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Week 14 vs. New York Jets Positional Analysis

2008-12-08T10:28:00.001-08:00

That was easily the best game the 49ers have played all year, outside of maybe against Detroit but the Lions barely count as an NFL team. To dominate an 8-4 that had beaten two playoff contenders on the road like that is just an amazing confidence booster. What's more is that the 49ers did it without their best player for the entire second half and with their second best defensive player for the entire game. A little more than a month ago this team was dead in the water with a lame-duck coach and a turnover prone quarterback and now they are playing with a fire and intensity we haven't seen in a long time. I know this is stupid because it is in the past but I am torn right now. Part of me wishes that Shaun Hill had been the starter since week 1 because if he had been we would probably be 8-5 and playoff bound right now but, on the other hand, Nolan wouldn't have been fired in that situation. But I guess when I think about it long term I am happier that O'Sullivan was the quarterback in the first half of the season because we were going nowhere with Nolan at the helm. With Singletary, however, we could go far.

- I admit I have been one of the loudest voices crying out against Mike Martz but I can't say anything at all about the game he called yesterday. Whenever the 49ers did something wrong on offense it was on the execution, not the play call. On the opening drive of the game we were moving right the field until the Robinson fumble and on our next possession we did it again except we didn't give the Jets the ball, though we did fumble. On those first two drives we totaled 131 yards and 7 first downs, had only one play go for negative yardage, converted 2/2 third downs, held the ball for over 9 minutes, and Shaun Hill only threw 1 incomplete pass. We really should have been up 14 nothing at the end of the 1st quarter. The best part of Martz's playcalling, however, was his third down playcalling which I consider to be the most important aspect in judging an offensive coordinator. On the third downs that the 49ers didn't convert the play calls were excellent but the team didn't execute. As much as I would like to I can't put that on Martz. Yesterday he called the screen passes, dump-offs, and quick slants that most of us have been calling and they worked to perfection, like we thought they would. If I had to grade him on yesterday's game it would obviously be an 'A'

- Shaun Hill has just been great for us since last year. Listen to these numbers. In 7 starts he is 5-2 with 215 passing yards per game, 15 touchdowns (2 rush), 5 interceptions, a 62% completion percentage, and a 95 passer rating. The two games he lost have been on the road against 8-5 teams and we should have won 1 of those. Yesterday was not the best game of the 7, statistically, but it was the best game if you ask me. He was extremely accurate, always found the open man, got rid of the ball on time, avoided the rush, and only made one mistake. Some of his passes were just fantastic and, maybe it is just me, it seems like his arm is getting stronger and stronger with every week. His only mistake was a bad one and I don't know what he was thinking but one mistake in 42 drop backs isn't a bad percentage. His numbers on third down were as follows; 10/13, 94 yards, 1 TD, 7 first downs passing, 8 rushing yards, 1 first down rushing. On two of the three third down completions that we didn't convert he got us within 1 yard of the first down marker and we went for it and converted.

- Before he got hurt Frank Gore was having a great game. I know 14 carries for 52 yards and 3 catches for 13 yards w/ a touchdown may not look like a great game on the stat sheet but he was able to gain yards even when there wasn't a hole. If you take away the two times he was tackled for a loss, both of which were completely the fault of the offensive line, he carried the ball 12 times for 56 yards, which averages out to 4.6 yards per carry, in basically a half of play. Considering how good the Jets run defense has played this season that is great. DeShaun Foster was considerably worse when he took over for Gore. I thought with extended play he might be able to get something going but he didn't. If Gore can't go next week, knock on wood, Thomas Clayton has to be promoted from the practice squad and take Foster's place. Michael Robinson should also get more carries. That fumble was inexcusable but he made a nice cut back on the 13 yard screen pass and blocked surprisingly well when he was asked to.

- Isaac Bruce has been a great signing for us. Not only is he clutch (5 third down catches, 4 conversions) but you can obviously see he is having a huge effect on the younger receivers, especially Jason Hill. Every time I see Hill catch a pass I think he is Bruce because of his smooth route-running and great hands. He has been almost as clutch as Bruce since he started seeing significant playing time. Bryant Johnson had a good game with 6 catches and a great touchdown catch but unless he steps it up in the last three weeks of the season he just hasn't done enough to deserve a new contract with Hill, Josh Morgan, and even Dominque Zeigler emerging and Bruce still having a year left on his contract. It was good to see Arnaz Battle back, because a lot of you know he is one of my favorite 49ers. I'm not sure if he played any offense, though, but I was just glad to see him in uniform.

- That was a great catch by Vernon Davis on the deep pass down the middle that Shaun Hill underthrew a little bit. In all honesty I am not sure I would ever see Davis go down and help his quarterback out like that but maybe that means he is becoming more of a team player. Even though he still isn't getting many passes thrown his way he is still contributing as a dominant blocker. Considering his small size compared to other tight ends I am surprised he is such a great blocker. Delanie Walker ran a great route on the touchdown that was called back but was still outplayed by Davis, one of the few times that has happened this season if you ask me.

- Pretty much every member of the offensive line had their best game of the season. Eric Heitmann held his own against the Pro Bowl bound Kris Jenkins and got more of a push on running plays then most of us expected, David Baas made a few mistakes in pass protection but was great at pulling on running plays, one of the two sacks allowed by the 49ers (the other was a coverage sack) was partly Chilo Rachal's fault but other than that a few other plays he looked good, Adam Snyder was getting no push when run blocking and allowed a defender to make a tackle for a loss twice but played better than he did against the Bills, and Joe Staley continues to dominate. Staley did commit a holding penalty that got a touchdown called back but other than that he was fantastic.

- As much as I have been against Martz I have probably been more against Manusky. I was just tired of him hoping our defensive line could put pressure on the opposing quarterbacks by themselves and giving them all day to throw because it wasn't working. Every time the QB would eventually find someone open. But yesterday that wasn't a problem for a couple of reasons. One was because the defensive line was actually getting pressure by themselves but the other was because he called a lot of blitzes and well designed blitzes at that. My theory is that Manusky was scared to secondary would get picked apart easily by Brett Favre without Nate Clements if Favre got time, maybe he got the idea by actually watching film of the 49ers this year, so he gambled and took pressure off of the secondary with a lot of blitzes. I know it seems like a stupid and kind of obvious thing to do but apparently Manusky didn't realize it until yesterday. Manusky also didn't have the linebackers playing 10 yards off the ball for most of the game, like he did against Buffalo. He needs to keep that gameplan for the rest of the season and then he might not get fired.

- Like I already said, the defensive line played great yesterday. Justin Smith was just manhandling D'Brickashaw Ferguson the entire game and the Jets noticed it. They didn't run the ball to the left one time all game and Smith only had one tackle, which was that late sack, but had a ton of QB pressures and forced Favre to step up into Parys Haralson a couple times. Aubrayo Franklin had by far his best game as a 49er. He actually pushed the pocket and held the point of attack for most of the game. Isaac Sopoaga got pushed out of the play a few times allowing big gains by Thomas Jones and Kentwan Balmer played poorly whenever I saw him in. He plays with almost no leverage. It seems like in college he got away with just overpowering opponents because he obviously has great strength but until he learns he can't do that in the NFL he won't do anything in the NFL.

- No high tackle numbers for Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes today but isn't that a good thing? Both made a few good tackles still. Willis stopped Leon Washington short of the first down on 3rd and 6 with a great open field tackle and then forced an incomplete pass with a vicious hit on Brad Smith that will probably draw a fine. Whenever I saw Manny Lawson he was shadowing Dustin Keller and he did a great job holding Keller to 2 catches for only 14 yards, his worst game since he became a starter by far. Parys Haralson and Roderick Green both had some success rushing the passer and Haralson also added a couple of tackles at the line of scrimmage.

- I cannot believe how good the secondary played without Nate Clements. A lot of it has to do with the front seven actually putting pressure on Favre but even on quick and short passes everyone had good coverage. Tarell Brown and Donald Strickland both did a great job filling in for Nate Clements and Walt Harris shut down Lavernous Coles. Michael Lewis and Mark Roman didn't make any plays but they didn't need to because Favre was so off target with his deep passes.

- The special teams coverage was excellent outside of the Leo Washington touchdown that got called back. Washington had 3 punt returns for only 4 yards and averaged only 23 yards per kickoff return. After his first bad punt Andy Lee really "boomed" the other three allowing the coverage team to get down there. Delanie Walker wasn't great on either of his kick returns but he wasn't bad and Michael Robinson had that one long kickoff return to set up a field goal. I'd like to see MRob returning kicks more. Arnaz Battle muffed his first punt but was good on the other two returns.

Week 13@ Buffalo Positional Analysis

2008-11-30T15:57:00.000-08:00

- As much as I would like to blame the playcalling for the offense's poor performance, because I hope Martz is gone next year, I can't. Martz called a pretty good game. He gave the ball to Gore a lot even though the running game wasn't really working and he only got "pass-happy" once, early in the third quarter. I am still waiting for screen passes to Gore, Davis, and Delanie Walker because teams continue to bring tons of pressure against us and stack the box. That is really the only criticism I have of Martz today. I could go after his third down playcalling, because we only converted 3/11 after that first great drive, but a lot of those failed conversions were on execution, not the play call.

- Shaun Hill once again played an efficient game and made plays when he needed to. 161 yards passing may not seem good but 7 yards per attempt is and there were also a few dropped passes. He didn't turn the ball over at all and even though he fumbled twice he fell on them. Of the three times he was sacked none of them were his fault and he used his legs to avoid a few more would be sacks.

- Looking at the box score one might think that Frank Gore had a bad game but in actuality he played okay but not great. He was hit in the backfield on at least half of his 24 carries and it was pretty amazing he got the yards he did because the Bills were stacking the box every play to stop him. Those two fumbles that he had were both just stupid. On the first one he just dropped the ball and fell on it instantly as he was going down so it didn't even mean anything and the second one was just a bad break. I really want to see Michael Robinson get more touches because he can make plays but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

- We still don't really have a #1 receiver that teams respect and slide coverage to most of the game but Jason Hill and Isaac Bruce are both playing well. Bruce's route-running is still phenomenal and he completely schooled that corner on his touchdown and Jason Hill just has a knack for getting open. When Josh Morgan comes back those 3 will be a decent set of starters. Bryant Johnson continues to disappoint, though. Dominique Zeigler saw more passes thrown his way than he has all season but had a couple of drops.

- For the life of me I can't see the pass interference on Vernon Davis' long touchdown catch. At first, at full speed, it looked like there might have been but on the replays I don't see anything. Oh well I guess. I said earlier that I want to see more screen passes thrown Davis' way but that isn't Davis' fault. He is such a good blocker we could probably move him to right tackle and get better play out of him than we do out of our current right tackle but that will be addressed in the next paragraph.

- The trade we did last year to get Joe Staley is paying dividends. Since Hill took over at quarterback he has been lights out and hasn't only not allowed a sack but he given up almost no QB pressures. I think part of his play is because Hill gets rid of the ball on time, unlike O'Sullivan, but most of it is his development into a dominant franchise left tackle. On the flip side the right tackle, Adam Snyder, was pretty bad. It's kind of sad because he has been playing well since he took over for Jonas Jennings/Barry Sims but he just played awful today. All three of the sacks the 49ers allowed were on him, in my opinion, and he gave up a few more pressures to go along with his poor run blocking. Chilo Rachal is already developing into a very good right guard, especially in pass protection which a lot of people didn't expect. Considering his size, David Baas hasn't really been the run blocker he is supposed to be. I believe his contract only runs through this season and unless he picks it up I don't think he will be resigned. Eric Heitmann is a very good pass blocker but probably the worst run blocker on our offensive line.

- The defensive strategy and playcalling were pretty much the main reasons why the defense gave up so many yards, along with the lack of a pass rush. For some reason that I will never know Manusky had the linebackers playing almost 10 yards off the LoS on almost every play and only blitzed a handful of times, if that. Most of the time Lynch was 5 yards downfield before a defender even had a chance at him and under those circumstances of course he is going to do well. Manusky needs to go after the season.

- I can't really blame the defensive line for Lynch's great game or the lack of pressure on Edwards and Losman because I already know that they are not good enough to put pressure on opposing QBs with 4 guys and you can't expect 4 guys to get past 5 offensive linemen and make a tackle. I have to acknowledge how well they did late in the game, though. They, especially Justin Smith, were relentless and came through in the clutch. It was good to see Ray McDonald making some plays after disappearing after having such a great preseason but he isn't a capable starter. Smith and Isaac Sopoaga are the only players we have that are capable of starting on the defensive line. The announcer kept on saying Aubrayo Franklin was having a good game but I must have been watching something else because I saw him getting blown off of the ball.

- Patrick Willis is easily a top 3 middle linebacker in the league. 14 total tackles, a forced fumble, a knocked down pass, and a couple of quarterback pressures on the day. Takeo Spikes had a great game as well and if Willis wasn't on this team he would get some Pro Bowl recognition. Manny Lawson was on the field for most of the game but Manusky had him playing farther back than even the other linebackers and he was in coverage a lot so it is hard to tell whether or not he had a good game.

- Nate Clements really made up for getting burned [b]once[/b] by Owens and didn't let Lee Evans beat him deep once and only gave him a few short passes, the 22 yarder was when Walt Harris was on him. Speaking of Walt Harris, he isn't very good anymore. Both Tarell Brown and Donald Strickland outplayed him today in my opinion. Our free safeties, Mark Roman and Keith Lewis, still suck. Roman can't cover or tackle which lead me to want to ask why he is even on the field and Lewis just doesn't have a free safety mentality. He wants to hit someone and doesn't think about coverage or assignments. Michael Lewis had a solid game. He wasn't beat deep but he didn't help in run defense much either.

- The return game really suffered with Allen Rossum out and we need him back but the coverage teams were great. That might have been because Andy Lee and Joe Nedney were both on top of their game and booming kicks even in the inclement weather. Lee was instrumental in this win, pinning them back deep quite a few times.

All in all, while I am not happy about how ugly the game was, I am happy we won. We are the first west coast team to come east and win so that has to mean something and beating a playoff caliber team on the road is impressive. I don't want to hear that Edwards leaving the game is why the Bills lost either because Losman played better than Edwards did in the first half.

Week 10 @Arizona Positional Analysis

2008-11-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

First let me just say that was the worst officiating sustained through an entire game that I have ever seen in my life. The officials were throwing flags on penalties that weren't there (i.e. the offensive pass interference called on Anquan Boldin), picking them back up, changing their minds (the pass interference on Bryant Johnson on the "tipped ball" play), and missing obvious penalties (like the facemask on Michael Robinson on the last play. The 49ers didn't do themselves any favors with terrible clock management and stupid penalties that actually happened but with proper officiating they still would have won that game.

- As a whole the offense was much better than it had been with J.T. O'Sullivan. Looking at the penalties and turnovers an uneducated observer might not think so but it was. We converted 50% of our third downs for the first time all season and Martz's playcalling wasn't stupid. He ran Gore 23 times and tried to throw it to him a few more. There were only a few long-developing, 7 step drops and quite a few quick slants. I just can't excuse the clock management at the end of the game, though. There were 45 seconds left when Jason Hill got down to the one yard line and we took 25 seconds to spike the ball. That is inexcusable. Then we should have spiked the ball with 4 seconds left and gotten a new play in. The refs messed up those last few plays but the 49ers messed up more.

- Just as the whole offense was better than in was with O'Sullivan so was Shaun Hill. He was the reason we converted so many of our third downs. When he ran for the first down late in the first half and lost his helmet I think we all saw shades of Steve Young. His three turnovers were bad but they didn't cost us the game and all of them have simple explanations. On the fumble he just never got the ball cleanly from Heitmann, which is probably because hasn't practiced with him enough, on the first interception

- Every time I do these game write-ups I have to type something about Frank Gore but I really don't know what to say anymore. The only bad game he has had this season is @ the Giants but other than that he has been great an Monday night was no exception. He was popping off 4 yards or more on almost every one of his carries even when there was no hole to run through. Gore did drop a couple of passes, including a swing pass on 3rd down that would have been a big play, but when you judge a player and he has one bad play for every 25 good ones I think that means he is a great player. Gore was also great in blitz pick-up. It was good to see Michael Robinson get involved but I would like to see more of it, and not on the game deciding play. I like MRob but he shouldn't be carrying it in that situation. Does DeShaun Foster even suit up anymore and if he doesn't then why not bring Thoma Clayton up from the practice squad and get him some carries. A running back rotation with Gore running 22 times and Robinson/Clayton splitting 15 carries to go along with 20-25 passes a game from Hill would greatly improve our offense.

- I have been saying for a while that Jason Hill impressed me more in the preseason than Josh Morgan but for some reason he hasn't been getting playing time. In the past two games he has gotten his chance and made the most of it. Ten catches for 122 yards and a touchdown in two games is good for anyone but it is especially impressive how good some of the catches and runs afterwards have been. If not for two great moves by Hill on our last drive we wouldn't have even been in position to win the game. Even though Hill was better Josh Morgan was still good himself. Those two look like they could be our #1 and #2 receivers of the future. Dominique Zeigler, who was as good as those two in the preseason as well, had a good catch and ran on that late 3rd and 25 and I saw him open a few other times when he was him. Maybe he can be our #3 down the road. Neither Isaac Bruce nor Bryant Johnson did anything Monday night and unless his performance picks up there is a very small chance that Johnson will be in San Francisco next season.

- After Vernon Davis caught that touchdown before the half I was estatic but then he committed a typical unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and I hated him again. Then he pulled up when he could have caught another touchdown and I hated him even more. I want him to do well for the rest of the season and build on that next year but if he keeps up the pace he is going at right now I don't know if he will be around next season. Davis is a great blocker, though. At this point he has probably even surpassed Billy Bajema as a blocker. Delanie Walker did nothing but I would like to see him, as well as Davis and Gore, get more screen passes thrown their way so they can run after the catch.

- The offensive line was definitely better than it had been all season. Adam Snyder was much better at right tackle than Barry Sims had been and David Baas was better at left guard than Snyder was. Baas did have some pass protection issues, as did both Eric Heitmann at center and Tony Wragge at right guard. The Cardinals seemed to be attacking the middle with blitzes all night long. At left tackle Joe Staley was only beat once but on the play he pushed his man back enough to allow Shaun Hill to step up into the pocket and complete the pass. Chilo Rachal got in for a sometimes and made some great blocks, one on Gore’s long sweep to the right and the other when he pushed his man 7 yards downfield on Morgan’s touchdown. I guess what the scouting reports said about him, that once he locked up it was over, were true. It seems like every week I say we should have a different offensive line configuration but this time I think I have it. Staley-Wragge-Baas/Heitmann-Rachal-Snyder. We still need an upgrade at right tackle and left guard but right now that gives us the best line, I think.

