Niners Nation Q&A
by Fooch
on Dec 3, 2008 10:55 PM EST
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What's happening Jets fans? This is Fooch from Niners Nation. We're exchanging FanPosts so feel free to fire your questions away and I'll do my best to answer them. Also, I'm going to encourage my own readers to come over and answer your questions as well, just to give you a more diverse set of viewpoints. If you get a free moment, feel free to head over to John's FanPost and discuss your Jets.
Before I start answering questions, I thought I'd give you guys a quick update on where the 49ers stand this season. The team is 4-8 and only barely in playoff contention (Arizona has to lose out, 49ers have to win out). Mike Nolan was fired and the promotion of Mike Singletary has brought a bit of a spark to this team.
The promotion of Singletary led to the promotion of Shaun Hill as starting QB, following J.T. "Just Turnovers" O'Sullivan's less than stellar performances. Hill brings less of the high reward, but he does bring a lot less of the high risk. The offense has shown improvement under Hill as they've become more consistent. They'll certainly need that when Brett Favre comes to town.
The defense has gotten a lot of flack, but they really stepped up against the Bills last week. They bent a considerable amount but absolutely shut down the Bills in the red zone. Two missed field goals certainly helped, but keeping the Bills out of the end zone was of equal importance.
So, the 49ers may not appear to be playing for much, but in reality, Singletary needs some Ws to get the full time job. The players have responded to him and should bring a stiff challenge (that's what she said) for the Jets. Brett Favre had quite a bit of success against the 49ers while in Green Bay, so we'll see if it carries over to this Sunday.
So with that, I open the floor for your questions. Fire away.
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Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Until somebody throws out a question, I’ll throw out random questions and answers. Sort of like talking to myself…
The 49ers have given up some big pass games, but then roll out a pretty solid performance against the Bills. What’s up with that?
Well the defenses’s issues really boil down to one primary topic: the lack of a pass rush. The secondary has been burned many times this year, but often times that has to do just as much or more with the lack of a pass rush bringing any sort of pressure on the QB.
The 49ers do have some talented pass rushers but they’ve shown some inconsistency and it seems like our DC can’t always get a quality scheme figured out. Ray McDonald, Parys Haralson and Justin Smith have all shown they can wreak havoc in the backfield but sometimes they seem to be held back. Justin Smith spends his time all over the field playing five or six positions in a given game. When he and McDonald, or he and Haralson line up on the same side, things can get ugly for the opposing defense.
Against Buffalo, the pass rush benefited from the QB change. Edwards was not getting pressure too much but when he was replaced at halftime by JP Losman (due to a groin injury supposedly), the pass rush suddenly seemed fierce. I’d attribute that to Losman’s impatience more than anything. He got happy feet at times and would create a bad situation for himself. Favre has always been great at improvising (or sometimes hideously bad I suppose you could say), so we’ll see what the pass rush can do. If he has all day to pick apart the defense lord only knows how this game will end.
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by Fooch on
Dec 4, 2008 8:11 PM EST
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Haven't watched one Niners game so....
Does San Fran have the ability to torch the Jets secondary? I’m not even sure I can name any of their wide receivers. Then compound that with it being Shaun Hill tossing the ball, I see the Jets being able to get back to their winning ways as it seems that pass defense is their achilles heel.
Also, what is up with Michael Robinson? He’s one of my all-time favorite Nittany Lions and I enjoyed following him in the NFL but haven’t heard one bit about him this year.
by HookMania on
Dec 4, 2008 8:50 PM EST
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Secondary
The 49ers passing attack is not spectacular, but definitely improved from last season. Shaun Hill doesn’t hit the deep passes tremendously well, but he can consistently hit the 5-15 yard passes. The 49ers receiving corps has some bright spots. Isaac Bruce has had a couple solid games, Bryant Johnson is making progress and the youths such as Jason Hill and Dominique Zeigler provide some options. Arnaz Battle has missed several weeks but completed a full practice today and is expected to be back. The primary deep threat is probably Vernon Davis, although he’s turned into a guy who’s good for 1 catch a game. I’d expect the Jets to not get burnt deep, but they better watch out in the underneath game.
As for Robinson, the 49ers have used him all over the place. He’s been their emergency 3rd QB, a running back by committee guy when Gore gets banged up, a receiver, a QB in the Wild-Cat formation, a kick returner and currently as a fullback. I actually think that if Martz sticks around for another year, Robinson will break out in a bigger way next year. Martz has had nothing but praise for Robinson, but the team just can’t quite find a role for him yet beyond the proverbial “Slash” role.
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by Fooch on
Dec 5, 2008 1:30 AM EST
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Shaun Hill
He played great for you guys at the end of last season, and has excellent numbers again this year. From an outsider perspective, it’s tough to figure out why he wasn’t your starter from day one. Can you shed some light?
by John B on
Dec 4, 2008 10:02 PM EST
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Hill
The reason he didn’t start from Day 1 is his struggles in picking up the offense. He’s never been a good practice guy, in the fact that he simply looks poor. It even happens now where Wednesday through Friday Hill will struggle, but then on game-day the light goes on.
In training camp, Smith was the guy people wanted to win the job. However, J.T. O’Sullivan came in and had the benefit of time in the Martz offense. Once he got a shot in practice it was not surprising that he passed Smith and Hill simply because of the advantage of time. I’m excited for these last four games to see if Hill can finish out the season strong and be the guy to lead the team next year. We’ll see.
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by Fooch on
Dec 5, 2008 1:32 AM EST
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