It Was My Fault: Why the 49ers Lost Against the Texans

Now, you might wonder why I would have a picture of Joe Montana for an article about the San Francisco 49ers game against the Houston Texans. You might also wonder why I blame myself for the loss when I was San Francisco at the time. Let me explain:

I have two 49ers jerseys that I wear on game days. I either wear Patrick Willis, or Joe Montana. Last year, I wore Willis most game days, and would wear Montana on the ensuing Monday if the 49ers had won, proudly proclaiming the “Victory Mondays” to anyone I had Monday class with.

This season, I’ve decided to play the hot hand, by which I mean I would wear a jersey until it lost, then switch for the next game. I wore Willis to start the preseason and, fueled by three straight wins, continued to wear it until the 49ers lost to the Chargers in the final preseason game.

As such, I went with Montana against the Cardinals. Needless to say, I was still sporting No. 16 as a certain No. 4, who shall not be named, ended the 49ers brief winning streak with a *%^$ing insane pass that had me chucking my jersey down in between swears and slaps against the wall.

While emotionally I could take solace in the near-win against the Vikings, I knew it meant that my Willis jersey would be making its debut of the 2009 regular season the following week against the Rams.

While the 49ers did not look nearly as good against the Rams as the 35-0 score would indicate, I was going to stick with Willis, even though the Rams game was the first time I felt uncomfortable about the 49ers’ performance.

Well, when the Atlanta Falcons rolled into town, I got the message. As the Dirty Birds continued to punish the 49ers, I desperately tried to change the momentum of the game. I went for an in-game switch. Willis was out, Montana was in. It was my own desperate Hail Mary to attempt to stem the tide against Matt Ryan and company.

Of course, I knew this would not work. You cannot change mojo when it is that bad, and the Football Gods decided to punish me for it.

The bye week gave me plenty of time to make a choice, and I decided to break out the classic cherry red 16 with the Hall of Fame patch on the shoulder for the first game back from the break.

This is the part where I am of two schools of thought.

The first school is that my undershirt was stifling the Montana Magic. This was not a thought I had immediately, but, at halftime, with the sun beating down on me through the kitchen window, I decided to ditch the long-sleeved undershirt for comfort reasons.

That is when things changed.

As Alex Smith came in to the second half and marched the 49ers to their first points in four quarters, I looked at the black and blue shirt that had been on me less than half an hour before. While tight end Vernon Davis struggled to get off the field after his first touchdown catch, I threw my shirt down the hamper and vowed to leave it until at least February.

As the jersey breathed free, Smith breathed fresh life into the once stagnant 49ers offense. But, clearly, I left the undershirt on for too long, and the new found offense could not overcome the deficit.

The other working theory is that, simply put, I hexed the Montana jersey. Much like a scorned girlfriend, my No. 16 was not going to let me forget my mistake. I had attempted to fool the jersey by bringing it in like a relief pitcher against the Falcons, even while knowing it was a fool’s errand.

The penalty equaled the crime: one-half of football. The jersey would not work until every minute from the Falcon’s game was paid off, and the 49ers simply did not have enough time to recover. For that, I apologize.

Looking ahead, I’m currently of a mind to bring 16 back next week against the vaunted Colts, but part of me wonders if I would not be better off sticking with my play-til-you-lose system and tap No. 52 for next week. What do you think? After all, I do not want to have to be back here again next week to apologize.

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Michael Crabtree Never Wanted To Be a 49er: An Image Says It All

First, let me be clear, the image I am talking about is not the one on this column. To see the image I recommend you go here, and go 26 seconds into the clip.

After Michael Crabtree was informed he would play for Mike Singletary and the “Run at all Costs” offense, he has a look on his face that does not show the slightest bit of enthusiasm. In fact, he looks downright unhappy.

Scratch that. He looks as though he has been given a death sentence, yet cannot reveal it. He looks dazed, confused, and scared.

Maybe Crabtree will see it is not in his best interest to sit out a whole season (it isn’t). Maybe his sit down with Jed York will bring him together with the team.

But, from the looks of things, he cares more about playing outside of San Francisco than he cares about the dollar amount.

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A Word of Caution To San Francisco 49ers Fans Reaching for the Panic Button

Consider this a warning. A premature flare for a situation I hope never occurs. Right now, I’m going to let you in on my biggest fear for the San Francisco 49ers: They draft a quarterback in the first round next year.

How often will teams hit the panic button after a bad year and, with questions at quarterback, throw their first round pick at the biggest arm that comes their way?

