Can someone explain this to me??

Originally posted by buck:
I searched the internet for any indication that Haralson was hurt. I could not find a thing.

Haralson play with Saints seems to be about the same as the play of Lemonier/Skuta. It is hard to judge at this point.

The take on the Haralson trade is that the trade was made to give a good soldier the opportunity to be a starter.

Haralson will be a free agent next year. By trading him, the team gave him a chance to start now--and earn a good free agent contract.

I have no problem with the trade.

I agree. I think that this was an nfl code of honor trade or something like that. Haralson now, is a better run defender than skuta lemonier now, so he could have helped.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
Is this a different assignment for him than his first two games? No need to beat a dead horse with this. Just am hoping he is 100% after his hit.

Not really different. It just seemed to me that he was focusing deeper than the other games this time. I could be wrong - I'd have to go back and check all the games to be 100% sure but I WAS, indeed looking for Reid against the Rams. In most situations I was able to spot him it seemed like he was running in from quite a distance from the play (on the runs and crossing routes).

Originally posted by Rascal:
It is what it is.

I don't think Seattle had me shook, rather I think they had the 9ers shook. While our D played OK, Kap and the offense were obviously "shook". There is no excuse out of the 4 teams that they beat, we were the only team which failed to score a single TD. Even the Jaguars scored 17 at CLink when we only scored 3.

You could say the Texans nearly beat them. But, as much as they struggled in the Texans or the Panthers game, they still managed to pulled out with a W, that is what you call resolve. And our other loss to the Colts ? It was also a complete beatdown.

You can call it crowning, a prediction or whatever you wish. But, it has nothing to do with "giving up" on the 9ers. The 9ers will do OK, they will still get into the playoffs and may be win a wildcard game or even a divisional game. To most teams, that is not too shabby. It doesn't change the fact when I switch on the TV, I will still be supporting the 9ers.

But, some humility might go a long way in recognizing the merits of your opponents. Perhaps instead of laughing at your fellow 9ers fans in seeing what's going on, it might be more productive to discuss what the 9ers need to do in order to beat the Seahawks, be it in tactics and/or personnel. Just a suggestion.

First of all, I wasn't laughing at anyone. I was just displaying a little thing called "humor". Thought you might like it, 'sall.

As for what we need to do - in my opinion not much. To borrow our beloved QB's favorite quote, "We just need to play better..."

To be more specific, Kaepernick needs to not only see the field better, but see it faster. He needs to anticipate the defense more often than react to it.

The offense as a whole needs to run wham, wham, wham, and more wham. Am I the only one who notices that we almost DON'T FAIL on wham block runs? No matter what formation - yes...even the *gasp* PISTOL. Our offensive line gets the hype it does because nobody can stop the wham blocks no matter how many times we do em and no matter how much the D anticipates. Wham, wham, wham, screen (I've said before in another thread - Bruce Miller is almost guaranteed AT LEAST one 40 - 50 yard play on a fullback screen. He has the athleticism. Nobody's gonna see it coming. I dare a defense to be looking for it. The Seattle game would be a great time for it.

It is expected that, by the time we next play Seattle, we will have both Crabtree and Manningham on the field. What percentage of them we'll have, no one knows but even a 65% Crabtree is better that what we currently have on the other side of Boldin. His return will open up the possibility for slant routes for both he and Boldin and Manningham's speed will open up crossing routes for Vernon Davis. Their secondary is damn good but Boldin, Davis, the ghosts of Manningham & Crabtree should be overwhelming to them IF we're able to pull the safties to the front row with successful running (see wham plays). I wan't Earl Thomas thinking about Frank Gore. I want him shocked by Bruce Miller's ability to catch out of the backfield and run forward. I want their front seven frustrated by consistent pulls by Upati and Boone - and while they're focused on the guards, there goes Kaepernick on a designed QB run.

We just need to simply do what we do best with our best players on the field.

Defensively - well they need to just continue doing what they've been doing but blitz more....a lot more. Throw the house at Seattle. Their WRs are decent but I would test them in the first half. Only player I'd worry about with a heavy blitz strategy is Tarrell Brown and his tendency to lose track of the ball causing a pass interference (he does this...a LOT).

