San Francisco 49ers Blogs

Week six in this still-young NFL season will feature some key division match-ups as well as a contest between two of the best in the NFC… in Detroit? That’s right, Detroit. Here are the games you need to watch for amidst Sunday’s schedule.

Continue reading "The Opening Drive: Week 6, 2011"

Week five is warmed up and ready to go, and that means The Opening Drive! A former “Dream Team” could turn into a nightmare in Buffalo and one of the best rivalries in football is renewed in New England. Let’s get into the games!

Continue reading "The Opening Drive: Week 5, 2011"

Week four in the NFL season leaves us with three undefeated teams going for their fourth win. Early AFC powerhouses are also matching-up today, which may set the stage for eventual playoff tiebreakers. The Opening Drive kicks-off now!

Continue reading "The Opening Drive: Week 4, 2011"

There’s no way around it. This division sucks. Quarterback questions abound for three of its four teams and 9-7 will likely win it all. The final division preview starts now!

Seattle Seahawks

Continue reading "Joe's 2011 NFL Season Preview: The NFC West"

With the Draft a few days away, I wanted to get my claims to idiocy behind me. After my AFC grades, I knew I was in for a bit of let-down with the opposing conference. All the surprises (both good and bad) were clustered in the NFC. So let’s get to the self-degradation!

Continue reading "How Much I Effed Up: The NFC Edition"

 

(5-8) San Francisco 49ers at
(7-6) San Diego Chargers

Continue reading "Joe's 2010 Thursday Night Quickie: ..."

We saw drama in Tennessee, a slaughter in Minnesota and a near-comeback in New England. Oh NFL week eleven, how I heart you. It's Final Drive time mutha-trucka!

(2-8) Buffalo Bills 49

Continue reading "Joe's Final Drive: Week 11"

As week four in the NFL season ends, turmoil exists across both conferences as no team has established itself as a dominant force. Here are my takes on the stories of week four.

(3-1) Atlanta Falcons 16

Continue reading "Joe's Final Drive: Week 4"

 

Week four is here and with it comes bye weeks. Grr. Here are the storylines to look for this weekend.

Continue reading "Joe's 2010 NFL Opening Drive: Week 4"

Week two is in the books and that means it's time for a Final Drive! What teams surprisingly fell to 0-2 and which ones made the 2-0 leap! Let's get it on!

(2-0) Pittsburgh Steelers 19

Continue reading "Joe's Final Drive: Week 2"

We're another weekend closer to the NFL kicking off for real! After my last look at the AFC South, this time around I'll be examining the teams in the NFC West, a division that is always up for grabs. (Unless you're the Rams.)

Continue reading "Joe's NFL 2010 Season Preview: NFC West"

The New Orleans Saints will play the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

 

The Colts (16-2) are currently favored by nearly six points to defeat the underdog Saints (15-3) this weekend.

Continue reading "The Five Best Super Bowl Winners Since 1985"

The Indianapolis Colts will play the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV on February 7 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

 

The contest is expected to be an offensive shootout pitting Colts (16-2) quarterback Peyton Manning against Saints (15-3) signal-caller Drew Brees.

Continue reading "The Best Quarterback Matchups in ..."

I can’t blame the defense this time. On Thursday night, the Bears offense did everything they could to lose this game. Ten penalties and five Jay Cutler interceptions prevented Chicago from leaving Candlestick Park with a victory. I won’t bother boring you with the minutiae.  The final score: San Francisco 10, Chicago Bears 6.

Continue reading "Penalties and Cutler's five interceptions ..."

Welcome to a newly streamlined and revamped Gameday Preview! I figured the prior incarnation was just too filled with stats and useless analysis. From now on the preview will be more akin to extended Opening or Final Drive commentary. This week sees the Bears heading to San Francisco to take on the 49ers on Thursday Night Football. Let’s get to it!

Continue reading "Joe's Gameday Preview: Bears at 49ers"

OK, I feel like someone kicked me in the stomach. That was a HORRIBLE way to lose but, it's also a good learning lesson.

We can take from that lose the fact that we are going to be on the receiving end of those kinds of game from time to time and move forward. I could not believe Favre hit his receiver with less than an inch of space in the back of the end zone. I looked and looked and deep in my heart I wanted to hear the ref come back after reviewing and say "after further review, the receiver's foot was out of bounds." But it didn't happen like that.

Continue reading "Week 3"

(I've also posted this on my blog at FanNation.com).

It's been an interesting NFL Sunday thus far, so I had the urge to get my two cents in on the day's events. First thing that comes to my mind, it's going right into this post...

