Upper/Middle Class Problems

Originally posted by JoeBart324:
I think a big reason for the "disappointment" this season was what we all expected of Kaepernick. He was on fire last season, both passing and running and we all thought it could only get exponentially better. When Kap wasn't out there throwing for 400 every game and running for another 100 there was a sense of let down, irrational as it may be. It's the nature of being a fan I suppose.

Kap's season wasn't all bad, with him throwing for 3,100 yards and 21 TDs. He did this playing for a very conservative team that likes to sit on 10 point leads and make the other team beat them. He also did it with virtually no receiver help.

I think another thing to look at is the offseason acquisitions and depth the Niners have developed. Boldin was absolutely huge for the team. But I think Dorsey was another key addition who really helped to hold the defensive line together. Jerrod-Eddie broke out as a pretty good player, which the team needed to help spell the starters. If you really look at it, the Niners lost their starting nose tackle from last season (Sopoaga), the backup from last season (Jean-Francois), and started essentially the third string guy this year (Ian Williams). He plays very well, but goes down with and injury and the Niners are forced to plug that hole. Let's also not forget the Aldon Smith saga and Skuta filling in pretty effectively.

To finish a season 12-4 with as many issues as this team has had I think is pretty impressive. Especially in an absolutely brutal division with a first place schedule.

A brilliant post. People should bear in mind that our management won't allow a young QB to take too many risks. In a less stacked team perhaps they would, but the risk of doing so in a championship calibre team is too great. Perhaps now in crunch time it will change.

With our many problems this year, we still got more wins than last season and went on two tears of 5 and 6 wins respectively. We lost two games (on of which through a totally BS call) by a combined 4 points. All teams get bad breaks, and we played terribly in all 4 losses (not the D) so perhaps we didn't deserve to win those. But the breaks went Seattle's way this year and not for us. If Tampa or the Rams had not been as dumb, or if the refs in NO had not been MORONS we would have easily been top seed right now. And similarly we could have lost a couple more than we actually did. That's how the game goes.

If you're aiming to be the best and not anywhere in between the best and the worst, then the question is not about whether most teams in the league would like to have our issues or not. The question is whether our issues will prevent us from being the best.
As such, we will find out shortly.

Originally posted by BrianGO:
People are mad that our BMW isn't fast as the Broncos Ferrari.

Still runs better in the snow and rain though...

Originally posted by verb1der:
There was a lot of bunched up panties this season that's for damn sure.

Every season...It is amazing how quickly forget those ten years of being terrible and go right back to expecting the team to be what it was under Joe and Steve. You know back when there was no damn salary cap.

Originally posted by Fanaticofnfl:

Originally posted by 24plus25er:
The only reason people are saying it's a down year is because the Seahawks won the division. If we had to play round 1 and the Panthers and (insert random team), no one would care about the one seed. Just as long as we out do the Seahawks. SMH.

You know what's funny? Nobody seemed to hate the Seahawks all that much until late last season. Strange how things change so dramatically in such a short period of time...

It isnt that they are good it is their attitude and how they got good combined with how many of their fans act on the internet. We have our caustic posters too, but damn we dont travel to every corner of the internet trolling the planet.

Originally posted by TXHawk:

Originally posted by pdizo916:
oh look a seahawk fan from texas who never heard of the team until 2012....


gtfo

Been a fan since 1976. Currently live in TX because of my job, but thanks for asking.

Anyway, I would like someone to answer my question if you can: why do Niners fans believe the Seahawks were built to beat your team when many of the current starters were acquired prior to the Harbaugh era when the 49ers hadn't been good for ages?

Just curious.

Becasuase weather true or not the talking heads on TV say it all the time....regardless the many starters arguement is kind of silly, that is true of any team that hasnt gone through a very recent total rebuild. The style of ball played and recent aquisitions are more of an indicator. It is very clear that the division as a whole has gone strongly toward our style of ball...and with good reason, we went against the grain in a lot of ways and if you do that at the right time it is easier to find great players to fit your system. The NFC west got on board with the run game and tight ball pursuit 3-4 defense plan because the league was going with a wide open air attack and loading up on 4-3 pass rush D ends. It was the easiest way to get good fast because the kind of guys we want for our style arent priced a premium...and judging from the results it is working.

