Instant Analysis — 49ers
Posted: September 25, 2005 @ 9:14 pm
After three weeks, a personality is starting to emerge for the ‘05 Cowboys. So stock up on your tylenol. Keep you ice bags handy. Load up on your spirits of choice — well before the game starts. Save some for the post game too. From all evidence, you’re going to need it. Keep your rosary beads within reach. For better or worse, here come the Cardiac Cowboys.
Bill Parcells’ guys lived up to the big plays of week one, outscoring the 49ers 15-0 in the fourth quarter to seize a 34-31 win. In doing so, they put the 0-14 letdown of last week’s fourth quarter behind them, at least until they face the Raiders. What remains to be seen is whether this is the end of a bad streak, or the next phase in the on-again-off-again play that charactizes young teams going through philosophical changes.
One sign that indicates the former was the leadership exhibited by veterans who had forgettable first halves. Leading the way was Drew Bledsoe, who mixed a second quarter TD pass to Jason Witten and a TD run of his own with his first INT of the season, which was returned by 49ers safefy Tony Parrish for a score. In the second half, Bledsoe was a white-hot 15 of 21 for 202 yards. He was picked again by Parrish, but got a TD of his own and a key two point pass to Keyshawn Johnson on a dubious call by the officials.
Joining Bledsoe were Terry Glenn, who had 108 second half receiving yards and a key 58 yard reception on the last play of the third quarter, when the Cowboys were staggering; Dat Nguyen, whose linebacking corps was slow reacting on running plays and shaky in tackling when they did, who plucked an Arnaz Battle fumble off the ground and sealed the game with an interception in the final minute; and Terence Newman, who tipped the ball that Nguyen intercepted. He and corner mate Anthony Henry had by far their worst games of the season.
The game, which resembled a Tom Landry era-shootout, had Bill Parcells doing his worst Bad-Tom impersonation. In the third quarter, after two Dallas stops and a touchdown had pulled the Cowboys to within 24 to 19, Parcells inexplicably called for a line plunge out of a punt set on 4th-and-one from the Dallas 34. The play, which failed miserably, evoked the failed 4th-and-one in your own zone “No, Danny, No!” call that sent Dallas to defeat against the Redskins in ‘83. Parcells should be credited for motivating his team to a comeback, but he should also thank them for overcoming his mental freeze.
Notes:
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About Petitti, he gave up the first sack that ended our opening drive, by letting the DE just run right by him. Maybe there was supposd to be a back to block him but it sure looked like a mistake to me.
Just wanted to tell you that I love your blog - great stuff!
If the boys continue to play like this, we’ll be 8 and 8, just by the luck of the bounce.
The offense was a bit more open, but i think only because we were down, had we ever been up by a point or two, we would of been 3 and out every series.
While “praising” a more wide open approach, going 4th and 1, in our territory in the 2nd quarter, is stupid.
Speaking of stupid, going for a two point conversion outside of the last 5 minutes of the game, is also stupid. Get all the “sure thing” points you can, until the end when you might be forced to go for two (hehe, can’t wait to hear Hansen gripe about this tomorrow on 1310)
How many times did Cowboys get their Hands on a player, only for that player to get 8 more yards? THIS FALLS BACK TO COACHING!!!
well my hopes for a good season, are gone, like I said 8 and 8 , I’ll watch every game hoping for more, but I’m no longer expecting it.
When are the Cowboys going to release Peerless Price and re-sign Jeff Robinson? Bad snaps are affecting our FG, PAT and punting.
Raphael,
Just a couple of things. First, how long do you think cortez will stick around. Regardless of who’s fault it is, no one should talk smack to larry allen. Also, what do we have to do to stop the long ball. Finally and almost as important, what do we have to do to stop the sunday night morons from announcing football. This has bothered me for a couple of years. The sunday night espn group is by far the biggest bunch of morons ever confined to an 8×8 area. Your thoughts?
Josh,
They’re splitting up after this year. McGuire is going to college ball, I think. Joe is calling MNF next year on ESPN.
Looks like travis henry is going to be suspended 4 games by the league for substance abuse, I’m wondering if we could trade the A-train as it looks like he’s in Bills dog house, rumors he was offered around the league last week.
Petitti looks better and better every game, had no doubt about him starting from game one, I think we have the right tackle spot finally locked down for the next ten years.I thought the o-line as a whole played a great game, and showed some fire too. Haven’t seen that from Allen for a long while.
