49ers Gameday Thread: Week 14: 49ers at Cardinals
 

Cardinals might be a tough game. They are playing good football lately and I'm a little nervous about our offense not converting third downs and some of the drops on key plays. I hope that doesn't keep haunting us. But third downs, we really need to improve in that area. As long as we get after the quarterback and continue to shut down the run we should be fine. Have to keep a lead against the Saints. I really don't want to potentially lose the bye and win another game just to play the damn Saints in the Superdome. I like the Titans chances against the Saints this weekend so I'm hoping for an upset.

I'll be at this game (7th year in a row since moving to AZ) and will be representing the NFC West Champion Faithful! I believe Hawkeye is going as well.

The Cards have been playing well as of late and I think that while Seattle's D is overall better, the Cards have the more talented team, second best in the division. The Niners will have to contain Beanie Wells early and then eat Kolb alive with the pass rush, making sure that PP or Stephens-Howling don't crack any big plays open on special teams.

The Niners have had pretty good success in AZ and there has been some close games they've won in recent years. This year is different and I want to see them dominate and run up the score.

Gore usually thrashes these guys and VD scored his first TD against them here in AZ. Gore's hip injury did occur in the blowout win for the Niners last year which sucked big time but I did meet Steve Young that night (as it was a Monday Night game) which helped bring my spirits back up. That and the postgame rant by Derek Anderson, who puts his 'heart and soul into this $*!+!"

http://youtu.be/Y2vTzHf2tus

LMAO - It IS funny! Go Niners!

Definitely could see this being a trap game. We are gonna be overlooking the Cardinals after winning the division and they aren't a bad team. Not to mention that the running game has been terrible recently.

I'll be attending this game. First Niner game i'll see in person since '03. So pumped!

THIS appears to be the best way to defend Vernon :/

Should be a fun game to watch this weekend. Wish I had Tv here in AZ it would be on ha oh well.

I'm so happy that we have finally made it to a 10-2 record we could only wish to be 11-1 from that Dallas mess but oh well we made it threw and a destroying the nfc west like we should have been. But now most likely we are gonna own it for a few years coming.Unless Seattle can get a real QB and some protection or every one else starts playing fresh. I would love to be able to watch CK get some playing time this Sunday if it is a blow out. We need to see if he can run this offense and make it fly.

Translation...

"I hope Alex Smith plays well enough, again, to blow another team out so CK can play and take his job."


/Tremendous rationale.

I actually want to see Kendall Hunter throw down a 100+ yard game...

Even if its a blowout, I would still keep Smith in the game but he would handing off to Dixon and Hunter in that order to waste as much time as possible until the game is over.

This one could be tough... but the one I'll really be worried about as a "trap" game is against Seattle in a few weeks. There's enough bad blood between the Niners and Cardinals that I don't think Arizona will ever catch SF napping. Meanwhile, if the Niners were to win the next two, and especially if New Orleans were to lose one in there and GB keeps on winning, I could see a let down against the SeaChickens. Short week, maybe not quite as much motivation to play for at that point... and that could potentially be huge because there's still an outside shot that Seattle could make the playoffs at 9-7 if they win out... And given their remaining schedule, if they were to beat us, they could do that.

ETA: One minor nitpick I had from last week's game-- the Wildcat. Is anyone fooled by this anymore? What possible purpose could it serve to take out your QB and basically let the other team know, "Yeah, we're definitely running it." This seems even more absurd to me given that we have Kaepernick on the bench. If you really wanted to run this kind of play, why not let Kaepernick be the Wildcat back? He'd be a legitimate threat to run or throw that would actually keep the defenses honest.

Maybe the idea is to have Hunter and Kaepernick out there at the same time to provide the threat of a direct snap to Hunter.

Phlysac always loves to mention the drops....but never the laughable off target throws, which are just as bad.


And weren't you on News in 09' sucking Vernon's **** playing the "I told you so" game with them on him breaking out? Now with one bad drop and you're off the wagon? Holy facepalm.

You hit the nail on the head, those little lapses have been killing drives. We lead the league in drop rate and sacks given up, yet we still have a QB and a WR performing at a top 10 level; imagine how good the O would be if the execution improved.

This is gonna be a tough game, can't believe they beat a streaking Dallas team last week. I actually see our guys coming up short :(.