As a 49ers fan, I have distinct memories of how that panned out. Not that I fault Alex Smith. He could not have come into a worse situation for a quarterback: Defensive head coach, thrown in to games too early, new OC every year, depleted talent on both sides of the ball, injuries.

As much fun as it is to rehash those same Alex Smith arguments, that is not what this article is about. This is an article about the future, by way of the past.

A while back, Bill Walsh drafted a guy out of Notre Dame in the third round to be his quarterback. The guy he had, Steve Deberg, was not actually that bad. He just was not the long-term solution. But Walsh did not try to speed up his future quarterback’s development, but rather, he let him sit and develop.

Well, not completely. Walsh, to my understanding, played both QB’s in 1979 and the first half of 1980, though it was primarily Deberg’s job. Halfway through 1980, Walsh gave the job to the second year player for Notre Dame, and Joe Montana did not disappoint. In case you did not know, he won a few Super Bowls and is now considered one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

Joe’s story is not all that unique to the 49ers. Steve Young spent his first few years in the city by the bay filling in for Joe when Joe was hurt. Jeff Garcia split time for the remainder of 1999 (his first year with the team) after Steve went down with his final concussion.

While this city has a strong history of quarterbacks, they are all products of the time and energy spent developing them. All three had big game experience where they led a team to victory in the final moments: Montana at Notre Dame, Young at BYU, and Garcia in the CFL’s Grey Cup.

This preseason, die hard 49ers fans (aka, those of us eager enough to watch entire preseason football games) have been treated to a rare site that rekindles fond memories: a quarterback in Red and Gold who seems to be the complete package: Strong Arm, Mobility, Pocket Sense, and the Intangibles that define the position.

Unfortunately, he is nowhere near ready to start a regular season game. I am talking about Nate Davis.

Anyone who has read any of the numerous 49ers bloggers knows the quotes from Raye and Singletary stating, in essence, that Nate has played well, but with a limited playbook. He has looked great, but against second and third stringers.

And they are right.

However, those are hard facts to remember when watching a player shred the opposition like Thomas Clayton did the past two preseasons and Nate has done this preseason. He has something, and it is something I would like to see develop

So, Nate should not really be starting this year, unless both Hill and Smith are unable to, at which point the season might be sliding off the rails anyway. But that does not mean he should not be starting at some point, possibly/hopefully in the near future.

Which brings me (finally) back to my original fear. The scenario: This season goes horribly wrong, neither quarterback has what it takes to lead the team (I do have faith in Hill, but bear with me for the hypothetical) and the lack of pass rush continues to be the defense’s Achilles’ heel. The team wins maybe five or six games and is an afterthought, with everyone pointing to the quarterback situation as the main problem.

The team panics. With yet another top ten draft pick, everyone has the 49ers taking a quarterback, and the team follows like sheep to the slaughter. Suddenly, it is a new game of “How will this QB fare in relation to his draft stock?” Look at quarterbacks drafted highly in the past ten years. Look at the high number of busts and the effect they have had on the franchise they went to.

For now this is just a paranoid thought lingering in the back of my mind. A small little voice that keeps screaming about the pass rush or the lack of any passes beyond fifteen yards (from the starters, anyway). And that voice keeps repeating “Can’t you see another busted top ten QB in your future?”

I just hope the 49ers will allow Nate to prove that voice wrong

A Closer Look at The San Francisco 49ers in the Red Zone

A week ago, I wrote about an extensive look at the San Francisco 49ers’ success in the Red Zone. Aside from looking at the trend for the past three years, I also broke down how the offense improved with Shaun Hill under center in 2008.

However, I did not want to simply leave it at that. A common complaint from those who doubt Mike Singletary and Shaun Hill has been how the team was facing weak opponents in the second half of the season, failing to beat one playoff team while beating up on weak opponents.

So I decided to break down the opponents faced in the first half of the season compared to the second half. Since Arizona was in both halves, I omitted them, while including Seattle in the first half since there was one and a half games played without Hill and half a game played with Hill.

Since there was such an improvement when Hill took over, most critics of the time would assume that the red zone defenses the 49ers face must have been weaker overall. So I decided to test that theory.

In first breaking down the data, I grouped the two sets of teams and combined their defensive red zone numbers: Seattle, New England, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York (G), and New Orleans in one group, St. Louis, New York (J), Washington, Miami, Buffalo and Dallas in the second group.

