It wasn’t the season that the 49ers or their fans were hoping for in 2007 as the 49ers finished the season with a 5-11 record.  The last loss of the season happened on Sunday when the 49ers traveled to Cleveland to take on the Browns who were hoping to squeeze into the playoffs.

The 49ers had no offense with Chris Weinke as the starting quarterback.  Weinke was only 13 of 22 for 104 yards and one touchdown.  The touchdown was caught by Darrell Jackson, who never played great all season.  (Like 80% of the team)  You just aren’t going to win that many ballgames when you go through four starting quarterbacks in a season.  Injuries happen, and it set the 49ers back bigtime this year.

At the running back position, Frank Gore ran for 94 yards on 23 carries.  As I watched the game, it appeared Mike Nolans approach was to get the ball in Gore’s hands alot and let him make plays.  Gore was unable to break the long plays however.  I agree with the approach as you don’t want Weinke throwing the ball too much.

Bryant Young played his last game in the NFL on Sunday as well.  The 14 year veteran is set to retire and he is grateful for his opportunity in the NFL and happy he was able to play for as long as he did.

Lets hope the 49ers can make a few moves during the off season, and get players healthy for a good run in 2008.

Shaun Hill had the hot had on Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers won their second straight ballgame.  Hill threw touchdown passes to Darrell Jackson, Vernon Davis, and Frank Gore in the 21-19 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Bucaneers.

The Bucaneers didn’t play everyone the entire game as they already had a playoff spot rapped up but you still have to give the niners credit for pulling out the victory.  The Bucanners came very close to sending the game to overtime when they tried to tie the game up with a two point conversion.  Michael Clayton’s first food came down on the white line and was ruled out of bounds however securing the win for the niners.

It was an emotional day on the field for Bryant Young who played his final game in San Francisco.  Young who won the Rookie of the Year with the 49ers in 1994 has played his entire career with the 49ers.  He will surely be missed by everyone involved with the 49ers.

From one hall of famer retiring, we will move onto talk about a new 49er defensive player that should win the defensive rookie of the year for 2007.  Patrick Willis once again had his named called often on Sunday.  Willis finished the game with a career high 20 tackles, one forced fumble, and two sacks.

The 49ers will finish up the 2007 season this Sunday when they travel to take on the Cleveland Browns.  You can expect the Browns to come out of the gates swinging as they are still in playoff contention.  It will take a huge game by Shaun Hill, Frank Gore, and Patrick Willis to keep the niners in contention to win their third straight game.

The San Francisco 49ers picked up their 4th win of the season on Saturday night when they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-13 at Monster Park.  Was this a good showing by the 49ers?  Or were they just playing a depleted Bengals team who have pretty much given up on their season?  I think it was a little bit of both as you can tell how the game went on.

What really suprised me during this game was that Shaun Hill wasn’t all that bad to be honest.  Hill threw for 197 yards and one touchdown.  He also ran for a touchdown in the first half which gave the 49ers a 6-0 lead.

Frank Gore came out playing and actually had a pretty good game as well.  On 29 carries Gore ran for 138 yards.  While Gore didn’t find paydirt, he did eat up a lot of clock and help the niners move down the field.  Anytime you can keep the ball away from Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson, you have a good shot at beating the Bengals.  The Bengals only had the ball for 24 minites compared to the 49ers 35 minutes.

The 49ers defense shut down the rushing attack of the Benglas and made the Bengals offense one-dimensional.  Anytime you can allow your corners and saftey’s to key in on Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and not worry about the run, good things are going to happen on the defensive side of the ball.

The 49ers next game will be played on Sunday when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Monster Park.  The Bucs have secured a home playoff game already, so I wonder if they will look to rest some of the starters, atleast in the second half.

49ers Blog

Alex Smith has said he will under go a season ending should surgery soon.  Smith visited with Dr. James Andrews as well as the 49ers team doctors and everyone thought it was his best decision to just go ahead and go through with the surgery.

I wish he would have just went ahead and had this surgery done before.  I never like when a player tries to rush back and isnt healthy, and in the end hurts the team more then helping.  Sure Trent Dilfer sucks, and Shaun Hill isn’t much better but they are better then a hurt Alex Smith.

49ers Injuries

It didn’t matter who was playing quarterback for the 49ers on Sunday, the offense once again could not do anything at all against the opposing team.  Trent Dilfer received a crushing blow to the shoulder and neck area while attempting to pick up a first down in the second quarter and had to leave the ball game and that left Shaun Hill as the quarterback.  Hill wasn’t much better then Dilfer however.

Hill finished the game going 22-28 for 180 yards and one touchdown.  He did throw one interception as well.  Don’t look into that 22-28 too much, most of those passes were little dump offs to his checkdowns.  Dilfer was only 7-19 for only 45 yards and one interception.  The Vikings defensive tackles made history on Sunday as well.  It was the first time more then one defensive tackle intercepted a pass during the same game on the same team.  It didn’t take them long to add to that as well, when a third defensive tackle intercepted another pass late in the ballgame.

It doesn’t help out the offense when your starting running back is playing so poorly as well.  Frank Gore ran for 68 yards and had 49 yards receiving but lost two fumbles on the day.  You have got to hold onto the ball especially when your offense isn’t that good and struggles to put points on the board.

I would have to say the one highlight of the game was the 49ers shutting down Adrian Peterson.  Peterson only had 14 carries and a career low 3 yards.  He was never able to get going in the battle against top rookies.  49ers rookie linebacker Patrick Willis had a better day then Peterson as he had eight tackles.  You can expect Willis to win the defensive rookie of the year while Peterson will win the offensive player of the year.  Two great young players to keep your eyes on.

Things sure aren’t getting any better for the SanFrancisco 49ers.  The team fell to 3-9 on the season after their 31-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers and old daddy Vinny Testaverde.  Quarterback play, offensive line play, and big plays on the defense continue to hurt the 49ers.

I’ll start off at the quarterback position.  Trent Dilfer is not the answer, plain and simple.  He is all the 49ers have at this point, but he really does suck.  When he does have time, he isn’t throwing good balls, and when the offensive line sucks like they do, the quarterback is going to rush the throws.  Maybe that is why Dilfer had four interceptions and only two td’s against the Panthers.

I also feel that the defense is stuggling because they know if they give up more then 14-17 points more then likely the team is going to lose.  The defense knows that the offense sucks, but there isn’t a lot they can do about that.  I feel that they are so pressured in holding the other team down, that it is really affecting their play.

I really wish this season were over for the 49ers to be honest.  I still enjoy watching NFL games, but the 49ers games are boring, and I just get so pissed off watching them.  I’m sure I’ll be right back in front of the TV on Sunday watching them take on the Vikings however.  Too bad they will lose by atleast 14 points….