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Singletary As Savior Will Have Short Shelf-Life

Published: September 20, 2009

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The last time your San Francisco 49ers faced the Seattle Seahawks roughly 11 months ago at The Stadium That Time Forgot, so much was made of then rookie head coach Mike Singletary’s antics on the sidelines, during half time, and most of all in his postgame presser, that hardly anyone paid much attention to the fact that the 49ers had gotten trounced 34-13—at home—by a team that had come into the game wearing a 1-5 record.

Singletary lost his opening game and the one after that, but managed to rally the troops to capture five of their last seven. That record led to him getting the full time gig as “El Jefe,” which, in turn, led to all sorts of mildly amusing billboards and radio ads.

These things will happen when your coach drops his pants to make a point, your quarterback is a career back up and your best players (running back Frank Gore, linebacker Patrick Willis) are as interesting and quotable as last Wednesday’s tuna casserole.

Despite winning their opener last week at Arizona against the defending conference champions, Singletary still managed to get the lion’s share of the credit, thanks mostly to a time out he called in the third quarter to rest his tired defense.

To hear some wackos tell it, you’d think Singletary’s decision will be immortalized in Niners lore. There was “The Catch” and “The Drive,” and now we have “The Time Out.”

And this, my friends, is just all kinds of dumb.

Wasn’t it just a year ago, that Mike Nolan, the previous head coach, was getting hung in effigy for wasting all of his time outs on defense? He’d call ill-advised replay challenges and would explain to the media afterward that it didn’t matter to him if the call was reversed or not because he wanted to give his guys a blow anyway, and we all called for his head.

Now Singletary does practically the same thing, and we hail him as a conquering hero, as though he were the NFL’s version of LeBron James, singlehandedly carrying a collection of stiffs to contention, the way “Michael Jordan and the Jordanaries” did a generation before.

Singletary and his hand-picked offensive coordinator Jimmy “Three Inches and a Cloud of Lame” Raye had to be dragged kicking and screaming into putting the game into the hands of quarterback Shaun Hill.

The Cardinals had everyone but the water boy in the box to stop Gore (completely blameless for his paltry 30 yards on 22 carries), yet the 49ers didn’t start throwing it in earnest until they were trailing in the fourth quarter.

The game was an object lesson that pro coaches can’t do much to win games—the players do that—but boy can they lose them. The players saved Singletary, not the other way around, and they deserve some credit, especially Hill.

The more conservative the offense is, the more it plays into the “Singletary’s trying to make chicken salad out of chicken poop” propaganda. It’s the ultimate win-win when the coach is the most popular (and powerful) face in the organization. When he wins, it’s because of his genius, inspirational, Walshian coaching. When he loses, it’s not his fault, the players stink.

Across the league 31 other coaches are thinking, “How can I get in on this racket?”

We’ve already seen this movie, about a well-liked no-nonsense defensive coach and his inept offensive coordinator trying to grind their way through an NFL schedule with an offense that gets 200 yards per game, in 2007. It did not end well. The well-liked coach became less well-liked in an awful hurry.

Singletary needs to loosen the reins on the offense. He needs to make sure to deflect all the credit for the good things on his players and the blame for the bad things on himself. Most of all he needs someone else to be the face of the team.

It’s really the only way this thing can work out for him long term.

The be-all-and-end-all coaches work on Saturdays. Head coaching in the NFL means being a delegating executive and a bit part in a complex machine. As ex-Baltimore Ravens coach (and noted egomaniac) Brian Billick put it on Friday during his chit-chat with the 49ers beat writers, “It’s a general manager’s league now.”

Translation: It’s the players, stupid.

Singletary would be wise to accept this, embrace it, let his offense play and get out of the way. Hill is 8-3 as a starter and he has worked hard for his chance. Give him the ball and make it clear it’s his show.

The 1985 Chicago Bears had Mike Ditka coaching, Singletary linebacking, and William “The Refrigerator” Perry doing whatever it was that he did, but it’s not like the casual fan didn’t know who Walter Payton or Jim McMahon were.

Singletary has to decide if the world is ready to meet Shaun Hill and vice versa. If the answer is no, on either end, then it’s going to be another long season, no matter when he calls his time outs.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

49ers Can Tell Us They’re Running, But They Need To Show Us Some Passes

Published: September 11, 2009

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After all the nonsense and posturing, the meaningless preseason games and even more meaningless interviews, the time has come for Team “Don’t Tell Me, Show Me” to put up or shut up.

The “Nutcracker” drill has been put in storage for the winter, buried underneath the secret entrance behind Singletary Hill.

All the training camp drama—such as it was—has come and gone. Shaun Hill kept his starting quarterback job over hard tacklin’ Alex Smith, Shawntae Spencer came out of nowhere to snatch the cornerback job from the clutches of Dre’ Bly and Tarell Brown; and Adam Snyder won the right tackle spot, really just by being a ringside observer to a more unfortunate (and one-sided) duel between Marvel Smith and his aching back.

The 49ers have completed their training camp relatively unscathed and the 53 gentlemen left on the roster will be the same ones, more-or-less, that they’ll try and make do with in 2009.

Sure, there’s always the possibility that a Michael Crabtree will come to his senses and force the team into a transaction or two, but what reason is there for him to wake up smarter tomorrow than he has been for the previous 50 days, give-or-take?