Originally posted by WildBill:

Because, if you know pro football, rule of thumb is you build to win your division, after all six of your games are always against your division and you take shot at the top team in the division. Carrol ain't no dummy, he knew from being at USC that Harbaugh would be his chief rival and nemisis. He also knew what kind of team he would try to build. He knew he would need to build a physical team to take on the niners. The cardinals were a joke at the time, warner was going downhill, the rams, the same.

Plus a lot of teams have stated they are trying to build a team like the niners. Carolina being one of them.

So Carroll knew he needed to build a team to beat Harbaugh a year before he was hired by the 49ers? Man he is good!

Carroll, from Day One after he was hired, said he wanted to build a team with a strong running game and a physical, hard-nosed defense. He and Schneider began in 2010 overhauling an aging and undersized roster that had won a total of nine games the previous two seasons and had a reputation for being soft while Harbaugh was still at Stanford. If you want to make a case that other teams have tried to emulate the 49ers after their success in 2011 that's fine, but the Seahawks roster reconstruction was already well underway before Harbaugh ever coached his first game.

Originally posted by TXHawk:
So Carroll knew he needed to build a team to beat Harbaugh a year before he was hired by the 49ers? Man he is good!

Carroll, from Day One after he was hired, said he wanted to build a team with a strong running game and a physical, hard-nosed defense. He and Schneider began in 2010 overhauling an aging and undersized roster that had won a total of nine games the previous two seasons and had a reputation for being soft while Harbaugh was still at Stanford. If you want to make a case that other teams have tried to emulate the 49ers after their success in 2011 that's fine, but the Seahawks roster reconstruction was already well underway before Harbaugh ever coached his first game.

dude, if that's what you want to believe go right ahead. But don't come around here and expect us to ooh and ahh over Pete Carroll.

Like I said, unless you really want to brag about the 2010 season and being the worst ever division champions in the history of the NFL, the 49ers were successful with this formula before the Seahawks were.

Originally posted by swayze:

dude, if that's what you want to believe go right ahead. But don't come around here and expect us to ooh and ahh over Pete Carroll.

Like I said, unless you really want to brag about the 2010 season and being the worst ever division champions in the history of the NFL, the 49ers were successful with this formula before the Seahawks were.

Well, what does it say that Carroll and the Seahawks ended up with a better record in 2010 than the 49ers despite blowing up their roster and undergoing a complete overhaul? And they beat the Super Bowl champion Saints that year in the playoffs! The 49ers have had a significantly better record only in 2011 when the Seahawks had the youngest team in the league and Tavaris Jackson at QB. Since then their regular season records have been virtually identical with the Hawks having a slight half game edge.

But if you want to believe that Carroll presciently decided to construct his team to beat Harbaugh and the 49ers when the Niners were 6-10 and had Singletary as their coach, then knock yourself out. As they say, you can't reason someone out of something they were never reasoned into in the first place.

Originally posted by TXHawk:
Well, what does it say that Carroll and the Seahawks ended up with a better record in 2010 than the 49ers despite blowing up their roster and undergoing a complete overhaul?

I don't know, I'll have to look at the film.



But, I see that you ARE hanging your hat on the Seahawks as worst division champions in the history of the NFL. Enjoy.

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
imo, this team is better equipped than last years. sure, we were able to take some teams by surprise with kaep, but we didn't have the overall ALL AROUND talent like we have now.

our secondary has been one of the best in the nfl, brock and reid have played at an all pro level. we actually have a clutch kicker now, and it's safe to say that we do have more weapons on offense this year, plus, we don't have kyle williams anymore.

i didn't expect us to win the superbowl last year, i expect it this year though.

