Film Room: Roderick Green

Roderick Green was a late season pickup by the Niners. He lasted through training camp, but was let go in the last round of cuts. A lot of people wondered why the team didn't keep him, as Green was one of the only bright spots in the Niners' anemic pass rush in 2006.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and the Niners finally re-sign Green. Naturally, he steps in and picks right up where he left off the year before. Through Week 12 he has 2 sacks, which is 0.5 sacks more than Tully Banta-Cain, who was supposed to be San Francisco's best pass-rusher this year.

In this week's Film Room, the spotlight is on Green.

*1st Drive, following Kickoff (Q1 15:00, SF 0 AZ 0)

1st & 10 ARI 8: Warner pass deep middle to Boldin for 18 yards.

Formation: 3-4 ??, Haralson/Banta-Cain outside LT (Green out)

Green wasn't in on this play, but it's interesting that Banta-Cain got a hit Warner on the first play of the game.

1st & 10 ARI 26: James right tackle for 2 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

2nd & 8 ARI 28: Warner pass incomplete deep right to Johnson.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

The Niners are lucky that Johnson fell on this play, because he had a step on Spencer. Then

again, the Cardinals scored anyway on this drive.

3rd & 8 ARI 28: (Gun) Warner pass short left to Johnson for 16 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green at LDE)

Green goes up against LT M.Gandy, gets redirected into LG R.Wells, then stumbles to his knees as he runs up against M.Douglas who is playing the DT spot.

The first thing you notice about Green is that, his first step looks a lot like Ray McDonald's.

Both get off the ball so fast it looks almost like they're offsides.

1st & 10 ARI 44: James left end for 5 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

FS Roman came in to deliver the coup de gras as ILB Willis had James's legs wrapped up. Douglas was an eyelash away from making the tackle in the backfield.

2nd & 5 ARI 49: Warner pass short left to Fitzgerald for 17 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Warner had all day, and Fitzgerald make a nice catch on a ball that was thrown behind him.

1st & 10 SF 34: James up the middle for 6 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

When Edgerrin James and Michael Lewis collide, the guys in the blimp can can probably hear it.

Derek Smith was abused by Cards TE Patrick on this play.

2nd & 4 SF 28: Warner pass deep right to Fitzgerald for 28 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

Poor effort from pretty much everyone on this play. Marques Douglas was obviously winded and was the slowest man off the ball. Clements hesitated and Roman was slow to come over to cover Fitzgerald on the deep route. Just a bad, bad play.

*2nd Drive, following Punt (Q1 8:54, SF 0 AZ 7)

1st & 10 ARI 22: James right tackle for 1 yard.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

2nd & 9 ARI 23: James up the middle for 8 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

3rd & 1 ARI 31: PENALTY on ARI-James, False Start, 5 yards.

Don't you love it when other teams give away yards?

3rd & 6 ARI 26: (Gun) Warner pass incomplete short left to Morey.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green bursts out of his stance right into a double-team, but he still gets into Warner's face as

the ball is thrown. Looked like a pressure to me.

After the play, the broadcasters show Niners CB Clements jamming Fitzgerald hard at the line -- hard enough that Fitzgerald lost his balance and stumbled a little.

*3rd Drive, following Punt (Q1 4:57, SF 0 AZ 7)

1st & 10 ARI 15: Warner pass deep left intended for Fitzgerald INTERCEPTED (W.Harris).

Formation: 3-3 Nickel (Green out)

Sopoaga nearly had a sack, and Warner threw up the pick. It was not a good decision, but on the replay it looked like Fitzgerald ran a lazy route too.

*4th Drive, following 49ers TD (Q1 0:36, SF 7 AZ 7)

1st & 10 ARI 27: James left tackle for 7 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Shift, TBC/Haralson outside RT (Green out)

2nd & 3 ARI 34: Warner pass incomplete short right to Fitzgerald.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

Roman and McDonald applied the pressure to Warner on this play. Kurt threw up a duck as Roman hacked at the old man's throwing arm. Poor Parys Haralson got pancaked pretty bad, but we still like him.

3rd & 3 ARI 34: (Gun) Warner pass short left to Fitzgerald for no gain.

Formation: 3-2 Dime (Green at ILB)

Green creeps up to the line before the play, side by side with Patrick Willis. Green goes up against the Center but goes nowhere.

Big Michael Lewis came through to stop Fitzgerald in the flat. All the stories this week were

about Willis, but Lewis made plays all game too.

*5th Drive, following 49ers FG (Q2 11:21, SF 10 AZ 7)

1st & 10 ARI 26: Warner pass short left to Boldin for 9 yards, FUMBLES, RECOVERED by SF.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Clements punches out another one. What more can we say about him? He was worth the money, period.

*6th Drive, following 49ers TD (Q2 10:22, SF 17 AZ 7)

1st & 10 ARI 41: James left end for 3 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Shift, TBC/Haralson outside LT (Green out)

Good effort by Clements and Haralson to fight through the trash and make the hits on James.

2nd & 7 ARI 44: Warner pass short left to Patrick for 17 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Shift, Haralson outside LT, TBC behind him (Green out)

Warner had all day, but it should have been a sack for Michael Lewis. Looked like holding to me.

1st & 10 SF 39: James left tackle for 10 yards.

Formation: 3-3 Nickel (Green out)

*PENALTY on ARI-Boldin, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at SF 30.

More gift yards. Love it.

1st & 11 SF 40: Warner pass deep right to Boldin for 26 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Under (Green out)

All day for Warner again. At least Clements made Boldin pay for catching it.

1st & 10 SF 14: James right end for 5 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

It looked like this would be a stop for no gain, but James bounced off some linemen up the middle and took the ball outside for a gain.

2nd & 5 SF 9: Warner pass short middle to Pope for 8 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Base (Green out)

Looks like they have Douglas in on a lot of these Nickel packages instead of Green or Moore.

Yet there is no pass rush.

1st & 1 SF 1: Shipp up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

Formation: Goal Line (Green out)

If Derek Smith weren't Derek Smith, he might have stopped Shipp behind the line. Unfortunately, Smith got blasted out of the hole by the fullback (T.Smith).

*7th Drive, following Punt (Q2 3:15, SF 17 AZ 14)

1st & 10 ARI 20: Arrington left tackle for 2 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

McDonald didn't make the play, but you can see he's learning the 2-gap technique very well. He grappled with the LT, held his ground, and found the ball. The only problem was, he couldn't shed the block to go for the tackle.

2nd & 8 ARI 22: Warner pass incomplete short left to Arrington.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

Sopoaga almost had a sack. He threw his guy aside and planted Warner on his back, but the ball was gone. Arrington should have made the catch, but Patrick Willis separated him from the ball with a brutal hit.

3rd & 8 ARI 22: (Gun) Warner pass short left to Morey for 3 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at RDE)

Before the snap, Green stands up and lines up over the weakside slot receiver. Then he drops into coverage.

Nate Clements actually lined up at MLB on this play and came on a blitz. Manusky shows you something new every week.

Note: After this play there was a punt with an Arizona penalty, then a punt with a San Francisco penalty (roughing the kicker), and the Cardinals had the ball again.

1st & 10 ARI 35: Warner pass short left to Johnson for 9 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green goes up against LT Gandy, but it looks like Gandy grabs Roderick's facemask. In any case, Rod is not happy.

They had Green and Moore in as the ends in the four man front ... You'd think they would do that more often, since Green and Moore are probably the best pass rushers on the team.

2nd & 1 ARI 44: Warner sacked for -11 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green bursts around the corner, closes to Warner and brings the him down. That's sack number two on the season, which is a half sack more than Tully Banta-Cain who is the full time OLB. Green made Gandy look bad.

Green + Moore in these Nickel and Dime formations = pressure.

3rd & 12 ARI 33: Warner pass deep middle intended for Fitzgerald INTERCEPTED (W.Harris).

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green stunts around Douglas (at DT), bumps up against the RG Wells, then runs all the way around the right tackle who is locked up against Brandon Moore. Green still gets within a step from bringing Warner down for the second time in a row. Bryant Young was also close.

Harris gets another interception. The old man is still a ball hawk.

*8th Drive, following 49ers missed FG (Q2 0:06, SF 17 AZ 14)

1st & 10 ARI 45: Warner pass short right to Morey for 7 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green tries to club Gandy aside, but fails. Roderick's not weak, but his strength is not his, um, strength.

Moore had a pressure, as he was in Warner's face when the ball was coming out.

2nd & 3 SF 48: (Gun) Warner pass deep right to Fitzgerald for 48 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Formation: 3-1 Something ... (Green at LDE)

Green gets held by Gandy then double-teamed by Gandy and Wells, closes toward Warner but gets blocked pretty blatantly in the back and shoved to the ground. As Roderick gets up, Gandy hits him again. It's like watching a gunner on punt coverage.

Naturally, Larry Fitzgerald caught the Hail Mary, and 49ers fandom slapped their collective forehead.

[2ND HALF]

*1st Drive, following TO on Downs (Q3 11:30, SF 17 AZ 21)

1st & 10 ARI 46: James left tackle for -1 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green stunts left behind Douglas, plugging up the hole. Marques pushes through the LT and makes the tackle for the loss. Moore was also near.

2nd & 11 ARI 45: Warner pass short left to Boldin for 8 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Over (Green out)

Clements missed the tackle right at the line of scrimmage, allowing Boldin to escape for extra yards.

3rd & 3 SF 47: (Gun) Warner pass short left to James for 8 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green flashes his explosive first step and gets an arm up, but Warner's in the shotgun and gets the ball out too quick to feel the pressure.

1st & 10 SF 39: Warner pass incomplete short middle to Pope.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Banta-Cain got another pressure on this play. That's two on the game by my count.

2nd & 10 SF 39: Warner sacked at SF 47 for -8 yards, FUMBLES, recovered by ARI.

Formation: 3-3 Nickel (Green out)

Interesting formation, almost like a 3-4 with Michael Lewis as the fourth linebacker. It was Lewis who came unblocked for the sack and forced fumble. Bryant Young was near too, having shoved his man into the backfield.

3rd & 19 SF 48: Warner pass short right to Johnson for 14 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green stunts around Douglas again, but doesn't get far against the interior linemen.

After this play, the Cardinals looked like they were going for it, but Levi Brown flinched before the snap, and Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt didn't feel like going for it on 4th and 10.

Without the penalty, the Niners would have had the ball at the Cardinals 30 or so. Instead, Arizona punted, and the Niners got the ball at their own 12.

*2nd Drive, following 49ers TD (Q3 5:47, SF 24 AZ 21)

1st & 10 ARI 26: Warner pass short left to Boldin for 9 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

This looked like it was going to be a sack for Banta-Cain, but James chipped him just enough at the last second to allow Warner to throw.

2nd & 1 ARI 35: James up the middle for 6 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Shift, both OLB outside LT (Green out)

1st & 10 ARI 41: Warner sacked for -7 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

Haralson and Willis get a tick up on the stat sheet for this coverage sack. Fields was in there too, but didn't get credited. Good job by the defense overall.

2nd & 17 ARI 34: Warner pass short right to Arrington for 9 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

Ulbrich should have killed this play behind the line of scrimmage, but Arrington ran through his arm-tackle. To Brick's credit, he popped up and flew back in for a second hit.

3rd & 8 ARI 43: (Gun) Warner pass short right to Morey for 7 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green at LDE)

Green gets nowhere against Gandy. Also, Warner's in the shotgun again and throwing pretty quick outs so it's tough to get to him.

4th & 1 SF 50: Shipp right tackle for 4 yards.

Formation: 4-4-3 (Green out)

Not much to say about this one. The Cardinals line just got a better push. Also, Derek Smith got owned by Deuce Lutui.

1st & 10 SF 46: James left tackle for 2 yards.

Formation: 4-3 (Green out)

Patrick Willis came in for the kill-shot on James and you could see James' head snap back as they collided.

2nd & 8 SF 44: Arrington left end for 2 yards.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green out)

3rd & 6 SF 42: (Gun) Warner pass incomplete deep left to Fitzgerald.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green at LDE)

Green tries to speed around the edge on LT Gandy, but can't quite get there.

Amazing play by Clements to break this pass up. Not only did he get an amazing jam on

Fitzgerald on the line, Nate got his hands on the ball and knocked it away.

*3rd Drive, following Punt (Q4 14:04, SF 24 AZ 21)

1st & 10 ARI 35: James up the middle for 5 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Bryant Young was actually pancaked by Lutui on this play. I think that is the first time I've seen BY pancaked.

2nd & 5 ARI 40: Warner pass short right to Pope for 31 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Derek Smith came on the blitz, but the Cardinals seemed not to care. Leonard Pope was matched up one on one against Patrick Willis. Willis is great and all, but he's also half a foot shorter than Pope -- so he's a lot easier for Patrick to tackle than for Patrick to cover.

1st & 10 SF 29: James left tackle for 6 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Haralson picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty for a late hit. Lutui gave him a shove in the back and Haralson retaliated after the whistle.

1st & 10 SF 11: Warner pass short right to Arrington for 3 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

I noticed Clements trying to strip Arrington of the ball during the tackle on this play.

2nd & 7 SF 8: Shipp right tackle for 5 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Over (Green out)

Bryant Young burst through the line on this play, but the fullback picked him up nicely. Derek Smith also had a shot at making the play behind the line, but he was prevented by the fact that he's

Derek Smith.

3rd & 2 SF 3: Shipp up the middle for 1 yard.

Formation: Goal Line (Green out)

Fields broke through the line to make the first hit, and about 3 other Niners came in to help finish Shipp off.

4th & 1 SF 2: Rattay pass short left to Patrick for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Formation: Goal Line (Green out)

Gutsy call to go for the touchdown here. Still, the Cardinals were lucky that Shipp cut-blocked Ulbrich at the last second, because this was looking like a sack.

*4th Drive, following TO on Downs (Q4 5:43, SF 24 AZ 28)

1st & 10 ARI 28: Warner pass short left to Fitzgerald for 11 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Decent pressure from Willis on this play.

1st & 10 ARI 39: Warner pass incomplete short left to Fitzgerald.

Formation: 3-4 Shift, both OLB outside RT (Green out)

2nd & 10 ARI 39: Warner pass incomplete short left to Fitzgerald.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Bad throw by Warner, but Douglas got a hand up nearby.

3rd & 10 ARI 39: (Gun) Warner pass short middle to Arrington for 8 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green bursts through the line and gets into Warner's face, but it's a screen. After the play, there's a scrum for the ball, but Arrington was already down when he dropped it.

*5th Drive, following 49ers TD (Q4 1:15, SF 31 AZ 28)

1st & 10 ARI 15: (Gun) Warner pass short left to Johnson for 11 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green bull-rushes Gandy up against Warner, but can't shed the block to get the sack. Probably some holding here, but not too obvious (i.e. good technique by Gandy).

1st & 10 ARI 26: Warner pass short left to Fitzgerald for 15 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green bull-rushes Gandy again and gets pretty far into the backfield, but the throw is out relatively quick.

