49ers - A Look Ahead (Defense Edition)

By Kalen Patrick

Yesterday we analyzed what the 49ers may be looking at doing this offseason with the Offense. Today we will take a look at the Defense. Oddly enough, the 49ers defense which for years has clearly been superior to the Offense, faces more serious questions than the Offense. We will now take a look at the issues surrounding the 49ers Defense.

1. What to do with the secondary? Especially at Safety with Goldson and Whitner.
2. Aldon Smith playing too many snaps last season? Has the NFL "figured" him out?
3. Will Justin Smith come back 100%?
4. Is Patrick Willis overrated?

Secondary
In the Superbowl there is no question that the secondary was a major weakness that the Ravens exploited. Chris Culliver had the worst game of his career and was continuously picked on and beaten badly. I really do like Culliver's potential but perhaps he is not going to be the player we all hoped he would. Maybe I am being too critical, after all he is only a 2nd year player, and he had a rough week in the media leading up to the game (which was his own doing). I'd like to see him mature and really step up some more.

Carlos Rogers seems to get a bad rap among 49er fans but I think he played pretty solid this year. He is a good #3 CB despite being paid more like a #1 or #2 CB. I wonder if Vic Fangio and the 49ers will explore putting Rogers back on the outside instead of covering the slot receiver. In 2011, Rogers had his best year as a pro. Anquan Boldin made some incredible catches in the Superbowl despite very good coverage by Rogers. Tarrell Brown is another very good CB and I think he is definitely worth keeping long term.

BRINGING BACK DASHON GOLDSON SHOULD BE A TOP PRIORITY FOR THE 49ERS

I feel Dashon Goldson is a player the 49ers must hold on to. Goldson makes plays with Interceptions, Forces Fumbles, makes big hits, is very durable, and his tackling has improved greatly. I think he should be priority #1 this offseason. As for Donte Whitner, if we can keep him at a very reduced salary I would do that, I like him as a vocal leader and in run support. However, I would like to see the 49ers draft a Safety in either rounds 1 or 2 and hopefully get playing time immediately.

Front 7
Moving away from the Secondary and focusing on the Front 7, I wonder if the NFL has figured out ways to seriously slow down Aldon Smith. I never realized how dependent Aldon was on Justin Smith until we saw how he played without the "Cowboy" beside him. Even with the return of Justin Smith in the Playoffs, Aldon just didn't look the same. I wonder if either the NFL has figured him out, or perhaps he is playing too many snaps? Maybe with fatigue and playing more in run support he loses that burst as the season goes on and on. Hopefully the return of Parys Haralson and if 2nd year man Darius Fleming can spell Aldon and keep him fresh and retain his explosiveness.

BOWMAN AND WILLIS FORM THE CORE OF A STRONG 49ERS DEFENSE

Justin Smith should and I believe will come back healthy as ever, my bigger concern than his Triceps would be his age. He has been very durable, that also means he has played a lot of snaps and I hope this first injury won't be a sign of things to come. Ricky Jean-Francois has done an admirable job when given the opportunity, but he is not the long term answer there. I wonder if the 49ers will focus on draft Justin Smith's replacement in round 1 or 2 this year? I sure hope there is a plan in place. The 49ers defensive performance dropped significantly when Justin Smith was out.

NaVorro Bowman is better than Patrick Willis. There I said it. I look forward to the back lash but I firmly believe this. Patrick Willis was incredible the first 3 years of his career, since then however I am far from impressed. Now don't get me wrong, he still plays at a very high level, but the expectations for Patrick Willis are sky high and he has not lived up to them as of late. I suspect NFL offenses have looked at ways to neutralize Patrick Willis, but the truly great players, especially at Inside LB, find ways to make plays all the time. He is a great player, but will not come even close to the all time great ILB's such as Ray Lewis and Mike Singletary. The 49ers are blessed to have two great ILB's in Willis and Bowman. I can't imagine many offenses running well against the 49ers consistently over the next 5 years.

The 49ers Defensive unit as a whole is very solid, but I would like to see Baalke focus on adding some more talent here early in the draft. Depending on the value available, I think going Safety in Round 1 and D-Line in round 2, or vice-versa would be the best way to go.

Coming in the next few days I will focus on the Alex Smith situation and finish up my "A Look Ahead" series with a close look at Special Teams. Until next time.

Over and Out.