Continue reading "NFL Week 3: Notes and Commentary"

Alright...That's the way to get the season off the ground!!

In the words of Mike Sigletary..."we go in...we hit people in the mouth" And that's what the Niners did today in Arizona. The San Francisco 49ers went in and got things going from the start. Although they struggled on offense today, Hill managed to dig down deep and move the ball when it was needed. 

Continue reading "Week 1"

I’m not much of a poker player, but since the beginning of training camp, head coach Bill Belichick has been exchanging cards, looking for a full house.

 

They looked at QB Cleo Lemon. DE Kevin Carter seems to be getting serious consideration. QB Matt Gutierrez was cut and QB Andrew Walter signed to replace Gutz.

Continue reading "Ninkovich in the Cards"

Well it's finally here...TRAINING !

And it started off with some mixed thoughts in my mind. First off, I had never hear the 49ers "sound off" while they were going through stretching. It sounded GOOD to me. It actually brought back memories of when I was playing in New York.

Continue reading "Camp is in Session"

Let's take a look at the top 3 qb sleepers for the 2009 season:

Note: All stats and rankings are based on the following:
20 yards passing=1 point
10 yards rushing= 1 point
Td's= 6 points

Continue reading "3 quarterback sleepers in the 09 ..."

Unless you've managed to live amongst wolves for the past two years you undoubtedly know about Michael Vick's dog fighting ring. Michael has been out of professional football for two whole seasons and most of that time was spent in prison. Although, an average American cannot return to his or her job after being imprisoned; Michael Vick can and he will, because he is a professional football player.

Continue reading "Michael Vick: Searching for a Home"

Long time no see! While this 65 degree sunny-sometimes summer has been upon us, I haven’t forgotten about my valued 6 and a half readers! Ha, getting back on topic, we’ve had quite the start to an exciting summer in the sporting world. Whether it be baseball, football, or basketball there’s been something to talk about.

Continue reading "NFL Summer Fun"

Ok this year was my first "Family Day" with the 49ers and I have to say...I was impressed!

I didn't know what to really expect as far as the crowd, the set-up, what players would be there and how they would placed around the stadium for autographs.

Continue reading "Family FUN!"

Well, I haven't been here in awhile...that's because there really hasn't been much to talk about.

OTA's are going well, the QB compitition continues and the team is looking good.

Other than that, ...Not Much to write about. I've been working hard on getting my business off the ground. Still a long way to go there but, I'm doing it!! That's the whole thing...I'm DOING IT!!

Continue reading "Not Much..."

I'm not sure if any have seen it yet but, I know you will.

San Francisco Mayor Newsom has lost his mind I think. He's talking of "SUEING" the San Francisco 49ers?

All because they won't change the name? 

Continue reading "WHAT THE HELL...?"

Hey,

It's been a few days but, I'm back. This is going to be short and sweet...

Dre Bly stikes me as the kind of guy who is going to ALWAYS be talking to his team mates on the side line. He's full of energy and I can see it in his eyes.

Continue reading "Dre Bly..."

OK, I've been over to the 49ers Message Borads and I see a LOT of support for the new stadium and of course...a lot of non-support. It's good to see that people are passionate about the move. As I stated before, I'm looking forward to the new stadium. I want to post a few pictures of what the new place is supposed to look like for you to review.

Continue reading "New Stadium..."

OK to get this started, I have to tell you why I've decided to write about the OC's Martz and Raye. I read an article that I found to be very interesting. I'll give a link at the end.

Last season, Mark Martz came to the 49ers with the thoughts of turning our offense into something special...

Continue reading "What a difference an OC makes"

OK, evrybody is talking about our QB issues. I don't really see the problem. Alex Smith is coming of an injury that has not COMPLETELY healed but, he's throwing well at the OTA's.

This shouldn't cause panic for Hill fans. Hill is very much as good a QB as we've seen him be. I read somewhere that some think it might have been a fluke because of the offense that was being used by Martz. I don't care what offense is being run, if you have time to get the ball to your recievers down field, you'll complete 60-70% of your passes.

Continue reading "QB Issue"

Well, I just wanted to introduce myself to all of you. Some of you might already know me from my involvement with Club 49 Tailgate Crew at Candlestick. 

As you can see from the name on my blog...this is "theactor". I'm going to be writing here from time to time about what Club 49 is up to and of course about our San Francisco 49ers.

