We are not the same team as lat year, so maybe our expectations should change?

First of all, we have a legit offense this year!

However we pretty much traded in (not literally a trade) a very solid "Tony Montana squad" in order to add offensive weapons.

Most of the guys that we kept on the roster to bolster the offense (Ginn, Jacob's, James, Jenkins) are hurt, inactive, or just don't see the field.

Last years TM squad would strike fear in opponents at the beginning of games yet this year our TM squad is more of a joke than a force.

Our offense is holding back, and you can see that. I think the plan is to use the regular season to set up the post season. Moss has been stretching the field and is wide open and A. Smith will dump it down to Crabtree. When defenses go to sleep on Moss he will make them pay later. Harbaugh is saving Moss' legs for when it counts most.

Defense is still a brick wall! I don't think they have played up to the "top of the hill" standard that they are capable of to this point but that is a dominant defense!

So all in all, I think we as fans should be looking to jump on teams early, become conservative and grind out wins, and then explode offensively in the playoffs! We also should prepare ourselves for the short comings of the so called Tony Montana Squad. We will probably give up some big gains as well as points because Castonzo and the gang aren't here to pump fear in the hearts of our opponents in that faze of the game.

Harbaugh knows best, now lets go get 'em...

werent the expectations last year somewhere around 6-10?
so technically they have changed.

Maybe Moss and Maningham ran into a similar learning curve that Vernon Davis did last season? Let's hope that's it. Would hate to know we added these weapons and there's reasons other than knowing the playbook as to why they are not helping the offense improve on last years stats.

Yes, I said stats and not points because a lot of points last year were closely related to our Defense and Special teams. Not planning on that dominance repeating so our offense will need to improve on their stats to get closer to the endzone and into the endzone.

I am talking about the expectations of being dominant in all three phases of the game. Last year we were dominant on defense and special teams. This year it will be offense, defense, and a portion of the special teams (Field goal kicker & punter). During last years playoff win in the game against the Saints the Tony Montana squad forced turnovers and kept Sproles in check all day. Infact they may have helped softened him up for the defense cause he got hit often on the KR & PR.

what?

We're a better team than last year so my expectations are much higher. Same system, second year = improved offense and defense.

Originally posted by zomg_its_ryan:
We're a better team than last year so my expectations are much higher. Same system, second year = improved offense and defense.

Same QB.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by zomg_its_ryan:
We're a better team than last year so my expectations are much higher. Same system, second year = improved offense and defense.

Same QB.

haha even his numbers are up significantly

We aren't the same team as last year... we are much better.

We have a better offense and a better defense.

The expectations are SB this year.

Originally posted by Joecool:
Maybe Moss and Maningham ran into a similar learning curve that Vernon Davis did last season? Let's hope that's it. Would hate to know we added these weapons and there's reasons other than knowing the playbook as to why they are not helping the offense improve on last years stats.

Yes, I said stats and not points because a lot of points last year were closely related to our Defense and Special teams. Not planning on that dominance repeating so our offense will need to improve on their stats to get closer to the endzone and into the endzone.

That sounds reasonable, took 10+ games for our guys to figure it out last season, even with TC it could take these guys 4-6 games to pick it up...

Originally posted by zomg_its_ryan:

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by zomg_its_ryan:
We're a better team than last year so my expectations are much higher. Same system, second year = improved offense and defense.

Same QB.

haha even his numbers are up significantly

I don't buy that we're purposely holding the offense back to save for the playoffs. You don't do that in this league. Not with 16 games, each of which is extremely important.

The offense you see is who we are right now. An efficient, mistake-free offense that is prone to missing out on a lot of points. There have not been enough big plays considering all the weapons we have. We need more quick strike drives, not everything has to be a 15 play grind.

I'm play devils advocate but we aren't much different than last years team because we are experiencing many of the same problems as before.

1. Inconsistant offensive line play. Alex is still under pressure most of his throws.

2. No big play WR. Randy Moss was brought in to stretch the field vertically. Let's face it, this hasn't happened. We are left with left with three bigger possession receivers who often struggle to get the separation needed to make Alex feel comfortable....although Crabs has looked faster this year. Thank god we have Vernon.

3. Despite Alex working on his mechanics and footwork, he still struggles to make the second and third reads, buckles under pressure and misses receivers usually throwing too high.

4. Same ultra conservative game plan on offense. We can only go to the well so many times. Example: After we had the ball on the 11 yard line following Kyle Williams KO return we ran three PUTRID plays. Problem is that we were behind and needed a TD. Instead throw the ball into the endzone 3 times and hope for a score. Afterall, weren't we practicing Red Zone plays all offseason? I'm still scratching my head on that series of plays.

Left unchanged can we still win a boatload of games? Sure because of our defense. But at some point these things NEED to be addressed.

Originally posted by glorydayz:
First of all, we have a legit offense this year!

However we pretty much traded in (not literally a trade) a very solid "Tony Montana squad" in order to add offensive weapons.

Most of the guys that we kept on the roster to bolster the offense (Ginn, Jacob's, James, Jenkins) are hurt, inactive, or just don't see the field.

Last years TM squad would strike fear in opponents at the beginning of games yet this year our TM squad is more of a joke than a force.

Our offense is holding back, and you can see that. I think the plan is to use the regular season to set up the post season. Moss has been stretching the field and is wide open and A. Smith will dump it down to Crabtree. When defenses go to sleep on Moss he will make them pay later. Harbaugh is saving Moss' legs for when it counts most.

Defense is still a brick wall! I don't think they have played up to the "top of the hill" standard that they are capable of to this point but that is a dominant defense!

So all in all, I think we as fans should be looking to jump on teams early, become conservative and grind out wins, and then explode offensively in the playoffs! We also should prepare ourselves for the short comings of the so called Tony Montana Squad. We will probably give up some big gains as well as points because Castonzo and the gang aren't here to pump fear in the hearts of our opponents in that faze of the game.

Harbaugh knows best, now lets go get 'em...

who said our ST is a joke? what the f did i miss? we allowed one TD (that should of not been) always get good field position, and one of the best coverage teams out there.......stop being all -Whoa as us... Trust in the Team, Trust in Harbaugh
-Go NINERS!!!!

Actually not much has changed because Frank is still the main runner, Vern is still the main weapon in the passing game and Alex still cant utilize his WRs outside the numbers.