These are your San Francisco 49ers. Love ’em or hey how are them Giants doin’ these days?

The season opener on Sunday sees the boys squaring off against their division “rivals” the Arizona Cardinals, and despite the small matter of Arizona being the defending conference champions, it looks like a decent match up for them.

Not only do they have a history of playing the Cardinals close (you no doubt remember the Monday Night fiasco last year, where good Ol’ Mike Martz called the first goal line dive in league history from the three yard line), but Arizona’s been positively dreadful during the preseason, with their own players admitting to being uninspired and lackadaisical.

The 2009 Football Outsiders Almanac, who charitably described the 2008 Cardinals as “one of the worst teams to ever play in a Super Bowl,” have crunched the numbers and calculated that these Cardinals project to having the third lowest mean number of wins this season, at 5.6, due mostly to quarterback Kurt Warner’s arm falling off, or something equally bad that happens to people when they turn 38.

I’m only seven years away from 38 and I’m not at all looking forward to using a keyboard with one hand, no matter how much experience my friends accuse me of having with that very scenario.

To the casual fan, the Cardinals would figure to boat race San Francisco. They can pass but can’t run on offense, and are okay stopping the run but flat out awful defending the pass. The 49ers, meanwhile, can run but refuse to pass unless it’s the last resort, and they’re very good at stopping the run but just middling against the pass.

You’re thinking to yourself “Kurt Warner + Larry Fitzgerald + Anquan Boldin + No pass rush = 0-1,” and no one can blame you.

However, there is hope, if you know where to look.

The Cardinals were the worst team in the league last year against the shotgun formation, and the 49ers had the second best differential between shotgun efficiency and under center efficiency.

It should stand to reason then that the 49ers should operate out of the shotgun plenty on Sunday and pass, pass, pass, right?

Sadly reason left this team somewhere around 2001 and hasn’t left a forwarding address.

They’re pledging to run 60 percent of the time, and seem a lot more intent on “doing what we do” than actually bothering to game plan around their opponent’s weaknesses. The second part of that plan would require acknowledging the existence of other teams, and that just isn’t the way things are done in 4949 Centennial Way.

Even without the shotgun, the Cardinals defense was only 26th against screen passes last year, and faced more running back screens than anybody. Hill has an arm built for throwing screens (but not through them) and since both “Coach Sing” and offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye want Frank Gore to get the ball a ton anyways, I think I see a solution here.

Also, Vernon Davis, the centerpiece of Raye’s “tight end friendly” offense, can be dialed up for a few screens himself, as the Niners tied the Redskins last year with the most tight end screen attempts in the league.

Subtlety has always been a weakness of mine, so just to be clear, I think San Francisco needs to throw the ball quite a bit to have a chance on Sunday. They probably won’t, and we’ll see where that gets them.

O’ Captain, My Captain:

The interesting development on Friday was Singletary naming his six captains for the season. The first five—linebackers Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes, defensive end Justin Smith, running back and special teams ace Michael Robinson, and center Eric Heitmann—were of no surprise.

But Davis as the sixth guy? That’s nuttier than a Snickers bar inside the Amityville Insane Asylum’s cafeteria.

While Singletary said that he gave Davis the honor because of the work ethic and leadership he showed throughout the team’s minicamps and training camp, his real reason is obvious—he’s hoping the title will motivate Davis into acting more mature and accountable on the field and off.

From 2002 to 2006 the team has drafted in the first round: Cornerback Mike Rumph, tackle Kwame Harris, receiver Rashaun Woods, quarterback Alex Smith, Davis, and Manny Lawson, who has been okay, not great, so far in his career.

If you want the single biggest reason why the franchise has sunk to such depths, there you go.

In 2007 they finally got it right with Willis and tackle Joe Staley, but all they have to show for 2008 is defensive end Kentwan Balmer, who gave them the inside of a doughnut his rookie year and isn’t making much of a dent in the depth chart this year either. Lest we forget, who knows what’s going to happen with Crabtree?

The team badly needs Davis to not be the bust he largely has been so far in his career and giving him the captain mantle might be their last desperate attempt at turning Davis’ considerable physical gifts into on field production.

Davis said that being named captain won’t change how he acts or plays and if he’s correct that’s very bad news for the 49ers. During training camp he got into a fight with linebacker Marques Harris and didn’t see the need to apologize to teammates for being the reason they all had to run gassers after practice.

Instead he offered the opinion that some guys should have thanked them, since they “needed the conditioning work,” in Davis’ words.

Some leader.

Then again, Davis showed composure and maturity in the locker room on Friday when he refused to get in a war of words in the media over the trash-talking Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson directed his way earlier in the week.

That’s at least a good start, but of course the proof in the pudding will be how Davis behaves and plays with Wilson on him this Sunday.

Personally, I’d have gone with Gore as the sixth captain. Who on the team better personifies “Don’t tell me, show me” than him?

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Dropping Huard Shows That 49ers Are Willing to Gamble with Their Roster

Published: September 1, 2009

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Yesterday I wrote that 49ers Coach Mike Singletary talks a good game, but on the field, he’s been leaning rather conservative.

San Francisco hasn’t been mixing in even the most rudimentary blitzes in the preseason games, just to give opposing teams something to think about, and consequently they’ve had one sack in three contests. They’ve ranked dead last in pass attempts through three games, but have led the league in rushing.

