Playing For Pride

At this point in the season, I am just waiting for the last games to be played. I understand that the season is still going, but the Niners playoff hopes are over, and I want to see all of the offseason drama. I think that this weeks game against the Chargers will be fun to watch for everyone and will end up to be a good game. But most importantly, I am not going to have to cry over a Niners loss for another season. I would say that that is a big positive. Plus, I will be able to focus on all of the other teams for the offseason. I will be writing more about coach vacancies and news that is going around the league as a whole. So finally, lets get to the game.

This weeks game against the Chargers is the "Battle of the Golden Coast" for the two teams.  This rivalry has been alive since the two teams came into the league. In the past, the Niners have won more games than the Chargers in the game. But this year, San Diego was looking to demolish their bitter rivals. The 49ers had the opportunity to knock the Chargers out of the AFC playoffs with a win and would spoil another season for star quarterback, Phillip Rivers. The game started out great for the 49ers, with a 52 yard touchdown run for Frank Gore, to cap off a 4 play 78 yard drive to start the first quarter. The run gave the team momentum to get up to a 21-0 lead over the chargers halfway through the second quarter. The Chargers scored a late touchdown to end the half with a 28-7 49ers lead. The 49ers team looked like playoff contenders in the first half and you could feel that they wanted to end the Chargers season. But, the Bolts came back to get the win, after outscoring the 49ers, 31-7, in the second half alone to win the game 38-35.

Frank Gore ripped off an incredible 52 yard run- Photo from www.cincyjungle.com

I thought that this game really summed up the season for the 49ers. The team had great energy to start the game, and would die down in the second half. I mean, they didn't score a second half touchdown until week 4 in the season. This showed that they did not have good game preparation and game plans for when they would get down. Next game and more importantly, next year, the team will have to get more disciplined in the second half of games so that they can win the tight games that will determine if they do or do not make the playoffs. Next week, the niners will conclude their season with a game against the division leading, Arizona Cardinals. The two teams matched up in the third week of the season, ending in a thumping victory for the Cardinals. This years Cardinals team is tough-nosed and enjoys kicking their opponents ass. I think that the niners will end the season in a strong way, with a win against one of the leagues best teams.

Photo from www.pbs.com

Battle Of The Bay

There are few boundaries between the 49ers fans in San Francisco and The Raiders fans in Oakland. There is the Bay Bridge of course, but what else. I would have to say that the most meaningful boundary between the two sides is the Battle of the Bay game between the 49ers and the Raiders. Because of the rare occurrence of these meetings, it is a necessity for both teams to get the victory, because of the many aspects of pride sitting on the outcome of the game fought between the two teams. I have only been able to experience two of these games in my lifetime, so whenever the game is on, I am always excited to experience the battle that will occur when the bay area teams take the field. To make it even more interesting this time around, the 49ers need the win to keep their playoff hopes in a good position. The Raiders are just the team that would die to deplete the Niners playoff hopes, and retain the title of kings of the Bay Area.

Battle Of The Bay- Thanks to www.Genius.com for the picture

Like I said, this game means a lot to a 49ers team that has gone through many injuries this year and is fighting to get into the playoffs as a wildcard team. But the Raiders are in the way of a successful season and are looking to spoil the Niners playoffs hope with a win. The 49ers came into the game with another injury, in that of their cornerback, Chris Culliver. With Culliver being a substantial part of the 49ers secondary, it was a big blow for the team. But, the Raiders also had their top receiver, James Jones, out with a lower-body injury. The game started with an interception by Brandian Ross of the Oakland Raiders, on a horrible pass by Kaepernick. It was more of the same for the struggling 49ers offense. Though the Niners scored a second quarter touchdown, the Halftime score was 10-10. This was not a good sign for the 7-5 Niners that were playing the 1-11 Raiders team that was not having a good year. The 49ers were shut down on offense in the second half, and gave up two touchdowns, to end the game with a 24-13 Raiders win.

Brandian Ross interception- Thanks to www.usatoday.com for the picture

I can't really say much on the positive side for the 49ers. They looked like the one win team in the game and pretty much ended their chance to get to the playoffs. I thought that Kaepernick's ability to lead his team in the past few weeks has been awful, and he will need to step up in the future if he wants to keep his spot in the depth chart. But, the defense still showed that they could perform at a decent level, even with five of their best defensive starters being injured. They continue to prevail through adversity and make me wonder what will happen when all of the starters are healthy.  On the Raiders side, stars emerged in quarterback Derek Carr and tight end Michael Rivera. The two seemed to be one and could not be stopped. Rivera had 7 receptions for 109 yards and 1 touchdown, while Carr had a very productive game with 254 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. Carr proved that he could shred up a top level NFL defense and rose his respect level within the organization. The Raiders showed that they could still compete with the top level teams in the league. By the way, they arguably won their most important game of the year against the 49ers.