1st & 10 ARI 41: Warner pass deep left to Fitzgerald for 19 yards.

Formation: 3-2 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green is one of many coming as the Niners blitz, but Roderick gets nowhere against LG Wells.

Clements got a hand on the ball, but Fitzgerald still brought it in. Good play by Larry.

1st & 10 SF 40: Warner pass short middle to Fitzgerald for 9 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green beat Gandy badly on this play, but Gandy grabbed Roderick's helmet and didn't let go. The holding was so obvious it was kind of ridiculous. Green was struggling in the backfield with his neck bent, pawing at the air in Warner's direction. It's unbelievable this wasn't called.

2nd & 1 SF 31: Warner pass deep right to Johnson for 30 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green tries to reach the edge against Gandy, but can't. Roderick's probably still looking out his earhole from the helmet grab on the play before.

1st & 1 SF 1: Warner pass incomplete short right to Johnson.

Formation: Goal Line (Green out)

Wonderful effort by Strickland to make up for his brainfart on the previous play. Unfortunately there were 2 seconds left when the ball hit the ground.

Note -- Afterward, Rackers kicked a 19 yard field goal to tie the game.

[OVERTIME]

*1st Drive, following Kickoff (OT 15:00, SF 31 AZ 31)

1st & 10 ARI 21: Warner pass incomplete short right to Morey.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green stunts left and gets swallowed up by the interior of the line.

2nd & 10 ARI 21: (Gun) Warner pass incomplete short left to Fitzgerald.

Formation: 2-3 Dime (Green standing up sorta at LDE)

Green gets doubleteamed and can't do much.

Roman got called for a facemask and gave the Cardinals 15 yards and a fresh set of downs.

1st & 10 ARI 36: Warner pass incomplete short right to Boldin.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green doesn't get a great jump off the ball, and then Gandy stands him up with a pretty fierce hand-punch to the chest.

2nd & 10 ARI 36: (Gun) Warner pass short middle to Fitzgerald for 9 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green fights his way about 5 yards into the backfield, but Warner throws from 7 yards back.

3rd & 1 ARI 45: Shipp up the middle for 3 yards.

Formation: 4-4-3 (Green out)

Derek Smith, blown up by a fullback again.

1st & 10 ARI 48: (Gun) Warner pass incomplete deep middle to Morey.

Formation: 4-2 Nickel (Green at LDE)

Green is fought off by Gandy, but Haralson and Willis come on a blitz and force Warner to make a bad throw.

2nd & 10 ARI 48: Warner pass short left to James for 3 yards.

Formation: 3-2 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green busts through the line and gets his hands up just as Warner's throwing the screen to James.

Luckily, James was shadowed the whole way by Willis.

3rd & 7 SF 49: Warner pass short right to Arrington for 5 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green at LDE)

Green goes up against Gandy, but the fullback comes up to help, and Gandy paws at Green's face again.

Michael Lewis came flying in for another big hit. He's had a great game.

*2nd Drive, following Punt (OT 10:49, SF 31 AZ 31)

1st & 10 ARI 8: Warner pass short left to Boldin for 6 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green out)

Banta-Cain was in at the LDE position. Gandy went for Tully's head too.

2nd & 4 ARI 14: Warner pass short right to Morey for 62 yards.

Formation: 4-1 Dime (Green out)

This is the now-famous play where Willis ran down Morey. Banta-Cain was in at the LDE spot again.

1st & 10 SF 24: James up the middle for 4 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

Derek Smith came on a blitz, but he got tossed like a rag doll by the LT Gandy.

2nd & 6 SF 20: James up the middle for 5 yards.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

3rd & 1 SF 15: Warner pass short right to Arrington for 1 yard.

Formation: 4-4-3 (Green out)

Banta-Cain was close, but Warner dumped the ball off too quick.

1st & 10 SF 14: James up the middle for 5 yards.

Formation: 4-4-3 (Green out)

Note -- We all know what happened next. Rackers came out and made a field goal that was negated by a delay of game penalty. The cardinals came out to kick it a second time and Rackers shanked it wide left.

*3rd Drive, following Punt (OT 5:02, SF 31 AZ 31)

1st & 10 ARI 3: Warner sacked for -3 yards, FUMBLES, RECOVERED by Banta-Cain, TOUCHDOWN.

Formation: 3-4 Base (Green out)

After eight losses in a row, victory is sweet.

Final Thoughts

Green did well in a hostile environment. Gandy played fairly dirty, but Green still came away with a sack anyway, and would have had two if not for the uncalled blatant hands-to-the-face. In any case, the Niners may be out of the playoff hunt, but the team was given new life as they finally scraped out an emotional victory. Read more on this article...

Line of Scrimmage: Did 49ers win or Cards lose?

The Line of Scrimmage falls on the 49ers' performance against the Cardinals this past week, and Ben and J.R. debate whether the 49ers actually won that game, or the Cardinals simply choked it away.

J.R.: The 49ers Won

Obviously the Cardinals made some significant errors en route to their second straight loss to the 49ers, culminating with Kurt Warner's fumble in the end zone. Easy kicks were missed, easy catches were dropped, and great opportunities were salted away, and they all contributed to the 49ers winning the game.

However, you cannot take away that the Niners, no strangers to mental errors themselves, played well enough to win in all aspects of the game.

The argument of course, begins with Frank Gore. Although he has had a letdown season, you certainly can't think that the Cardinals expected this to be the game where the 49ers' passing game would suddenly come alive and start picking them apart. No, the defensive recipe has pretty much remained the same, crowd the box to stop Gore and send those extra guys on a blitz when the QB drops back and you have no worries. The Niners will take care of the rest. But somehow, someway, Frank keeps coming up with funky-ass shit nearly every single day. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.) Seriously though, even though the defense put a big target on his back, Gore found ways to get his yards, and you have to commend the offensive game plan for finally forcing that issue. It's a simple equation: Gore touches the ball more, the 49ers score more points. Duh.

Secondly, even though the defense did give up a hefty amount of points and yards to Arizona, they dug pretty damn deep when it came down to the end. When you read the box score and see that the 49ers punted the ball three times in the extra period, you almost have to assume that they lost the game. After giving up all that they did, giving the Cardinals three chances to score in a 15 minute period usually means they're going to get at the very least a field goal, which they should have.

Which brings us to special teams. Once again Andy Lee turned in a fantastic performance and gave the Niners great field position when it mattered most. Joe Nedney is solid as a rock and in my opinion, is undervalued. He makes every kick he's supposed to and when I think about the days of Owen Pochman and Jose Cortez, well, I'd rather not talk about that.

Overall, I think you have to say that this was the most complete game the team has played all season, and they got the win. Football is a game of execution and consistency, and even though the Cardinals' last couple of mistakes were obviously the most costly, the Niners' had to overcome their own as well, and in the end, they did just enough to snare the victory.

Ben: The Cardinals lost.

552 total yards. 456 passing yards. Two touchdowns by Kurt "please don't call me Brenda" Warner. I don’t mean to sound so negative all the time but please, these numbers don’t necessarily scream to me that the 49ers did a whole lot of positive things in winning this game.

Yes, Frank Gore rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Yes, Trent Dilfer had a good game, passing for 256 yards and two touchdowns. (By the way, he averaged 6.6 yards a completion. That still stinks.) And yes, Tully Banta-Cain found himself in the right place at the right time when Warner had a brain fart and couldn’t figure out what to do with the football at the end of the game.

But let’s look at the money statistics. The 49ers were plus-4 in turnovers, with Arizona coughing up the rock twice on fumbles and throwing two interceptions. The Cardinals had 10 penalties for 70 yards compared to the 49ers' three for 42. Herein lies the problem with saying the 49ers won this game. The Cardinals made mistake after mistake after mistake and finally, the 49ers put together a game where they let the other team come to them. This is not a case of the 49ers putting together a win, it’s a case of the 49ers capitalizing with a win against a team that looked equally awful.

There is one bright spot that I can’t ignore though, and he’s been a bright spot all year long. Patrick Willis is half-man, half-beast. 17 solo tackles, half a sack and 18 tackles overall. Come on! The guy is leading the NFL in tackles in his rookie season! Pencil him and Andy Lee in for Hawaii right now. Read more on this article...

Kneejerk Knotes: Did that ... really just happen?

Mike Nolan is off the hook for ... well, the rest of the night, at least. The 49ers' defense is off the hook despite giving up nearly 500 yards through the air. What could be the cause of such unprecedented pardons? That's right. A win.

And not one of those 12-10, 200-yards-of-offense, Joe-Nedney-for-MVP type of wins. So many good things happened. Frank Gore looked like Frank Gore again (thanks, Ted Tollner, for telling our boy Hostler to give ol' Frank the ball a little more). Trent Dilfer looked like a real NFL quarterback. The offensive line did its job. Tully Banta-Cain even made a play! (OK, so Tully took just long enough to get to the QB that he was in the right place to recover a fumble caused by Ron Fields, who only got to the QB because a banged-up secondary did such a great job in coverage ... but still, it was nice to have a reason to yell "Tully!" at the top of my lungs and have it be for a good reason for once.)

My God, Donald Strickland even made a play ... and a game-saving one, at that. And Patrick Willis might have made the play of the game to keep whatever that guy's name was from scoring in overtime. And let's thank Neil Rackers for squeezing that one wide left ... who honestly thought the Niners still had a chance when he was lining that one up? And lest we forget, the MVP, Andy Lee (and the punt coverage). His punt and the ensuing penalty put the Cards against the wall, and the old statue Kurt Warner handed the 49ers their first win in what feels like a decade.

Imagine if they had lost. Just think about that. If Tim Rattay ... TIM RATTAY ... had thrown the game-winning touchdown pass on fourth down. If a fluke hail mary at the end of the half was the difference. If the rebuilt, retooled defense had allowed a miraculous touchdown drive at the end of regulation or committed an embarrassing mix-up to give the Cardinals a gift in overtime. And imagine that being their ninth consecutive loss and tying a franchise record for futility. I imagine there would be no one here to write this article if any of those things had happened.

But they didn't. The 49ers made just enough plays to win, and most of the time they looked like a real football team. So, for tonight at least, I don't want to hear anything about firing Mike Nolan or Jim Hostler or any other offensive coach. I don't want to hear about what players should stay and what players should go in the offseason. We don't know how long it might be before we see another win (though the Panthers next week look like a good start), so let's just enjoy the crap out of this one. Go look at the stats (the offensive ones, at least). Look at all those yards. It's kinda fun, isn't it? Read more on this article...

In the Tunnel: Arizona Cardinals

So for the second week in a row, the 49ers go up against an NFC West opponent that they managed to beat earlier in the year, the Arizona Cardinals. We can all harken back to Week 1, when the season was still so full of promise, and Alex Smith and the 49ers engineering a heroic come-from-behind victory against the team that had beaten them twice the year before. My, what a difference a couple of months can make.

This time around, the Niners are heavy underdogs, and Alex Smith will be watching the game from the bench. The Cardinals have been playing well lately and are only a game behind the Seahawks for the lead in the NFC West. They are coming off two games against the Detroit Lions and the Cincinatti Bengals in which they have forced 10 turnovers and have really found their stride in the passing game.

CARDNIALS OFFENSE

Offensive Line

Although Arizona's offensive line hasn't done much this season to create space in the running game (with the exception of their Week 1 matchup in San Francisco, when they ammassed 161 yards on the ground) they have done a good job as of late in protecting their quarterback and providing time in the passing game to make plays. Rookie right tackle Levi Brown has played well thus far, and since left-handed quarterback Matt Leinart's season was ended by injuy, he's no longer required to protect the quarterback's blindside against an opponent's best rusher.

Quarterback

Leinart's replacement, 36 year-old Kurt Warner has played quite well while he's been able to stay on the field. He's thrown five of his 11 TDs in the last two games and has developed quite a rapport with his talented recieving corps. Warner suffered a torn ligament in his non-throwing elbow a few weeks ago, but he's back playing with a brace, and it hasn't slowed him down a bit. He actually tossed a pass with that bad arm last week that set up an important touchdown. Niner fans are all too familiar with what Warner can do when given time to find open recievers and with the encouragement of his little troll friend, there may be no stopping him.

Running Back

Boy, does Edgerrin James have to be kicking himself for chasing the money into the desert wasteland of Phoenix Arizona. Sure, the Cards are picking it up a bit this season, but "The Edge" is averaging a lowly 42.3 yards per game for the month of November and has the Cardinals ranked 25th in rush offense. He obviously isn't as dangerous as he was in Indianapolis, and cry as he might, they can't hear him in "Nap-town" because of the Super Bowl rings ringing in their ears. James has been virtually a non-factor in Ken Whinsenhunt's offense as of late, and even though the coach clearly wants to establish the run, he's been forced to rely on the arm of Warner to get points on the board.

Wide Reciever

This is the apparent strength of the Cardinals offense. We all know about Larry Fitzgerald and Anquon Boldin, they're big, they can catch, and they can break tackles after the catch. They don't have terrific deep threat speed, but it hasn't mattered much. Fitzgerald leads the team with 60 receptions, but it's Boldin with six TDs to Fitzgerald's four on only 40 receptions.

Tight End

Leonard Pope has also emerged as a scoring threat in the red zone and a favorite target of Kurt Warner. He's caught four TDs this season, and his role in the offense has increased steadily as the season has gone on.

CARDINALS DEFENSE

Defensive Line

Defensive end Bertrand Berry has been the most prominent and dominant Cardinal defenisve lineman for several years now, and when his season was ended with a triceps tear, it looked like the front line of their defense was in serious trouble. However, the play of his teammates like defensive tackle Darnell Dockett has been steady and at times outstanding. Dockett has eight sacks this year from an interior position and has definitely been a bright spot for the line.

Linebackers

Perhaps helping the play of the defensive line is the outstanding linebacking play the Cards have gotten from Karlos Dansby, Gerald Hayes and Calvin Pace. They all have at least 56 tackles and Dansby has three interceptions over the last two games. Hayes controls things fromthe MLB position and leads the team in tackles. They all have been getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks as well, each contributing at least two sacks.

Defensive Backs

In the Cardinals' latest surge, a huge contribution has come from nickleback Antrelle Rolle. Last year's starter and former first-round pick, Rolle picked off Carson Palmer three times last week and returned two of them for scores. He was on the verge of three scores, but a penalty nullified one of his remarkable returns. Starters Eric Green and Roderick Hood have been playing well also, but it's clearly Rolle that's making the most of his opportunities.

Pro Bowl strong safety Adrian Wilson is a little dinged up right now and remains questionable for Sunday's game with a foot injury.

Looking at the Cardinals' last two games, it's obvious that they've been scoring some significant points and have improved on the defensive side of the ball. This team is hot, and they're chomping at the bit to get some revenge on the hapless Niners, who stole a victory from them in Week 1. This game is in Arizona, where the fans are sure to be excited to see their sudden playoff-contending team show its true strength against an inferior opponent.