Have to agree with you on the safety play, made Loyd look like a hall of famer tonight,Henry had a really ugly night, thats something that has to get fixed,this week and fast. Look for Oakland to throw alot deep next week, we have to get that fixed, I wonder myself if their is going to be some changes this week, maybe cut ogbogu, activate Bua of the practice squad, now that Burnett is back and keep Roy at linebacker in the nickel.
Looks like Scott Fujita is making some headway at Singleton’s position, only a matter of time before he becomes the starter there.
Really hard to knock Bledsoe, brought this team back for the two wins and is limiting his mistakes so far, one INT to Glenn cant really fault him, ball got batted around by Glenn abit, but he’s doing everything thats beig asked of him. Glenn with another 100 yards of recieving, so much for being to slow.Looks pretty fast to me.
Absolute ugliest game this team has played for awhile, but a win is a win, we’ll take it, but alot to work on this week so I dont think we’ll be complacent next week.
gja,
Yes my thoughts exactly on the sack. Petitti missed his assignment, it looked like. .. Also I thought Newman played an exceptional game. Henry was the guy giving up big plays. Newman made one huge play by getting into the back field on Battle’s reverse. Knocked a WR down on a tipped ball, which allowed Dallas to pick it off. Then made an outstanding play to defend the pass that was eventually picked by Dat. T-New was awesome!!
Didn’t see the game, but listened to most of it. The Williams-Nguyen-Shanle LB setup sounds like a potential blitz package to me. Get your best rushers near the ball, so one or more can come on cue. I like the way the defensive strategy is evolving. It’s not just new players in a new scheme, but a new mindset for the coaches, too. They are making it up as they go along, and we should be expecting them to learn and adapt, too. They should be improving week to week, just as the players should, until they get to understand one another and their respective jobs.
I have seen enough of the Raiders to know they can be had. Whether or not they will be is uncertain, but I would not bet against it, given the extra practice focus the west coast stay should allow and the many mistakes should invite. Nothing has shown me that the Raiders can stop the Cowboys consistently–this one will be a test of the defensive staff and their learning curve, almost more so than the players’.
As of Sunday night at 10 PM no team in the NFC has scored more points than the Cowboys (75) Philly also has 75 points and it looks like the Giants will best that but that’s it!
Josh,
THANK YOU! I have called Maguire and Theissmann the worst duo in history, and finally I hear someone agrees with me. If I were a raccoon caught in a trap next to a tv with them on, I would chew my leg off to get away!
gja and EricR,
That play was a naked bootleg off a fake pitch. They call it naked for a reason. You try to sell the backside guys that it’s a run away from them. “Influence” blocking is what they used to call it. Some guys can get fooled by it and some can’t. Bryant Young is too old and too smart. The sad fact? The Cowboys overloaded the left side and had it sealed. Had Bledsoe given Jones the ball he gets the first down easy. Daryl Johnston was right. They got cute when they didn’t have to and it cost them.
Rafael,
I remember that “No Danny, No” play. That was one of the very few times I ever observed Landry show emotion. I expect some personnel moves this week involving A-Train, Cortez, and as you said, a safety. It is obvious now that this is a young team that will take a while to get it’s thumbs out. All the more reason that your “Game Survival Kit” ingredients are very prescient.
I hope we get our secondary lapses tightened up cuz you know that Oakland is gonna be out for blood not wanting to drop to 0-4!Other news looks like the giants “chink” in their armour might be their run defense(LT) destroyed them,ugly win but hey,we are 2-1!
I’m cringing everytime I see our opponents throw up a long bomb. The defense last year gave up 31 TD passes and after just 3 games this year, they’ve given up 7 already. And what was up with all the mistackles today. It was so sloppy. I haven’t given up the fact that this defense will eventually improve and fix it’s mistakes. It’s a new scheme with lots of inexperienced players around. I just hope our offense can consistently bail us out of what’s going to be a heart pounding season.
It could get ugly for the Cowboys defence next week- so far they have had problems with big power backs and deep threat receivers. Next week - Oakland with Moss, Porter, and Jordan. The lack of an experienced ball hawk safety is really killing the Cowboys defence.
Why can’t the nickel/dime defence mount any kind of pass rush with four pass rushers? Sigh, where are you Charles Haley?
BTW, I’m still totally baffled by that 4th down call on their own 35. I’ve never ever seen Parcells purposely give away the momentum like that so early in the 2nd half. I thought maybe he was trying to get the 49ers to go offsides without snapping the ball but when they ran the play, I was screaming at the top of my lungs “NOOOOOO”.
the bottom line is these are pro players in the secondary, and they are not getting it done. if we dont get the pass defense fixed by the time we play the raiders, moss and porter will have a field day. also, the miss tackles or yards after contact better get fixed quick. i have big questions about zimmer as our DC.
