I, like the San Francisco 49ers, experienced a bounce back performance in week 2 of the NFL season. After going an even 8-8 in Week 1, I improved to a respectable record (here) in Week 2. Let's look at the season so far, and then get into some Week 3 picks. Season Record: 19-13 49ers Picks Record: 1-1 Best & Worst Picks of Week 2 My Best Pick: 49ers 38 - Jets 12 Final Score: 49ers 31- Jets 13 My Worst Pick: Vikings 23 - Colts 13 Final Score: Colts 28 - Vikings 11 Week 3 Predictions Dolphins @ Jaguars (-2.5) - Feisty Fins keep this one close, but the mustached...

Sure, it was just the Jets, but it meant everything. The 49ers' best player, DE Nick Bosa, had just been carted off the field and the 49ers were staring down a season completely unraveling before their eyes. A hobbled Jimmy Garoppolo knew the 49ers needed him badly. The Jets had gotten away with a cheap shot on Garoppolo earlier in Sunday's game, diving at his knee, which might have caused 10 flags to fly if he were Drew Bress or Tom Brady. The answer from Garoppolo would be resilience, as he led the 49ers down the field on a 14-play 67-yard drive capped off with a touchdown pass to TE Jordan Reed. It was a much needed message from the franchise quarterback to his team: the 49ers aren't going to fold. The limp was painfully present. With so many stars out, you...

1) Injuries really suck As I covered in my preview for this game and as most predicted, the San Francisco 49ers rolled over the New York Jets 31-13. It came at a steep price, however. Nick Bosa likely tore an ACL that will end his season. Jimmy Garoppolo has a high ankle sprain that could sideline him for a month. Solomon Thomas may have a severe knee injury. Raheem Mostert could miss time. This is on top of injuries to Richard Sherman, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Ronnie Blair, Dee Ford, Richie James Jr., and Weston Richburg. The 49ers will have their work cut out for them as they try to survive the early part of the season and get healthy in time to make a playoff push. 2) MetLife Stadium is going to make everyone...

With multiple starters out tomorrow versus the Jets, there's no surprise that the 49ers' depth will be tested. Here are 3 players who will step up to propel the 49ers to their first win of the season. 1. Ross Dwelley Ross Dwelley did well filling in for George Kittle when the latter missed a few games in 2019, including 2 touchdowns against the Cardinals. Jordan Reed will undoubtedly be more involved, but I'd expect Ross Dwelley to be more engaged in both the run and pass game. Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman should be featured all game long, setting up easy play action passes to Dwelley. Prediction: 4 catches for 45 yards, 1 TD 2. Emmanuel Moseley Expect Emmanuel Moseley to rebound from Week 1's...

After last week's loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers are looking to rebound and chalk up that first win of the season. It has been a difficult week as the team dealt with the loss, but also in the health department as the injury bug has reared its ugly head early and often. The offense was hampered by the losses of Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Richie James Jr. at receiver, Ben Garland and Weston Richburg at center, and perhaps most importantly, George Kittle at tight end. Kittle, Samuel, Richburg and James will not play on Sunday, but there was some good news as Aiyuk and Garland are set to make their season debuts. Free agent receiver Mohamed Sanu was signed this week to shore up the receiver corps. While the loss of Kittle is never good,...

The start of the 2020 NFL season has not been kind to the San Francisco 49ers. During the first half of the Week 1 game against the Arizona Cardinals, tight end George Kittle suffered a sprained knee and went into the locker room early. He finished the game but had no catches in the second half. On September 16, 2020, the 49ers kept him out of practice and noted he would likely not practice on Thursday or Friday. Shortly after the Kittle news, the team announced that cornerback Richard Sherman would miss three...

Whether it was the lack of a pre-season, practicing in smoke-filled skies or a real Super Bowl hangover, the San Francisco 49ers appeared to be out of sync in their 20-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1. Now cornerback Richard Sherman has been placed on IR as the Niners head to the East Coast for a 10:00 am PT start against the New York Jets on Sunday. Here we discuss the odds and analysis from a betting perspective. When: Sunday September 20th, 2020 at 10:00am PT (FOX) Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Line: 49ers -7, o/u...

