Are we "a very soft 9 - 2?" The WE DIDN'T PLAY ANYBODY argument.

Originally posted by English:
Tough away game, pretty much must win for them, short preparation time and travelling, not to mention key injuries. A ten point loss.

IMO you are way overreacting.

That game was far worse than a 10 point loss. If we didn't go 3 and out so much our offense would have spent more time on the field. And if they did would it be 15 sacks? The abuse at the line of scrimmage was unbelievable. We are not ready for the big time IMO based on this team. We are physically overmatched vs. top tier teams.

Other than the Packers being number 1 team the logic behind it doesn't make sense other than its your own opinion on your personal Power Ranking. If you look at 3 of the 5 you have Ranked shows they are not that superior over us.

1.Packers-yes they are undefeated
2.Saints-Lost to TB and St.Louis
3.Pats-Lost to Bills and Giants
4.Ravens-Lost to Jacksonville, Seattle. Yes they beat us! but without those 2 questionable calls in my opinion it would have been a different game.
5.Steelers-They are underrated, but Baltimore beat them twice already and they were bailed out by Tyler Palko!

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Maybe. But aren't the Saints much better right now than they were then? We almost lost to the Seahawks if not for Ted Ginn.

True, but this was the first game of the season . Harbaugh was been ultra-conservative in order to not lose the game with a limited playbook.

Well to be 9-2 is pretty damn good for a 1st year HC, I mean no one expected this. That being said the difference between 2010 and 2011, is this year we are able to keep games close to win. Regardless where we are at in the power rankings, we have a team that can complete with anyone.....any given sunday.

I do agree with you somewhat. The teams we've played are in no way in the same class as a Ravens, Patriots, Steelers, or GB team. But it doesn't mean we can't match-up against those teams. Our formula is to run the ball, play great defense, score some points, keep it close and win it at the end. We lost to the Ravens yes but I'm also putting that game in the closet because so many factors against us in that game, almost like we were set-up to lose that game. 1) being a short week and I mean extremely short week, Thanksgiving game for that matter, 2) how do you prepare for an ELITE team like that in just 3 days, and probably 1 or 2 practices, 3) that game was just to over-hyped because of the Harbaugh-bowl. Had the game been in usual conditions on a Sunday with a week to prep, I bet the outcome is different. We have one more shot to prove to everyone that we can play against an ELITE team and thats the Steelers on a Monday Night.....which again is on a national stage.

Sometimes I wonder how the NFL schedulers know that these games are going to be big. Did they know the niners would be this good? Hard to believe they just happen to throw the Ravens (Harbaugh bowl) and the Steelers on our schedule towards the end.......hmmmmmmm.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
That game was far worse than a 10 point loss. If we didn't go 3 and out so much our offense would have spent more time on the field. And if they did would it be 15 sacks? The abuse at the line of scrimmage was unbelievable. We are not ready for the big time IMO based on this team. We are physically overmatched vs. top tier teams.

And if the refs didn't call the chop-block or Braylon go outside when Alex went inside, we'd be talking about how badly we destroyed Baltimore

Originally posted by Eskendale:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Is the Baltimore game a warning from a top tier team or was it a "scheduled loss?" Short week, travel several time zones and play at Baltimore where losing is not an unexpected result. When we lost 1 game to Dallas in overtime I thought we were for real. But this game gives me pause. And here is why looking at the schedule and circumstances.

It's been argued by WZers and media types that we did play somebody. But did we? Wins vs. the Bengals, Eagles, Lions, Bucs and Giants were often pointed to as "good teams" we beat. Are they?

~ Eagles 4 - 7.
~ Bucs 4 - 7.
~ Lions - started 5 - 0 and have been dropping games ever since. Really imploded around the time we played them and after. Ok we can claim this one if we want. They were good when we played them. But they haven't been good lately. So how good are they?
~ Giants - Yup we beat them. But we resorted to onside kick trickery at home and could barely get them off the field after several 4th downs. IMO they are perfectly capable of beating us in a rematch.
~ Bengals - good record but a ROOKIE QB. Albeit a good one.

The Seahawks and Cardinals are a joke. And the Seahawks gave us a good game remember if not for 2 Ted Ginn returns that bailed us out. The Browns and Redskins are simply not good teams.

So look at who beat us.

~ Cowboys - a good team. Beat us passing all over the field. Looked like an unstoppable offense vs. us.
~ Ravens - a great TOP TIER team IMO. Completely abused us. Manhandled us all over the field. If we spent any more time on offense they would have had 15 - 20 sacks. Utter domination at the line of scrimmage. Far worse than the score IMO. A game that gives even the most rabid homer some pause and concern.

