The 2019 NFL season is at last upon us.
The 49ers did a good (or lucky) job of negotiating the roster cut down weekend, not losing anybody they wanted. Of course, it helped that nobody else wanted any of the players the team cut.
Which is a sad comment on the quality of the bottom end of the roster. Especially since four of them were in the starting lineup toward the end of last season (S Marcell Harris, LB Elijah Lee, RB Jeff Wilson Jr., and S Antone Exum). And the team brought all four of them back, three to the practice squad and one to the active roster. If any of them are again starters late in the year, we’ll know which direction the season headed: south, dumpster, toilet – take your pick.
This feels a lot like last season. Weak secondary, weak o-line, injury prone players, and everything boiling down to Jimmy Garoppolo and a strong d-line. A d-line with a pass rush, though, which it didn’t have last year.
There’s also a greater sense of urgency this year. Time to get it done on the field and keep alive the notion that our current HC and GM have what it takes to produce a contender. They’ve been given a pass for the first two years, but that won’t be the case this year.
The Tampa Bucs are the first test of the year. If this were a home game, the 49ers would win easily. But it’s an east coast game, where they’ve done quite poorly the past few years. They catch a break with the game scheduled late instead of 10am PDT. But it’s not a good idea to underestimate Tampa’s HC Bruce Arians. This guy knows how to win games.
Most of you have already made your 2019 Season Prognostications, but for those who haven’t (or if you want to change your mind because Garoppolo breaks his leg in practice this week), the deadline for entries is midnight Saturday.
The Giants did sign Mayo, so there’s that. No matter what happens this year I think we will be a very fun and interesting team to watch. And, even if we don’t do all so great in the win/loss column I have a feeling the year will still be a success. We lost a lot of close games last year and with a little luck and the ball bouncing our way now and then we could end up with a winning record. 7-9
So much depends on Garoppolo. Both his health and his ability to adjust as defenses get more film on him and scheme to stop him. Predictions this year are little more than throwing at a dart board until we see how he does. I’ll stick with 9-7 but Your Mileage May Vary.
I believe that a bigger factor than Jimmy G returning is the defense and the evolution of the front seven. Interested in seeing what the pass rush really looks like as both Ford and Bosa were held out in preseason and Buckner made a cameo.
LBs should be a much faster and improved unit.
For me Sunday is the big reveal for the defense and we have yet to see the offense operate in it’s entirety as Kittle and Richburg were held out.
Vega$ has the game as a toosup with one sportsbook favoring Bucs by 1.
This year’s team should be better than last year’s, but they have a more difficult schedule. I picked 7-9 last year and it turns out that was optimistic. I’m going to go with 7-9 again this year. I’m am perhaps most interested in the 10/7 match-up with the Browns. These are both teams that expect to be on the rise, and that game looks like an interesting one to me.
Per Matt Barrows
“Nick Bosa said his ankle feels really good, is optimistic about playing Sunday. He said as soon as the diagnosis came in he made it his mission to be back for the Tampa game. “There’s an ice bucket over there with my name on it,” he said.”
Also Shanahan announced Mullens is the backup QB and #2 on depth chart
It is reported that Joshua Garnett is working out for the Seahags.
Why does that not surprise anyone?
Didn’t we give them a Pick to move up for Garnett?
Win/Win from Seattles’ perspective if so.
Garnett would probably be an improvement to that OLine.
Think Garnett comes from that area Seattle area too?
Either way, he’s not the ZBS fit and, couldn’t stay healthy.
Chalk it up to all the turnover this team has endured in recent years.
I just hope it stabilizes, and gains some continuity, before Jed needs his diaper changed again.
“OT Ryan Pope signed with the 49ers practice squad after getting offered spots with four NFL teams, according to a source.”
Obviously sized up our weak O-line and figured here would be easiest place to become a starter.
Garnett was given every opportunity to win a job but failed to remain healthy.He turned out to be another Marcus Martin and Jonathan Martin who were two failures as Olineman second round picks.
Per Rappaport
“The #49ers, who lost their swing tackle earlier in the preseason when Shon Coleman went down, are hosting OT Jordan Mills today, source said. He started every game last year in Buffalo.”
Actually it looks like he’s started at T for the Bill for the last 3 seasons. Looks like a good option for swing tackle.
Miami sources say Mills did not look good in camp and has some unspecified injury that led to his injury settlement / waivers.
If he was healthy, he’d be a good pickup. As it is, not sure.
In retrospect biggest Oline bust iMO was Anthony Davis.
He started a chain of events that along with Baalke led to downfall of Niners.
Baalke elected to give Davis the big contract even though Iupati was the Pro Bowl OG. Davis walked away from the Niners after the draft screwing them over. Then the asshole hinted at a comeback and played footsie with Baalke. Anthony Davis just playing games and has never played another down in the NFL.
Davis should have been given the big contract and this turned out to be one of the nails in Baalke’s coffin.
The way the waiver wire works is the Cards had first dibs on every player put on waivers and the Niners would get seconds.