- I am going to take some heat for this but I am going to say again that the defense played better than the offense again Monday night. Sure they allowed 29 points and were cut up but Kurt Warner but they made plays when it mattered the most and completely shut down Tim Hightower. They held Arizona to 30% on third down, forced field goals for most of the game, stopped the Cardinals from going up by 7 points by stopping he two point conversion, and gave the offense the ball back with great field position with a chance to win the game. The problem that allowed Warner to carve us up was the same problem as usual, no pass rush. I'm now conviced that Manusky is, and was under Nolan, running the defense because we have the same vanilla gameplan, don't blitz at all and hope the front four gets pressure on the opposing QB. It isn't working and yet we still continue to do it.

- The defensive line played great against the run, which when you look at them is really what they are built for. None of them are really pass rushers. On the positive (?) side, our defensive line has pretty much been the most consistent part of our team all year. Justin Smith holds up against the run and sometimes pressures the passer, Isaac Sopoaga holds the point of attack but rarely pushes anyone back and takes up double teams, when Kentwan Balmer plays he holds the point of attack admirably, Ray McDonald will sometimes beat a weak right tackle off the edge, and Parsy Haralson and Roderick Green are both good situational pass rushers. Yep, pretty easy to predict how our defensive line will play.

- With every week that passes I love the Takeo Spikes signing more and more. He is just playing lights out football, especially against the run. It seems like every time we stop a back close to the line of scrimmage Spikes is in on the tackle, along with Patrick Willis of course. Willis has been playing even better than Spikes and at least as good as he did last season, if not better. P-Willy is definitely Pro Bowl bound. (I didn't see Manny Lawson in at all, did he play? After such a great game against Seattle I would have thought he would be in on every play)

- It is officially time for Walt Harris to be replaced as Anquan Boldin abused him all night long. Tarell Brown played well and he should probably be promoted to the #2 corner. Nate Clements proved that he doesn't need any help covering a team's #1 receiver. He was in man coverage with Larry Fitzgerald for pretty much the whole game and didn't let him catch anything except short 4-6 yard gains. Nate's 5 yard bumps were more like Fitzgerald running into a wall. Mark Roman is pretty much the worst free safety in the league at this point. He can't cover one-on-one, he can't play zone coverage, and he can't make tackles. Michael Lewis wasn't much better, at least this week. He got embarrassed on a pump fake multiple times and missed a few tackles himself which is very unlike him.

- The special teams was one of the main reasons we were in the game at the end. Allen Rossum had a couple of good returns, including the last punt return, that set us up with great field position. Then there was obviously the kickoff return for a touchdown during which MRob made not one but two great blocks. Joe Nedney's kickoff from the 15 right before halftime was a thing of beauty and so were the rest of his kicks. The coverage teams just have not played up to the level they are capable of this season but still, they haven't really allowed any returns that cost us the game.

Mid-Season Grades

2008-10-29T07:50:00.001-07:00

Now that half of the 49ers schedule has been played it is time to grade each aspect of the team. I love how our bye week splits our schedule perfectly in half because the team gets rest at the perfect time and it gives me time to write this long review and it gives you guys something to read during the bye week. Without further ado let's get to the position-by-position review and analysis.

Quarterback (Grade: D-)

The only thing that stopped me from giving J.T. O'Sullivan an 'F' is that he did have a couple of good games, though it was against terrible teams in Detroit and Seattle. Outside of those two games he was about as bad as a quarterback could be. He finished his season with 17 total turnovers (11 interceptions, 6 fumbles, plus 5 fumbles that the 49ers recovered) and while he did put up decent touchdown, yards, and yards per attempt numbers, 8 touchdowns, 1678 yards, 7.7 yards per attempt, but every quarterback in Mike Martz's offense has done that so it isn't much of an accomplishment. Neither his 58.4 percent completion nor his 74 passer rating helped his cause. As if his bad stats weren't enough he held the ball way too long and took sacks that he didn't need to. I am okay with a quarterback trying to make a play outside of the pocket, to an extent, but when you are two yards away from the sideline and there is a defender bearing down on you you have to get rid of the ball and not lose yardage for your team.

Runningbacks (Grade: A-)

Some of you might ask why I am giving Frank Gore an 'A-', well I'm not. Frank Gore by himself gets an 'A+', 629 rushing yards (4th in the league), 4.6 yards per carry, 940 yards from scrimmage(2nd), 5 total touchdowns, 32 receptions, and 311 receiving yards (2nd among running backs), but the rest of the backs did so little they bring the grade down. As much as I love Michael Robinson he just didn't do much. It was because he didn't get enough touches and that isn't his fault so I probably could cut him some slack but I'm not. Deshaun Foster has been a disappointment and I say that even though I only thought of him as an insurance policy in case Gore got hurt. When Foster has gotten carries he has done nothing with them. Zak Keasey seems like a waste of a roster spot even with his good special teams play because he does nothing on offense. With Shaun Hill at quarterback we should see more running in the second half of the season and hopefully it is with MRob

Tight Ends (Grade: C-)

Now a 'C-' might seem like a high grade considering the numbers our tight ends have put up (322 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown) but both Delanie Walker and Vernon Davis, I list Walker first because he is better than Davis in my opinion, have contributed in blocking. Davis has been especially impressive when blocking. I have seen him lock up on Pro Bowlers, such as Patrick Kerney, and block them like he was a Pro Bowl tackle. Much like it should be with the running backs we should see more production from the tight ends with Shaun Hill in because with his weak arm, no offense, we will see a lot of underneath passes that give Walker and Davis a chance to run after the catch and we know that the can both do that very well.

Wide Receivers (Grade: C)

It's really hard to judge the receivers because, just like quarterbacks, they put up good numbers in Martz offense's. Both Arnaz Battle(318 yards) and Isaac Bruce(399 yards) are over 300 yards right now and have had a 100-yard game. Bruce is tied for 3rd in the league in receiving touchdowns with 4. Before he got hurt Bryant Johnson was looking good and hopefully his hamstring will be healed after the bye so he can continue that. Josh Morgan had that one good game against the Giants and Jason Hill looked good in the second game against Seattle. Both look like they have a ton of potential and hopefully a quarterback that throws the ball to his own players instead of the other team can bring it out.

Offensive Line (Grade: D+)

I admit that I have jumped all over JTO for taking too many sacks but even if you take the ones that are his fault away the line certainly hasn't been good in pass protection. Barry Sims has easily been the worst of the bunch. I think that according the sites that track sacks allowed Sims has allowed the most of any 49er offensive lineman, even though he didn't play he first game, but even some of the ones that he wasn't credited for have been his fault because when he got beat JTO had to step up or roll left right into on of the other offensive linemen's man. The second worst lineman was Adam Snyder at left guard but that isn't his position so I expected that. Like a lot of 49er fans I think Snyder is a perfect fit at right tackle but he never gets a chance to play it for some reason. David Baas replaced Snyder against Seattle in week 8 but he wasn't much better. His footwork was bad and his pass protection suffered for it. On the bright side his run bocking was a vast improvement over Snyder's. At center Eric Heitmann has been solid outside of a few times when he has been pushed back into the quarterback's face. Tony Wragge started off the season pretty well but has gotten progessively worse with each game but he is still a serviceable right guard until Chilo Rachal is ready to start. The best offensive lineman has been Joe Staley, though that isn't a huge accomplishment. Considering this is his first season a left tackle I am excited about how good he can be with some experience. There have been a few times when he made a mistake, like week 8 when he didn't even realize Julian Peterson was blitzing, but he has been in the top half of the league when it comes to left tackle rankings

Offense Coaching (Grade: D+)

Mike Martz has been a huge disappointment. After week 3 against Detroit I thought he had changed his ways and realized he should run the ball 30+ times a game but it looks like he was just trying to piss off the Lions, who said he wouldn't run the ball. Every time the opposing team gets even a slight lead, even with a lot of time left, he almost completely abandons the run. Frank Gore only has 22 4th quarter carries and the 49ers have been within 10 points with 10 minutes left in the game in every game this season except for last week against Seattle. You don't even want to get me started on the 3rd down play calling but suffice to say it has been bad, 31 percent conversions on third down.

Offense (Grade: C-)

The offense as a whole has been bad but it hasn't been nearly as bad as last year. Even with JTO's constant turnovers he stil moved the ball some and Frank Gore is having a great season. The stats are bad but likeI said, not as bad as last year. 19th in passing yards, 19th in rushing yards, 22nd in total yards, 13th in yards per play, and 19th in points. None of those are great but at least none of them are bottom 5. The only offensive categories we are in he bottom 5 in are turnovers and time of possessin but those can be put squarely on JTO's shoulders.

Defensive Line (Grade: C)

When it comes to stopping the run the defensive line has been good. While they have given up 112 yards per game (19th) on the ground they have only allowed 3.6 yards per carry (6th). The problem is the same as last year. The offense can't stay on the field so the other team gets a lot of carries. Justin Smith is having a solid season with 40 total tackles, 3 sacks, and an interception and Parys Haralson (4 sacks) and Roderick Green (2 sacks) are both peforming well as situational pass rushes. None of the defensive tackles is playing great but Isaac Sopoaga has been good. Ray McDonald looks great in the preseason but hasn't done much in the regular season. Kentwan Balmer hasn't gotten a lot of playing time but whenever I have seen him he has looked solid to good. Aubrayo Franklin has been pretty much awful.

Linebackers (Grade: B+)

Patrick Willis is picking up were he left off last season which is playing at an All-Pro level. He is 2nd in the league in total tackles with 71, 1st in solo tackles with 57, has 1 sack, has knocked down 8 passes, and has an interception which he returned 86 yards for a touchdown. Takeo Spikes is playing almost as well himself. He has 48 total tackles, 3 interceptions, and a forced fumble. Manny Lawson didn't get much playing time because Nolan was stupid but when he finally got the chance to play the whole game against Seattle he was great notching 6 solo tackles for -3, -1, 1, 10, 2, and 0 yards as well as a sack. When he is in the game the 49ers run defense is dramatically better and the opponents tight end does nothing.

Secondary (Grade: B)

Considering they have been playing with almost no pass rush the secondary has been pretty good. They have allowed 217 passing yards per game (18th), 7.1 yards per pass (17th), 18 plays of 20+ yards (12th), and a passer rating of 82.1 (13th). Those numbers themselves don't warrant the 'B' grade but like I said, there is no pass rush so they are more impressive. Nate Clements doesn't have great numbers this season but that is because no one is throwing his way. I have only seen a handful of passes completed to his man when the 49ers are in man coverage. Walt Harris has been extremely up and down. At some points he looks like an All Pro but other times he gets burnt like a rookie. Michael Lewis is doing what he does, making plays near the line of scrimmage and playing solid in coverage. Mark Roman is just playing terrible and has gotten burned at least once in every game this season. The back-up second year players, Tarell Brown and Dashon Goldson, have really done well whenever they have played, especially Brown. Both will probably be starting next year in place of Walt and Roman. I haven't seen much of Reggie Smith.

Defensive Coaching (Grade: D-)

The coaching is the second biggest reason why the defenses numbers are so bad, the first being JTO. For some reason whoever is controlling the defense thinks that our defensive line is good enough to pressure the opposing quarterbacks without blitzing anyone else. Well that obviously isn't true but they still refuse to bring pressure even when it seems like every time pressure is brought something good happens. Then there is the decision to keep Roman starting over Goldson even though anyone with eyes could tell you that Goldson is better. The third down defensive playcalling is almost as bad as the offensive. On 3rd and 20 they give the quarterback all day to throw and eventually someone gets open and on 3rd and 1 they blitz to the outside instead of up the middle. It is just stupid.

Defense (Grade: C)

Even if the stats don't show it the defense has been better than the offense. They may have allowed 28.8 points per game (31st) but that is because the other team gets the ball in 49er territory so much because of JTO's turnovers. They are 19th in the league in total yards allowed, 18th in passing yards allowed, 19th in rushing yards allowed, and 15th in yards per play. If the offense could stay on the field those ranks would get drastically better and hopefully that will happen after the bye.

Special Teams (Grade: B)

The special teams has been good but not great like last year. Allen Rossum has been great on punt returns averaging over 20 yards per on 4 returns and solid on kickoff averaging 26 yards per on 31 returns. Andy Lee's average and net average are both down about 4 yards from last year but a lot of that is because the coverage team hasn't been nearly as good as it was last year. Joe Nedney is really booming kickoffs allowing the coverage team to get down there and make the tackle after minimal gains and he is 17/19 on field goal, matching his totals from last year already.

Week 5 vs. New England Positional Analysis

2008-10-06T07:38:00.001-07:00

- Martz was ridiculously outcoached by Belichick, who had an answer to everything Martz tried. The sad part is that I could of outcoached Martz with the game he called. The playcalling was so predictable it would have been easy. First down, 5 yard run by Gore; second down, 3 yard run by Gore; third down, long developing pass play instead of a 3 step drop. All the Patriots had to do was bring pressure on third down and they did it. The offense only converted 1 third down out of the 9 they tried and only had 1 drive of more than 5 yards, including 5 three and outs.

- J.T. O'Sullivan didn't play as poorly this week as he did last week but it was close. At least this week he didn't turn the ball over in the red zone or take sacks when he didn't have to. He still had quite of few costly mistakes. The one that stood out was the interception deep in our own territory on the first 49ers drive of the 2nd half. The Patriots had just had a 10-play, 6 minute (the defense only allowed 34 yards and forced a punt, though) drive to start the 3rd quarter and the defense was tired and needed a break, instead JTO threw an interception 38 seconds later and forced the defense to come back onto the field with their backs to the wall at their own 24. Of course the Patriots scored a touchdown on that. I am amazed that the defense almost stopped them. Then there was his last interception with about 3 minutes left when he tried to force something that wasn't even close to there. San Francisco still had all 3 timeouts left and was only down by 9 at that point. Throw the ball away, pin the Patriots, and hope the defense can get you the ball back. Outside of those 2 plays he was inaccurate for most of the game.

- There wasn't nearly enough Frank Gore to judge his performance. When he got the ball he was great as always but Martz didn't give him the ball enough. I don't know why Martz abandoned the run in the 3rd quarter when we were only down by 3 and then 10. Gore's touchdown catch was great but outside of that he didn't have any highlights. Even though he didn't touch the ball I would like to take this time to talk about Michael Robinson. He is a great athlete and can throw the ball and there are so many things he can do. It bothers me that he isn't used more on offense when he should be used at least as a short yardage back.

- Isaac Bruce didn't catch many passes but when he caught one it was a big play. Two of his three catches were for touchdowns and the other was for 38 yards. After yesterday he has 4 touchdown catches on the season. It seems that he still does have something left in the tank. Two weeks ago at New Orleans I thought the receivers were having trouble getting seperation and that is why none of them had a good game, except for Arnaz Battle. Yesterday I don't think that was true. I saw quite a few plays when Battle and Bryant Johnson were running around wide open and JTO didn't see them. Still, neither of them played well as they both dropped a pass that could have been a big play. As I said last week, Josh Morgan and Jason Hill are a year away but I am excited about seeing what they can do when they get the chance.

- I am not going to say Vernon Davis had a bad game this week because I saw him open almost every time he went out for a pass. It is not his fault he was only targeted once. He stayed back to pass block most of the time and he did a good job. Delanie Walker, on the other hand, was bad. That first pass he dropped on the opening drive would have gone for 20+ yards and on JTO's first interception it looked like Walker might have ran the wrong route.

- At least the offensive line was terrible this week. Early in the game they were allowing some pressure, because the Patriots did blitz a lot, but they gave JTO enough time to get rid of it and in the second half they made some adjustments and looked good. I cannot tell if it is because the rest of the offensive line sucks or he is just really good but Joe Staley looks like a Pro Bowler. He pretty much threw Jarvis Green around whenever he was in and held his own against Richard Seymour. Eric Heitmann was also surprisingly good against Wilfork, at least in pass protection as he wasn't pushed back. Adam Snyder is a failure at guard and there was obviously a reason that the Raiders didn't want Barry Sims anymore, he sucks. Why not just try Snyder out at right tackle? Both Tony Wragge and David Baas got playing time at right guard and neither was bad but Wragge was a little bit worse.

- I'm sorry but I just don't know what else to say about Nolan's defensive gameplan. He just doesn't know what he is doing. For some reason he had Nate Clements playing Moss deep yesterday and the Patriots saw it and just threw it to Moss short. Nolan failed to adjust to this. Finally Nolan did decied to bring some pressure and it was working because the defense was giving Matt Cassel almost no time to throw. But on third downs Nolan went right back to his Prevent-Big Nickel defense, or whatever he calls it, and Cassel had all day to find an open receiver for a first down.

- Even though the 49ers have basically switched to a 4-3 they still need a big, run clogging defensive tackle for short yardage situations. Isaac Sopoaga is a quick guy that can push the pocket on passing plays but he is not strong at the point of attack and can get pushed back. Kentwan Balmer might develop into the type of defensive tackle we need but he seems too similiar to Sopoaga. Ray McDonald is basically a cheap version of Sopoaga. Ronald Fields and Aubrayo Franklin are both back-ups at best. Justin Smith continues to look like a good signing. He was putting a lot of pressure on Cassel and was solid against the run. Roderick Green and Parys Haralson are both great situational pass rushers, especially Haralson, but neither is a consistent 3-down DE.

- That was the second best game of Patrick Willis' young career, imo. Fourteen solo tackles, including ones for 0, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 0, 3, 0, and a sack. He is a beast in every sense of the word. Takeo Spikes is starting to look like a great signing after starting off the first couple of games slowly. He had 9 tackles within 4 yards of the LoS and made a great interception, for the second straight week. The 49ers played with only 2 linebackers for most the game yesterday so Willis and Spikes were the only linebackers that did anything. Tully Banta Cain got in a play a few times but nothing spectacular. When Manny Lawson gets back, and if Nolan is smart enough to play a 4-3 with he, Willis, and Spikes at the linebacker positions, the 49ers will have a very formidable linebacking corps

- What is up with Walt Harris? For the first three weeks of the season he was great, and I mean Pro Bowl caliber great, but the last two weeks he has gotten burnt quite a few times. Randy Moss ran right by him when he slipped on that long touchdown. It was hard to judge Clements' performance yesterday because Nolan had him playing 20 yards off the LoS but he was right with Moss on his interception. Mark Roman continues to fail miserably as he got abused on short passes by Wes Welker but at least he didn't allow anything deep. Michael Lewis was good against the run and wasn't asked to cover much seeing as Donald Strickland was on the field so much. Strickland got owned on moves by Moss on all 4 of Moss' catches outside of the touchdown.

