I think it's important to note that first and foremost, boo Raiders! Boo!
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'm eager to see how Darren McFumble is going to help a team that averaged the 6th most rushing yards/game with Michael Bush to return as well. Seriously do you have nothing better to do with over five million dollars salary to go from the 6th to the 3rd, 2nd or 1st most rushing yards/game?
Most teams address their weaknesses in the offseason, like the San Francisco 49ers. In Oakland we address our running and pass defense which are already top 10 in the NFL.
Now that I'm done bashing the Raider faithful, I like the looks of the San Francisco 49ers, who are now being led by Mike Martz who at one point made Marc Bulger, Jon Kitna, and Kurt Warner have arms that might of been considered pro bowl worthy.
Even Jon Kitna behind an offense that was #1 in sacks managed to put together an efficient and effective offense. Imagine what can happen in San Francisco with their youth at offensive line, an investment that has paid dividends to the Green Bay Packers making Ryan Grant and Brett Favre put up phenomenal numbers.
Even if Alex Smith hasn't shown up well, his offensive line will continue to improve, as will his receivers, as will his understanding of the QB position. Even if Alex Smith somehow fails to become the QB he was hoped to be, Shaun Hill has shown the ability to handle backup, and perhaps challenge Smith for the starting job, and is a good precaution if their o-line fails to keep their backfield healthy like last season.
San Francisco has also added veteran receiver Isaac Bruce to help the young and talented receivers Ashley Lelie, and Bryant Johnson, who have shown signs of great athleticism to be NFL stars. Something that Isaac Bruce might know a thing or two about, who is also experienced with Mike Martz's system when they won the super bowl under Martz's offense being their go to receiver at that time.
Combined with a one two rushing combination with DeShaun Foster and Frank Gore, who still manages to produce good numbers behind a horrible o-line, and now has insurance in case he gets injured.
At that, Mike Nolan is a known defensive oriented coach who has improved their defense by adding DE Justin Smith, and LB Takeo Spikes, with rookie spectacle Patrick Willis, and rookie first round talent DT Kentwan Balmer. At that first round LB Manny Lawson tore his ACL in his sophomore season after coming off to a hot start last season.
Cornerback Walt Harris showed his ability to still play well by putting up eight INT's two years ago and Nate Clements putting up four INT's last season. Their defense has all around ability to be efficient, as does their offense.
When all is said and done with the 49ers, they've addressed many of their needs to have a chance at winning six games next season, while I watch Oakland just add to their strengths and forget the idea of having a defense stop the run. I don't blame Javon Walker for considering retirement with his future with the Oakland Raiders, I'm not sure if I would want to play for a losing team either.
At least San Francisco wants to win and has made a lot of changes this season to prove that they aren't a complete bust that can't compete in the NFL. Oakland show me what you got, because I know San Francisco is going to be the real deal in the next couple of years and can at least compete for a division title, I wish Oakland could say that much.
32 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
FL Raider Girl 10 months ago
Our pass defense....you cannot say that we didn't upgrade our pass defense. We have the best Cornerback tandems in the league in Asomugha and Hall. Gibril Wilson was brought in as strong saftey, and Michael Huff was moved to Free saftey. Oh and don't forget, Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison at LB, they are soaring.
Between Derrick Burgess and Kalimba Edwards at DE chasing down your QB, how are we gonna have a horrible Pass Defense? The only area that didn't get upgraded in my opinion was WR, but we have an upcoming Pro-bowl caliber TE in Zach Miller who will catch dump passes from Russel. You only need to go 10 yards, so right now with our RB core, who needs to air every single ball that comes from Russel's hands. I honestly think it's better busting out 5-10 yards per play with our 3 RB's and completely tiring out the opposing teams defense, and resting our defense. I see nothing wrong with that.
So while you say your beloved 49er's will be the "real deal" in the next few years, have fun playing catch up.
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Andrew Butler 10 months ago
In Oakland we address our running and pass defense which are already top 10 in the NFL
thats a quote from my article, yeah edwards and burgess will be chasing down my peyton manning with their 28th most sacks in the NFL, I'm very worried especially without Warrenn Sapp on the d-line that still ranked 31st against the rush. the only thing they'll be chasing is joseph addai for when he gets into the end zone. woot! woot! yes i'm well aware of your good pass defense.
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Miguel Galvez 10 months ago
Not sure what you're smoking, but please share! Smith & Hill= Turd Sandwich vs. Giant Douche. Good luck with that.