The D definitely has problems, but remember the preseason analysis that this team would need time to get settled into the Defense. It has a bunch of rookies and free agents coming in, and it’s in a new scheme, so it’s going to take time.
Things are up and down so far, but you can’t assume that they’ll be that way for the duration of the season. I keep thinking about that Jets team Parcells coached that sucked eggs the first half of the season then came back. It’s reasonable to assume the rooks will get better and the whole D will settle into the 3-4 more as we go.
Now, just gotta get a real FS back there…
Rafael,
I am not sure why you threw Newman under the same bus as Henry. I thought Newman played a terrific game. [Just think what the comments would be about Henry, if this had been the first game of the season!]
My own personal peeve was that, while the Cowboys were tackling sloppily and the 49ers were making tons of yards after contact and getting first downs they never should have had, on offense the Cowboys were going down like Paris Hilton after a few drinks! I think for the game we gained a grand total of about two feet after the first contact, which was often an ankle tackle which dropped the runner in his tracks, a yard or two short of the first down.
Did one Cowboy ever bring down a 49er by himself? Did one Cowboy break any tackle by a lone 49er?
My other pet peeve had nothing to do with the Cowboys game. After that game was over, I switched over to watch the end of the Steelers-Patriots game. In the last drive of the game, NOT ONE TIME did any of the announcers ever say where the ball was. [On most plays you couldn't tell from the TV coverage itself.] I would think that would be something a tad important in a tie game with a team driving towards a game-winning field goal. Not only did the announcers never spot the ball, but the camera was usually focused on something else until just before the snap of the ball. I considered this extremely sloppy and unprofessional work by the CBS crew, which was their #1 crew! I found myself several times screaming at the TV, “Where’s the @*&#ing ball, you @*&# morons?!” It’s a good thing I was in a good mood after the Cowboys game, or I might have gotten upset.
I’m still of the opinion that our db’s are loads better than what we had the past couple years. Those long bombs are killing me but I’m convinced that will be taken care of. I don’t think you’ll be seeing any 80-yarders by the Raiders, even though they have a better receiving corps. I love having Roy Williams on the team but he just isn’t a cover guy. In obvious pass situations, I’d like to keep him on the field because he’s a playmaker but I’d like to see them have an extra cornerback out there. I’m calling Anthony Henry’s play yesterday a mulligan. He had two good games. I’ll let this one slide. I expect him to do much better next week.
Johnson stepping back like he has been has tripped Bledsoe and JJ once this game. It looks like he is getting physically dominated.
Rich on that play roy had ……….just kidding !!!
Back to that bootleg i don’t understand the call….
its 3rd and short you give it to jj why mess with
the naked bootleg with a slow QB??? It seems that
the play callers are out thinking themselves …….
and not just that one call the play calling seems inconsistent
to say the least …any thoughts???
Did Ware make ANY plays yesterday? Any pressures, hurries, sacks?
Burmafrd,
Looks like Johnson is getting bullrushed, and the sad part is that it wasn’t only that play. He was in the back field a few times. Johnson also missed chances to spring Julius free for big gains. .. Someone (Daryl “moose” Johnson) finally noticed Dallas’ inability to get to the second level in blocking schemes. Having a FB helped out a heck of a lot in their attemts at running straight ahead. I had been preaching “toughness” for two weeks in a row, and the Cowboy offense out “toughed” the 49er defense. So overall it was good.
Rafael,
Wether it was a naked boot or not, Petitti didn’t block anyone, as he just stood still. He has to put his hands on someone. Bryant was the obvious choice there.
Hey if you have video of the game, watch Newman on Singleton’s INT. After the ball was tipped he makes a real heads up play and pushes his guy to the ground, allowing 2 Cowboy defenders to get the easy pick. No announcers caught this, but it was a terrific heads up play.
becker,
The play calling has been good. But more than that yesterday, the offensive line (and having a FB) showed a capability to get the “tough” yards. Did anyone watch Lorenzo Neal last night? Tomlinson may be the best RB in the NFL, but Neal just blast open runs. I believe Julius can be more effective with a good lead blocker. It just takes time for a RB to run behind a blocker and trust him. .. I said this earlier in the season, but once Dallas starts establishing an ability to run straight ahead for the tough yards, other things will open up from that. .. On the bootleg, if Petitti blocked someone, then maybe Dallas converts. Can’t blame the play calling if a guy misses a block.
