SF 49ers: 2009-2010

I thought this season was going to be like every other for the last few years, but as much as this sucks, Crabtree is for real, and it looks like Smith is too. There are some holes to fill on this team, but the amount of very talented youth combined with a coaching staff that has responded and adapted its play throughout the season gives me real hope for the first time in a long time. We weren't gonna make any noise in the playoffs this year, but we just might in one or two, which, for those of us who haven't forgotten the Dennis Erickson, is fantastic. The Kings and 9ers are both finally on the rise again...its been too long.
 
Alex Smith is a keeper, but the Niners need big help on special teams. They need both a punt and KO return man with speed and hands and a special teams coach who can improve the squads' coverage, blocking and tackling. I hold my breath every time the Niners kick, punt and return. It doesn't help. :rolleyes:
 
They're still a young team. Those kind of mistakes are par for the course. I think that if the coaching staff stays the same and there are no significant injuries, the Niners will be staring a division title in the face a year from now.
 
Nice to win on MNF, but I think it's too little too late for this season.

Gore ran wild and looks like he might get his 4th 1000 yd season by the end.

The D looked great.

Alex.......needs to learn to read defenses somehow.
 
The Cardinals would have to lose two of these three games: @ DET, vs. STL, vs. GB, and the Niners would have to win out, and then it would come down to tiebreakers (they split two games, so I think the first one is division record, then common opponents). It's probably safe to say that the Niners are pretty much eliminated. Of course, the Chargers had a pretty impressive finish to their season last year, so it's not impossible. And there's still the wild card, but that's further gone than the division, since they'd have to leapfrog four teams.

So if the Niners finish 8-8 or 9-7 and miss the playoffs, what do you Niner fans think about this season? And what about next season? What needs to change?
 
Superman said:
The Cardinals would have to lose two of these three games: @ DET, vs. STL, vs. GB, and the Niners would have to win out, and then it would come down to tiebreakers (they split two games, so I think the first one is division record, then common opponents). It's probably safe to say that the Niners are pretty much eliminated. Of course, the Chargers had a pretty impressive finish to their season last year, so it's not impossible. And there's still the wild card, but that's further gone than the division, since they'd have to leapfrog four teams.

So if the Niners finish 8-8 or 9-7 and miss the playoffs, what do you Niner fans think about this season? And what about next season? What needs to change?
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The 49ers won both games against the Cardinals, so they have the tiebreaker.

Basically, the 49ers have to beat Detroit and St. Louis while Arizona only beats one of the two, and then Arizona has to lose to Green Bay while the 49ers beat the Eagles. So yeah, pretty unlikely, but still somewhat possible.

As to thoughts on the season, part of me feels like this is the same team that they've had for several years now. Good but not good enough. An injury here or bad coaching hire there is enough to keep them out of the playoffs. That's pretty much how it was with Nolan. I was really optimistic after 2006 with him and we got burned a bit, so I've learned to be more cautious.

On the other hand, I think the defense is looking good and the receiving corps is also better than it has been. Plus, there are some young guys in there that will be getting better. Also, this team had a bunch of close losses (including the heartbreaker against the Vikings), so I feel like they're right there and should make the playoffs next year.

The last piece of the puzzle is the quarterback position. I'm not down on Smith but I don't think he will be a Super Bowl winner, and just making the playoffs isn't the ultimate goal.
 
uolj said:
The 49ers won both games against the Cardinals, so they have the tiebreaker.

Basically, the 49ers have to beat Detroit and St. Louis while Arizona only beats one of the two, and then Arizona has to lose to Green Bay while the 49ers beat the Eagles. So yeah, pretty unlikely, but still somewhat possible.
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You're right! I don't know why, but I had convinced myself that Arizona won that game. Weird. Makes it a little different, but yeah, still pretty unlikely.

As to thoughts on the season, part of me feels like this is the same team that they've had for several years now. Good but not good enough. An injury here or bad coaching hire there is enough to keep them out of the playoffs. That's pretty much how it was with Nolan. I was really optimistic after 2006 with him and we got burned a bit, so I've learned to be more cautious.

On the other hand, I think the defense is looking good and the receiving corps is also better than it has been. Plus, there are some young guys in there that will be getting better. Also, this team had a bunch of close losses (including the heartbreaker against the Vikings), so I feel like they're right there and should make the playoffs next year.