My Take on the 49ers 53 Man Roster

By Kalen Patrick

It is the time of year that players on the bubble of making a team fear the most. Competition is fierce in each and every play of practice. Some of these guys know this could be their last Training Camp, some of these guys will be in different parts of the country playing for different teams. Here at the Sports Cave we focus particularly on San Francisco Bay Area Teams. So lets now go ahead and I will give you guys a preview of what MY 49ers 53 man roster would look like.

OFFENSE (25)
QB - Alex Smith
        Colin Kaepernick
        Scott Tolzien

ALEX SMITH LEADING THE 49ERS HUDDLE

RB - Frank Gore
        Kendall Hunter
        LaMichael James
        Brandon Jacobs
FB -  Bruce Miller

WR - Michael Crabtree
         Mario Manningham
         Randy Moss
         Ted Ginn Jr
         Kyle Williams
         AJ Jenkins

TE - Vernon Davis
        Delanie Walker

OL - Joe Staley-Mike Iupati-Jonathan Goodwin-Alex Boone-Anthony Davis
         Jason Slowey-Leonard Davis-Chase Beeler-Daniel Kilgore

The Offense is very difficult when it comes down to the final cuts, some hard decisions for sure. The 49ers have a lot of depth at RB and WR, I managed to get in all of the offensive playmakers including Ted Ginn Jr who will primarily be the Returner for the 49ers. The hardest part is the Offensive Line, there is a lot of depth at the interior of the Line, should anything happen to any of the Guards or Center we are covered well. If Joe Staley or Anthony Davis go down, then Boone can take their spot and either Leonard Davis, Daniel Kilgore or Slowey can take Boone's spot.

DEFENSE (25)

THE 49ERS VAUNTED DEFENSE

DL - Ray McDonald-Isaac Sopoaga-Justin Smith
        Demarcus Dobbs-Ricky Jean Francois-Ian Williams-Will Tukuafu

LB - Ahmad Brooks-Patrick Willis-NaVorro Bowman-Aldon Smith
        Larry Grant-Parys Haralson-Tavares Gooden-Eric Bakhtiari

CB - Carlos Rogers                      S - Dashon Goldson
        Tarell Brown                             Donte Whitner
        Chris Culliver                            Trenton Robinson
        Perrish Cox                              CJ Spillman
        Tramaine Brock                        Colin Jones


The 49ers defense is stacked. All 11 starters return, plus there is great depth essentially all over the defense. Safety depth is a little worrying and most of the backups here are Special Team stars (Spillman and Jones in particular). Hard to beat the depth and talent at DL, LB and CB.

SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
K - David Akers
P - Andy Lee
LS - Brian Jennings

Notes: Rookie LB Darius Fleming will be on IR. Rookies Cam Johnson, Chris Owusu and Joe Looney to the Practice Squad, along with 2nd year TE Konrad Reuland. Demarcus Dobbs versatility allows the 49ers to get away with only 2 TE's on the 53 man roster. Very solid team top to bottom and that about sums it up.

Over and Out.

San Francisco 49ers Week 10 + Week 11 Preview

By Kalen Patrick

So I have been MIA for a while, but back doing what I love (talking about my 49ers). Gonna do a recap of the game last Sunday against the New York Giants, and then preview this week's action against divisional opponent the Arizona Cardinals. Lets do this.

The 49ers added to their win streak with a 27-20 win over the visiting New York Giants. There were some big turning points in this game. The 49ers decision in the 2nd quarter to go for an onside kick which was successful, and then in the 4th quarter, scoring a TD, followed by an interception off Eli Manning which lead to another quick score.

The game was very back and forth for the first half, trading field goals all the way through the first half, leaving the score at 9-6. Then came the TD's. In the 4th quarter the 49ers held a comfortable 27-13 lead, then Eli led a very impressive drive in a short time to make it 27-20 with time left. The Giants had one more drive, it was 4th down inside the 49ers 20 yard line, Eli was looking in the direction of Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz, when Justin Smith batted down the pass to secure the game for the 49ers and put them at 8-1, for the first time in 14 years.

The quality performers and MVP's of the game are as follows:
Offense: Alex Smith
Defense: Justin Smith/Carlos Rogers/Patrick Willis

ALEX SMITH, COOL CALM AND COLLECTED IN ORCHESTRATING A WIN FOR THE 49ERS

The 49ers essentially put the offensive game on the shoulders of Alex Smith. The 49ers came out passing, and even when we ran Gore/Hunter never managed to get a consistent run game going. Alex Smith however was accurate and efficient enough to be more than capable of moving the football himself. Hitting receivers in stride  and being confident and standing in the pocket played a big part. Alex moved around the pocket well, and was able to escape pressure and pick up some rushing yards when needed. Considering he had zero help from the run game, I would say this was one of Alex Smith's more impressive games I have ever seen. He did end with 250 yards 1 TD and 1 INT(not Alex's fault, thanks Ted Ginn), but it was more the way he played.