The first group had an average ranking of 21st overall (19th in my adjusted rankings) while the second group was 16th overall (14th in my adjusted rankings). This translated into .2195 fewer points allowed per red zone trip (4.9068 to 4.6873).

My initial reaction was surprise: the offense performed far better against a much better average opponent. However, I quickly saw an error in my data.

While I was only counting one Seattle game, and Arizona faced the 49ers with and without Hill, Hill did play St. Louis twice. In order to fairly portray the defense they faced, I needed to double count the 29th ranked team (30th adjusted) in the second group.

After making the adjustment, the second group dropped over one and a half spots in each of the rankings (18th and 16th, respectively) and gave up 4.7724 points per trip instead of 4.6873.

In spite of this error, the original results still held, if slightly weaker than before. The teams faced in the second half of the season still gave up fewer points per trip to the red zone and were ranked three spots higher than the teams from the first half of the season.

All of this serves to bolster the argument that the team improved its efficiency with Shaun Hill under center.

(note: all rankings are rounded to the nearest whole number)

A Balanced Attack: How Jimmy Raye Shapes the 49ers’ Offense

The common wisdom from most fans and commentators is that the 49ers are going to run the ball non stop next year. Mike Singletary has been associated with hard nose football all his life and he even said that his philosophy was “more run to pass…to run a little more than pass.”

After the hiring of Jimmy Raye, after an extensive search and at least one publicly declined offer, everyone seemed to take away that the 49ers are going to run the ball on virtually every down. Hyperbole? Maybe, but also not far from the truth.

The draft only encouraged this perspective when the 49ers spent two draft picks on the run game: Glen Coffee to spell Frank Gore and Bear Pascoe to be a blocking specialist for the run game. But to me, and a small group of people, this run only approach does not pass the smell test (no pun intended).

I look at what Singletary said and see another possible interpretation: He wants to be able to run the ball when everyone knows they are going to run the ball. He does not want to need six attempts from within the three yard line to score one touchdown (see 2006 game vs. the Eagles).

He wants to run the ball successfully when up two scores on an opponent (see 2008 game vs. the Eagles). He wants to be able to get a first down or two to run out the clock at the end of the game, even when the opponent knows it’s a run.

Singletary claimed he wanted to be like Bill Walsh’s offense “but with a different mindset.” I do not doubt he’ll run the ball more, but Walsh loved to run, too. He just did it when he had built a lead.

Super Bowl XVI was won, in part, because the 49ers were able to kill seven of the final ten minutes by running the ball (with the help of an interception by Eric Wright).

Before the interception, while up only six points, they gained 28 yards on the ground over seven plays to move from their own 49 to Cincinatti’s 23, placing Wersching in position to put the 49ers up by two scores (23-14) with 5 minutes to play.

It’s called imposing your will on a Defense, something the 49ers have had a tough time doing in recent years. The 49ers rarely seem to get that push up front that tells you that, if they need a yard in a do or die situation , they will get that yard (see: Week 10 at Arizona). For Singletary, that is unacceptable.

In Jimmy Raye, Singletary found a guy known for using the personnel he has and playing to it’s strengths. While Eric Dickerson gained nearly 4000 yards on the ground under Raye (3913), numerous quarterbacks have thrown for over 3000 yards under Raye, including Elvis Grbac. In those two seasons Tony Gonzales combined for over 2000 yards receiving.

I am not intimating that Vernon Davis will hit those sort of numbers, but I am suggesting that Raye seems to be quite good at utilizing a player’s strengths. He will make sure Davis is in position to catch the ball as his frame would allow (not acrobatically as he’s not known for his flexibility).

Gore is expected to be running straight ahead, which has always been his strength. He’s not a speed demon and tosses to him almost always seem to get strung out nicely by opposing linebackers.

Gore is far better following his lead blocker and taking any amount of daylight he can and getting as many yards as he can out of it. He is great at chipping away three, four, five yards on those runs up the gut and has a high tendency to break one up the middle for long gains into the secondary as he did frequently in 2006.

While I do not doubt that the 49ers will happily use Gore and his new backfield compadres regularly, it would be criminally negligent to ignore the suddenly potent receiving corps the 49ers have assembled.

Josh Morgan, Jason Hill, and Michael Crabtree are all young talents whose presence in practice and prior performances on the field will demand playing time and touches.