Continue reading "Introduction"

The NFL Draft was going according to plan until the Browns went on the clock after Aaron Curry was selected the pick before. They ended up trading their pick to the New York Jets in a mammoth deal in

Continue reading "What a first day of the NFL Draft ..."

Nobody needs another idiot fan ranting or raving, giving their personal opinion on their favorite teams activities without any real insight. I can't make any promises that I won't be an idiot fan but I will attempt to offer something less typical. The vast majority of my posts will be running, real-time blogs of Bay Area sports games.

Continue reading "What's the Point"

The Bronx Will Be a Better Neighborhood without A-Roid*

New York Yankees parasite Alex Rodriguez had arthroscopic surgery Monday to repair torn cartilage in his right hip and doctors said they found nothing during the procedure that would keep the overrated ballplayer from returning to the Bombers lineup in May.

Continue reading "The Bronx is Nicer without A-Roid* ..."

The coronation of the Pittsburgh Steelers as Super Bowl champions marks the end of another football season… unfortunately.  But for those of us who eat, drink and sleep pigskin 365 days a year, football season is never really over.

Continue reading ""

After the 49ers 2008 season concluded with back to back wins over the Rams and Redskins interim head coach Mike Singletary was rewarded with a new 4 year contract as the teams new permanent fixture at head coach. For Singletary it was a moment that many saw coming for quite awhile. The former Super Bowl champion and Ravens assistant guided the 49ers to a 5-4 finish after a very rocky 2-5 that saw the firing of former coach Mike Nolan. First on the new coach's to do list was to address offensive coordinator Mike Martz. At times the 49ers were very inconsistent and the chosen one (by Martz anyway) by the name of J.T. O'Sullivan was quickly benched after Singletary took over. So it wasn't much of a surprise then when the 49ers fired Mike Martz after just one season. Now the team is looking for yet another play caller, for the 7th time in as many years in fact. One could certainly point at the 49ers failure to have a long term coordinator as one of the many reasons the team hasn't made the playoffs since 2002. Many names have surfaced for the position including several current NFL assistants and former head coaches (one, Scott Linehan, turned the 49ers down several days ago to accept the same position with the Detriot Lions).

Continue reading "49ers and Mike Vick Close to Marriage?"

 

Let it be said before I begin this blog:  I am from Dayton, Ohio, and I love the Cincinnati Bengals.  Wow, I feel so much better.  Now I’m ready to face the other 11 steps…

Continue reading "Who Dey: The Musical!"

According to reports, the Patriots plan to franchise QB Matt Cassel. Doing so wouldn't surprise me because it gives New England leverage.

Naturally the pessimists jumped to the conclusion that something is wrong with QB Tom Brady's recovery from his knee surgeries. A report said because of the infection, it sets Brady back to the point he might miss the 2009 season. If that's the case, then slapping a franchise tag on Cassel is insurance if Brady can't return for '09.

Continue reading "Tag! You're Going Nowhere"

Hey Guys!

Even though it took a last second field goal from Joe Nedney, we beat the Washington Redskins.  And between you and me, we deserved it.  We outplayed them all game, survived a bad second quarter, and finished the game strongly.  We finished the season on an up-note by beating a good Washington Redskin team that had their playoff hopes broken last week.  All we did was put the final nail in the coffin.

Continue reading "The San Francisco 49ers Salvage The 2008 Season"

Hey Guys!

 We did it. We beat the Rams...barely! I won't get into everything that went wrong for the 9ers, i.e. Shaun Hills' poor decision making, the bad play of the offensive line, the poor job of Deshaun Foster, etc.  Instead, i'm going to focus on the positives of the game. 

Continue reading "Week 16 Wrap-Up & Week 17 Preview"

Continue reading "Motivated Nfl pick for week 16"

Hey Guys!

We got a guy in! Patrick Willis, the 49ers 2nd year ILB has been named to his 2nd consecutive Pro Bowl. His stats support this selection: 121 Total Tackles (3rd in the NFL and 2nd in the NFC), 92 Solo Tackles (2nd in the NFL and 2nd in the NFC), 11 Passes Defensed (51st overall in the NFL, 24th in the NFC, 4th among LB's in the NFL, and 3rd among LB's in the NFC), and an 86 yard Interception return for a TD against the Seahawks in Week 2.

Continue reading "Patrick Willis to the Pro Bowl--Was ..."

Hey Guys!

As you're all aware of by now, the 49ers lost a winnable game at Miami. After the loss, the commentators and analysts like to describe the Dolphins win as a "smart" win. They keep saying things like: "They play smart football", or "The way they play the game is the smart way". This is characterized by their method of scoring early, comitting few turnovers, playing good defense, and winning the "Field Position Game". 