They declined to take a shot into the end zone with 25 seconds to go in the first half and refused to go for it on fourth-and-inches in the fourth quarter.

It all seems cookie cutter and vanilla to me, a strategy built on looking competitive in the preseason, but not one on actually taking games by the throat and winning them the regular seasons.

For a coach whose most notable soundbite is, “I want winners!” the 49ers sure do have the look of a team playing not to lose, even in preseason.

I expressed my concern that this conservatism could spill over to the roster selections as well and that lazy “chalk” over-reliance on veterans would harm the team. I suggested that Michael Lewis’ place on the team would be a telltale sign of whether or not the coaches care about how their players are playing and practicing this time of year at all or if their minds were made up about guys before camp even started.

However, word came late this afternoon that the team released quarterback Damon Huard, and that’s definitely a positive sign for 49ers fans that the coaches have been paying attention.

The team had two decisions to make at quarterback this summer and they got both right. Shaun Hill was handed the starting reins over the ever-wobbly Alex Smith, and rookie Nate Davis showed enough these past two games to beat out Huard for the third job.

Davis simply played too well to risk being exposed to the waiver wire and apparently Singletary felt that there too many quality guys battling for jobs to have four quarterbacks on the roster.

It’s the smart move. If the season ever regresses to the point where the team has to play the third quarterback, it means disaster has struck anyway so they might as well throw Davis out there and get him some experience.

The move is unfortunate for Huard, but the timing of it is a bit odd. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall and asked for an early release, giving him a jump on other guys who’ll be cut on Saturday to catch on somewhere else.

Several teams out there don’t even have a quality No.2 yet and are in the market for a veteran, with New England and Green Bay at the top of the list.

For the 49ers, it’s a step in the right direction.

Now about Lewis…

Clements On Film

Starting corner Nate Clements has had a rough go of it in preseason and even the non-Raiders scrimmaging portion of training camp, and he was given a handy excuse by Singletary the other day that as a veteran, it might be tough for him to focus on preseason.

Not only did Clements refuse to accept that easy out, but he went on to say that he takes this time of year very seriously and that he’s always looking to improve his game.

He said that he’ll use the San Diego game coming up—where it’s a given that he’ll have the night off—”to study how to study” as it were, by looking at film of San Diego’s offense. It will get him in the habit of doing so when the games being to count for real.

“I look at concepts,” Clements said, adding, “What the offense is trying to get done, the down and distance, the receivers, their splits, how they do against press coverage, and how they do against corners playing off.”

Clements isn’t all about business, however. When asked about his week one matchup with Cardinals superstar receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Clements mentioned that he saw him on the cover of some fitness magazine and quipped, “I thought you had to have abs to on one of those.”

And to prove that he sees more film than just game tape, Clements replied when asked about the state of his own abs, “You’ve seen the movie, ‘300’, right?”

Covering Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin won’t be quite as challenging as overcoming the Persian army was for 300 Spartans, but it won’t be a day at the park Clements and company either.

Lewis at Strong Safety Leaves 49ers Weak in Secondary

Published: September 1, 2009

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Is it me, or does 49ers head coach Mike Singletary contradict himself at every turn?

The guy talks about how tough he wants his team to be, but his training camp didn’t have any actual live tackling.

He preaches playing a physical defense, then drops eight guys into coverage on 3rd-and-7, giving Dallas quarterback Tony Romo all the time he needs to find an open receiver.

He’s spoken often of having that winner’s attitude, yet at every opportunity he’s played it safe. Whether that’s choosing not to take a shot for the end zone with 11 seconds to go and the team at the Cowboys’ 25-yard line or eschewing a 4th-and-inches try in the fourth quarter in favor of a field goal attempt, it simply does not scream “winner.”

Singletary wants his guys to be intelligent and detail-oriented, but the coach himself routinely ignores special teams practices and said he doens’t feel the need to watch what other teams are doing on film in the hopes of picking up a few pointers because, “It’s all about us.”

The Cowboys—who, like the 49ers, run a 3-4 defense—led the league with 59 sacks last season while the 49ers were tied for 16th with 30. The Cowboys got three more sacks against the 49ers on Saturday, while San Francisco sacked no one.

Now obviously some of that has to do with personnel—there just aren’t any DeMarcus Wares on the 49ers roster—but it stands to reason that there’s a thing or two that Singletary and defensive coordinator Greg Manusky could stand to learn by taking a gander at the Cowboys film.

Singletary has made a point of explaining that his coaches haven’t created a game plan for their opponents in any of their preseason games, but this seems both lazy and arrogant. If the preseason games truly do have a meaning to Singletary—as he claims they do—he should try to simulate a game situation as much as possible and give his front seven a chance to shine.

Instead, by going the vanilla route, he and his coaches took it easy.

I wonder if they’ll do the easy and lazy thing when figuring out their rosters cuts too, or if they’ll actually put some thought into it and see who’s playing well rather than who’s getting paid.

Strong safety Michael Lewis’ fate hangs in the balance of that decision.

Lewis is a solid veteran, a fine character guy, and by all accounts a fine upstanding citizen. He’s just no longer a very good football player, which isn’t a bad thing unless it’s your job to be one.