The Niners will have to put some points on the board early and often to hang with this team, and that hasn't happend at all this year, so things could get pretty ugly fast. Let's hope that the Niners can continue getting to the passer like they did against the Rams last week and rattle Warner's cage enough to garner us a rare Tim Rattay sighting. Of course, seeing Rat-a-tat on the field usually meant a Niners loss anyway, so maybe we're better off with Kurt. Read more on this article...

Win the West: Week 12 predictions

Congratulations to Nick this week, who went 3-0 last week to take sole possession of first place in our standings. He has a one-game lead over Ben and Chris, while yours truly is lurking three games back.

Just two games this week in the NFC West round-robin special. Two games that no one east of St. Louis will even care about. Here are the picks:

Nick (20-9, 3-0 last week)
Arizona 27, San Francisco 10
Seattle 24, St. Louis 16

Ben (19-10, 2-1 last week)
Arizona 31, San Francisco 14
St. Louis 24, Seattle 21

Chris (19-10, 2-1 last week)
Arizona 20, San Francisco 13
Seattle 30, St. Louis 24

James (17-12, 2-1 last week)
Arizona 24, San Francisco 6
St. Louis 33, Seattle 30

JR (15-14, 1-2 last week)
Arizona 35, San Francisco 13
Seattle 31, St. Louis 17

Eddie (13-16, 0-3 last week)
Arizona 27, San Francisco 13
Seattle 31, St. Louis 27 Read more on this article...

Line of Scrimmage: Shut Smith down?

This week in Line of Scrimmage, Ben and JR raise the question of whether there's really any reason for us to see No. 11 on the field again this season. Alex Smith is obviously battered both physically and psychologically, and although you want your players to be tough and play through pain, you don't want to do irreparable damage to one of your most important (and expensive) players.

NO: This is reminiscent of when Alex was a rookie and Tim Rattay was the incumbent starter. Once it became obvious that the team wasn't going to do a damn thing in terms of wins and losses, Rattay got shipped off and Smith was submitted to a trial by fire in his first campaign.

I, for one, thought it was a huge mistake to allow an especially young quarterback with first overall pick expectations heaped upon him to be asked to contribute in anything more than spot duty until he could learn the offense and what it means to be an NFL quarterback.

We all know how that season ended up for Smith: one TD and 11 INTs and his first injury as a pro. What an experience.

However, I re-thought my opinion of this after watching him progress into a far more efficient player in his sophomore season. I saw some merit to what Mike Nolan had done in getting Smith the playing time and experience that he did, and had high hopes for the career arc that Smith could follow considering what we saw after just one off-season. Perhaps getting beat down on the field and beat up in the local newspapers made this kid tougher and more prepared for the tough games in the later months when the division title would most certainly be on the line.

What a load of crap that turned out to be.

Maybe Smith does respond well to adversity — I sure as hell hope he does after this debacle of a season — but in terms of what's happening now, there's really no reason to subject him to any more punishment for the sake of giving him experience. He's an injured player first and foremost, and his injury directly affects his ability to do his primary job, throw the ball.

The worst-case scenario is that he continues to aggravate the injury and does permanent damage. A slightly less extreme (and more likely) consequence is that he plays through the pain, continues to get beat up behind a questionable offensive line and changes his mechanics to compensate for the injury, thereby picking up bad habits and probably getting his confidence shot to hell in the process.

What's the best case scenario? He comes back and the 49ers somehow remember how to play offense and they win the rest of their games, finishing 8-8 and still likely missing the playoffs. I know anything is possible in the suck-bag NFC West, but honestly, making the playoffs at 8-8 is like hooking up with your ex-girlfriend. It's cool that it happened, but really nothing to brag about.

— JR

YES: This is not a popular argument. Those 49er fans who are now so apathetic toward the team would never dream of saying yes, get Alex Smith out there behind this porous line, for this offensive coordinator who doesn’t seem to get anything right, for a coach who will likely keep the offense so uber-conservative that it wouldn’t matter if Gio Carmazzi was standing in the pocket.

But he needs to play. The 49ers need him to play.

There’s both a financial and an emotional side to this argument. First, let me say that I am not here to advocate throwing an injured quarterback to the dogs. If Alex Smith is truly hurt, then he should sit. It’s that simple. Until he’s healthy, at which point he needs to be back in the lineup. If, as Dr. James Andrews said today, Smith’s shoulder is not healing correctly, then the 49ers should give him all the time he needs to get it right.

But, let’s say he’s able to play in Week 14 or 15. The line, presumably, will still be the same. The same old clowns up front trying to block for immobile Trent Dilfer. Herein lies the emotional argument. If Smith returns and plays well, the 49ers gain momentum heading into next season. Like it or not, this is essentially the group of players they’re stuck with for next year. There are no star first-round draft picks coming in. No big free-agent signees. This is the team. If Smith could come back and show his teammates that he can be the man, then he would go a long way toward convincing them that he should be behind center next season.

The financial argument is easy. You’re paying this guy first-round money to sit on the bench when healthy? I think not. You’re paying him to play. He does the 49ers absolutely no good sitting on the bench. He’s not learning anything from watching Dilfer get knocked on his back every play. This was supposed to be the put up or shut up year for Smith and, so far, he needs to shut up.

— Ben

Read more on this article...

Hit List: Nolan's replacement?

This week in Hit List, Oberver writer Nick makes his personal bid for who should be the next head coach of the San Francisco 49ers following the Niners' 13-9 loss to the St. Louis Rams.

TRUE STORY, Observer readers. Nick here, and I didn't finish the article that was supposed to be published today. I've been working a lot lately, and the article that was supposed to be done today isn't finshed yet. However, I will promise you that when it is finally done, you will love every word of it. It's looking to be a good one.

With that said, I've been teasing the Observer for the past few weeks about my prospective pick for the next Niner head coach. At this stage in the 2007 NFL regular season, all the signs point to Nolan (and offensive coordinator Jim Hostler) probably getting the boot in January, and everyone is coming up with ideas of who they want sitting in the big seat next. Here's a quick rundown of who those guys are and why those guys probably won't be coaching in San Francisco any time soon:

• Bill Cowher - He's living with his family in North Carolina, he played college ball in North Carolina, and his current gig with The NFL Today on CBS only has him away from North Carolina on a limited basis. Somehow, I don't see him moving away from North Carolina to San Francisco to deal with Nolan's mess any time soon.

• Bill Parcells - The man is 66 years old and has retired from coaching professional football three times. Do you think he wants to come to San Francisco and deal with John York?

• Mike Singletary - Hiring Singletary and firing Nolan would be extremely tricky for York to pull off. Remember, Nolan brought Singletary to San Francisco with him from Baltimore. York won't do it, and Singletary will probably coach at Baylor in 2008.

• Steve Mariucci - York fired him after the man had a WINNING RECORD. Think about it.

• Mike Holmgren - The only reason this makes a lick of sense is because Holmgren was on the ropes earlier this season in Seattle because of a few instances of bad clock management and poor play-calling. But until another team challenges the Seahawks for NFC West supremacy, Holmgren will stay up north, probably until Hasselbeck retires.

• Mike Shanahan - Denver was having issues earlier this season, and some thought Shanahan would possibly get canned after this season. To those people, remember that the man has won TWO SUPER BOWLS for the Broncos. He'll be in Denver for the rest of his career.

You want to read more about who could potentially coach in San Francisco in 2008? Click here, and San Jose Mercury Writer Tim Kawakami will give you an even greater rundown of who could potentially replace Nolan next season.

So who is my pick for the next 49er head coach in 2008? Should I really tell you guys? Should I really unveil who I believe can bring the San Francisco 49ers back to glory?

Ok, fine. Here he is. Ladies and gentlemen, the 49ers Observer Hit List's official enorsement for the next head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

You may now begin to comment and disagree... I don't expect a ton of support on this one. I'll be back next week to explain why The Martz should take the reins of the 2008 San Francisco 49ers. Later guys. Read more on this article...

Kneejerk Knotes: Nolan's biggest blunder yet

I don't care that it almost worked out. Mike Nolan's decision to kick a field goal and attempt an onside kick with less than 2 minutes to play in today's loss against the Rams was absolutely indefensible, and it proves a notion that I've long tried to refute: Nolan is not and never will be a good in-game coach.

Not even the fourth-and-inches last year against the Rams was this bad. There was at least a legitimate argument for making that call: i.e., the defense was playing well and Nolan figured they could keep the Rams out of the end zone. It didn't work, but there was at least some logic behind the move. This time there was no such defense, no such logic.

Trailing 13-6 with less than 2 minutes left, the 49ers found themselves in fourth-and-10. The defense had been playing well, sure, but kicking the field goal only made it a four-point game, meaning the 49ers still had to score a touchdown. Nolan then compounded the problem by opting for an onside kick. Since they still needed a touchdown, Nolan with this move essentially made the statement that the 49ers recovering an onside kick was more likely to happen than the 49ers converting a fourth-and-10.

Way more likely, apparently. Because if the fourth down didn't work, the defense could have stopped the Rams deep in their own territory and given the offense decent field position. If the onside kick doesn't work, the Rams have the ball in great field position, and even without a first down, they can pin the 49ers deep and force them to go the length of the field with no timeouts (which is precisely what happened).

The reason Nolan's strategy was so misguided is this: If you're going to rely on your defense to get you the ball back, the onside kick is the last thing you should do. There are two options. Either go for the fourth down in the first place, knowing that there's enough time and the ball is deep enough in Rams territory that your defense can get you the ball back with decent field position; or kick the field goal and then kick off deep, again knowing that your defense will stop them and give you good field position. By trying the onside kick, Nolan cost his team about 60 yards and still left them needing a touchdown.

So really, Nolan didn't even display great faith in his defense. He displayed unreasonable faith in Joe Nedney's onside kicking abilities — which, while better than most, should still be seen as nothing more than a last resort in a late-game situation like this.

I haven't been in favor of firing Nolan as of yet, but this type of incompetence when it comes to managing game situations is extremely disturbing. Look at the way Dilfer moved the ball down the field on that last drive. Now, imagine if that drive had started at the 49ers' 40-yard line instead of their 10.

Nolan is to blame for this one, and I've just about seen enough of his so-called strategy. Read more on this article...

Win the West: Week 11 predictions

I'm seriously considering changing the name of this contest. First of all, the 49ers no longer have any hope of winning the West. And secondly, this division is so bad that in the end, no one will have won it. There will simply be one team who lost it less than the other three teams.

Last week, though, the only big losers were the 49ers and us 49ers Observer writers. All of us picked the Cardinals and Rams to lose, and all of us were very surprisingly wrong. Most of us knew the 49ers would lose, though maybe not with that degree of humiliation.

There are some toss-ups this week. Sadly, most of us still think the 49ers will lose despite playing at home against a Rams team that was 0-8 two weeks ago. The only one picking the 49ers to win is Eddie, the last remaining optimist in the group (and you wonder why he's in last place). As for the other two games, five out of seven of us pick the Bengals over the Cardinals, while we're split 4-3 in favor of the Bears over the Seahawks.

Here are this week's picks, in case anyone on this planet is still paying attention to the NFC West:

Nick (17-9, 1-2 last week)
St. Louis 24, San Francisco 10
Arizona 24, Cincinnati 20
Seattle 24, Chicago 16

Ben (17-9, 1-2 last week)
St. Louis 28, San Francisco 21
Arizona 31, Cincy 24
Chicago 24, Seattle 14

Chris (17-9, 1-2 last week)
St. Louis 30, San Francisco 10
Cincinnati 27, Arizona 20
Seattle 17, Chicago 13

James (15-11, 1-2 last week)
St. Louis 17, San Francisco 3
Cincinnati 30, Arizona 13
Seattle 26, Chicago 14

JR (14-12, 0-3 last week)
St. Louis 17, San Francisco 7
Cincinnati 28, Arizona 20
Chicago 35, Seattle 21

Eddie (13-13, 1-2 last week)
San Francisco 24, St. Louis 21
Cincinnati 34, Arizona 27
Chicago 27, Seattle 23 Read more on this article...

Fantasy Fury: Week 11 preview

Well, that was it.

That was your chance to make up ground in your league if you don't have Tom Brady.

Brady and the rest of the executioners known as the Patriots return this week for the first of three consecutive primetime games. May God help us all.

Here's a preview of what you should expect from Week 11's matchups:

St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, 10 a.m. — For some reason I'm actually spending my hard-earned money to see this game live. The StL's Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson are must starts along with the Niners' Frank Gore. At this point, both teams are playing for pride so hopefully they put some points on the scoreboard.
START: Rams WR Isaac "I always score on the 49ers" Bruce.
SIT: All 49ers WRs.

New Orleans Saints at Houston Texans, Sunday, 10 a.m. — I expect this to be a shootout. The Texans finally have Andre Johnson back and a healthy Matt Schaub so their offense should be ready to go. Expect Saints tailback Reggie Bush to have a big game against the team that past on him for the No. 1 overall pick.
START: Saints QB Drew Brees, Saints WR Marques Colston.
SIT: Saints D/ST.

Arizona Cardinals at Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, 10 a.m. — Who would have thought the Cardinals would be team playing for something at this point? All the usual suspects are good to go in this matchup.
START: Bengals RB Rudi Johnson.
SIT: Both defenses.

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, 10 a.m. — Who would have thought the Browns...wait a minute...I already used this. The Ravens defense is hurting and Cleveland's offense is clicking. Look for more of the same. We may be seeing the end of the Ravens as a dominant defense.
START: Browns QB Derek Anderson, Browns WR Braylon Edwards, Browns TE Kellen Winslow; Ravens RB Willis McGahee.
SIT: Ravens QB Kyle Boller.

Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, 10 a.m. — The Colts are hurting too, but they're still a much better football team then the Chiefs, especially without Larry Johnson. I expect a return to form for the Champs.
START: All Colts.
SIT: Chiefs QB Brodie Croyle, Chiefs RB Priest Holmes.

Oakland Raiders at Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, 10 a.m. — Raiders QB Daunte Culpepper scored five touchdowns against his other former team, the Dolphins, earlier this season, but he won't have that type of success against the Vikings. The only must start in this game is Vikings running back Chester Taylor, who's taking over from phenom Adrian Peterson.
START: Vikings D/ST.
SIT: Raiders RB LaMont Jordan, Raiders RB Justin Fargas.

Miami Dolphins at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, 10 a.m. — This could be a "trap" game for the Eagles (if a mediocre team like the Eagles can even have trap games). Donovan McNabb and Co. should have enough fire power at home though to take care of business.
START: Eagles RB Brian Westbrook, Eagles WR Reggie Brown.
SIT: All Dolphins.

Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers, Sunday, 10 a.m. — Panthers superstar wideout Steve Smith might not play. That's all you need to know about this. Brett Favre will continue to push his passing record further in this one.
START: Packers WR Greg Jennings.
SIT: All Panthers except Smith if he plays.

