Buyer Beware: The Cardinals Game Was A Fluke | Page 13

MadDog49er · 2009-12-15T14:27:55-08:00

It was nice to go to bed late last night with a studly victory over a hated divisional rival, especially the Arizona Cardinals. The team played well, the coaching staff seemed prepared, and the fans were pumped. Now, back to reality. Niners' fans have to take this game for what it is: A fluke. The Cardinals are a better team than the Niners right now, but as we know, every game is a new game, and you can only take one game at a time. This was one game. A great game for the Niners, and a stinker for the Cards. Any victory is sweet, but the reality is that the Cardinals had no business turning the ball over seven times. Our defense is simply not that good, and their offense is simply not that bad. I hope fans do not expect the defense to be a turnover-creating machine from every game on out. This was an exception. The same goes for Frank Gore, who looked terrific. However, let's not kid ourselves. Gore is a middle of the road running back. He's going to have a few great games, some average games, and some poor games. This was one of those special nights where everything fell into place. The offensive line opened up huge holes, and dominated the Cardinals DL throughout the game. However, this is not our normal OL. We have struggled all season, and I doubt this one game changes the reality that our line generally stinks. And, I sincerely doubt that our team suddenly falls back into the "smashmouth" philosophy. Who would we be kidding? We are a passing team that works best when the field is spread out. It just so happened that for one week, we could line up in a regular offensive formation and run at will. Our CB's contained Fitzgerald and Boldin to less than 70 yards receiving TOTAL, but let's be realistic. Our passing defense was amongst the worst in the NFL going into the game, and I sincerely doubt that we are going to play weekly at a high level. It was just a wierd, wierd game. And, finally, for those who think the Niners' pass rush has been solved, this would be another mirage. No doubt that we should salute the excellent effort of Justin Smith, Ahmad Brooks, Parys Haralson, and company. But once again, the offensive line performance this week by the Cardinals was a joke. If they played this poorly the week before, they would have surrendered 56 sacks to Jared Allen and the Vikings. They just stunk for a week, and we looked fresh. So, while celebrating this victory, which was very sweet, the reality is that this game is indicative of the NFL. One week you can stink, and the next you can shine. The week before, the Cards whacked the Vikings and the Niners lose to the crappy Seahawks. This week, the Seahawks were crushed by the Texans 34-7, the Vikings destroyed the Bengals 30-10, and the Niners defeat a good Cardinals team. So, I raise a toast to the David Baas', Dashon Goldson's, Ahmad Brooks', Dre Bly's, Adam Snyder's of the world this week, fully knowing that these players had terrific games. But, let's be realistic in our expectation of these guys down the road. It is simply one week in the NFL. One wild and wacky week.

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:00 PM

#181

Ceadderman
Member
Posts: 8,271

Don't you EVER get tired of being wrong?

Seriously. You hate on Smith. Both Gruden AND Jaws were conveniently soft pedaling backwards FINALLY by the 4th quarter.

MadDog is proven wrong on NATIONAL TV no less.

Steve was actually GLOWING when he spoke about the TEAM.

Ahhhh but MadDog says this was a fluke.

Mmmmmm hmm. Maybe the fluke was that this team has a 6-7 record at this time instead of above .500. Might that be looked at as a FLuke too?

Considering the Refs have taken the games out of our hands on a number of occasions this season. Most glaringly notable was the game before the MNF BLOWOUT that was the Cards v. 9ers. And make no mistake it WAS a blowout. When the Opposing team puts it on the carpet 5 times and throws two picks that is straight up solid Defense.

Go root for another team cause I'm tired of reading your stuff and not being surprised by the negative comments. You are knowledgeable I'll give ya that, but damn dude go to the doctor and get inoculated for doldrumitis cause it's a bad disease to catch.

~Ceadder

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:03 PM

#182

Dino
Veteran
Posts: 22,425

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:04 PM

#183

Ceadderman
Member
Posts: 8,271

Originally posted by King49er:
Originally posted by King49er:
Originally posted by PTulini:

I'm down with that.

Sucka free Niner Talk all the way.

~Ceadder

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:08 PM

#184

OnTheClock
Hall of Fame
Posts: 38,536

If you were saying "7 turnover games aren't going to happen every week." then that makes sense, but the post is presented in a way which implies, "This team is incapable of anything even close to performances like that, even occasionally."

A fluke is something of luck. Say, in hockey, a player shoots it and it bounces off three defenders into the net or something like that. That's a fluky goal, not exactly worked for or earned. Just lucky. Another example? Broncos vs. Bengals in week 1, the Stokely catch. That's a fluke.

This game? The way we played last night. Not a fluke. We could do something like that again. We're in the top 10 (Ranked 7th overall) in turnover margin, right behind Indy and Minnesota. Having a good game like that is not a fluke. I put it under the category of "just a good night."

Phrases that likely caused the rage are:

Quote:
Our defense is simply not that good

If we can limit a team like Indianapolis to 18 points in their own house, I disagree. We've had some rough games since Clements got hurt, but aside from Atlanta, we've kept our opponents' point totals fairly low.

Quote:
let's not kid ourselves. Gore is a middle of the road running back.

That was just asking for an uproar, man.

The tone if it all just rubbed people the wrong way. People took it as "look, we can't do that, we actually suck." rather than "Hey, that was great, but let's see if they can do it next week in Philly too before we start proclaiming this team is turning the corner."

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:13 PM

#185

Ceadderman
Member
Posts: 8,271

Originally posted by Dino:

was up with that dance? Tree needs a choreographer.