On defense it is very difficult to pick an MVP, Justin Smith played an all round great game and had the game ending batted ball. Carlos Rogers had 2 INT's but did give up some big plays and then Willis was everywhere and had that big tackle when Eli went scrambling and forced a Giants punt. Honestly, going with any of these guys would be a right answer.

JUSTIN SMITH AND PATRICK WILLIS CELEBRATE THE GAME ENDING PLAY

What I like most about this win was that the 49ers beat a very capable team in the New York Giants, and they didn't even play their best game. The run game was ineffective, the defense was good but we all know it can play better. On Special Teams I do have to give a big shout out to Kicker David Akers. He has been money all year, what a great pickup by Trent Baalke. He quietly may have had one of the best offseasons of any GM.

Now lets take a look forward to Week 11, the 49ers will host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday 1:15PM Pacific Time. The Cardinals will be coming in with some confidence in this game having won back to back games (Rams and then Eagles). John Skelton will be the QB this Sunday and he has done a very solid job. Of course the big question is how to stop Larry Fitzgerald from killing you. I expect to see the bigger physical Chris Culliver matched up on Fitz with a lot of help from Dashon Goldson.

Division games are never ever a given considering how well the teams know each other. You cannot expect an easy win ever in the NFL much less against someone in your division, I do however expect the 49ers to win this game. I feel the defense is capable of stopping the Cards enough, Patrick Peterson is dangerous in returns but the 49ers special teams have been outstanding so far this year and I like our chances at moving the ball on this defense.

Let's speak hypothetically right now, IF the 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals and the St. Louis Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday, then the 49ers would have a 6 game lead with 6 games left in the regular season and have the division essentially wrapped up. Not bad that's a distinct possibility before Thanksgiving.

49ers Stats
Alex Smith - 1709 YD's, 11 TD's, 3 INT's. 95.8 QB Rating
Frank Gore - 782 YD's, 5 YD's, 4.7 AVG
Vernon Davis - 379 YD's, 34 REC, 4 TD's


Navorro Bowman - 92 TCK
Carlos Rogers - 5 INT
Aldon Smith - 6.5 SACK

San Francisco 49ers Updates Week 4+5

By Kalen Patrick

The last 2 weeks have been to put it simply "awesome" for the 49ers. Week 4 was a dramatic finish in Philly where the 49ers pulled out a 24-23 victory over the self-proclaimed 'Dream Team'. The 49ers followed that up with a very impressive victory in Candlestick Park against Tampa Bay with a 48-3 ass-kicking of the Bucs. This now leaves the 49ers in great position at 4-1 with a road game against the Lions coming up. That game will be no easy task but a win there would be HUGE going in to the bye week.

ALEX SMITH IN ACTION @ PHILLY IN WEEK 4

Lets take a look back at the last 2 weeks now. The most impressive individual player has definitely been Alex Smith (461 yards 5 TD's 0 INT's and 60% COMP. For a player like Alex Smith, in fact, for ANY QB those numbers are amazing. Alex Smith brought the 49ers back against the Eagles in the 2nd half and was dominant in the Tampa Bay game. The development of Smith has been key to the 49ers 4-1 record. After 5 games Smith has only 1 INT and has been extremely efficient passing the ball.

Gotta credit Justin Smith for stripping the ball off Jeremy Maclin to end any possible comeback for the Eagles in Week 4 and the entire defense was just legendary against a very capable Tampa Bay team.

49ERS CB - CARLOS ROGERS

All facets of the game have been playing very well the last 6 quarters of football. The Offensive-Line has really stepped it up, which has also allowed for Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter to pile up the yards. Most impressive has been the defense. Carlos Rogers has become a stud shut down CB, with INT's in 3 consecutive games. Quieting the myth of him being Mr.Stone Hands. The front 7 has been dominant, with Justin Smith, Ray McDonald, Navarro Bowman and Patrick Willis all playing at Pro-Bowl caliber level while Rookie Aldon Smith has been disruptive in passing down situations.