No Turkey For The Red And Gold

The most anticipated game of the year for the Niners and their rival, Seattle Seahawks. San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks- Thanksgiving night at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. I had been looking forward to this game, even before the start of the season. Whenever the 49ers and Seahawks play, you are guaranteed an insanely physical game that will even get your adrenaline going. These games are made up of big hits, big plays, fights, and just old-fashioned football. These games bring back the game that my dad and grandparents used to watch, where there weren't penalties called for hitting players too "hard". These games represent how the game of football should be played.

This game has been on every players calendar since the beginning of the season. Said to be one of the biggest new rivalries sports, The Niners and Seahawks always put up great games against each other. Games that will make you bite down yours nails to stubs, and restrict your from going to the bathroom for at least four hours. I was looking forward to this game because of the niners bitter defeat to the Super Bowl champions, in last years NFC championship game. The game where Richard Sherman expressed his opinions in a very strong way, to the reporters on the sidelines. The game that I learned to despise the awful looking, dirty football team that the Seattle Seahawks truly are. So in other words, this game has been on my mind for a long, long, long time.

Richard Sherman post game interview that shocked the world. Thanks to http://minustwentytwo.com for the picture.

The game did not start like the Niners hoped it would. The Niners defense held the Seahawks to only a touchdown in the first quarter, while their offense could not get anything going. Frank Gore ran for only 7 yards in the first quarter and the offense was held to under 50 yards in that stretch. They were going to need to get something going. The halftime score was 13-0 in the Seahawks favor. The 49ers were not looking good on either side of the ball, in a game that had lots of importance. The second half was the same as the first. The Niners would get the ball, and not capitalize when they needed to. The final score to the game was 19-3, with the Niners looking like crap. They had 164 total yards of offense and Colin Kaepernick looked like a rattled rookie.

I think that the Niners seriously need to tune things up on the offensive side of the ball. The season is closing and this is the time where everything needs to be fine tuned to get into the playoffs, and the Niners do not look like contenders right now. Colin Kaepernick needs to step up and take control of the offense, or the team is going to tank really quickly. Kaepernick has shown that he has the talent to do amazing things, and he needs to gain his confidence back, so that he can perform like the unbelievable player that he truly is. Next week, the Niners will be playing the Oakland Raiders. This game is known as the "Battle Of The Bay". Even though the Raiders may not look good on paper this year, they sure as hell are going to show up to play in this game.

Battle Of The Bay- Thanks to Niners Nation for the Picture.

A Pummeling In Mile High

This weeks game was far from fun to watch. The Niners got torn part by the Peyton Manning led Broncos, With the legend only needing another three touchdowns to tower over all in the most touchdowns every thrown in a career. Because of this, you could tell the team had an extra chip on their shoulder to get the win for Manning. The crowd was going insane the whole game, and I even knew that it was going to be a very tough victory to pull out. Plus, the Niners looked like the only thing they would be doing, is using their energy to crawl off their asses after getting piled rived by the AFC's best team. Surely, that is all they did on Sunday night, and a lot of it.

Because I live in Park City, there are a lot of people in the town that live for the Broncos, including many of my friends from school. At first, I believed that the niners had a chance to go into Denver and knock off a great team, until I found out that Patrick Willis was out for the game. The team announced that he would be inactive due to a to toe injury that had been nagging at him for a few weeks. He is arguably the Niners best defensive player, leader, and teammate. So in other words this was a huge loss for the team. The game started rough, with the Broncos scoring two straight times and the Niners looking as flat as tap water. The 49ers scored a field goal at the beginning of the second quarter, then went into halftime losing 21-10. The second half was worse than the first. The inner gave up three third quarter touchdowns and pretty much took themselves out of the game with their crappy offense. The end score was 42-17, with Payton Manning throwing for 4 touchdowns, surpassing Brett Favre as the all-time leader in career touchdown passes thrown. 

Thanks to http://www.milehighreport.com for the picture

My reaction to the game was not pleasant. My whole family will usually always sit through the whole game, but this week was not the same. My dad and I both knew from the beginning of the game that it was not going to be pretty. He decided to go to bed during the third quarter, so he could sleep on his utter depression. As for me, I sat through the miserable game, even though I was wanting to punch through a brick wall at the same time. But, I knew the worst part had not come yet. I was going to have to deal with nearly all of my friends giving me crap for the "half-ass Niners" and praise the unbelievable Denver Broncos. But, thats what friends do. Luckily, we Niner fans are looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving game against our worst enemy, The Seattle Seahawks. Its going to be a hard-nosed, tough football game that I am definitely looking forward to. So until next time, Go Niners!