I have recently discovered one of my new favorite shows on Hulu during this COVID-19 quarantine. It's called Letterkenny, and it's a half-hour comedy out of Canada that brings jokes, wit, and one-liners at a pace that is almost overwhelming at times. There is a LOT of Canadian slang (yes that's a real thing, and most of it comes from hockey), and one of the phrases that main character Wayne, the town's champion fighter and tough guy, says often when confronted by nonsense from somebody is "You better settle down over there or I'm gonna come talk to ya." 49er fans, you better settle down over there or I'm gonna come talk ya! The 49ers' performance against the Cardinals in Week 1 was less than stellar. The offense looked disjointed with its top two receivers, Deebo...

Rejoice! The 49ers have finally signed a veteran receiver, who actually has been a consistent pass-catching threat throughout his career. None of the other receivers the team has recently signed - Tavon Austin, J.J. Nelson, and Kevin White - has the ability to fill that Emmanuel Sanders role. Mohamed Sanu, on the other hand, does. Let me start off by explaining the title of this article. By no means is this a jab at Sanu. What I am trying to say is that he won't come in and single-handedly cure the team's receiver woes. Simply put, he is just not on the level as some of the league's other receivers who could come in and completely change the complexion of the passing game. The types of receivers like Julio Jones, Mike Evans, Michael Thomas, DaVante Adams, etc. are few and far...

Week 1 of the NFL season is generally a crap shoot. My picks for Week 1 were a good example of that, an even 8-8. Each week I will cover my best and worst picks from the prior week and pick the upcoming games. Let's get into it. Season Record: 8-8 49ers Record: 0-1 Best & Worst Picks of Week 1 My Best Pick: Jaguars over Colts 34-30 Final Score: Jaguars over Colts 27-20 My Worst Pick: Cowboys 45 - Rams 20 Final Score: Rams 20- Cowboys 17 Week 2 Predictions Bengals @ Browns (-6) - Burrow's better than Baker, but who isn't? Bengals 23 - Browns...

Odell Beckham Jr. is a toxic person. At one time, OBJ seemed to be on track to be an elite wide receiver who was carving out a Hall of Fame career with each spectacular grab he made. It is no longer that time. 2019 was littered with headlines related to Odell seeking employment elsewhere. As a New York Giant, Odell was disgruntled about his money. The Giants gave Odell a fat contract, only to have him show up on ESPN, accompanied by Lil Wayne, to...

Wake up, Kyle Shanahan. As of September 14th 2020, Super Bowl 55 looks like a distant pipe dream. Yesterday, the San Francsico 49ers fell to the Arizona Cardinals in the opener of the 2020 NFL season. After getting off to a blazing start, jumping out to a 10-0 lead, the 49ers couldn't keep the heat on and lost at home to a team that accumulated only 5 wins in 2019. This Cardinals team isn't special. Often fans can find solace in a loss by heaping praise upon the opponent. Not today. Arizona signal caller QB Kyler Murray will be praised in the media for his efforts, but in reality, Murray was inaccurate often and relied heavily on newly acquired star WR DeAndre Hopkins to carry him through this one. Murray threw the ball 40 times for 230 yards, registering a measly 5.8 yards...

1) The Cardinals are good While the 49ers should have been able to get a win today, let's not lose sight of the improvements made by the Arizona Cardinals. DeAndre Hopkins dominated the secondary today with 14 catches for 151 yards. He was open a lot and the 49ers were not able to give much of an answer for his play today. Kyler Murray ran for 91 yards, passed for 230 yards, and had two total touchdowns. The ground game was good, their defense was scrappy, and their playcalling was not predictable. San Francisco had a lot of opportunities, which I'll go into, but the performance by the Cardinals should not be discounted. They are a playoff contender and will not be an easy out this year. They still have weaknesses, especially if you can force Murray to throw...