He’s a decent blitzer, but the 49ers don’t ask their safeties to blitz nearly as often as Lewis’ old team, the Philadelphia Eagles, did and continue to. He plays the run well and he should, since for all practical purposes he’s an extra linebacker on the field.

The problem is he covers like a linebacker, too.

Actually, scratch that. He covers like a below-average linebacker, and in the 3-4 scheme they run, they already have plenty of linebackers that can’t cover well (Takeo Spikes, anyone?).

The 49ers already have a front seven dedicated to stopping the run and just about all of them are “plus” run defenders. What they need in their secondary are rangy guys who can cover, especially with the pash rush looking so unthreatening.

That’s not Lewis.

Who it is, if you’ve been paying attention, is Reggie Smith.

Smith, a third-round pick out of Oklahoma last season, played primarily corner in the three games he was active for the 49ers in 2008. He’s been moved to safety this year, and so far the transition has been seemless.

Not only has Smith been constantly around the ball the whole preseason, but he’s been making plays left and right: picking off passes, recovering fumbles, always finding a way to have an impact.

It’s been a while since the 49ers have had a safety who’s been an asset and not a liability.

If the 49ers are indeed serious about contending for the NFC West this season, they’d be wise to start both Smith and Dashon Goldson, another athletic youngster, together and not worry about who’s the free safety and who’s the strong. The more guys in the defensive backfield that can cover, the better.

Because, believe me, they’re gonna need to.

The Eagles were high on Lewis once, drafting him in the second round out of Colorado and he even made the Pro Bowl for them once after the 2004 season. But they eventually saw his limitations and, by 2006, he was riding the bench.

The 49ers swooped Lewis up as a free agent in 2007, but the time has come for them to admit that signing was a mistake and move on. He’s not one of the 10 best defensive backs on the team and he doesn’t deserve a roster spot, let alone a starting job.

And now that he’s suffered two concussions in a span of 11 days, he’s a medical risk to boot, and the time would be now to jettison him before the next concussion puts him on IR and they have to eat his entire salary.

It might sound like a cruel and heartless decision, but football is a cruel and heartless business and Lewis has had his time in the sun. For all we know, getting cut might be the best thing they could do for Lewis, as far as his long-term health is concerned, as concussions are no laughing matter.

The Walking Wounded:

Lewis was back on the practice field today, as an observer, as several injured 49ers participated in individual drills during the afternoon practice.

Left guard David Baas, who’s missed almost all of camp with a foot injury he suffered during the team’s “nutcracker” drill, revealed that his ailment is actually plantar fasciitis and that he’s almost completely recovered now thanks to the orthotics he’s been wearing inside his cleats.

With right tackle Marvel Smith—who was Plan A at right tackle during the summer—deciding to retire because of continuing back problems, the 49ers will have to depend on Adam Snyder to be effective at that spot. Snyder was working alonside Baas Monday afternoon, wearing a large brace on his right knee.

Backup quarterback Alex Smith’s sprained right thumb looked pretty healed from my perspective as his passes had good zip and not much wobble. I would expect him to be participating in full team drills tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.

Outside linebacker Jay Moore (strained right groin) and even wide receiver Brandon Jones (fractured AC joint in shoulder) were jogging around, though the latter is nowhere close to returning.

The only one absent from the 74-man roster was outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks who had arthroscopic surgery to clean up some bone fragmants in his knee Monday morning and is expected to miss two to three weeks.

Though Brooks and Jones were the only two 49ers head coach Singletary absolutely ruled out for Friday’s preseason finale at San Diego, except many of the starters to sit the game out as the coach already pledged to take it easy on the veterans this week in practice before they start to go full-bore in preperations for Arizona.

Maybe they’ll even (gasp!) game plan the Cardinals.

Singletary: Alex Smith Is My Guy When I Need To Go Number Two

Published: August 25, 2009

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So, the inevitable finally went down yesterday and 49ers Coach Mike Singletary ended the charade of the team’s quarterback controversy and named Shaun Hill, the heavily favored incumbent, the starter over that upstart underdog challenger, Alex Smith.

In other news, water is still wet, Oprah is still fat, and Glenn Beck is still a jackass.

I’d maintained from the very beginning, that despite all of Singletary’s protests to the contrary, it was never a fair or equal competition, just as most contests in life are neither fair, nor even.

Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye likened it to a championship bout, saying “You have to knock the champion out to win; you can’t fight him to a draw.”

But to be honest, it wasn’t even a draw.

Hill was just better.

More accurate.

More consistent.

More confident.

Better.

Singletary likes Hill, he knows what he has in him and even if he doesn’t necessarily respect his talent – and why on god’s green earth would he? – he appreciates the guy’s moxie.

That Hill thinks he’s a lot better than he is isn’t rare for a pro athlete, but the way he gets the other ten ne’erdowells in the huddle to buy into what he’s selling is what makes him, if not special, then at least useful.

From day one of camp Hill treated this so-called competition as little more than a trivial annoyance, like having to do the sixth interview of the day when Bob, the PR guy said there’d only be five.

Hill’s attitude all along was not if he was going to be given the job, but when. He made sure to let the media know that he’d like the issue to be settled tootsweet, giving him all the more time to work with his receivers to get the timing down on his offense.

His comments about how practice will be different, now that he’s the official starter were most telling. “I feel like if there are things that need to be tweaked or changed that I feel more comfortable expressing those things now where before you can’t really do that because it changes for all the quarterbacks. But now we’ll be able to do things here and there that will make me more comfortable,” he said.

