gerhart. Yet, that defense, man, that defense.
12. Washington (3-1): Speaking of defense, I’m all aboard on the Redskins. They’ve convinced me that they’re legit. Great pair of ends in Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo, a super middle linebacker in London Fletcher, and a destroyer of worlds in safety LaRon Landry. Three decent backs, a pair of tight ends and Santana Moss on offense. If Rex Grossman can’t make them look terrible, then they must be pretty good.
13. Buffalo (3-1): Pretty inexcusable loss at Cincinnati. When you have a 17-3 lead on anybody you should win, but when it’s a rookie QB? What gives, Bills? Ryan Fitzpatrick looked very ordinary, and apparently didn’t get the memo about just throwing to whoever Nate Clements is on. No, that’s unfair to Clements. He did try that. Just a bad day all around. As you might guess, I’ll be following their game against the Eagles pretty closely. If they don’t score 30, then the party is over, yes?
14. San Francisco (3-1): Not sold yet. Oddly enough, I’m more encouraged by the offense than the defense, even though I like the front seven a lot. It’s just troubling how easily teams with good quarterbacks move the ball between the 20’s on them. I mean, why even bother calling a running play against the 49ers at all? And shouldn’t a defense facing so many pass attempts have more of a consistent pass rush? If they manage to beat the Bucs, you might as well print up those division champ T-shirts.
15. Dallas (2-2): Nothing in the NFL is more enjoyable than watching a Tony Romo meltdown. Nothing. What made it particularly surprising was that their offensive line was playing annoying well and Ndamukong Suh never got a chance to find out if Romo’s head was a screw top. Romo just threw up (in both senses) three balls into coverage for no reason whatsoever, after spending the better part of three quarters hitting one open receiver after the next. Also, the Cowboys have a rookie kicker who has a filthy habit of booting every kick right down the middle like he’s facing arena league goal posts. I don’t want to live in a world where Dallas has a better kicker than Philly.
16. Oakland (2-2): That game against the Patriots should’ve been closer, and it was Jason Campbell’s fault that it wasn’t. Also, as someone who didn’t watch the game really carefully, I can only assume Campbell was also the guy assigned to cover Wes Welker, yes? 19 points seems a tad low for a team with 504 yards, and they let the Pats run for damn near 200 on them, which is mind-boggling. It’s one thing to get shredded by Brady but…
17. Pittsburgh (2-2): I made the roster update in my Madden game for the Max Starks signing before the Steelers actually signed him. Sometimes you can see these things coming.
18. Chicago (2-2): Even with Matt Forte running for 205 yards, they really had no business beating Carolina. I hate literally everything about their passing game.
19. Atlanta (2-2): I don’t get the sense they can beat anyone remotely worth a damn, but just for shits and giggles, let’s see how they do with the Packers coming to town on Sunday. This is why they drafted Julio Jones, right? I want to see if that investment, where they surrendered pretty much half their draft, plus a first rounder next year, was worth it instead of taking, oh, I don’t know, a defensive back let’s say.
20. Cincinnati (2-2): I can’t quite figure it out, but they seem to have an excellent defense. I need to watch them more to get a handle on it. It won’t be next week though, because their next game, at Jacksonville, promises to be particularly ugly. Also, I like A.J. Green more than Julio Jones, just because.
21. Philadelphia (1-3): A 15-place drop in the Power Rankings and it should be 25. What an abomination. Can’t stop a running game when you know they’re gonna run. Can’t manage more than three sacks on the 49ers woeful offensive line. Can’t stop turning it over in the red zone. Can’t kick field goals. Can’t keep people healthy. Can’t draft worth a damn anymore. Buffalo game should be a real blast.
22. Arizona (1-3): Anyone notice that Patrick Peterson, the No. 5 overall pick of the draft, has been awful at corner so far? I know, I shouldn’t pick on a rookie so early. But remember, there were warnings that he was too big to play corner and that he needs to be a safety at this level. Something to keep an eye on.
23. Carolina (1-3): They throw the piss out of the ball, and now they’re starting to run a little bit with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, too. Pretty soon they’re gonna be impossible to play against. Fortunately, the defense blows.
24. Cleveland (2-2): Secretly terrible. They’re bad at everything. Also, their quarterback is a dink who dinks. 350 yards on 40 completions and 61 attempts? That’s just goddamn awful. Whispers of locker room problems too between Peyton Hillis and some of his teammates.
25. Seattle (1-3): Say what you want about them, it’s all true. But they do have a pulse at home.
26. Jacksonville (1-3): Kinda good on defense. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m so fed up with the Eagles I’m bumping up the rankings of any team that can stop somebody.
27. Denver (1-3): Eric Decker? Brandon Lloyd? Pretty good. The rest of them? Not so much.
28. Kansas City (1-3): Back-to-back not terrible performances deserve a bump. I have no idea how they ever move the ball anymore.
29. Indianapolis (0-4): They still haven’t quit. But they will. Oh yes, they will.
30. Miami (0-4): With Chad Henne out, they’re starting Matt Moore. Not that anyone will notice or care. “Suck For Luck” fully underway.
31. Minnesota (0-4): Because they’d find a way, somehow, to lose to each of the 30 teams above them, that’s why.
32. St. Louis (0-4): I can’t believe an offense coached by Josh McDaniels is struggling this terribly. It’s almost as if Tom Brady had that success on his own or something.
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