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.

Week 3 Recap of 49ers vs Vikings

By Kalen Patrick

The San Francisco 49ers suffer their 1st loss of the season to the Minnesota Vikings today by the score of 24-13. One of the things I heard throughout this game was that the Vikings were beating the 49ers by playing the 49ers style of football. This is something I could not agree more with. Besides for the Kyle Williams return, the Vikings soundly beat the 49ers in all 3 phases of the game. In my opinion this was the worst overall game the 49ers have played under Jim Harbaugh. The key to the Vikings win was their 3 touchdown drives, each of which went for 80+ yards on the highly regarded 49ers defense. I do want to give the entire Minnesota Vikings team props for their sound beating of the 49ers. There is no doubt they deserved to win the game.

JIM HARBAUGH WAS NOT A HAPPY MAN TODAY IN MINNESOTA

Lets now discuss some of the reasons why I feel the 49ers were beaten badly today.

1. ZERO Pass Rush - It seemed that for the vast majority of the game the 49ers simply rushed their front  four (Ahmad Brooks, Aldon Smith, Justin Smith and Ray McDonald) and they rarely got near Ponder. There was little to no variety in the blitzes, very rarely did I see guys like Aldon Smith drop into coverage and see blitzing LB's or Safeties. I don't know if Fangio just put too much faith in his front four to get pressure or what, but what I do know is that he was definitely out-coached by Vikings OC Bill Musgrave. I would love to see some major changes in the blitz packages in the coming game against the Jets.
2. Lack of Frank Gore - The Vikings opened up the game with an exhausting drive, then it seemed like the 49ers reacted (panicked?) and they went Pass, Pass, Pass. Almost immediately the 49ers went away from what they do best, which is run the football, and then hit on short/intermediate passes off the play action. Frank Gore had only 6 rushes in the entire 1st half. This is simply unacceptable. The 49ers made themselves 1-dimensional (which is usually what the 49ers FORCE other teams to do). For most of the game the 49ers just didn't run the ball and the Vikings were able to tee off on the pass. 



ALEX SMITH IN ACTION AGAINST THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS

3. Defense couldn't make THE stop - At halftime the score was 17-3, then quickly the 49ers made the score 17-13, Kyle Williams return set up a David Akers FG, then Minnesota had a 3 and out, followed by a 49ers TD drive. ALL the momentum was with the 49ers. Then what happened? Oh just an 80 yard TD drive that ended with a one handed catch by Kyle Rudolph in the endzone. Not only is it terrible to give up the TD, but a LONG drawn out time consuming drive is just a killer. Suddenly it's back to a 2 score game and it's around the 4th quarter. That was the stop the defense needed to make, not even a 3 and out, just a stop. Of course, the reason why they couldn't stop the Vikings was largely due to point #1, in addition to the defense never being able to stop the short dump off passes to Percy Harvin and others. The following 49ers drive resulted in a Frank Gore fumble, the defense kept them in the game after that, but the entire 4th quarter was filled with harmless turnover prone offense.

Ultimately it was a really poor and sloppy performance by the 49ers and I really want to chalk this one up as one of those games that every good team has at some point during the season. Me trying to be as optimistic as possible, I will look at this as a "kick in the ass" game and maybe get the players working extra hard and not taking any game or play for granted.

Week 4 against the Jets is going to be a slugfest. Neither team is really capable of putting up huge offensive numbers and the defenses will most likely control the game. I'd like to see the 49ers become much more creative with their defense, and on the offensive side, maybe take more chances down the field. I'm not saying abandon what we have been doing, but you have to adapt in the NFL or else other teams will catch up. One thing I do know is that Jim Harbaugh is gonna make sure the 49ers are better prepared for next weeks game. I expect to see quite a few new wrinkles to the offense in particular.

Over and Out.

NFL Next Stop - Los Angeles?

By Kalen
The NFL is so popular that it has vaulted to the top of North American sports and all this without the 2nd largest sports market (LA) not even having a team. I go back and forth as to which team or even should there be a team to move to LA. Yes I do think a team should be relocated to Los Angeles, while many will speak about how the NFL is fine the way it is so why mess with what works? While true in some regards I feel the strength of the NFL the last 10 years has been its ability to adapt and change for the better at the right time. I think now is the right time to get serious about putting a team in LA.

THE PROPOSED STADIUM IN DOWNTOWN LA

This begs the question, which team should move to LA? In a recent report, Tim Leiweke CEO of AEG (the company building the proposed stadium in LA) has contacted 5 potential teams about coming to the city of Angels Story Here . The 5 teams were: the Chargers, Raiders, Rams, Vikings and Jaguars. I look at this list and immediately, I wanna take the Vikings and remove them from this list. Minnesota has had the Vikings for what seems like an eternity, they have too much history there and it would be too big a shame to just up and get rid of the great rivalries they have with the other NFC North teams.

The next team I look at and don't buy may be a little surprising but I really don't think the Raiders will be moved back to LA. They have history in LA obviously, but I feel like the team left under bad circumstances. While a team should be in LA, I feel the Bay Area has proven to be big enough to support both the 49ers and Raiders. Plus the Oakland Raiders just sounds right and I feel they a too big a part of the East Bay community to go without a fight. If given the choice between no team or the Raiders, I'm guessing they would take the Raiders, but I just feel like Leiweke would prefer to go in another direction. Al Davis while probably nearing the end of his ownership, is too unpredictable for LA, he could be there for 5 years and then up and move back to Oakland. Too many question marks with the Raiders.

While the Jaguars seem to be the likely choice to move to LA because they are a newer team, lets not forget that they have been around for some time now, 16 years to be exact. They do have history there, and while I could imagine the Jags relocating in the future, I just don't think it will be all the way over to the West Coast. The NFL doesn't have a history of moving teams that far (Oakland to LA, LA to St. Louis, Houston to Tennessee). If the Jags move I feel it would be to a closer location, especially somewhere in football country like Alabama or Oklahoma.

DESTINED FOR A COMEBACK?

This leaves us with 2 options then, the Rams and the Chargers. Both would be very good options for LA in my opinion. Between these two teams I feel that it should be the St. Louis Rams that move. The Rams have also received a lukewarm reception in St. Louis besides for the winning seasons with Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf. Besides for that whenever the 49ers or other teams visit the Edward Dome in St. Louis, I see way too many empty seats and it just feels like St. Louis has always been a Baseball town, with the Rams playing 2nd to the Cardinals and the Blues having big support there too.


The Rams have a bright future with their franchise QB in Sam Bradford, and Steven Jackson and Chris Long provide other superstar players. I feel that if the Chargers are moved up to LA that, fans in LA would feel the team still belongs to San Diego and would be more of a Southern California Chargers and not their own team. One thing is for sure, a team will be in LA sooner or later, I think the Rams should be the team to move.
I look forward to hearing your guys opinion on my ideas and would like to hear your own ideas.

Kalen from the Sports Cave, SPREAD THE WORD