Continue reading ""Field Position Game"? Either Way, 49ers lose"

Can we get a quarterback?  After watching today's "game" against the Miami Dolphins, I have never been more fully convinced that our issues are very simple.  We need a quality, veteran quarterback.  I sincerely think a good, and I stress "GOOD" quarterback can transform this team to an 11-5 or 12-4 team next year.  It's that simple.  If you've been watching the season of malcontent for many other teams, you know as well as I do that there will be some good quarterback available in the offseason.  I wouldn't be suprised if Donovan McNabb is available (I've blogged about this before), Carson Palmer will be out of Cincinnatti, one of the Browns quarterbacks will also be gone.  Marc Bulger is on his way out in St. Louis.  Any of these possibilities are leaps and bounds better than our current position.  How many 1, 2, or 3 yard out routes are we going to run? 

Continue reading "Wanted: A quarterback in San Francisco!"

It has been over a month now since the 49ers fired head coach Mike Nolan and replaced him with assistant coach Mike Singletary. "Right now, the guys realize that we do have something here," To what degree, I don't know, but we do have something special here", Singletary said after first being named interim coach. In the 5 games since Singletary took over the 49ers are 2-3 and just last week came away with a 10-3 win in a defensive struggle against Buffalo. The 49ers are playing harder, the coaches are coaching better, the team is actually better. Although a 4-8 record and an assurance that the 49ers will fail to make the playoffs for the 6th straight year can't please to many fans, Mike Singletary should. Singletary said he's "having the time of my life" as head coach. "This is what I was born to do -- there's absolutely no doubt in my mind." He has taken responsibility when the team hasn't played well and he will go straight after players when they make mistakes. Both of those things former coach Mike Nolan wouldn't do. 

Continue reading "A Win Over the Jets could Remove ..."

New football leagues seem to come about every number of years. Some find a way to stick around for awhile (see NFL Europe or the Arena League) others make some news but don't stick around for to long (USFL, XFL) and then others just never really happen. For the UFL, a new football league aimed to begin kick off in August of 2009, they hope to stay for a long time. For those not sure of what the UFL is, it's pretty simple. The United Football League is a professionalAmerican Football league being organized by William Hambrecht, a Wall Street investor and former minority partner in the USFL's Oakland Invaders, and Tim Armstrong, a senior executive at Google. The commissioner of the league is Michael Huyghue, former NFL agent. Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, was the first to publicly profess interest in owning a franchise. The league will have 6-8 teams, a $20 million salary cap for players, and will play on Friday nights in the fall. There is still a lot of football people crave and lately the NFL has really been the No Fun League. Of course, for this new venture to succeed it needs what has made the NFL, players. Peyton Manning or Terrell Owens won't be suiting up for the UFL anytime soon, but these players would certainly help.  

Continue reading "5 Players the UFL Needs"

The losses have outweighed the wins. Yes, Mike Singletary has inspired this team to play better, Shaun Hill looks like a competent NFL starter and Frank Gore continues to be Frank Gore. But still, the team is 3-8 and is just 1-3 under Singletary since he took over for the fired Mike Nolan last month. The 49ers have not had a winning season since, gulp, 2002 and have seen Dennic Erickson, Mike Nolan, and now Mike Singletary attempt to lead the team back to glory. A revolving door at wide receiever and offensive coordinator, to go along with no consistency at quarterback, have really hampered the team. 2006 may be the best season the 49ers have had since 2002 but even then that team only won 7 games. Fans will claim the team would have been even better in 2007 if Norv Turner had stayed and Alex Smith continued to develop. Still, a great player will still be great, coaching changes or not. That's my take. Norv Turner should never have been hired by the Chargers, and could be available for a coordinator position real soon. Okay, so we aren't here to talk about all of the 49ers short comings since Steve Mariucci was canned. There is a game to be played on Sunday vs. the 6-5 Buffalo Bills. Right?

Continue reading "Singletary Looks to Improve Record ..."

Donovan McNabb in scarlet and gold.  I can see it now.  McNabb's latest clash with Philly management no doubt has him on the way out.  We need to be proactive and take the opportunity to grab a pro bowl caliber quarterback when he's available.  Chances like this do not come by very often.  He'd be worth every cent we'd (San Francisco) pay for him, or for any number of draft picks and/or players.  He was benched for his backup in a game that his backup, Kevin Kolb had no chance.  I believe this was more of a message sent from the front office through Andy Reid.  I think this is Kevin's team now and it will work out for the best for us.  Grab him the second he's available.  We have a young, fast, and athletic defense.  We have an improving offensive line, a stellar running back, a tight end who is capable of catching lighting in a bottle, and very impressive wide receivers.  We have the pieces in place to be a force to be reckoned with next year. 