This Sunday in Detroit will be a huge test for the 49ers and Alex Smith in particular. With leading WR Joshua Morgan placed on IR, his weapons on the outside will be Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn, Kyle Williams and newly signed Brett Swain. Expect a big week for Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker, and I also expect Gore/Hunter to pile up the receiving yards.

The biggest question on defense is how do you stop Calvin Johnson? Long story short, you don't. All you can do is contain him and hope he doesn't completely kill you. Niners gotta get their run game and short pass game working, to hold the ball, keep it out of Stafford and CJ's hands. I think this will be a very very competitive game. Obviously I'm hoping for a 49er win, and I think it is possible, but even if the 49ers lose, we will be 4-2 at the Bye Week, with 5 divisional games, the Browns, Giants and Redskins all being very winnable games. Pittsburgh and Baltimore will be very tough but could even pull out a win in one of those games.

49ers Stats Leaders
Alex Smith - 965 YDS, 7 TD's, 1 INT, 65.9% COMP with a 104.1 QB Rating
Frank Gore - 400 Rush YDS, 4.3 AVG, 3 TD, 66 Receiving YDS.
Vernon Davis - 22 REC, 263 Yards 3 TD's
Navarro Bowman - 42 Tackles
Aldon Smith - 3.5 Sacks

San Francisco 49ers Week 3

By Kalen Patrick

In week 3 of the NFL Season, the San Francisco 49ers traveled to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. Going in to this game, the 49ers had notable problems playing on the road at 10am PT. The 49ers lost a heart breaker to their long term rivals the Dallas Cowboys last week in overtime. This was the 49ers chance to rebound, and this game was also very important with a tough trio of games coming up in weeks 4-6 (@Philly, Tampa Bay and @Detroit).

CARLOS ROGERS INT IN THE 4TH QT

This game started out extremely slow, by slow I mean the scoring was nowhere to be found. The teams traded field goals back and forth, up until the 4th quarter which is when the 49ers had the one big drive to seal the game. The drive ended with a 7 yard run by rookie RB Kendall Hunter. 49ers went up 13-6 at that point with a matter of minutes left. A Carlos Rogers INT then essentially sealed the game. The 49ers took an intentional safety with no time left to end the game 13-8. This now places the 49ers solely atop the NFC West with a 2-1 record. The NFC West Standings as of week 3 look like:

San Francisco 49ers  2-1
Arizona Cardinals      1-2
Seattle Seahawks      1-2
St. Louis Rams          0-3

What to Improve Upon
The 49ers still have many problems that need attention, and it's all on the offensive side. The run game has been a disaster the first 3 games. Frank Gore has been a huge disappointment so far. All those previous injuries may be slowing him down. He doesn't run with the same drive, speed, confidence and determination as years before. However, I cannot put all the blame on Gore. The offensive line has yet to really gel together and provides little to no gaps for Gore to run through. This is something that the 49ers really need to work on fixing. When your passing game is never gonna be dominant, you gotta be able to run the ball with some level of productivity.

ALEX SMITH HAD A SOLID PERFORMANCE IN WEEK 3 VS THE BENGALS

As for the passing game, overall I have been very impressed with Alex Smith. He looks more confident than ever before and he is doing an excellent job with his reads and decision making. His pass to Vernon Davis over the top of the Bengals CB, was very impressive. He finished 20/30 over 200 yards with no TD's and most importantly 0 INT's. Alex Smith is who he is, he will never be the constant 300 yard passer. But he can make some plays if given the chance. I think we have yet to see the best of Alex Smith this season. New system which everyone is still trying to learn, offensive line play will improve over time and most importantly he has been missing either Michael Crabtree or Braylon Edwards or both for games.

Once you can have Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Braylon Edwards and Frank Gore on the field consistently, then I believe we will start seeing some much improved offense output. For now, the 49ers gotta keep playing great defense, great special teams and make enough plays on offense to win games and minimize mistakes.

The 49ers will stay on the road this week and take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Its questionable whether Michael Vick will be playing for the Eagles after sustaining a hand injury against the Giants. If Vick is out I like the 49ers chances of keeping it close and possibly pulling out the W. With the tough schedule ahead, the 49ers need to take 1 of their next 3. To go 3-3 in to the bye week, have a tough portion of the season over with and be able to work on weaknesses, its possible we could see the 49ers make a playoff appearance. But I cannot get too ahead of myself. We are only just finishing week 3. Lots and lots of football yet to play.

