byau":1x18v9ia said:
Marvin and 49ers fans here: just curious, do you think Harbaugh is really gone? I would trust fans to be very in tune with their local team than national journalists.
So what do you guys think?
Also, seems like your O problems mirror ours a bit with disjointed receiving and lack of rushing: is Gore injured or something? The last two games from what I recall were really rough (Denver and St Louis)
Harbaugh issue? Kaep issue? Gore issue? Other issue?
Would like to hear what you guys think.
I apologize in advance as this might be long.
1) Harbaugh? Honestly. I don't have the first clue. The one thing I've learned about Harbaugh is that you really never know what he's going to do. When he was initially hired everyone thought there was no chance he'd be interested in SF. Then he was all but signed in SF. Then Miami flew out to see him and he was all set to be the coach in Miami. Then he wanted Michigan. Then he was set to go back to Stanford. Then he finally signed with SF.
....and this was all in 24 hours.
Personally I think he'll stay. I think that's because everyone seems to think he'll be gone...and he never does what people expect.
I think SOOOOO much of what's in the media is way, way overblown and over reported just as the rifts in the Seattle locker room are. Good teams make for big stories and small things get huge because of the profile of the team.
That said...there was smoke to spark that flame...so who knows. I hope he stays, but I really have no idea one way or the other.
2) Offense? Disjointed is the perfect word and I used it myself above. They can't decide what they want to be. They need to transition from Gore being the Bell Cow but don't seem to know exactly how to get there. Lots of teams are run blitzing and shutting down the run particularly on early downs so the Niners are throwing more and more because they aren't able to gash teams in the run when they do that anymore. Is that because people know the run schemes now? Is it because Gore is 31? Is it because the O-Line isn't playing as well as it has in the past? IMO, Yes, Yes, and Yes.
IMO they need to continue transitioning to a "pass more often" team with Kap, but run the ball more with Hyde. It's time.
Kap has played much better than the media and 49er fans let on. He was HORRIBLE vs the Bears (and the rook who picked him twice made 2 tremendous plays), but outside of that game he's got 11 TDs, 2 INTs, and a rating over 100. What's killing them on offense is pressure, untimely sacks and untimely penalties. They try to run on 1st down and get stuffed giving them long yardage situations. It seems most of the time when they score TDs it involves Kap scrambling away from pressure and doing something superhuman. Can't live on that.
3) Frank? All I hear out here is "give the ball to Frank". Dude, Frank is 31. It's starting to show. I love the guy...but he's 31. His average over the last three games is abysmal. He used to be able to beat 8 and 9 man fronts on a regular basis. He can't anymore. He still has the vision and the patience, but he's not breaking too many tackles. He is still a good player and in small doses can be very effective, but to me the days of feeding him the ball all day are over. Niners need to start feeding Carlos Hyde.