In other words, now that it’s my show, we can get serious about practice.

Smith is Hill’s counterpoint. He’s got the draft pedigree, the athleticism, a much stronger arm (two shoulder operations made me forget that this guy used to be able to fling the ball at a pretty good clip), and the backing of the team’s owners, desperate to prove that they didn’t draft a bust.

What he doesn’t have though, is poise, confidence, or the ability to inspire others.

He just looks nervous out there; not Jeff Garcia-jittery in the pocket, but definitely without that Peyton Manning statuesque presence.

Give Smith credit. He is working hard to overcome his faults. He has been diligent about projecting a tall, upright profile when on the podium with the media. He keeps his voice firm and his answers unwavering.

He is trying to look and sound the part, the act that Hill’s had down from the beginning.

But it’s just not translating on the field.

Singletary, for his part, tipped his hand a bit on what he really thought of Smith before training camp started on Monday. The thing he went back to repeatedly in praising Smith was how he’s fought through and overcome his injuries and surgeries.

The coach’s manner seemed to suggest that all along he thought Smith was so fragile, both physically and emotionally, that the first hit he took in a preseason game or the first interception he threw in camp would surely send Smith back into the abyss; out of sight and out of mind.

Smith has impressed Singletary with his toughness and resolve, if nothing else. He’s got the heart of a football player. Now he just needs to show that he can play quarterback, and that’s the hard part.

“The shot is going to come,” Smith predicted. “The opportunity is going to come. The question is whether you’re going to be ready for it when it does?”

The real question is how many opportunities is he going to get?

Who Does Number Two Work For?

What made Monday’s presser doubly uncomfortable for Smith, was Singletary’s unnecessary posturing and spin. Unfortunately, the more the Hall of Fame linebacker gets used to this coaching thing, the less honest he gets and the more clichés he uses.

Yesterday was a classic example that coach-speak mixed with political correctness to not hurt anyone’s feelings can be a dangerous thing. Singletary went off on a long tangent that he doesn’t want Smith or any other reserve on the team to think of himself as a backup but rather “a number two.”

But it got better.

Singletary’s political correctness was akin to midgets preferring to be called “little people” in that the new name is more insulting than the original.

“They’re only number twos because they’re not as good as number ones, for whatever reason,” Singletary said.

So don’t feel bad that you, a former number one overall pick, are backing up an undrafted guy with a noodle arm, Alex. It’s just because you’re not as good as Shaun is at playing football.

Good pep talk, coach.

I bet Smith totally feels like a number two right now.

Meanwhile, In Non-Quarterbacking News…

Singletary sort of, announced that another camp battle for a starting spot had been unofficially decided on Monday, when he said that while right tackle Adam Snyder’s sprained right knee will likely keep him out of the third preseason game at Dallas. The team fully expects him to be starting the opener at Arizona on September 13th.

The team has just not been able to gauge what they have in Marvel Smith, whom they signed as a free agent away from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Smith had back surgery last year and the recovery has been a slow process, with team doctors not giving him the go ahead to practice both ends of a two-a-day and sometimes not even on consecutive days.

Smith will get the first crack to show his stuff in the week Snyder will miss, but the coaches have been very impressed with Snyder, particularly his run blocking.

The other starting job up for grabs has been the right cornerback spot, and even though Tarell Brown is finally back as a full participant in practice after being out with a sprained toe for most of camp, all the first team reps are still going to Dre’ Bly.

Bly was inconsistent and sluggish the first few practices, but has turned a corner ever since the first preseason game versus his old team, the Denver Broncos. Ever since then, he’s probably been their best overall defensive back. He was excellent in the practices in Napa against the Raiders and solid again in the actual game with Oakland at Candlestick Park last Saturday.

Brown has his work cut out for him to make up for lost time.

How About Pop Warner?

Speaking of the Raiders, rookie running back Glen Coffee wasn’t all too impressed with their run defense, believe it or not, after Oakland held him to a mere 129 yards on 16 first half carries.

He described the running lanes as, “huge” and said the game was, “easy.”

“I don’t think I’ve had a game like that in high school or college,” he added.

Might be worth noting if you’ve got a fantasy running back dilemma and one of them has Oakland’s coming up on the ol’ schedule.

To be fair, I say the same things about tight ends and the 49ers defense.

The Amazing Shrinking Injury Report

Only four of 80 49ers weren’t practicing Tuesday morning.

Left guard David Baas is still working his way back from a sprained foot and he was doing individual drills with trainers.

Receiver Brandon Jones has that fracture in his right AC joint (shoulder) and he will be out another six weeks, minimum.

Snyder had a brace on his knee and he was walking around, as was Smith, who had a splint on his right thumb after spraining it while making a tackle on Saturday night.

Defensive end Ray McDonald also had a brace on his right knee, but he was moving around pretty well for a guy just removed from the PUP list for having offseason knee surgery.

However, upon eavesdropping on an interview McDonald was doing with another reporter and hearing his prediction for how many sacks he would have this season, it might be wise to check McDonald for a concussion, just to be safe.

Hill Wins 49ers Quarterback Competition By Default

Published: August 23, 2009

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Maybe San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Mike Singletary knew what he was talking about when he said in the offseason that his team’s mantra was going to be “Physical With an ‘F’.”

