Bleacher Report - NFC West

San Francisco 49ers Facing Make or Break Game vs Seattle Seahawks

Andy Bensch — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:28:20 -0500

If there was ever a game to define the future of the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday's week 13 matchup in Seattle against the Seahawks is that game.

A victory and the 49ers continue to move forward and the remainder of the season (whether they win enough games to make the playoffs or not) will be a preview of why the current core of 49er personnel can lead this team in the near future.

Beating Seattle moves San Francisco to 6-6 and if everything goes to plan, the 49ers will be just one game behind division leading Arizona heading into the Monday night contest against the Cardinals next week.

Kurt Warner or no Kurt Warner, the Cardinals are still the defending NFC champions and lead the division for a reason. They are without a doubt a solid football team from top to bottom.

Even if the 49ers play their best football against the Cardinals and in Philadelphia later in the season against the Eagles, these two games may simply end up as losses.

The other remaining opponents on the schedule are the Lions and Rams which are essentially automatic wins and if the 49ers win this week against the Seahawks, these three victories will give them an solid 8-8 record, but would mean missing the playoffs.

However, if the season shakes out in this fashion with the 49ers winning the games they are supposed to win and coming up short in the two big-time contests against quality opponents, San Francisco will still have a positive outlook going into next season.

But if the 49ers fail to beat the 4-7 injury-plagued Seahawks this week, a team they ought to beat, all the questions surrounding this team will continue.

Why did they hire Jimmy Raye as offensive coordinator?

Is Alex Smith ever going to pan out?

Where is the pass rush?

Does Mike Singletary really understand the x's and o's of football from a coaching perspective? Not all great players make great coaches.

Why can't the offensive line block for longer than two seconds in the I-formation?

Can we trust Scott Mcloughan to make smart personnel moves?

If the 49ers lose in Seattle on Sunday, all these questions will remain and the search for a franchise quarterback will continue.

Alex Smith will be back next year but are the 49ers going to give Nate Davis an opportunity to compete for the job? Or will they try and use one of their early draft picks on a quarterback? Or perhaps a free-agent to compete for the job?

And there is also the situation with offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye who has been much maligned by the 49er fan base this season. Will the 49ers have an eight different offensive coordinator in eight straight seasons?

The feeling amongst the fan base going into the Seahawks game is that the 49ers are turning a corner out of mediocrity and becoming a true balanced playoff team.

But if San Francisco loses to the Seahawks, the team, the fans and the media will once again start to have doubts.

Good teams make sure they win the games they are suppose to win. Losing this game means the 49ers are not yet a good team.

This is a situation where Alex Smith and the 49ers cannot afford to lose if they want to be taken seriously by the rest of the league. Since it is a divisional game, either team could win but the circumstances are such that the better team's quarterback has to lead his team to victory.

With Seattle's 25th ranked pass defense, Smith must win this game and show how he can be a difference maker.

Without this victory not only do the playoff hopes for this season come to and end but next season's outlook starts to look just as bleak.

It is a make or break game for the 49ers because a lot of key personnel could be changed by next year if they don't win on Sunday.

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Seahawks-49ers Preview: Seattle Trying to Put Up Fight in NFC West

Todd Williams — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:11:29 -0500

Alex Smith and the San Francisco 49ers look to build on last week’s win over Jacksonville as they travel to Seattle to take on the struggling Seahawks in an NFC West showdown.

Like the Seahawks, the 49ers currently sit below .500, but the 49ers still have the luxury of having the tiebreaker over the Cardinals, having defeated them in week one.

San Francisco has had an up and down year, resulting in a 5-6 record, but have certainly shown promise and have only been blown out once, against Atlanta.

Seattle, on the other hand, is a team that has lost hope for the playoffs. They are still struggling to find an identity and to defeat a quality opponent. All of their four wins have come over opponents with losing records.

It has been a year full of injuries, but there have been some bright spots. Justin Forsett has stepped up in Julius Jones' absence and outperformed the starter when given the chance. Still, coach Jim Mora and the Seahawks insist that Jones will be the starter this week as he is healthy enough to return.