New York Giants at Detroit Lions, Sunday, 10 a.m. — The Giants and Lions in one of the biggest games the NFC will feature all year? What planet am I on? Expect a lot of points. Both QBs are must-starts along with wideouts Plaxico Burress (NYG) and Roy Williams (DET).
START: Giants RB Brandon Jacobs.
SIT: Lions RB Kevin Jones.

San Diego Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, 10 a.m. — This is a very interesting and probably overlooked matchup this week. The Jags are always tough at home, so expect LT to do around 80-100 yards and maybe a score. Everyone else is questionable.
START: Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew; Jaguars QB David Garrard.
SIT: All WRs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, 10 a.m. — This could be a very ugly game and to be honest with you, I don't really like any of the fantasy participants. But someone has to score the points...
START: Buccaneers QB Jeff Garcia, Buccaneers WR Joey Galloway.
SIT: Falcons QB.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets, Sunday, 1 p.m. — The Jets suck. There, I said it. Next game.
START: All Steelers.
SIT: All Jets.

Chicago Bears at Seattle Seahawks, Sunday night, 1 p.m. — The last few times these teams have gotten together, they've put up some decent points. I know it's crazy, but I got a good feeling about Rex Grossman. Start Bernard Berrian too, because they just seem to click. For the Seahawks, Matt Hasselbeck is a must-start from here on out.
START: Seahawks WR Deion Branch; Bears D/ST.
SIT: Bears RB Cedric Benson.

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, 1 p.m. — The Cowboys are the class of the NFC and I expect that to continue. This rivalry is known for scoring to start all the usual suspects.
START: Redskins TE Chris Cooley; Cowboys D/ST.
SIT: Redskins D/ST.

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills, Sunday night, 5:15 p.m. — The NFL offers up another lamb to the Patriots and they even move it to primetime. What savages.
START: All Patriots; Bills WR Lee Evans.
SIT: Bills QB J.P. Losman.

Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos, Monday night, 5:30 p.m. — The must-starts of this game could end up being the kickers, Jason Elam (DEN) and Rob Bironas (TEN). The matchup of the game will be the Broncos' zone run blocking against the Titans' dominant run defense.
START: Titans RB LenDale White; Broncos WR Brandon Marshall.
SIT: Titans QB Vince Young; Titans WRs.

Also, if anyone wants to send questions about lineups or matchups, feel free. Read more on this article...

Line of Scrimmage: Whose head should roll?

In this week's Line of Scrimmage, JR and Ben debate which coach should shoulder the blame for this season's woes and, as a result, get canned first. Is it always-under-fire Jim Hostler or is it the head honcho, Mike Nolan?

MIKE NOLAN: I'm not indifferent to the situation at the moment. Nobody should be fired in the next two weeks, especially not Nolan due to what he's going through. Nothing is going to turn around in those two weeks but I want a little more evidence before I go hunting for jobs.

That said, Nolan has to go at the end of the year. Somebody has to take responsibility for this catastrophe of a season and in my eyes it's the head guy. Talk all you want about Norv Turner being the guy the 49ers had to have back. One coordinator should not have that much influence on a team, not if the head coach is worth anything at all. Nolan came in as a defensive coach, everyone knows that. But who is getting the credit for developing defensive players? It's not Nolan, it's Mike Singletary.

The playcalling has been bad, no question. But at what point do you expect the head coach to say look man, you really suck at this and you have to go. It's not Hostler who refuses to gamble (and don't call those pathetic onside kicks to begin the second half of games gambling), it's Nolan. We've seen it throughout his tenure with the 49ers. Nolan is an ultra-conservative coach when it comes time to make the big decision. He's been loosening a bit lately but that's not a shift.

— Ben

JIM HOSTLER: Ben, you ignorant misguided slut. (HAAAAA!) Sure, let's just go ahead and get rid of the one thread of continuity this team has had over the last three seasons. Two years of nearly doubling the team's total victories while losing your two most important supporting staff members and then having one season go down the tubes because your offensive coordinator got swiped nearly twice and your QB gets landed on by a 306-pound guy named "Rocky" definitely demands that you lose your job.

You're absolutely right, Nolan made all the calls to get where we're at, and yes, the season has pretty much sucked. But his biggest mistake was letting a guy take over the offense that had no qualifications whatsoever to do so. Hostler, as we all know, hadn't called one play in the NFL prior to this season, and even though he was a holdover from the Norv Turner regime, it's obvious that he's no Norv Turner. Hell, he ain't even Tina Turner. (Side note to San Diego's front office, you should totally can Norv's ass and send him back north and into the booth where he belongs.)At this point, I'd rather let a 13-year-old Madden Bowl competitor sit in the booth and call plays.

Seriously though, when you watch the putrid San Francisco offense stumble their way through game after game and make no apparent improvement at all, you've got to realize that this team lacks both preparation and any creativity. Nolan's not an offensive guy, and if he really trusted his O-coordinator to make calls that will work and have his players ready to execute, he'd take the leash off and let them go. But as it stands now, I wouldn't trust Hostler to make me a piece of toast without dropping it on the floor three to four times. I hate to change coordinators for a fourth year in a row on poor Alex Smith, but lets call a spade a spade, and then use that spade to bury Hostler.

— JR

Read more on this article...

Kneejerk Knotes: There is no hope left

There have been so many times this season that I felt the 49ers were one step away from putting things together and turning this dismal streak around. The loss to the Steelers brought some optimism. The loss to the Ravens was a good defensive game. The loss to the Giants showed they could open up the offense and maybe contend with good teams if they could avoid turnovers. Losses to the Saints and Falcons showed they could finally get Vernon Davis involved. Tonight, there was nothing.

Ok, so Frank Gore finally found some running room. I suppose that's a positive that can be taken from this loss, but I'm not putting much stock in it. The 49ers have the worst offense in the NFL and one of the worst of all time. But I guess it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Last year's offense, which was run by an outstanding offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, was still pretty mediocre. It featured the NFC's leading rusher in Frank Gore, but it still didn't really strike fear in anybody's heart. Take that mediocre offense, remove the great OC at the last minute and replace him with an underqualified rookie, add a year of wear and tear and injuries to the offensive line and neglect the undermanned receiving corps (no, Darrell Jackson and Ashley Lelie were not significant upgrades over Antonio Bryant and Bryan Gilmore), and it kind of makes sense that the offense would regress.

It's not going to get much better this season, folks. I was of the hope earlier in the year that something as simple as getting Ashley Lelie involved or getting Davis the ball more would suddenly open things up, but nothing has worked and there's nothing left to try. This offense is going nowhere, and we all have to accept that.

The defense also will not get any better than it already is. They're on the field far too long, both because of the offense's ineptitude and their own inability to create turnovers and get pressure on the quarterback.

There are missing pieces on this team on both sides of the ball, and those holes cannot be filled until the offseason (an offseason that MUST include the acquisition of a true pass rushing OLB, a true No. 1 wide receiver and at least one very good offensive lineman).

Just because there are missing pieces, though, doesn't forgive anyone for the way they're playing right now. It's time for everyone on this team to begin auditioning for their jobs next year. That includes Alex Smith, who has been nothing short of awful since returning from his shoulder injury. I've been more patient than most, but I'm beginning to have very serious concerns over whether Smith will ever become a good NFL quarterback. There's just no evidence to back up that claim, and that is quite depressing. Quarterback is a need the 49ers have to address in the offseason. They need to spend some money in free agency or a draft pick in the first four rounds on a QB that can legitimately compete for the starting job.

This is a team that is in the third year of a rebuilding plan. But they're playing like the team Mike Nolan took over in 2005, a team that was decimated the year before by a salary cap purge and that played much of the season with players off the street filling key roles. The current 49ers include many talented young players and some proven veterans. So why are they still so awful? Perhaps — and this is the scary part — the talented young players Mike Nolan and crew have brought in are no better than the malcontents they shipped out.

Talk about a bleak outlook.

AND ONE MORE THING. The 49ers have scored 67 points during their seven-game losing streak, an average of fewer than 10 points per game. But 20 of those points came from meaningless touchdowns the 49ers scored in garbage time at the end of losses to the Steelers, Giants and Saints.

Take away those three scores, and the 49ers have an amazing 47 points in seven games, or 6.7 points per game. Read more on this article...

The passing of Dick Nolan

Most 49er fans knew about Mike Nolan's father, Dick Nolan, and his connection to the 49ers franchise. Dick coached the team in the late 1960s and early '70s and led them to three division titles, something his son has yet to do in his brief tenure.

Most of us also knew about Dick Nolan's battle with Alzheimer's disease and the Nolan family's struggles in dealing with their ailing father. They say that families of Alzheimer's victims suffer not just one death but two, the first coming when the victim finally forgets the faces and names of their most loved, and the second coming with the actual passing away of the afflicted. I've been fortunate enough not to have experienced this first-hand, but I do know people who have, and I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on my worst enemy, even that overrated prick Brett Favre.

All kidding aside, I'm sure most of us (thankfully) don't know what this kind of hardship must feel like, and honestly we know very little about the relationship between the current coach of the 49ers and his father. To keep this article somewhat football-related, I want to be the first to say that perhaps the 49ers' 2-6 record shouldn't reflect so harshly on their coach and rather be an indication of what this man has been going through on a personal level for the last several months.

Mike Nolan would never use this as an excuse and I don't intend to dismiss the lack of performance by the team because of the personal matters of one (albeit an important one) individual. However, it must be commended that when Nolan left the team earlier last week to be with his father, we never heard about the real reason he had to go, although many of us could probably guess.

The Nolan family did a good job of keeping this trying time mostly private and not once during this season did we hear Mike address the matter in a press conference, public interview or otherwise. It would have been so easy for us to understand his difficulty had Mike disclosed the long hours and sleepless nights that he must have endured trying to balance the running of a professional football team and preparing for the inevitable loss of his dad. Yet he did not, and we as fans and writers have been absolutley killing him over the apparent lack of preparation and readiness of his team.

Like I said, I don't have any idea as to how close Mike and his dad must have been, but considering that the younger followed in the elder's footsteps, I would assume that a special bond was there. Knowing how much I will miss my father when he passes, and God willing I hope that it's not to something as devastating as Alzheimer's disease, I can't imagine having the kind of public responsibilities that Mike Nolan does. Yet he's soldiered on and taken the brunt of all the negative press that his on-the-field product has garnered. I must admit, if I were in his shoes, I don't think I'd be quite so strong.

Hopefully, now there will be some peace in the Nolan family. The stress and strain of having a family member become incapacitated by an illness as disconcerting as Alzheimer's and being responsible for their care is immeasurable. Perhaps now Mike can focus on the business at hand and honor his father's memory by putting some wins on the board and putting this team back on the map. All coaches love to win and hate to lose and I'm sure both Bill Walsh and Dick Nolan are looking on from wherever they are now and hoping their young successor can carry on the tradition of success that they did so much to put in place.

I like that Mike Nolan is the 49ers' coach. I think he's got a great work ethic, he's knowledgeable and very driven. It remains to be seen how these attributes will translate to success for the 49er franchise, but at the very least, we can say that we've got a real stand-up guy calling the shots, and he's a pretty good man to boot.

My condolences go out to the Nolan family, and my thanks to Mike for doing his job when many would take the understandable excuse and walk away. He's given us his best, and that's all we can ask for. Read more on this article...

Hit List: Grounds for frustration

This week in Hit List, we take a very sad, pessimistic look at the 2-6 San Francisco 49ers as they head north to take on Matt Hasselbeck, Shaun Alexander and the rest of the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks.

WHAT'S GOING ON, Observer readers? Nick here with your weekly HIT LIST. We're jumping right into it this week, as the frustratingly awful 2007 San Francisco 49ers have a Monday Night Football date with the tremendously mediocre Seattle Seahawks in less than two days' time.

I'm very much dreading every aspect of Monday's game. The Niners looked terrible in their 20-16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and now they have to travel to Seattle to play in a game that will be televised nationally across the country. Take my advice and hide the children now.

I guess there are some reasons for hope, though. On one hand, it is a great chance for the 49ers to somehow try to kick-start a mid-season resurgence and catch Seattle for the NFC West division lead (somehow the Niners are only two games behind the 'Hawks after losing six straight ... welcome to the NFL in 2007). Frank Gore is appearing to feel a bit more healthy these days, and who knows how the recent changes to the O-line personnel could affect the running game (my guess is not much, but you never know).

On the other hand, the Seattle Seahawks are a pretty competent team on both sides of the ball, unlike this year's Niner squad.

OK, I'm really sorry, but the sad truth is that unless the 49ers can actually start to put together more than two good drives a game, they are completely screwed on Monday night ... which brings me to the topic of this week's HIT LIST. Enjoy.

THE TOP TEN MOST FRUSTRATING THINGS ABOUT THE 2007 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

10. Every time Maurice Hicks returns a kickoff, he runs upfield at full speed without any hesitation (usually to the left side of the field), makes almost no cuts or jukes to avoid tacklers, and almost always does an annoying jump/hurdle/dive thing right when he knows he's not going to get any farther. And sadly, he never gets past the 30-yard line. His fumbling issue is also a tiny bit infuriating.

9. If you focus on the 49ers defensive line throughout any game, you'll notice that nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga will get pushed back about 2-3 yards almost every time an opposing running back has a big gain up the middle. Almost every time, it's him.

8. Hoping every play that linebacker Tully Banta-Cain will finally get into the backfield and at least pressure the opposing quarterback into making a bad decision ... only to watch him get swallowed up by the opposing offensive line during just about every defensive play of the game.

7. Watching wide receiver Darrell Jackson do what he does best ... drop passes.

6. The fact that whenever an opposing quarterback completes a short pass up the middle or in the flat, linebacker Derek Smith will never be on top of the receiver trying to make the catch. Instead, Smith be about two yards behind the receiver, kind of observing the completion and then making the tackle.

5. Watching Pro Bowl caliber football players like tight end Vernon Davis and linebacker Patrick Willis make truly amazing plays, only to wonder if the 49ers will actually be any good by the time their contracts run out.

4. Witnessing cornerback Walt Harris do what I predicted he would do following the preseason — slowly regress into a true liability on defense.

3. Watching quarterback Alex Smith take the snap from center, drop back into the pocket, and then proceed to roll out. Then, if you're lucky, Smitty will keep rolling ... and rolling ... and rolling ... until he reaches the sideline. He will then try to squeeze the ball into wide receiver Arnaz Battle's hands at the last possible minute, only for the ball to go out of bounds. Every time this happens, I die a little inside.

2. Jokingly predicting that head coach Mike Nolan and offensive coordinator Jim Hostler will run the ball on third-and-long... only to unfortunately be proven right every time.

1. At least once every 2-3 games, nickel cornerback Shawntae Spencer will not only get burned by an opposing wide receiver, but he will fall down while trying to keep up. Either that, or he'll draw a pass interference penalty for falling ONTO the receiver. Then I think about his renewed contract (signed in 2006) and cry.

