How do you feel going into week 1 after preseason?

Concerned. The crabtree situation frusrtates me. I can't blame them for drafting him and don't know what they could have done different to sign him.

I wish shaun hill showed more in the preseason.

I wish we had done something about the pass rush.

On the bright side I am excited about our running with frank & beans.

I also like that nate davis and briggs 'took' roster spots.

Almost forgot, nate clements coverage also has me concerned!

Originally posted by Xestenz:

Originally posted by ninerfan818:

Originally posted by lamontb:
As of right now i'm hopeful things will come together and the team will be better than last year. doesn't change all the glaring holes that this team has. what just kills me is that this team didn't attempt to fix one of the glaring problems at all. No qb solution. No pass rush solution, and no pass protection solution. It's going on 3/4 years of the exact same problems that aren't even attempting to be fixed.

I know, it's a damn shame. It is the same team plus a real back-up for Gore. Scotty McGM is clueless. I know Sing can motivate but he can't work magic

One definition of insanity is the do things the exact same way and expect a different result.

Yeah like Martz calling seven step drops last year even after it became obvious to all that the line couldn't pass block that long...

Like the two grounds crew members from the movie Major League

"They're still Sh!tty"

I'm surprised so many fans have so little optimism! Singletary changed the "tone" and that turned the team around last year.

Now he's building a team to keep games close and wear them down in the fourth quarter. Since the starters were never on the field that long in preseason, we won't really know if that strategy will work until the regular season starts.

Do I have worries? Of course, we all do! Is the depth on the o-line good enough? Can a line built for run-blocking pass-block well enough when needed? If the team gets behind, does it have the where-with-all to mount a comeback? Do we have the pass-rush needed to create third and longs or better yet, turnovers?

But I think back to the Nolan era, when good teams used to have us down by three touchdowns or more in the first half, and I'm POSITIVE this team will be better than that.

As bad as the team was in Dallas, the were only down seven points at halftime. That's ONE PLAY, guys!

I still think were surprise the world and win the west. I say at least 10-6!

The only thing I am really worried about it the QB position. If Hill continues to stink it up, what do we do then? Is Smith going to get another chance? I think it is the only option, to throw Davis in at this point in his career might just do for it what it did for Smith. We have a career backup at starting QB and that is not good any way you want to look at it. Not only that, but the pass blocking looks so suspect at the moment that it might not make any difference who is taking snaps. I cannot wait for the excuses to pick back up when Hill struggles, it is going to be so funny seeing guys trying to use the same excuses that they wouldn't give Smith a pass on to excuse Hills poor play. Hypocrites of the webzone...I am watching for you.

Originally posted by bret:
I'm surprised so many fans have so little optimism! Singletary changed the "tone" and that turned the team around last year.

Now he's building a team to keep games close and wear them down in the fourth quarter. Since the starters were never on the field that long in preseason, we won't really know if that strategy will work until the regular season starts.

Do I have worries? Of course, we all do! Is the depth on the o-line good enough? Can a line built for run-blocking pass-block well enough when needed? If the team gets behind, does it have the where-with-all to mount a comeback? Do we have the pass-rush needed to create third and longs or better yet, turnovers?

But I think back to the Nolan era, when good teams used to have us down by three touchdowns or more in the first half, and I'm POSITIVE this team will be better than that.

As bad as the team was in Dallas, the were only down seven points at halftime. That's ONE PLAY, guys!

I still think were surprise the world and win the west. I say at least 10-6!

Sing is a Nolan guy. This is his 5th season here. This is not a new era. It is just a reshuffling of job titles. It is mind boggling. Five freaking years of this now.

On a side note, I find it hilarious and appropriate that Sing hired a guy who mentored Hostler. Sing wants this to be the team that you saw during the first two games of 2007. Do you remember the uproar over that team despite the fact that we started 2-0? That type of football will never go over well here. This "brain trust", and I use that term very loosely, can only be working on the assumption that they have reduced fan expectations to the point where they will now accept anything. I'm telling you right now that this fan base is smarter than that. Give it three months. The Zone will be rioting. When should we start the Official Hire Shanahan thread?

Originally posted by singfan:
When should we start the Official Hire Shanahan thread?

