2) Drops: Driving me crazy. That game last night could have been blown wide open if not for several drops. Delanie Walker...I luv ya man, but CATCH THE DAMN BALL.
3) Aldon Smith: Not so much a criticism as just as a concern. He was a monster against the run last night. Very nice to see that he can play well in that role. What concerns me is that he doesn't seem to have the same explosion as I saw last year. It is very possible tho that it's because he's playing on every down, has more run responsibility, and they are running alot of 3 man rushes. Just something I'll be keeping my eyes on.
4) Crabtree: Starting to look like the guy we thought we were getting when he was drafted. Seems quicker, stronger, and more confident in his ole than I've ever seen him. On a side note, that catch and run in the final drive for a first down? The one where they were praising the Frank Gore Block? That was a DESIGNED block. If you watch Gore he never even looks back at the QB. He wheels out of the backfirld and targets the LB. He is on the verge of making the block BEFORE Crabtree makes the catch. INCREDIBLE. I LOVE the play design.
5) Run Game: Wow. Diverse. Innovative. Dominating. I'm running out of adjectives.
6) Staley/O-Line: Very nice bounce-back. They had a vew breakdowns in Pass Protection, but lets be real for a second...that D-Line is pretty damn good. I think Only the Giants are better. I had concerns about Boone when the season started but no more. Very good player at that position.
7) Vernon: Just more Vernon being Vernon. IMO the best TE in the league right now. Graham is a monster and IMO Gronk is overrated, but I'd take Vernon right now over both.
8) Culliver: Culliver is turning into a hell of a corner. That PI was total BS. When teams go 3 or 4 wide, they aren't finding a guy to pick on. The DBs in general are VERY deep (the Raiders would start Trumaine Brock as their #1 right now, and he's number FIVE on the Niners). I remember Mayock not liking the pick when Culliver was taken, but that guy has a bright future. He is playing VERY well.
9) Third Downs and RedZone: MUCH improved this year. The presence of Randy Moss makes them much better. Teams are going to get wise to that eventually tho and not give him so much space and not double or triple him in the endzone. Then we'll have to see how he plays when he is one-on-one.
10) What a difference: How quickly things changed. The Niners are 2-0, beat 2 playoff teams fairly easily, and when the game ended yesterday all I could really think about was how much better they COULD have played. Seven dropped passes. BS PI call. Fumbled kickoff. A few years ago I'd have been on cloud 9 after that game. I think we may have crossed over into being one of those teams that simply EXPECTS to win. Not a team thats confident it CAN win, but a team that EXPECTS to win and isn't satisfied with just winning. They see what they can improve on even when they dominate. Great time to be a Niner fan right now.
[ Edited by Marvin49 on Sep 17, 2012 at 8:51 AM ]