The Sunday announcers are the worst the game is purely
incidental to their conversation.They never shut up,they talk
through the play the play ends they glance at the play pick
a star correctly or incorrectly praise the guy to high heaven
thru the next play and so it goes.
Another observation I noticed was Ware starting to get into the OT’s head a little. He was more of a disturbance yesterday than in previous games. .. Ware also has been very wide and too deep on his pass rush. If teams keep pushing him this deep, Dallas should overload that side and blitz that gap in between the OG and OT. Should be a free run at the QB, as Ware is creating a huge gap with his speed rush. .. Ware also looked a lot better with his power rushes, as he on a few occasions pushed the OT back, almost into the QB. Once creating Rattay to feel the pressure and as he attempted to move away from it, Dallas sacked him. .. Mixing the speed and power helped Ware out at keeping the OT off balanced. This is the first time I saw Ware as a factor, and the first time he has shown some improvement. Still looks to me like he can get a bit stronger, and then he would be more complete.
Eric ,
I agree i said yesterday the running game looks
much better with a fullback……now with a guy like
L. o’neal watch out!!! I just think in short yardage
you go with best runner jj not bledsoe so some faith
in your o-line.
Why does a team have a guy like Jason W. who can look like superman for 5 minutes, and yet treat him like the tiddy bowl man for the other 55 minutes of the game? Use the guy until the other team can do something to stop him. Once the other team does adjust there should be a hole somewhere else from that adjustment.
I liked that the Boys at least tried to throw the ball on 1st down now if only the patterns would be more that 2 steps. The other teams I feel know BP is going to go down the field only 1 or 2 times a game so they will risk having guys up near the line which makes it hard to run. I listened to the game only (no tv coverage) so I could be wrong.
I believe that players make plays but the coaches have to put the players in the correct position. Roy W at or near the line is outstanding, Keith D on special teams knows what he is doing. BP can draft talent, but I am just not to happy about how he uses it at times.
As much as I dislike the raiders and al davis they atleast force you to have to cover the entire field when you’re playing defense. The raiders pass offense next weekend will be getting frequent flier miles for the time the football spends in the air. No way Norv T doesn’t test this defense.
The Boys DC was good before BP showed up, and he didn’t like the change to the BP defense, so I think both on offense and defense this team does exactly what BP says. I just think BP plays not to loose instead of trying to win. That being said there is a difference between aggressive and stupid. What was he FKN thinking about to go for it on 4th down in your own end of the field in the 3rd qtr when only 5 pts down?
Did anybody see what Phily did without the kicker (hamstring on opening kickoff)? Teams need the 1 kicker they have! Larry A. gets in the kickers face (of his own team). How stupid is it to get a guy rattled when he isn’t the greatest in the world to start with in a game you may need the guy to win. I didn’t see LA getting in MB III face on the returns that he caused in the SD game where the Kicker made the damn tackles.
NYGiant hater,
ware recorded a sack. and as another poster suggested, he creating holes that we should take advantage of via blitzes.
Bring on DA RAIDERS!
We are going to have to play better coverage against the Raiders and oh by the way they got a legit running back too. He was churning out yards and they should have stolen a win in Philly………even if McNabb is looking like Ali late in life……….beat up.
Moss and Porter are by far the best tandem at WR we have faced. Newman and Henry are going to need help from the S and the LBs. I don’t recall the Dallas Cowboys ever beating Minnesota with Randy Moss, he always seemed to have a 2 or 3 touchdown day against us. I think we gotta score a lot, and keep JJ running the ball. Eagles did not really run at all against the Raiders, I think that would be a better way to go. Also Ware, Ellis, Glover, Fergie, Dat, Shanle, Burnett and whoever else Canty and Spears………..we need about 6 sacks and keep Collins uncomfortable in the pocket. He has a pretty good pocket presensce he was stepping up to avoid rush and delivering some nice passes against a damn good secondary for the Eagles. When he is off the bottle he is as good a strong arm qb as is in the league………and he sure looks like he has been off the sauce………..even though the Raiders are off to a miserable start………they Have had to play New England and Philly……..not exactly an easy schedule.