Continue reading "Donovan McNabb"

My interview with Bill Romanowski is on Real GM. You can read the trimmed for print edition or go to the end of the article and read the full interview.

Or watch the interview as it happened. Your choice.

Continue reading "The Romanowski Interview"

Tomorrow's Rams at 49ers contest isn't exactly a preview of the NFC title game. It's not even a preview of a good game. Both of these teams enter the game at 2-7 and just thinking about the results has me thinking this was actually an XFL game. The playoff successes, the Super Bowls, the excitement of the very next game... all of that is long gone for both of these NFC West Bottom Dwellers. Sure, the Rams-49ers rivalry has been epic in the past but the only thing these teams have in common before tomorrow's game is the fact that they both changed head coaches in-season and that Isaac Bruce has both played for them.

Continue reading "49ers vs Rams Preview"

I found this past week 8 in the NFL to be relatively uninspiring. There were a few highlights like the Tennessee Titans going to 7-0, the Patriots starting to look good again, and the Giants win. Yet all in all it was rather blah if you ask me, it felt kind of scripted like the teams that were suppose to lose lost and the teams that were expected to win, won. Maybe I’m just bitter because my Buccaneers handed the game to the swollen and blue Cowboys. It stunk, I dunno. One highlight I can truly say was watching Mike Singletary take over as coach of the San Francisco 49ers. It did my heart good to see an old school Gridiron great out there coaching the old school way. Say what you will, I loved it.

Continue reading "More Coaches Should be Like Mike"

Diehard 49ers fan here.  Suffering with our inability to remain competitive.  Monday night's game with the Cardinals was an improvement in many areas, but I think we are kidding ourselves if

Continue reading "Where have you gone, Joe Montana and Steve Young?"

Let’s start off today with a thank you to all the men and women who have represented our country in the Armed Forces.  If it weren’t for the sacrifices that these Americans have made, we would be able to live our lives with the freedom and choice that we all enjoy.  Thank you.

Continue reading ""

He just keeps ticking, worn out old Greg Maddox won his 18th Gold Glove this past week. 

The playoff seedings in the MLL are set now.  Argonaut as the number one seed gets the 3rd place team in the WAC, Calaveras in the number 2 spot gets to drive down to Escalon and Summerville travels to Modesto for a game with Central Catholic.  Prospects don't look too good for an advance to the second round of any of the three teams, but as my good friend Ben always says, "You never know."

Continue reading "Saturday Ramblings"

Dear Bay Area,

Hang in there. Relationships suck. They do. Don’t argue with me, I don’t want to hear it. Even if you’re in one and you love it, eventually they suck; it’s a fact of life. They make you sick to your stomach, they give you migraines and they age you to the point that you start looking like Steven Adler on Celebrity Rehab. So why, why, WHY do we all love them? Why do we put ourselves on this roller coaster of emotions knowing that every single relationship fails and never fails to inflict excruciating pain upon us like the crazy guy from the Saw movies?

Continue reading "Open letter to the Bay Area about ..."

Welcome one and all to my very first blog.  I will be blogging about BYU football, college football in general, and other sports that I like.  Unfortunately, my home town teams are the San Francisco 49ers, the San Francisco Giants, and the Sacramento Kings, all of which are performing very poorly these days, so I may not have a lot of good to say about them. 

Continue reading "The Beginning"

One of the most important moves by the 49ers in the past 6 years was made before this weekend's game vs Seattle. The firing of Mike Nolan came just one day after another disappointing loss, this time to the New York Giants. The Nolan era will not be remembered for much, except for the fact that the team is in better shape now than when he was first hired. The 18 wins, bad personnel decisions via free agency and the draft, and horrible decisions during games on Sundays. Those factors alone will make anyone wish to forget the 4 years of futility. "The decision was difficult, because Mike has been both a friend and a valued coach of our team," said Scott McCloughan, who was hired by Nolan but was promoted to general manager last year. "My first obligation is to do what is in the best interest of our fans and the entire 49ers organization."

Continue reading "Despite loss 49ers should keep Singletary ..."