As soon as you get banned. Hopefully soon

Rams>49ers

I like what Singletary is doing to change the tone of this team and trying to create a more physical attitude on both sides of the ball, but I just don't know if we have the overall talent to execute on the field. Being a physical team is one thing, but executing on a consistent basis that translates into wins is something else.

Originally posted by ninersrule4:
Rams>49ers

Ouch. Not sure things are that bad.

Problem is, our off-season balloon has deflated.

We thought that Marvel Smith would be a solid upgrade @ RT -- didn't work out.

We thought we were lucky having Crabtree 'fall' to us in the draft -- so far, hasn't worked out.

We thought that the new scheme + allowing Lawson to focus on pass rush would improve the defense -- so far hasn't worked out, and unless there is unseen 'magic', won't work out.

We thought we had our 'best depth in a long time' @ receiver -- so far they have all more or less underperformed. No one has lit it up...

We thought that Hill as the obvious and early starter would mean he could settle in and get comfortable, resulting in even better play. So far we have seen none of this either (still too early to tell, but hasn't looked good.)

We thought the 'Physical with an F' attitude and training camp would mean asserting dominance on the field. Still too early to tell, but all we've seen so far is a slightly improved running attack, and pretty much status quo otherwise.

Most, if not all, of the things we were high on have fizzled so far. I can totally understand the lack of optimism.

Given all this, I'm waiting until the first game to pass real judgement on this team.

It is a long shot, but who knows? Maybe the defense will swarm and create havoc. Maybe our O-line will dominate and wear down defenses.

It would just be nice to see SOME evidence.

Hope is not a strategy!

[ Edited by Xestenz on Sep 6, 2009 at 12:02:29 ]

not looking good

Originally posted by ZRF80:
It's amazing how one player can change the entire outlook of a team. Plug in Brett Favre (not that Id want him) instead of Hill, and all of a sudden we become conference favorites.

I know front management is trying to take the long road to success (ala the Patriots and Colts), but recent trends have demonstrated that it is much easier to transform into a successful team with key free agent plugs. Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, and Chad Pennington (just to name a few) all turned dismal teams into playoff contenders. The Niners do have the basic elements in place. Our defense may be suspect, but then again..........how many times has it had a chance to defend a lead ? It always seem we're playing from behind, and expecting our defense to make that big play to give our offense another chance.

As for offense, we have a good running game. A good running game is supposed to make life much easier for the QB and the passing game. Since we lack key elements in both those departments, our team has suffered.

Im not vying for Brett Favre or Kurt Warner, but it wouldnt hurt to just go uot and spend a whole lot of cash on a guy like Drew Brees (instead of wasting it on a bum like Crabtree) and giving our offense a major jolt.

After 7 years in the dumps, you'd think Niner brass would finally get a clue and give up trying to find that diamond in the rough. Im happy with NDavis, but Id like to see him develop behind a solid QB with a proven background.

There's one more important fact with all those teams:

They FIRED bad OL coaches and hired some of the best in the league or already had squads that were astute at developing OL talent - ie, best coaching their players on how to pass-block. Arizona, Wisenhunt used to be the OL coach of Steelers at one time; Atlanta hired one of best who used to be the OL coach under Shannahan during the big Denver running team days; Baltimore hired the former OL coach during the Rams superbowl years; Miami hires one of the best OL coaches and New Orleans has one of the best OL coaches in the game.

Contrast that to the 49ers. We hired Warhop who was FIRED in Dallas by Parcells and FIRED in Arizona because he never developed their line and suddenly they are taking former 2nd/3rd stringer 49ers (Kyle Kosier) and have one the best OLs in football. You would think we learned our lesson. NOPE. Nolan hires Chris Forrester who was FIRED in Miami and FIRED in Baltimore (part of the perennial losing staff under Billick) BEFORE Flacco arrived of course and they enjoyed success.

I know Singletary wants an "identity" but we need to start demanding the best everywhere - PLAYERS, COACHES AND SCHEMES because that's what we're up against every year.

I'm more excited about Cal football than the niners

Yeah, I hear you. I'm worried about Jimmy Raye Cyrus too. I'm not sold on him, BUT, we haven't seen any REAL play calling. Teams only use basic plays in preseason, and I'm worried that we couldn't really complete many of them, BUT, again, it's preseason. I'm willing to re-assess after Arizona and Seattle.

[ Edited by bsevenseven on Sep 6, 2009 at 12:54:28 ]