I understand not losing a job due to injury, but Forsett has produced better almost every time he has been given the opportunity. On 40 fewer carries he has only nine fewer yards and is averaging 2.0 yards per carry more than Jones.

Forsett deserves a shot at the starting role. We can hope to at least see split carries. The jury is still out on Forsett, but Jones has proven that he does not have staying power as a starter in the league.

After missing the first five games due to holdout, the 49ers have been quick to work in play-making rookie wide receiver Michael Crabtree who is currently third on the team in catches.

Comparing these two teams on paper, it looks like it should be a close match-up. Being in Seattle, it should certainly be closer than the 49ers' 23-10 victory in San Francisco, if for no other reason than starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is playing this time.

The Seahawks come in with an offense that has shown potential, ranked 21st in production and putting up 20.3 points a game. This is still an offense that lives and dies by the pass, ranked 15th in the league, and the performance of Hasselbeck is going to be an important key to the game.

With a healthy corps of wide receivers and the patchwork offensive line getting some time to gel together, the Seahawks need to be aggressive throwing the ball.

Going up against that passing attack is going to be the 28th-ranked pass defense. The 49ers will look to jam the wide receivers to knock off the timing of the routes, as Seattle’s pass offense is dependent on timing, as well as bring the pressure at that much-maligned Seattle offensive line to make Matt throw before he is ready.

While the 49ers don’t have a strong pass defense, it is still going to be important to establish the run for the Seahawks. There is a bit of a running back controversy in Seattle with Jones being named the starter despite Forsett outproducing him. It will be interesting to see how the Seahawks handle it.

The easiest solution is to give both running backs the ball a lot. This makes a running back controversy much easier to sort out than a quarterback one.

This doesn’t sound like a great plan with the 28th-ranked rushing offense in the league, and you call me hopelessly optimistic, but there is potential in the Hawks' running game.

Forsett has had bad games too, but there is a lot of potential in his hard running style, and even with Jones back he should get the bulk of the carries.

They will be facing an uphill battle, however, against the 49ers' tough fifth-ranked rushing defense. Still, balance is always important, and while the passing game will be what wins the game for them if they can pull it off, establishing a solid running game just makes that easier.

The 49ers made a switch at quarterback going into week seven, giving Alex Smith another shot at the starting role. He has responded well completing 62 percent of his passes with a 16-10 touchdown interception ratio. Smith has already had four 200-plus yard games compared to the one for Shaun Hill.

With San Francisco adding Crabtree and starting to use the spread formation, it has boosted the team's passing attack. This is the offense Smith ran in college and is more comfortable with, so this is a passing attack that has potential to be more effective than its 28th ranking in the NFL.

The Seahawks will defend against the pass with the 25th-ranked pass defense. The return of Marcus Trufant has helped some, but the Seahawks need to get more pressure on Smith if they want to contain this passing attack.

The running attack for the 49ers is spearheaded by talented running back Frank Gore. Gore has been banged up a bit this year but is still his consistent self, averaging 5.0 yards a carry. The last two games he has produced less than 100 yards, but that is as much a product of increased throwing by the offense as anything else.

While the pass defense for the Hawks hasn’t been great, neither has the rush defense. It is better, ranked 18th in the league, but still has had trouble. A big match-up will be Seattle’s linebacking corps against Gore, especially David Hawthorne, who is in due to injuries but has performed quite well.

Like past weeks, I once again call for the Seahawks defense to step up and carry this team. Hopefully that works out better this week.

This looks to be a close game, and either team could take it. The first game was not close, but with Hasselbeck the Seahawks should be able to move the ball, at least through the air, against the 49ers defense. The 49ers offense has potential to be explosive but is not consistently so.

Both teams feel they have a lot to play for. The Seahawks are still playing for pride to prove that they aren’t really this bad, while the 49ers are still fighting for a winning season.

When taking into account the Seahawks' propensity to play much better at home and the 49ers still finding their identity as a young team, this feels like a game where Seattle sneaks in and pulls off a close victory.