According to Matt Barrows the Niners did not get any of the 3 players they had interest in, all claimed by the Cards so they were shut out.
“The three that made the most sense for the 49ers were offensive linemen Brett Toth and Justin Murray as well as safety Charles Washington. I’m told the Cardinals were the only team that made a claim on Toth; I don’t know if other teams made claims on Murray and Washington.”
OT Marshall Newhouse also visited Santa Clara today as Niners look for that swing tackle
Not to reopen old wounds but as time goes by the truth will finally come out.
I along with some of us have always believed that Baalke/York railroaded Harbaugh and basically tore a Super Bowl team apart by self destruction. The other faction says that Harbaugh sabotaged the team which is quite a reach.
Here is the first video that discusses what came about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MffCiJrPjgQ
Digging into details of air raid O.
https://www.49erswebzone.com/commentary/2130-49ers-opponent-offenses-arizona-cardinals-offense-passing-concepts/
Here are the 5 waiver pickups of ARI that bullit referred to.
https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/2019/9/1/20843608/az-arizona-cardinals-claim-five-off-waivers-according-to-reports
Surprised Bullard did not make CHI’s 53. He is still on rookie contract and plays Justin Smith’s RDE mm in a 3-4. Good pickup and compete with rookie Zach Allen.
Also Cassius Marsh is now a Cardinal.
Buc stuff.
Wonder why Noah Spence released. Maybe injuries but they need 3-4 OLB/edge for Bowles.
Ryan Jensen C lapsed last year year but was considered the best FA and maybe Richburg OZ ability swayed him to us.
Vita Vea will challenge IOL on pass pro. Need to release pass in 2.5 seconds with Person and Garland. Assume Richburg not starter ready yet.
Gonna be fun watching A. Brown and the Raiders self-destruct this year.
Gruden/Mayock has assembled quite a combustable roster with Antonio Brown, Incognito and Burfict.
Last year in Tampa Niners had their own distraction with dumbass Foster
getting arrested for domestic violence at team hotel. It boggles the mind that you would let this drama happen on a road trip. It seems that Foster is following the Aldon Smith path and these incidents will keep happening because he can’t help himself.
It is curious that the guy that got cut as a result of Reuben Foster, is also named Foster. That would be Mason Foster who had 131 tackles for the Redskins but remains an unsigned free agent. Just wondering what his deal is and why he’s not on someone’s roster.
Hahahaha:
“Antonio Brown and GM Mike Mayock got into it Wednesday, and the team is now planning to suspend its star wide receiver.”
Antonio Brown is toxic.
As a rule because he threatened the GM he should never play for the Raiduhs again. But then again these are the Raiduhs. This BS will ruin a team but they brought this chump in.
Obviously Antonio Brown is about Antonio Brown and the team doesn’t matter.
Good for the Raiders. I hope they can void that a$$holes contract. He is just another F-ing prima donna WR. I don’t particularly like the Raiders at all but this guy is just a cancer.
T.O.: No One could be a bigger egomaniac than ME!!!
A.B.: Hold my entourage and watch THIS!!!
S.M.D.H.
The Jimmy Ward saga continues
It was just reported Ward’s status is unknown after he broke his finger in practice yesterday.
Hilarious.
Before Harbaugh this was a given
From Eric Branch
“The 49ers went 0-8 on the road last year, have lost 29 of their past 34 games away from home and have dropped 11 straight in the Eastern Time Zone.”
If Niners are to be a better team it’s time to reverse this trend and make East Coast trips inconsequential
We should have just kept Colbert and cut Ward. He’s never going to stay healthy for anything like a full season.
Remember in ’81 when we went to DC and beat the Redskins? Game five maybe? That was the game the team really arrived. The Cowboy game the next week where we slaughtered them was just the exclamation point. Good teams find ways to win on the road.
When we can get at least a 4-4 season split on the road is when you can say this team is really back to meaningful in the league. Maybe this year. Maybe not.
Tonight’s opener was a snoozer.
Was just like another preseason game.
Guess this is what happens when Aaron Rodgers doesn’t play at all in the preseason and it shows with his lack of timing and rhythm.
No point in playing 4 preseason games except for the money to stuff into owner’s pockets.
Better off playing two preseason games and requiring healthy players to play at least one half in each game. Otherwise you are getting a crap product like tonight.
Even more hilarious is Jon Gruden is saying that Antonio Brown will play Monday night against the Broncos.
I guess if you are a prima donna you can threaten to punch the GM in the face and get away with it.
Very sad but what else did you expect from the Raiduhs?
The Raiders are gonna deserve everything they get.
Our IOL versus Bucs DT’s. This is the one to watch. LOL
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27552480/bucs-vea-play-49ers?platform=amp
Regrets? SEA and SF draft mistakes. Which team and GM took it the hardest. Revisit of “I want your supervisor” video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bul0AyxQYRI
The neverending story:
“In addition to fining Antonio Brown $215,073.53 for conduct detrimental to the team that voided $29.125 million worth of guaranteed money in his contract, the Raiders sent Brown a letter that he no longer will be entitled to termination pay if they release him.”