After another scary roller coaster ride on Wall Street last week, we at least have the weekend and sports to bring back some sanity to our life. Unless of course your motto is "Go Blue" and you hail from the great state of Northern Ohio or as most of you know it, Michigan.  Who says there's no such thing as karma?

Continue reading "Another Sunday Morning"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

   The Oakland Raiders defeated the San Francisco 49ers Friday night at Oakland 18 - 6.  Everyone was waiting to see JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden, and each played a brief time in the Raiders first exhibition game.  Russell play less than anticipated.  In previous press releases Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin stated that it was possible that Russell could play into the second half; however, he started the game and only played two series completing 2 of 5 passes for 13 yards.  Russell was also sacked once.  McFadden played a bit longer and gained 48 yards on 12 carries.

Continue reading "Raiders defeat 49ers"

I believe that a 5-11 record is misleading. The 49ers are a much worse team then that. Perhaps it’s the fact that they play in a horrible NFC West division. Perhaps it’s the lack of playmakers. Whatever the reason, the 49ers are not a good team and they haven’t been for quite some time. This is not the team of Montana and Rice. This is not the team that won 4 superbowls. The team that this organization fields is a disgrace to the great 49er teams of old and I am trying to say that in the nicest way possible.

Continue reading "32 Teams in 32 Days, Team #22: The ..."

All of Patriot Nation can finally breathe again after the unveiling of the physically unable to perform list. According to The Boston Globe, the reason why there's so many players on PUP is to not over-work them so they perform well for the whole season. Already rookie running back BenJarivs Green-Ellis was removed from the list. And offensive tackle Nick Kaczur returned to the field as well.

Continue reading "Sigh of relief"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

That's right folks, the final week of the offseason is upon us and I have to say at this point it seems like it flew by. Some thoughts and links for this special day..

Great article from Tom Curran, one of my favorite NFL writers, about the Brett Favre situation. Prior to last season I was firmly planted in the "Favre should retire crowd" but watching him play last year changed my mind. It was fun to see how much fun he was having with the young Packers team. Now, I'm back to just wanted him to go away. I feel bad for Packers fans, this can't be easy and by many accounts it has divided the fan base.

Continue reading "One Week Till Ignition"

NFL Dynasties:

1960’s: Green Bay Packers

Titles: Five (including first two Super Bowls)

Length of Dynasty: Seven Seasons (1961 – 67)

Coach/QB : Vince Lombardi/Bart  Starr

Continue reading "NFL Dynasty Killers And You: What ..."

April 16, 2008 -- From April 3, 2008 team press release

Chargers open preseason with Cowboys, face Seahawks on Monday Night Football

The two-time defending AFC West Champion San Diego Chargers will open the 2008 preseason at home on Saturday, Aug. 9 against the defending NFC East Champion Dallas Cowboys. Coached by former Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, the Cowboys are led by wide receiver Terrell Owens and quarterback Tony Romo. Kickoff time will be announced at a later date. This will be the Chargers’ first preseason game against the Cowboys since 1989.

Continue reading "San Diego Chargers to open with Dallas ..."

The Bears emerged victorious from the courtroom earlier this week with a decisive off-the-field victory over the embittered 49ers. According to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, San Francisco illegally contacted Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs’ uber-agent, Drew Rosenhaus, during the 2007 season – a “blatant, outright, stupid, stupid, stupid violation of NFL anti-tampering policy,” he remarked. “We basically caught [San Francisco GM] Scot McCloughan with his hands in the proverbial cookie jar. If you know what I mean.” This attempt at humor left many witnesses baffled and appalled, especially when the commissioner followed it up with a series of erratic winks.

Continue reading ""Get Your Hands Off My Linebacker!""

DT: *Issac Sopoaga*, Aubrayo Franklin, (R)

DE: *Justin Smith*,  *Ray Mcdonald*, Melvin Oliver, (R)

ILB: *Patrick Willis*, (Takeo Spikes?), *Dontarrious Thomas*, Jeff Ulbric, Jay Moore

Continue reading "2008-2009 Defensve Depth Chart?"

     It's not exactly Ditka vs Walsh, but the battle between the Bears and the 49ers over the proposed trade of Lance Briggs does have some drama to it.

     According to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer , the Bears will bring a case to the commissioner's office regarding potential tampering problems between the 49ers and Brigg's agent Drew Rosenhaus.  At issue was a proposed trade between the two teams involving Briggs heading out west.  The problem is, according to the Bears, the 49ers began talks with Rosenhaus about the deal before the team granted permission to do so.

