Fumble Fanatics are Dropping the Ball

I read with some degree of mirth when I see the outrageous comments related to fumbles. Jeff Wilson fumbled in 3 of 6 games he played last season. Raheem Mostert fumbled twice last season and twice in one game last week but recovered one of them as a result of a missed pitchout. That was Mostert's first lost fumble in his last 65 carries. The outrage on social media was incredible. People calling to bench Mostert and/or Breida who dropped a pass that he deflected into the defender's hands. What puzzles me is Kyle Shanahan's tough response and threatening to pull carries from his ball carriers.

Let's take a look at some history. In 1985, the year of the Chicago Bears, Walter "Sweetness" Payton fumbled six (6) times that season. The previous season, 1984, was the greatest in 49er history. They went 18-1 and won in the Playoffs by a combined score of 82-26. The amazing stat, however, is starting RB Wendell Tyler, who led the team with 1262 yards rushing, 230 yards receiving, and 9 TD's, FUMBLED 13 times. Didn't stop him from being selected to the Pro Bowl. Would Kyle have benched him?

Joe Montana fumbled 4 times that season. I'd say that puts the problem into perspective. It's all relative.

This definitely needed its own thread.

Originally posted by Niners99:
This definitely needed its own thread.

This.

Originally posted by kezarvet49:
I read with some degree of mirth when I see the outrageous comments related to fumbles. Jeff Wilson fumbled in 3 of 6 games he played last season. Raheem Mostert fumbled twice last season and twice in one game last week but recovered one of them as a result of a missed pitchout. That was Mostert's first lost fumble in his last 65 carries. The outrage on social media was incredible. People calling to bench Mostert and/or Breida who dropped a pass that he deflected into the defender's hands. What puzzles me is Kyle Shanahan's tough response and threatening to pull carries from his ball carriers.

Let's take a look at some history. In 1985, the year of the Chicago Bears, Walter "Sweetness" Payton fumbled six (6) times that season. The previous season, 1984, was the greatest in 49er history. They went 18-1 and won in the Playoffs by a combined score of 82-26. The amazing stat, however, is starting RB Wendell Tyler, who led the team with 1262 yards rushing, 230 yards receiving, and 9 TD's, FUMBLED 13 times. Didn't stop him from being selected to the Pro Bowl. Would Kyle have benched him?

Joe Montana fumbled 4 times that season. I'd say that puts the problem into perspective. It's all relative.

You can't fumble the ball. If Mostert or Jeff Wilson were playing on Belichick's Patriots, they'd never see the field again. Look what happened to Ridley.