Why is losing to Seattle in Seattle in Week 1 indicative of how bad the Niners are? They hung with the Eagles, Saints and Falcons in those games and they beat the Rams. I am not suggesting they are in the top half of the league but they are not one of the 3 worst teams in the league.
Sarkus
3582
The 49ers aren’t one of the worst teams in the league. For whatever reason they aren’t playing up to their talent, or at least weren’t until Troy Smith took over at QB. And that early stretch of games looks pretty brutal when you look back on it in terms of how this season has actually developed. New Orleans, Kansas City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and even Oakland and Seattle are still potential playoff teams, after all! I’m not really a believer that they can actually come back and win the division (especially now with Gore out), but they will be competitive the rest of the way. A 6-10 final record isn’t unrealistic for them, and that would mean a 6-5 record after the five losses to start the season. I’m not sure that’s the best outcome for the long-term interests of the franchise since that would probably save Singletary’s job, but still.
sluggo
3583
Let’s put it this way: who, outside of the NFC West, is worse than the 49ers?
I’d say there are only 5 candidates: Buffalo, Cincy, Carolina, Denver and Detroit.
And if you put the 49ers in a division with those teams, I think they’d be lucky to go .500.
After watching tonight’s Niners/Cardinals game, I had a moment of pure revelation.
From about Christmas of 2009 onwards, I realized that the Rams were going to have the first pick overall in the draft. It was my hope that they take Suh, who seemed like the sort of fellow around which incredible defenses spring up. Visions of a Steve Spagnuolo-coached defensive juggernaut being a perennial playoff team danced in my head.
…and tonight I saw Troy Smith starting in front of Alex Smith for the Niners. I saw Derek Anderson starting for AZ because they’d dumped Matt Leinart. And I finally think I understand the value of having a great QB in the NFL, and I nearly dropped to my knees in my own bar to thank the Football Gods for Sam Bradford, and for giving the Rams the good sense to draft him.
sluggo
3585
Since Peyton Manning’s second season, the Colts have averaged better than 11 wins a year. Dan Marino played 17 years and the Dolphins had one losing season during that time. It’s possible to win without an all-star QB, but finding that great QB can singlehandedly turn your franchise around in a way that no defensive stud ever could.
And because it’s such an inexact science (JaWalrus was drafted 1st, Ryan Leaf was drafted 2nd, Tom Brady was drafted 199th to be a backup), teams are willing to take chances on guys like Tim Tebow, hoping they might find lightning in a bottle the way the Rams found Kurt Warner.
I’m still convinced that the Rams run on QB’s from '99 through 2005 or so was all about Mad Mike. Martz is one of the most egotistical pricks on the planet (“Shoot, we’ll fix that!”), but he sees something in quarterbacks that no one else seems to be able to. He pushed the Rams to grab Trent Green, and even though Green never made it big as a Ram due, he sure might have–everyone knows Green was lost for the season in '99 due to that Rodney Harrison hit in a pre-season game. What’s forgotten was that Green was 27-for-31 during the exhibition season with 5 TD’s and no picks.
So yeah. With Martz as either OC or head coach, the Rams had:
- Trent Green
- Kurt Warner
- Marc Bulger
- Ryan Fitzpatrick
…all at QB, and none were considered good NFL QB prospects out of college. And yes, Green had a very good year starting for the Redskins before the Rams signed him originally…but the guy who pushed the Redskins to sign him was their QB coach, a fellow named Mike Martz.
mdowdle
3587
I generally agree with you. But there’s still a question: Does the quarterback make the team, or does the team make the quarterback? Tom Brady did not look so good (still good, but not so good) without Walker (and Matt Cassell looked pretty good with Walker, and then again with a resurgent Bowe, but not without them). And Peyton Manning’s recent travails suggest that there’s more going on in Indy than just him. (And Jordon couldn’t win it all without Pippin – just sayin’.)
That being said, I think Arizona’s experience this year makes it pretty clear at least insofar as Kurt Warner is concerned: sometimes the quarterback does indeed make the team.
Nawid_A
3588
Anyone see Fitzgerald going to the Colts? Garcon is not working out at all. He makes Braylon Edwards look like Jerry Rice.
Why would Arizona trade him? He’s contracted through next season.
I think it works both ways. You could have put Peyton Manning on the 1-15 Rams last year and they might have won a few more games but he couldn’t have made them into a winner.
Arizona lost several players besides Warner but yeah, the QB play really dropped off. Cutting Leinart was probably a mistake.
A great QB can change your team around definitely. And that great QB needs help, 99% of the time. Look at Matt Ryan or Sanchez. They both started from the first, but they both were slowly developed, kept tightly reigned in and had good teams around them.
Marino was a fluke, and he had Clayton and Duper, both of whom were better than realized. Peyton is a similar type situation, but more of a chess type player than a true natural at the game (though he is defnitely gifted). Then you get guys like Brady and Montana. Guys who fit the system they are in and do so well they expand the system and make it better than it would be with a servicable QB at the same position. They probably wouldn’t be as good in a situation where they had to carry the team with a mediocre coach rather with a stellar coach and plan behind them.
Heck, guys like Leif and Jamarcus might have been good QBs eventually if they weren’t thrown the wolves and developed like Ryan and Sanchez of been. Maybe.
Yeah, Leinart may not be great, but he was a damn site better than these two jokers. Even though I pull for Hall as the underdog, he doesn’t appear to be a NLF calibur QB by any stretch…
Erik_J
3593
They didn’t have the demeanor to pull it off. Ryan, Sanchez, and Flacco are all relatively low-key guys seeing success right now because of their systems, the people around them, but most importantly their general approaches to the game.
Yeah, both JaWalrus and Leaf were said to be lazy and it’s clear that to be a good NFL QB you really need to put a lot hours in studying film, etc. In fact, Vick had a reputation for not preparing well but since he got of jail he is working a lot harder now.
Yeah, that could definitely be true…and, if they (the afore mentioned flops) had good coaches and good plans behind them, they might not have had to deal with being thrown the sharks and had only sink or swim, no middle ground. Maybe.
The problem teams have now is that if you draft a QB with a top ten pick, it’s hard to sit the guy because you pay him so much money.
Anyway, with the success of Flacco, Ryan, Sanchez, and now Bradford, it looks like the norm is going to be to start the rookie QB if it was a high pick.
Here’s a question: If Carolina continues to suck and gets the #1 overall pick, do they draft Luck even though they have Clausen? I think they do because Clausen hasn’t shown much.
Erik_J
3597
Oh, geez. That’s not even a question. Luck is The Man. You draft him if you’re the Panthers. The problem is you need to get someone to work with him. Steve Smith ain’t what he used to be. You got the RBs, but you need an air-threat to pair with him. If they got Luck and then a decent+ WR, they’d be salvageable.
Why does it have to be outside of the NFC West? Where’s Cleveland? A Rusty Smith-led Titans? The Vikings? There are plenty of so-so teams in the league.
Rimbo
3599
Yeah, if the 49ers (today, sans Gore but with Troy Smith) were to play the Titans (today with Rusty), 49ers win.
The rest of the Titans’ season looks pretty dark to me.
Heck, I’d argue most of the teams in the NFL are so so teams this year.
