Scout.com has 49ers last in NFC West

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
We're def losing to the Rams once, Eagles, Steelers, Ravens, Bucs, and probably Cowboys. Cowboys is another one that could be a toss up. If our defense shows up..we could squeak one out. Doubt it..but it's slightly winnable. That's 6 or 7 guaranteed losses. I think we can definitely WIN 6 games...so it's a matter of picking up 2-3 wins (which we could have last year if it weren't for poor coaching/preparation/and injuries).

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect 7-9 or 8-8 if everyone stays healthy.

You may be right that we shouldn't be any worse than last year with improved coaching, but the talent in the NFC West was awful last year. This year, its getting better. I think the Seahawks will struggle like us, but the Kolb and Bradford seem to be better than any QB we have - therefore, they will more than likely finish with better records. Now you may be right about us beating the Cardinals (because we beat them with Warner) but...

I'm sticking with my PYMWYMI prediction - 6-10

Hopefully we don't tank that bad, but I don't have any confidence in this team right now, but than again, I did last year, and we fell right on our faces with an 0-5 start

Bradford hit a wall towards the end of the year and Kolb isn't as amazing as this board makes him out to be.

Kolb looks good "now" but it's preseason. Hell, even Alex looked good last preseason. We went 4-0 and ended up 0-5 to start so it's hard to judge who is what and how they'll do right now. I don't think Kolb is SUCH a difference maker that they can sweep us or beat us to be honest.

Last year we beat them with TROY SMITH 27-6 then with ALEX SMITH 38-7. Interesting stat: Alex Smith hasn't loss to the Cardinals (AS A STARTER) since 12/24/2006.

Since then:

2007 - W, W
2008 - IR - Did Not Play
2009 - W (24-9)
2010 - W - (38-7)

I know it's not a particularly strong correlation or sign but it's something.


It could happen.

Originally posted by Joecool:
It is perplexing that the Cards are not ranked to win this division. Kolb may be unproven but he has also shown what he can do for a team which is better than any other QB in this division and I'm not talking about ratings. I'm talking about willing his team to win...a leader.

I still don't think Bradford has proven he is a very good QB. In his 2nd year, with teams having more films to plan to his weaknesses as was the case the further last season progressed, he regressed.

Alex Smith is the 2nd best QB in this division but he has rarely shown to be able to will a team to a win and take over as the leader of the offense.

SEA, even though they won a playoff game, Hasselback was a huge reason late in the season for them playing stronger. They also lost their outlet QB safety player to throw to in Carlson for the year.

I agree the Cards should be rated close to the Rams. I just don't see Bradford as an elite QB, not even in the top 50% at this point. He really hit the wall in the second half of last season. Kolb is the wild card (no pun intended). If he can play like he did on a few occasions in Philly then AZ will be a threat to win the division. If not....

Seattle is better in just about every area except QB, however, with a much better target in Rice, along with some OL fixes, Jackson could be decent. I doubt it but he could keep things moving up there.

Yep, another year, another interesting bunch of stuff to sort through in the NFC West.

I love that they are ranked last. There is absolutely nothing to gain by being favored to win the division by scout.com, but for everyone in this organization, being under-estimated is a boon.

I believe, like many of the posters, that the team will struggle early but will end up winning the division. I think that the story of the year is going to be our defense. I think that it will do enough to get us out to a servicable record and will have us in the hunt for the division title at the time that our offense is beginning to gel.

In general, though, I think predictions about the upcoming season are even more irrelevant than they have been in the past. There are way too many unknowns. For all of you fantasy types, good luck!!!

I think it's right...we'll struggle starting out the season...and hopefully improve as the season rolls along and make a strong finnish...

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
We're def losing to the Rams once, Eagles, Steelers, Ravens, Bucs, and probably Cowboys. Cowboys is another one that could be a toss up. If our defense shows up..we could squeak one out. Doubt it..but it's slightly winnable. That's 6 or 7 guaranteed losses. I think we can definitely WIN 6 games...so it's a matter of picking up 2-3 wins (which we could have last year if it weren't for poor coaching/preparation/and injuries).

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect 7-9 or 8-8 if everyone stays healthy.

You may be right that we shouldn't be any worse than last year with improved coaching, but the talent in the NFC West was awful last year. This year, its getting better. I think the Seahawks will struggle like us, but the Kolb and Bradford seem to be better than any QB we have - therefore, they will more than likely finish with better records. Now you may be right about us beating the Cardinals (because we beat them with Warner) but...

I'm sticking with my PYMWYMI prediction - 6-10

Hopefully we don't tank that bad, but I don't have any confidence in this team right now, but than again, I did last year, and we fell right on our faces with an 0-5 start

Bradford hit a wall towards the end of the year and Kolb isn't as amazing as this board makes him out to be.

Kolb looks good "now" but it's preseason. Hell, even Alex looked good last preseason. We went 4-0 and ended up 0-5 to start so it's hard to judge who is what and how they'll do right now. I don't think Kolb is SUCH a difference maker that they can sweep us or beat us to be honest.

Last year we beat them with TROY SMITH 27-6 then with ALEX SMITH 38-7. Interesting stat: Alex Smith hasn't loss to the Cardinals (AS A STARTER) since 12/24/2006.

Since then:

2007 - W, W
2008 - IR - Did Not Play
2009 - W (24-9)
2010 - W - (38-7)

I know it's not a particularly strong correlation or sign but it's something.


It could happen.

Great movie! It's been a long time.

I know I'm falling for the old adage of taking too much stock out of the preseason, but Kolb in very limited work with the Cardinals has impressed me. And even if he only has Fitz, he still has Fitz.

But like you said, It Could Happen!