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gregory caldarella 10 months ago
the oakland pass defense is very good especially at CB but Gibril Wilson is a bit overrated (coming from a Giants fan) and definitely overpaid. But other than their great CB combo, the 49ers defense and the raiders defense is pretty much a wash. The niners even have a solid CB combo of their own with Nate Clements and Walt Harris...not to mention the best young linebacker Patrick Willis (he will be the best MLB in a year or two, he is already a beast)
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Andres Sanchez 10 months ago
You have some great biased Views. It's always refreshing to read a comical article, thankyou & Keep em coming Drew-Boo!
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FL Raider Girl 10 months ago
Andrew, you need to get with the times. Warren Sapp retired.
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srthyrh sdrjuhrj 10 months ago
Next year "Mad Scientist Martz" will be gone along with your entire coaching staff. Add to that another bad draft and we'll all see how the niners will "follow" in the footsteps of the Raiders as they always do. We are at the end of a bad run with a bright future just beginning, while the niners are just going to continue crumbling and bumbling along for the foreseeable future. Good luck with that...
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KEN Kisucky 10 months ago
Niners will be very lucky to have 6 wins and thats if they sign a QB who doesn't throw to the other team. Maybe they should put jerseys of the opp on the WR and they'll win. And thanks for taking barry sims of the raiders hands.
The Raiders are a left tackle and a WR away from being in the playoff hunt
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allen aranda 10 months ago
what the f____ are you really that stupid thinking the 49ers are better shape then the raiders. your last job must have been writing for dear abby
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JollyRoger 10 months ago
Pretty flimsy article dude...
>>Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'm eager to see how Darren McFumble is going to help a team that averaged the 6th most rushing yards/game with Michael Bush to return as well.<<
McFumble? DMac didn't fumble once... never even close. Whereas your fortywhiners coughed up the rock how many times? Three. Raiders? Zero. Way to inadvertently get egg all over your own face. LMAO!!
Concerning how DMac is going to help our run offense... well, any intelligent football fan can see how DMac will help improve not only the run, but the pass as well. Since it will obviously just go right over your head... I'll leave the simple X' and O's to those who can see past their own ignorance and bias'.
You still have faith in Alex Smith? That's just too funny for words. Wasn't he the #1 pick of the entire draft a few years back? Yep! That be him! And isn't he the same guy who now is mired at number three behind that GREAT duo of JT O'Sullivan and Sean Hill?
Then you go on to tout your run game? Better go and take a look at what Martz did in Detroit with the run. Can you say 31st in rushing? Raiders ran for 248 yards against your whiners... never missed a beat from last year. Your whiners ran for a whopping 60. Have fun with the pass happy, greatest-coach-in-his-own-mind, Martz. LMAO!
Oh yeah...speaking of pass happy... Isaac Bruce? Ashley Lelie? Bruce is what, 80 years old now? He was a really, really good WR at one time... I think he actually got a call from President Eisenhower once. LOL!
And Lelie? Every Raider fan knows this wimp very well from the AFC West... really hated to see him leave the division. >From Wikipedia: Lelie was selected by the Denver Broncos in the first round (19th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft. Lelie was selected based on his potential as a deep threat. That potential was never realized in Denver.< Have fun watching Lelie limp off the field and miss games.
No QB to throw the ball to ancient and wimpy @ss WR's. Too funny.
End as I started... pretty flimsy article bud. Now go have a nice glass of whine and cry in your brie. LMAO!!
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Andrew Butler 10 months ago
last time i saw mcfumble in the combine he couldnt get the ball on the right side and when i saw him on football classics arkansas vs. lsu, he fumbled the ball each time he returned the kick, im not a 49ers fan sorry there buddy.
you also do know that there's 22 positions on a football team, they're all pretty important, not just 1 position so maybe you should catch up on some of your x's and o's dmac catching passes, i wouldnt want the ball in his hands anymore unless you enjoy giving the ball to the other team. His forty looked just as good as reggie bush's did, our next walter payton.
mike martz, he can make an offense really good, how many super bowl rings do you guys have for your offense again? how many good offenses has he created, and how many have the raiders created hmm?
lol and if you had some literacy skills i said your 31st against the rush, only if you could read words half as well as you dish them out.
