Are we actually good now? Really??

well atleast if we do go to the spread again....that would mean more playing time for Westbrook and less for Gore.....

or atleast that is what you should do...but for some reason I see the coaching staff want to not piss off Gore and try to run draw plays from Shotgun...in which he would get stopped....

I don't know...I'm sounding negative, but I don't know what this coaching staff wants to do....we'll see the first game to see if we are indeed different....I wish it would hurry up and get here...

I would like to see the starting offense intact. I know Heitmann will be out for a few regular season games. I would like to see the offense also be more opened up. I think the D will be okay with Franklin back. I'm not saying they are impenetrable. We shall see.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by JoseCortez:
1. We have a coach thats a motivator and not an Xs and Os guy.
2. We have ginn morgan and zeigler as our secondary options at receiver.
3. We have a qb who works well out of the spread and a rb that works well out of the i formation.
4. Our secondary sucks.
5. We have two rookie olinemen.
6. We have a offensive coordinator who falls asleep during games.

9-7 sounds about right. Im scared s**tless about that first game. Tough home field advantage, first game with a new coach, niners have the saints on monday night the following week. Trap game.

You make a lot of good points. The secondary and rookie O Linemen plus very underwhelming secondary WR's make this season no guarantee. I think there is a real chance we don't win the division or make the playoffs. Although I still hope for the best. But this secondary has me deeply concerned.

Thanks I know that expectations are too high. This team is way overhyped.

Originally posted by JoseCortez:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by JoseCortez:
1. We have a coach thats a motivator and not an Xs and Os guy.
2. We have ginn morgan and zeigler as our secondary options at receiver.
3. We have a qb who works well out of the spread and a rb that works well out of the i formation.
4. Our secondary sucks.
5. We have two rookie olinemen.
6. We have a offensive coordinator who falls asleep during games.

9-7 sounds about right. Im scared s**tless about that first game. Tough home field advantage, first game with a new coach, niners have the saints on monday night the following week. Trap game.

You make a lot of good points. The secondary and rookie O Linemen plus very underwhelming secondary WR's make this season no guarantee. I think there is a real chance we don't win the division or make the playoffs. Although I still hope for the best. But this secondary has me deeply concerned.

Thanks I know that expectations are too high. This team is way overhyped.

defense wise, I think if we can get someone to step in for Michael Lewis....and play well, we would be one of the best defenses in the league.....sure our nickel CBs are unproven..but I think Brown or James will do fine there...

we finally have a pass rush....it is just our SS position that will extend drives for the opposing offense every now and then....

on offense we have a Pro Bowl RB, TE, and maybe WR...and the Oline looks improved...there should be a reason for us to struggle EVEN if we have questionable secondary receivers....

it is up to the QB and the coaches...

The exciting part is we only have 8 players 31 or older on our team.( 7 if Will James gets cut.) Of those 8 only 2 are starters (I don't count Jennings and Nedney as starters) Takeo and Norris, whom we have been trying to find upgrades/replacements for a while now. So as long as we sign our players we should be good for along time.

Thats why we must play LeBeau style D. In Pittsburgh outside of Palomalou, their secondary isnt that great. They Pressure Pressure Pressure. We have to do that.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by Daniel2778:
the only way we will be 6 10 this year is if smith stinks it up and our secondary looks like the way they looke during the raider game.

If you are toast vs. the Raiders who have crappy WR's and questionable QB's than it's going to get ugly vs. guys like Brees or Favre or Manning.

Yes, our secondary has some questions going into the season, but overall the team is stronger and our offense will definitely be better this year.

A better offense = better rested, more aggressive defense = more sacks, hits, turnovers and wins.

As has been said a several millions times already, this whole enchilada is dependent on the success of one Alex Smith.

If he is good, the team will be good. If he is very good, the team will be very good. Let's hope he is VERY, VERY good.

No. Ask me again in about 3 weeks.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by Afrikan:
right now, I think Alex....and/or should I say Singletary/Raye's lack of trust with QBs will hold us back from being a real good team early on....

i see us looking the same as last year early in this season....with the same complaints.

right now I think Seattle might be the better team, by having a better QB and coaches

we have MUCH more talent than the Seahawks....and we might beat them with Talent alone...but I think our coaching is our weakness.

The coach makes very questionable decisions but he is a good motivator.

