Growing Pessimism

I think most people on this board have been watching football and the niners for awhile and we know a good team when we see one.

However, niner fans are also known for being highly critical and flaky.

I am seeing a lot of negativity about this team and I don't understand it.

No team in the NFL is perfect, and all teams have weaknesses. But we are NOT a bad team. We ARE a good team. And I would say we are legit super bowl contenders.

We are complete team, we have good enough offense, defense, and special teams to compete with anyone/anywhere.

Obviously each of those units have areas of concern that need improvement, but we are good enough, and our coaches are expected to make the necessary adjustments.

I don't think we should be concerned about any team except our own. There is a confidence and a swag that a winning team has, and we as fans need to reflect that. I honestly believe the niners can beat the Texans, Pats, Giants, Falcons, Packers or Bears away. I believe we will prove it on Mon night, and I expect us to prove it in NE just like we EASILY did in Green Bay.

Obviously any team can win on any given Sunday. But we should EXPECT to win every game, because we have the TALENT and the COACHING. When we win it is expected, when we lose it is surprising and an anomaly.

Even the Giants loss was due more to scheme and game planning than performance.

Teams get psyched and pumped to play US. Not the other way around. The Rams tied us by pulling of a trick play while our starting QB was out. That was their best, and not our best.

I would NOT be surprised if we win the remaining games on our schedule. Although that is very tough and probably unlikely (only because it is hard to sustain that level of intensity) it won't be because of lack talent.

If we play the Vikings and Giants 1000 times, I honestly think we win 99% of the time. There is no glaring weakness on this team.

I think it's time we start appreciating the fact that this team is EXPECTED to be a super bowl team. The fact that some fans actually believe we are not a serious contender is disappointing.

Well said sir. But what I have come to realize is that a lot of posters here have truly fallen into the Madden/Fantasy football era of thinking.

I was watching the old video of SF vs NYG in 1994...and I saw a stat line come up for Steve Young...I did not realize that he was the FIRST 49er QB to register a 4000 yard season. So while we sit here and rag on our QB about never doing something...we forget it hadn't been done much in the team's history.

Then you have those who complain about our defense. Nevermind the fact that they have been #'s 1,2 or 3 in total defense for much of the last 2 seasons...or that they are #1 in scoring defense in that same frame...or that they still have the best run D in that time as well. Nah its not enough...we gotta shutout everyone and get 9 sacks a game...that's the only way they will be happy.

Its quite sad to be honest.

well, niner fans have been spoiled in the past.

I guess some fans may have lost some confidence when we got spanked by the NY Giants. We didn't just lose a close game like last year, but we got our ass kicked.

If we would have beaten the Giants earlier this season, I think there would be less doubts.

Don't be a Debbie Downer. Don't worry, be happy.

I hear ya but i'm not gonna sit here and ignore our glaring weaknesses. CB position is a glaring weakness. We don't have consistency at this position and thats essential. Our LB's are horrible in pass coverage. That is something that smart coaches expose and destroy us with. Soap is a great line plugger on the run, other than that our pressure is inconsistent on passing plays. Our Offensive tackles- Get embarrassed and only look good on the run. In order for our QB to perform at his full potential he needs more time. I'm not even gonna start a wildfire with QB talk. Just my opinion. Call me what u want.

I agree, but I think a lot of the pessimism spawns from this being a lot more difficult than we were expecting. I think all of us are guilty of feeling that we were by far the best team at the beginning of the year, and even moreso after we started 2-0. During that time, most of us were feeling like our team was invincible, and we believed we had the best defense in the league with a rejuvenated passing game and the most diciplined team in the league. All of those high feelings went away when we realized we were capable of losing and having off days. So I think after a TIE against the Rams, theres not a chance any of us will be feeling very optimistic until our team gets it together.

We have a legit SB shot... just as many other teams do. We ARE a good team, but we do have our issues from week to week that are frustrating. I did think we would be playing at a higher level than we are by now. I still have faith in the team, but am less convinced we will win it all this season. Many fans seem to have a defeatist outlook and will scream "retreat!" at the slightest sign of struggle on the battlefield. That is unfortunate, but everyone's made different, and we have to accept all. I really do feel we have all the pieces we need. Just gotta tweak some of the coaching decisions being made... and make sure all of our boys still have the fire burning bright in them.

Having been a 9er fan over the past 3 decades, I have watched a lot their games. I agree, this is a good, SB caliber,

football team. I, like most, just can't stand to watch the 9ers lose and a tie feels like a loss even though its not.

It hurts even more when you know they should have won the game. There is a lot of negativity on this board,

mainly because folks don't always agree. We can all agree we want the 9ers to win!