~Ceadder

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:13 PM

#186

loyal9er
Veteran
Posts: 82

Originally posted by Ceadderman:
Don't you EVER get tired of being wrong?

Seriously. You hate on Smith. Both Gruden AND Jaws were conveniently soft pedaling backwards FINALLY by the 4th quarter.

MadDog is proven wrong on NATIONAL TV no less.

Steve was actually GLOWING when he spoke about the TEAM.

Ahhhh but MadDog says this was a fluke.

Mmmmmm hmm. Maybe the fluke was that this team has a 6-7 record at this time instead of above .500. Might that be looked at as a FLuke too?

Considering the Refs have taken the games out of our hands on a number of occasions this season. Most glaringly notable was the game before the MNF BLOWOUT that was the Cards v. 9ers. And make no mistake it WAS a blowout. When the Opposing team puts it on the carpet 5 times and throws two picks that is straight up solid Defense.

Go root for another team cause I'm tired of reading your stuff and not being surprised by the negative comments. You are knowledgeable I'll give ya that, but damn dude go to the doctor and get inoculated for doldrumitis cause it's a bad disease to catch.

~Ceadder

The original post is wrong on sooo many levels. We completely dominated this game as the game plan on both sides of the ball were pure genius. The O was balanced, played in the shotgun to get A Wilson out of the box and then we went back to the pro style and ran it up the gut when it felt we could expose them.

The D game plan was spot on as blitzing a non-mobile QB in Warner exposed his weakness and like most pure passers he needs to have some consistency to be successful.... we didn't let that happen. They couldnt run, we played a lot of bump and run coverage to give our pass rush some time to corral Warner and BAM !!!

The bottom line is if that our coaching staff puts this type of effort in next week.... we could be watching some meaningful games till the end baby!!!!

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:35 PM

#187

CorvaNinerFan
Veteran
Posts: 10,448

Folks...I get what MD's saying. This was one game...sweet as it was, our guys have a real tough game this Sunday in Philly. If we lay a stinker, then all the hoopla from Monday night was just that. If we somehow find a way to beat them, then that's a horse of a different color. One thing this team's been this year is up and down...so let's see what happens in Philly before we get too excited. If we lose, the best we'll finish is 8-8...which is probably a lot closer to reality than getting all worked up that our D is a dominant one. Alex missed a lot of throws...especially to Crabtree and Vernon. Part of that's on those receivers, granted, but given the fact we forced 7 turnovers, we should've won that game by 3-4 TD's.

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:37 PM

#188

artiga1
Veteran
Posts: 1,195

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:38 PM

#189

sincalfaithful
Veteran
Posts: 27,712

Originally posted by Ceadderman:
Originally posted by Dino:

was up with that dance? Tree needs a choreographer.

~Ceadder

no he need to learn from takeo

Dec 15, 2009 at 10:44 PM

#190

cris_sonic
Veteran
Posts: 484

What a troll! Can't you enjoy this win for at least a day... Yeah it's a fluke that the Niners beat the team that went to the Super Bowl last year twice this season. C'mon support your team you know better than that!

Dec 15, 2009 at 11:01 PM

#191

CorvaNinerFan
Veteran
Posts: 10,448

All MD's saying is don't be fooled into thinking the Niners are a playoff team just because they beat 'Zona twice. We've also lost to Seattle, & Houston, both games we should've won. The BL is we're still only 6-7...close doesn't count. This team has to find a way to become more consistent...on offense and defense, to be taken seriously as a legit playoff contender.

Dec 15, 2009 at 11:03 PM

#192

ZRF80
Member
Posts: 13,551

Interesting. A lot of you signed off the Atlanta game as an aberration. Yet the Arizona game was a sign of whats to come....

You people contradict yourselves too much.

blind faith is NOT optimism.

Dec 15, 2009 at 11:09 PM

#193

bigmike55
Veteran
Posts: 3,474

Gore is doing above average even with our weak Oline. Imagine what he could do if he was running behind the NY Giants or Vikings Oline every week. To call him a middle of the road type of back is absurd.

Dec 15, 2009 at 11:19 PM

#194

hondakillerzx
Veteran
Posts: 19,280

thats why people love you so much maddog. always pissing in peoples lemon aide

Dec 15, 2009 at 11:46 PM

#195

Niners99
Veteran
Posts: 44,272

Originally posted by MadDog49er:

Niners' fans have to take this game for what it is: A fluke. The Cardinals are a better team than the Niners right now, but as we know, every game is a new game, and you can only take one game at a time. This was one game. A great game for the Niners, and a stinker for the Cards.

really? thats funny, we beat them IN their house week 1, and then we stomped them like a 4 win team on sunday, and have beat them 4 of the last 6 meetings. the cards said it best, they dont match up well with us, we have their number.

overall the cards have done a better job of getting it done outside divisional games. you cant convince me than we arent the best team in this division. i dont care what happened last week, were better than seattle, weve proved were better than AZ twice this year, and obviously were better than STL.

we match up well with them, which is a good sign for the future. youre right, we arent THAT good every week. we got up for MNF and game planned for them perfectly. but its definitely a sign of things to come. we have alot of young talent on this roster.

as for this season, winning @ philly will be tough, but they did lose to the Raiders this year. they arent unbeatable. and then we have 2 creampuff games against DET and STL. we could possibly go 9-7 and be a wildcard. lets see how we do heading into philly. recent Niner teams have played very well to end the season for several years now. in the final 3 games of the season from 2005-2008, we are 8-4