Originally posted by oldman9er:
Looks tough to me, but if we have evolved like I think we have? Then we can make the best of it. Starting out @ GB... man, that's tough. The silver-lining to that is, we can seriously come out and stun the Packers. I don't suspect our coaches to just plod out there with a ton of what we did last season... so hopefully we will be pretty creative and unpredictable out of the gate. Packers game-planning for our "same old same old"... we give them something unexpected. With a full offseason, we maybe don't need that typical 1/4 of the season to get the engine firing on all cylinders.
It's ugly when you start out a season with your first two games ending in a loss. We really need to yank one of those Ws. Hell, let's get em both. Nothing like starting out a season "outdueling" the Great Aaron Rodgers and then thumbing your nose at Jim Schwartz and his merry band of thugs. 
Exactly. I wouldn't even use the word "stun". We could very well top the Packers for the reasons you mentioned. All the new pieces on offense work to the Niners' advantage for 2 reasons:
1. Upgraded talent in the receiving corps gives Smith options on the field and Harbaugh/Roman options in the playbook
2. Normally I'd worry that the offense would take some time to jell, but the core group is intact. Furthermore, look at what Harbs did in 2011 with a brand new unit he only had a month to work with.
The Green Bay game is a great opener IMO. Firstly, we get to the play in Lambeau when the weather is warm. Second, it will tell us right out the gate how far this team has come.
As you said, we need to win at least one of those first two. I can see them winning both and if not, I'm damn sure they're gonna knock out Detroit on Sunday night at the 'Stick's opener. Cully did a nice job containing Calvin Johnson as a rook last year, look for him to make a nice leap this yr.
[ Edited by NinerPrideinNJ on Jul 6, 2012 at 7:59 AM ]