- I think it is safe to say that Andy Lee is back, don't you? I mean an 82 yard punt, and it traveled almost every yard in the air, an average of 56 yards, and a net average of 46 yards. Joe Nedney wasgood on kickoffs. Allen Rossum had a good day on kickoff returns but didn't get any chances to return any punts.

Overall, I am very disappointed in the coaches. At this point I am basically praying that Mike Nolan is fired during the week but I know he won't be. But my hopes are high because if the Eagles blow us out and we are 2-4 going into the bye, which is probably what will happen, there is a very good chance he will be fired. Don't get me wrong, I would never hope the 49ers lose but this is about as close as I will ever get.

New England Patriots @San Francisco 49ers Preview

2008-10-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

Going into last week I thought we would win easily against the Patriots but now I am not sure. The terrible gameplan by Mike Nolan and crucial turnovers by J.T. O'Sullivan cost us the game. I still believe that the 49ers can win this game but it is gonna be tough. Bill Belichick is a masterful gameplanner and the Patriots haven't lost a game after their bye week in 5 years.

49ers offense vs. Patriots defense

Right now New England's defense is really showing it's age. They are terrible against the run, giving up 140 yards per game (25th) and they aren't much better against the pass. They are allowing opponents to complete 70% of their passes and have only forced two interceptions. The usually good pass rush only has 6 sacks through 3 games (23rd). Frank Gore iis leading the league in yards from scrimmage with 525 (369 rushing, 4.9 y/c, 3 rushing TD; 15 receptions, 156 receiving). The 49ers are not going to need to do any direct snaps for him to have a big game. I would like to see the 49ers line Michael Robinson up behind center, though. He played quarterback in college and he was pretty good so if he was back there it would probably confuse the Patriots. For the 49ers to win this they are going to need better play from J.T. O'Sullivan. Last week he threw two interceptions in the redzone, fumbled once deep in 49ers territory, and held onto the ball way too long which led to 6 sacks. JTO needs to play like he did against the Lions, safe. He needs to get rid of the ball on time, not try and force things that aren't there, and run when the play breaks down. Hopefully Bryant Johnson is fully healthy because he looked slow last week. Isaac Bruce and Arnaz Battle picked up the slack for him but it obviously wasn't enough. Vernon Davis is pretty much officially a bust so I am not expecting much from him. He will probably get open deep a couple of times and drop sure touchdowns.

Patriots offense vs. 49ers defense

When I read that Manny Lawson was out for this weeks game I almost cried but then I remembered he only plays special teams. Mike Nolan sure is stupid. He is so stupid that he will probably keep the defense in the 4-2-5 for most of the game even though the Patriots are obviously going to try and run the ball if the game is close. Sure Laurence Maroney and the rest of the Patriots running backs aren't great but it isn't that hard to run on a nickel defense with only a couple of good defensive linemen missing it's best run defender, even though Lawson hasn't played much defense since week 1. If the Patriots stick with there short passing game and screens I am not worried about the 49ers not blitzing because that means they won't overpursue. But if Belichick is smart enough to change his offensive strategy back to what it was when Tom Brady was quarterback then we are screwed. Matt Cassel will have all day to throw, because the 49ers don't blitz, and Randy Moss and Wes Welker are two of the best receivers in the league at getting seperation. After a while they will get open, Cassel will see them, and we will get killed through the air just like last week against New Orleans.

Summary

I am not overconfident about this game but I do think the 49ers will win. Frank Gore will have a huge game (150 total yards and a couple of touchdowns), JTO will throw for about 230 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT, and no 49er receiver will have more than 70 yards. The defense will get a few sacks and a couple of turnovers. Matt Cassel will throw for less than 200 yards and will not have more than 1 touchdown. The Patriots running back will break 100 yards combined but average less than 4 yards per carry. 49ers: 27 - Patriots: 13

Week 4 @New Orleans Positional Analysis

2008-09-29T05:20:00.001-07:00

I might as well get this out tonight because I am so mad right now if I don't get this off of my chest I might explode.

- The third down play calling was getting on my nerves for most of the game. Instead of trying quick passes, because the offensive line wasn't playing well, Martz had J.T. O'Sullivan performing 7 step drops. I don't even want to get started on the red zone play calling so I won't but suffice to say it was very bad

- JTO just had an awful game. All season he has been holding onto the ball too long, I would estimate that at least 8 of the 19 sacks we have allowed are completely his fault with a few more partly his fault, but at least in other games he was making plays. Today he just wasn't doing anything except throwing inaccurate passes nowhere near his receivers. The worst part about him taking the sacks is that is makes it seem like the 49ers offensive line is terrible, which it isn't. He padded his stats in garbage time to make it look like he did well but those two red zone interceptions cost us a game that we were still in at the beginning of the 4th quarter.

- It can't be said enough that Frank Gore is the best player on the 49ers. He can run, he can catch, he can block, and he is a team leader. Through 4 games he has 525 yards from scrimmage (369 rushing, 156 receiving). He seemed like he might be having that fumbling problem early in the season but he has fixed that. I honestly see no problem in his game.

- I have said for a while that Arnaz Battle has the ability to be a good receiver if given the chance, today he proved that. He is a great possession receiver, 12 of his 15 catches have come for first downs, and he is clutch. Isaac Bruce had another solid game but Bryant Johnson was quiet. Josh Morgan is talented but he needs to develop, same thing with Jason Hill.

- Introducing Vernon Davis, the invisible man! Coming in at 6'3'', 250 pounds of pure muscle with blazing speed, Davis has an uncanny ability to do absolutely nothing! But, in all seriousness, he isn't doing anything. Delanie Walker, a 6th round draft pick I believe, is doing just as good as Davis.

- While Joe Staley continues to do well at left tackle the rest of the offensive line is average at best. Adam Snyder and Eric Heitmann both had okay games but Tony Wragge and Barry Sims were terrible. Hopefully Chilo Rachal is developed by next season and David Baas comes on strong but we would still need help at center and right tackle. I have said all along that Snyder should be playing right tackle but the coaches seem like they would rather watch him struggle at guard. I hope that by the end of the season the starting offensive line will be Staley, David Baas, Eric Heitmann, Chilo Rachal, and Adam Snyder. That would give us the best offensive line of the players on our roster, I believe, but we still would need upgrades at center and right tackle.

- Another games, another day when I complain about Nolan, and I am now convinced it is him, being way too vanilla. In my preview of the game I said that if Nolan doesn't blitz and allows Drew Brees to sit back there all day that we would get picked apart and it happened. I don't care who the receivers are, give Brees enough time and he will find an open man. Nolan doesn't seem to realize that our defensive line is nowhere near dominant enough to get pressure on a QB by themselves, and you would think that after 3 games of them not doing it he would have.

- Despite the defensive line not being as dominant as I would like to see Justin Smith is still looking like a good signing. For all intents and purposes it seems like we are playing a 4-3 defense now so Isaac Sopoaga had a solid game as well but he is by no means a dominant defensive tackle. Other than those two we could use an upgrade at every other position on the defensive line. Neither Aubrayo Franklin, Ronald Fields, or Ray McDonald are good enough starters and would all be better off as back-ups. Parys Haralson and Roderick Green are good situational pass rushers off the egde but neither is starting material either. Kentwan Balmer is developing nicely and looks to be ready to start soon enough

- I cannot begin to explain how angry I am that Manny Lawson is not playing many defensive snaps. What part of him being one of the best defensive players on the team does Nolan not understand? If Lawson's injury on that kickoff turns out to be serious I am going to be so angry. Patrick Willis is having another All-Pro season. He had two tackles for a loss (9 total tackles), one QB pressure that forced an incomplete pass, one knocked down pass, and a fumble recovery. Takeo Spikes definitely has his best game of the season, especially towards the beginning of the game, but he still wasn't great.

- The only players in the secondary that played well were Michael Lewis and Nate Clements. Lewis was all over the field making tackles, knocked down two passes, and that forced fumble was beautiful. Clements locked down whoever he was covering and made two tackles for a loss. Looking at that long catch by Henderson is really looked like, in my opinion, that Nate thought he had inside help because he stayed outside. When he realized Roman wasn't over there he sped up and made a great play to save the touchdown and then Lewis got us the ball back of course. Other than that I didn't see any mistakes that Clements made. Both Mark Roman and Dashon Goldson were getting beat like crazy

- I have to take back what I said about Allen Rossum's kickoff return abiltiy last wek because he was great this week. Andy Lee was actually hanging his punts high, except for one, allowing the coverage units to down them or force fair catches. Joe Nedney had a good day kicking field goals of 38, 49, and 47.

Unlike the loss in week one I cannot say that this one doesn't hurt. The 49ers were in this game up until the 4th quarter and this game wasn't just lost just because of stupid mistakes like week 1. JTO and the coaching staff, mainly Mike Nolan, cost us this game. I really thought we could win this and win next week and go into the bye week 4-2 after a loss to the Eagles. I still think we will beat the Patriots, though

San Francisco 49ers @ New Orleans Saints Preview

2008-09-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

I wouldn't exactly call this game a "must win" but if the 49ers want to be taken seriously they have to at least be competitive. New Orleans has a very good offense, one of the best in the league, and is coming off of 2 consecutive losses so they are hungry for a win. San Francisco does have confidence in themselves and confidence is very important for a young team. If either team really has any kind psychological edge here I would say it is the 49ers because they have nothing to lose and are going to be playing their hearts out.

49ers Offense vs. Saints Defense

The 49ers really should be able to move the ball on New Orleans as well as they did against the Lions. I mean, going purely by numbers, the Saints defense is almost as bad as the Lions. New Orleans is giving up 27.7 points per game (27th), 392 yards per game (28th), 259 passing yards per game (29th), 133 rushing yards per game (22nd), and 6.2 yards per play (29th). Their secondary is okay at best and they don't have much of a pass rush, only 4 sacks this season. As of right now the 49ers also have a playoff caliber offense. With 25.7 points per game (11th), 342 yards per games (11th), 214 passing yards per game (12th), 128 rushing yards per game (11th), and 6 yards per play (6th). J.T. O'Sullivan is once again proving Mike Martz's genius and his having a very good season. After a forgettable opening game against Arizona in which he turned the ball over 3 times and didn't throw a touchdown pass he has thrown 3 touchdowns and not turned the ball over once. He has posted a passer rating of over 100 in each of the last two games, has the 4th highest passer rating in the league, is completing almost 67% of his passes, and has a ridiculous 9.4 yards per attempt. Frank Gore is also having a great season. He is leading the league in yards from scrimmage with 412 and has a touchdown in each game this season. None of the 49ers wide receivers are doing anything special but between Bryant Johnson, Isaac Bruce, and Arnaz Battle they have a good group who should be able to get open against a, as already pointed out, bad secondary. Vernon Davis has been getting open this season and been part of Martz's gameplan, with 15 targets, but he can't seem to catch.

Saints Offense vs. 49ers defense

Another week, another great match-up for San Francsico. Like Detroit, New Orleans has a great passing attack (1st in the league) and not much of a running game (28th). Drew Brees is having a great season right now completing 74% of his passes and with a passer rating of 103 but Nate Clements and Walt Harris have already shut down tow very high powered passing attacks in Arizona and Detroit. Still, while his receivers are nowhere near the caliber of either Arizona's or Detroit's, Brees is much better than Jon Kitna and probably a little bit better than Kurt Warner. Brees will get his yards. If the 49ers want to hold Brees down, compared to what he has done so far, they are going to have to put pressure on him and seeing as Nolan has not blitzed much at all this season that is a stretch. The injury to Jamar Nesbit helps but I still don't think San Francisco will get much pressure with a 4 man front and if they allow Brees to sit back in the pocket all day he will get more than yards. Reggie Bush is quietly having a very good season, at least catching the ball. He is leading the league in receptions with 26 and has more receiving yards and touchdowns than any player on either team. He isn't running the ball very well, however. He has a dismal 3.6 yards per carry and even Pierre Thomas, who is supposed to be a better runner, is only averaging 3.4. San Francisco's run defense isn't playing very well allowing 4.2 yards per carry though so Bush and Thomas might find some room if Mike Nolan continues the nickel defense all game strategy. The key to the 49ers stopping Bush, in both the running game and passing game, is Manny Lawson. If Lawson is on the field I am not really worried about Bush but if he isn't I am.

Summary

This should be at the least a very entertaining game as both teams have good offenses. These teams have played in each of the last two seasons with New Orleans winning 34-10 and 31-10 but those scores are pretty irrelevant though. In 2006 the 49ers didn't have Nate Clements, Michael Lewis, Patrick Willis, and Justin Smith, 4 of there best defensive players right now, and last year the starting QB was an injured Alex Smith, the #1 receiver was Darrell Jackson, and Manny Lawson wasn't playing. Those 49er teams obviously aren't as good as this year's team while, due to injuries, the Saints are arguably worse on both sides of the ball than they have been for the past two seasons. Final Score: SF- 31, NO- 24. Drew Brees throws for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns but also 2 interceptions while being sacked 3 times, Reggie Bush adds 100 yards of total offense and 2 total touchdowns; JTO throws for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, is sacked 2, Frank Gore breaks 150 yards of total offense and has 2 rushing touchdowns, Vernon Davis gets his first touchdown of the season, and Bryant Johnson is the 49ers leading receiver.

Week 3 vs.Detroit Positional Analysis

2008-09-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

***Take everything with a grain of salt because this was the Lions***

- For most of the game I loved the offensive playcalling but I think Martz got a little conservative late in the game, especially after the onside kick when Arnaz Battle returned the ball to the 12 and we only got a field goal. Still the playcalling was great for the most part.

- I am having a very hard time keeping myself from jumping onto the J.T. O'Sullivan. I really, really want to but it was against the Lions so I guess I am only half way on. He still had a great game yesterday. His passes were crisp and accurate, he didn't throw any stupid passes, he held onto the ball, and best of all he didn't take any sacks when he had the chance to get rid of the ball.

- There is really not much to say about Frank Gore. He is the best player on the team and one of the best, if not the best, running backs in the league. Right now he is leading the league in yards from scrimmage and has 3 rushing touchdowns. He is consistently great. Some people seem to be worried about DeShaun Foster but he is nothing more than an insurance policy if Gore gets hurt.

- None of the receivers were put up great numbers yesterday but that was mostly because JTO was spreading the ball around to 8 different players. I was telling everyone to start Bryant Johnson, Vernon Davis, and Isaac Bruce on their fantasy teams but it looks like I was wrong.

- Every day Vernon Davis looks more and more like a bust. He dropped two sure touchdowns that were catches I could have made. The funniest part is that he was supposed to be a great receiving tight end and sub-par blocker but it is the opposite. Delanie Walker was impressive and made a nice adjustment on his touchdown catch.

- The offensive line was very good. Joe Staley is getting better and better with each game at left tackle and I think by the end of this season he will be considered among the best left tackles in the league by the end of the season. Adam Snyder and Barry Sims were probably the worst among the offensive linemen but they weren't even bad. Eric Heitmann and Tony Wragge were both good. I noticed David Baas in there at one point and he looked good. I wanna see he and Chilo Rachal in at guard with Snyder at RT

- On defense Nolan/Manusky were too conservative for my taste for the third straight week but at least it worked. The Lions may be terrible but they do have two great receivers and they were shut down. It annoyed that when we were playing the prevent defense late in the game the Lions piled on some rushing yards to make it seem like Rudi Johnson did well when in actuality he was stuffed when it mattered.

- Justin Smith was worth every penny we paid him. Through 3 games he has 15 tackles for an average gain of 1.13 yards, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception. Isaac Sopoaga had a great game with 3 tackles for 0, -1, and 2 yards and continues to have a good season. Aubrayo Franklin needs to be replaced immediately. Both Kentwan Balmer and Ray McDonald has solid performances in the limited time they were in.

- Patrick Willis is still a beast and Manny Lawson played well even though I am not sure he was in the entire game and he needs to be. We really need an upgrade at the other inside linebacker position because Takeo Spikes and Jeff Ulbrich are only both okay and can't really make plays. Maybe Ahmad Brooks can fill that void later in the season. Parys Haralson had a late coverage sack but was putting some pressure Jon Kitna throughout the game and Roderick Green is a great situational pass rusher but the 49ers need a consistent pass rusher and that should be their #1 priority in the draft

- Our secondary is positively great. Everyone in it from Nate Clements to Tarell Brown had a good game. Clements has now held Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald to a combined 7 catches for 70 yards and 1 TD. In his other two games Fitz has 261 yards a TD while Johnson has 236 and 2 TDs. Walt Harris is looking to be back to his 2006 form. He held Roy Williams to only 2 catches for 18 yards. All bias aside I could argue that so far this season that Clements/Harris is the best CB duo in the league. Michael Lewis and Mark Roman were solid while the back-ups, Dashon Goldson and Tarell Brown showed some potential.

- Some people would worry about Andy Lee if they looked at his average yesterday but they have to realize that 3/4 punts were inside the 20 because he was punting so close to the Lions goalline. Joe Nedney is still booming his kickoffs and I think our kickoff coverage unit is ranked near the top of the league right now. Allen Rossum is a great punt returner but for some reason he has more trouble on kickoff returns. I think Michael Robinson and Delanie Walker should return kickoffs while Rossum handles the punts.

Week 3 Game-by-Game Observations

2008-09-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Kansas City Chiefs @ Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta's offense showed once again that when they play a terrible defense they are great. I don't want to take anything away from great performances Michael Turner, Jerious Norwood, and Roddy White and a solid performance by Matt Ryan but I said last week that the Chiefs have nothing on defense. Still, Turner is proving he can carry the load. Falcons defensive end John Abraham should be in Defensive MVP talk right now with 6 sacks in the first three games. As expected Tyler Thigpen was terrible but at least Larry Johnson and the Chiefs running game got something going, though the Falcons defense isn't so great either.

Oakland Raiders @ Buffalo Bills: I think this one surprised most people but I had a feeling Oakland would kee it close. I do really like what the Bills are doing. The running game with Marshawn Lynch is solid though unspectacular, Trent Edwards is a brilliant game manager and emerging star, and they have some playmakers on the outside in Lee Evans and Roscoe Parrish. The compliment this sound offense they have a sound defense led by future star Paul Posluzny and a great special teams unit. All this lends itself to a solid team that probably won't have many blowouts. I can't really say much about that Raiders but at least they seem to be improving a little bit. The running game is good with Michael Bush and Darren McFadden and the defense has shown improvement but Jamarcus Russell needs to step up his game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Chicago Bears: How much do you want to bet that Brian Griese is still icing his arm? I mean 67 passes for Christ's sake. But he had to do it because the running game, which was great in the first two weeks, couldn't do anything. Ernest Graham carried 12 times for only 15 yards. Antonio Bryant showed that he does have the talent to be a #1 WR with 138 receiving yards. That interception Barrett Rudd made in the endzone was game saving and great. For the Bears rookie running back Matt Forte, a C-USA product, continues to impress. He is 2nd in the league with 409 yards from scrimmage but his rushing numbers have decreased since week one so that might be something to worry about. I think Kyle Orton proved he can't win a game on his shoulders. Brandon Lloyd, a former 49er like Bryant, also had a good day with 124 yards and a TD. Both defenses had big plays but couldn't stop big plays.

