Last Year:
For a team that has had 18 double-digit winning seasons in the past 20 years it?s fairly evident that winning games simply was not enough to save Steve Mariucci?s position with the team. Although he compiled a 59 ? 41 record during his tenure since 1997, his early playoff exits, and cautious play calling fed up the organization. Last year San Francisco found a way to finish ahead of nemesis St. Louis and win their division. Their record was not good enough to earn them a first-round bye, but thanks to a ref who was playing games on his cell phone instead of refereeing the 49ers snuck into the second round. After a quick tutorial from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on how to play football, San Fran?s season once again ended on a sour note. For a team that is returning most of its players without any major additions don?t expect the results to vary too much from the last couple of seasons.
What we learned from Last Year:
There are teams like the San Francisco 49ers in every sport. Teams like the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Timberwolves, or even the Miami Dolphins are all good at embarrassing and pounding below average teams. They con everyone into believing that they are a true contender, but when they actually play the big boys they just can?t get the W. Have a look at their wins last year:
@NYG, Was, Stl, @Sea, Ari, @Oak, KC, Sea, Dal, and Ari. Besides impressive wins in New York and in Oakland, San Fran just beat up on fairly weak teams. Their losses came against fairly good clubs that they couldn?t contend with. This team looks really good in the regular season because they get to play mediocre opponents mixed into their schedule but when they are forced to play real teams in the playoffs, unless they are at home, they just cannot compete.
What else did we learn from last year? Well, not much. San Fran can run the ball. Big surprise. They have a good offensive line with two very good running backs. Kevan Barlow still didn?t break out because he?s still sharing carries with Garrison Hearst. San Francisco?s offense is still just good and not great because they still have no other option besides Terrell Owens. The 49ers? defense is still average because they still have a lot of young talent that is trying to mature. My next statement could be said for many teams, but if this team had a solid receiver that would take attention off of Terrell Owens this team could go to the Super Bowl. They need a Chris Carter, Keenan McCardell, Jerry Rice, or Hines Ward to drag one of the several DB?s off of Owens. That is this team?s missing link to success.
If you know what the word football is, or even if you don?t know what the sport is about but you have a friend who has a cousin, who has a girlfriend who?s brother watches the NFL on Sundays occasionally then you know who Terrell Owens is. This chum is a top three receiver in the NFL. He has blazing speed but not only that he?s a bitch to tackle once he gets his feet in motion. He?s constantly double, triple teamed, jammed at the line and is taking hits when he catches the ball yet he still takes the ball to the promise land. Some people might use the words Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Eric Moulds or Joe Horn in the same sentence as Terrell Owens, but let me just remind you that he has about 20 pounds of muscle on all of them. Some of them are faster than him, but none of them go down harder than Terrell. Unfortunately as much as he gives to this offense, he can?t really give much more. They need to get a capable receiver to start on the other side of him.
What has changed?:
As I?ve mentioned before, not a lot has changed on this team. We can start with Dennis Ericcson taking over Steve Mariucci?s role. Many 49er fans will blame Mariucci?s conservativeness for their inadequacies last year and that might be accurate. I would even argue that his conservativeness cost them 1 ? 2 more wins in the regular season but unfortunately even a coach will a relentless killer instinct would not have changed the outcome of their game with Tampa Bay. Changes needed to be made on this team, but if I was GM getting rid of Mariucci would not have been the first move I made.
On offense, J.J. Stokes is gone. J.J. was a big underachiever that teams didn?t really care to cover. He showed just average skills and was never able to give Garcia a second legitimate target. Tai Streets will take over in his place, but I would be very cautious to say that this move is an upgrade. The 49ers waited until the 4th round to draft a receiver but he might be a sleeper on this offense. He performed well in Illinois as has a knack for getting open. I don?t know why this team insists on keeping Garrison Hearst when they have a budding star behind him. There are teams looking for a good running back, and Hearst could be moved for a solid receiver. I highly doubt this offense will look much different than it did last year.
The defense has virtually remained the same. While some people might say that?s a good thing since this defence needs time to grow, I would say they might play very similar to how they played last year. Guys like Julian Peterson, Jason Webster and Zack Bronson have played well, but inconsistently. They have yet to take the next step to being really good players in the NFL. Mike Rumph looked like a bust and a half last year, but he?ll have a chance to redeem himself this year. I highly doubt this defence will look much different than it did last year.
O/U 9.5:
Well seeing is how very little has changed; here?s what we?ll do. We?ll give San Francisco 2 solid wins against real contenders and we?ll give them all of the easy wins against meager opponents. Sadly for San Francisco, St. Louis has several starters resurging to fill sore spots. Try saying that ten times really fast. Or you could try saying San Francisco is only 1 ? 7 against St. Louis since 1999, the one win being last year with Jamie Martin as the starting quarterback. Seattle has improved, so that leaves San Fran getting roughly 3 wins in house. Here?s the rest of their schedule: Bears, Browns, @Vikings, Lions, Buccaneers, Steelers, @Packers, @Ravens, @Bengals, @Eagles. Following the formula they should beat Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit, Baltimore, and Cincinnatt leaving them needy for a couple more wins against the top tier teams in the NFL. There is very little room for error if San Francisco is interested in winning ten games.
Fantasy Sleeper:
If you are looking for a sleeping beauty on this team, you are looking in the wrong place. The defense isn?t worth drafting and Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens will be yanked off the board early on. People may reach for Tai Streets, but don?t expect him to have more than a couple of big games this year. If you want a sleeper from this team take a shot in the dark with Tim Rattay. He?s nothing special but Garcia has lingering back problems. Although he says they are not a concern, a late hit or a bad sack will remind him of the pain. This is not the type of injury that goes away during the season either and if he misses significant time, Rattay will be collecting the fantasy points for him.