That's all I've got this week guys. Come back to the Observer shortly following Monday's game for James' thoughts on the contest via KNEEJERK KNOTES. I'll also have a new HIT LIST for your consumption by Tuesday if all goes well.

Oh, and if Mike Nolan can somehow find a way to win the next two games on the schedule, I'll be happy to reward him with a clean slate for the rest of the 2007 season. But if he doesn't, be ready, because HIT LIST is going to start it's campaign for who should without a doubt be the 49ers' new head coach as soon as 2008. Take care guys and girls, and let's hope the 49ers can finally find their footing come Monday night. Read more on this article...

Win the West: Week 10 predictions

Well, my reverse psychology of picking against the 49ers last week worked wonders, didn't it? Yeah, I gained a win over everyone else in these standings here, but at the expense of another disgusting 49ers loss.

This week I'm playing the odds and going with Seattle, though I have a feeling in my gut telling me this might finally be the week the 49ers put everything together and get back on track. I know, I'm dreaming.

There was a pretty significant shakeup in the Win the West standings last week, with Nick jumping up to tie Ben and Chris for first place and me jumping up to tie JR just two games out of first. There will be no such shakeup this week. All of us picked Detroit over Arizona, all of us picked New Orleans over St. Louis, and all of us picked Seattle over San Francisco — except for JR, who took the Niners in, ahem, a close one. Stay strong, JR.

Here are this week's picks:

Nick (16-7, 2-1 last week)
Seattle 27, San Francisco 13
Detroit 24, Arizona 17
New Orleans 31, St. Louis 10

Ben (16-7, 1-2 last week)
Seattle 35, San Francisco 10
Detroit 28, Arizona 17
New Orleans 20, St. Louis 14

Chris (16-7, 1-2 last week)
Seattle 33, San Francisco 13
Detroit 21, Arizona 20
New Orleans 27, St. Louis 0

James (14-9, 3-0 last week)
Seattle 33, San Francisco 16
Detroit 35, Arizona 13
New Orleans 28, St. Louis 14

JR (14-9, 2-1 last week)
San Francisco 78, Seattle 3
Detroit 45, Arizona 31
New Orleans 35, St. Louis 14

Eddie (12-11, 1-2 last week)
Seattle 27, San Francisco 14
Detroit 35, Arizona 24
New Orleans 31, St. Louis 21 Read more on this article...

Film Room: Parys Haralson

As the Niners continue to lose games and their playoff hopes slip away, probably the only storyline that fans really get behind is the development of the recent draft picks. The team remains a work in progress, but Scot McCloughan and Mike Nolan have brought plenty of young talent to San Francisco.

Outside linebacker is a critical position in the 49ers 3-4 defense. When budding star Manny Lawson went down with an ACL tear early this season, the backups and younger players were forced into starting roles. Hannibal Navies and Brandon Moore have both had playing time as the outside linebacker opposite starter Tully Banta-Cain. But over the past few games Navies has been doing the on-again off-again roster tango with Tarzan a.k.a. Zak Keasey, while Moore is still stuck in his 3rd down pass-rushing role. Meanwhile, the man taking the lion’s share of the playing time has been Parys Haralson, who the Niners selected out of Tennessee in the 5th round of the 2006 draft.

There is a lot to like about Haralson, even though his play is often inconsistent. He isn’t as athletic as the man he’s replacing (Lawson), but it’s been said that Parys compares favorably as a pass rusher. How did he hold up against the Falcons you ask? Read on and find out:

[1st Half]

*1st Drive, following Kickoff (Q1 15:00, SF 0 ATL 0)

1st & 10 ATL20: Harrington pass short right to Horn for 4 yards.
Formation: 3-4 Under (Haralson over slot)

Haralson drops into coverage.

2nd & 6 ATL24: (Gun) Harrington pass incomplete deep right to White.
Formation: Sorta Base 3-4

Haralson comes on the rush, but slips. He wasn’t close when the ball came out anyway, because Harrington was in the Shotgun.

The Falcons managed got tricky at the line and managed to get their TE Milner lined up split out wide against Derek Smith in man-to-man coverage. Harrington didn’t see it, and threw at Nate Clements instead. Such is the genius of Joey.

3rd & 6 ATL24: (Gun) Harrington pass incomplete short left to White.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out on this play.)

*2nd Drive, following SF Touchdown (Q1 9:10, SF 7 ATL 0)

1st & 10 ATL30: Dunn up the middle for 9 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson reads run, slides toward the play, and misses an arm tackle on Dunn about 4 yards downfield.

2nd & 1 ATL39: Dunn left tackle for 7 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside LT)

Haralson is a little slow shedding TE Blakley’s block, and misses another arm tackle.

Note—Haralson seems to get caught on his heels a lot. He doesn’t key off the snap as well as OLB/DE’s Banta-Cain or Moore. At least he didn’t on this drive.

1st & 10 ATL46: Harrington pass incomplete short right to Dunn.
Formation: 3-4 Under (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson comes on the rush and flushes Harrington from the pocket. Score it a pressure.

Note—Pre-snap tomfoolery gets Derek Smith matched up with Warrick Dunn split wide. This time Harrington sees the matchup after scrambling around a little, but he throws a bad pass and Dunn can’t make the catch in-bounds. The replay was pretty close, though.

2nd & 10 ATL46: (Gun) Dunn left tackle for 2 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson comes on the snap, but isn’t fast enough to chase the play down from behind. Lawson would have made this play.

3rd & 8 ATL48: (Gun) Harrington pass short right Jenkins for 23 yards.
Formation: 3-2-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out on this play)

Note—Niners CB Strickland tripped on this play, allowing Jenkins to get an easy catch.

1st & 10 SF29: Dunn right tackle for 11 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson overruns the play, then realizes his mistake, and tries to run back the other way. That’s when he gets cut-blocked by RT Clabo.

1st & 10 SF18: Dunn up the middle for 5 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson subbed out on this play)

Note—Another five yards … for Dunn.

2nd & 5 SF13: Dunn right tackle for 4 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson is in good position to tackle Dunn for no gain, but Falcons RG Forney rumbles through on a pull and takes Parys out of the play.

Note—That’s 38 yards for Dunn so far on this drive.

3rd & 1 SF9: Dunn left tackle for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Formation: Goal Line (Haralson subbed out on this play)

Note—Why stop at 38? Let’s pile on 9 more to make it 47 and a touchdown.

*3rd Drive, following SF Punt (Q1 2:48, SF 7 ATL 7)

1st & 10 ATL14: Norwood left end for 4 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson reads run, but the run is to the other side of the field.

Note—Norwood limped off the field after this play. Willis strikes again. On second look, it was Roman. And Norwood has chicken legs just like Manny Lawson.

2nd & 6 ATL18: Harrington scrambles up the middle for 2 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson struggles mightily, but can’t get past the right tackle.

Note--Should have been a coverage sack for Franklin, but he got a nice push in the back from a Falcons o-lineman just as Harrington was scrambling.

3rd & 4 ATL20: Harrington pass short left to Horn pushed ob for 7 yards.
Formation: 3-2-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out on this play)

Note—Even though it didn’t result in a sack, this was a creative blitz package schemed up by Manusky, with Moore as a standup rusher just off Banta-Cain’s shoulder, and Hudson showing blitz up on the line.

1st & 10 ATL27: Harrington pass incomplete deep left to White.
Formation: 3-3-5 Nickel (Haralson outside LT)

Haralson gets through the line and into Harrington’s face just as he throws. The ball sails way long. The announcer says, “Nate Clements looked like the intended receiver.” Comedy gold.

Note—The Niners took a timeout before the next play.

2nd & 10 ATL27: Dunn left tackle for -1 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson reads run, and it’s to the other side again.

Another play Lawson would have run down. Good thing Franklin and Young burst through the line to make the tackle for the loss.

3rd & 11 ATL26: (Gun) Harrington pass short right to Robinson for 10 yards.
Formation: Something with lots of DBs (Haralson subbed out)

Atlanta challenged the spot on this play. It wasn’t even close.

*4th Drive, following SF Punt (Q2 13:57, SF 7 ATL 7)

1st & 10 ATL6: Harrington pass short middle to White for 13 yards.
Formation: 4-3 (Haralson subbed out)

1st & 10 ATL19: Norwood left end for 13 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson over LT)

Parys doesn’t so much get blocked on this play as he just gets caught up in trash. He bounces off two blocks and then falls over Falcons LT Ojinnaka who had gone low to cut-block Patrick Willis.

1st & 10 ATL32: Norwood up the middle for 4 yards.
Formation: 3-3-5 Nickel (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson angles towards the runner and gets tackled by RT Clabo, but still manages to make the play. Great effort.

2nd & 6 ATL36: Norwood left tackle for 3 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

The play is to the other side of the field. Haralson jogs over, but doesn’t factor in on the play.

3rd & 3 ATL39: (Gun) Harrington pass incomplete short middle to White.
Formation: 3-2-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out

*5th Drive, following SF Punt (Q2 9:43, SF 7 ATL 7)

1st & 10 SF42: Dunn up the middle to for 5 yards.
Formation: 3-3-5 Nickel (Haralson subbed out)

2nd & 5 SF37: Dunn right tackle to for 1 yard.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson subbed out)

Note—Brandon Moore was in at OLB on this play. He did a good job fighting off a block and was in on the tackle.

3rd & 4 SF36: Harrington pass incomplete short left to White.
Formation: 3-2-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out)

4th & 4 SF36: (Gun) Harrington pass short right to Horn to for 6 yards.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out)

1st & 10 SF30: Harrington sacked at for -7 yards.
Formation: 3-4 Over (Haralson covering the slot)

Haralson flies in on the blitz, beats the TE with an inside move, and arrives side-by-side with Patrick Willis for the sack. Bryant Young runs over and belly flops on the pile.

This was originally credited to Willis, but Haralson had an equal hand in things. Great play by both. It’s about time the Niners got a sack.

2nd & 17 SF37: (Gun) Dunn right tackle for -2 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson reads run and stands his ground against Blakley’s block. He doesn’t shed it, but it doesn’t matter because Bryant Young blows through the OL to break up the play and Ulbrich makes the stop in the backfield.

3rd & 19 SF39: (Gun) Harrington pass deep middle to White for 20 yards.
Formation: 3-2-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out)

I have no idea how White got so open. Willis and Roman were closest. This is the kind of play that makes coaches beat their heads against walls.

1st & 10 SF19: Dunn right end for 2 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson pretty much gets locked up by Blakley and shoved 4 yards downfield.

2nd & 8 SF17: Dunn up the middle for 5 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside LT)

Parys is blocked out of the play by Blakley again.

3rd & 3 SF12: Norwood left end for 9 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson subbed for Moore)

Note--Banta-Cain was completely owned on this play. He went inside and nobody had outside contain. Naturally, the pitch went outside to Norwood, and Tully couldn’t change directions fast enough.

1st & 3 SF3: Dunn left tackle for 2 yards.
Formation: Goal Line (Haralson subbed out)

Note—Derek Smith got blasted into the air and onto his back by Mughelli’s lead block on this play. Luckily, Brandon Moore was there to make the tackle.

2nd & 1 SF1: Mughelli left tackle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
Formation: Goal Line (Haralson subbed out)

Note—It’s Mughelli vs. Smith again, except this time they’re airborne and Mughelli has the ball. Guess who wins?

*6th Drive, following SF Punt (Q2 1:09, SF 7 ATL 14)

1st & 10 ATL8: Dunn up the middle to ATL 12 for 4 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson subbed for Moore)

Note—I noticed Falcons RT Clabo went for Niners CB Hudson’s knees on this play. Weak.

2nd & 6 ATL12: Dunn left tackle to ATL 14 for 2 yards.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson subbed for Moore)

[2nd half]

*1st Drive, following 49ers FG (Q3 12:08, SF 10 ATL 14)

1st & 10 ATL22: Dunn up the middle for no gain.
Formation: 3-3-5 Nickel (Haralson at ROLB)

Haralson comes on the snap, but the play is to the other side of the line -- over left guard.

2nd & 10 ATL22: Harrington pass short right to Blakley for 7 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson subbed out)

3rd & 3 ATL29: Harrington pass short left to Horn for 6 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson subbed out)

Note—Even Joey Harrington can throw three-step drops.

1st & 10 ATL35: Harrington pass intended for Robinson INTERCEPTED by SS M.Lewis.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson is neutralized by TE Blakley. Again. On and off game for Parys so far.

*2nd Drive, following SF FG (Q3 7:54, SF 13 ATL 14)

1st & 10 ATL9: Dunn left tackle to ATL 30 for 21 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson reads run and flows down the line, but he gets caught up in trash so he takes an angle downfield and helps Willis on the tackle.

1st & 10 ATL30: (Gun) Dunn left tackle to ATL 34 for 4 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson runs into the backfield right off the snap, but the play is to the other side. Clabo gives him a shove.

2nd & 6 ATL34: (Gun) Dunn up the middle to ATL 34 for no gain.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson goes up against Blakley again. Same result: Blakley has his number.

3rd & 6 ATL34: (Gun) Harrington pass incomplete short left to Robinson.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out)

*3rd Drive, following Interception (Q3 4:07, SF 13 ATL 14)

1st & 10 SF40: Harrington pass short right to Milner for no gain.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside LT)

Haralson has outside contain on this play. The throw is to the other side of the field.

2nd & 10 SF40: Harrington pass short right to Blakley for 3 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson gets upfield in a hurry, but the ball is thrown in a hurry too.

3rd & 7 SF37: Norwood left end for 6 yards.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out)

Michael Lewis absolutely brutalized Norwood on this play. Probably should have been called for a facemask.

4th & 1 SF31: Harrington up the middle for no gain.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson basically runs to the pile and leaps on top.

This one was all Sopoaga. The Falcons line got absolutely no push.

*4th Drive, following Fumble (Q3 1:09, SF 13 ATL 14)

1st & 10 SF36: Harrington scrambles up the middle for 13 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson comes on the snap, but he falls over trying to make a move on Mughelli.

This should have been a sack for Banta-Cain, but it looked like he was held pretty blatantly. Instead, Joey runs for about forever.

1st & 10 SF23: Dunn right end for no gain.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside LT)

This time Haralson holds his ground against Blakley, allowing Willis to fly in and absolutely destroy Warrick Dunn head-on.

After the play the cameras caught Harrington mouthing, “wow”.

2nd & 10 SF23: Harrington pass incomplete short middle to Jenkins.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson makes a good inside move on the RT, but falls to his knees just as he closes on Harrington.

3rd & 10 SF23: (Gun) Dunn left tackle for 8 yards.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out)

After this play, the Falcons exhume the corpse of Morten Andersen to kick a 33 yard field goal.

*5th Drive, following SF FG (Q4 7:56, SF 16 ATL 17)

1st & 10 ATL24: (Gun) Harrington pass short right to Jenkins for 8 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson goes up against RT Clabo, but goes nowhere.