Carolina Panthers @ Minnesota Vikings: I'll admit that I didn't see the conclusion of this game because it was too painful to watch. Neither offense could get anything going but the Panthers offense was just bad. Jake Delhomme was sacked 5 times, only threw for 191 yards on 29 attempts, and the Panthers running attack had a combined 47 yards on 20 carries. Then there were the 6 false starts penalties. Sadly Minnesota's offense wasn't much better. Carolina pretty much shut down Adrian Peterson as much as anyone could holding him to 77 yards and only 4.5 yards per carry. Gus Frerotte managed the game well outside of that interception. Even though the Vikings defense played well and Frerotte managed the game, like I said, I am not completely sold on the Vikings.

Miami Dolphins @ New England: Well my prediction for this game was 35-10 Miami so I must be a genius. In all seriousness, though, that wasn't be prediction. I expected New England to completely blow Miami out of the water but I don't know what happened. The main reason the Patriots offene couldn't get anything going, imo, was because Matt Cassel was handcuffed. If the Patriots let him run the offense they ran with Tom Brady in they would have a top 10 offense but after two weeks it should be clear that this power running and short pass offense isn't working. I won't blame it all on the coaching staff, however. Randy Moss looks like he isn't trying anymore and the Patriots offensive line was getting beat by a 4 man rush almost every play. Joey Porter really backed his talk up with 3 sacks. Everyone always says that college offenses don't work in the NFL but the Dolphins had 4 touchdowns on the 5 times they ran the "Wildhog" formation. Ronnie Brown was great and Ricky Williams had a very good game as well. The Dolphins offensive line dominated the Patriots defensive front allowed Chad Pennington all day to pick apart the secondary

Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants: It is clear to me that the Bengals defensive decision makers, hello Marvin Lewis, have no idea what they are doing. Cincinnati has no pass rush, a relatively bad run defense, and no playmakers on defense. Now Keith Rivers does have the ability to help all of those problems but he needs to step up his game quickly if the Bengals want to have a defense not ranked in the bottom 5. At least Carson Palmer and the offense finally got something going. Palmer picked apart New York's secondary in which TJ Houshmanzadeh was running wild. Chris Perry was solid again after a decent performance against Tennessee. The Giants pass rush continues to play well without Strahan and Osi Umenyiora finishing the game with 6 sacks giving them 13 on the season. They still haven't impressed me yet because most of those came against the Bengals and Rams. Right now the Giants offense is ranked in the top 10 in most categories but honestly most of that came at St. Louis. Eli Manning looks okay, not great though, and the running back by committee with Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward is looking good.

Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans: Before the season everyone was talking about this running back class and it is impressing. Steve Slaton ran for 116 yards on 18 carries against arguably the best defense in the league but too bad no one else on the offense did anything. I said the trade Houston made for Matt Schaub and the contract they gave him were ridiculously stupid when they happened and I don't like to toot my own horn but I have to. I do kind of want to give Schaub a break because he has faced two of the toughest defenses in the league but 1 TD and 5 interceptions is inexcuseable. Another running back, from C-USA like Forte, Chris Johnson continues to impress. On the season he now has 276 rushing yards and 5.5 yards per carry. Sure he has no touchdowns but that is only because Lendale White is getting the goalline carries. As I said earlier I think that right now the Titans have the best defense in the league. Albert Haynesworth is continuing his phenomenal play from last season and there are some stars emerging in the secondary. All season long Cortland Finnegan has put himself in great positions and has an interception in each game while Michael Griffin has 3 interceptions in the past two games.

Arizona Cardinals @ Washington Redkins: Definitely one of the better games on the weekend. The teams were pretty evenly matched and neither was making big mistakes. Kurt Warner, the ageless wonder, is having a great season and had a good game against what has been a pretty good Redkins secondary this year. Larry Fitzgerald continues his dominance with another 100 yards and a TD. Edge James had a good game averages over 4 yards per carry for the first time this season. Washington just played an all-around good game. Jason Campbell was efficient and made plays when it mattered and is maturing into one of the better QBs in the league, Clinton Portis is still a solid back that will carry 25 times for 90 yards a game but he isn't elite anymore, and Santana Moss is re-emerging as a number 1 receiver. On defense the Redskins don't seem to have many great players but the combination of all solid players and no bad ones makes for a formidable defense.

New Orleans Saints @ Denver Broncos: Reggie Bush is not a bust like some people want to believe. Sure he isn't the best pure running back but he is okay in that area and is the best receiving back in the league. He is leading the league in receptions, is 3rd with 402 yards from scrimmage, has 3 touchdowns and a punt return TD. Against Denver he had a great game with 73 yards on 18 carries (4.1 per carry), a TD and 11 catches for 75 yards and a TD. A great game no doubt but amazingly he was outshined by two other offensive players in the same game. Before the season I thought Drew Brees was the 3rd best QB in the league and he is looking good with a 421 yard, 81% completion performance. The other player that outplayed Bush was Brandon Marshall. As a Central Florida fan I knew this guy was a beast coming out of college and he is balling. Second in the league in receiving yards 321 with and second in catches with 24, he also has two touchdowns. Did I mention he was suspended for the first game? His quarterback Jay Cutler also had another good game with 260 yards and a couple of TDs, though it was his worst game of the season. Both defenses are pretty terrible right now.

Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers: So J.T. O'Sullivan has the 4th highest paser rating in the league and is completing 67% of his passes. I never thought I would type that but he is having a great season right now. But when Frank Gore is your running back you obviously have some help. Gore is leading the league in yards from scrimmage with 412 (287 rushing, 125 receiving) and has 3 touchdowns, silencing the critics who said Mike Martz wouldn't use him enough. Speaking of Martz he has a 49er offense that ranked dead last in most categories last year ranked in the top 12 in most categories this year. In San Francisco's secondary both Nate Clements and Walt Harris are having great seasons, especially Clements. The 49ers passing defense is ranked 3rd in passer rating against and Roy Williams, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Calvin Johnson, 4 of the top 15 receivers in the league, have a combined 171 yards receiving and 1 TD against San Francisco. Justin Smith is looking like a good fit in SF finishing Sunday with 4 tackles, 1 sacks, 1 FF, and an interception. Detroit has been down early in all three games but at least in the first two they mounted little comebacks unlike week 3. Rudi Johnson did add a lot of garbage time yards against a prevent defense though.

St. Louis Rams @ Seattle Seahawks: Another week, another all-around awful performance by the Rams. They seem to only have a couple of bright spots. Steven Jackson had a decent game considering the circumstances with 120 yards from scimmage and Chris Long is developing nicely. Outside of those two, however, everyone is playing terrible. The offensive line is bad, Marc Bulger isn't playing well, and even Torry Holt is having a lot of trouble. On defense even players that were good last season like O.J. Atogwe are playing terrible. This could honestly be the worst team in the history of the league. If I was a Seahawk fan I wouldn't try and make too much out of this game because everyone is putting up great numbers against the Rams this season. Julius Jones had another 100 yards game and is now amongst the league leaders in rushing yards and averaging over 5 yards per carry and Matt Hasselbeck looked comfortable in the pocket for the first time all season but that could be because he was barely touched all game. If I was Seattle I would be worried a little about my defense because they weren't able to get as much pressure on Bulger as other teams, granted they still got a lot.

Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravnes: Now that was Ravens football. Great defense, forcing turnovers, and the power running game. LeRon McClain, Willis McGahee, and Ray Rice definitely aren't great, playmaking running backs but they are solid and consistent. Joe Flacco hasn't done much to impress me against two sub-par defenses but he has shown some potential. Baltimore's defense looks to be back to its 2006 form with Ed Reed and Ray Lewis leading the way. Going into the season everyone expected that the Browns defense would be bad but their offense has been just as bad or worse. Derek Anderson is looking more and more like a one year wonder and, this just in, Braylon Edwards dropped another pass. Jamal Lewis is running hard but when teams are keying on him because no one else on offense can do anything it is hard to get yardage. The offensive line, after being so dominant last season, is also a problem early this year. The Browns have played three pretty good defenses but that excuse won't last forever.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts: Either the Jacksonville running attack has gotten back on track or the Colts run defense is back to its 2006 season form. I think that it is a combination of both. We all know that without Bob Sanders the Colts run defense isn't very good but that doesn't explain why everyone that did play doesn't know how to tackle. Both Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew were breaking tackles left and right, and as soon as I finally benched MJD on my fantasy team. David Garrard, like Derek Anderson, is looking like a one year wonder as well with 4 interceptions to only 1 touchdown. The Indianapolis offense looked great on the first drive but struggled to get anything going after that. Peyton Manning's timing with his receivers, especially Marvin Harrison, seems to still be off and the offensive line is allowing 4 man fronts to pressure Manning. I think that we will see the Colts offense of last year on the other side of the bye, though. Hopefully no one on their defense dies after being on the field for 42 minutes.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Philadelphia Eagles: This was a hard-hitting, smash mouth game that I am sure defensive enthusiasts loved. The Eagles at least had something going on offense early on as Donovan McNabb completed his first 12 passes I believe. Brian Westbrook was largely ineffective in the few carries he got before he was injured but Corell Buckhalter had a good game in his relief. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, did absolutely nothing on offense. The offensive line couldn't protect Ben Roethlisberger to save their lives, or his I guess I should said, and they opened no holes in the running game for Willie Parker. I mean they allowed 9 sacks and Parker had 13 carries for 20 yards. Jim Johnson really had that defense ready to play after they got manhandled by the Cowboys offensive line and that is why he is the best defensive coordinator in the league in my opinion.

Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers: I actually thought that this would be a better game than it was. At this point the Cowboys offense can literally do whatever it wants to do. They can pound the rock with Marion Barber, they can break off big runs with Felix Jones, they can work short passing routes to Jason Witten, and they can throw it deep to Terrell Owens, Miles Austin, and Patrick Crayton. I said that the Packers should be worried about their defense last week but I think that the Cowboys can score on anyone so I won't judge them off of this week and even if I was going to they did a better job stopping the Cowboys than anyone else so far. Aaron Rodgers continues to outplay Brett Favre while leading his team to a better record as well so Green Bay should be happy about that. Greg Jennings is having a great season as well as he is leading the league in receiving yards. Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman is having a defensive MVP caliber season.

New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers: This one was bound to be a blowout from the beginning. If a great team playing a bad team, yes the Jets are bad, at home wasn't enough the Chargers were angry. At halftime this game was over but Brett Favre and the Jets offense padded their stats in garbage time. The Chargers pass rush was all over Favre from the first snap with a 4 man pass rush and Antonio Cromartie had a great game because of it. Jyles Tucker looks like he will be a good replacement for Shawne Merriman but he is still no Shawne Merriman. Philip Rivers is relatively quietly having an MVP season tossing three touchdowns in each of his first three games while completing 67% of his passes and averaging 9.9 yards per attempt. I hate to say it but Ladainian Tomlinson, who in his prime was as good as Jim Brown and Barry Sanders, might be on the downside of his career. He has been one of my favorite players in the league since he was drafted and I hope he gets back on track, though. Even if he doesn't the Chargers have a good duo in Darren Sproles and Jacob Hester behind him

Week 2 @ Seattle Positional Analysis

2008-09-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

- I thought the offense was impresive against a pretty tough Seattle defense. Martz called a great game. He saw that the Seahawks were blitzing every play and took advantage of it by keeping Davis back to block and using the open middle of the field. He also wasn't afraid to get away from the running game when it wasn't working, which I am sure will get some 49er fans but not me. When the passing game is working and the running game isn't I would rather pass.

- J.T. O'Sullivan really impressed me yesterday. He was stepping up into the pocket and delivering his passes with accuracy and zip. I loved the middle of the field finally being used and it was used all day because the Seahawks blitzed all day. JTO's 63 yard pass to Bruce was the best pass a 49ers quarterback has thrown since Garcia left. The only knock I have on JTO's performance yesterday is that a few times, three to be exact, he had the chance to throw the ball away but instead he took a sack

- Frank Gore continues to look good. The Seahawks completely stacked the box to stop him yesterday and it worked well but Gore was still solid. Through the first two weeks he seems to have regained that fumbling problem but hopefully he will fix that. I don't really know why Zak Keasey is on the roster. I say cut him and move Thomas Clayton up from the PS

- So Bryant Johnson is the 49er's vertical threat and Isaac Bruce is the consistent possession receiver, right? Well then I guess they switched jerseys Sunday. Bruce got behind coverage 4 times, including the 63 yard catch when he burnt Marcus Trufant, while Johnson was great at getting open. Arnaz Battle had a good game as well with 4 catches for 4 first downs, for the season he is 5 for 5. I am convinced that Johnson should be the #1 receiver, Bruce should be #2, and Battle should be in the slot. Josh Morgan and Jason Hill aren't ready yet

- Vernon Davis was targeted a few times but was well covered. I am sure Martz haters are going to jump all over him for Davis having only 3 catches through 2 games but I am not worried yet because the Seahawks and the Cardinals are two of the better defenses the 49ers will face this year. Davis was also kept in t help block for most of the second half because the offensive line was having trouble

- That was the most inconsistent offensive line play I have seen in my entire life. One play everyone on the line was great and stonewalled the Seahawks blitz and the next they were all terrible and everyone got through. I still don't think that the line was as bad as the 8 sacks would lead one to believe. Three of those sacks were on JT and a couple were coverage sacks. I thought Joe Staley played well while everyone else, except Jonas Jennings and Eric Heitmann, were solid. Jennings was getting beat like crazy by whoever lined up against him and Heitmann got pushed into the backfield 4 or 5 times. I said last week that I thought the starting offensive line should be Staley, Baas, Heitmann, Wragge, Jennings but now I take that back. It should be Staley, Baas, Wragge, Rachal, and Snyder or Staley, Snyder, Wragge, Baas, Sims.

- On defense I don't know what we were doing. I thought I liked Manusky after last year but so far this season I am not sure. I don't know if it is him or Nolan calling the plays but whoever it is needs to stop keeping so many defensive backs in and blitz mroe often. Every time the 49ers blitz something good happens but they only blitz, and my definition of blitz is bring more than 4 people, a handful of times a game. Harris and Clements are two of the best man-to-man corners in the league, just let them play.

- The entire endefensive line wasn't very impressive at all. Again Justin Smith was the standout and made a few plays but wasn't drawing double teams like last week. Though I guess that could be because he was facing one of the best left tackles in the game in Walter Jones. Isaac Sopoaga was solid again and he seems to be our second best defensive lineman. We really need a new nose tackle because Aubrayo Franklin and Ronald Fields are both bad. Ray McDonald made one good play when he tipped Hasselbeck's pass but was shut down other than that.

- Why in the **** was Manny Lawson only in on like 10/71 defensive plays? He is one of the best players on our defense but instead of using him there Nolan and/or Manusky wants him playing special teams so they can have 5 defensive backs. I will admit he got owned a little on the Julius Jone touchdown but come on. Patrick Willis is cementing his claim to be the best middle linebacker in the game and is on pace for around 100 tackles, 20 passes defended, and 8 interceptions. I am sure he will get less PD's and interceptions but will end up with a few sacks and more tackles. Takeo Spikes and Jeff Ulbrich can madn the other inside linebacker position well enough but we could use an upgrade. Parys Haralson was extremely quiet but barely got more playing time than Lawson. It seemed like every play we were in the nickel or dime with 4 down linemen and Willis and Spikes

- Both Nate Clements and Walt Harris played lights out. Clements got beat a couple of times on slants but on one of them he forced a fumble near the goalline. He also made a few tackles close to the LoS. Harris was just completely shutting down whoever he covered and finished with 3 passes defended. Michael Lewis continues to be a beast in the box and solid when asked to drop back. I thought that Dashon Goldson throuroughly outplayed Mark Roman yesterday but knowing Nolan Roman will still be starting at Seattle. Shawntae Spencer looked good whenever he was in

- I don't know what happened to the punt coverage team. So far this season they are allowing twice as many yards per return as last year and even though Andy Lee isn't booming punts like last year he is still doing a good job. The kick coverage team was phenomanal outside of the 54 yard return yesterday stopping the Seahawks return man for less than 20 yards on all 4 of his other returns. Joe Nedney is really getting some air under his kicks

Week 2 Game-by-Game Observations

2008-09-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Chicago Bears @ Carolina Panthers: I don't think either coach can be happy about this. Twenty-two penalties and only 470 yards between the two teams. Neither passing game could really get anything going but both rookie running backs looked good. Matt Forte continues to represent C-USA and Jonathan Stewart sparked the Panthers to the win when DeAngelo Williams couldn't get on track. The Bears defense seems to be back to their 2006 form after holding the Panthers to only 216 total yards. Kyle Orton managd the game well for the Bears but Greg Olsen cost them the game with those two fumbles. Game Ball: Jonathan Stewart

Tennessee Titans @ Cincinnati Bengals: Tennessee is a much better team with Kerry Collins at the helm than they are with Vince Young. With an amazing defense and great running game all he needs to do is not make mistakes. This team reminds me a lot of the 2000 Ravens with a better quarterback, a better running game, and a little worse defense. Chris Johnson is leading the ROTY race, imo. The Bengals don't seem to have anything going right now. Their defense is really bad and the offense that was supposed to be their strength has looked equally bad. I will give the offense the benefit of the doubt for now because they have played two great defenses. Game Ball: Chris Johnson

Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions: I said it last week that the Lions have probably the worst defense in the league. They have no one on defense at all. Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings destroyed them and while they shut down Ryan Grant they couldn't stop Brandon Jackson late when it mattered. The Lions passing offense may be good but the offensive line is terrible and Kevin Smith, who is a good running back, can't run behind it. Calvin Johnson is a men amongst boys and Roy Williams is great but they don't have much else. The Packers should be worried about their defense. Game Ball: Aaron Rodgers

Buffalo Bills @ Jacksonville Jaguars: Poor, poor Jacksonville. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew will never get anything going with the banged up offensive line and it is looking like David Garrard can't carry a team on his back. The Jacksonville defense has no excuse for being bad, though. It looks like everyone on the defense got tackling lessons from Rashean Mathis, who looks terrible, during the offseason. And where is that improved pass rush? At least they were the first team to hold Marshawn Lynch under 60 yards when he starts. Trent Edwards was phenomanal in the first half and trailed off in the second but still had a good game. The Bills defense looked good except for a couple points in the 3rd quarter. Game Ball: Trent Edwards