Well I personally wouldn't say top 10 as far as Smith and Crabtree are concerned. They've shown flashes of good things though. We'll see next year how our third down percentage measures up. That's the main I thing I think is holding this offense back from being pretty good. Alex's growth factor as well.

And I wouldn't put much stock in beating Dallas. The Cowboys lost that game more so than Arizona won the game in my opinion. Arizona is still not that good against the run. Frank Gore seemed to be having a good game early against the Cardinals when we faced them three weeks ago. I think he is the key in this game, unless Harbaugh wants to air it out. Unfortunately there is no room to breathe due to New Orleans in hot pursuit. We need to win this game in the worst way, because losing to the the Cardinals doesn't bode well for having to face the Steelers the following week.

I would say Alex is definitely top 10 THIS year so far, there is too much statistical backing; the only area he falls short is total yards and total attempts. Weakest area imo was YPA, but even that is around 12th in the league right now, not bad when you consider we get some of the lowest YAC in the league. When you consider the total sacks, the drop rate, the injuries at WR, it's pretty impressive stuff.

Crabtree I know you're not a big fan of, and I could see the argument for top 15-25, but remember he was playing hurt AND he missed training camp. Right now he's healthy and his suddenness is killing people. He still has some drop issues but he's a lot better there than he used to be, plus his utter physicality makes up for it imo. He's even shown some straight-line deep speed. He'll never have elite athleticism, but with his craftiness and change of direction, he could be a #1 guy.

Drops are still a huge problem for this team. I know everyone loves Morgan, but it would be sweet if we landed Bowe next year. It all depends on Braylon I guess. Not a huge fan of the WRs in this draft or taking WRs early in general.

There have been a lot more drops this year than there have been ridiculously off-target throws. There have been more drops than there have been off-target throws, period, honestly.

No facepalms for me oh, kind sir. Vernon Davis is my favorite offensive player. Just because I show both praise for good play and blame for bad play, doesn't mean I'm "off the wagon."

Those that blindly support or blindly bash are the ones that are jokes.

Got jokes?

That would be false.

Well you blindly support Alex, so I guess you are a joke.

I'd like to see a link that proves we are the lowest YAC team in the league. Hard to see since Crabtree has recently killed it in the YAC department, as well as Kyle Williams who gave Smith a TD this past sunday with his YAC ability.

And I would also point out that YAC is largely dependent on passes thrown in stride, which is obviously not Smith's strength.

Showing support for positives in a player is far from"blind support." You follow me around. Feel free to provide an example of me giving blind support for him.

In your opinion ANYONE that supports Smith is blind, because your hate for him, indeed, is.

It's not just support actually. There's plenty of fans that like Alex but can also realize when his play is not all that good. The Ravens game, for example. When the Head Coach comes out and says some of the sacks were Smith's fault, that should be a clue, but you, and all the other EXTREME Alex fans completely blame it on the line and no one else is to blame.


And also.....If you didn't show blind support, why do you ALWAYS mention a crucial drop but never mention an off target throw? Or mention on the 1st play in the Ravens game where Alex had Delanie running deep for 6 and decided to check it down? Hmmmm....I wonder


And I don't hate Smith. I think he's an average QB who flashes some accuracy every now and then. What I HATE, are the idiot fans who say our receivers are horrible and holding Alex back, which is a very amusing joke. Tell me, how many times have you seen Alex hit a backshoulder throw? I have seen it a LITTLE bit more this year but still not that much. When have you seen him throw a receiver open, meaning he threw the pass before the receiver's break to create maximum separation? Plenty of QB's do this, but it seems Alex relies on rub patterns created by the route design to make his throws.


My point is this....I believe highly in Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman's scheme.....And I think there are about 20 QB's outside of Smith that could at the very least replicate his production, if not make the passing game more dynamic.

I don't even need to go back too far to prove I can criticize Smith...

Just this past weekend, in fact, regarding the deep passes that made you proclaim I was "off the wagon." Passes that you claim I "never" mention.

Bring facts.

and

and as far as the sacks in the Ravens game... here's what I said...


"I told you so's"??? Feel free to bring them to the table. I always supported Vernon Davis. It's not an "I told you so."

and here's my signature showing my support for VD,





I get you disagree with me. I just wish you wouldn't generalize what I say when it's not factual.

I'm always amazed that you can't simply hold a conversation on these boards without insulting people.

Play nice.