If I had to do a power ranking right now I would put it like this.

1) Packers - Would abuse us badly.
2) Saints - If we get behind no way to catch up. And we would get behind vs. them.
3) Patriots - Far superior IMO.
4) Ravens - Any worse abuse than this and you file assault charges...
5) Steelers - Vastly underrated by the WZ and media. This team is for real.

6) 49ers. Just my opinion.

I think the Texans and Bears have too many injury concerns at QB to be considered serious contenders. I'd put the Cowboys and Giants about even with us. Almost right on par. The Cowboys beat us. And we barely beat the Giants with onside kicks and all. IMO they are capable of beating us. I think Atlanta is about on par with us. They are definitely capable of beating us on a given sunday.

So maybe:

7) Dallas
8) New York Giants
9) Atlanta

I don't think those teams are far behind us. Capable of beating us too. One of them did.

I think we played one super elite top tier team and they abused us all over the field. It was far worse than the score in the physical matchup. I'm glad we are better. But I don't think we are as top tier as we think. Our offense is not capable of coming from behind. And if we get down in the playoffs I don't see much come from behind capability to keep the season alive. I'm glad we are better than we used to be. But we may not be ready yet for the big time. I agree with the argument that the Ravens and Steelers are the true test. Even if we split those, win out and go 14 - 2 I would start to believe again. If we lose that, get abused, win in NFC West matchups and go 13 - 3 I'm not sure how good we are?...

San Diego, you mention two teams that beat us.

The first, the Cowboys, won on plays like our DBs slipping and falling on TD bombs and Madieu Williams pathetically jumping routes and getting burned (we didn't have Goldson at this time). Really, we beat the Cowboys and gave the game away; better put, there is no reason why we couldn't beat them if played them again.

The Ravens game has been analyzed to the minutest detail, already. A football game is 60 minutes, and it came down to the 4th quarter. Flacco barely finished the game with more yards than Alex, and for all the sacks that the Ravens had they were prone to the big play. This is also a Ravens team that lost to the likes of the Seahawks and gave up 20+ points to teams like the Bengals.

The point is this: any team can be beaten any Sunday, but in 11 games we know two things: our defense is great and leads the league in points allowed (we allowed only 16 to the Ravens AT HOME), and our offense is mediocre and usually thrives off of winning the turnover ratio. The Ravens game taught us nothing new about this season.

Are you scared about playing the Saints? Unless start losing games we shouldn't, we'll play them at home. The Saints seem unstoppable when they are playing at the Superdome, but they come back down to earth on someone else's turf.

Cowboys? With our full arsenal at our disposal on defense and 16 games worth of time with Harbaugh's playbook, I don't see how we lose at home.

The Bears? Will Cutler even be ready?

The Giants? They might play themselves out of playoff contention.

The Falcons? Same team we lost to only because of Nate Clements, and that was WITHOUT Harbaugh.

The Packers? We have the same problem that the other 31 teams in the league have; it doesn't matter how or who it is, someone has to beat them.

The real question you should ask yourself is, are the 49ers bad enough to lose a 1st-round bye through a loss to one of the NFC West teams? Or, are the 49ers bad enough to lose at home to any NFC team not named Green Bay?

If you remember that Giants game, it was the same one that Tedd Ginn tipped a pass that was intercepted during the 2 minute drill, could've been points. We had been up two scores in that game heading into the 4th, and silly crap like blitzing Goldson on a late blitz eroded that lead. Our MO is bend but don't break, and we shouldn't F around with it. The game would've been a lot more lopsided if Fangio didn't try to get cute there.

We could have beaten the Giants by a bit more but the Ravens score was not as close as it seems IMO. They abused us.

'If the 49ers success offends you, so be it' - Jim Harbaugh

Originally posted by mannydawson:
Didn't read. Periods makes paragraphs better.

True, but this is an online forum used to disperse information, share thoughts, and debate hot topics. I'm just trying to focus on that and not get a lecture on punctuation. It's all about letting steam off your chest and sharing with others in here. I have dispensed vernacular appropriately during my collegiate years, but now I'm done being graded, I'm just about living life, loving my family, and loving the 49ers

It's a valid argument when you look at the teams they have played. Time will tell when the playoffs come. We really don't know how this team will react. They were abused by Baltimore. But you can't have all the bad from one game outweigh all the positives from the whole season. But looking around the league other teams offenses are just on another planet compared to the Niners. And they need to figure out how to use VD like all these other teams are using their tight ends.