Isaac Bruce another guy who was trained by Martz and won a super bowl with him in the works of Mike Ditka from kicking and screaming "sorry I couldn't hear you I was too busy listening to my ring." And Bruce probably has more receptions in his career than the entire Raiders combined, literally. I'm sure Lelie will be a complete bust under Martz.
Wimpy wide receivers yeah how the Raiders doing in that department, real productive. San Francisco has a hall of famer on their team, while Oakland seems a lot better at waving good bye to hall of famers because they can't coach them that well. you should look to read past your own bias as i am as well though im not a huge 49ers fan as you assume so easily.
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JollyRoger 10 months ago
Not a whiner fan? Well, it's about time to step outta the closet there buddy.
Wow... replying to Andrew is like having a battle of wits with an unarmed man.
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Raider Card Addict 10 months ago
Have to admit, for a writer, he knows how to get comments. This article is already his most popular.
The point, that's going to hurt, is when you consider Andrew Walter had a better game than any of the 49er QBs, simply because Walter didn't throw a pick.
You can try to look at it as just a preseason game. ok, did either team score on the first series?
No. In fact, the Raiders scored first late in the 2nd quarter, and the 49ers scored at the end of the 2nd quarter, having to settle for the Field Goal than the TD....that our Defense was able to lock out of the End Zone.
How does this translate into a regular season?
I don't see the 49ers having a solid QB choice, at all this year. Remember Oakland's merry-go-round last season? It moved across the bay....and if they really want fun, have them sign Culpepper for extra flavor.
Gore is only going to be as good as his line is. He was in for a few series, but didn't break anything, just like McFadden.....Oh, and for the author, spell his name right. He actually held onto the ball well....something that can't be said for the 49ers.
Final thought.....the HD of the 49ers, Nolan, is gone, and probably replaced next year by Martz....if the whole team doesn't get overhauled in the process by York.
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Andrew Butler 10 months ago
honestly i dont hate the raiders or love the 49ers that much, i just enjoy the attention of all the raiders fans on this site, even if its bad, its still attention. I like lane kiffin a lot and justin fargas is one of the more underrated rb's in this league. I can't take what I believe and write as serious as some people do because you can't get everything right. I just enjoy seeing how mad and die hard some people get about this stuff though I am an avid fantasy sports hall of famer getting andre johnson, wes welker, braylon edwards and larry fitzgerald last season in my 10 team league. thanks for the comment.
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Andrew Butler 10 months ago
its basic math here 49ers > Raiders
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Danny Doyle 10 months ago
who cares what he thinks ? he is not even a 9er or Raiders fan, so why even bother to take his joke of a story and waste the time to comment ?
RAIDAKAOZ
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Raiderref 10 months ago
How can you get mad at a kid that is what you sound like anyway.
Truth is the whiners don't have the personel to run the Martz offense.
Andrew said they had a HOF WR on the team. Who's that? I know you aren't talking about Issac Bruce. IB has one foot in the grave. Tim Brown and Cliff Branch will be in the HOF before Bruce. Your claim is worse than if we claimed to have a HOFer on our roster back when we had Rice.
Fantasy Football lmao. All those WR's you mentioned were a deep stretch before last season started, you got lucky. With the exception of Andre Johnson. Lets see you do it two years in a row than come talk to me.
I like your angle on "can't get everything right" you didn't get any of it right.
I will bet you your big wheels that the Raiders will finish better than the Whiners this year. And the Raiders play in a stronger division.
Good luck with the number one overall pick in the draft for 2009. Hope you don't pick another Alex Smith lol.
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Michael Dammer 10 months ago
someones still mad about losing a number 7 pick to the gaytriots
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eduardo mendoza 10 months ago
hey Andrew, u said u like wat d sorry niners got dis off-season? u gotta be kiddin me. Isacc Bruce ain't goin to help ur niners at all. they dont even have a QB. and my Raiders r way ahead of ur embarassing niners. RAIDER NATION!
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Matt Cortez 10 months ago
your a tool!!!!!!
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PrideandPoise 10 months ago
The Press Democrat reports San Francisco 49ers HC Mike Nolan acknowledged Tuesday morning on his KNBR radio show what had become obvious of the past week or so: QB J.T. O'Sullivan is leading the race to become the 49ers' starting quarterback. When asked by morning show host Brian Murphy if O'Sullivan had the lead over QB Alex Smith and QB Shaun Hill for the starting job, Nolan answered, "At this point, yes."
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Ummm.. I think that about Sums it up... LMAO...
