My Top 5 Things That Will Make/Break Our SB Run

The niners need to build during the season and try to peak going into the playoffs. Seattle is peaking now and may run through some ups and downs. Denver has P Manning at QB and you never know how he is going to play under the pressure, plus they may be peaking early.

I like the 9ers chances when considering overall talent and guys who play big in big games--Justin, Patrick and Bowman, Gore, VD are all vets who know how to elevate their games during the playoffs.

It would really be nice to see more blitzing from Bowman and Willis. Scheme against Seattle? Perhaps spy Russell with Bowman. Denver? Hit Manning every time he drops back. 9ers win!

why do the refs let the weakhawks db's get away with being so physical? when we play like that they throw flags like theres no tomorrow! my point is that i think the nfl wants the weakhawks in the superbowl

Good list. I've got to go with "successful offensive identity". Who are we on offense? A smash mouth team that occassionally takes deep shots? Sometimes. A wide open "chunk" team that uses the pass to set up the run? Sometimes. A heavy read option team? That seems dead. We do a lot of things well, but we have trouble stringing together consecutive strong games, quarters, hell, even drives. I do think this is all a natural process as we adjust to a new QB and he adjusts to the NFL, but we sure don't have the look of a Superbowl team right now because on offense, we don't know who we are.

Thanks Wubbie, good list. The Seattle game was closer than the score, I believe the D is going to be dominant again. Your point #1, the dominance of Seattle and Denver, they will come back to the pack. The Seattle-Colt game is interesting, if ever there was a letdown game for Seattle this is it.

Each and every year, we make a run for the title.

If you think that this year is different than any other year, I think you are mistaken.

What we did last year, our record last year, and our making it to the title game last year have no significant import this year.

What matters is how we play this year. So far we are 2-2.
As far as I can tell we will have a difficult road to hoe to make the super bowl, but that was true before the season started and would be true no matter what our record was after four games.

NEED TO SEND KYLE WILLIAMS AND DRAFT PICK TO BROWNS FOR GORDON. Imagine.... Crab, Gordon, Boldin, Manningham... and Vernon!

Originally posted by hps49:
NEED TO SEND KYLE WILLIAMS AND DRAFT PICK TO BROWNS FOR GORDON. Imagine.... Crab, Gordon, Boldin, Manningham... and Vernon!

Just imagine.

We make the trade and Gordon get popped for another substance abuse and he is suspended for a year.

People would then call Baalke an idiot for wasting a draft pick on a player on the verge of being suspended.

I get tired of people saying the niners aren't a Super Bowl team this year, every year they get their asses handed to them a couple games and fans start going into meltdown mode, i heard it last year after the giants and seatlle game, season didnt turn out too bad we were a play away from winning it all. Its happening again this year. Guess what we're two wins away from being in the same position as last year. Towards the end of the season hopefully we get several key players back and will be strong for the playoffs. As for Seattle and Denver, well every year during the regular season everyone picks a couple teams that are guaranteed to go all the way and its always wrong, look at Denver last year and GreenBay in 2011. Big surprises in playoffs the past few years with the exception of the niners being a strong contender. We'll see how the playoffs look when they get here. As for now, a few humbling losses during the regular season aren't a bad thing, it will just push them to improve. Looking forward to the texans game.

Well if kaep regressed bc his Wrs can't get seperation and ol not helping with the exception of,1 game than I guessmwilson is aweful. He has done horrible against Houston sf and carolina he did alright. Missing throws all over the place against not dominating secondaries. I can understand a qb doing bad against seattles secondary but against Houston and sfs above average secondaries.....not so much of a pass. This will be why sf is a better team......qb play under pressure/on the road or at a neutral site

You're not accounting for the unknown. Remember, it's still early!

What if Baldwin has a breakout game or LMJ becomes a checkdown dynamo? The offense is young, which is apparent and Kaep doesn't look comfortable. But fear not! The play-makers are there and it starts with our badass offensive line, which is among the best units in the league. I believe there will be more emphasis on the run going forward (Why it wasn't there in the first place is anyone's guess). Gore, VD and Bolden are Pro Bowl caliber players. Beyond that, there are players with serious talent who are both young and new to the system and therefore deserve some patience from us. Our early struggles have allowed the cream to rise to the top and that process is on-going. Baldwin is getting his chance, as is LMJ. Vance is a small school guy, so it's understandable that he would need some time to naturalize, but he will only get better (Fingers crossed on this one!). And that leaves us with Kaep. If I could have my choice of any young QB in the league, I would take Luck 1st, Kaep 2nd. His work ethic has to be admired and you want that from your QB. Kaep has had only 15 career starts, so he's kind of still a rookie and he deserves patience as well. But don't kid yourself, Kaep is for real!

The Defense, in my opinion is better than it was last year. The theme has always been toughness and that trend continues, anchored by our fierce front seven. What Aldon did hurts us, but Lemonier is tenacious and I'm excited to see what he can do. Corey looks good to me! Brooks is tougher than a $2 steak and always brings it at a high level. He's currently in his prime, as is Tarell Brown who has emerged as a premier corner in the NFL and is underrated in terms of notoriety. Sopoaga's out, but do we really miss him that much? Dorsey looked good in Week 4 and I trust Fangio can adjust without a true NT. "Cowboy" and Ray Mac are consistent performers and rarely make mistakes. The secondary is sometimes worrisome, but DB's have it tough in the NFL. There are no true shutdown secondaries in the NFL, including Seattle, who can be beat like Drago (He's not a machine...He's a man!), if the offense executes.

When it comes to coaching, the Niners are just fine. There's no excuse for bad tackling and jumping offsides, but I'm confident they will improve in those areas. Hitner should continue to be Hitner! Those hits are legal and they set a tone that resonates through the rest of the defense. I feel hard done by with some of the calls that have come against us. The NFL has become a league where the referees have a heavy influence on the outcome of games and a lot of those "close calls" have gone against us. But you have to continue to play physical football, or don't bother playing at all.

We'll see how the season develops, but there are many reasons to be realistically hopeful. Just be patient!

It's all about the QB, the game plan, the play calling.

If we get this straightened out, we will be on a tropical beach drinking pina colada's wondering what all the complaining was about.

If we continue to have fifteen 3 and outs a game, then every unanticipated adversity -- penalty, injury, dropped ball, weird roster move, whatever -- becomes the reason we are jinxed and cursed and doomed to mediocrity. It has nothing to do with opponents. It's us. It's Kap. It's Roman. It's Chryst. It's Harbaugh. They need to work to make it right. We have enough of a supporting cast to make a good scheme work. We don't have so much talent that we can make any old scheme work, if you get me.

guys its week five. lets not crap the bed with this insanity yet. Remember pete carroll could still be suspended indefinitely for cheating. Cause he cheats. Known cheater. also his weekly botox injections could go bad. you dont even know

we get manningham back then crabtree then aldon then it's ON!

Originally posted by xtm059:
guys its week five. lets not crap the bed with this insanity yet. Remember pete carroll could still be suspended indefinitely for cheating. Cause he cheats. Known cheater. also his weekly botox injections could go bad. you dont even know

What insanity are you referring to? That we have serious issues that need correcting on offense now that the read option has been nuked by most other teams?

Originally posted by CRABTREE:
we get manningham back then crabtree then aldon then it's ON!

Then its next year. The problems aren't just the people We can forge a passing atack with what we have -- Baldwin, McDonald, Davis, Boldin, Gore/Hunter out of the backfield. Williams/Moore not sure.