It certainly sounds better than “Inaccurate With an [insert gagging sound here].”

In a contest that was supposed to be all about which of the quarterbacks – Shaun Hill or Alex Smith -would stand up and be accounted for, to make their case before a sellout Candlestick crowd (albeit with oodles of Raiders fans), neither did.

When asked afterward if either passer enhanced his chances with their play, Singletary’s reply was similar to his playing style as a Hall-of-Fame linebacker for the Chicago Bears: quick and emphatic.

“No,” he said.

The game was Smith’s chance to really open up Singletary’s eyes and make him reconsider the inevitable – that the steady, consistently decent Hill would be under center when the season kicks off at Arizona on September 13th.

Smith blew it.

He threw passes high. He threw passes behind receivers. A couple he had deflected at the line of scrimmage. He rolled right a few times and couldn’t ever find an open receiver.

The killing blow though, was a pass that was a bit too high and hard for wideout Josh Morgan and deflected off his hands and into those of Oakland linebacker Ricky Brown, who raced down to the San Francisco six yard line before being violently thrown to the turf by a frustrated Smith.

Two plays before the interception, Smith leveled Raiders linebacker Greg Ellis on a blindside block on a reverse to Arnaz Battle.

The good news is that the blow was administered by Smith’s twice-operated on throwing shoulder and he said afterward that it felt perfectly fine.

The bad news is that it’s never a good thing when the top two highlights of a quarterback’s evening are a tackle and a block.

His final statline read 3-of-9 for 30 yards, with that interception, and while the numbers are slightly worse that Smith played, they’re not that far off.

While Singletary insisted that the competition was even coming into the game – and after it – Hill was the prohibitive favorite coming in for his conservative, safe playing style and he ultimately didn’t do anything to hurt his chances tonight.

After all, the leader in the clubhouse doesn’t have to make birdies, but rather force the other guys to make them.

Hill had one-and-a-half drives where he mostly handed the ball off to rookie running back Glen Coffee and it was good enough for three points and nearly a touchdown.

Smith’s couldn’t take the team inside the Oakland 40 on either of his drives and put his defense in a first-and-goal hole with that interception.

I’d say that’s a pretty big bogey.

Not only do I expect Singletary to start Hill in next week’s preseason game at Dallas (traditionally the second-to-last exhibition game is the dress rehearsal for all the starters and the “ones” play at least a half), but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least for him to just end this farce and go ahead and name Hill the starter going forward at some point before the game.

The Other Guys

The passing game aside, the 49ers looked pretty good on Saturday. The offensive line completely blew the Raiders off the ball and Coffee had holes wide enough to drive a Hummer through on his off tackle runs.

It’s not often a running back has 16 carries for 129 yards in a half and his team is down 7-3, yet that’s exactly where the 49ers found themselves after 30 minutes.

Even though nosetackle Aubrayo Franklin and inside linebacker Takeo Spikes plugged the middle time and again and gave Oakland’s Darren McFadden nothing, a miscommunication between corner Nate Clements and safety Mark Roman left Raiders wideout Austin Murphy wide open in the endzone on a 3rd-and-22 and it was pretty much the only mistake the starting defense made.

In the second half third stringer Michael Robinson picked up where Coffee left off and he had 97 yards on 14 carries, and still, somehow, the team was down 14-3 despite outrushing the Raiders by 200 yards at that point.

Oakland backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski’s mobility gave the reserve linebackers some problems and no one could cover tight end Brandon Myers.

San Francisco’s reserve defenders have the same strengths and weaknesses as the starters, good at stopping the run, no pass rush to speak of, awful at covering backs and tight ends.

Frankly, it’s a recipe for disaster. The NFL is a passing league and has been for some time. The good teams can throw it and avoid turnovers, while being able to pressure opposing passers to boot.

The secondary did wind up with three more interceptions, but the regular season won’t give them JaMarcus Russells and Kyle Ortons to feast on every week. Next week they get Tony Romo on the road and that should be more of a true barometer.

All we know about the 49ers right now is that they can run and stop the run and while that’s something, it’s not enough.

Preseason Game Is Alex Smith’s Super Bowl

Published: August 22, 2009

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One of the easiest ways to look like a fool among your sports beat brethren is to suggest, even jokingly, that a preseason game, any preseason game, is meaningful.

The NFL’s exhibition season has long been regarded as a running joke for fans and an annoying ordeal for the media. The stars play sparingly, if at all, and they don’t really care how they do. The coaches reveal nothing, trotting out basic high school level game plans.

Us scribes have to prepare and study our media guides so we could memorize the names and numbers of guys who’ll be in the Canadian league two weeks from now.

I’ve long been a proponent of extending the regular season to 17 or 18 games and shortening the preseason. To those who argue that it would mean having to pay players more money and that it would lead to fatigue-related injuries. I say that it’s not my money and it’s not my body.

Fans don’t care about salaries or injuries (not unless it happens to an irreplaceable player), they just want their football. And if they’re going to fork over regular season prices to attend games, then by golly they want regular season football.

For the time being though, preseason is our lot in life and at the risk of sounding like an idiot, I think this is a big game for at least one prominent San Francisco 49er.

Of course I’m referring to the prodigal son, quarterback Alex Smith.

