Originally posted by B650:
It sort of matters because the past few years it seems our mentality was to just keep the game close. With that mentality you end up with a lot of close losses. See MNF last year @ Arizona. So yeah, being able to win by a large margin is better than hoping to win by a FG every game. Anything can happen in the NFL. You don't want to play games and decide them in the final seconds. I don't think the 80s and 90's 49ers thought, "Hmm. Let's try to keep it close. If we win by 3 or 20, it doesn't matter." They tried to destroy their opponents. If you aim for a blowout, sometimes you fail and only win by 3. If you aim to win by a FG, sometimes you fail and lose by 2 touchdowns. My point is, I think it does matter how we play, what our mentality is, and how many points we win by.
If you are referring to my post, I was not saying "it doesn't matter how we play", I meant it doesn't matter what's been done in years past. Different coach, different coordinator, different mindset.
Nobody wants to gameplan to win by 3 points. That's foolish. The object is to score on every drive, every possession. Nolan's gameplanning included winning by 3 points, which in turn is coaching "not to lose". I seriously doubt that's what Sing and Raye are preaching.
Singletary's coaching philosophy, I believe, is to wear the opponent down with a heavy, properly executed rushing attack, to set up the pass. To not turn the ball over and to play aggressive defense and force turnovers. If the 49ers can come close to accomplishing these basic fundamental goals, I doubt if many games will be very "close".
There is no substitute for a hard-nosed rushing attack. Opponents will be on their knees by the 4th quarter, ESPECIALLY teams in our division.