Week 4: 49ers vs Jets Preview

By Kalen Patrick

One of the better games this week will be taking place in East Rutherford, NJ when the 49ers (2-1) take on the Jets (2-1). The 49ers are coming off a bad loss to the Vikings, while the Jets won a dramatic game over the Miami Dolphins in Week 3. The 49ers are looking to bounce back from their loss, while the Jets are anxious to show they can win without their star CB Darrelle Revis. This being the SF Sports Cave I will being focusing on what the 49ers can and need to do in order to leave week 4 with a Win and head back to SF with a 3-1 record.

I think the biggest thing the 49ers will need to improve upon is their Pass Rush. Last week against the Vikings the 49ers ran what seemed to me, to be a very basic defense. I rarely saw any Safety or CB blitzes, I felt that the ILB's Willis and Bowman were blitzed sparingly. It is not a matter of just blitzing extra players, it's more keeping the opposing offense off balance and not knowing what to expect. Blitz Dashon Goldson and make Aldon Smith drop back in coverage for example. Just mix it up is what I'm saying. Mark Sanchez has shown that he will force some throws when under pressure. The 49ers have to make sure to get to him early and rattle him and shake his confidence.

THE LAST MEETING BETWEEN THE JETS AND 49ERS (2008) WAS A 24-14 VICTORY FOR SF

The 49ers were able to get some late, almost meaningless turnovers against the Vikings last week, but this week, they need to be able to turn the ball over early and get a lead. We know that the 49ers will be able to stop the run and I really don't see many threats in the Jets backfield that will beat the 49ers defense. It's a matter of getting a good, consistent pass rush. What I'm trying to say is that I want to see the 49ers defense that rattled Drew Brees and Eli Manning and not the one that let Christian Ponder pass and run all over them.

On offense, I think the 49ers really have to stick to what they do best, run the ball with Frank Gore and then hit the Jets on short/intermediate passes and occasionally take a shot down the field. I wanna see much more of Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter this week, get Brandon Jacobs in there too to get some tough yards. If I were the 49ers I would go with mostly Gore in the 1st quarter. Then hit the Jets with Hunter and Jacobs in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, when the defense is weak and been pushed around all day, go with Gore again and get those big chunks of yards.

49ERS OFFENSE LOOKS TO GET BACK ON TRACK AFTER A WEEK IN YOUNGSTOWN, OH

I really love how well Crabtree is doing this year, I would just like to see the 49ers take some shots down the field to Moss and Ginn Jr so they can make the defense respect the deep pass, which will naturally open up Crabtree, Manningham and Vernon up on the intermediate routes. Also as I mentioned earlier Darrelle Revis is OUT so you have to take advantage of that and put the pressure on the Jets defense. Especially at home, there is no way the Jets are going to be an easy game and this could very well become a slugfest.

If I had to guess I would say the 49ers do win, but it will be a very close game. Something along the lines of 27-24. I just can't imagine any scenario where Jim Harbaugh will allow his players to play and coaches to coach like they did against Minnesota last week. Let's see if the 49ers can get back on track this Sunday.

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.

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.