If for no other reason than Seattle historically tends to win just enough games to not get a great draft pick.

Seattle 21, San Francisco 18

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Vince Young: Playoff Pickup or Passable Projections?

Jacob Sloan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:00:23 -0500

Sports Data Hub recently investigated the usefulness of Vince Young for the rest of the season, but that analysis was optimistically given before his come-from-behind fourth-quarter drive for the win against the Cardinals. Those last-second heroics capped off a fantasy day that had him throwing for almost 400 yards.

If you watched VY doin’ work against the Cardinals, you might just be a believer now.

I’ll make no claims to being unbiased about Young. I’m a Longhorn, and thus have a higher level of respect for him and his abilities than the average NFL fan. That said, I’ve done the research and looked into what he might do during the fantasy playoffs thanks to an email from a reader (just like you).

Originally, I was asked to compare the potential of Kyle Orton and Vince Young as a match-up play during the fantasy playoffs , filling in from a more promising fantasy starter during his bad weeks.

I’m not sure what to think of Orton on his way back from an ankle injury, but his schedule comparison side-by-side with Young puts Young's upside in perspective.

Orton fell off the charts last season when an ankle injury struck, which makes me want to avoid him, but he has been a solid backup fantasy quarterback for many teams this year. Against the Giants, the Broncos got it done by leaning on Knowshon Moreno, and that could continue to be the way they win.

Orton’s upcoming schedule looks a little rough at first sight…and again at second sight. The number in parenthesis is the opponent’s rank in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks from FF Today . Obviously, the lower the number, the more points they give to fantasy quarterbacks.

Orton – Week 13: @KC (4), 14: @IND (25), 15: OAK (21), 16: @PHI (17), 17: KC (4).

Young’s schedule is better, but can we count on him to deliver like he did against the Cardinals even in these cupcake match-ups?

Young – Week 13: @IND (25), 14: STL (12), 15: MIA (6), 16: SD (26), 17: SEA (9)

Let’s drop Week 17, assuming that you play your championship game in Week 16, and average those ranks during the fantasy playoffs , Weeks 14-16. In this case, the lower number would indicate be a more favorable schedule.

Orton : 21
VY : 15

That’s enough of a difference for me to project that Young would be the better start through Week 16. You could argue that Orton is a more traditional passer and a safer pick, but I just think the upside is there for Young to succeed.

No, I wouldn’t want to be forced to rely on Young in a pinch. But if your starter has a terrible match-up in the playoffs , or if you just lost Kurt Warner or Ben Roethlisberger for an unknown amount of time, Young wouldn’t be bad playoff insurance. He may even be worth spot-starting in Week 14 against the Rams.

So there you go. Detailed analysis with the Longhorn bias held back. Hook ‘em.

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2009 NFC West Featured Columnist Competition: Week 12 Results

Scotty Kimberly — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:49:23 -0500

This just in: Drew Brees in on fi-yah!

Unfortunately, three contestants (including the man writing this) chose the Pats in Monday night's game...(insert sad face here).

Week 12 is in the books of the 2009 NFC West Featured-Columnist Competition.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the competition, click here for details, and please keep checking back for updates throughout the year!

The NFC West went 2-2 in Week 12, once again securing a victory against one of their own (Seattle topping St. Louis). San Francisco had a stellar outing against the playoff-caliber Jacksonville Jaguars, while Arizona succumbed to a comeback by the Fighting Vince Youngs out of Tennessee.

Here are the results and honors from Week 12.

Week 12 Individual Standings (16 Games)

Ron 14, Chris 12, Dray 12, Rob 12, Andrew 11, Scotty 11, Seth 11, Steven 11

Week 12 Team Standings

St. Louis 25, Arizona 23, San Francisco 23, Seattle 23

Season Individual Standings

Andrew 131, Rob 130, Scotty 130, Seth 124, Chris 123, Ron 121, Steven 121, Dray 118

Season Team Standings

Seattle 260, San Francisco 249, St. Louis 245. Arizona 244

Monday Night Football Team Tiebreaker

San Francisco 23, Arizona 22, St. Louis 22, Seattle 20

Pick of the Week - Chris (Houston over Indianapolis)

Yet another Pick of the Week features a losing effort, but I just can't help it, this pick came so close to a longshot upset pick!