Almost everything went wrong for the 49ers today, but they only lost by four points. Four. Give credit to the Cardinals, but you could argue that they played their best ball on the "road" and barely scratched out a win. If Jimmy Garoppolo hits Kendrick Bourne's hands rather than Patrick Peterson's helmet, I wouldn't be writing this right now. Let's pump the brakes on the criticism, take a step back, and look at the game objectively. I'm usually the pessimistic type, but there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic after this tough loss. Here are a few: 1. Kendrick Bourne KB's stat line will not wow you (2 Rec, 34 yards), but the route he ran to free himself in the 4th quarter summarizes his growth perfectly. Deebo Samuel and Brandon...

When it comes to talking about the 49ers' group of wide receivers, the words of Yogi Berra seem to apply: "It's like deja vu all over again." Last year at about this time, the 49ers took a torpedo to their wide receiver plans when they lost both big-bodied rookie Jalen Hurd and the scrappy Trent Taylor to pre-season injuries. They had another rookie wideout, Deebo Samuel, who would later prove to be a gem for the team's offense, but at the time things were looking less than hopeful for the 49ers' chances of making significant strides toward a playoff appearance. In an effort to boost the receiver room last season, the 49ers brought in veteran Emmanuel Sanders from the Denver Broncos, and it had a magical effect on the other wideouts for the rest of the...

Week 1 of the 2020 season is upon us! It's been just over seven months since the San Francisco 49ers suffered a heart-breaking defeat in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs. This offseason has been branded "The Revenge Tour" and after several moves, the 49ers are ready to take that first step towards their ultimate goal of a sixth Super Bowl championship. Up first are the Arizona Cardinals, who made plenty of moves of their own by drafting linebacker Isaiah Simmons and trading for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Kyler Murray enters into his second season and figures to lead the Cardinals to another improved season in the difficult NFC West. In both meetings last season, the Cardinals gave the Niners all they could handle, but Jimmy Garoppolo was able to lead...

My dad passed away three weeks ago as of the writing of this article. It was sudden and unexpected, and the result has been a gaping chasm in the foundation of our family. My mom, brother and I are still processing, as are my kids, my brother's kids, all of our extended family, and scores of friends. As I sat numbly, the television playing something that did not even register with me, an ad for the start of the NFL season, the Thursday night game between the Texans and Chiefs, happened to air. I thought about the upcoming season, the fact that it might actually happen, and that the Niners will have a chance to make another run at the Lombardi while their window of opportunity stands wide open. Generally, I would have been pumped, because football season is my favorite time of year. I have...

When thinking about how NFL offenses have evolved over the years, many have moved away from core philosophies like establishing the run game, to a more open, Air Raid-style spread passing attack, with read options and run-pass-options (RPOs). These advancements have put more speedy pass catchers on the field and allowed athletic playmakers to put defenses in difficult situations. Defenses have evolved as well, in order to counter these offensive changes, by getting smaller and quicker at positions that were traditionally manned by larger, more physical players. This has resulted in linebackers who are built more like large safeties, and defensive tackles who are smaller, and quicker, as opposed to hulking, run-stuffers. It appears that Kyle Shanahan is evolving his offense to...

Civil unrest, COVID-19, wildfires and subsequent apocalyptic skies could not prevent America's favorite pastime or the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers from returning to the field this fall, and Niners Empire will be excited for the home opener against the retooled Arizona Cardinals this Sunday, even if its members will not be permitted in the stadium. Here we discuss the odds and analysis from a betting perspective. When: Sunday September 13th, 2020 at 1:25pm (FOX) Where: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California Line: 49ers -7, o/u 48 Arizona Cardinals Quarterback Kyler Murray enters his second year with the addition of elite and now very rich receiver DeAndre Hopkins,...

A long time ago, I thought the most unprecedented event in the sports world was Game 3 of the 1989 World Series getting pushed back ten days due to an earthquake. Sports will find a way to endure - through earthquakes, war, a global pandemic and if professional football is played before a couch-bound audience. The San Francisco 49ers will play sloppy football Sunday, but the other NFL franchises will join them. Remember it's been nine months - if not longer - since players were on the field in a live football contest. Forty-Niner head coach Kyle Shanahan will have his men ready for Sunday afternoon, even if the game turns into a sludgy swamp of mental errors, blown coverages, and missed assignments. Indeed, the other 31 coaches in the league are...