The last piece of the puzzle is the quarterback position. I'm not down on Smith but I don't think he will be a Super Bowl winner, and just making the playoffs isn't the ultimate goal.
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I'm looking forward to seeing Alex Smith next season as the starter from Week 1. To me, the Niners are a completely different team on offense than they were earlier in the year. There was no opportunity for big plays on offense, running or passing, because Shaun Hill wasn't going to throw the ball downfield more than a couple times a game, and those were pretty much telegraphed plays. So the defense could pack it in and focus on Frank Gore. But once Smith came in, all of a sudden the passing game was working. Vernon Davis turned into what Niner fans have been looking for since he was drafted. Then Crabtree came in, and added a little bit more to the equation. And now, even though it's late in the season, Gore is getting on track and looking like the back he's been for the last three years, and I have to attribute that to the rebirth of the passing game. Now, if they can pick up here next season, they should be a 10 win team.

The defense is still amazing, and should keep getting better. Consistency is going to do the Niners a lot of good.
 
Note that the wildcard is not out of the question. Check out this playoff generator:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/playoffscenario?algorithm=WinningPct

It's setup to have the team with the higher winning percentage win each game. Then change the 49ers versus Philadelphia in week 15 to a 49er win. Voila! In the playoffs!

The reason: If they win out (which means upsetting Philadelphia and taking care of business against Detroit and St. Louis), then each of these three things needs to happen:

Dallas needs to lose twice (say, at New Orleans and home against Philadelphia)
New York needs to lose once (say, at Minnesota)
Atlanta needs to lose once (say, at the Jets)

Those are definitely within the realm of possibility.


Oh, and damn you Brett Favrvruh!!!
 
I was at the game. It was special. The fans wouldn't sit down at all. And if they did dre bly was waving his arms trying to get everyone up again.

Upsetting Philly will be tough but if we get through there with a win, I like our chances. But I don't know what's more likely to happen: the other teams doing what was stated above or us letting down against the garbage of the league ;)
 
This has been a great season for the 49ers. I'll admit to actually cheering for Smith yesterday - something I would have bet money last year I would never, never do.

GO NINERS!!!!
 
I loved that the Niners got back to their powerful running game - in a big way w/ Gore. I don't know why they ever got away from it except that Sing was convinced by his offensive coordinator that Alex needed the spread and shotgun to really be effective - plus opening it up more when Crabtree finally arrived. Alex shows more and more behind center plus I noticed they like to occasionally hand-off to Gore anyway out of it. When Alex was in high school in San Diego handing off to Reggie Bush and college under Urban Meyer at Utah he was never behind center once except for maybe a rare QB sneak. He now needs to just drop back faster when behind center, look off secondary and read better the down field coverage. If he starts to do all that on a regular basis he will also have less passes batted down by the rush. Go Alex, you can do it! Well, you better do it! Man, did the San Francisco defense ever lay a serious smash mouth on the Arizona offense! GO NINERS!!
 
its been a LONG time since i've seen the niners put a beating on someone like that. the entire second half i was expecting to see a comeback, but the niners never gave up. this is really a different team than we've seen the last 6 or so years. we might finally be turning that corner...
 
You know, one person I always forget to mention is Patrick Willis... the kid is a beast. :)
 
VF21 said:
You know, one person I always forget to mention is Patrick Willis... the kid is a beast. :)
Click to expand...

He's just ridiculous. Not only does he lead the league in tackles by a good margin, but he throws in handfuls of sacks, INT's, forced fumbles, and pass defenses. What more could you hope for from a MLB?
 
8-8, and Vernon Davis ties the Tight End record for TD's on a beautiful bomb from Alex.

And Justin Smith! What a game, and for the first time in years 'Maybe next year' has some meaning~!
 
So the 49ers have turned the corner, and it certainly looks like our Kings have turned the corner. Looks like 2010 is gonna be a good year!!!

Thanks to Mike Singletary, Vernon Davis, Alex Smith (hey, I'll take that crow lightly sautéed in butter with a side of home fries, please), Michael Crabtree, Patrick Willis, and the rest of the guys. And a really big thanks to York the Younger for putting this team back on the right track!!!

NINERS!!!!!
 
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