Honestly, I don't think we should take much stock in Game 1 either. Seattle won't have any game film (or very little) to go on, so I see a reversal of last year up in Seattle. But as the weeks go by and more film is available for opposing coaching staffs, our flaws will be brought to the surface.

I stand by a my statement I made in another thread, our best hope for winning the division is injuries to Kolb and Bradford (which given their injury history and shaky o-lines, is not too much of a stretch).

last place ftw!

In this division anything is possible. It's gotta be the hardest division to predict lol.

Originally posted by Joecool:
Exactly! Yet he hasn't shown any care to allow the starters to practice this new complicated system together for communcation/chemistry purposes alone. The only questionable starter one offense was Center and it is a little dissappointing that it took this much time for Harbaugh/Roman/Solari to see that the Probowler they JUST signed is better than the guy who's never played the position. I'm not even going to get into Alex Smith's reps with the offense and Braylon as the 2nd team.

Harbaugh's formula is this....

Let the starters figure it out in the regular season (because it's inevitable, and that's the only time they can show the secret weapon plays), and sort out all the questionable players in the pre-season.

I'm sure they already knew Goodwin would start at center all along, so why not try and see what others can do in meaningless games. No risk.

Originally posted by Joecool:
So we do well in Games 1 and 2 but then the offense will be seen by everyone and we don't do as well later in the year? It doesn't make sense. Do you want to hide your offense so you can perform better in the first 2 games or so...I mean, because after Game 1, the league will have seen your offense and it's downhill from there, right?

It doesn't make sense. If teams can gameplan against you by seeing the offense in preseason, can't they game plan just as effectively if they see your offense after Game 1?

This "o great o complicated system/hiding the offense" thing is WAY over blown. Teams with the most effective offenses have put time TOGETHER playing out that offense to perfection and adding onto it...not hiding it so they can show it for one big game. I could understand if we were playing in the SuperBowl next week, but come on!

Completely missed the point. The team will continue to build on chemistry throughout the season and continually get better. Why give away any advantage you have in your early games by practicing your good plays in games that mean nothing? This is the FIRST year of this offense. There is NO film, that is an advantage, no point in giving it away. Next year the offense will probably open up allot more in preseason with the stuff that we will do in actual games this year, but the stuff they work on over the offseason will remain off film until games matter.

Hell even at the highschool level coaches will only run certain plays during scrimmages and warmups before games just incase any other teams coaches are watching, think that doesnt get taken to the extreme at the NFL level?

Originally posted by 5280High:

Originally posted by Joecool:
So we do well in Games 1 and 2 but then the offense will be seen by everyone and we don't do as well later in the year? It doesn't make sense. Do you want to hide your offense so you can perform better in the first 2 games or so...I mean, because after Game 1, the league will have seen your offense and it's downhill from there, right?

It doesn't make sense. If teams can gameplan against you by seeing the offense in preseason, can't they game plan just as effectively if they see your offense after Game 1?

This "o great o complicated system/hiding the offense" thing is WAY over blown. Teams with the most effective offenses have put time TOGETHER playing out that offense to perfection and adding onto it...not hiding it so they can show it for one big game. I could understand if we were playing in the SuperBowl next week, but come on!

Completely missed the point. The team will continue to build on chemistry throughout the season and continually get better. Why give away any advantage you have in your early games by practicing your good plays in games that mean nothing? This is the FIRST year of this offense. There is NO film, that is an advantage, no point in giving it away. Next year the offense will probably open up allot more in preseason with the stuff that we will do in actual games this year, but the stuff they work on over the offseason will remain off film until games matter.

Hell even at the highschool level coaches will only run certain plays during scrimmages and warmups before games just incase any other teams coaches are watching, think that doesnt get taken to the extreme at the NFL level?

There's a difference between showing good plays and showing nothing. We are showing aboslutely nothing and not letting the players build chemistry at the same time.

Originally posted by Joecool:
There's a difference between showing good plays and showing nothing. We are showing aboslutely nothing and not letting the players build chemistry at the same time.

A lot of your doubts seem to stem from the fact that you're giving Alex Smith too little credit and guys like Kevin Kolb (whom you desribed as "willing his team to win") too much. In case you didn't see this post from before:

Kolb wills his team to win???? Huh??? He went 2-3 last year and 4 of those 5 games were against teams picking in the top-10 in the 2011 draft (Redskins, Niners, Titans, & Cowboys). How is that willing his team to win when he had a losing record despite playing almost exclusively s**tty teams? Of his 5 games, he was AWFUL in 2 of them and mediocre at BEST in another 2. He played well in ONE game last year (the Atlanta game).

And oh ya, despite his super easy schedule, he STILL finished with a significantly worse rating, TD/INT ratio, and yds/attempt than our very own Alex Smith (despite Kolb having a way better supporting cast and WAAAAAAY better offensive coaching...Reid/Mornhinweg and Shurmur for a while vs. Singletary/Raye )
Yet Kolb is better? WHY??

Originally posted by jprchrds:
I have them last in the NFC

I have them last in the NFL.

AAAAAH i can't wait til week 1- after we start the season 1-0 a lot of this talk will die down.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I agree 100%. But they don't know the real reason. It's our O Line. The worst I've ever seen. It would be a miracle to win a few games with this.

I see the line getting better Diego. I really do. There's just too much talent there for it not to improve. And I do not believe the 49ers whiffed on five different high line picks.

If they did we're screwed for awhile. But I think we have the makings for a good line. It's just young. Young lines are inconsistent, like young teams. One week they look like world beaters. The next week, they play the role of sieve. It's maddening. But that's the inconsistency of a young line. I believe they will improve.

They have too.

Originally posted by andes14:
AAAAAH i can't wait til week 1- after we start the season 1-0 a lot of this talk will die down.

I am with you in the 1-0 start. Teams always win for new coaches. But I think the team will ring up six or seven straight losses afterwards.