Oakland Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs: These might be the two worst teams in the league. Kansas City has nothing outside of Dwanye Bowe and Tony Gonzalez. They have a bad offensive line, a bad defensive line, a bad secondary, an over the hill running back, a bad quarterback, and bad linebackers. The Chiefs are going to have a long rebuilding process. The Raiders aren't much better. Darren McFadden and Michael Bush looked great but it was against the Chiefs. JaMarcus Russell couldn't do anything at all. The defense looked good but it was the Chiefs. Game Ball: Darren McFadden

Indianapolis Colts @ Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson is a god and the Vikings have the best defensive line in the league. Um, what else good can I say about the Vikings? Tavaris Jackson loses games and they have almost no secondary. Then there are the Colts who don't seem to have much outside of Peyton Manning. Their run defense looks to be back to its 2006 regular season form and the secondary isn't forcing many turnovers. At least the Colts were getting some pressure on the quarterback. Joseph Addai couldn't do anything partly because the Vikings great d-line, partly because the Colts are injured on the o-line, but mainly because he is overrated. Anthony Gonzalez has been impressive. Game Ball: Peyton Manning

New York Giants @ St. Louis Rams: I seriously cannot get over how bad the Rams are. They have no offensive line and Steve Jackson, Marc Bulger, and Torry Holt can't seem to do anything. I don't even want to discuss how bad their defense is. 79 points and 975 yards allowed in two games. They can't stop the run, they can't rush the passer, and they can't stop the pass. Eli Manning had a great gam but it seems like everyone will against the Rams. The Giants running game, particularly Brandon Jacobs, continues to be impressive and that pass rush was great Sunday but again, it's the Rams. Game Ball: Eli Manning

New Orleans Saints @ Washington Redskins: I really thought that the Saints defense would improve with all those offseason additions but I was wrong. There pass defense looks as bad as it was with Jason David starting and the run defense hasn't been far behind. On the flip side the Redskins offense was much improved. Clinton Portis had a solid game and Jason Campbell turned it on in the 4th quarter. Their defense was solid as well, intercepting Drew Brees twice and holding the Saints to only 55 rushing yards and 17 offensive points. Game Ball: Jason Campbell

San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks came in trying to stop Frank Gore and pressur J.T. O'Sullivan and it worked. Too bad JTO played an amazing game despite getting sacked 8 times, though half of them were his fault. Frank Gore still had a solid game, though, gaining 99 total yards and a TD but the 49er receivers caught 15 passes for 280 yards and a TD. Julius Jones had a good game against the 49ers all game nickel defense but Matt Hasselbeck was shut down desptie no pass rush from the 49ers because they only blitzed 5 times. Rookie TE John Carlson had a good game for the second straight week. Game Ball: J.T. O'Sullivan

Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This was Matt Ryan's real welcome to the NFL game because anything that happens against the Lions defense should be disregarded. Ryan had a 2005 Alex Smith-esgue game against a pretty average defense. The Bucs also held Michael Turner to only 60 yards on 20 carries after they had over 300 on 35 carries last week. Gaines Adams had a great game. The Bucs offense, mainly Ernest Graham, looked great. Through two games Graham has 25 carries for 207 yards good for 8.3 yards per carry. Brian Griese managed the game well. Game Ball: Ernest Graham

Miami Dolphins @ Arizona Cardinals: Everyone, myself included, thought the tandem of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams would be good. Boy were we wrong. 100 total rushing yards and 2.6 yards per carry through 2 games against average defenses so far. Chad Pennington looked terrible after a good opening game and Chad Henne looked good when he replaced him. The Dolphins defense, outside of rookie Kendall Langford who has pressured the passer a lot in his first two games, doesn't seem to have any bright spots. Kurt Warner carved up the Dolphins posting a perfect passer rating, 3 touchdowns, 361 yards, and 15 yards per attempt. Both Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald had more receiving yards thanthey had combined last week. Game Ball: Kurt Warner

San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos: I am gonna stay away from the late call because we all know it was the wrong call. Right now both of these teams seem to have one of the best offenses in the league. Even with Ladianian Tomlinson having an off game Philip Rivers continued his great play throwing for 3 touchdowns for the second straight week. Darren Sproles had a great game in relief of LT. For the Broncos Jay Cutler continues to impress and I still stand by that he will be a top 5 QB by season's end. Brandon Marshall also has the chance to be a top 5 WR as he completely abused Antonion Cromartie. Neither defense is anything to right home about. Game Ball: Brandon Marshall

New England Patriots @ New York Jets: I loved how people were saying that the Jets would win this easily. It is like they forgot that the Patriots still have a good stable of running backs, a great slot receiver, a receiver that draws double coverage every play, and a great defense. I can't say I saw this game ending any differently than it did. Smart people knew the Patriots were going to run the ball a lot and when they didn't run it they were going to throw short and safe passes. Matt Cassel played an efficient game. The Jets offense didn't do much after only dropping 20 on the lowly Dolphins, that should have been our first clue that they weren't that good. Brett Favre and the passing game looked bad outside of one catch and run by Coles and the running game didn't do much. Game Ball: LaMont Jordan

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns: You gotta feel bad for people in Ohio. First OSU gets blown out and know both NFL teams are 0-2 and look terrible. At least they have Notre Dame. On offense the Browns haven't been able to do anything in two weeks and Derek Anderson looks like a one season wonder. Braylon Edwards is still having trouble catching the ball and Kellen Winslow looked good. I said last week that the Steelers look to be back to their 2005 form. Ben Roethlisberger throwing the ball less than 20 times a game and being efficient, defense playing great, and Willie Parker and the power running game. Game Ball: Willie Parker

Philadelphia Eagels @ Dallas Cowboys: I don't know if both offenses are great or both defenses are bad. Sure the Cowboys and Eagles defense looked good but they played the Browns and the Rams. Donovan McNabb looks to be healthy and one of the top quarterbacks in the league, DeSean Jackson looks great and I wish the 49ers had drafted him, and Brian Westbrook has been great so far. Too bad they have no other playmakers on offense. The Cowboys, on the other hand, have tons of weapons. Tony Romo had a great game after some early screw ups, Terrell Owens killed the Eagles early, Marion Barber has a great game, and Jason Witten is arguable the best tight end in the league. Game Ball: Jason Witten

Season Opener vs. Arizona Positional Analysis

2008-09-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Even though my access to the game was intermittent at best I will give my thoughts on what I saw from each player

Players of the game: Frank Gore, Nate Clements, Justin Smith, Parys Haralson

- J.T. O'Sullivan looked okay but was making a few mistakes. The interception was a terrible decision and on the first fumble he held the ball too long and then didn't step up into the pocket when he threw it. I am not ready to give up hope on him yet but I still think that a healthy Alex Smith is better than him. Too bad Smith isn't healthy, however, so now we have to just hope that JTO starts to play better

- Frank Gore is going to have a monster season. I think that after watching him yesterday my original predictions might be a little on the low side. I could see him breaking 1500 yards rushing and 800 yards receiving if he stays healthy, knock on wood. DeShaun Foster got very few touches and looked okay like we all expected but probably would have gotten the ball more if the offense wasn't on the field for so little time.

- Most of the offensive line was pretty good, especially in the running game. Jonas Jennings and David Baas stood out. Joe Staley, Tony Wragge, and Eric Heitmann all looked solid as well. The only player that looked bad was Adam Snyder. After the game I am convinced our starting offensive line should be, from left to right, Joe Staley, Tony Wragge, Eric Heitmann, Davis Baas, and Jonas Jennings.

- I was the first to say that Bryant Johnson shouldn't be just given a spot as the top receiver but he earned it yesterday. I am now conviced that he should be the number one receiver. I didn't see much from any other receiver. Arnaz Battle had a nice run after the catch on that third down play and I don't even think a pass went Isaac Bruce's way.

- The defense was pretty good, in my opinion. The Cardinals had only 2.8 yards per carry and 5.3 yards per pass play. The pass rush wasn't great but the secondary forced a couple of coverage sacks.

- I knew Justin Smith was going to be good and have a huge impact but after watching him play yesterday I am even more excited. He drew a double team on almost every play and was still making plays. Isaac Sopoaga also had a good game making 4 solo tackles after an average gain of 1 yard. The rest of the defensive line, Ray McDonald, Kentwan Balmer, Ronald Fields, and Aubrayo Franklin, all looked solid.

- Patrick Willis and Manny Lawson both looked solid considering they were on the field almost the entire game. Willis knocked down a couple of passes and all of his tackles except for one came within 4 yards of the LoS and Lawson looked good in coverage. Jeff Ulbrich and Takeo Spikes looked good as well but that muffed catch by Spikes might have cost us the game. If you are an NFL player you should be able to catch a kickoff and fall down, I don't care what position you play. How about Parys Haralson? Two and a half sacks is pretty impressive even if 1.5 were coverage sacks. With him rushing the passer, ManLaw back in coverage, and Willis/Ulbrich/Spikes patrolling the field we have a good linebacking corps

- What can I say about the secondary except that they were damn good. Nate Clements completely shut down Larry Fitzgerald except for the touchdown but no corner can cover that play. Walt Harris looked to be back to his 2006 form as well, Anquan Boldin had 0 catches in the first half and didn't start doing well until he got Donald Strickland covering him. Michael Lewis looked solid is both run support and pass defense. Both Dashon Goldson and Mark Roman made their share of mistakes but I still can't figure out why Goldson, who can at least make plays, isn't starting

All in all I am not too upset about the loss. Sure it would have been nice to be the only team with a win in the division and have some confidence going into Seattle and sure if we had won and then took care of Seattle we would have a nice cushion in the division but a lot of good things came out of the game. Our offense was better than last year in every facet of the game and our defense held the Cardinals to only 4 yards per play which is very good. If JT can start being more careful with the ball and we can minimize stupid mistakes, like muffing a kickoff and commiting a roughing the passer penalty to give Arizona a first down even though I still think that was a crap call, I still believe this team can win 9 games

Week 1 Game-by-Game Observations

2008-09-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

Washington Redskins @ New York Giants: Only two players from either team that looked good in this game were Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress. Jacobs was extremely consistent, broke a couple of big runs, and was running over Redskins players left and right while Burress was getting open a lot. Eli Manning was lucky he only had one interception. The Redskins were terrible almost everywhere, except maybe the secondary was solid. Clinton Portis couldn't get anything going and Jason Campbell was mediocre at best. Game Ball- Brandon Jacobs

Detroit Lions @ Atlanta Falcons: I knew that the Falcons would run easily on the Lions but I didn't expect 313 combined yards and 8.7 yards per carry from Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood. Don't expect a game like that again though because the Lions defense is quite possibly the worst in the league. The Lions offensive line looked the same as it always does. They couldn't open up any holes in the running game and opened up too many holes in pass protection. Kevin Smith did a good job under the circumstances and Calvin Johnson is an obvious beast. Matt Ryan was solid in limited throws. Game Ball- Michael Turner

Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens still have a good defense but I was expecting more out of the Bengals offense. Carson Palmer had the worst game of his career and looked awful and Chad Johnson was completely shut down. The offensive line was solid in pass protection but couldn't open any running lanes. The Ravens running game was consistently solid though unspectacular outside of two runs. Joe Flacco was okay but take that with a grain of salt because it was the Bengals defense. Game Ball - Ravens' defense

Seattle Seahawks @ Buffalo Bills: I don't want to take anything away from the Bills defense because they really got after Matt Hasselbeck but the Seahawks just played terrible. Hasselbeck couldn't seem to complete a pass and the running game was really bad. The Bills didn't really get much going on offense, evidenced by only 13 first downs and 9 punts, but their special teams was spectacular. Brian Moorman can do everything and their returners, Terrence McGee, Roscoe Parrish, and Leodic McKelvin, probably make up the best set of returners in the league. Game Ball - Bills' special teams

New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins: This game played out almost excactly as I expected it to. Brett Favre was solid most of the game but got really lucky his second touchdown wasn't inercepted and fumbled a couple of time. Thomas Jones was solid but the Dolphins have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. The Jets offensive line could have been better against a bad Dolphins pass rush. Chad Pennington was good for the Dolphins while the only two other players that were good were the tight ends Anthony Fasono and David Martin. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown couldn't even run on a bad run defense. Game Ball- Jericho Cotchery

Kansas City Chiefs @ New England Patriots: I admit that I expected the Patriots to win this game by at least 14 but even when Brady was in it looked like they wouldn't do it. Both the Patriots running game, with Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris, and passing attack, kudos to Matt Cassel, were good but they couldn't seem to make plays when it counted. The defense was much worse than it should have been against a pretty bad offense and if not for few Dwayne Bowe drops probably would have given a lot more points. I didn't believe in the Super Bowl loser hangover but when the Patriots struggle at home against the Chiefs, I don't know. Game Ball- Matt Cassel

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New Orleans Saints: Of course the Saints offense was great. Drew Brees was amazing except for the one interception that was returned for a touchdown and the running game was okay. Reggue Bush should just be switched to receiver at this point. The Bucs running game was surprisingly good as they ran all over the Saints when they actually choose to run the ball. Ernest Graham and Warrick Dunn averaged almost 8 yards per carry but only got 19 carries while Jeff Garcia threw the ball 40 times. Neither defense looked good. Game Ball - Drew Brees

St. Louis Rams @ Philadelphia Eagles: I could just say the Rams are terrible and end this but I'll go into some detail. The Rams are terrible. The offensive line was awful in pass protection and run blocking, Marc Bulger looked bad, all the Rams receivers were shut down, and Steve Jackson was mediocre. I don't even want to get starter on how bad the defense was. Brian Westbrook ran all over them and Donovan McNabb did whatever he wanted. DeSean Jackson looks like the real deal. Game Ball - Desean Jackson/Donovan McNabb

Houston Texans @ Pittsburgh Steelers: Another Pennsylvania team, another blowout. The Steelers pretty much ran at will on the Texans, Willie Parker looked great Ben Roethlisberger looked great as he usually does when throwing it so little. With the defense dominant again, especially James Harrison and the rest of the front seven, the Steelers looked a lot like they did in 2005. The Texans looked pretty bad all around outside of Mario Williams and Andre Johnson, who both looked very good. Game Ball - Willie Parker

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans: Didn't we watch this exact game on opening day last year? The Titans ran all over the Jaguars, Vince Young played terrible, and the defense was dominant. Chris Johnson looks like the real deal and will probably be starting in place of Lendale by midseason. Albert Haynesworth and the rest of the defensie line was great. The Jaguars might have some cause for concern after they lost two offensive linemen early and proceeded to have only 33 yards rushing on 17 carries. The supposdedly improved pass rush also couldn't even touch Young. Game Ball- Chris Johnson

Dallas Cowboys @ Cleveland Browns: I just knew that the Browns were overrated because their defense still wouldn't be good. Marion Barber and Felix Jones, heck even Tashard Choice, had their way with the Browns running defense. Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Jason Witten, and Patrick Crayton all looked to be in non-playoff form. The Browns couldn't get anything going except maybe Jamal Lewis and Kellen Winslow Jr who did okay. Derek Anderson was bad and Braylon Edwards suddenly forgot how to catch of something. Game Ball- Dallas offensive line

Carolina Panthers @ San Diego Chargers: The Panthers were my surprise pick this year and they did not disappoint. Jake Delhomme was solid considering he was without his #1 receiver and the DeAngelo Williams/Jonathan Stewart combo was great. The Panthers defense was victimized by by LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers but they held up when they needeed to. The Chargers started off the season disappointing again but at least they looked good this time. Game Ball- Dante Rosario

Arizona Cardinals @ San Francisco 49ers: Could the 49ers have shot themselves in the foot more than they did this game? They outgained the Cardinals and had a much higher yards per play but they gave the Cardinals the ball 4 times in San Francisco territory. Buy the 4th quarter the 49ers defense was so tired of being on the field they couldn't do anything to stop Anquan Boldin from catching 8 passes, 6 for 1st downs, in the 2nd half. Frank Gore had a great game with 151 all-purpose yards on only 18 touches but the 49ers just didn't have the ball long enough. Game Ball- Anquan Boldin

Chicago Bears @ Indianapolis: This should have been a Colts blowout but instead it was a Bears blowout, so what happened? Well what happeneed was that everyone on the Colts other than Peyton Manning was bad. Joseph Addai did nothing, the offensive line wasn't giving Manning a lot of time, and the Colts defense got pounded by Matt Forte. The Bears defense made a few plays but it was more the Colts playing poorly than them playing well. Kyle Orton managed the game well and did not turn the ball over. Game Ball- Matt Forte

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers: I am not gonna say that Aaron Rodgers looked great because I only think he looked good. He had great numbers but attempted very few tough or long passes and the only deep pass he threw was poorly thrown but just a great catch by Greg Jennings. The touchdown was a heck of a throw and catch. Ryan Grant ran hard against a tough Vikings front and looked okay. The Vikings pass rush should have been better than it was with Jared Allen and the rest of their defense was surprisingly bad. Adrian Peterson had a great game. Game Ball- Aaron Rodgers

Denver Broncos @ Oakland Raiders: Jay Cutler is going to be a top 5 QB by season's end, the man is just amazing. Eddie Royal stepped up admirably with Brandon Marshall out. The offensive line didn't allow anyone to get close to Cutler and Ryan Clady looked especially good. Almost everything about the Raiders was really bad. Don't let their final offensive numbers fool you into thinking that they were good because they couldn't do anything when it mattered. The running game was solid and I guess JaMarcus Russell was okay while the offensive line sucked. The Raiders secondary, which is supposed to be their strong point, was really bad outside of Nnamdi Asomugha. DeAngelo Hall and Gibril Wilson were epecially bad. Game Ball- Jay Cutler

Preseason Game 4 vs. San Diego Recap

2008-08-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

- Alex Smith has steadily improved in every preseason game, at least when it comes to getting rid of the ball quicker. It looked like he was finally throwing the ball to the spot where the receiver was supposed to be and none of his passes were thrown behind the receiver. The first interception was an overthrow but the second was just a great play by that corner. He threw two good passes that could have been touchdowns to Jason Hill an Ashley Lelie but both corners made great plays but he also threw a couple that could have been picked. Shaun Hill looked much worse. He threw one good pass to Hill but other than that attempted only dump-offs and short passes. That interception that he threw we also a lot like Smith's first one but much more overthrown, at least Smith's hit Battle's fingertips

- I like Michael Robinson but he is not a good running back. He has all the physical tools but almost no vision. He is best used a a short yardage back, receiver, and special teams player and I don't think he will ever be a capable running back. Thomas Clayton, on the other hand, has looked amazing. There is no way he is going to clear waivers and he deserves to be on this team. Heck, I would rather see Foster gone because he has done nothing

- Jason Hill has been really impressive and I would say he has had a better preseason than even Josh Morgan . Bryant Johnson looked good, I mean really good, last night and may have won his starting job back. Dominique Zeigler had only one catch but I saw him throwing some nice blocks downfield. Arnaz Battle was running wide open the entire night and if Smith hadn't overthrown him he would have probably had a touchdown. Last night should have been the final nail in Ashley Lelie's coffin but if Martz really likes him that much he will be on the team

- Wow Delanie Walker is fast. I am just amazed that he is our second most athletic tight end. Neither Vernon Davis or Walker really showed much on offense but they didn't have many passes thrown their way. We already knew Billy Bajema was a great blocker but how about that touchdown? He took it right out of the defender's hand

- Both the first and second team offensive lines continued to dominant in pass protection and looked solid in run blocking. Chilo Rachal is starting to look really good and this Brian De La Puente hasn't made a mistake. Joe Staley is looking more and more comfortable, and better of course, with each game. Tony Wragge continues to impress and did anyone notice else Baas playing center last night? I only noticed it a couple of times and I would like to know if he was there all night or if he was moved around.

