This was a difficult weekend for me. The Ducks lost, the Niners lost, and I haven’t heard from Juan since he went into hiding after owing Russian gangsters $15,000. I’m genuinely nervous for him and feel awful for kicking him out on the street to deal with it on his own. I probably could’ve been a better friend, but we all know what the Russians do to family and friends of enemies… He did take a bat with him though and some granola bars, which is more than enough for a man like Juan Marichal to live off of. He’s a little like Bear Grylls.
We once got lost is the Sierra Nevada in the middle of winter and just when I was desperate enough eat him, he found a bigfoot lost in a blizzard. He then knocked the bigfoot out cold with his trusty baseball bat, carved him up right there with his hands and teeth, made a fire and shelter, and we feasted for the next few days. He kept us both alive and soon after, led us off the mountain and back to civilization… What do you think about that, Johnny Roseboro?
Anyways, I’m sure he’s fine. Let’s get on to another wrap-up of the 49er game this past Sunday.
The Niners again failed to play a complete game this week and paid for it with their fourth consecutive loss 34-27, making their record 3-5.
The Niners had the lead again going into half, 17-10, but lost control in the second half and gave Vince Young and the Titans their second win of the season. This loss is especially disheartening because of all the errors the Niners committed and inability to dominate a Titans team that was clearly inferior.
Addressing the important points from the pregame, I said Alex Smith would have to make plays for us to win and the Niners passing game would need to step up to win this game. Smith definitely made some plays alright… He tossed three interceptions and fumbled the ball twice, one of which was lost. Most of the Niners turnovers led to scores for the Titans and it was our undoing. When Smith is forced to make plays and keep control of the game, he seems to get worse and it showed in a disastrous fourth quarter.
The honeymoon has been over for years now and we are sick of you. You said you'd change, but you haven't. I'm sorry Alex, but I think we should see other people.
VY on the other hand looked just as bad. He can’t throw the ball, makes poor decisions, isn’t as great of a scrambler as we all have thought, but still managed to make plays when he needed to, even if luck had a lot to do with it. The most obvious example of this was his 30 yards pass to Justin Gage on third and long in the fourth quarter. This was the turning point and effectively decided the game. The drive ended with a Chris Johnson touchdown run on fourth down, which put the Titans up for good.
Pretty awful. I’m glad Juan wasn’t around to see the game.
The Niners defense played well and dealt with a lot of pressure throughout the whole game, because of the offensive woes and penchant for turning the ball over in horrible situations. They faced tough field position all game and went up against the NFL’s leading rusher, Chris Joshson.
Johnson ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns. He is really good at what he does and is lucky enough to look like the Predator.
What else is there to say? They look like brothers.
Still, one man shouldn’t be able to beat a whole defense. The defense is supposed to be better than this, Patrick Willis is the best linebacker in the NFL, but he can’t make every single tackle.
The inconsistency of this Niner team is really troublesome. They haven’t won since drubbing the worst team in the NFL, the Rams, and have dropped two games behind the Arizona Cardinals. They need to fix the leaking very soon or the ship will go down big time.
Even after their fourth straight loss the team still seemed upbeat and confident as Patty Will said after the game, “We’re just going to continue to work, continue to fight as a team. We’ve got a lot of football left.” I believe everything P Will says, I would trust him with my unborn child’s life, but how long can the Niners keep this up? The team has totally bought into Singletary’s philosophy and does everything he’s asked of them, except win. The spirit of the team has to be down after losing so many close games due to poor quarterback play and constant pressure on the defense. They can say how positive they are after every game, but if the inconsistency continues we might see the wheels fall off and the thoughts of a playoff team might end up as a four or five win team.
Looking ahead, big Thursday night game at Candlestick for the Niners this week against the Bears, Coach Singletary’s former team. Hopefully we spank the sorry Bears and get back to our smash mouth type of football. Give to Frank, who had a good game against the Titans, and hope the offensive live blocks. Something needs to happen.
That's how we're starting to feel, Chilo...
Questions for next week and beyond…
• What are we going to do about the quarterback? This was the biggest question of the offseason and it’s back in the spotlight. Smith isn’t that good. We all need to accept the fact that he is a major bust, one of the worst number 1 picks of all time, and just get over it. He showed us what we’ve all know him to be and turned the ball over four, almost five times, crippling us and taking us out of our game. Contrary to general thought, I believe the offense, not the defense needs to protect the lead. Keep possession, add scores, pad the lead, and not put pressure on your defense. Shaun Hill had his shot and just isn’t strong or talented enough to make plays. Sooner or later, Coach Sing needs to start thinking about getting rookie Nate Davis some snaps. Davis is young, but very skilled and showed some potential in the preseason. If the Niners continue to lose with Smith, they should look to Nate Davis and try to start anew. Who knows, maybe he’ll be a breakout rookie like Joe Flacco for Baltimore, Matt Ryan for Atlanta, or even Josh Freeman, who led the previously winless Bucs to their first win of the season on Sunday. The problems at quarterback is an emergency and without quality play from the QB, you’re destined to lose. Hopefully Jimmy Raye can come up with a gameplan that will suit Alex Smith and not put too much pressure on him like on Sunday against the Titans. Obviously, my suggestion along with the suggestion of Niner Nation to open up the pass game sort of backfired on us. Clearly, the offense isn’t ready to open up like that. It’s really sad, because we have really good receivers, but no one to get them the ball.
• How much can the defense take? They play so hard and are led by the best defensive player in the NFL, but still can’t catch a break. Other than the Atlanta game, the defense has been playing like an elite NFL unit. Luckily, the Bears are weaker on the offensive side of the ball and should be a nice change of pace for the Niners, especially after four straight weeks against teams with high-powered offenses and Chris Johnson. One thing they need to do is generate turnovers. They’ve struggled to score on defense and get turnovers that were so vital in the first four games of the season. Get back on it, defense.
This past week was supposed to be a must win; the Niners didn’t win, so this week will have to be the must win. Can’t lose too much ground on the Cardinals. A few more losses like this and we’re out of it.
Now if I could only find Juanito.