Of course, all of this is moot if Kaepernick is not up to speed (read wise) by the end of the season.

Here's a nice, detailed article on our success with the wham play:

http://www.ninersnation.com/2012/9/15/3338178/49ers-vs-lions-wham-play-coaches-film

Double post.

Originally posted by paulk205:
Seattle are a very good team and have a very good chance of doing damage in the playoffs, athough it's way too early to talk SB for anyone - all teams are one injury away from disaster. I find all this Seattle-related angst in this forum bizarre to say the least. Let's get our act sorted out first and get to the playoffs, and quit worrying about Seattle. Anyway, even if they do win it all, I would bet good money it's not going to be because they tend to sign our castoffs.

I mean, jeez, I liked Daniels as well, but this Nate Davis-like moaning and gnashing of teeth is hard to comprehend. It's all very simple: like about every other NFL team out there, we have a problem with backup QB. If the starter misses time, teams hope to get around .500 out of the backups starts. More often (recent history: Chicago, Houston, even the Raiders) the season is a writeoff because the backup doesn't cut it. Don't judge by Kaep last year, he was brought in exactly to be the QB of the future and he just got his chance earlier than planned.

So, the team have been trying all sorts of moves to address the back QB issue as much as it can be addressed: we traded (cheaply) for McCoy who had made actual NFL starts. He doesn't seem to be the answer. We tried Wallace for the same reason - and cut him for the same reason. Now we're bringing Skelton in. It's clear that management puts a whole lot of importance on having a veteran backup, and one that has actually started actual NFL games at that. A developmental QB is a luxury for their purposes. The PS is the place for such a player, and I'm sure they meant to put Daniels there if he cleared waivers. He didn't. Time to move on.

Cam: when season started everyone commented how stacked we were at OLB compared to last year, particularly if you count Tank coming back shortly. The Aldon debacle left a big unexpected hole there, but (1) it's not as if anyone expected his troubles to flare up so spectacularly; (2) Cam would still not have been the answer.

Hawkins: I was disappointed at him being cut, and I do think that of all the cuts he would have been the most help if he had stayed on. Kyle Williams (whom I usually support) has been a big disappointment both at WR and PR, although at least he holds on to the ball. Perhaps Hawkins would have been a better alternative, but that's all hindsight.

Our management sometimes gets unjustified credit for stacking the team with talent, when a lot of our stars were brought in during the previous, much-maligned regimes (both draft and FA - Justin anyone?). Similarly, they get lots of unjustified flak for not being able to sign every FA out there and not keeping every project in the world, as if there was no cap to fit under and no 45-man active squad to fit everyone in.

Well, Seattle is no doubt a genuine concern, so I don't understand why you say is bizarre. In all likelihood, the playoffs will have to go through Seattle, if we can't beat them, don't you think is a problem ? LOL.

Yes, in the meantime, we have to sort ourselves out, but I am sorry, the bulk of the moves the FO has made are at the very least questionable. Before we talk about BJ, let's talk about John Skelton. John Skelton, really ? The QB with the worst TD/INT % in 2012, 2TDs and 9 INTs. Do you like Skelton ? Besides, who signed McCoy in the first place ? Whether BJ can play now is debatable. At the very least, he outperformed McCoy and Tolzien in the preseason. And really what is the problem with playing a rookie ? Many teams do it. Why can't I judge Kap ? Can I judge other rookie QBs ? I will leave the top picks out of the discussion like Luck and RG3. What about Russell Wilson ? 3rd rounder right ? Too high up ? How about Kurt Cousins ? 4th rounder, how about it ? Still too high up ? You don't want me to pull the Tom Brady card, do you ? And by the way, we never played Wallace, oh sorry, my mistake, we did for 2 mins. We didn't even extend him the courtesy to evaluate him properly. All we did was we forced McCoy to take a massive paycut and nothing more.

OK, Cam, noone said he was the answer or anything along those lines. He was an improving player who could contribute and showed encouraging signs in the preseason. So, we traded him for a 7th, what's the sense in that ?