For a team that has had 18 double-digit winning seasons in the past 20 years it?s fairly evident that winning games simply was not enough to save Steve Mariucci?s position with the team. Although he compiled a 59 ? 41 record during his tenure since 1997, his early playoff exits, and cautious play calling fed up the organization. Last year San Francisco found a way to finish ahead of nemesis St. Louis and win their division. Their record was not good enough to earn them a first-round bye, but thanks to a ref who was playing games on his cell phone instead of refereeing the 49ers snuck into the second round. After a quick tutorial from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on how to play football, San Fran?s season once again ended on a sour note. For a team that is returning most of its players without any major additions don?t expect the results to vary too much from the last couple of seasons.
What we learned from Last Year:
There are teams like the San Francisco 49ers in every sport. Teams like the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Timberwolves, or even the Miami Dolphins are all good at embarrassing and pounding below average teams. They con everyone into believing that they are a true contender, but when they actually play the big boys they just can?t get the W. Have a look at their wins last year:
@NYG, Was, Stl, @Sea, Ari, @Oak, KC, Sea, Dal, and Ari. Besides impressive wins in New York and in Oakland, San Fran just beat up on fairly weak teams. Their losses came against fairly good clubs that they couldn?t contend with. This team looks really good in the regular season because they get to play mediocre opponents mixed into their schedule but when they are forced to play real teams in the playoffs, unless they are at home, they just cannot compete.
What else did we learn from last year? Well, not much. San Fran can run the ball. Big surprise. They have a good offensive line with two very good running backs. Kevan Barlow still didn?t break out because he?s still sharing carries with Garrison Hearst. San Francisco?s offense is still just good and not great because they still have no other option besides Terrell Owens. The 49ers? defense is still average because they still have a lot of young talent that is trying to mature. My next statement could be said for many teams, but if this team had a solid receiver that would take attention off of Terrell Owens this team could go to the Super Bowl. They need a Chris Carter, Keenan McCardell, Jerry Rice, or Hines Ward to drag one of the several DB?s off of Owens. That is this team?s missing link to success.
If you know what the word football is, or even if you don?t know what the sport is about but you have a friend who has a cousin, who has a girlfriend who?s brother watches the NFL on Sundays occasionally then you know who Terrell Owens is. This chum is a top three receiver in the NFL. He has blazing speed but not only that he?s a bitch to tackle once he gets his feet in motion. He?s constantly double, triple teamed, jammed at the line and is taking hits when he catches the ball yet he still takes the ball to the promise land. Some people might use the words Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Eric Moulds or Joe Horn in the same sentence as Terrell Owens, but let me just remind you that he has about 20 pounds of muscle on all of them. Some of them are faster than him, but none of them go down harder than Terrell. Unfortunately as much as he gives to this offense, he can?t really give much more. They need to get a capable receiver to start on the other side of him.
What has changed?:
As I?ve mentioned before, not a lot has changed on this team. We can start with Dennis Ericcson taking over Steve Mariucci?s role. Many 49er fans will blame Mariucci?s conservativeness for their inadequacies last year and that might be accurate. I would even argue that his conservativeness cost them 1 ? 2 more wins in the regular season but unfortunately even a coach will a relentless killer instinct would not have changed the outcome of their game with Tampa Bay. Changes needed to be made on this team, but if I was GM getting rid of Mariucci would not have been the first move I made.
On offense, J.J. Stokes is gone. J.J. was a big underachiever that teams didn?t really care to cover. He showed just average skills and was never able to give Garcia a second legitimate target. Tai Streets will take over in his place, but I would be very cautious to say that this move is an upgrade. The 49ers waited until the 4th round to draft a receiver but he might be a sleeper on this offense. He performed well in Illinois as has a knack for getting open. I don?t know why this team insists on keeping Garrison Hearst when they have a budding star behind him. There are teams looking for a good running back, and Hearst could be moved for a solid receiver. I highly doubt this offense will look much different than it did last year.
The defense has virtually remained the same. While some people might say that?s a good thing since this defence needs time to grow, I would say they might play very similar to how they played last year. Guys like Julian Peterson, Jason Webster and Zack Bronson have played well, but inconsistently. They have yet to take the next step to being really good players in the NFL. Mike Rumph looked like a bust and a half last year, but he?ll have a chance to redeem himself this year. I highly doubt this defence will look much different than it did last year.
O/U 9.5:
Well seeing is how very little has changed; here?s what we?ll do. We?ll give San Francisco 2 solid wins against real contenders and we?ll give them all of the easy wins against meager opponents. Sadly for San Francisco, St. Louis has several starters resurging to fill sore spots. Try saying that ten times really fast. Or you could try saying San Francisco is only 1 ? 7 against St. Louis since 1999, the one win being last year with Jamie Martin as the starting quarterback. Seattle has improved, so that leaves San Fran getting roughly 3 wins in house. Here?s the rest of their schedule: Bears, Browns, @Vikings, Lions, Buccaneers, Steelers, @Packers, @Ravens, @Bengals, @Eagles. Following the formula they should beat Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit, Baltimore, and Cincinnatt leaving them needy for a couple more wins against the top tier teams in the NFL. There is very little room for error if San Francisco is interested in winning ten games.
Fantasy Sleeper:
If you are looking for a sleeping beauty on this team, you are looking in the wrong place. The defense isn?t worth drafting and Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens will be yanked off the board early on. People may reach for Tai Streets, but don?t expect him to have more than a couple of big games this year. If you want a sleeper from this team take a shot in the dark with Tim Rattay. He?s nothing special but Garcia has lingering back problems. Although he says they are not a concern, a late hit or a bad sack will remind him of the pain. This is not the type of injury that goes away during the season either and if he misses significant time, Rattay will be collecting the fantasy points for him.