The former first overall pick (and eerie dead ringer for Edward Norton) might be taking the most meaningful snaps of his career tonight against a Raiders team that boasts an owner who’s a creepier version of Emporor Palpatine, a coach who’s a cheapshotting weasel, and fanbase made up entirely of drunks, felons, or drunk felons.

The product on the field doesn’t get much more palatable for the Raiders, as they’re led by a quarterback who can’t be bothered to take offseasons seriously and receivers who choose to interpret “Look ma, no hands!” in a different manner than you or I.

Frankly, Oakland is a mess.

That is good for young Alex.

Unfortunately they’re much more of a mess on offense than defense.

That is bad for young Alex.

For weeks now 49ers head coach Mike Singletary has been insisting that the team’s quarterback competition between Smith and Shaun Hill is Even Stephen.

Not to call the man a liar, but anyone who’s been paying attention at all to training camp understands that Hill is the heavy favorite to be starter come September 13 at Arizona. At this point I don’t think even Smith’s immediate family would dispute the notion.

Singletary is a defensive coach and as such his biggest priority coming into games will be to give his defense a chance to succeed. That means controlling the ball and the clock on offense, minimizing mistakes and turnovers and making the opponents drive 80 yards for touchdowns as opposed to 15 or 20 yards.

For a guy like Singletary a punt is a winning play, a turnover is a losing play and any offensive possession that ends with points instead of a punt or turnover is cause for a brief chuckle.

Hill is no star. He wasn’t drafted, his arm is closer to Chad Pennington’s than Brett Favre’s on the ol’ radar gun, and his primary responsiblity in games is to not be the primary reason the team is losing.

Yet for an NFL quarterback that task is far more difficult than it sounds and it is a role that Hill has handled very capably, going 7-3 in his brief starting career despite not being surrounded by much talent.

Singletary doens’t love Hill, but he does trust him, and that’s important.

Smith, on the other hand, is neither loved nor trusted.

He was the previous regime’s draft pick, not Singletary’s. The coach owes him nothing.

The whole idea of giving Smith a fair shot to win the job is being done more as a favor to the people upstairs, the ones who pay Smith’s salary, than anything else.

The Yorks desperately don’t want Smith to be a bust and when Singletary’s only alternative is as wholly unimpressive physically as Hill, he’s not really in the position to argue.

Or to put it another way, if the Niners were able to sign Kurt Warner in the offseason, he wouldn’t be going through with the charade of battling for the job with Smith.

Smith does have a bigger arm than Hill (who doesn’t?) and he is more of a playmaker, so that checkmark is in his favor.

However he’s also far more of a playmaker for opposing defenses, having been extremely turnover prone thus far in his career.

His playing style will not endear him to most NFL coaches, and certainly not the ones who value their jobs.

So yes, Smith is very much an underdog, and he’ll need to have the quarter of his life to be alive for another week in this contest. It would also help him immensely if Hill picks tonight to give his personal homage to Ryan Leaf.

If neither of these things happen, then expect Hill to start next week’s preseason game at Dallas (the next-to-last game being the real tune-up for starters) and all the other ones that matter in September.

The next hour will reveal much about Alex Smith. Not only is he auditioning for Singletary, but for the other 31 teams as well.

My advice: Throw to the guy Nnamdi Asomugha isn’t covering.

49ers Pass Rush Fails To Show Up For Opening Bell

Published: August 15, 2009

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49ers 17, Broncos 16

“Thank god it’s preseason,” were the first words out of San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Mike Singletary’s mouth in his postgame presser late Friday night, and doesn’t that just about say it all?

There were some good performances and many poor ones in the game, but the overriding theme was that, in just about every case, what we saw on the practice field is what we saw against the Broncos.

And by that I mean the guys who’ve been practicing well played well, the guys who’ve been practicing mediocrely played mediocre and the guys who’ve been practicing poorly… well you get the idea.

Let’s breakdown the game, first the positives, then the negatives.

Shaun Hill showed why he deserves to be the team’s starting quarterback, effortlessly marching the team down the field in his only series of work. He made only one mistake, holding onto the ball too long and taking a coverage sack when throwing it away would’ve been the better play, but was otherwise flawless.

I would’ve preferred to see Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye give Hill the chance to convert 3rd-and-three from the red zone instead of calling a run; the team had to settle for a field goal there.

Vernon Davis‘ camp dominance wasn’t a mirage. Hill went to Davis on his first two (it would turn out to be his only two) attempts of the game and the enigmatic tight end not only managed to shake open from coverage easily, but he caught a couple of passes that weren’t exactly thrown at his numbers.

No one on the 49ers has been able to cover Davis a lick in practice and from what I saw the Broncos didn’t have anyone who could either.

A couple more solid showings from Davis – especially in the third preseason game when people are actually trying – and I’ll be convinced that this is going to be his breakout year.

With Frank Gore taking the night off rookie Glen Coffee was given the entire first half to show his stuff, and thanks to the quarterback competition between Hill and Alex Smith, he got to work with the first team offensive line the whole half as well.

Coffee started out somewhat tentatively, but once the butterflies left he showed the burst that justified his selection as a third round pick. Coffee’s running style is a bit too upright for my liking, and he isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to make people look silly with spin moves or anything like that, but as a sturdy, north-south guy he looks like a viable understudy for Gore.

