Originally posted by Marvin49:
I am certainly not saying they WILL be better...but it's possible.
While the media, opposing fans, and nihilistic Niner fans would have you believe that all the wheels have fallen off, they often forget a few things...
1) "OMG, Patrick Willis retired!!". Right..I love the guy, but Pat missed 10.5 games last year.
2) "OMG, Borland Retired!!!". Right, Borland only started 7 games last year...and he only played because Pat was hurt. These "two" losses are only one position.
3) Oh yeah, and Bowman didn't play a single down last year. He's back now.
4) WIlhoite quietly played very well last year.
5) "OMG, Justin Smith retired!!!". Just like Pat, I loved the guy, but can we stop pretending he was the same guy he was in 2011? He wasn't. He knew it. THAT's why he retired. New Blood there is needed in a big way. Will they be just like Justin? Of course not. However, neither was Justin last year.
6) "OMG, they lost both starting corners!!!". This one cracks me up the most. Two starting corners? By starting corners do you mean 1 guy in his first year as a starter and another guy claimed off the scrapheap that was replacing an injured starter? When did Parrish Cox become irreplaceable? Brock is back and they have a number of young guys to compete on the other side. Hell, the Niners lost both starting corners LAST year too (Rogers and Brown)...and that seems to have worked out OK.
7) Barring injuries and new stupidity, Aldon will play 16 games for the 1st time since the 2012 season. Nuff said.
Some very good points here!
1 - I would agree with you here...if we had gone 13-3 last year and had a deep playoff run. We didn't. I think we saw a glimpse last year of what the loss of Willis means, and this year we won't even have him for those 5.5 games. The loss of Willis last year was also lessened a bit by Borland's surprising play.
2 - See #1. We won't have Borland to help make up for losing Willis. You are right though, it really is one loss not two. Except that it does affect depth.
3 - Yes! This is something to look forward to, although after that injury, we really won't know for sure how good he comes back, until gametime. Indications so far look good though.
4 - He did. Though I'd still rather seem him as a top back up, instead of a starter. But really, how many teams in the league have two Pro Bowl level ILB's? We've been kinda spoiled with Willis and Bow, but ILB is one of the lowest priorities on a defense.
5 - Cowboy knew he wasn't 100% last year, BUT opposing offenses still had to prepare and gameplan for him. He may have been getting by a little on name value too, but that does impact the game. I go back to the year that we had Deion, and teams wouldn't even look his direction. Then against a mediocre passing team (Bears?), they went right after Deion and burned him a few times. They caught him napping, and exploited it - but the next game, teams went right back to not even looking that direction because "It was Deion!".
6 - This is actually the point that made me take a step back, and say "Very true!". It sounds so bad on paper losing both starting CB's, but a case where it's not nearly as bad as it seems. Although I will say Cox played very well last year and has been showing great improvement. I will miss him. But Dontae Johnson looks to me to have great potential. He played well as a rookie, and will hopefully be even better after getting that playing time. The thing that worries me though, is the talk of Wright as a starter. He was toasted so much last year, he even made VD look good!! I'm hoping that Cook or one of the young players steps up, and starts alongside Johnson - so Brock can move to a back up, and Wright can just move off the team.
7 - Fingers crossed here! This kid is an enigma. Seemed to have no troubles early on, then just seemed like he couldn't stay out of trouble. Hopefully his head is back on straight. With Tank, Lynch, Dockett - pass rush should be a real strength. Hopefully the loss of Justin won't affect Aldon as much as last year, and schemes should find a way to utilize our multiple pass rushers to free Aldon up and put him in some mismatches.
I think the biggest way the defense "could be better", will be a more efficient offense. Not making stupid mistakes with clock management, taking dumb penalties on third downs, which ultimately put more pressure on the defense. Just a couple of extra third down conversions a game could give the D a break.
under him, we were not even competitive on the road