- Kentwan Balmer was finally making some plays in the second half. He read that screen really well and made a great tackle and was actually starting to either collapse the pocket or take up more than one blocker. Up until this game he had looked terrible so hopefully that is a good sign. Ronald Fields was solid but inconsistent. Two guys that have been surprisingly good this preseason are Walter Curry and Atiyyah Ellison, especially Curry

- Larry Grant put in a solid showing last night and could make the 53-man roster but that dropped interception might have really hurt his case. Jeff Ulbrich continues to look better than Takeo Spikes but that isn't saying much because both looked bad. Manny Lawson looked solid, not bad but nothing special, but will probably be better when the rest of the defensive starters are playing. Dontarrius Thomas looked awful and could have lost his roster spot. Both Tully Banta-Cain and Parys Haralson, maybe even throw Rod Grenn in with them, continue to get pressure. I didn't see Jay Moore. That sack and forced fumble by Dennis Haley was great

- Shawntae Spencer had been really good in the preseason and I think he could be the #2 corner on a lot of teams, like Eric Davis said. Reggie Smith is starting to look like a player with 4 passes defended in the preseason and could work his way up the depth chart pretty far by the end of the season. Mark Roman continued his terrible play from the Bears game and I honestly don't know why he would start over Goldson who has just been flat out better than him all preseason. I didn't see Markus Curry or Tarell Brown, does anyone know if they played? Donald Strickland, after starting the preseason off strong, has gotten progressively worse and there is no way he would make the team without that cap saving clause in his contract. Marcus Hudson might have lost his job when he lost his footing on the game winning touchdown but I would still rather keep him over Brown.

- Andy Lee doesn't seem to be booming punts like last season but hopefully he won't be kicking as much this season. Joe Nedney looked solid as usual.

- The coverage teams were both better with the return of Michael Robinson, like everyone thought they would be. MRob also had an amazing block on the Walker kick return. He absolutely leveled that guy

Playoff Matchups and predictions

2008-08-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Playoffs

AFC

1. Patriots
2. Colts
3. Chargers
4. Steelers
5. Jaguars
6. Browns

Chargers defeat Browns
Jaguars defeat Steelers
Jaguars defeat Patriots
Colts defeat Chargers
Colts defeat Jaguars

NFC

1. Cowboys
2. Seahawks
3. Vikings
4. Saints
5. Redskins
6. Eagles

Vikings defeat Eagles
Redskins defeat Saints
Seahawks defeat Vikings
Cowboys defeat Redskins
Seahawks defeat Cowboys

Super Bowl: Colts defeat Seahawks

2008 Predicted Records

2008-08-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

I waited until now because I wanted to see how some position battles ended, if any major injuries occurred, and I wanted to watch the 3rd preseason game.

AFC East

Patriots: 13-3 - Tom Brady's "injury" isn't going to make a difference and even if he was really injured it wouldn't change that much
Jets: 8-8 - I really like their passing game, Favre to Cotchery FTW, but I don't think the running game will be good and the defense will be middle of the pack at best
Bill: 6-10 - Call me stupid but I don't like Trent Edwards that much. I also find Marshawn Lynch to be incredibly overrated. They will have a solid offense and defense, nothing special
Dolphins: 4-12 - They will definitely improve but they don't have any great players anywhere on the team

AFC West

Chargers: 11-5 - Poor Merriman is going to have a career ending injury by week 8. The offense will still be great with LT running the show and the defense should still be good
Denver Broncos: 8-8 - The running game will be solid as usual and the Cutler/Marshall combo will be great but the run defense will still be poor
Oakland Raiders: 6-10 - They overpaid for a lot of players this offseason and while it might help a little their run defense is still awful and their passing game is questionable at best
Kansas City Chiefs: 4-12 - Larry Johnson will never return to his 2005-2006 form, they have a bad o-line, no good QBs, and many questions on defense. It's a rebuilding year

AFC South

Colts: 12-4 - Manning will be back, throw for 30 TDs and 4000 yards, and the offense will be top 5 as usual. The system will keep the defense good even with injuries
Jaguars: 11-5 - They will have a great running game and get solid production from Garrard. I don't think the pass rush will be as good as they hope
Texans: 8-8 - Andre Johnson is a monster and the other WRs will help him carry Schaub. The running game will probably still suck
Titans: 7-9 - Vince Young sucks but the running game and defense will carry them, much like last year

AFC North

Steelers: 10-6 - The running game should be pretty good and the passing game will be great, though not as good as last year. A tough schedule will keep them from winning more
Browns: 9-7 - I'm not sold on Anderson or the defense. They have great weapons on offense that will carry them to those 9 games
Bengals: 6-10 - Carson Palmer and the passing game is great but they have no defense and a poor running game
Ravens: 4-12 - I think they will switch to Flacco after starting off slow and he will be bad. All 4 wins will be because of the defense
abaddon41_80
Posted 8/27/2008 4:22:57 PM
message detail NFC South

Saints: 10-6 - Drew Brees is the 3rd best QB in the league and they will have a great pass attack, the defense will improve, and the running game will be okay
Panthers: 9-7 - I like their running back duo and Jake Delhomme throwing to Steve Smith. They also will have a pretty good defense
Bucs: 7-9 - They didn't do much to improve this offseason and I think they will take a step back because of age
Falcons: 3-13 - Starting Matt Ryan is the right decision but they still have a pretty bad offensive line and an average at best defense

NFC East

Cowboys: 12-4 - With Merriman injured in SD I think the Boys are now the most talented team in the league but they will still lose 4 due to a tough division
Redskins: 10-6 - They don't have any glaring weaknesses on offense and the addition of Jason Taylor makes their defense very formidable
Eagles: 9-7 - DeSean Jackson has looked great and should improve both the offense and return game but I think McNabb will get hurt and Kolb will take over, and McNabb is obviously better
Giants: 8-8 - This is at best. They lost half of their defensive starters and Eli Manning still hasn't proven to be a good enough QB to carry the team

NFC North

Vikings: 11-5 - If running the ball and stopping the run were the keys to the winning in the NFL the Vikings would be the best team in the league but they have QB problems
Packers: 9-7 - I don't think Rodgers will be anything special but they have a great offense around him and a great defense
Bears: 5-11 - The offense is going to be terrible, probably worse than the 49ers' last year. The defense and special teams should be good, though
Lions: 4-12 - I love Kevin Smith but they have a bad offensive line and no one on defense. The passing game won't be as good with Martz gone

NFC West

Seahawks: 11-5 - They have a great defense and passing attack and while they have no great RBs the running back by committee will serve them well enough
49ers: 9-7 - Call me a homer but Gore will put up Faulk like numbers and the defense will be much better than last year not spending 35 minutes a game on the field
Cardinals: 7-9 - With Warner starting they will have an amazing passing offense but Edge is too old, they don't have a good o-line, and their defense is overrated
Rams: 5-11 - The offensive line is already riddled by injuries, Marc Bulger seems to be shell-shocked, and the defense isn't that good, at least not yet

Would you believe I was was 255-257 went I first did this without even really trying to keep it even?

Final Roster and Depth Chart Predictions

2008-08-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

These aren't so much predictions as they are my dream final roster but here it goes anyway

Offense (25)

QB1: J.T. O'Sullivan - He has been the best QB in camp and in the preseason and has earned the right to open the season as the starter.
QB2: Alex Smith - Has performed better than Hill in camp and the preseason and the 49ers aren't going to cut him this year like some people think
QB3: Shaun Hill - There is no way the 49ers cut him after giving him a 3 year, $6 million contract

RB1: Frank Gore - I honestly thought DeShaun Foster might beat him out. /sarcasm
RB2: DeShaun Foster - A very capable back-up and MRob hasn't done enough at RB to warrant 2nd string
RB3: Michael Robinson - He is a great special teams player and solid running back that just received a contract extension so he isn't going anywhere
RB4: Thomas Clayton - This is more of a wish than prediction. He has performed so well in the last two preseasons I don't think he will slip through waivers and it would be a shame to lose such a young talent

FB: Zak Keasey - I like Moran Norris but he has been working with the 2nd team all offseason, there is no way we keep to fullbacks, and Keasey looked good against Chicago

WR1: Isaac Bruce - I had hoped that Battle would impress and take this spot but he has been injured
WR2: Arnaz Battle - Even though he hasn't played much this offseason he has played more than Bryant Johnson so should open up ahead of him
WR3: Josh Morgan(R) - He has been a complete beast in the offseason and I think he has overtaken Johnson
WR4: Bryant Johnson - Everyone thinking he would be the #1 WR and him actually #4 is a testament that our receivers are better than they ot credit for
WR5: Jason Hill - Ashley Lelie may be better right now, debatable, but Hill has more upside, won't get cut, and I don't see us keeping 6 receivers

TE1: Vernon Davis - Obviously
TE2: Delanie Walker - We will not keep three tight ends and Walker is a better receiver than Bajema so Martz will use him

LT1: Joe Staley- Switching from the right to the left wil be tough but Staley will do it
LT2: Barry Sims - Very capable back-up with tons of starting experience

LG1: David Baas- If Baas comes back from injury at 100% he is better than Snyder has been this preseason at guard
LG2: Brian De La Puente(R) - Has been really impressive in all three preseason games and provides depth at guard, which we don't have

C1: Eric Heitmann - It looked like Wallace might beat out Heitmann in TC but Heitmann silenced those rumors in the preseason
C2: Cody Wallace(R) - I like him a lot and could see him taking over for Heitmann in a couple of years but not right now

RG1: Tony Wragge - Rachal is coming along slowly and Wragge has been a monster in the preseason
RG2: Chilo Rachal(R) - Like I said he is coming along slowly but he still looked good in the preseason, just not as good as Wragge

RT1: Jonas Jennings - I hate the guy because he is unreliable but when he is healthy he is great, like he has been this preseason
RT2: Adam Snyder - I have always thought he was a better tackle than guard and he will make a good back-up if/when Jennings goes down with an injury

Defense (24)

LDE1: Ray McDonald - He followed up a strong performance at the end of last season with an amazing preseason and deserves to start
LDE2: Kentwan Balmer(R)- All bias aside, he hasn't looked very good this preseason but he obviously won't be cut

NT1: Isaac Sopoaga - He is listed as a starting DE but with McDonald's emergence he should slide inside and perform well
NT2: Aubrayo Franklin - Franklin is a pure NT and might get more playing time than Sopoaga there when we play the 3-4 but Sopoaga will get more total playing time
NT3: Ronald Fields - I really like Fields and think he could start anywhere along the line in a pinch

RDE1: Justin Smith - Pretty obvious choice here. He will be moved around a lot in our hybrid 3-4/4-3
RDE2: Kentwan Balmer(R)

LOLB1: Manny Lawson - He has looked good enough to obviously be the starter but he doesn't seem to be back to 100% yet
LOLB2: Jay Moore- Looked pretty good in the preseason games and should make a adeqaute backup

ILB1: Patrick Willis - ...
ILB2: Dontarrius Thomas - He has looked like a capable back-up in preseason action

ILB1: Takeo Spikes - Hopefully he catches up with the rest of the defense in time to start alongside P.Willy
ILB2: Jeff Ulbrich - He has better than Spikes in preseason play but Spikes should catch up with the defense soon enough. I could see, and am fine with, either one starting

ROLB1: Parys Haralson - Neither him or TBC is a great player by any means but Haralson is listed as the starter right now so...
ROLB2: Tully Banta-Cain - He has come on strong in the preseason, albeit against 2nd string players, and could work his way back into the starting line-up

LCB1: Nate Clements - No explanation needed
LCB2: Donald Strickland - He has performed very well in the preseason
LCB3: Reggie Smith(R) - He has done well but not enough to crack the starting rotation yet

RCB1: Walt Harris - He has been surprisingly beastly this preseason after an off year last year
RCB2: Shawntae Spencer - Arguably has performed better than any of our corners in the preseason
RCB3: Marcus Hudson - Right now he is a little better than Brown, imo, he is more versatile, and he is well liked (he cuts most of the teams hair)

SS1: Michael Lewis - Beast last year
SS2: Keith Lewis - He isn't a great safety but he is an excellent special teams player

FS1: Dashon Goldson - After two great preseason campaigns and tons of playmaking ability Nolan has to start him
FS2: Mark Roman - Nolan has hinted that Roman will be starting but come on

Special Teams (4)

K: Joe Nedney
P: Andy Lee
KR/PR: Allen Rossum
LS: Brian Jennings

Practice Squad (8)

Dominique Zeigler, WR
Cam Colvin, WR
Ricky Schimmt, K/P
Markus Curry, DB
Louis Holmes, DE
Joe Cohen, DT
Joe Toledo, OT
Larry Grant, LB

Preseason Game 3 @Chicago Recap

2008-08-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

QB Analysis:

J.T. O'Sullivan - Wow! Where did that come from? That pass to Davis was great and the touchdown to Hill was an amazing play. 49er fans haven't seen throws like that since Alex Smith in 2006. The biggest thing that JTO did right, though, was not make many mistakes. He didn't try and force something that wasn't there. Was his great performance enough to overcome one terrible game and one mediocre? I guess for now he should be the starter but I am still not completely sold on him. His only mistake was holding onto the ball too long at the goalline when Davis was two yards away wide open. 9/10

Alex Smith - He finally gets a chance to play with the first team offensive line, which has been great this preseason, and they turn into the second team offensive line all of the sudden. He showed great ability to escape the rush and still do something but he wasn't very accurate. Sure he was more accurate than his numbers (6/17) show because there were 4 dropped passes when he was in, he had to spike the ball once, and he had to throw it away once or twice, but he was still nowhere near as accurate as JTO. This was the best chance he had to win he starting job, which is sad when you think about it because he was playing with the first team for the first time in weeks and had no timing with them. He still looked much better than he did in weeks 1 and 2. 7/10

Shaun Hill - Looked good but was playing against third team defense with a huge leade so he wasn't making any tough throws, just short passes. He is still obviously the number 3 QB on the team. No rating

Everyone else

- Were the running backs great or what? Frank Gore was running all over the Bears, that 28 yarder was great. 10 touches for 70 yards in basically 1 quarter. Thomas Clayton came in when the Bears still had their starters in and was great. With his performance in the past two preseasons I find it hard to believe he will clear the waiver wire again to make it to the PS. But that means we have to keep 4 running backs. Gore, DeShaun Foster, and Michael Robinson are all obviously going to be on the team

- Last week I said I didn't want to keep a fullback but Zak Keasey really looked good last night when he was on offense. Not to mention he is a great special teams player. Moran Norris seems to be expendable since Martz doesn't use old-fashioned fullbacks

- I wonder what happened to Josh Morgan. Is this the inconsistency VT fans are telling us about? I don't know yet. A few Alex Smith passes went his way and I think he should have caught 2 of them but he didn't. Jason Hill has gotten progressively better this preseason and looked great last night, except for when he slipped on 3rd down and dropped the pass from his knees. The WR that has surprised me the most is Dominique Zeilger. 14 catches for 148 yards and a TD in 3 preseason games is pretty good, imo. Isaac Bruce looked good as well. We may have to keep 6 receivers, Bruce, Bryant Johnson, Arnaz Battle, Hill, Morgan, and Zeigler. Although we probably could sneak Zeigler onto the PS

- Vernon Davis is looking good. That was a great over the shoulder catch on the pas from JTO and he was open a few other times. He made a nice adjustment to come back for Smith's pass and almost made another great catch. Delanie Walker only got one pass thrown his way when he was open but Smith missed. I don't think we are keepin Billy Bajema

- What can I say about the first team offensive line that I haven't said already. They have just looked great in pass protection all preseason and last night the run blocking was just as good. Tony Wragge was really good last night and Brian De La Puente looked like a decent player. The starting line should be, from left to right, Joe Staley, David Baas, Eric Heitmann, Wragge, Jonas Jennings. The back-ups looked better last night than they have so far this preseason

- The defense overall disappointed me. I don't think the players played poorly but we barely even blitzed and Kyle Orton had all day to throw. The starting run defense looked good aside from the 34 yarder from Kevin Jones.

- The starting defensive line couldn't seem to get any pressure by themselves when last week we barely even needed to blitz to pressure Green Bay. That could be because it was a short week. Justin Smith, Isaac Sopoaga, Ray McDonald, and Ronald Fields all looked good while no one else on the dline stood out

- Patrick Willis and Manny Lawson always seem to be around the ball and should back a great LB-duo. Maybe Takeo Spikes just hasn't gotten the defense down yet but he has looked slow these past two games and Jeff Ulbrich has looked better than him. Tully Banta-Cain was good again last night and looks to beat out Roderick Green for a roster spot. I didn't notice much from players like Dontarrius Thomas and Larry Grant but then again we held the ball for almost 11 minutes in the 4th quarter when they would have played

- No secondary can cover for 8-10 seconds and ours is no different. Walt Harris looked great for the third straight preseason game, Nate Clements looked solid, and Michael Lewis made a few mistakes but was okay overall. The player who stood out to me, in a bad way, was Mark Roman. He looked awful. I don't understand why Nolan even put him in with the first team when Dashon Goldson has been great at FS. That PI on Shawntae Spencer was bull. I didn't see Markus Curry at all after a good performance last week but that could be for the same reason I didn't see Grant and Thomas. Donald Strickland failed miserably to knock down that hail mary.