One more road win to go for the LEFT COAST sweep. Get er done BOYS!!! We got the rest of the NFC East to beat up on next!
one other thing to note………in a similar game last year against Green Bay we gave up big plays got behind early and then we just QUIT. We let Ahmen Green run all over us that Day and never got on track on the offense. Not today. That says a lot about this team. On the road, come back, even though we didn’t play our best football on either side of the ball. Despite their record the 49ers played tough football today and the Boys still manage a win. That is night and day from last year where we would have just folded the first time we were down by two scores.
rmac,
I believe the 9ers did adjust to Witten, and when Bledsoe looked his way and saw coverage he first got “happy feet”. As the game wore on, Bledsoe adjusted very well, moved a little in the pocket and found Glenn twice running past the coverage, a sure result of the 9ers giving Witten a lot of attention. To me one of the biggest points about yesterdays game was how Bledsoe started to get comfortable in the pocket. He movement against Washington wasn’t smooth, and the same in the first half yesterday. In the 3rd and 4th quarters he stepped up, moved to his left, and moved to his right, and was calm and kept his cool. My opinion is he is gaining confidence in his line, and at the end of the game the way he congratulated them was proof of that. .. Just like Julius gaining confidence in a lead blocker, and the team getting some toughness … these things take time. Yesterday was a big step in the right direction.
rmac,
Witten started getting double coverage in the second half, which directly contributed to *other people* getting big plays. Remember that 58 yard bomb Bledsoe threw to Terry Glenn at the end of the third quarter? Witten and Glenn were bunched together on the left and Bledsoe ran a semi rollout left. When he cocked his arm both 49ers on that side of the field ran to cover Witten. Neither of them covered Glenn and he killed them.
You don’t have to catch the ball to hurt the other team.
Joe Bradley,
The Cowboys corners don’t scare me. It’s the safeties behind them that do. Moss didn’t hurt the Eagles yesterday because they always had Brian Dawkins offering coverage help to whichever corner had Moss. Caught some underneath stuff, but couldn’t break free for the big throw — at least in the half I watched. Now think of yesterday’s game. If Keith Davis stays in position, Brandon Lloyd might catch that 2nd quarter ball for 20 yards, but he won’t go 89.
Every corner is going to give up some plays. But you try to limit the damage. Right now, You can count on Keith Davis letting a WR run past him about once a game. And it’s Randy Moss doing the running next week. I am concerned.
What was up with the D??? We made the 49ers look like a good team.
That is what you miss when you listen to the game on the radio. Sham doesn’t say what the defense is doing against The Boys receivers, or to much else.
Thanx for the updates Eric and Rafael
Len hit the nail on the head…as predicted, our Defense is going to struggle early this year. However, there is definite signs that they are MUCH better than anytime since ‘95:
- More negative plays (more sacks, over twice as many turnovers)
- Much better coverage (although I agree with the FS assessment)
- Solid run defense
- Better pressure
As long as our offense can continue to play at a high level through the break (week 9), this team will still be able to make a serious run.
Anyone who still wants to berate Bledsoe needs to realize that he has the best rating of any NFC QB and the best Dallas has had since Aikman. This is our QB for the next 2-3 years…get behind him or shut up…your arguments don’t hold water.
While I’ve never been a huge Zimmer fan, he is a fine Defensive Coordinator. He has never made one statement lamenting the change to a 3-4 and any suggestion that he is unhappy would be disingenuous. He is the highest paid DC in the league…Jerry and Bill would not have done that if they think he sucks, now would they?
My prediction remains…Cowboys go 6-2 through the break, led by the offense and a relatively weak schedule. The defense improves significantly and the tough second half schedule is met by a mature and finely tuned team…resulting in a 11-5 or 12-4 record.
Ware had another mostly quiet night. 1 sack, thank goodness (his first). 3 tackles. That’s it. He is still getting handled on most plays by stronger OT’s.
Of more concern, our D-Line generally performed poorly yesterday. They caused only 2 sacks on 34 pass attempts, allowed Rattay enough time to complete 62% of his passes, and allowed 124 yards rushing (5.0 avg). Add the penalties, and you have one bad day. At least this seems like a one game blip.
And while the O-Line did well pass-blocking, they were not opening up holes or getting a strong push with any consistency at all. Thus JJ’s 85 yards rushing and 3.27 avg yesterday. And for the year he averages just 3.5 yards per carry, again I believe due to poor line play. That must change.
Remnant
Ware is doing a good job he is partly responsible for others getting sacks. If you think about it JJ hasn’t had a good game against any good teams or good D. He hasn’t had that big game yet. He needs a big game against Philly. Its not just the line its him too. The line is better than it was last year.
Did anyone notice the number of times that the ‘Boys seemed to run into each other yesterday? It appeared as though they were out of position many time … in fact, too many. Judging from what I saw, the game films will be significant for identification of some problems that need fixing.