Continue reading "Bears and 49ers Contract Troubles"

Will the 9ers come out the year with the defense the have been trying to build since Nolan took over? Word on the street is it will constist of two gut pluging lineman, four line backers and five DB's. Looking something like this

Continue reading "New Defensive System"

Should he stay or should he go? Marques Douglas is a free agent this offseason and the 9ers do not have an offer on the table. Why? He was forth in the league for DE in tackles and started all 16 game

Continue reading "Get it Straight!"

Did I see Asante Samuel's nose grow in front of my own eyes on Friday?
His press conference announcing his signing with the Philadelphia Eagles didn't fool anybody. Samuel was always going to the team that was willing to sign the fattest paycheck, and Philadelphia was there waiting with a six-year, $57-million offer for the 27-year-old cornerback.

Continue reading "Samuel speaks with a forked tongue"

The NFL Free Agency signing period begins at midnight tonight.  This is always one of the weirdest things in the sports calendar.  Football is such a unique game.  Sometimes a great player for one team won't be a great player anywhere else.  A 3-4 end could be a special teams player on a 4-3 team.  A big 1100 yard receiver could collect dust on a team that runs the west coast offense.

Continue reading "NFL Free Agency...Sure We Overpaid ..."

Free Agency starts this coming Friday at 12:01am and if it's anything like last year (which it very well could be with the amount of cap space the Patriots have) it will be a whirlwind weekend. Last year Adalius Thomas was rumored to already be signed, sealed and delivered to the San Francisco 49ers when news broke that the Patriots would be big players in free agency. The Pats signed Thomas by noon the next day. That was just the start - Kyle Brady, Donte' Stallworth, Kelley Washington soon followed. What we learned is that the Pats keep quiet about their intentions and it serves to their advantage.

Continue reading "Potential Patriots Free Agent Pick Up: Calvin Pace"

A week later I emerge from the darkness. I think I've made peace with the New England Patriots fate in 2007. It was a great season that came just short of being the greatest of all time. I can live with that. The Pats gave us more great wins than anyone else this season, just not the greatest. So it's time to reload. Here's the biggest questions for the off-season.

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Was I watching “Jerry Maguire 2” Sunday night after the Giants/Cowboys game? T.O.’s tearful comments to the press came off as the emotional climax of a melodramatic Rod Tidwell scene. Where’s the T.O. we all know and love (except for the love part)? Why wasn’t he ripping Tony Romo for his previous week’s exploits or ripping Jason Garrett for limiting him in the second half? Where’s the negativity which reared its ugly head in Philadelphia and San Francisco? What’s with the teammate act he’s trying to pass off as genuine? Is it just another media ploy or is this the new Terrell Owens?

Continue reading "In Rod We Trust; In Terrell We Can't"

NFL Playoffs!? That can only mean one thing – bandwagon season! Now that my team #1 and #2 are done for the season, its time to jump on the way only a true NFL football fan can.

My Tampa Bay Buccaneers played an exceptional first quarter today and then decided to fall asleep on me. Too bad the game has four quarters! Argh! I really thought they could make something happen this year. My #1 team(s) the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders never even made it to the playoffs - so the time has come for auxiliary cheering methods – jump on the bandwagon! I have planned out who I will be rooting for next week for sure (remaining season afterward to be determined):

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Okay, so Mike Nolan is officially remaining head coach of the San Francisco 49ers after a disappointing 5-11 season. Nolan's overall record as coach of the Niners is pretty pathetic, but this season was especially troubling because of the progress he appeared to have made last year, when we went 7-9. Expectations were definitely to get to the playoffs this year, and we took a huge step backwards instead.

Continue reading "THOUGHTS ON NOLAN"

Last year the Patriots traded their first round pick, the 28th, to the San Francisco 49ers.  In exchange the Patriots got a 4th round pick for last years draft and San Francisco’s first round pick this year.  Basically what that translates to is Randy Moss, and the number 7 pick this year for Joe Staley, the 49ers right tackle who started all 16 games this season.

Continue reading "Patriots Struck Gold From San Francisco"

Where has the season gone? Have I really been working that much? Yeah, I must have been since I didn’t realize I witnessed Bryant Young’s last home game with the San Francisco 49ers until it was almost over. I hate when I don’t get to pay attention to football!

Continue reading "The playoffs are almost here!"

