[imported_steadypimpin]

Hey guys I can't wait for us to show up the Cards in their new home for our first game. I can't wait until Sunday baby!!! Go Niners!!! I predict 21-17 Niners!!!

[imported_gsR-vteC]

I'm very impressed by how the 49ers performed today.even though they lost. i'm not upset cuz they lost. they played hard till the end. Alex Smith looked great today..FRANK GORE IS A MONSTER!!!!!!! We could have won this game if it wasn't for simple mistakes like Dropped passes. HOLDING that took away our 50+ yard TD from Smith to Bryant.. *cough* damn kwame harris*cough* Sammy Davis should of had that INT it was right to him in his freaking hands and he dropped it. So overall i'm very happy with the performance with 49ers.

[DHNF]

(09-11) 04:00 PDT Glendale, Ariz. -- These are not the same old sorry 49ers. Not by a long shot. Not even by a Hail Mary that ended up being a Hail No for the visitors.

It is obvious coach Mike Nolan and personnel boss Scot McCloughan have a plan for this rebuilding team. The plan is simple: Bring in men who want to compete and play as a team.

Sunday's 34-27 season-opening loss to the Arizona Cardinals showed that the 49ers of 2006 have a little verve about them, with a side of moxie thrown in.

Standing alone in the visitors' dressing room, 49ers owner John York was asked if he was encouraged by what he saw from his team.

"Yes,'' he said. "I think they look more like a team. They look like they have a leader in Mike Nolan. A number of players have been brought in by Scot McCloughan. If you don't have a leader in a coach and someone to pick personnel, you're never going to be a team.''

Despite falling behind 21-7 in the first quarter on two fumbles by Frank Gore and Vernon Davis that the Cardinals cashed in for 14 points, the 49ers fought back and ultimately fell one play short of sending this fascinating and flawed game into overtime in Arizona's new Hovercraft of a stadium plopped down on parched earth.

Alex Smith's 40th and last pass ultimately filtered down to the real grass at the back of the end zone after Davis and Antonio Bryant fought for it in the hope of tying the score with no time left in regulation.

"It was as good as it was going to get,'' Bryant said of the arcing pass. "I'm not going to sleep well because of that. I should have gone up and taken it. That thing was there for the taking.''

The 49ers, then, were left to pack some positives in their satchels in the overall context of a defeat and head for home to prepare for St. Louis this coming Sunday.

"I feel better about the long term of the team than a year ago," Nolan said. "I think we're a better football team in that respect. We haven't arrived, but this is a good group of guys. We're certainly way ahead of where we were last year."

While Smith completed 23 of 40 passes for 288 yards and no interceptions, and Gore had 87 hard-earned yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns, and on defense the 49ers somehow sacked Kurt Warner three times, the most revealing play of the game cannot be explained by statistics alone.

It was a 2-yard touchdown run by Gore in the third quarter, narrowing Arizona's lead to 24-21, but it was much more than that. Gore burrowed into the line and appeared to be stopped. But wait! There's more! Three of his linemen, right guard Justin Smiley, center Eric Heitmann and right tackle Kwame Harris, created a rugby scrum and pushed the pile back to allow their guy to reach the end zone.

The play that set up this two-play drive wasn't bad, either. Walt Harris, one of those new players brought in by Nolan and McCloughan, blitzed from his cornerback position and fought through a block by Edgerrin James to nail Warner and force a fumble. Completing a perfect trifecta of sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery, Harris fell on the ball at the Cardinals' 7-yard line.

Harris had himself a nice little game at right corner. In addition to the mayhem he caused on his timely blitz, he also had five solo tackles and broke up two passes. His presence upgrades the secondary but he's only one man. The 49ers are lacking a consistent pass rush and a defense that knows how to get off the field on third down.

The Cardinals converted 7 of 14 chances on third down and held onto the ball 10 minutes longer than the 49ers. On a 68-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that ate up a little more than seven minutes and resulted in a Neil Rackers field goal and a 34-24 lead, Arizona converted thrice on third down.

"There's two things on defense, as a defensive guy, that I've believed in my whole life,'' Nolan said. "One is that you stop the run and the other is you do a great job on third down. I thought we were outstanding on run defense. In the third down area, obviously we need to get better.''

Of the three sacks the 49ers had, one came by Harris on a blitz, one by elder statesman Bryant Young on his own and another by outside linebacker Brandon Moore on a push up the middle. Until rookie Manny Lawson develops, Moore looks to be the only legitimate pass rusher on the roster.

Nolan admitted the 49ers will have to "manufacture'' a pass rush if one does not develop from the base defense.

Still, the game revealed more positives for the 49ers than negatives.

Top draft pick Davis has unreal speed, which he put to good use on his 31-yard touchdown catch-and-run on the first drive of the game. When left guard Larry Allen was helped off with a sprained left knee early in the first quarter, Tony Wragge came in and played surprisingly well, particularly on pass plays in which he pulled to his right to give Smith time to throw.