I was most concerned with the mistakes from non-rookies. I expect the rookies to have some lapses early in the season but they did well with the possible exception of Pettitti on the one play(i’m not sure if he was supposed to block or let the guy take himself out of the play then lead block) and the many poor snaps by Condo. I thought that encroachment call on Ware was horse crap. He flinched from the snap count and then the tackle jumped.
The most glaring errors I saw were by vets that shouldn’t take as long to get up to speed. What’s Glover doing with that roughing call? Why is our seasoned secondary so poor in pass coverage? Bledsoes 2nd int was caused by our rec bobbling the ball not snatching it. How many mistakes by the O-line in the first 3 games? Why is our D line getting blown off the line. Maybe their technique calls for them to stand and read but that is not working. They need to fire off and read/react on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage not 2 yards back off the ball.
Very early in the first quarter Rattay was 4 for five with two TD’s. I knew it was going to be a long day. My first thought was did the ‘Skins expose something that every team is going to go after? I sure hope not. I thought the secondary was better than that. This was a shootout with a team the ‘Boys should have easily beaten,especially after the MNF embarrassment. Let’s get it together guys and soon!
I loved it when Larry Allen went after Cortez. That dude needs to go. A missed FG last week and a missed PAT this week are not going to get it done.
what about trying to bring pete hunter back to play saftey? i think his appointment book is pretty open , and he has the speed and size to be a good cover saftey.i know he still wants to be a corner but honestly his door is not being kicked down from what i hear. i bet a call from bill to come play saftey pete would jump at the chance, he could def help this team with his corner back mentality at the free saftey spot. and playing saftey is alot better then wishing he would have kept his mouth shut and sitting watching every game like we do. he probably is watching how bad we need a saftey too.
While everyone’s picking on Roy, I thought it would be fun to grade the defense. (grades are mine, stats are NFL.com)
- DL -
A: Ellis (8 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 passes defensed)
B: Glover & Canty (6 tackles, 1 sack each)
C: Fergusen & Coleman (6 tackles, no sacks, injuries) and Spears (5 tackles, half sack, injuries)
- LB -
A: Nguyen (22 tackles–t14th, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed, 1 INT, 1 FR)
C: Shanle (10 tackles, 1 sack), Ware (9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed), Singleton (7 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 1 INT)
D: James (8 tackles–pathetic for an ILB, 1 pass defensed)
- CB -
A: Henry (7 passes defensed, 1 INT, 21 tackles)
B: Newman (3 passes defensed, 1 INT, 13 tackles), R. Williams (2 passes defensed, 1.5 sacks, 15 tackles, 1 FF)
C: Glenn (in limited time 1 PD, 1 INT, 4 tackles)
D: K. Davis (no passes defensed, 12 tackles, 1 FR)
While most of the C’s and D’s are young players, Bradie James is now a veteran who just looks lost. Rarely in the right place. Easily blocked. Needs to be replaced by Shanle soon. And Bill needs to replace the aging Glenn with the younger Reeves ASAP–maybe during the bye week. Develop those young’uns.
And when will Fergusen show us anything to support the nice pay day we gave him?
im thinking we are gonna see pile alot more often now, davis’ mistakes are deffinetely mounting up.
deffinetely need another fs
was it me or did we blitz very little? maybe it was the fact that the niners were able to run against us?
bledsoe sure looked good exept 2 int where 1 of them wasnt entirely his fault, but ill take 2 int over 3 games comes to about 10.5 this year, i guess buffalo was wrong (for now)
jj was solid again but were lacking the home run, i think itll come in the next couple weeks
ware finally got his first sack nice to see, but we need more ffrom him, canty and spears played well.
ill take this win over any loss anyday
What Ferguson gives us is something thats not going to show up on the stat sheet, he’s a nose tackle, his job is to occupy the middle on the center and guard and not to get moved out of there and allow the linebackers to fill the hole to either stop the run or rush the passer.He might get two sacks a year, but that doesn’t mean he’s not effective.
I don’t really have a problem in trying a fake punt on your own 34, down by 5, in the 3rd quarter. Jimmy Johnson used to pull those plays on a regular basis, and field position was decent enough to try it. However, the play that was tried needs to be torn out of the play book and shredded. The key to any fake punt is surprise and deception. I can’t think of any play that could have been less surprising or less deceptive. I have no idea why such a play would ever have been designed by a professional staff, much less called. The only thing I can think of is that there are other options off of it. If there are, I certainly hope they are better than the one that was used.