I just don't understand why teams are now able to run over the niners. Clearly their defense is not the same. And I really don't understand some personnel decisions. Why sign Jacobs and not resign costanzo? The special teams really miss him.

Originally posted by JoseCortez:
I just don't understand why teams are now able to run over the niners. Clearly their defense is not the same. And I really don't understand some personnel decisions. Why sign Jacobs and not resign costanzo? The special teams really miss him.

I think gun to head, the coaches would admit that they screwed up a bit with the special teams.. but.. this is a game called hindsight. How could the coaches have known for sure that the new pieces on STs wouldn't be able to fill in as adequately? How could the coaches have known for sure that we would be so injury-free with Gore and Hunter kicking arse as they are?

As for the run defense.. well I have been focused more on the offense, for sure. I plan on spending time really looking hard at the D on Friday when I am finished with the offensive play by play detail that I do. What I see though.. is that our starting DL sometimes take risks with their designed assignments. Maybe they crash hard left and end up doing it so well that they take themselves out of the cut back lanes..

... but I also think another key thing comes into play. It seems to me that we became a bit arrogant on just how good our run D is... and by we.. I mean the coaches. So what they are doing is playing our ILBs (and at times safeties) off more in deeper coverage... because they expected our run D to be as dominant like that while also giving our interior coverage a boost over the deeper middle. It isn't working as well as expected. Our ILBs are getting engaged at a deeper level and are not getting off the blocks quite as well. So our guys are struggling more with disengaging, as well as finding the better tackling angles. Along with this gamble, I think we are struggling with containing the run against powerful backs when we choose to play our Nickel D. Opponents are getting crafty in showing us the open sets and hitting us up the middle while we are in pass rush mode.

Much of this is due to Fangio really fighting hard not to give up the big plays downfield... but the cost is hurting us.. Instead, we are allowing offenses to move the chains for long chunks of time of possession. This is also causing our front 7 to fatigue more quickly... which then also contributes to the run D suffering.

I was going t post something similar. The fact is we play in the toughest division in the toughest conference in football. Our division has 4 proven head-coaches. 4 Solid to great defenses. The Rams are going to be scary. They have collected a lot of talent and will gain more over the next few years. Fisher would have been great as our head-coach as well, Seattle is playing well against the big boys. As John Gruden points out "there are no gimmes in this league".

I think there is a ton of growing pessimism and one of the main reason why is something the original poster said "Teams get fored up to play us, not the other way around." I agree 100% and is is the main problem with this roster. This is the third time this tseaosn that we showed up and expected teh other team to lay down. In one instance (Seattle) the team was able to recover but we are loosing to team with far less talent.

Also, I completly disagree with the last post. The NFC west is not the best division, maybe the 3rd best division in the NFC and the "Rams are gonna be scarey"? Did anyone feel this way two weeks ago when New England beat them by 40? Yes. I know that the great Danny Amendola was imactive for that game but even Danny is not worth 40 pts a game ( i know that may be hard for some to believe).

49ers never lost a single game under Walsh or Seifert. Simple fact. Not a single loss ever in between 1979 and 1996. That's why everyone is freaking out, how are we supposed to get to the playoffs if we lose any games during the regular season?

Originally posted by ninermedic:

49ers never lost a single game under Walsh or Seifert. Simple fact. Not a single loss ever in between 1979 and 1996. That's why everyone is freaking out, how are we supposed to get to the playoffs if we lose any games during the regular season?

Lmao....well said.... god I was getting so sick of the doom and gloom on here..good thread...it always seem to be the same old 5000000 post posters...way to stay pos....................niners to the bowl baby!

Originally posted by fip24:
I think there is a ton of growing pessimism and one of the main reason why is something the original poster said "Teams get fored up to play us, not the other way around." I agree 100% and is is the main problem with this roster. This is the third time this tseaosn that we showed up and expected teh other team to lay down. In one instance (Seattle) the team was able to recover but we are loosing to team with far less talent.

Also, I completly disagree with the last post. The NFC west is not the best division, maybe the 3rd best division in the NFC and the "Rams are gonna be scarey"? Did anyone feel this way two weeks ago when New England beat them by 40? Yes. I know that the great Danny Amendola was imactive for that game but even Danny is not worth 40 pts a game ( i know that may be hard for some to believe).

NFL is different week to week, and certain matchups can skew things.

Of course New England is better than the Rams, but not 40 points better. They also should beat AZ & SEA.

CHI & HOU both lost to GB, whom we beat. Look around the league, and this season has a TON of these non linear wins & losses (Cincinnati under Dalton FINALLY beating a good team.......and the CHAMPS?).

The old saying "you're never as good as you think you are when you're winning, and you're never as bad as you think you are when you're losing" couldn't be more true.

In this parity league, player morale (what happened the week before), and coaching is what allows some of these weird blowouts.