Rapid Reaction: Who are we? And where are we going?

In our official pick 'em thread, I said this year felt like a 6-10 or 10-6 year. I was not sure which. Officially, the pick went down as 6-10. And, after our start, I was happy to be wrong. But going into this game, I had a feeling that the 10-6 side of the original prediction could return.

Analysis:

For the first half of the first half, we looked in deep trouble. At that point, we had about 2-3 yards of offense. Guys, gals, that ain't good. And then Kyle dials up some stuff, but then on that drive, we start sputtering a bit. It feels like we are going to collapse. And then a curious thing happened.

We woke up.

Don't undersell the importance of that. We woke up. I said it after the Seattle game, and I'll say it again. Football is an emotional game. You need that emotion to play the game, to sustain yourself through the grind of a season, and to weather the challenges to come. And you need it after a tough loss to a longstanding rival.

And then the picks came: one egregious, one simply a bad throw that killed potential touchdown drives.

When you are in trouble, you need the strongest part of the team to come and bail you out. We call that our defense.

JIMMY G TO WILSON, TOUCHDOWN 49ers! THANK YOU, GOD! CARDINALS FUMBLE IT, RECOVERY 49ers!

And the cheap TD AT THE END!

Final thoughts:

Who are we? We are gritty, a little lucky, but fighting team. I love them. You love them. Where are we going? I don't know. All I know is that we are going to be one tough, beat up bunch of f**kers come playoff time. League, watch out.

Pros:

• Sanders catching key passes, even though he was clearly hurting, was a good thing to see. That is the stuff you need your fellow wrs to see that are not catching the ball. It builds a sort of attitude within a man to say, "That dude is out there with busted up ribs making catches. Damnit, give me my helmet, it is time to get my ass in gear."
• Juice is the best fullback, utility knife, in football, BAR NONE. The older fans will get that reference.
• Dwelley doing yeoman's work out there.
• Buckner has awaken! So has LEVI STADIUM!
• Armistead! Q###$@
• Nice to see Jimmy G--who apparently is attractive to all women with a pulse, who knew?--having a nice game. And he has to..see #4 below. THAT SAID HE IS ALSO DOING SOME DUMB s**t AS WELL, SEE # 3
• Deebo is going to be something special.

General Concerns:

• We are tired.
• We are beat up.
• We have lost our moxie and at times have gotten it briefly back. And the league knows it.
• I worry that scrambling QBs have our number—they did the last time we had a ball hawking defense featuring Aldon Smith. We must find a way to overcome it.
• Where is Nick Bosa?

Specific Concerns:

1. Penalties:

• This must be Uncle Sherman's day for Pass INTS. I mean, I am pretty sure he just bumped somebody on the way outside of the arena and one of the Zebras threw a flag.
• We did not score a TD on the final drive of the first half. Yeah, the holding call was a bit ticky-tacky but we need to finish. Richburg, again.

• Samuel illegal formation
• Holding on Samuel

2. Injuries:

• Dee Ford hammy injury.
• Williams-Stinger
• Deebo

3. As it seems to happen every game, Jimmy threw a ball that made not one bit of goddamn sense and it got picked off. Second poor throw by Jimmy leads to another int.

4. Another game where our running game is being taken away.

Deebo stepped up today. Hell of a game

We are the worst run blocking team I've ever watched.

Nowhere if we don't figure it out

bro that rapid af.

The next 3 games will reveal the truth!

The thing is we lost a lot of our starter. We had four LBs: Warner is in his second year, Lee didn't even made the roster, Nzeocha is rather a special teamer and Dre Greenlaw is a rookie.

This team is so young and inexperienced but they overcome it in every fashion. Whatever is needed.

People overreact to the Seattle defeat but I believe the team needs that experience more than the record. Come January, the Seattle loss could be our most important victory.

We won about 10 games the last three years and now we already have nine. You should cherish it. Just watch how the Rams look.

We're a mostly young team with a great defense and an offense that's still evolving. Yes we're a bit tired and beat up, so are the other 31 teams in the league.

Over these next 3-6 weeks we're going to find out if I'm right about this next statement. The San Francisco 49ers are the best team in the NFC, maybe the NFL.

Offensively without Kittle we're learning to play without our engine. Make no mistake George is the key to BOTH the passing AND running game for the 49ers, everything plays off of him. The offense will be entirely different when he returns healthy to the lineup.

Defensively right now we're still great but learning to play without Kwon Alexander. The 10-15 yard range we're getting carved up on these past two weeks. That's the difference between having Kwon and having Greenlaw at ILB next to Warner. Our aggressiveness is being used against us and exposing us at times as a run defense. Saleh made some nice adjustments in this game. Guys like Wilson last week and Murray are going to make some plays with their legs, special athletes do. The key is the unit as a team and Saleh as DC need to ensure we're not overly aggressive and are more sound in our assignments. Absolutely something we've seen them do already, they just need to do it more consistently.

This season has produced wins in 9 of our 10 games. The one 49ers loss, could've easily been a victory. The team continues to find new ways to win, they don't give up, they have confidence in themselves and the men lining up next to them, this is a real team and the importance of that should not be understated.

Lastly, I think it's important for the Niners to get a first round bye. I hate it too but we need to resign ourselves to the fact that we're not going to be 100% healthy and will end the regular season a bit beat up. That bye week would be huge giving vets and guys banged up extra time off to heal for the playoff run.

Indeed. But you said yourself that you though the team could end up 6-10 or 10-6 at the beginning. Nothing has changed since then except of the fact that the team might have over performed.

A couple of zoners wanted to compete for a playoff spot. We are halfway of through the season and a the top team in the NFC. A conference way more competitive than the AFC.

There are a lot of concerns around here where actually should be pride instead.

The Cardinals style of offence is a bad match-up for us, we need to play more contain and heads up on the defensive line when we come up against these read-option and mobile QB offences.

Originally posted by matt49er:
We're a mostly young team with a great defense and an offense that's still evolving. Yes we're a bit tired and beat up, so are the other 31 teams in the league.

Over these next 3-6 weeks we're going to find out if I'm right about this next statement. The San Francisco 49ers are the best team in the NFC, maybe the NFL.

Offensively without Kittle we're learning to play without our engine. Make no mistake George is the key to BOTH the passing AND running game for the 49ers, everything plays off of him. The offense will be entirely different when he returns healthy to the lineup.

Defensively right now we're still great but learning to play without Kwon Alexander. The 10-15 yard range we're getting carved up on these past two weeks. That's the difference between having Kwon and having Greenlaw at ILB next to Warner. Our aggressiveness is being used against us and exposing us at times as a run defense. Saleh made some nice adjustments in this game. Guys like Wilson last week and Murray are going to make some plays with their legs, special athletes do. The key is the unit as a team and Saleh as DC need to ensure we're not overly aggressive and are more sound in our assignments. Absolutely something we've seen them do already, they just need to do it more consistently.

This season has produced wins in 9 of our 10 games. The one 49ers loss, could've easily been a victory. The team continues to find new ways to win, they don't give up, they have confidence in themselves and the men lining up next to them, this is a real team and the importance of that should not be understated.

Lastly, I think it's important for the Niners to get a first round bye. I hate it too but we need to resign ourselves to the fact that we're not going to be 100% healthy and will end the regular season a bit beat up. That bye week would be huge giving vets and guys banged up extra time off to heal for the playoff run.

This is so important. This mindset over comes a lot.