A team's fate is often tied in to the play of its quarterback and Smith is worlds better than he was a year ago. That he and his teammates were not quite good enough on this Sunday was no cause for despair. To the contrary. Are the 49ers much improved this season?

Hail Yes.
[/b]

[imported_steadypimpin]

It was a great game. I believe if we didnt have those 2 fumbles we would have won it. The run defense was great, Edge wasnt getting anything. I also loved how poised Smith was back there throwing the ball, he really looks like a QB now compared to last year. Gore is a stud, Im glad we decided to get rid of Barlow. This team we saw play yesterday was a massive improvement from last years team. The only thing that isnt good is our secondary, they blow and that will keep us from winning games this year. Though the secondary seemed like they took it up a notch near the end of the 3rd quarter till the end. All in all I loved what I saw and I am a little disappointed in the loss but the improved team made up for it.

[DHNF]

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog...CMP=ILC-INHEAD

49ers' Smith shines in defeatposted: Monday, September 11, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry
filed under: San Francisco 49ers, Alex Smith

Wanted to kick off the season by highlighting the player who most impressed me on Sunday: Alex Smith. The guy is light years ahead of where he was last year. His numbers were good (23-of-40, 288 yards, one TD and no picks), but should have been better had he not been hurt by several drops.
The Cardinals were under the most pressure to win Sunday. New team, new stadium, first home opener in 18 years. Arizona had to have this one. The Cardinals' top-10 D was supposed to crumple the 49ers' offense easily.

Remember Smith's 2005 stats? As bad as they get: 1 TD and 11 INTs. Playing with some talented skill position guys who are either getting their first crack as full-time starters (Frank Gore) or vets who are talented but enigmas (Antonio Bryant), Smith was as resourceful as he was determined. And the 49ers *- aided most by Smith *- nearly pulled it out.

As he was being toppled he improvised to Gore in the fourth quarter. Under some serious duress he hit Bryant for 46 yards with about as pretty a deep fade as you'll ever see. After the Niners recovered an onside kick, Smith put them in position to win: With 14 seconds left and everyone in the stadium knowing he had to go end zone, Smith fired into triple coverage, aiming for Bryant on a post. If the ball was two feet more in front of Bryant, it's a touchdown and the 49ers send the game into OT. But Smith's pass was just a little behind Bryant, and it was batted away.

"There were some exciting things to see, glimpses of what we can do," Smith told reporters after the game. "I was very anxious to wipe away all those memories of last year."

Smith showed Elway-Favre-Marino type ability in carrying the 49ers Sunday. If he keeps this up and the rest of the Niners follow, he won't need to make too many more desperation passes at the end of games.
[/b]

[VDavis85n'ufsaid]

49er fans, that game was a joke! It was recycled material: Go on road, get injured, get ripped off by officiating, cater to Arizona in new stadium, and LOSE GAME! All we did was do what we were told: go on road and lose game. This was the same joke as last year, where is the improvement on this team? You don't lose to losing teams that have done s*** in the NFL, that's inexcusable and pathetic! I am embarrassed, I am the Jim Mora right now, K Harris sucked, the officiating sucked, the result sucked, and we lost 2 good players for the season, way to go on that turf in Arizona to knock out 2 of our players. A protest needs to be made for the safety of all teams going to ARizona that your careers are in jeopardy right now.

Rams by 35 over the 49ers, that's how bad it's going to be next week. Looks like another repeat of Seatte, Rams, Cards, and 49ers, one team with 13 wins, the others with 6 or less. Boy the NFC West sucks again!

And screw ESPN, they never say anything good about the 49ers team.
Glad I can burn my VCR tape of the game, or maybe I'll take it up to the mountains and target shoot the tape out of its misery.

[DHNF]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(VDavis85n'ufsaid @ Sep 11th ) [snapback]1698551[/snapback]</div>

And screw ESPN, they never say anything good about the 49ers team.

[/b]

Look up one post you moron.

[LTF]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(VDavis85n'ufsaid @ Sep 11th ) [snapback]1698551[/snapback]</div>

49er fans, that game was a joke! It was recycled material: Go on road, get injured, get ripped off by officiating, cater to Arizona in new stadium, and LOSE GAME! All we did was do what we were told: go on road and lose game. This was the same joke as last year, where is the improvement on this team? You don't lose to losing teams that have done s*** in the NFL, that's inexcusable and pathetic! I am embarrassed, I am the Jim Mora right now, K Harris sucked, the officiating sucked, the result sucked, and we lost 2 good players for the season, way to go on that turf in Arizona to knock out 2 of our players. A protest needs to be made for the safety of all teams going to ARizona that your careers are in jeopardy right now.