- The special teams this preseason has been terrible. We gave up a TD to Johnnie Lee Higgins, two big returns to Jordy Nelson, and Danieal Manning killed us last night. I will chalk that up to out best gunner, MRob, being out thouhg. We also had a blocked punt and a blocked field goal which there is no excuse for

Preseason Game 2 vs. Green Bay Recap

2008-08-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

My take on the quarterback situation

J.T. O'Sullivan - The game ball? Really? The guy had like three good plays and all three were bad throws. The 23 yarder to Hill was low and behind, the 22 yard corner route to Morgan could have been easily knocked down if the cornerback stuck his hands up, and the 57 yard touchdown to Morgan was extremely poorly thrown. His most accurate throw was probably that first one to Davis on third down. That interception was both a horrible decision and a horrible throw. If I had to give him a rating it would be 8/10

Alex Smith - As I said during the game last night, Smith looked really tense. He had a few overthrows but overall he wasn't much worse than JTO, if at all. He really should have hit Hill on that pass in the endzone but Hill still didn't seem to try very hard to catch it. Not much else to say except that all his passes were a bit off and the second team offensive line once again didn't give him nearly as much time as the first team gave JTO. He really didn't play enough again but he did scored on 2/3 drives. The coaches really need to give Alex some time with the first team to make an informed decision about this. If he doesn't get any time with them this week I think we all realize this QB "competition" is a joke. His rating would be a 7/10

Shaun Hill - It is becoming really clear that last year was a fluke. He has just looked plain average in the first two preseason games, against a lot of players who aren't even gonna be on a team come regular season. He had one nice pass to Zeigler, who made a good catch. 5/10

My observations

- The first team offensive line looked absolutely amazing. They were giving O'Sullivan all day to throw once again and opening some big holes in the running game. The only critique I can give based on last night was that Joe Staley was getting pushed back a little by Cullen Jenkins. The tackles on the second team offensive line looked awful, again, but Chilo Rachal looked good again.

- Frank Gore is gonna be have a monster season. He looked much faster than he did last year. DeShaun Foster looked average again and Thomas Clayton looked okay as well. I seriously want Keasey and Norris cut and to list MRob as FB so we can keep Clayton

- Josh Morgan is a beast. I didn't believe all of the training camp hype but 9 catches for 182 yards and 1 TD in two preseason games is great, especially considering most of his catches were on off-target throws. He could be starting come regular season. Jason Hill also looked great last night. Really nice adjustment and run after the catch on the 27 yarder from JTO and amazing run on the end-around. Another guy who was impressive again was Dominique Zeigler. He could honestly make this team and if he doesn't he is definitely going to the PS. Ashley Lelie is not going to make this team

- Vernon Davis looked good in limited action. Had a great run after the catch on his second reception. One thing that stood out to be was a missed block on a run, though. I didn't see much of Delanie Walker so I guess there wasn't much thrown his way

- The entire first string defense was amazing

- Going off of these first two preseason games, Ray McDonald is looking like a steal from last year. He is getting tons of pressure. Isaac Sopoaga and Justin Smith are looking like they deserved those contracts. The back-ups, most notably Walter Curry, Ronald Fields, and Louis Holmes (again) looked good. Kentwan Balmer had a terrible game getting pushed around almost every play.

- Manny Lawson and Patrick Willis both looked great when they were in as expected. Takeo Spikes looked slow and out of place but he did just get here. Jay Moore looked good for the second week in a row. Dennis Haley and Larry Grant both made a play or two. Tully Banta-Cain was completely owning the Packers' back-ups. Two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Parys Haralson seemed to be getting some pressure on the quarterbacks

- The secondary was completely and utterly amazing. They had almost every Packer receiver on lockdown on almost every play. The starters especially, Nate Clements, Walt Harris, Michael Lewis, and Dashon Goldon, were great. Three back-ups that stood out to me were Markus Curry, Shawntae Spencer, and Donald Strickland, they had a couple of big plays. I have to wonder if Tarell Brown even played because I didn't see him. Reggie Smith had another solid night.

- Allen Rossum was awful until that touchdown. Not only was he not having good returns when there were lanes but he wasn't making fair catches when he should have been

- The coverage units both looked good outside of when Jordy Nelson, who is obviously a beast, was returning kicks

- I like this Ricky Schmitt kid. Too bad he is not beating out Joe Nedney at kicker and there is no way he is beating Andy Lee at punter

Preseason Game 1 @Oakland Recap

2008-08-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

Some of my observations

- Smith is the best quarterback we have by a wide margin. Even though he was constantly under pressure while JTO and Hill had all day he still outperformed both of them. The only thing that bothered me was that his first pass was a little behind Hill but it was his first pass. That 22 yard pass to Battle was the best pass any QB at that game threw

- O'Sullivan is horrible. Even the passes that he completed to Morgan were off target

- Hill quite possibly has a weaker arm than Chad Pennington

- The first string offensive line looked pretty good in pass protection and okay in run protection

- DeShaun Foster looked bad. There were holes but he wasn't hitting them. I am glad he is our back-up

- I don't know if Thomas Clayton will make it to the PS again this year because he has looked good

- Our second string offensive line, most notably Demane Duckett at LT, looked terrible

- We shouldn't be running the ball with Zak Keasey and we don't need Moran Norris. I say list Michael Robinson as the FB and cut both

- Josh Morgan looked great. He was running perfect routes and making touch catches

- Arnaz Battle looked good. I am surprised he held onto the ball on that third down, not many players would have

- Jason Hill looked okay. Showed some speed on that reverse

- The first team defense, which was only in completely on the Raiders first drive, looked good.

- Ray McDonald was getting good pressure

- Kentwan Balmer looked pretty good

- Dashon Goldson was all over the field and made some plays

- Nate Clements is gonna be great again this season

- Shawntae Spencer really looked great. Maybe he can return to 2005 season form and replace an aging Walt

- The second team defense was pretty good as well

- The third and fourth stringers were getting the crap pounded out of them

- Reggie Smith made a couple of good plays

- Jay Moore looked really good

Most importantly some people need to relax and realize that it was the first preseason game under a new offensive coordinator. Everyone is still learning and there were bound to be mistakes. But at least all 4 turnovers were by players who won't be starting and outside of the 71 and 31 yard runs they had against our 3rd stringers the defense was good

2008 San Francisco 49ers Preview

2008-08-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

Postional Analysis

QB: Starter - Alex Smith, Back Up - Shaun Hill, 3rd String - J.T. O'Sullivan
Definitely not the 49ers strongest position but I still believe that Alex Smith do be a pretty good quarterback. I am of course basing that off of his 2006 campaign instead of his rookie season and the games he played injured in last year but that might be my problem. It is obviously much more intelligent to judge a player off of 7 games his rookie season when no one could have succeeded under the circumstances plus 3 games in his third season when he was playing with an injured shoulder under a moron of an offensive coordinator with no good receivers than 16 games when he played healthy with a decent amount of health around him. But I digress. Based on what I saw in the 2006 I expect Smith to have a pretty good year compared to what he has done so far and an average year compared to the rest of the league. I am expecting him to start all 16 games and finish with numbers of,
300/510 (58.8%)
3400 passing yards
6.7 yards per attempt
24 touchdowns
16 interceptions
81.5 Passer Rating
200 rushing yards
3 rushing touchdowns
And he will improve on those numbers in 2009

RB: Starter - Frank Gore, Back Up - DeShaun Foster, 3rd string - Michael Robinson
I am really, really excited about this group. Obvious Gore is going to be the leader and get a good majoirty of the touches and he will be great. With his receiving ability and Martz as the offensive coordinator I expect big things from him. I am predicting the Offensive Player of the year award and numbers somewhere along the line of,
275 carries
1450 rushing yards
5.2 yards per rush
10 rushing touchdowns
50 receptions
450 receiving yards
4 receiving touchdowns
Then there is Foster who I don't see getting many touches unless, God forbid, Gore gets injured but I still think he could contribute a few carries a game to take the load off of Gore and put up some numbers. I doubt Robinson will get any play time unless he finds a way to beat out Foster but I wouldn't be surprised if Martz used him in some trick plays

WR: Starting Line Up - Arnaz Battle (Flanker), Bryant Johnson (Split End), Isaac Bruce (Slot). Reserves: Jason Hill, Ashley Lelie, Josh Morgan
This is by far the best group of receivers that Smith has had to work with since he was drafted. Bruce may be old but he still outperformed every 49er receiver last year and Johnson has the ability to stretch the field. Battle is going to break out under Martz and Jason Hill, Ashley Lelie, and Josh Morgan all have great potential. Watch out for Hill especially. I am not going to predict the numbers for every receiver but for Battle, Johnson, and Bruce they will be somewhere around,
Battle: 65 receptions, 825 yards, 5 touchdowns
Johnson: 50 receptions, 750 yards, 4 touchdowns
Bruce: 55 receptions, 600 yards, 3 touchdowns

TE: Starter - Vernon Davis, Back Up - Delanie Walker
The 49ers have easily the two most physically gifted tight ends in the league. Everyone knows about Vernon Davis but not many people know Walker. Walker is a converted college receiver that is actually more polished at pass catching than Davis because of his experience as a wide receiver. Both he and Davis will create mismatches when linebackers cover them which will force opposing teams to double team them. It should be a decent season for both. Out of Davis I am expecting,
55 receptions, 700 yards, 6 touchdowns

Offensive Line: Starting Line Up - Joe Staley(LT), Adam Snyder(LG), Eric Heitmann(C), Chilo Rachal(RG), Jonas Jennings(RT). Reserves: David Baas, Barry Sims, Tony Wragge, Cody Wallace, Demane Duckett
By no measure is the group great but if Jennings stays healthy they are average to a little above average. Staley was a beast last year after Michael Strahan owned him about half way through the season, Snyder is a serviceable and solid starter, Heitmann is good if he returns to his 2006 form, Rachal should be good and only get better as the season progresses, and when Jennings is healthy is is a very good tackle. If the line isn't decimated by injuries like it was last season it should be middle of the pack but even if, or more likely when, Jennings gets injured we have pretty good depth behind him.

FB: Zak Keasey
It may come as a surprise to some that this perennial practice squad player makes the team instead of the realiable Moran Norris but in camp he has been impressive. He has shown that not only is he a better pass blocker than Norris but that he is a much better pass catcher. He still definitely won't be a big part of the offense, though

Defensive Line: Starting Line Up, Isaac Sopoaga(DE), Aubrayo Franklin(NT), Justin Smith(DE). Reserves: Kentwan Balmer, Ronald Fields, Ray McDonald, Joe Cohen
Now this is the weakest link on the 49ers. Sopoaga finally proved last year that he can be a force on the line and should be even better this season, Franklin is only as good as a decent back-up, and Smith hasn't ever played in a 3-4 defense but so far he looks great in camp. Then there are McDonald, Balmer, and Cohen who are almost completely unproven but have good upside and Fields who is average and can play all three positions on the line. If Smith plays like he has been in camp then we don't have anything to worry about on the defensive line but if he doesn't it could be in trouble.

Linebackers: Starting Line Up - Manny Lawson(OLB), Patrick Willis(ILB), Jeff Ulbrich(ILB), Parys Haralson(OLB). Reserves: Brandon Moore, Tully Banta-Cain, Dontarrious Thomas, Jay Moore
With ManLaw and P.Willy leading the way and Parys Haralson getting better and better this is easily one of the best young linebacking corps in the league. Willis is already an All-Pro and in the two games before he was injured last year Lawson was playing at a Pro Bowl level. Haralson showed a lot of potential towards the end of last season and has wrestled the starting job away from TBC in camp. Ulbrich is not a great player but he is smart and adequate. Brandon Moore, TBC, and Thomas all provide good depth with starting experience and Moore is okay as a back-up

Secondary: Starting Line Up - Nate Clements(CB), Michael Lewis(SS), Dashon Goldson(FS), Walt Harris(CB). Reserves: Shawntae Spencer, Reggie Smith, Tarell Brown, Donald Strickland, Marcus Hudson, Mark Roman
With a top ten corner, a very good strong safety, a talented free safety who is turning heads at camp, and a pretty good corner this is a very good secondary. If I had to pick the second strongest aspect of this team in would be this. Not only because the aforementioned starters are good but because of the great depth behind them. Roman, Spencer, and Strickland all have significant starting experience and Brown and Smith are both great talents. If the front seven can provide some sort of pass rush this season, unlike last year, the pass defense has the chance to be top ten in the league.

Special Teams: Joe Nedney(K), Andy Lee(P), Allen Rossum(KR/PR)
Joe Nedney is the most accurate kicker in the history of the league from under 40 yards and Andy Lee is a top five punter right now. Rossum isn't great but he should be average much like Maurice Hicks was for us last year. Both the kick and punt coverage teams are among the best in the league.

Roster Wrap-Up (Starters Bolded)

Offense (25)

QB(3): Alex Smith, Shaun Hill, J.T. O'Sullivan
RB(3): Frank Gore, DeShaun Foster, Michael Robinson
WR(6): Arnaz Battle, Bryant Johnson, Isaac Bruce, Jason Hill, Ashley Lelie, Josh Morgan
TE(2): Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker
FB(1): Zak Keasey
OL(10): Joe Staley, Jonas Jennings, Barry Sims, Demane Duckett, Chilo Rachal, Adam Snyder, Tony Wragge, Cody Wallace, David Baas, Eric Heitmann

Defense (25)

DL(7): Isaac Sopoaga, Kentwan Balmer, Justin Smith, Aubrayo Franklin, Ronald Fields, Ray McDonald, Joe Cohen
LB(8): Patrick Willis, Manny Lawson, Jeff Ulbrich, Brandon Moore, Parys Haralson, Tully Banta-Cain, Jay Moore, Dontarrious Thomas
DB(10): Nate Clements, Walt Harris, Shawntae Spencer, Michael Lewis, Keith Lewis, Tarell Brown, Reggie Smith, Dashon Goldson, Mark Roman, Marcus Hudson

Special Teams (3)
K(1): Joe Nedney
P(1): Andy Lee
PR/KR(1): Allen Rossum

Game-by-game predictions

Arizona - Win. Last year we had the Cardinals' number with no offense at all. With the greatly improved offense this season we should win this one at home
@Seattle - Loss. Seattle's pass rush is going to overwhelm Smith. The only chance we have to win this is if Gore really gets going
Detroit - Win. The Lions have a horrible offensive line and no defense whatsoever, this should be an easy win
@New Orleans - Win. There is no argument that the Saints have a much better offense than us but I see Gore having a great game and keeping it off of the field
New England - Loss. We are almost certainly going to lose but it won't be by as much as some people think
Phildelphia - Loss. We their great secondary and ferocious pass rush they should win this handily
@N.Y. Giants - Loss. With Alex Smith this year the game will be closer than it was last season
Seattle - Win. Just like the Saints game I think Gore has a great game and keeps the Seattle offense off of the field long enough for us to win a close game
BYE
@Arizona - Loss. I could see this one going either way. If the Cardinals have Warner in by this point we will lose but if Leinart is still starting we have a chance
St. Louis - Win. Alex Smith is 3-1 in his career against the Rams and 2-0 at home.
@Dallas - Loss. We will probably lose pretty badly but with rivalry games you nevr know
@Buffalo - Win. Buffalo and the 49ers are pretty evenly matched player wise so this is a toss up and seeing as I'm a 49er fan I will go with them
New York Jets - Win. I had this marked down as an easy win before they got Favre but I still think we will win just not easily
@Miami - Win. Miami has nothing on us. At all
@St. Louis - Win. Last year we were a Darrell Jackson dropped pass away from sweeping the Rams with as many injuries as them.
Washington - Loss. This will be a pretty good last game, imo, and I also think the winner will get the final wildcard spot. Jason Taylor will prove too much for our o-line, though

So a final record of 9-7 and just short of a playoff berth. Nolan and Smith both keep their jobs and hopefully Martz will stay. The players I think will make the Pro Bowl are Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, Andy Lee, and Nate Clements. Manny Lawson and Joe Staley will have a great season as well but won't go because the Pro Bowl is of course a popularity contest.

2008 49ers roster predictions

2008-04-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

Now this is subject to change because we might make some more moves.

Offense (24):

QB1: Alex Smith - I just don't see him being beat out in training camp by Hill
QB2: Shaun Hill - He was great last year but I think a lot of that was luck
QB3: J.T. O'Sullivan - Martz likes him and it is always good to have a capable 3rd string QB

RB1: Frank Gore - Don't really need an explanation here
RB2: Deshaun Foster - Foster could be an average starter and will be a great back-up
RB3: Thomas Clayton - He showed potential last preseason while Michael Robinson seems to have topped out

FB: Moran Norris - I heard we are trying to convert MRob to FB but I think that is a longshot

TE1: Vernon Davis - Obviously
TE2: Delanie Walker - I don't see us keeping 3 tight ends and Walker is a better receiver than Bajema so Martz will like that

WR1: Bryant Johnson - He has the skills to be a #1 but I am not sure on this
WR2: Arnaz Battle - Battle is a great number 2 option and no one is taking his job
WR3: Isaac Bruce - Bruce will be the perfect slot receiver for Martz
WR4: Jason Hill - He could live up to his potential and jump up a few spots
WR5: Josh Morgan (R) - Has potential and probably won't get cut
WR6: Robert Jordan (R)- I think Jordan fits the mold of a "Martz" WR more than Colvin

LT1: Joe Staley - We drafted him to play here and he seems ready but if he isn't we always have Adam Snyder
LT2: Jonas Jennings - I would like to see us get rid of him because he rarely plays but as a back-up I guess he is okay, though he makes too much money for it

LG1: Chilo Rachal (R) - He definitely has the ability to start right away
LG2: Tony Wragge - A very dependable back-up

C1: Eric Heitmann - Hopefully he returns to his 2006 form
C2: Cody Wallace (R) - Some people have him starting but he probably won't for a couple years

RG1: David Baas - He was pretty good last year towards to end of the season and should improve on that
RG2: Brian De La Puente (R) - It is a competition between him, Jeb Terry, and Qasim Mitchell for this spot and I think De La Puente gets it because of his upside

RT1: Adam Snyder - There is no doubt in my mind that he is going to start somewhere along the line
RT2: Jonas Jennings - See above.