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superraider fan 10 months ago
This is probably the dumbest shit i have ever heard come out of a persons face. How could you even fathom the fortywhiners would be in any shape or form close to what the raiders are starting to become!!!! Step ya football game up newbie!!!
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Nick Paulsen 10 months ago
I don't know why anyone would even comment and try and defend anything to this guy. He obviously knows nothing about football. This whole article is based on his feelings and no actual facts that anyone who follows football objectively would agree with. 18-6 buddy get your team a map to the end zone ;)
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Nick Paulsen 10 months ago
I don't know why anyone would even comment and try and defend anything to this guy. He obviously knows nothing about football. This whole article is based on his feelings and no actual facts that anyone who follows football objectively would agree with. 18-6 buddy get your team a map to the end zone ;)
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mike Raider 10 months ago
i know right, get this, he doesnt understand why you would strive to improve your running game, and try to be #1, lol, that's just funny.... he he, well god love those niner fans, and good luck to them this season, with their great coach (nolan), great quarterback(s), great owner... wow, good luck~
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Andrew Butler 10 months ago
boo Raiders! booo! boo! raiders suck :-).
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Raider Swoldy 10 months ago
Smith = Ryan leaf. I think Andrews dad molesting him didn't provide him with enough attention so he wrote a bullshit article to get everyone hyped up. No one knows how any team is really going to do so everyone quit writing gay articles and let's just see what happens.
Go Raiders!
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chad goy 10 months ago
"Cornerback Walt Harris showed his ability to still play well by putting up eight INTs two years ago" hahahahaha!!!! Man, the raiders made it to the superbowl not long ago, how long's it been for the 49ers?
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Scott Martin-Rowe 10 months ago
Hmmm...I've been a Raiders fan since I sat on my dad's shoulders 30 years ago. That said, the Raiders will not be a contender again until Al Davis dies. Sad, but true. He's micromanages good coaches out of there: Shanahan, Gruden, Kiffin (?). He also makes bad choices: Callahan, Shell, White. That said, the Raiders will be a highlight team this season and I think they will surprise a lot of people. If Kiffin can hold on and get the talent to ignore the drama upstairs, they could be a powerhouse within a season or two. They are a young team with loads of talent.
The 49ers have too many holes for them to become a powerhouse in the near future. Frank Gore is going to get destroyed because the QB situation is terrible over there. Unless O'Sullivan turns out to be the next Tom Brady, it's going to be a long few years for Niner fans.
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Brian Banko 10 months ago
Who and the fuck is going to be the 49niners quaterback all of them looked like pop warner quaterback's, their defense needs help and your offense is gona be shit because you have mike martz he is not known for a running guy he likes to go deep with the pass so frank gore is gona be garbage, and you dont have any decent WR you have an okay TE but just okay, and the Oline is not gona give any of QB's any time in the pocket.
But the Raiders should have a 8-8 season this year maybe more if we can get it toghter our defense has improved the offense is lokking better but we need help on the Oline to but we have a future QB you guys are still looking.
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Ricardo Flores 10 months ago
HAHAHAHAHAHA, OMG is this guy serious? Just because you can post articles online doesn't mean you should subject real knowledgable football fans to your uneducated banter. You have got to be kidding me. Yeah, Niner fans have a lot to look forward to, right. I'd like to know what weaknesses you've addressed Niners, because last time I checked when you pay $50 million to a QB, he's supposed to be good right, or am I out of line? HAHAHAHAHA. Gore and Willis are the only good things they have going for them right now. I don't plan on seeing the Niners in the Playoffs in the near future. Raider Nation is strong and I am going to enjoy watching the Niners get shut out on a weekly basis while Jamarcus, McFadden and the Sickest Defense in the league shock the world. I'm out.
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josh delozier 10 months ago
Andrew Buttlick! There is a reason you are taking harsh criticism - YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT! First, Isaac Bruce was let go for a reason - he's like 60 years old by NFL standards. Niner QB's don't have the skills of most NFL quarterbacks and none of their QB's showed anything in the first game against the Raiders. Take away a couple medium passes with second stringers covering and The Niners showed nothing on offense. Oh, and their first string defense! Well, It appeared that the Raiders could put anyone in at running back and they could not be stopped (see total rushing yards).
Advice! don't play fantasy football where money is on the line because IDIOTS don't do very well and usually take it in the ASS - in the end..... which is what you are taking for writing such stupid comments....IDIOT.
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