During an earlier game, Babe Lauffenberg noted that the Cowboys have a fake punt where McBriar takes off, and if the defense sniffs it out, punts the ball on the run, utilizing his skills as an ex-rugby player. That’s the one I want to see … not the abomination that was tried.
Remnant,
Ware finally looked like a factor late in the game, which was a good sign. He mixed up his speed rush and power rush well, and one of his power moves resulted in Rattay moving in the pocket, which ended up a Cowboys’ sack.
I have to agree with Derrick too, Ferguson fights the fight, but is not a glorified with a bunch of stats. When it comes to Canty also, throw away the stat sheet, because this kid is the real deal. He pushed play after play into the offensive back field. The defensive coaches seem to be sticking to their rotation, but Canty looked like he wanted in EVERY PLAY, and don’t be suprised if the coaches ablige his request for more playing time in the up coming weeks. You have to love a player like this!! He is a play maker, and was very vocal yesterday. In my opinion he, Newman, Glover, and Dat really took a stand in the second half of yesterdays game, giving the defense a pulse.
I’m concerned about Julius. as AW mentions, he hasn’t had a break out game against an upper level defense, and he hasn’t had a breakout game this year.
As for Ware, he made the Redskin line get caught for holding at least twice last week. His time is coming, don’t give up on him just yet.
As I watched the game I saw Ware getting in the backfield consisntly. Rattay did a good job of moving around and getting the ball off quickly. If Mike Zimmer calls for some more blitzes you’ll see Ware make a bigger difference. We HAVE TO START BLITZING! Thats how we won with a worse team 2 years ago. The 34 hasn’t looked too good and I’m wondering when we are going to go to some 43 fronts. It seems all of our 4 man fronts are always in the nickel.
Fergunson will never have the stats, the guy just plugs up the middle and is always good for a double team. Those dont show up in the stat sheet.
If we are going to resign Robinson, A Train needs to go, not Price. Bledsoe even said after the game that he wants to get Peerless more involved. Bledsoe has been our Offensive MVP and why get him mad by releasing his friend who he helped get signed? Give Price more time, I saw him blocking out there and he was even our only WR on the field with 2 TE and JJ and Polite. He seemed like a good blocker.
If only Henry, Newman, and Glenn could all have good games together. Thats how we’ll stop the pass. Newman looked bad Week 1, Glenn Week 2, and Henry Week 3.
I say we should experiment with rotating FS. Have Davis play the 1st and 3rd quarters and Pile play the 2nd and 4th. Davis will stay fresh and play ST, and Pile will be in there for the 4th to help with the long ball.
If you could take any one player on Defense, from any team in the NFL, who would it be? –Mine would be Ed Reed, a FS that can cover and take the ball away for TD’s. Harrison is up there because he’s a leader, what we need, and Brian Dawkins, though I hate the guy, hes a real good player who doesn’t get recognition.
I give the entertainment value for this game 10 stars. Sure it wasn’t perfect but it never is. I watched several games yesterday Pats/steelers
bills/falcons Colts/browns Dallas/SanFran and guess what. all those teams had problems and glaring weaknesses. They couldn’t stop the run, they couldn’t stop the pass the bottom line in every one of those games there was a winner and a loser. Some teams Pats/feagles come to mind just find a way to win. the Boys in the 90/s found a way to win no matter the cirsumstances and I see this team has found a way to win twice in the past three weeks despite haveing the same people and the same problems week end and week out. Adjustments are part of the game and each week we learn something new and guess what a win on the road is tuff. see stats below:
During the 2001 NFL regular season, home teams had a record of 136-112. Home teams improved to 148-107-1 in 2002, and 157-99 in 2003. This translates into a combined win percentage of 58% for those three seasons. so to take a win away from a home team twice in three weeks is something to write home about. I remember when the boys couldn’t win a road game if you spotted them 21 pts.
We spotted the other team a lot pts and still found a way to win lets talk about that for a while
RESIGN ROBINSON???????
he sign back with the Rams, if I’m not mistaken.
Fergusen is supposed to be a run stopper in the middle and eat up two blockers, yes? Then why did the lowly niners run all over us even when he was in? And they were primarily running off tackle, where Fergusen should have had some impact. I don’t expect him to get any sacks or many tackles at NT, but I do expect the defense to stuff the run and have a better chance to get to the QB with him than I’ve seen so far.
Mr Bill: McBriar played Aussie Rules Football, not Rugby. Completely different games( like comparing basketball to soccer). I think you were just quoting Babe but the games require completely different skill sets. I actually met McBriar and Barnes at the Grand Final(Aussie Rules Super Bowl) last year.