Add to that the aging veteran Isaac Bruce who had a knack for being in the right place to make big plays and the money invested in Brandon Jones, to say nothing of well liked long-shots Arnaz Battle and Dominique Ziegler, and the 49ers will need to get the ball in the air to justify the money tied to the position.

Those seven guys seem to posses ample talent and skill. Then there is Vernon Davis, who is approaching the crossroads this year and must make the leap to the next level. I think he will surprise many and silence his critics this year as he seems to have thrived under Singletary.

I also have a gut feeling that, if they do throw him the ball, Bear Pascoe might surprise you with his hands.

Yes, the 49ers will run the ball this next year, and probably more than they did under Mike Martz. But, just because Singletary says he wants to be able to run against an eight-man front does not mean he wants to subjugate his running backs to that fate every down.

This will not be an offense that ignores the pass. More likely, it will utilize shorter routes to play to likely-starter Shaun Hill’s strengths, and, in the end, it will be almost exactly the type of offense Singletary called for back at the season’s end: One that will “have a balance, 50-50.”

Thank You, 1994 San Francisco 49ers

I love the San Francisco 49ers. I have for as long as I can remember. Of course, it was quite easy to love the 49ers in the 1980s and 1990s. There were so many glorious teams and wonderful memories. And I can think of no harder task than picking a favorite.

Aside from the Super Bowl teams, there are plenty that hold a special place in my heart, like the 1998 team that finally excised the demon of Brett Favre ruining my playoff experience from the 1995 season (I was AT the game). The 2002 team provided that electric fourth quarter comeback against the Giants that is still stunning to watch.

I also have fondness for recent years like 2006 when it looked like the team was actually turning a corner until Norv left (Thanks San Diego!). Or last year when the 49ers took my advice of turning Mike Singletary into the head coach, admittedly half a season later than I wanted.

But it is the Super Bowl teams that fill my memories.

I would love to say I vividly remember any of the championship teams of the 1980s from first hand experience, but I don’t. All I had were videos that I watched as a kid, and still watch over and over again. And each one holds a place in my heart.

The 1989-1990 team was probably the greatest team in 49ers’, and possibly the NFL’s, History. The roster jumps out as an All-80s team in its own right, and I am more than happy to explain and then argue why it is probably the best team in history. Their postseason dominance was ridiculous, and their combined margin of loss was five points.

The ’81 team was a godsend for the championship-starved city by the bay. It was the first reward for the 49er Faithful for their decades of loyalty. They gave us iconic moments in football history, like The Catch, and the goal line stand, with Dan Bunz’ great tackle on the one.

This team was immortalized for me on a video that contained the NFL Films Production of Super Bowl XVI. It gave me an appreciation of the Xs and Os of the game, and the minute details that could change the outcome of a game. It’s why I learned about “Sweep Pass Right Z Comeback,” where Walsh had read the coverage on Mike Wilson and knew a curl route would give Wilson a huge cushion to catch the ball.

On the same tape was NFL’s Masters of the Game, NFL Films’ production of Super Bowl XIX. This was my favorite as a child. It also advanced my understanding of Xs and Os, For instance, showing how the linebackers followed the guards, leaving the middle of the field open for TE Russ Francis to fill the void.

However, this film was more notable for its narration, with great quotes like, “Dan Marino’s year turned into Joe Montana’s day” or, “The texture of San Francisco’s dominance was clearly woven into the intricate mayhem of line play.” I still get goosebumps at the end with the line, “They were not only champions of the world, but Masters of the Game.” To this day this team is still underrated, in spite of an 18-1 record.

I also had the video yearbook for the 1988 season, narrated beautifully by the late great Harry Kalas and accompanied by the sweet radio calls of Lon Simmons, and one or two by Joe Starkey. This team is considered the weakest link of the Super Bowl Teams, though it is a team that suffered key injuries throughout the season, including Joe Montana and Jerry Rice (though Rice refused to miss a game).

The aspect that made it hard to watch at the time is what makes it so amazing to watch now. It was a season filled with ups and downs, close games and a few blowouts, miracle wins, and disheartening losses.

Two games into the season, they had an unforgettable finish. Down by four to the hated New York Giants, Joe threw a 77 yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice and, in the words of the color commentator, “It is stunned silence here in the Meadowlands.”

The team was embarrassed at home against the Falcons and followed it up by embarrassing Seattle, in Seattle. Roger Craig had the game of his career against the rival Rams, and they followed it up by losing to the Bears by a point, 9-10. The next game was also nearly a loss if it was not for one of the greatest plays in team history, Steve Young’s run against the Vikings.