14 carries for 67 yards is a pretty strong debut, and what I liked most about his game was that all but one of his carries was for positive yardage, meaning that he wasn’t doing a lot of dancing in the backfield.

Adam Snyder had a strong first game as the starting right tackle and Singletary singled him out for praise in his conference call with the beat writers on Saturday.

Snyder did allow one sack to Broncos end Ryan McBean, but it was hardly his fault. Smith had a perfectly secure pocket from which to throw but for some inexplicable reason decided to roll right, right into pressure. Snyder isn’t a psychic, nor does he have eyes on the back of his head, and Smith made him look bad there.

The starting secondary held up fairly well, all things considered. Not only were they getting zero help from the front seven – Singletary calling the pass rush “non-existent” afterward – but between being stretched out by Denver’s shotgun spread package and having to react quickly to Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton’s three step drops, expecting air-tight man coverage was probably unrealistic.

Not only did the defensive backs provide a lot of run support with the 49er front line being blown off the ball, but they also did a fine job of not giving up the deep ball, which has been their Achilles heel.

Nate Clements, Dre’ Bly and backup safety Reggie Smith all came away with interceptions, and not only were they all examples of fine coverage and being in the right place at the right time, but credit must be given to them for actually catching the balls, which has been easier said than done for this secondary in past years.

Undrafted rookie fullback Brit Miller came into camp as a fourth stringer without a prayer but with Moran Norris missing a lot of time with personal issues and Michael Robinson and Zak Keasey both hurt, Miller made the most of his opportunity and scored two touchdowns last night.

First, after Reggie Smith’s interception gave the 49ers the ball 1st-and-goal at the three, Miller was able to get into the left flat and scooped up an earth-bound pass from a shaky Alex Smith for his first score.

Then, in the fourth quarter, they tried the play action to the other side and this time Miller was left completely uncovered (that’s the Mike Nolan defense I remember) and third-string QB Damon Huard quickly found him. Miller rumbled 40 yards down the right sideline to give the team the lead for good.

Miller, who also had a decent night blocking, still remains very much a longshot to make the team, but this performance should go a long way to solidifying his bid for a practice squad job.

Huard, by the way, was very good and looks like an ideal emergency quarterback.

In reserve roles I liked Reggie Smith (who saved the game with a second pick on a late two point conversion attempt by Broncos backup QB Chris Simms), rookie inside linebacker Scott McKillop who tackled well and cleaned up his teammates’ mistakes as best he could, and rookie safety Curtis Taylor, who wasn’t the most fluid in coverage but has good size and showed some moxie against the run.

Aside from the three picks, mostly gifts from Orton, the defense had a bad, bad night. They looked ill-prepared for Denver’s new-look offense that new coach Josh McDaniels brought over from his time with New England. The Broncos frequently had three or four receivers on the field even on first or second down and the Niners were quickly caught on their heels, in the dreaded “bend but don’t break” mode.

The front seven had an awful showing; both the starters and reserves. No pressure, no penetration and no intensity. The outside linebackers did an awful job of containing while the linemen were just gashed inside all night long.

The starters have the excuse that it was the first preseason game. As veterans they’re simply not going to be too excited about playing the game or executing the vanilla schemes.

The reserves however don’t have crutch to lean on.

Outside of Taylor – and even he’s a stretch – I can’t think of a single defensive player on the roster bubble who helped his cause on the night.

I don’t usually like to pick on a guy when he’s down, but fullback Zak Keasey just isn’t an NFL player. He’s too slow, too unathletic, and mainly just not strong enough for the job.

Keasey got absolutely trucked by the Broncos Elvis Dumervil, a man who only outweights him by 25 pounds. That just isn’t supposed to happen to fullbacks against outside linebackers. Dumervil easily overpowered Keasey before sacking Hill on the first series.

A few players later Keasey got dominated again, this time by the other outside’ backer, Mario Haggan, though this was more Hill’s fault as he held onto the ball forever.

Still, Keasey owes Hill a beer. Because he broke his forearm on the play he’ll go on IR and get paid his yearly salary instead of getting cut and being out on the street, which was surely in his future.

Joe Toledo has been playing left guard on the second team for most of camp with nominal backup Tony Wragge starting in place of injured starter David Baas and he got bulldozed by Broncos rookie Chris Baker for a sack on Huard.

Toledo currently projects to be the 49ers 10th offensive linemen, and that’s probably one over the magic number as far as the 53 man roster limit is concerned.

Finally, Jahi Word-Daniels, please pick up the white courtesy phone. You are the worst defensive back on the team and believe me, that is quite an achievement.

Winner by default?

The only other injury the 49ers suffered in the game was to third string running back hopeful Thomas Clayton. His right leg bent at an unnatural angle during a third quarter carry up the middle and while it’s being called a “sprain” right now he has likely torn his ACL and will be lost for the year.

What this means is that Kory Sheets, an undrafted rookie out of Purdue, may have won the job by default, if the 49ers do indeed decide to keep three backs.

Don’t forget, Michael Robinson is still around and the team very well might just decide to go with four on the roster with the former Penn State QB serving as the backup to fullback Moran Norris and to halfbacks Gore and Coffee.

For what it’s worth Sheets looked more impressive in his time on the field than Clayton did anyway and he did finish the night with 51 yards on 10 carries, with a late 25-yard scamper that was a game high for both teams.