Lets get PUMPED!-Picture from http://www.ecloudtimes.com

Bitter Divisional Loss

On september 21, 2014, the San Francisco 49ers traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to play their division rivals, the Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers are coming off of a very tough home loss, which was also the debut for the team in Levi's Stadium. The 49ers played a very good first half with offensive tempo and great defense. But they let the victory slip away with an undisciplined second half. They had 10 penalties for 116 yards and had 4 total offensive turnovers. With this game being a divisional contest, it is a must win.

The Niners came out in the with lots of energy. They gave up a 47 yard drive that capped off with a field goal for the Cardinals first drive. They came back with a 12 play 80 yard drive that was ended with a Michael Crabtree touchdown catch. The 49ers scored another touchdown in the 2nd quarter and went to half time with a 14-6 lead, looking dominate over the division rivals. The only problem was, they hadn't scored a second half point the 1st two games of the year. They kept this streak going. The Niners allowed an opening drive touchdown on a 24 yard pass from Drew Stanton to John Brown to start the 2nd half, and went downhill from there. They allowed another touchdown late in the 3rd quarter on another pass from Drew Stanton to John Brown, and a field goal to put the game away.

John Brown 3rd quarter TD, courtesy of Heavy

Based on the first 3 games of the season, the 49ers have showed that they cannot finish their games on a positive note. They allow too many 2nd half offensive bursts and cannot seem to put anything special together of their side of the offense. They are known for their rushing game but have not had very explosive rushing games this season, even with the edition of rookie running back, Carlos Hyde. The team needs to come together and figure out what wrong so they can fix it and get on track again. This team is too disciplined and talented to be playing at the level that they are. They need to get going is they want to have a good year.

Frank Gore, courtesy of Sacramento Bee

Next week, the 49ers will be playing the Philadelphia Eagles, who have started off at a perfect 3-0 start to the season. The Eagles team has a very good passing game, which the 49ers have had a hard time stopping to begin the season. The 49ers are going to have to step up on both sides of the ball, if they want to get their first victory at their new home and get their season going. Lets go gold gang!

Levi's Stadium- The Opening

The day came with great anticipation, finally, the San Francisco 49ers debut in their new home. Levi's Stadium will be home to the 49ers for the distant future. But, how will the 49ers start off this new era of their franchise?

Levi's Stadium, courtesy of Venues Today

On September 14, 2014, the San Francisco 49ers played their first home game in Levi's Stadium, against the Chicago Bears. The game had a sellout crowd and was expected to be a very loud and difficult day for the Bears. The 49ers had a dominant first half against the Bears. The 49er defense held the bears to 93 yards in the first half and 7 points, coming off of a positive drive for the Bears to end the half, and an amazing one-handed touchdown grab by Brandon Marshall. The 49ers offense dominated the first half with 197 yards and 17 points, having been dominant in the first half in the Cowboys game too. But, the second half was another story. To start the second half, the 49ers began with a three and out. Both teams had a rough 3rd quarter, combining for only 3 points, coming off of Phil Dawson's 24 yard field goal to put the game at 20 to 7. In the fourth quarter, penalties and stupid mistakes killed the 49ers. The Bears scored an opening drive touchdown to close the deficit to 6 points. On the 49ers ensuing drive, Colin Kaepernick through a interception, leading to a touchdown for the Bears, coming from a pass from Jay Cutler to Martellus Bennett. The put the Bears on top, 21 to 20.  The game ended at a score of 28 to 20, after another touchdown for the bears.

Brandon Marshall's amazing one handed grab, courtesy of Washington Post

As a result, the 49ers lost their Levi's stadium debut to Chicago Bears. The game was one by mistakes, and especially penalties. The 49ers out penalized the Bears, 16-10 negating a total of 116 yards for their offense. One of these penalties also took back Frank Gore's 54 yard touchdown run, on a holding penalty from Anquan Boldin. In the end, the 49ers lossed because of their mistakes. I believe that the 49ers need to tighten up their offensive discipline and coverage skills. It is getting ridiculous watching the 49ers lose because they get a 60 yard rush called back. They won't win any games if they give up over 100 yards in damn penalties.

Next week, The 49ers will be playing the Arizona Cardinals in Phoenix. The Cardinals have started their season 2-0 and are looking to be a power in the NFC west. The Niners are going to have to play hard in Arizona, or they will fall to 1-2.