Antonio Brown posted last night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCH_NCZ7Ejs
Welp, “The Raiders have released WR Antonio Brown from the team today.”
You’d think no team would want this toxic clown, but …
Mark Davis and Jon Gruden deserve everything this has brought.
They are truly the laughing stock of the NFL.
A WR needy team is the Redskins. They took Ruben Foster so why not Brown?
Pats and Billicheat sign Antonio Brown. Didn’t take long but let’s see if he fits in or becomes the tumor that ends their dynasty.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/09/07/antonio-brown-agrees-to-terms-with-patriots/
Hey we’ve seen this movie before.
Randy Moss was a relative bust with the Raiduhs then went to the Pats and his numbers soared.
Is Antonio Brown on same path?
AB = Nut Job²
https://www.ninersnation.com/2019/9/7/20854993/how-to-watch-nfl-games-live-using-nfl-gamepass
Should get answers to two big questions today:
1. Is Garoppolo the real deal?
2. Is the defense good enough to carry the team?
I don’t know the answer to either of those quesions yet. But I do know that this off-season seemed to last forever and good or bad it finally time for some football.
This illustrates how low the Raiduhs have fallen
One of their last cuts Keelan Doss was offered the spot vacated by newly released Antonio Brown. Seems like a no brainer becauase he’s a local guy from Alameda.
He opted to stay on the Jags practice squad rather than be on the Raiduhs active squad. This will show you that not everyone wants to be part of the dumpster fire circus that Gruden is the ringmaster.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/keelan-doss-rejected-raiders-favor-125100617.html
I have two big worries going into the season. Is Garoppolo a guy who can get this team to better days, can our patchwork offensive line keep him alive and give us a chance to win games. The second worries me at least as much as the first.
These first two road games will tell us a lot about this team’s quality and its heart.
Latest news was that Richburg is still questionable with his knee. Which suggests to me he is not 100% or even close, and is going to hobble through like he did last year. That is a real concern.
We HAVE to address the O-line in the draft next year.
grump- we sure do. We should have done it this year either in the draft or FA. I don’t think Jimmy can take a whole lot of big hits like CJ has.
Unfortunately, a bad team has to make hard choices in rebuilding. You cannot fill every hole in one year. We made a conscious choice to address our defense (pass rush and Kwon) this year, and to upgrade the skill positions around Garoppolo (WRs and Coleman).
There is without any question a gamble implicit in that choice: that we can kick the O-line can down the road one more year and not pay for it with major damage to Jimmy.
Only time will tell if that gamble pays off. I personally would have rather spent our third round pick on a guard, but agree with the rest of the moves made.
49ers inactives
QB C.J. Beathard
TE Kaden Smith
OL Daniel Brunskill
CB Jason Verrett
WR Jalen Hurd (back)
WR Trent Taylor (foot)
DB Jimmie Ward (finger)
Wow. Ugly, UGLY first half for both teams. Penalties, mistakes, sloppiness, and our interior O-line sucks shit from dead sheep. Only reason we’re in a close game is Tampa looks like shit too.
We’d better pull our ehads out of our asses or it’s going to be a long year.
An East Coast win! I’ll take it cuz they made lemonade out of lemons.
Two pick sixes for TDs. It could’ve been 4 TDs which would have outrageous but both Moore and Alexander dropped INTs where it was smooth sailing.
Shanahan said Gould is OK, he just cramps at the end. Coleman has an undetermined ankle issue.
The defense looked very good at times, especially the pass rush. The run defense wore down in the 4th quarter and if not for Winston’s boners might have come up short. The offense was very streaky too. WAY too many penalties and bonehead mistakes. How the Hell can you line in the Neutral Zone multiple times? The fricking ball is RIGHT THERE next to you!
Hopefully a lot of this is rust getting knocked off and by Game 3 we’ll look more solid.
Witherspoon has got his mojo back. He looked like the promising rookie instead of the Lost Guy from last year. Moore made one major impact play. Dickhead is still getting by mugging people and I’m not sure the league will keep letting him get away with it this year.
Most concerned about the O-line interior. Tomlinson got absolutely rag dolled on the 4th down play, Richburg still isn’t healthy, and Person is a journeyman doing his best.
Still: It’s a Road Win, and an East Coast one at that. And a game where we looked pretty ugly at times, but found a way to win anyway. Been a few years since one of those.
Looking ahead Bungles passed for 400 yds on the Sehags but rushed 14 times for 34 yds so they look pass happy passing 51 times and getting sacked 5 times.
Winnable game and they should be 2-0 going home for their opener.
Biggest disappointment of the day was the Browns who lost another home opener this time by 30 points to the Titans.
Niners see them Week 5 after the bye.
Steelers also lost by 3o points tonight to the Pats and we see them in week 3.
New post is up.