2nd & 2 ATL32: Mughelli up the middle for 1 yard.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson matadors RT Clabo, and meets Mughelli head on. Parys wins. Guess he’s stronger one on one than Derek Smith.

3rd & 1 ATL33: (Gun) Harrington pass incomplete short right to Jenkins.
Formation: 4-1-5 Nickel (Haralson subbed for Moore)

Harrington slings the ball away at the first sign of pressure. It lands at White’s feet. Such is the genius of Joey.

*6th Drive, following SF Punt (Q4 5:33, SF 16 ATL 17)

1st & 10 ATL28: Dunn right tackle for no gain.
Formation: 3-4 Under (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson holds his ground against RT Clabo and gets held pretty blatantly. Luckily, Banta-Cain and Franklin were there to stop Dunn at the line of scrimmage.

2nd & 10 ATL28: Harrington pass short right to White for 22 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson gets double-teamed by Clabo and Mughelli. Parys is still the closest Niner to Harrington when the ball comes out.

1st & 10 SF50: Dunn up the middle for 3 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson man-on-man with TE Milner)

Haralson follows Milner around before the snap. Milner comes out of the backfield as the lead blocker. Haralson absorbs the block and sheds it instantly, but the hit has already been made one yard upfield from where he stands.

2nd & 7 SF47: Dunn left tackle for 2 yards.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson subbed for Moore)

3rd & 5 SF45: (Gun) Harrington pass incomplete short left to Jenkins.
Formation: 4-1-6 Dime (Haralson subbed out)

Looked like Moore with the pressure on this play.

*7th Drive, following Interception (Q4 2:16, SF 16 ATL 20)

1st & 10 SF15: Dunn right tackle for -4 yards.
Formation: 4-4-3 (Haralson subbed out)

2nd & 14 SF19: Dunn right tackle for 1 yard.
Formation: Base 3-4 (Haralson outside RT)

Haralson works through the broken play, avoids a cut-block from Clabo, and turns around to find Patrick Willis tackling Warrick Dunn.

3rd & 13 SF18: Harrington pass short right to Milner for 9 yards.
Formation: 4-2-5 Nickel (Haralson at RDE)

Haralson tries to go around the edge, but it’s a quick-out and the ball is gone before he gets close.

After this play, Andersen again rises from the dead to kick a 27 yard field goal.

Closing Thoughts

Haralson is easy to see on the game video because of the white wristbands he wears up on his elbows, but he doesn’t pop off the screen like Patrick Willis – or Manny Lawson for that matter. And it’s obvious that Parys is still learning the game, as evidenced by several plays where he didn’t seem to know what was going on until the ball was snapped and there was blocker in his face.

That said, he looks like he’s going to be a pretty good player, given time. He definitely shows some skill as a pass-rusher, and he does a good enough job in coverage – though it remains to be seen how he’ll match up with the Gateses and Gonzalezes of the world.

The verdict on Haralson is still out. He looks pretty good out there, and he has the tools to be a good player, but he’s not there yet. He needs to get more playing time and to learn the ins and outs of Greg Manusky’s defense. Contrary to popular belief, linebackers can take some time to develop in the NFL (see: Adalius Thomas). Considering that this year is basically Haralson’s rookie season (he was injured last year), he is doing just fine. Read more on this article...

In the Tunnel: Seahawks, Part Deux

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. For nine weeks now (with one merciful break in between) I've been previewing team after team that the 49ers will face and seeing a deeply flawed unit that has no shortage of weaknesses that San Francisco can exploit, and for the last seven of those weeks, I've seen my favorite team bumble and stutter through each game and find some way to lose ugly.

Frankly, I'm sick of it, and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe my negative attitude is affecting the overall karma of the team. So for this week's matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, I'm going to get away from pointing out the shortcomings of the opponent and focus on the positives.

For instance, one positive thing about the Seahawks game is that they came into San Francisco a few weeks ago and handed the 49ers a 23-3 loss in embarrasing fashion — that's a positive! They also managed to injure Alex Smith, contain Frank Gore and make Trent Dilfer look like the 49ers would be better off with Ray Charles manning the passing attack — all very positive (for them)!

With this new outlook and upbeat attitude, hopefully there might be some reversal of fortunes for the woeful Niners and I can get back to not being pissed off at work on Mondays ... so here are the super-awesome Seahawks!

SEATTLE OFFENSE

Offensive Line

In the last game, the Seattle offensive line didn't do much in the way of making room for the running game. Collectively, the Seahawks didn't break the 100-yard mark against the Niners' defense, and that has been one of the few times San Francisco has kept an opponent under the century mark this year. The beat on this crew, at least according to ESPN.com, is that it "doesn't move the pile or finish blocks" and generally lacks an overall intensity and nastiness that you want in the run game.

HOWEVER, they did provide enough protection in the passing game to allow Matt Hasselbeck to throw for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Make no mistake about it, this is a talented unit. Led by left tackle Walter Jones, this group allowed only two sacks last time around, and they've been giving Hasselbeck time enough to pick apart defenses and carry an underachieving running game.

Quarterback

One of the few bright spots for the Seahawks' offense has been Hasselbeck, who is really flourishing in the accuracy-intensive West Coast offense and under the tuteledge of coach Mike Holmgren. He's thrown 13 touchdowns to just seven interceptions this season and has a respectable 88.7 QB rating without much help from his running game or recieving crew.

Running backs

Former MVP Shaun Alexander is having another disappointing season. He's accumulated some nagging injuries and still doesn't look like the back he was a few years ago. In the last contest in Candlestick, Alexander was held without a score and only managed 78 yards on the ground. The knock on Alexander is that he hasn't regained the cutback ability that he had prior to his major injury and that backup Maurice Morris has exhibited some more enthusiasm at times than his more talented teammate. However, both backs possess some big-play ability, and a great one like Alexander should never be counted out.

Wide Recievers

In the last game, Deion Branch exploited the Niner's secondary for 130 yards on seven catches. He's questionable for this week's game, so it may be a break for the 49ers' defenders if he doesn't find his way to the field. Nate Burleson and Bobby Engram are the starting recievers if Branch isn't available, and speedy D.J. Hackett plays out of the slot position. None of these guys did much against the Niners in the last game, but it's obvious that the 49ers' secondary is tired and could have some problems with this unit's speed. Engram leads the team in both receptions and yardage by almost double that of second-place Burleson, and each of the these top recievers have three touchdowns.

Tight Ends

Veteran Marcus Pollard hasn't been a huge threat in the passing game this year. He only has one touchdown (which came against the 49ers), but he still has value as a blocker and his experience is a benefit for the offense.

SEATTLE DEFENSE

Defensive Line

The last time around, I was pretty certain that the Seattle defense was going to allow some pretty significant running room for Frank Gore and company. A big reason for this was the size differential between the Seahawks' starting front four and the Niners' offensive line. This obviously didn't prove to be the case because the talent and athleticism of players like Patrick Kerney, Rocky Bernard and Darryl Tapp allowed the Seahawks to get pressure and disrupt the passing game enough for the rest of the defense to lose respect and load up against the run. Each of those three players tallied a sack in the last game. That includes Bernard, who knocked out Alex Smith in the first quarter, preventing him from even completing a pass in the game and forcing Trent Dilfer into action.

Linebackers

The trio of Julian Peterson, Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill are also very athletic and are adept at covering and getting to the ball-carrier quickly. Peterson had three sacks the last time around, and he'll likely be required to cover Vernon Davis on a regular basis. As we all know, Peterson is a stellar athlete, and since his departure from San Francisco, he's shaken some of that injury-prone reputation and has been a Pro Bowl performer on a consistent basis (prick).

Cornerbacks

Marcus Trufant gave Dilfer fits last time and forced two interceptions that really put the Seahawks in control of the game. His counterpart, Kelly Jennings, has also proven himself as a solid defender in the reciever-rich NFC West. Trufant has exceptional speed, so it will be imperative that the Niners protect the ball or he could be going the other way for six at just about any time.

Safeties

Deon Grant and Brian Russell have been marked upgrades over the Seahawks' starters a year ago. They make a lot of tackles and give good support over the top for their corners and linebackers. I still think these two make too many tackles in run defense, but I suppose as long as they are indeed making the tackles instead of getting beat, then there's not much to complain about.

Special teams

Kicker Josh Brown is about as good as it gets in terms of power and accuracy. He can make all the kicks Holmgren asks him to, and he gets good position on kickoffs for a coverage unit that makes few mistakes. The Seahawks have exhibited little explosiveness in the return game and have mostly allowed Nate Burleson to handle both kick and punt return duties. He's yet to make big things happen, but his speed makes him dangerous nonetheless.

Overview

The Seahawks have lost three of their last four games and are generally thought of as a talented but underachieving team. They've remained mostly injury-free up to this point and could start playing up to their potential at any moment. When this happens, they could be a major factor in the NFC playoff picture. The only reason for any kind of optimism for the 49ers in this game is that they're definitely playing with their backs to the wall and it is a divisonal matchup that can be pretty unpredictable. However, the Niners have given me little reason to think that they're going to snap out of their funk and get a tough road victory against a superior opponent. Read more on this article...

Line of Scrimmage: Time for youth movement?

This week Ben and JR debate whether it's time to get the younger, unproven players more time on the field to evaluate what the future of the roster will look like. With the season already in doubt, the coaching staff has to decide between winning (ha!) now and winning tomorrow. Should Mike Nolan and company give guys like David Baas, Parys Haralson and Jason Hill more PT?

YES: Although I don't believe this season has completely slipped away yet, I think it's pretty obvious what the team needs to do. Realistically speaking, I think the expectations of this team were blown a little out of proportion to begin with, and it would have been a good idea to get as many of the younger, hungrier players on the field as early and as often as possible right out of the gate. With so much new blood being asked to contribute on both sides of the ball, it's not hard to understand why chemistry and efficiency has been a significant issue for both units. So why not build a foundation with your players that you know are going to be a part of the team for the foreseeable future?

Do we really expect Larry Allen to be with the team with any degree of certainty beyond this season? Heck, there were rumors of his retirement during training camp.

We were already questioning the amount of gas Walt Harris had left in the tank after a surprising Pro Bowl campaign last year — did he really perform well enough in camp and preseason to warrant covering the likes of Larry Fitzgerald?

Did anybody expect Justin Smiley to be back next season? How many people wish he had left before this season?

The point I'm trying to make here is that I think too many of the personnel decisions made so far this year have been based on past performances rather than actual practice and in-game production. So now it's got us a situation where you have young guys toiling on the bench and players who are irrelevant still getting on the field.

For all intents and purposes, Joe Staley is the only member of the offensive line that looks like he'll be around for much longer than this year. Jennings is injured again, Allen is clearly done, Heitmann is not the same player since his broken leg, and Smiley's contract is up. It's not as if these guys were setting the world on fire to begin with, so let's see what Patrick Estes, Tony Wragge and David Baas can do with some consistent playing time to build rapport with one another. Hell, even throw Kwame in there on either side and see if he can't get it done. The Niners should be able to get him back cheap if he performs well.

Next year should have been the season with all the expectations heaped on it, but I know better than anybody that 49er fans are a spoiled lot. We expect winning, and we've been starved of it for too long. However, the "win now" strategy isn't working, so lets plan for tomorrow.

— JR

NO: This is an easy one. The 49ers are 2-6, good for exactly two games out of first place in the NFC West. Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Jonas Jennings ... the injury list goes on and on and on. This is a banged up team and, though I know it's easy to consider this a lost season already, if they ever get back together with any degree of health, it's a team that could cobble together some wins.

So why exactly should we hold out for a few wins? Well, let me use my colleague's argument. Changing the offensive line at this point would be good for only one thing: injuring Smith and Gore even further. Tony Wragge? Patrick Estes? KWAME HARRIS??? What in the name of Vince Lombardi are we talking about here? You throw those guys in there with a banged-up set of skill players behind them and they'll never come out alive. Then again, if you put Trent Dilfer behind those guys, he may get mangled beyond the point of recognition.

It's probably unrealistic to expect the 49ers to make a playoff run this year. I know that. But sometimes that doesn't mean throwing in the towel. What does it say to Gore and Patrick Willis and Nate Clements and the guys who can actually still play that you're going with a youth movement in Week 10? It says this is a team preparing to make budget cuts, not contend for any sort of success.

Heaping expectations on next year will get the 49ers back in the same place they are now. I'm all for youth, but with a young quarterback who is unsure of himself to begin with, this team needs leaders, and the one legitimate leader the team has (Bryant Young) isn't getting any younger. We can't expect John York to go into next offseason with the same spend-now mentality that he had this year. What we can expect is that he'll revert to his old, penny-pinching ways and then they really will enter next year with Staley and Harris as the starting tackles.

I'm not sold on the chemistry of this team; I agree with that point. But I'm not sold on the younger guys being able to fix that either. Putting Haralson or Jason Hill in is only going to drive the wedge in deeper. Imagine if Hill starts getting more snaps at receiver. Ashley Lelie would only divide the locker room more. The 49ers are hurting, but if they devote the rest of this season to a youth movement, they'll end up 3-13 or 4-12 and with another high draft pick next year.

And, oh yeah, they won't even get to spend that draft pick. There's the real kicker. The worse the 49ers do, the better the pick that they hand over to New England. Way to go, guys.

— Ben

Read more on this article...

Hit List: Hired help

This week in Hit List, we make arrangements to "deal with" a certain problem the 2-6 San Francisco 49ers are having following their 20-16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

GREETINGS, Observer readers. Nick here with your weekly Hit List. No analysis or snark today. We're just going to deal with the problem without making a fuss about it. Time to send in Agent 21.

Mission: Complete. Call up Singletary, because he just got a promotion.

NOTE - Originally, this post was supposed to contain a snazzy flash movie of Agent 21 (a.k.a. Frank Gore) taking out Nolan with a sniper rifle... nothing violent or graphic, mind you, just a goofy flash-thing. I created the movie using the SEND A HIT feature on the HITMAN movie website, where you can "assassinate" your friends via email and then post the flash movie on your blog. Sadly though, I couldn't get the movie to post correctly here (and I think it's a problem on the HITMAN site's end, not ours), so you will have to be satisfied with just this pic. Sorry! Read more on this article...

Kneejerk Knotes: The pain continues ...

This is Chris, and I'm guest-writing Kneejerk Kotes this week.

Another week passes, another notch in the ‘L’ column. The Niners have officially hit rock bottom. This was worse than the game against New York and the game against New Orleans. At least those games were against good teams — probably playoff teams. This week, halfway through the season, the Niners were outplayed by Joey Harrington and the Atlanta Falcons.

I repeat: JOEY HARRINGTON AND THE ATLANTA FALCONS.

If I were to grasp for fleeting wisps of optimism, I’d talk about Vernon Davis finally stepping up, Patrick Willis still making plays everywhere, and Michael Robinson playing well in place of Gore. But today, we will have none of that optimism crap. Today is a day for hatred and despair.