Hawkins, now we are talking. At least we agree on something. A dynamic player who can also return kicks. Can you explain to me, why did we cut him and kept only 5 WRs ? Didn't we learn anything from last year about injuries ? 5 WRs, really ? Even last year we had 6. OK, here we go again, Patton goes down with a fractured foot and we are left with 4 WRs unless you count Osgood on special teams. Could it be because Hawkins caused the 2 infamous penalties ? LOL. The kid apologized and that still wasn't good enough ? It was a preseason game for cry out loud. I am sorry this isn't hindsight, he already showed some of his worth in the preseason, but we just chose to ignore it.

Of course, we can't sign every single FA, that is not where the contention lies, is about signing the right ones.

BJ Daniels and Cam Johnson were stupid decisions on Ballke's part.

Originally posted by Rascal:

OK, Cam, noone said he was the answer or anything along those lines. He was an improving player who could contribute and showed encouraging signs in the preseason. So, we traded him for a 7th, what's the sense in that ?

Hawkins, now we are talking. At least we agree on something. A dynamic player who can also return kicks. Can you explain to me, why did we cut him and kept only 5 WRs ?

Calling Hawkins a dynamic player might be a bit of exaggeration--an exaggeration that seems to based on two plays he made late in two preseason games. In his five year, NFL career Hawkins has not shown that he is a dynamic player. He has averaged around 10 yards per catch. That does not seem dynamic.

I do not know why the team decided to cut Hawkins. He did get two stupid penalties in the preseason. Perhaps, these were only the surface reflections of an attitude that the coaches were not happy with, Perhaps is the operative word in that statement.

If the team had decided not to keep Cam Johnson, and that does appear to be the case, trading him for a seventh round pick is a good thing to do.

In two years, Johnson has played in six games-two for the 49ers and 4 for the Colts. He has a total of one tackle. At this point, he has to be considered no more than a fringe player. He might prove to be more, but that might be hardly means the team made a mistake in trading him.

Hawkins still has no job.... He is applying at Wal Mart

Originally posted by blizzuntz:
Hawkins still has no job.... He is applying at Wal Mart

No. He was signed by the Chargers.

Originally posted by Memphis9er:
A show of hands...if you have ever been paid to make personnel decisions in the NFL please speak right up.

The insinuation that you can't comment on the front office's questionable personnel decisions unless you were an NFL GM is idiotic.

Originally posted by kray28:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:
A show of hands...if you have ever been paid to make personnel decisions in the NFL please speak right up.

The insinuation that you can't comment on the front office's questionable personnel decisions unless you were an NFL GM is idiotic.

Is worse than idiotic. If noone can question or discuss anything, you might as well shut down the whole forum.

Originally posted by Rascal:

Originally posted by kray28:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:
A show of hands...if you have ever been paid to make personnel decisions in the NFL please speak right up.

The insinuation that you can't comment on the front office's questionable personnel decisions unless you were an NFL GM is idiotic.

Is worse than idiotic. If noone can question or discuss anything, you might as well shut down the whole forum.

I think that everyone understands that anyone can be questioned--both the front office and other posters.

Many of us have made "idiotic" claims or statements. I know that I have. I am sure that you have to.
Idiotic statements are part and parcel of posts driven by frustration and anger.

It may be difficult to see guys cut or traded who we thought were valuable players but then it's important to think big picture and realize that with the cap and guys we already have who will be coming back there are reasons.

Defensive players who are on non-active lists/injury or practice squad by my perceived idea of their value at their position:

Williams—NT

Carradine—DT

Dial—DL

Purcell—DT

Okoye—DL

Reed--DE

Culliver CB

Wright—CB

Thomas--S

Moody—LB

Fleming—LB



Most of these guys clearly have more talent or experience than the guys "who got away." Culliver and Wright over Cooper? Yeah, I would think so. It seems they all count toward the salary cap as well, so it's important to keep that in mind.

Edit: Then there's next years draft with all those picks...

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Most of these guys clearly have more talent or experience than the guys "who got away." Culliver and Wright over Cooper? Yeah, I would think so. It seems they all count toward the salary cap as well, so it's important to keep that in mind.

Edit: Then there's next years draft with all those picks...

I am not sure that they all count against the cap. As far as I know only the top 51 salaries count against the cap.

I do not know if all those guys are in the top 51.