Sean,
McBriar knows how to kick on the run like American Atheletes know how to dribble between their legs.
Those footy players make some incredible kicks on the fly. 50-60 meters and on target. The USfooty is having their nationals this weekend in Milwaukee if anyone is interested (www.usfooty.com)
remnant,
If the 9ers were running all over us, they would have been able to run out the clock in the 2nd half. I totally realize that their yards were good, but they weren’t imposing their will on our defense. In fact Dallas’ first 2nd half TD drive was more of our offense putting their D to that test. Here is what San Fran did in the 2nd half:
3 plays - 3 yards = punt
5 p - 14 yds = punt
4 p - 15 yds = fumble
4 p - 34 yds = TD
4 p - 36 yds = INT
5 p - 12 yds = punt
3 p - 00 yds = punt
5 p - 14 yds = INT
33 plays - 125 yards - 3 turnovers is very good second half defense! The 9ers only TD drive in the second half was on a short field (34 yards), which was their longest drive of the half. Eight drives of 5 or less plays. So Ferguson did do a good job, because when San Fran was supposed to run they couldn’t.
Also I saw the 49ers throw when Ferguson was in the game, this to neutralize Glover as a pass rusher, and it worked pretty good in the first half.
Lighten up on Cortez. He’s 7 of 9 on field goals thru exhibition and regular season (3 over 40 yards). Out of 6 kickoffs yesterday, the best field position the niners got was the 28 yard line. 3 drives started inside their 20. Be careful what you wish for if your search for another kicker. The punter and kick holders are chasing the snaps pretty regularly. The extra point snap rolled to the holder.
EricR,
According to NFL.com, the 49ers gained 64 yards rushing in the 1st half (4.9 avg), 60 in the 2nd (5.0 avg). Our D did not control their running in either half. In fact, it was our passing defense that improved vastly in the 2nd half (avg yards per pass dropped from 11.8 to 5.2).
Recall that entering the game, SF was in every measurable way the worst rushing team in the league. Complete breakdown by the interior of our D-Line. And, yes, Fergusen was a part of that. For a guy who has done nothing else to get excited about and whom Bill tried to make the centerpiece of the 3-4, that’s very bad. He’s not even starting.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this (or if you did I missed it), but this WAS a road game the Sunday after a physically and emotionally demanding Monday night. Rarely do you see the best performances in such games. Remember the old gamblers’ saw: take the dog at home against a favorite traveling after a Monday night. It was 100 degrees during that Skins game, too — maybe, in addition to the possible emotional letdown, some of the “big uglies” were not quite up to speed. I think one big advantage of having so much youth and rotating our D-linemen is that it helps counteract some of these problems, and we did look good in the 4th quarter. Time will tell.
Psst, Jon - Westbrook’s day against the Raiders:
140 Receiving Yards to go with the 68 Rushing Yards, with 2 TDs - one rushing the other receiving. The Eagles may not have “run” well against the Raiders in the traditional sense, but they certainly used the RB position effectively.
Just an observation.
(And yes, Oiler Troll appreciates the snarky stab at Collins’ alcoholism).
OT
how is jj supposed to have a huge game we havent been in control of a game except the first 50 minutes against washington, and they have a tough defense. he has about 240 yds (without looking it up) which means roughly 1280 for the year, thats not all bad, maybe we have to high expectations for him or maybe he hasnt had a real good chance to run alot because of playing from behind…
Derrick,
You are correct about Robinson. He has signed with St. Louis two days after we released him. He is not an option.
Sean,
I stand corrected about McBriar coming from Australian Rules Football, not rugby. Maybe if he CAN kick the ball on the run, it won’t make any difference how he picked up that ability.
Guys,
LS Jeff Robinson is 35 anyway. We’d like a long snapper who will be with us for a few years. Condo is a rookie who looks like he could be very good long term. We don’t just want a winning season or the playoffs, right? We want Super Bowls!
Guys, AFL teaches you how to kick on the run better than rugby does.
That is what the game is about - kicking to a man whilst being chased by someone trying to tackle you (from in front, behind or the side), or for goal. Most players can kick 50 yards on the run (different ball, but shouldn’t be too hard for him). He should also be able to tackle (but in AFL you have to tackle below the shoulders and above the knees so his technique wouldn’t be perfect).
Anybody wanting to watch a good football game should try to see the Rugby League Grand Final from Sydney (our equivalent of your super bowl) this Sunday morning at about 6am (American time)