You know that scene in Evil Dead 2 where Ash gets attacked by his own hand? The Niners played like that today against Atlanta.

They gave the game away to Joey Harrington and the Atlanta Falcons. They reached down my throat and ripped my still-beating heart from my chest. And, like an idiot, I still love them Niners. They abuse me, but I still love them. Does that mean there’s something wrong with me? Or am I just “faithful”...?

I suppose I’ll feel better tomorrow, when I’ll be past the post-loss fury and well into the post-loss hangover. By the end of the week, I’ll get stupid and excited again. I’ll be hopeful that Alex Smith can stop his journey down the Couch/Carr/Harrington/Leftwich death-spiral of mediocrity. I’ll be hopeful that Patrick Willis can win football games all by himself, maybe with help from Vernon Davis. But for now, I think I’m going to go drink vodka and listen to country music ... the true music of pain. Read more on this article...

Breaking the Huddle: It's the Falcons for God's sake!

I can't imagine the 49ers losing this game even without Frank Gore.

It would basically signal we weren't who we thought we were: a playoff contender.

A loss here and I officially park the bandwagon for the winter.

QUARTERBACKS

No matter the struggles of Alex Smith, I would take him a thousand times over John Joseph Harrington. With a depleted rushing attack, Smith will have to carry the Niners on his back against, well, a Falcons team with depleted spirit.

Advantage: 49ers

RUNNING BACKS

The Niners running game is depleted because Gore (ankle) will be inactive, which will leave a gaping hole in the 49ers offensive attack. Although it could, in some weird way, force the offense to open up. Maurice Hicks and Michael Robinson should feel in nicely. The Falcons refuse to play Jerious Norwood for some reason when it's obvious he's the one true playmaker left on offense. This is where Norwood breaks out and takes the job from model citizen Warrick Dunn.

Advantage: Falcons.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS

The Falcons wideout corps is littered with former first round draft picks. However, Roddy White is the only one shining this season while the rest fade away to obscurity. Speaking of fading away to obscurity, the Niners haven't gotten anything from Darrell Jackson yet. That will have to change for Smith to be successful. Vernon Davis is still the focal point and after last week's performance, I expect him to continue to shine from here on out.

Advantage: 49ers.

OFFENSIVE LINE

The Niners' line protected Smith much better last week and that needs to carry over here. The Falcons line features only one player I know by name, rookie guard Justin Blalock, which speaks volume.

Advantage: 49ers.

DEFENSIVE LINE

The Falcons defensive line, however, is loaded with talent. Veterans John Abraham, Rod Coleman and rookie Jamaal Anderson pose a huge threat to Smith. The 49ers defensive front have been almost invisible the past few weeks. This matchup should be favorable for them to reassert themselves.

Advantage: Falcons.

LINEBACKERS

Keith Brooking is a standout for Atlanta, but the linebackers are the heart and soul of the Niners defense. Patrick Willis will continue his march to defensive rookie of the year honors.

Advantage: 49ers.

SECONDARY

The 49ers defensive backfield is well balanced and will look to get back on track after a horrible outing against the Saints last week. The Falcons feature Pro Bowlers DeAngelo Hall and Lawyer Milloy, but the Niners will choose to pick on Chris Crocker and Lewis Sanders.

Advantage: 49ers.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Outside of the Niners coverage teams, neither team has much to brag about here.

Advantage: Draw.

COACHING

The verdict is out on Bobby Petrino, considering what he's having to deal with in his first season on the job. For the Niners, the playcalling continues to be lackluster and will probably lead to Jim Hostler being replaced at the end of the season.

Advantage: Draw.

PREDICTION

49ers 27, Falcons 13 — Because they are the Falcons and they're wounded and the Niners should beat a team like that.

Read more on this article...

Fantasy Fury: Week 9 preview

If you have Patriots, Colts, Browns or Seahawks this should be one hell of a week for you.

If those two matchups don't end up in high-scoring shootouts, then the fantasy Gods were sleeping in.

Here's a preview of what you should expect from Week 9's matchups:

San Francisco 49ers at Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, 1 p.m. — Will the Oregon Ducks inspire John Joseph Harrington to shine? Who knows? Will I be throwing things against the wall by halftime? Quite possibly.
START: 49ers TE Vernon Davis.
SIT: Falcons RBs.

Carolina Panthers at Tennessee Titans, Sunday, 10 a.m. — My gut tells me Vince Young will go off. Also, LenDale White is a must start at this point. Expect the Titans to run wild on the Panthers.
START: Panthers WR Steve Smith.
SIT: Panthers QB David Carr; Titans WRs.

Denver Broncos at Detroit Lions, Sunday, 10 a.m. — Look for Kevin Jones to be the big play here since the Broncos can't stop the run and Lions have shown the past two weeks they don't have to throw it every down to be successful. All Roy Williams is due to get in the endzone.
START: Broncos QB Jay Cutler, Broncos WR Brandon Marshall.
SIT: Broncos RB Travis Henry.

San Diego Chargers at Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, 10 a.m. — The Philip Rivers-Antonio Gates combo will continue to prosper and even though the Vikings are among the best in the business at stuffing the run, LaDainian Tomlinson should still get his.
START: Vikings RB Adrian Peterson; Chargers WR Chris Chambers.
SIT: Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson.

Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints, Sunday, 10 a.m. — If it were a lesser defense, I might tell you Drew Brees is a must start here simply based off his performance last week, but the Jaguars could be a step back for the Saints this week. Be cautious if you have other options.
START: Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew; Saints RB Reggie Bush.
SIT: Saints WR Marques Colston.

Washington Redskins at N.Y. Jets, Sunday, 10 a.m. — I'm going out on a limb here to say Santana Moss will light up his old team. There I said it. Yes, I've been drinking.
START: Redskins RB Clinton Portis.
SIT: All Jets.

Arizona Cardinals at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, 10 a.m. — This could end up being a high-scoring affair. Jeff Garcia is the must start.
START: Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald; Buccaneers WR Joey Galloway.
SIT: Cardinals RB Edgerrin James.

Green Bay Packers at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, 10 a.m. — I believe the Chiefs surprise folks and come away with a win here, led by Larry Johnson, who has a monster game against a normally stellar defense in the Packers.
START: Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez.
SIT: Packers QB Brett Favre.

Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills, Sunday, 10 a.m. — The Bengals just aren't on the same page and if you're not focused going into Buffalo, you lose. I expect another monster game from Lee Evans as he overshadows both Chad Johnson and T.J. Housemanzadeh.
START: Bills RB Marshawn Lynch; Bengals QB Carson Palmer.
SIT: Bengals RB Rudi Johnson.

Seattle Seahawks at Cleveland Browns, Sunday, 1 p.m. — Expect this to be and aerial show. Both quarterbacks are must starts.
START: Browns WR Braylon Edwards, Browns TE Kellen Winslow; Seahawks WR Deion Branch.
SIT: Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander; Browns RB Jamal Lewis.

Houston Texans at Oakland Raiders, Sunday, 1 p.m. — I actually expect LaMont Jordan and the Raiders ground attack to get back on track here. Without QB Matt Schaub and WR Andre Johnson, the Texans offense is boring and probably not very productive.
START: Texans TE Owen Daniels.
SIT: Texans QB Sage Rosenfels.

New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, 1 p.m. — The game of the year, easily. The one weakness I see in either of these teams is the Colts run defense. They'll have to keep All-World safety Bob Sanders back in coverage which could lead to a huge day by Laurence Maroney. Oh, and the quarterbacks aren't that bad either.
START: Everyone.
SIT: No one.

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday night, 5:15 p.m. — Donovan McNabb was talking a bunch of smack leading up to this game so I expect him to back it up. I also expect Mr. Romo to earn the new contract. This should be a fun one.
START: Eagles RB Brian Westbrook; Cowboys WR Terrell Owens, Cowboys TE Jason Witten.
SIT: Cowboys RB Julius Jones.

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, Monday night, 5:30 p.m. — I expect both Ben Roethlisberger and Steve McNair to have solid games, but the key to the matchup is which running back (Willie Parker or Willis McGahee) is able to control the game.
START: Steelers TE Heath Miller; Ravens WR Derrick Mason.
SIT: Steelers WR Santonio Holmes.
LAST WEEK'S CALLS
John Carpenter's Halloween: I sensed RB LaMont Jordan (12 carries for 16 yards) and QB Jon Kitna (268 yards and no scores) were headed for impending doom. I also advised starting LenDale White (25 carries for 133 yards) and Lee Evans (five receptions for 138 yards and a TD).
Rob Zombie's Halloween: I said Drew Brees would be solid, not spectacular. Well, he was spectacular to the tune of 336 yards and four touchdowns. I also said sit Marques Colston (85 yards, 3 TDs). I must have been eating paint chips again.

Also, if anyone wants to send questions about lineups or matchups, feel free. Read more on this article...

Win the West: Week 9 predictions

Ok, so I guess the title of this feature is becoming less relevant the more clear it becomes that the 49ers can't, in fact, "Win the West." But we'll keep trying to beat each other, even if the 49ers don't seem to care about beating anyone themselves.

I've learned my lesson, and it only took five consecutive losses to do it. I'm not picking the 49ers until they prove that they: a) want to win, and b) are capable of winning. That means I'm not even picking them against the lowly Falcons this week. And, as it turns out, I'm the only one not picking them this week. Bunch of homers.

Last week I moved all the way up into a tie for last place, instead of being alone in last place. And with a 2-0 week, Ben moved into a tie for first with Chris. Here are this week's picks:

Ben (15-5, 2-0 last week)
San Francisco 17, Atlanta 14
Seattle 28, Cleveland 24
Tampa Bay 20, Arizona 17

Chris (15-5, 1-1 last week)
San Francisco 10, Atlanta 6
Seattle 33, Cleveland 31
Tampa Bay 20, Arizona 19

Nick (14-6, 1-1 last week)
San Francisco 20, Atlanta 14
Cleveland 28, Seattle 23
Tampa Bay 23, Arizona 20

JR (12-8, 0-2 last week)
San Francisco 24, Atlanta 13
Cleveland 31, Seattle 14
Tampa Bay 28, Arizona 23

James (11-9, 1-1 last week)
Atlanta 27, San Francisco 10
Cleveland 34, Seattle 24
Tampa Bay 26, Arizona 14

Eddie (11-9, 0-2 last week)
San Francisco 27, Atlanta 13
Seattle 31, Cleveland 28
Tampa Bay 17, Arizona 10 Read more on this article...

Hit List: We're Screwed

This week in Hit List, we try to break down just what is wrong with the 2-5 San Francisco 49ers after their 31-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

GOOD DAY, faithful readers. Nick here again with your weekly 49ers Observer Hit List. As you probably know by now, the Niners pretty much rolled out the red carpet last Sunday for the New Orleans Saints and threw a gigantic welcome back party for Drew Brees, Marques Colston and fifty-one of their closest friends. I guess Mike Nolan's boys figured that with the rest of the NFL pretty much manhandling the Saints in 2007, it would be a good idea to just do what the Niners did last year against New Orleans and get their collective red and gold asses kicked in truly glorious fashion.

(RANDOM OBSERVATION - the 49ers lost to the Saints 34-10 last year playing in New Orleans, while they lost 31-10 to the Saints this year playing in San Francisco. Maybe the 49ers are just three points better defensively in 2007 — taking in account the absence of Manny "Man-Law" Lawson due to injury — than they were in 2006? Ugh.)

So what went wrong against the Saints? Just about everything on both sides of the ball. It's as if all the tiny things that personally worry me about the Mike Nolan San Francisco 49ers got together at a Starbucks, collectively reared their evil heads while drinking various caffeinated beverages, and said, "Hey Nick! Remember us? All those little aspects of the post-Mariucci 49ers that completely sucked ass? No? Well, let's figuratively take you back to 2005 and show you what it was like."

I'm not going to go into the Saints game any more than that. It's just too depressing. I'd probably just be writing about how I was right about Walt Harris and Shawntae Spencer, and I don't feel like wasting my time again. Instead, this edition of Hit List is going to end quickly and painlessly with a short and concise list of why I think the 49ers' offense is pretty much screwed in 2007. Enjoy.

Nick's Opinion On Why The 49ers' Offense Is Broken

• 1. THE O-LINE - The 49ers' O-line cannot protect the quarterback in 2007 (whether it's Smitty or The Dilf) or open holes for the running game because each member of the line has an issue. Left tackle Jonas Jennings has a personal problem disrupting his game, but only Ronnie Lott knows what that could possibly be (word is that Jennings is not drinking Nolan's Kool-Aid this year, but really it could all be BS). Left guard Larry Allen is old and slow. Center Eric Heitmann is probably not fully recovered from a broken leg. Right guard Justin Smiley isn't playing his heart out because he didn't get a big contract extension and less talented NFL guards are making way more money than he is (feel free to disagree with me if you want; you could be right, and I could be 100 percent wrong). Right tackle Joe Staley is young and inexperienced.

• 2. THE QB - Quarterback Alex Smith is not only still (yes, STILL) developing, but also currently injured. So not only is he liable to throw with less poise and accuracy than most other, more seasoned NFL quarterbacks due to his level of experience, but having his shoulder kind of just hanging off his arm probably doesn't help either. And because of reason No. 1, most of the time Smitty has to either throw to his check-down guy or run for his life on a good number of passing plays, which leads to Smitty getting hit by large, angry defensive linemen ... which doesn't move the ball downfield or help his detached shoulder much.

• 3. THE WIDE RECEIVERS - If you look at any of the 49ers wide receivers, there are issues. Darrell Jackson is a lazy, unfocused hippie with bad hands and a busted knee. Arnaz Battle has great hands, but lacks breakaway speed (and there's always the long-standing argument that Battle would be the third option at receiver for any other NFL team). Ashley Lelie has the legs, but not the necessary work ethic or the focus to contribute consistently. Bryan Gilmore is sub-par in almost every category. Jason Hill has great upside as a rookie, but has been out with a hamstring injury and needs more experience. Taylor Jacobs was waived by the Niners earlier this season, but he couldn't catch the ball OR run his routes correctly when he was given the chance. In short, the 49ers receiving core still kind of sucks.

• 4. THE PLAY-CALLING - All you need to read about the 49ers offensive play-calling you can read right here. Offensive coordinator Master Jim Hostler tells it much better than I can. And since Mike Nolan knows almost nothing about offense (he doesn't even carry a play chart with him during games, and at times he takes his headset off completely when the 49ers have the ball on offense), he can't fire Jim Hostler. If Hostler is shown the door, there will be absolutely no one to call the plays. Nolan knows this, and thus has no solution to any of the problems on offense.

Thus, as far as I can see it, the 49ers are probably screwed this season. Can they win in Atlanta this weekend? I honestly have no clue whatsoever, and that's the sad truth I have come to terms with regarding this year's team. Keep a look out next week for the next installment HIT LIST. I'm out of here. Here is who I liked and didn't like last Sunday against the Saints:

San Jose Mercury News columnist Ann Killion will pen an article trying to protect you from the evil coaching demon that is Mike Nolan: Alex Smith, Patrick Willis, Michael Robinson, Vernon Davis, Marques Douglas and Andy Lee.