Defense (26):

RDE1: Kentwan Balmer (R) - He is much better suited for 3-4 end and nose tackle
RDE2: Ray McDonald - Looked good at the end of last season and will make a decent back-up

NT1: Isaac Sopoage - Really stepped up in 2007 and hopefully he will build on that
NT2: Aubrayo Franklin - Not great but adds good depth to the defensive line
NT3: Ronald Fields - Great run stopper and adds depth to the DL

LDE1: Justin Smith - 275 pounds is enough to play DE but I would like to see him bulk up a little
LDE2: Melvin Oliver - Hopefully he doesn't get injured again because he is a solid player
LDE3: Joe Cohen - I don't think the 49ers will cut him because he has potential and was injured last year

WOLB1: Parys Haralson - He played better than TBC last year and is only improving
WOLB2: Tully Banta-Cain - Demoted! Hopefully

LILB1: Patrick Willis - Duh
LILB2: Brandon Moore - Great back-up that has the ability to start if, God forebid, Willis gets hurt
LILB3: Jeff Ulbrich- You can never have too many capable linebackers in the 3-4

RILB1: Uzra Butler (R) - My wildcard here. He has the physical tools (6'2'', 250 pounds, 4.51 40) to play OLB but I see him more as an inside backer
RILB2: Jay Grant (R)- That's right, two rookies that are a 7th round pick and UDFA at our other linebacker spot. Call me crazy

SOLB1: Manny Lawson - Another obvious choice
SOLB2: Jay Moore - I see him more as a "Will" than a "Sam" but the coaches don't

RCB1: Nate Clements - I think he might lose his starting job /sarcasm
RCB2: Shawntae Spencer- He is good enough to be a back-up even though that isn't saying much

LCB1: Reggie Smith (R)- I am going off of what I heard that Mike Nolan said. I heard he said he thinks Smith is going to be ready to start at corner
LCB2: Tarell Brown - Hopefully he will live up to his potential and make and impact as a nickelback
LCB3: Marcus Hudson - Having 5 corners on the roster is always good and I give Hudson the edge over Strickland

FS1: Walt Harris - Again, I am going off of what I heard Nolan said. If Smith is ready to start at CB then Harris will switch to free safety
FS2: Dashon Goldson - Hopefully he will be able to take over for Harris when he gets old, I mean older than he is

SS1: Michael Lewis - No competition here, he was beastly last year
SS2: Keith Lewis - He is usually a free safety but he won't play here anyway, we are going to keep him for special teams

Special Teams (4):

K: Joe Nedney
P: Andy Lee
KR/PR: Allen Russom
LS: Brian Jennings

49ers Draft Review

2008-04-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Kentwan Balmer, DT, North Carolina - I like this pick a lot more than most. We definitely needed help on the defensive line and Balmer was the best defensive lineman available, imo, at 29. He has all the physical tools to succeed and the only knock on him seems to be that he was only productive one season but that could be because he finally got good coaching. But I will admit I don't like drafting anyone labeled a "boom or bust" pick since Kwame Harris Grade: B-

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/dt/kentwanbalmer.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=99S7EA91dFQ

Chilo Rachal, OG, Southern California - Easily my favorite pick. I have had us taking him in the second round for a while now because he was the 2nd best guard in the draft and good value there. He is a big, mauling guard that has very good footwork, two years starting experience at a major program playing in a pro style offense and against top competition, and he is still improving. He is also a very high character guy, the only reason he entered this year's draft was because his mom is sick and insurance won't pay for her medical Bills. Grade: A

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/og/chilorachal.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_86g2e7rTeA

Reggie Smith, S/CB, Oklahoma - I will admit that I would have much rather have taken Cliff Avril there but I am happy with Smith. He has starting experience at cornerback and safety, two positions we could use help out, and I have heard that Nolan expects for him to start at CB opposite Nate Clements and push Walt Harris to free safety. I honestly love that move because with his football knowledge and recognition skills Harris will make a great free safety. Grade: B

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/s/reggiesmith.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RTnKM1fGP6w

Cody Wallace, C, Texas A&M - A bit of a reach in the 4th depending on who you ask. A lot of draft sites had him going in the 4th, including Mel Kiper who had him as his top rated center, but a lot also had him not going until the 6th or 7th. We still needed offensive line depth and Wallace started his college career at guard so he is versatile. Who knows, he might even surprise us all and take Eric Heitmann's starting spot Grade: C

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/c/codywallace.html
No video available

Josh Morgan, WR, Virginia Tech - Before I evaluate him I would first like to say that I did not want us to draft a receiver. But since we did I am happy with Morgan. I have heard from more than one Hokie fan that Morgan was their best receiver, better than Eddie Royal who was taken much earlier. Morgan has a good combination of size and speed for a 6th round pick (6'1'', 220, 4.46 40) and while production is lacking that could be because of the crap quarterbacks he had at Virginia Tech. Was projected as a mid round pick. Grade: B

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/wr/joshmorgan.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ohhaLrdT9R0&feature=related

Larry Grant, ILB, Ohio State - Like almost all of us I had never even heard of him when we picked him but after some research I am kind of liking the pick. He might be a little undersized for a 3-4 linebacker but he has decent speed (4.71 40) and is a hard worker. He also had a pretty good season at Ohio State last year finishing with 9.5 tackles for a loss and 5 sacks. At worst he should be a great special teams player and solid back-up inside linebacker. Grade: B+

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/olb/larrygrant.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w9Jr7DC3Nr0

Undrafted Free Agent signings

Ezra Butler, OLB, Nevada- Another guy that will make this team whether as a starter or situational pass rusher. Has good production (Career: 50 tackles for a loss and 16 sacks) from a decent program and is very experienced, three year starter. He is an excellent special teams player and is tough and physical. Just like Guyton, I am surprised he wasn't drafted. Grade: A+

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/olb/ezrabutler.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OK8q5fr0Dz0

Cameron Colvin, WR, Oregon - He has been an underachiever since he got to Oregon. He was a highly coveted recruit coming out of high school but never lived up to his potential. Has great speed, as you can see in the video below, and he could surprise. Grade: B

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/wr/cameroncolvin.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jr_VHCEA_dc

Robert Jordan, WR, California - A bit undersized but had decent production behind Desaen Jackson and Lavelle Hawkins at Cal. His speed is very good and he tries hard. He runs great routes, better than most receivers coming out of college, and could be productive in Martz's offense. He could make the team if he beats out either Colvin or Morgan in training camp. Grade: B-

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/wr/robertjordan.html
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q48P-Ou5lGc

Joe John Finley, TE, Oklahoma - He is a decent blocker, receiver, and all-around player. Tough, hard-working, and reasonable production. I don't see him making the team unless he puts on a few pounds and becomes a better blocker and takes Billy Bajema's spot. Grade: C

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/te/joejonfinley.html
No video available

Louis Holmes, DE, Arizona - I don't like this pick-up that much. He has character issues and never really performed well. He has some upside but I don't see him making the team. Grade: C

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/de/louisholmes.html
No video available

DJ Parker, S, Virginia Tech - Training camp fodder. He does not have enough speed and is not big enough to do well in the NFL. Grade: D

Brian De La Puente, OL, California - The more I read about him the better chance I think the he has of making the team as a back-up. Grade: B

Final Grade: B-

We addressed all of our needs whether it was in the draft or through the UDFAs. The main reasons that I am not giving us an "A" are that we really should have drafted Avril in the third and we reached for Wallace. Other than that I like all of our picks and love our free agent signings

2008 NFL Mock Draft

2008-04-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here is my 2008 NFL Mock Draft.

1. Miami Dolphins: Chris Long, DE, Virginia - Chris Long has it all. A nonstop motor, speed, size, versatility, and great work ethic.

2. St. Louis Rams: Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State - I don't see them getting Dorsey here because they just drafted Carriker last year. Jake Long is a possibility but Pace is still good if healthy

3. Atlanta Falcons: Jake Long, OT, Michigan - I don't think Ryan is worth the #3 pick as Long is much better at what he doe

4. Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden. RB, Arkansas - Al Davis can't pass up DMC and we all know it.

5. Kansas City Chiefs: Glenn Dorsey, DT, Louisiana State- They will get a DT here, whether it be Dorsey or Sedrick Ellis

6. New York Jets: Leodis McKelvin,CB, Troy - They may have gotten Revis in the first last year but they have no one across from him

7. New England Patriots: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State - Replacement for Asante Samuel, obviously

8. Baltimore Ravens: Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State - I think they are going to give Troy Smith a shot at QB and they need a replacement for Ogden

9. Cincinnati Bengals: Sedrick Ellis, DT, Southern Cal- The Bengals had a horrible run defense and no pass rush last year. Ellis will improve both

10. New Orleans Saints: Keith Rivers, OLB, Southern Cal- Corner is a need but OLB is a need as well. They wil either go for Rivers or Mike Jenkins here and I give the edge to Rivers

11. Buffalo Bills: Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida - The Bills could use a big WR to compliment Evans but there are none worth the 11th pick

12. Denver Broncos: Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida - There front seven is very weak

13. Carolina Panthers: Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College - The Panthers are going to be overwhelmed with joy to see Ryan available (even though I think Brohm is better)

14. Chicago Bears: Jeff Otahm OT, Pittsburgh - Mendenhall will be tough to pass up but this RB class is deep and both of the Bear's tackles are 30+ years old

15. Detroit Lions: Branden Albert, OG, Virginia - They have allowed 45+ sacks in the past two seasons. You would think they would have at least tried to fix the OL by now

16. Arizona Cardinals: Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois - Edge is getting up there in age and Mendenhall is a great value here

17. Minnesota Vikings: Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State - Thomas is the perfect big-bodied, sure-handed, and fast WR for any young QB

18. Houston Texans: Jonathan Stewart, RB, Oregon - They have a few running backs but not any good ones. They might grad Talib here instead and wait to get a back

19. Philadelphia Eagles: Desean Jackson, WR, Cal - A deep threat for Donovan that will also contribute on returns

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville - Jeff Garcia isn't going to play forever and they need his replacement. Brohm is great value here and there is no WR worth this pick

21. Washington Redskins: Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas - Most people have them taking a DE but I think there front seven is good enough. They need help in the secondary, though

22. Dallas Cowboys: Limas Sweed, WR, Texas - Their receivers are old and they know Sweed won't last until 28 because the Titans will get him if available

23. Pittsburgh Steelers: Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt - Believe it or not the Steelers gave up almost 50 sacks last year and with Faneca gone their OL is even worse

24. Tennessee Titans: Malcolm Kelly, WR, Oklahoma - The Titans would have loved to get Sweed here but they will settle for Kelly. Even though it won't matter because Vince Young isn't very good

25. Seattle Seahawks: Dustin Keller, TE, Purdue - The Seahawks have been looking for a good TE for a while. Hopefully Keller will suck and set them make for a longer period(j/k)

26. Jacksonville Jaguars: Phillip Merling, DE, Clemson - The Jags have needed an edge pass rusher for a few years

27. San Diego Chargers: Dan Connor, LB, Penn State - The Chargers don't have many needs so I think they will get Connor and put him at MLB

28. Dallas Cowboys: Antoine Cason, CB, Arizona - They need a young corner

29. San Francisco 49ers: Calais Campbell, DE, Miami - With Bryant Young and Marques Douglas gone the 49ers have no capable DEs

30. Green Bay Packers: Justin King, CB, Penn State - Their corners are old and King will also help their bad return game

31. New England Patriots: This selection was forfeit due to cheating

32. New York Giants: Kenny Phillips, S, Miami - Gibril Wilson is gone and Phillips is the best player available at this point. Perfect fit

To read rounds 2 and 3 click here

Edit: Well it seems that any mock draft is null now that the Dolphins have signed Jake Long and there have been a few trades. I tried my best

Updated previous posts

2008-04-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Just telling you guys I have updated all 3 of my first posts. I checked them all for spelling and grammar errors, which there turned out to be a lot of, and added and took out a few things (most noticeably the 2008 roster prediction because I realized it was way too early to guess that).

My next post is going to be a mock draft that should be up soon

San Francisco 49ers offseason

2008-03-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

Just like last year this offseason has been very good to the 49ers. I will go through each move one-by-one and rate it

The firing of Jim Hostler and hiring of Mike Martz

Easily the best move we have made this offseason. Everyone who watched the 49ers at all last season and in 2006 knows that the biggest problem was the offensive coordinator. In 2006 we had Norv Turner, one of the most accomplished offensive coordinators of all-time, and our offense was fairly average even with the lack of receivers and a sub-par offensive line, at least when it came to pass blocking. Alex Smith also was average and showed plenty of potential. Then came Jim Hostler in 2007 and the rumors that he called the plays in some of the games in 2006, those obviously weren't true. Hostler showed that he was one of the most incompetent coordinators in the history of the league with calls such as setting up a wide receiver in the backfield and running a draw on 3rd down from his own 7 yard line.

Then during the offseason we fired Hostler, which everyone saw coming, and with Cam Cameron on the market everyone thought we should have gone after him, myself included. When we announced that Martz was the new offensive coordinator I was angry at first because I didn't think we had the players to run his system. After thinking about it more, however, and listening to some of Martz's interviews I realized it was great as Martz is the perfect man to mold Alex Smith into the great quarterback I know he can be. Score: 9/10

Cuts

ILB, Derek Smith- This move still eats at me. Sure Smith was old and slow compared to Manny Lawson and Patrick Willis but at worst he was a very good back-up that could provide veteran leadership. Score: 3/10

QB, Trent Dilfer- He showed last year that he completely sucks and I never even thought that he was a good mentor for Alex Smith. Score: 10/10

WR, Darrell Jackson- I don't care what he did in Seattle he completely sucked last year. He couldn't even out perform Arnaz Battle. But I do think we could have at least traded him for a late round pick. Score: 7/10

Signings

DE, Justin Smith- A lot of people say we overpaid for a 4-3 DE that doesn't translate well to the 3-4. While I agree that he might not be suitable for our system I don't think we overpaid for him. He is a consistent player who is great against the run and has a non-stop motor. Score: 8/10

RB, Deshaun Foster- Probably my second favorite player that we signed. Foster is not only a capable back-up but he has starting ability if Frank Gore ever goes down. On top of that he is only 28 and we got him for very cheap. Score: 9/10

WR, Isaac Bruce- Bruce may be 36 years old but he still put up better numbers last season than any of our receivers, knows Martz's offense, and will be a great tutor for the younger receiver. Score: 9/10

KR/PR, Allen Rossum- Hicks was a decent return man and a decent back-up running back but he didn't have the ability to break a long return like Rossum does. Score: 6/10

OG, Qasim Mitchell- I have never heard of him before but offensive line depth can't hurt any team. Score: 5/10

LB, Dontarrius Thomas- Same thing as Mitchell. I have never heard of Thomas but when you run the 3-4 there is no such thing as too many linebackers. Score: 5/10

WR, Bryant Johnson- Johnson has the size and speed to be a legitimate number one wide receiver but he has just been buried behind Fitzgerald and Boldin. If he lives up to his potential this year than we have a young #1 guy and if not the one year contract was a great move. Score: 10/10

Our Free Agents

QB, Shaun Hill- RESIGNED; Hill was great at the end of last season going undefeated as a started and throwing 5 touchdowns to only one interception while he was at it. Why not resign him? Score: 10/10

DE, Marques Douglas- Signed by Tampa Bay; Douglas has been a great 3-4 DE for the past 5 years averaging 60 tackles and 4 sacks a season. He was also a team leader and will be sorely missed. Score: 1/10

OG, Justin Smiley- Signed by Miami; He was great it 2006 but completely sucked last year, good riddance. He still might have been able to provide depth. Score: 7/10

OT, Kwame Harris- Signed by Oakland; Could have been a good back-up but wanted too much money. Score: 6/10

DT, Isaac Sopoaga- RESIGNED; He was not great by any stretch last season but he is a solid starter and still has potential. Score: 8/10

OLB, Roderick Green- RESIGNED; At least he is better than Tully Banta-Cain. Score: 6/10

Overall
Score: 9/10

Rewards for completing surveys!

2008-03-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Do you spend a lot of time on the internet? How about making money while you do it?

Gaming Lagoon

One day while I was looking around for free Xbox Live subscription codes, seeing as I was much too cheap to buy one, I came across a this website. On the website all I had to do was fill out surveys and they would give me money. When you first sign up they ask for your phone number, e-mail address, etc. They actually need a valid phone number because they will call you to verify your account. Don't worry because it is just a recording that asks you to put in a number that they sent to your e-mail and they will never call you again. I recommend creating an alternate e-mail account on Yahoo!, G-mail, etc, because after filling out the surveys you are going to be receiving a lot of junk mail.

After I went through this process of verification I finally got on the website and started browsing around. The way it works is that you fill out surveys or sign up for their sponsors and they reward you with a certain amount of points. A lot of the offers are free but they have some that require a cell phone and than others that are actual offers and cost money. The free ones are worth anywhere from .05 to 2.5 points while some of the ones you pay for are worth 100 points. Each point is basically worth 1 USD so it sometimes takes time to build up points.

Once all that was done I decided to look at the prizes they were giving out and I was extremely pleased. They had everything from Xbox Live subscriptions (which I was looking for to begin with) to actual systems like PSPs to headphones to random things like pens and universal TV remotes and much more. Then I figured out the best part, not only could I get those prizes but I could get almost anything I wanted with the Custom Order system. I could go on Ebay and get anything gaming related, which is almost anything, or even go to a website for a store and order gift cards. Today, they even will give you cash in the form of Paypal transfers or checks, whichever you prefer

If you want to sign up please use my referral link (Or click on the picture)
http://www.gaminglagoon.com/?ref=115118

Prizes I have received from Gaming Lagoon

1. 1-Month XBox Live Subscription($8) (received)
2. Head phones ($4) (received)
3. Custom Order Nintendo DS Lite skin ($10) (received)
4. 40 Referral Cards ($0.10) (received)
5. x3 Nintendo DS Lite Soft Pouch ($3 each) (received)
6. Custom Order EZFlash V-Cart for Nintendo DSL ($29) (received)
7. Custom Order USB MicroSD Card Reader ($3) (received)
8. Sony PSP Soft Pouch ($3) (received)
9. 1 GB Kingston MicroSD card ($7) (received)
10. x6 Nintendo DS Lite Genuine Hori Screen Protectors ($2 each) (received)
11. Custom Order Acekard 2.1 Flash card for Nindento DSL ($15) (received)
12. Custom Order 8GB A-Data MicroSD card ($25) (received)
13. $190 in cash (via mailed check)

I earned all of this in less than 48 hours of actual work.

Tips for filling out surveys

1. Have cookies and Javascript enabled
2. Say yes to at least 1 or 2 offers on every page that has a list of yes/no offers
3. You can skip the sign-up page after y0u have said yes on the page before
4. Even if it says complete only part of the survey I recommend finishing it
5. On the surveys that say you have to complete silver/gold/platinum offers all you have to do is click on the amount of offers it tells you to sign up for, wait for them to load, close the tab, and click continue
6. Create an alternate e-mail account for the websites so we won't get junk mail on your main e-mail
7. Enjoy it! You are making easy money