When it comes to the playoff crunch, the end of the season, the stretch run, the last lap, all a team wants is to "control their own destiny."  Simply put, win and your in.  The Cleveland Browns marched into Cincinnati to take on the Bengals, or should I say 5-9 bungals.  Not only did they have a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win, they had a chance to put the pressure on the Pittsburgh Steelers for who claims the division crown.  On the opening kickoff the Bengals' kick returner Glenn Holt almost gift wrapped it for the Browns with a fumble in his own territory.  However, he was able to recover his own fumble, thus setting the tone of bad breaks for the Browns.  The Browns didn't play horrible on offense, their obvious strength of the team.  Jamal Lewis seemed to be running faster than ever, Derek Anderson was hitting his underneath receivers and the offense was moving the ball through a fierce wind.  The second bad break or bad bounce for the Browns was when Dave Zastudil couldn't handle the snap on a very makeable field goal that would have put the Browns up in the first quarter.  After Kenny Watson shredded the defense for runs of 7 and 9 yards back-to-back, Carson Palmer was picked off by Leigh Bodden and returned 22 yards.  The Browns found themselves with a fourth-and-one deep in Cincinnati's side of the field.  This time on a clean snap, Jamal Lewis was stuffed straight up the gut and gave the ball right back to the Bengals in a scoreless game.  Fast forward to only 1:13 left in the first half and the Browns found themselves only down 6-0 with the ball.  Well although that doesn't sound like a bad scenario it was.  Derek Anderson's next two passes were picked off and returned into the redzone which set up to touchdowns (one missed two-point conversion) and a 19-0 halftime score.  The second half was dominated by the Browns on both sides of the ball.  Behind two Braylon Edwards TD receptions (setting a new franchise record with 15) the Browns crept back to a 19-14 deficit.  However a last second chuck to the end zone from the Cincy 29 yard line to Kellen Winslow was incomplete and so was the Browns' playoff berth.  With one game left the Browns completely lost control of "their own destiny" when the Tennessee Titans knocked off the New York Jets.  The Browns now find themselves rooting for the Indianapolis Colts who will play host to the Titans this Sunday.  The problem for those rooting for the Browns: the Colts have absolutely nothing to play for.  Aside from contributing an extra digit in the W column, there is nothing else.  They already hold the number 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and speculation right now is that Peyton Manning should see no more than the first 15 minutes - if that during the game.  The Browns basically could forfeit (not that they ever would or should) because a win or a loss means nothing as well.  The Titans now control both "their" and the Browns' "destiny."  Win and

Continue reading "Indianapolis' Biggest Fan: The Cleveland Browns"

We hopped on the 47 Express from Van Ness and California this morning and headed over to the stadium. Yup - we were at Monster Park today to see the San Francisco 49ers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs didn’t really have to worry much about the game’s outcome. The team is playoff bound regardless but the 49ers wanted a win very badly. This game was QB Jeff Garcia’s “homecoming” and possibly Bryant Young’s last appearance.

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Amazing. The San Francisco 49ers won their second game in a row today. They beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a pretty good team. A playoff team. The only playoff team we've beaten all year. In fact, the only team with a winning record we've beaten all year. We were very large underdogs, I'm sure (I just spent no less than 4 minutes of research time trying to find out what the odds were for the game, but due in part to the game being over and in part to my ineffectiveness at understanding odds lines, I cannot properly provide you - i.e. nobody - with that information). But somehow, the Niners pulled it out and spoiled Jeff Garcia's glorious return to the toilet that is Candlestick Park, where he spent the prime of his career.

Continue reading "THE SECRET"

I was working on the computer when I heard the sound. It was that unmistakable sound that a football game was about to start. That wonderful feeling of excitement flushed over me and I mused that I am much like a subject in Pavlov’s experiments. Play that music and I salivate.

Continue reading "Random NFL Rumblings…"

Back in 2005, when the Bengals last won their division and the team was rolling very well, I enjoyed being right.  I'd talk about how well Carson Palmer was going to do, or how many touchdowns Chad Johnson was going to score--and I'd be right.  Now, being 2007 and the fact the Cincinnati Bengals are in the tank, I hate being right.

Continue reading "When it Rains--it Pours"

Some girls have guilty pleasures like chocolate or shoe shopping – well, I somehow missed the chocolate gene (hate it!) and I openly admit my shoe addiction without remorse. So, pray tell, what is my guilty pleasure? The Bucs! Ohmigosh! I loooove the Tampa Bay Buccaneers! Why do I feel guilty? Well, being a Los Angeles native that comes from a pedigree of Raiders-Rams-Niners, I always feel I need to explain myself when I root for them. I get that feeling like I was caught listening to Michael Bolton or something (not that I would do that but you get my drift).

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