Joe Nedney is giving you the finger because you really suck lately: Shawntae Spencer, Walt Harris, Maurice Hicks and Isaac Sopoaga. Read more on this article...

In the Tunnel: Atlanta Falcons

The term "must-win" game has been thrown around a lot already this season for the 49ers, but I don't think there is a strong enough term for how important this next game against the Atlanta Falcons is for the team. "Do or Die" may be more appropriate. "Win or lose your fans" is probably the most accurate. This is a game the team is actually supposed to win, and when do you remember the last time that was the case?

The Niners have been bad, but the Falcons have been worse. Hell, San Francisco has twice as many wins as the hapless Birds. Even though it's on the road and the home team is three-point favorite (and it doesn't look as though it'll be a full house) this game is extremely winnable. The Falcons obviously haven't dealt with the loss of Michael (look out for your corn-hole, bud) Vick well, and they've got some pretty substantial internal problems as their rookie head coach, Bobby Petrino, has been openly questioned by some of the veterans on his team. When you pile on the injuries they've had to deal with, the Falcons have been playing from behind the 8-ball most of the season.

FALCONS OFFENSE

Offensive Line
Injuries to both starting tackles and an interior line unit that has a knock on it for not being very physical have clearly limited the Falcons' ability to run the football (along with the absence of the mobile Vick, of course). Left tackle Wayne Gandy went down in the first week of October with a torn ACL and is out for the season. Second-year player Quinn Ojinnaka from Syracuse has shifted from the right side to take his spot and will start there this week. Starting right tackle Todd Weiner has also been having knee problems but could play coming off the bye week. His availability remains to be seen. As of today, Weiner is listed behind second-year player Tyson Clabo.

This potential lineup could bode well for the 49ers pass rushing unit if two backup tackles end up with the responsibility of protecting the Falcons' quarterback and generating some push in the running game. Neither of them were in the league prior to last year, and considering Bryant Young and Marques Douglas have about eleventy billion starts on their respective resumes, these young men could be in for a long, and perhaps educational day.

Quarterback

The aforementioned quarterback would be the ever-disappointing Joey Harrington. It's been said that during his time with the Detroit Lions, Harrington was the most valuable player in the NFC North ... for the Packers, Vikings and Bears. If you check his stat line, he sure did more to help Chicago win than Rex Grossman ever did. This guy was a turnover machine.

The grown man who still calls himself "Joey" showed some flashes of breathtaking mediocrity early on this season but was ultimately benched in favor of newly acquired but now injured quarterback Byron Leftwich (who looks really stoked in his official roster picture). Leftwich was injured before the bye week in his first start, a loss to the Saints, and had to have ankle surgery that will likely hold him out for another four weeks.

Chris Redman is the backup this weekend, and if Harrington comes out and lays an egg (which is definitely possible), then Petrino will have to make a decision the equivalent of choosing poop vs. pee.

Running Backs

The Falcons' running duties have fallen on the "ageless" Warrick Dunn, who's finally starting to show signs of slowing down. His yards per touch are a paltry 3.1 which begs the question of why the Falcons haven't given more chances to exciting second-year man Jerious Norwood, who's averaging 5.8 yards per touch this season.

As of this week, Norwood only has 20 fewer total yards than Dunn, and Dunn has 48 more touches. Makes you wonder what's been happening in practice for Petrino to stick to his guns on this one. It's obvious Dunn won't be around much longer, and with Vick now gone, defenses can tee off on him in obvious running situations. They'd be better off getting the younger, more productive player in at this point, but if they want to keep throwing Dunn to the wolves (or cats in this case), that's their problem.

Wide Recievers

One of the more prominent free agent acquisitions for the Falcons this offseason was wideout Joe Horn (of Cell Phone Celebration fame). Although he'd definitely lost a step or two, it was thought that his age and experience would help an erratic Vick-led passing game to garner some consistency. So much for the best laid plans. Horn is the starter going into this week, but so far he's only had 14 catches, placing him third among Falcons wide recievers.

The other starting reciever, Roddy White, is finally starting to live up to his potential in his third season and has proven to be the favorite target of whoever the hell the Falcons have been starting at quarterback so far. He leads the team in receptions and yards and is on pace to become the first Atlanta wide reciever to breach the 1,000 yard mark since 1999.

Slot-man Michael Jenkins is second on the team in receptions and has played relatively well considering the shaky passing game. He's big (6-foot-4) and has good speed, and that has been good enough to get him a couple touchdowns already this season. He'll definitely have to be accounted for in the red zone.

Tight Ends

Alge Crumpler has been one of the most consistent and productive offensive players for Atlanta over the past several seasons. He's been banged up and is clearly frustrated with the Falcons' progress so far, and that's translated into a pretty poor statistical year. He's listed as questionable with a knee/ankle injury that kept him out for the New Orleans game two weeks ago, but with the added rest of the bye week he could be ready to go. He's given San Francisco problems in the past going through the middle, and considering the here today-gone tomorrow coverage ability of non-beer-man Michael Lewis, the 49ers would be pretty pleased to see backup TE Dwayne Blakely starting in Crumpler's place.

FALCONS DEFENSE

Defensive Line

One of the more controversial moves the Falcons have made this season was the recent release of mammoth defensive tackle Grady Jackson. Jackson was leading the team in tackles for loss and has since been snapped up by the Jaguars. His release came as a shock to most of his teammates, especially veteran DeAngelo Hall who had some choice words for his coach and front office after the news came through.

Jackson's replacement will be rookie defensive tackle Trey Lewis, who made his last start for Division II Washburn College. This kid's shown some ability (he somehow has recorded an interception this year) in his brief time on the field, but it's obvious that the 49ers will try to exploit his inexperience and run in his direction frequently, putting added pressure on third-year defensive tackle Rod Coleman to pick up the slack.

Defensive ends

John Abraham and rookie Jamaal Anderson from Arkansas are more than capable of holding down their respective positions, and Abraham leads the team with 5 sacks. Anderson was a first-round pick this year, and at 6-6 and 280 pounds, he fits the profile of a run-stopping defensive end quite well. He has yet to record his first sack, though, and has only tallied 16 total tackles, so he hasn't provided the impact the Falcons were hoping for. He'll be up against fellow first-rounder Joe Staley most of the afternoon, so it could be a good opportunity to see who got the better selection for their money.

Generally speaking, starting two rookies on a four-man defensive line is risky business. There'll be no excuses for the 49ers' big men up front this week not to establish something in the run game and provide some decent protection to their battered quarterback.

Linebackers

Middle linebacker Michael Boley has been playing pretty well this season and leads the team in tackles. He's also shown some ability in the passing game, as he's snagged a couple of interceptions and forced a fumble.

He's bookended by veteran standout Keith Brooking on the strong side and Demorrio Williams on the weak side. Brooking is a smart player and has managed to still contend for the lead in tackles but is still looking for his first sack, interception or forced fumble. It's clear that Brooking is on the downside of his career, but still provides the leadership to keep himself playing.

Williams, on the other hand, has got good speed (a requisite for the position) and has two picks this year. It will be interesting to see which, if any, of these players will be matched up against tight end Vernon Davis, as Davis likely has the speed and size to dominate any of the players in this unit.

Cornerbacks

The aforementioned DeAngelo Hall is one of the better cornerbacks in the league but has clearly been frustrated with the team's performance and is less than pleased with the decisions of his head coach and front office. He's only got two interceptions this season (the only picks of any of the starting secondary) and it's likely due to the fact that running against the Falcons hasn't proven to be very difficult — something that won't improve without Grady Jackson — and most teams are playing with the lead against them, not needing to throw the ball.

Hall's counterpart, veteran CB Lewis Sanders, has been a journeyman player most of his career. Prior to this season he had only made 19 starts in seven seasons, and seven of them came with the Texans last year. He's yet to account for any takeaways this year and is a much more favorable target to throw at than Hall.

Safeties

Veteran Lawyer Milloy is the most recognizable name in this unit, and he still has the smarts to play at a fairly high level. His deteriorating speed means that his coverage skills aren't very strong, and for that reason he's playing the strong safety position, where he can still support in the run game and short yardage passing. This is another reason to look out for Vernon Davis to have a big game, because unless the Falcons bring in an extra corner to match with his speed, he should be able to find some seams in the middle.

Free safety Chris Crocker (no, not that Chris Crocker) was acquired prior to last season in a trade with the Browns and has now found himself in the starting lineup. He's faster than Milloy but that hasn't translated into much production, as he's also yet to record his first takeaway. With guys like Davis and Lelie on the field, there should be some matchup problems that 49ers can exploit.

Special Teams

Let me just take the opportunity to throw some love to Morten Anderson. The guy is 47 years old and still making it happen as a kicker in the NFL. When you think about it, there are only 32 men in the world that get to say they kick for an NFL squad and this guy's basically had a spot ready and waiting for him for the last 25 years. His leg definitely isn't what it used to be, but he's still dead-on-balls accurate within 40 yards, and that entitles him to earn at least the league minimum of $595,000 for a solid 16 hours of work. Mr. Anderson, you're a better man than I, and you're still rocking that 2-bar facemask, you big pimp.

That being said, don't look for the Falcons to attempt too many kicks beyond the 30 yard line. Instead, they'll have to call on punter Michael Koenen to either punt or try to convert a long field goal. He was handling all three kicking duties (field goals, kickoffs and punts) for the first three games, but after converting only 3 of 8 field-goal tries, they decided to bring in Anderson. Koenen's got a strong leg with some accuracy, to boot (no pun intended). He dropped 25 punts inside the 20-yard line last season while averaging more than 42 yards per punt. He's not having as strong a season so far, but he's a solid punter to say the least. Let's hope we see plenty of him kicking without the aid of a tee.

Jerious Norwood has been taking the bulk of the kickoff return duties and has done fairly well. He's an explosive player, as I mentioned before, but hasn't been spectacular in this role. He's averaging just over 26 yards per return so far this season.

Punt returns are still mostly an open job for the Falcons, and they've yet to find someone that provides a significant threat to break a long one. This probably has something to do with the lack of punt return opportunities generated by the defense.

Overview

Plainly, the Falcons have struggled this season, and really any team in their situation probably would. A rookie coach, the suspension of their best player, loads of injuries at the QB and OL positions and a defensive unit struggling to find its identity. There has been strife internally thanks mostly to the mounting losses, but this team has shown some resilliancy playing a tough schedule in the NFC South. I've only seen a few games of theirs, but they can be successful if Harrington shows up to play.

I really like the Niner's chances in this game, but as we all know, I've said that more than once over the past six weeks. I get the feeling, however, that at some point this season, the San Francisco offense will find their sealegs and start producing at least a respectable amount of yards and points. Once that occurs, the defensive play will probably improve as well, as they'll be able to take some chances and create points of their own. If this scenario is ever going to play out, there likely won't be a better chance than this weekend, as the Falcons are really in disarray and have some glaring mismatches on both sides of the ball. Nolan and company are hopefully preparing an aggresive play-calling strategy to exploit these mismatches and finally show some life and willingness to get back in the NFC West chase.

If the Niners do find a way to lose this game, well, I don't even want to think about that. But rest assured, heavy substance abuse will follow the final whistle on behalf of this writer, probably on the beach. Read more on this article...

Line of Scrimmage: The Chia Pet debate

In this week's installment of Line of Scrimmage, Ben and JR debate whether Mike Nolan's goatee is the source of all evil for the 49ers right now ... and whether Chia Pets are making a comeback.

YES: Coach Nolan, please consider this an open letter. I know you like the goatee you're now sporting and, perhaps, you think it makes you look cool or older or something. Who knows. And I'm not indifferent to the subject, since I can't grow a consistent goatee to save my life. But, I'm here to tell you that the goatee is the source of all things wrong with the 49ers.

I'm envisioning it as a tough-guy symbol, and that's a good vibe to send to a team that appears to be about as tough as Screech from Saved By The Bell. But come on. Pretending to be tough isn't going to suddenly make Alex Smith get up in a defensive lineman's face and say bring it on. It's not going to make Ashley Lelie accelerate quicker from a cornerback playing bump-and-run coverage. The goatee sends a false message to your team, a message that says you're a guy who takes risks and lives on the edge. As Andy Lee can attest (as his leg is falling off from overuse), you really don't gamble enough to wear the facial hair.

Want another reason to ditch the facial hair? It clashes with the suits. You worked hard to get the NFL to let you sport a suit and, even though Reebok makes it, I think it's a classy move. Add the goatee and you just look confused. Which is it? Rebel without a cause or guy whose leisure suit is at the dry cleaners? It's got to be one or the other, and if you pick the goatee, I suggest going Bill Belichick style and pulling on a hoody. Then you can grow a full beard and we can all call you Grizzly Adams. That's tough, my friend.

Finally, as superstitious as athletes are, I'm surprised you haven't sacrificed the facial hair already. This team needs a change of luck. Change your hairstyle, your socks (twice a day), your shoes, I don't care. Change whatever you need to in order to get this team back on track. Will shaving the goatee save the season? Probably not. But hey, isn't anything worth trying right now given the way your team is playing? I'll stand in line to give you a shave if it means a couple more wins.

— Ben

NO: Ok, this is kind of a toughie for me because generally I think goatees are the stuff of Camaro IROC Z-28 drivers and Kid Rock enthusiasts, but I will say that in the realm of sports, facial hair can be a significant beneficial factor. In my opinion, Nolan's beard is, by itself, ineffective and unnecessary, but if it were made mandatory for the entire team for the remainder of the season, we could be talking about an entirely different story.

My reasoning here? Three words: Hockey. Playoff. Beards.

If the team started to grow them (and yes, even Alex Smith should try), then what you've done is taken an act of individualism and turned it into and act of solidarity amongst the team. Guys in the NHL have been doing it every year. When the playoffs start, the razor goes on the shelf and the intensity turns up.

I know hockey isn't the most popular sport in the world, and more than likely most readers of this site don't know the difference between a one-timer and the one-hole, but if you've ever watched a significant amount of even one playoff game, you know that these guys go after the Stanley Cup like it owes them money. They've lived their whole lives for those opportunities, and they'll kill one another to be able to hoist that hardware over their heads in victory.

This is the sense of urgency the 49ers need to be playing with now to salvage this frustrating season. With five losses already, they can only drop two more and still finish above .500 and have any legitimate shot at the playoffs. That means they need to win seven of their last nine games, and how likely does that sound after dropping five straight?

Enter the beards. Hell, maybe the fans should start growing them too. What can it hurt? In times of crisis, teams need to draw together, and they need the support of their fans. We were all going to wear suits this year to support Nolan — why not grow some fuzz? (Not you ladies. Keep those upper lips waxed, please.)

— JR

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