The season was very back and forth, with highs and lows, including a record of 6-5 before turning it around, winning four of the last five games. They then steamrolled the Vikings and the Bears in the playoffs to compete in one of the most thrilling Super Bowl’s ever. Montana’s final drive is a thing of beauty, and there is nothing quite like hearing Lon Simmons cry out one last time “Touchdown 49ers!”

All of these highlights are ingrained in my memory and I cherish them all, but the 1994 season holds a unique place in my heart. Context is crucial in understanding why. My earliest distinct football memory is watching the 1992 NFC Championship game. I remember only one moment of it: Running to tell my mom that Rice had scored a touchdown mere moments into the game. I also remember going back to tell her it had been called back. That is all I remember of those first two NFC championships against the Cowboys.

Also, 1994 was a very difficult year for me personally. Hard to imagine an 8 year-old having a tough year, but shortly before the 49ers would lose their second consecutive Championship game to the Cowboys, my dad told me he had a Brain tumor. To be frank, I don’t really remember what he said, or how he explained it, but the gist was, my father was going to die.

By September my father had passed the six-months-to-live estimate and I had no idea what was going on, so I took comfort in the arrival of football season. The season started on a glorious Monday night where all eyes were on my favorite player, and he did not disappoint, as Jerry Rice tied and broke the NFL touchdown record against the Raiders

I also remember getting myself stoked for the arrival of Deion Sanders. I can still picture his first pick-six clinching the game against the Saints, his fighting with Andre Rison, and his subsequent pick-six against the Falcons in Atlanta.

The season was off to an early rocky start with losses to KC and Philly, the latter was one I just had to stop watching. But the team turned it around in Detroit, the team that had dealt the Cowboys their first loss of the season. With our two losses to their one, I knew, as everyone did, that the week 11 match-up would be the key for Home field advantage and the inside track to the Super Bowl.

The game was huge. They had lost three straight to the Cowboys, and this game would indicate if the 49ers had done enough to get over the hump. In this game, they proved that this year could be different as they fought a tough game to win 21-14 to continue on to an eventual 10 game winning streak.

The 49ers faced the San Diego Chargers on the second Sunday in December. I barely remember anything about the game other than knowing the 49ers dominated the game. My dad died two days later. Football was my immediate comfort. The day after we laid my father to rest, the 49ers win, coupled with a Cowboys loss, meant the road to the Super Bowl ran through Candlestick.

The win streak was snapped in the final game of the season in which most of the starters rested with home field advantage already locked up, as the Niners ended their season 13-3. They were also undefeated when wearing their throwback jerseys adopted for the 75th anniversary of the NFL.

While technically there was two weeks of games before hand, everyone had the NFC Championship Game penciled in as 49ers v. Cowboys for the third straight year (a fact that would haunt me a year later at Candlestick). The Bears and Packers were mere formalities each team had to deal with, tune up games for the Game of the Year.

I watched the game in our basement, in the same room my father spent his last few months of his life. This year had to be different. Within minutes of the opening kick, it was obvious it was. Eric Davis, the weak-link in the secondary that the Cowboys would abuse while avoiding “Prime Time” read Aikman’s eyes, sliding from the flat to pick off the pass and return it 44 yards for the touchdown.

First blood. The exact opposite feeling from two years before. In the ensuing series, Aikman completed a pass to Irvin, only to have the same weak-link, Eric Davis, strip him immediately, just like Eric Wright did to Cris Collinsworth in Super Bowl XIX. Both led to touchdowns, Joe Montana to Earl Cooper in XIX, and Steve Young to Ricky Waters against the Cowboys.

The feeling of joy I felt quickly jolted up to euphoria as the Cowboys fumbled away the kick-off, recovered ever so awkwardly by the kicker Doug Brian. Halfway through the first quarter, after William “Bar None” Floyd barrelled into the end-zone, the 49ers led 21-0.

The Cowboys fought back, but every 49er fan knew in their hearts this year was different. This year we led early, and we were not going to give it up. We had recaptured the magic of ’81, finally beating the Cowboys after repeated post-season disappointment at their hands.

Then there was the Super Bowl, which was viewed by most people I knew as a coronation more than a game. We won the Super Bowl in San Francisco, to a sell out crowd that knew whoever would win would be the first to win one for the thumb.

That win gave me great joy at a time when I needed it most. It is why I will always be grateful for the 1994 49ers and what they accomplished. They gave me a reason to smile.

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