Nice OP and topic. This is a great point...people compare us to last year but the first year is always a smoke screen and an unknown to the league. THIS year, we had to play football and adapt. There are many more positives such as Brooks making the pro bowl, Brock, Boldin, Dawson, Dorsey, etc. The depth on this team is insane and across the board, top-to-bottom, "who's got it better than us?" And let's not forget that we have another 1,000 picks in the draft in April. People forget we probably played every single one of the top defenses in the NFL, were once again, the most traveled team and were clearly, playing in THE toughest division in football and had a few terrible calls crush us this year. We were right there at the top despite these factors and a couple critical injuries.

The team seems to be fairly similar to last year. There were a few more injuries early and fewer late, which may bode well for the playoffs. The Smith brothers may be much healthier this year. Culliver is a loss but he didn't exactly excel in the Super Bowl. Depth is better this year but Miller was one guy without a back up and now they have to replace his all around play--blocking, receiving and an occasional run.

QB: Smith/Kaepernick--Kaepernick
RB: Gore--Gore
FB: Miller--Dixon/Tukuafu
WR: Crabtree--Crabtree
WR: Moss--Boldin
TE: VD--VD
RT: Davis--Davis
RG: Boone--Boone
C: Goodwin--Goodwin
LG: Iupati--Iupati
LT: Staley--Staley

DL: J Smith--J Smith
DL: McDonald--McDonald
DL: Dorsey--Dorsey
OLB: A Smith--A Smith
OLB: Brooks--Brooks
MLB: Bowman--Bowman
MLB: Willis--Willis
CB: Rogers--Rogers
CB: Brown--Brown/Brock
SS: Whitner--Whitner
FS: Goldson--Reid

This has been a growth year and a transition year.

Biggest gain? Boldin.
Biggest loss(es)? Miller/Culliver.

Originally posted by WildBill:

Originally posted by TXHawk:
Been a fan since 1976. Currently live in TX because of my job, but thanks for asking.

Anyway, I would like someone to answer my question if you can: why do Niners fans believe the Seahawks were built to beat your team when many of the current starters were acquired prior to the Harbaugh era when the 49ers hadn't been good for ages?

Just curious.

Because, if you know pro football, rule of thumb is you build to win your division, after all six of your games are always against your division and you take shot at the top team in the division. Carrol ain't no dummy, he knew from being at USC that Harbaugh would be his chief rival and nemisis. He also knew what kind of team he would try to build. He knew he would need to build a physical team to take on the niners. The cardinals were a joke at the time, warner was going downhill, the rams, the same.

Plus a lot of teams have stated they are trying to build a team like the niners. Carolina being one of them.

The Hawks turned over their roster the most in history in a single year...until they could sift through those that were finally willing to take Roids/Adderall.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
The team seems to be fairly similar to last year. There were a few more injuries early and fewer late, which may bode well for the playoffs. The Smith brothers may be much healthier this year. Culliver is a loss but he didn't exactly excel in the Super Bowl. Depth is better this year but Miller was one guy without a back up and now they have to replace his all around play--blocking, receiving and an occasional run.

QB: Smith/Kaepernick--Kaepernick
RB: Gore--Gore
FB: Miller--Dixon/Tukuafu
WR: Crabtree--Crabtree
WR: Moss--Boldin
TE: VD--VD
RT: Davis--Davis
RG: Boone--Boone
C: Goodwin--Goodwin
LG: Iupati--Iupati
LT: Staley--Staley

DL: J Smith--J Smith
DL: McDonald--McDonald
DL: Dorsey--Dorsey
OLB: A Smith--A Smith
OLB: Brooks--Brooks
MLB: Bowman--Bowman
MLB: Willis--Willis
CB: Rogers--Rogers
CB: Brown--Brown/Brock
SS: Whitner--Whitner
FS: Goldson--Reid

This has been a growth year and a transition year.

Biggest gain? Boldin.
Biggest loss(es)? Miller/Culliver.

I'd add Dawson and perhaps, Dorsey to the gain list.