49ers Stats Leaders
Alex Smith - 504 Yards 68.9% COMP  2 TD's 1 INT. 91.3 QB Rating.
Frank Gore - 148 Yards 2.5 AVG 1 TD
Vernon Davis - 15 Catches 179 Yards
Navarro Bowman - 30 Tackles

49ers Free Agent Moves

By Kalen Patrick

Not too long ago I made a post about the doom and gloom surrounding the 49ers free agent period. Well in the last few days things have definitely made a turn for the better. The 49ers kicked off the return of Football by essentially losing David Baas, Takeo Spikes, Nate Clements, Aubrayo Franklin, Manny Lawson and Dashon Goldson. That is a lot of starters lost right there, 5 on defense. But now lets take a look at the players the 49ers brought in and how they should compare to the players lost.

First off, lets take a look at the offense. The 49ers replaced David Baas with Jonathan Goodwin. You may say Goodwin who? Goodwin was the Center for the 2009 Superbowl winning New Orleans Saints, and he was a pro-bowler that year. David Baas is an average at best Center. So right off the bat the 49ers have added a veteran and superbowl caliber Center. The most important position on the offensive line. Not only this, but the 49ers added Braylon Edwards at Wide Receiver. Now I know what you're gonna say, "drops!!" right? Well last season Edwards had only 1 drop, and he is exactly what the 49ers needed. We needed size at Wide Receiver and now we have it. Vernon Davis has basically been the lone red zone target.

JONATHAN GOODWIN, WAS THE CENTER FOR THE SB CHAMPS IN 2009

BRAYLON EDWARDS

You know have Vernon up the middle, Edwards on the side, Gore out of the backfield and Crabtree coming across the middle. While Sidney Rice may be a better player, when you factor in $$$ the 49ers did much better getting Braylon. Suddenly you have a lot of weapons on offense, Gore and Hunter/Dixon at RB, Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker at TE, and now Michael Crabtree, Braylon Edwards, Josh Morgan and Ted Ginn at WR. Not too shabby when you add in a pro-bowl center and a lot of young talent on the o-line.

Now for the defense, the 49ers did lose a bunch of players, but they are hoping some guys can step up AND they have made some very smart additions. The secondary was far and away the biggest issue with the 49ers. They dump Clements and Goldson (saving a ton of money) and add Carlos Rogers at CB, who is just as good if not better than Clements is right now, and at a much cheaper price. Last year at Safety the 49ers entered the season with Michael Lewis and Dashon Goldson at SS and FS respectively. Lewis was overrated and overpaid, and Goldson had a good 2009 but was to struggle in 2010. This year the 49ers now have a much better situation, the 49ers added Donte Whitner and Madieu Williams in Free Agency. Whitner will be a starter and Williams most likely the 3rd safety.. Although the 49ers looked in to trading Taylor Mays, he still is a guy with huge potential and ready to be a star (in my opinion) also Reggie Smith at Safety too. So you got 4 guys who can play the 2 positions well now.

CARLOS ROGERS

The biggest question marks for the 49ers are going to be a Linebacker. Spikes was a good player and a vocal leader, now the 49ers are really going to be counting on either Navarro Bowman or Scott McKillop to come up big right now. I think Bowman could (should) be ready to step in at TED. While I think the loss of Manny Lawson is quite big, it seems so far in camp rookie 7th overall pick Aldon Smith is looking very good and the guy the 49ers wanted when they drafted Manny. Aldon Smith is already drawing comparisons to some very decorated pass rushers and that would be a huge boost to the defense. Having a legitimate Pass Rusher.

DONTE WHITNER

I loved Aubrayo in 2009, in 2010 he had a solid year, it really could have gone either way in 2011. For the money it took I thought the 49ers should have brought back Franklin, although I do think McDonald is ready to step up as an everyday starter. I don't think there is much of a drop off on the defensive line to be honest. Isaac Sopoaga has previously played NT and all he will be asked to do is clog space, not penetrate the lines. Sopoaga is certainly capable of that. I also really like McDonald and Justin Smith on the Ends. Both are big and physical, chase Runners down well and are excellent at providing pass rush ability.

With all the recent additions I feel a lot better going in to the season than I did a week ago. I guess Harbaugh and Baalke did have a solid plan in place. The most impressive thing the 49ers accomplished? If you add the guaranteed money for ALL the 49ers players signed (Whitner, Rogers, Edwards, Williams, Goodwin) is the same as what the Oakland Raiders just gave Michael Huff. Now that is excellent General Managing by Trent Baalke.