Rams by 35 over the 49ers, that's how bad it's going to be next week. Looks like another repeat of Seatte, Rams, Cards, and 49ers, one team with 13 wins, the others with 6 or less. Boy the NFC West sucks again!

And screw ESPN, they never say anything good about the 49ers team.
Glad I can burn my VCR tape of the game, or maybe I'll take it up to the mountains and target shoot the tape out of its misery.
[/b]

Where has the improvement been? Gore had over 170 yards of total offense and 2 TDs. Our offense showed ability. Alex Smith played a great game, throwing for a 58 completion %, a TD, no picks. And just because a losing team was once a losing team doesn't mean they will stay that way, nothing wrong with being outscored by a Cardinals offense that has so many ridiculous options on the offensive side of the ball, especially against a weak defense such as ours. K Harris didn't suck, other than the nullified touchdown, he played really well, as did the entire line. Even when the two stars on our line went down the replacements had no problem stepping right in. This game wasin our hands, and Smith really brought us back at the end. We showed fire and faught till the end. Stop *****ing abuot the "turf" at the Cardinals new stadium, considering it's NATURAL GRASS YOU STUPID ****. Neither of those injuries appear to be season ending anyway. ****ing hell you are SO stupid.

[VDavis85n'ufsaid]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DHNF @ Sep 11th ) [snapback]1698557[/snapback]</div>

Look up one post you moron.
[/b]

Oh yeah? Show me the video highlight that ESPN said anything great about the 49ers. Show me any proof that ESPN says there is hope for the 49ers. But I can show you that Fox made no mention of the 49ers going anywhere, superbowl picks were like Seattle and Dallas or Carolina MORON! That article you left by ESPN, Christ, National Enquirer comes up with better garbage then that. If stuff like that don't make my morning paper, it's not news. The only thing I read was Gwen KNap is the 49er beat writer, and her talent is as crappy as the last writer. I just assume have GLen Dickey come back to the Chronicle, never have I seen such lame writer that can't tell the truth about how enemic this team like last year! See, that win would've helped us against Rams/Eagle, now this loss will add 2 more because we lost ALlen and Jennings, probably for the season. Get ready for another woe is me as we get out butt kicked next week at our house that won't even be full and should be blacked out! I'll actually root for the blackout to come to SF so maybe they'll get off their fat asses, draft a proper team, and have a real exhibition!

Anything good is taken away when you lose, remember that. THis team did nothing but lose.

[VDavis85n'ufsaid]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LTF @ Sep 11th ) [snapback]1698573[/snapback]</div>

Where has the improvement been? Gore had over 170 yards of total offense and 2 TDs. Our offense showed ability. Alex Smith played a great game, throwing for a 58 completion %, a TD, no picks. And just because a losing team was once a losing team doesn't mean they will stay that way, nothing wrong with being outscored by a Cardinals offense that has so many ridiculous options on the offensive side of the ball, especially against a weak defense such as ours. K Harris didn't suck, other than the nullified touchdown, he played really well, as did the entire line. Even when the two stars on our line went down the replacements had no problem stepping right in. This game wasin our hands, and Smith really brought us back at the end. We showed fire and faught till the end. Stop *****ing abuot the "turf" at the Cardinals new stadium, considering it's NATURAL GRASS YOU STUPID ****. Neither of those injuries appear to be season ending anyway. ****ing hell you are SO stupid.
[/b]

No it's not. The grass used is on concrete so how is that natural you moron? Grass is on 3 feet of concrete, and that's enough to bow your knee and put you out for the year next to the ankle injury. If that grass was on naturaly sod as it ought to be, then we don't have the Ki Jana injuries.

I don't see no improvement when you go out and lose. What part of lose don't you get LTF? Do you not see that > means a loss? 34-27, 27 means loss.

Yes there is something wrong when you let a Card team that's done nothing for 20 years score like that and they get a new stadium for doing nothing in Arizona. That crowd in Arizona is all phoney, as in where the heck have you been when the team was in Sun Devil? I don't give a hoot how hot it got, you go to a game like that next to the East Coast blizzard or mountin snow in Denver! I'm sorry that over 35,000 were too fat and lazy to attend a game at Sun Devil to give the Cards encouragement.

K Harris does suck when he lets his team down like that and cost us 7 points.

THis team only did what they were told to do, go out there and lose. FOrget that everybody is saying you're going to lose by this and that, just what you do best in lose and look pathetic doing it! This result is the same crap from last year so where is the improvement, LTF? IMprovement means if you go out there and you hire somebody to doa job, they got to do it right. Right now, nobody is doing the job right on this team to lose to Arizona, and then lose to Rams/Eagles. When the 49ers do lose to the Rams and Eagles LTF, please tell me again where the improvement is.

ANd the Rams are missing their center so they're not a healthy team! Yep, same old crap from last year already. Maybe we'll go 0 and 16 this time like we should've went last year. We played like we wanted to go 0 and 16 and this team is doing it again!