Originally posted by Eskendale:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
That game was far worse than a 10 point loss. If we didn't go 3 and out so much our offense would have spent more time on the field. And if they did would it be 15 sacks? The abuse at the line of scrimmage was unbelievable. We are not ready for the big time IMO based on this team. We are physically overmatched vs. top tier teams.

And if the refs didn't call the chop-block or Braylon go outside when Alex went inside, we'd be talking about how badly we destroyed Baltimore

I don't worry about the interference or the chop block. Those can go either way. It's the complete line of scrimmage domination that concerns me. We got abused badly. The game was not as close as the score.

Originally posted by lamontb:
It's a valid argument when you look at the teams they have played. Time will tell when the playoffs come. We really don't know how this team will react. They were abused by Baltimore. But you can't have all the bad from one game outweigh all the positives from the whole season. But looking around the league other teams offenses are just on another planet compared to the Niners. And they need to figure out how to use VD like all these other teams are using their tight ends.

I agree with the other teams offenses and using VD more. Insane not to use him.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
We could have beaten the Giants by a bit more but the Ravens score was not as close as it seems IMO. They abused us.

We should be more specific, more like abused Donte Whitner

On the critically-acclaimed "Donte Whitner" drive, Donte ate some fail-bread, put on his helmet, and went out to lay an egg. From the 3rd down play where he whiffed on a potential drive-killing tackle, to the end-zone defense, where he pulled a matador and gave up an easy TD. He easily was responsible for 3-7 points on that drive, considering the plays he could have made.

Yes, our offensive line got trashed. It was horrible watching our players get manhandled, but it's actually a credit to Alex Smith to see that we didn't fold completely in the onslaught. If you want to take a positive from it, know that our team is resilient, and that we can win no matter how ugly it looks at times. That's how we beat Philadelphia, despite Vick's numbers and the half-time score.

If we lose to the Steelers, which won't happen seeing that Harb's brother beat them twice, Big Ben's finger is broken, and Troy is one concussion away from missing a lot of time, then I'll gladly admit that we have issues, and we'll probably pull a 13-3 Falcons and be one and done in the divisional game.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
We could have beaten the Giants by a bit more but the Ravens score was not as close as it seems IMO. They abused us.

You can play the what if game all you want, but it could go either way. If Dallas had missed the 45 yard FG that sent us into overtime, we would have won that game. We did score 2 special teams TD against Seattle (those points actually count). We did successfully recover an onside kick and we beat a NY Giant team where Eli was playing well. We lost to Baltimore on a short week/east coast trip. The game was tied until the 4th quarter. I think it is overreacting to say that we can't play with them.

Originally posted by Baldie:
Well to be 9-2 is pretty damn good for a 1st year HC, I mean no one expected this. That being said the difference between 2010 and 2011, is this year we are able to keep games close to win. Regardless where we are at in the power rankings, we have a team that can complete with anyone.....any given sunday.

I do agree with you somewhat. The teams we've played are in no way in the same class as a Ravens, Patriots, Steelers, or GB team. But it doesn't mean we can't match-up against those teams. Our formula is to run the ball, play great defense, score some points, keep it close and win it at the end. We lost to the Ravens yes but I'm also putting that game in the closet because so many factors against us in that game, almost like we were set-up to lose that game. 1) being a short week and I mean extremely short week, Thanksgiving game for that matter, 2) how do you prepare for an ELITE team like that in just 3 days, and probably 1 or 2 practices, 3) that game was just to over-hyped because of the Harbaugh-bowl. Had the game been in usual conditions on a Sunday with a week to prep, I bet the outcome is different. We have one more shot to prove to everyone that we can play against an ELITE team and thats the Steelers on a Monday Night.....which again is on a national stage.

Sometimes I wonder how the NFL schedulers know that these games are going to be big. Did they know the niners would be this good? Hard to believe they just happen to throw the Ravens (Harbaugh bowl) and the Steelers on our schedule towards the end.......hmmmmmmm.

The Steelers game will be very big in determining how good I think this team is. If we get abused I will be gravely concerned going into the playoffs. If we do well I will feel better.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I don't worry about the interference or the chop block. Those can go either way. It's the complete line of scrimmage domination that concerns me. We got abused badly. The game was not as close as the score.

The O-line was playing pretty good for that last 6-7 games. Suddenly they couldn't block a 4 man rush. The Ravens D-line was good but I don't think they were any better than the best d-line that we had played in previous games. The culprit was Chilo and the lack of a running game. I have no doubt.