Questionable decisions? When? I don't recall him making any bonehead decisions since he's been head coach. I think your exagerating a little bit.

I think Raye will obviously be conservative in the first few games of the season. I think his offense lives or dies by running the ball effectively and consistently which is something the team couldn't do last year. If they can do that we'll see Raye open things up.

Originally posted by SF4EVA:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by Afrikan:
right now, I think Alex....and/or should I say Singletary/Raye's lack of trust with QBs will hold us back from being a real good team early on....

i see us looking the same as last year early in this season....with the same complaints.

right now I think Seattle might be the better team, by having a better QB and coaches

we have MUCH more talent than the Seahawks....and we might beat them with Talent alone...but I think our coaching is our weakness.

The coach makes very questionable decisions but he is a good motivator.

Every Coach make questionable moves every yr. so quit being a damn nitpick. Everything we have seen so far has shown improvement. Now we just gotta wait till the next week to see it happen for real.

Singletary was the right hire at the time, after Nolan, but he doesn't seem like a coach that will get the team to the Super Bowl, and Raye certainly isn't.

Nolan alienated the team, Singletary had instant credibility among the players because he's been in there position and played for a Hall of Fame coach. But I don't think he understands all of the nuances of today's game.

We dont have many spots available, which means we shored up a lot of weak areas on the team, it's not like years ago when we needed help everywhere on the roster, but at least we have the talent to compete and get better, gone are the days of playing with players who didnt have any upside due to being held back by the salary cap, we were in one hell of a mess, now we are out of that and looking to go nowhere but up

Originally posted by mayo63:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by Afrikan:
right now, I think Alex....and/or should I say Singletary/Raye's lack of trust with QBs will hold us back from being a real good team early on....

i see us looking the same as last year early in this season....with the same complaints.

right now I think Seattle might be the better team, by having a better QB and coaches

we have MUCH more talent than the Seahawks....and we might beat them with Talent alone...but I think our coaching is our weakness.

The coach makes very questionable decisions but he is a good motivator.

Questionable decisions? When? I don't recall him making any bonehead decisions since he's been head coach. I think your exagerating a little bit.

Really Pete Carrol a better coach??? We all know what he was able to do in the college ranks. But that doesn't always translate into the NFL. Plus his history says he's pretty much mediocre in the NFL. Did we also forget how horrible the seahawks offensive line was last year. It was f**king horrible. I was more scared of Seneca Wallace than Matt H.. But hell according to u my friend, they are a better team. They were what 5-11 with the help of the refs getting that win against us.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I don't think we are as good as advertised and hyped by the media. That secondary alone could kill our whole season and prevent us from making the playoffs.

do you think that we will honestly play worse than last year?

I think the only drop off could be turnovers b/c we had a good year in that category. I honestly see the secondary about the same as last year. Add that in with the run defense we have. Our defense will play well enough to win what? 8 games like last year? If the offense made any type of progress I see playoffs. We didn't lose anyone on defense and we gained players on offense. I see this year as a good year. It's only logical right?

Originally posted by bigmur49:
What I mean, is when I look over this roster and think about it on paper it seems like we have the makings for a very good team, bordering on a great little run in the future.

We have tons of weapons all across the board on offence. We have an oustanding running back, with at least an improved left side of the line for him to run through. We have a 2nd string back who on his best day might have been better than Gore, we have a 3rd stringer who might just be a bowling ball as d-men wear down late in games. Crabtree looks like he should catch everything that comes his way, Morgan is a decent 2, and Ginn/Ziegler is a good alternative to stretch the field. We have a TE who can't be covered by linebackers and can block DE's.

The D seems relentless in stopping the run and while it may have some liabilities in the air I think overall they will be top 10.

I think Singletary is a fairly smart coach and will certainly keep the team focused in the right direction.

I see it (as mostly everyone else does) as coming down to Smith, and Raye. If Smith can be fairly accurate (which he was most of last year) and play with some guts, and Raye doesn't call 3 runs up the gut every possession I am starting to think they could be very good.

Please point out all the reasons why we will be 6-10 this year so I don't get too excited and then have the inevitable disapointment that has come with being a Niner fan the last ten years...

We won't have a top 10 defense if the DB's play like they did against Oakland. Teams moved through the air better against us last season and it looks like it will continue this season so far. Now I will remind myself the it is still pre-season and hope for the best.