Houston dominated the first half of Sunday's matchup with Indianapolis, at which point Chris was most likely preparing his Underdog Victory speech.

Indianapolis dominated the second half of Sunday's matchup, however, netting 21 in the fourth quarter and relegating Chris to the oh-so-familiar Underdog miss...

Almost a hero, Chris...

Fail of the Week - Seth (Kansas City over San Diego)

This should be re-titled "Epic Fail of the Week." There were a few swings and misses in Week 12 (a few guys taking Jax over SF, a few guys taking NE over NO), but none rose to the level of choosing the Fighting Matt Cassels to prevail on Sunday.

I don't hate the pick. In fact, my disdain for the Chargers almost took me to the same place. However, this pick ended in disaster.

Hey, at least Jamaal Charles had a good day in fantasy football, right?

The Underdog Remains Dead! - Zero Underdog Bonus Points

Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Houston are all on the hook for leaving the Underdog Bonus on life support in Week 12.

None of these three teams pulled off the upset for Andrew, Seth, and Chris, respectively.

The Underdog lives to fight another day, but could the Underdog Bonus have been a one or two week wonder?...

Hot Streak - Ron (14/16 in Week 12)

The raw score for Ron was outstanding in Week 12. Ron only missed two games (Miami over Buffalo, which all eight contestants missed, and St. Louis over Seattle) in Week 12, leading him to a first-place finish.

In even better news, Ron's performance this week vaulted the St. Louis FCs from fourth place into third at week's end.

Good work, Ron.

Struck Out Swinging - None

Just like Week 11, this was a very level week, so there wasn't a contestant who really screwed the pooch.

Last place in Week 12 comprised of four contestants, all of which had similar ups and downs across the board.

Once again, congratulations to the group for this accomplishment!

What Might Have Been - Had Pittsburgh topped Baltimore in OT

If Pittsburgh had seized one of the many chances they had to win on Sunday night, this competition would have had drastically different results for Week 12.

For starters, Andrew would have landed the Underdog choice, putting him at 13 points for the week, while every other contestant would have dropped back two points.

Additionally, San Francisco as a team would have reached 25 points, while Seattle, who it is chasing for first place, would have fallen to 21. Instead of trailing by 11 points in the season standings, San Francisco would only trail by seven.

All of it can change, just like that...

Good week, guys.

That's it for Week 12. Chip in on what you think.

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Matt Leinart, Cardinals Win Character in Loss

Chris Farmer — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:13:51 -0500

No team wishes to suffer a loss, especially one as heart-wrenching as an 18-play, 99-yard drive that ends on a TD pass as time expires.

But give credit where it is due; Vince Young and the Titans, perhaps the hottest team in football, outperformed the Cardinals by one play in a game no team deserved to lose.

Typically, the refrain is, "We don't need moral victories; we need wins." For the Arizona Cardinals, yesterday's outcome is that rare game when a moral victory is acceptable.

Let me count the ways.

1. Matt Leinart proved me and all the other doubters wrong. After struggling to find his rhythm in the first half, Leinart came raging back in the second to answer all the questions about his ability to lead the ball club.

Remember, Kurt Warner took all of the first-team snaps in practice this week and was expected to play despite the mild concussion he suffered in last week's game. When Warner was declared a late scratch, Leinart had to essentially wing it with very little preparation, no small task considering he was replacing the most efficient QB in road games this season.

Leinart showed poise, savvy, confidence, pinpoint accuracy, and yes—leadership. For Cardinals Nation it is a big sigh of relief, and one of many reasons to celebrate this game even in a loss.

2. The Steelers, the Ravens, and the Titans are the poster children for smash-mouth NFL football, yet the Cardinals went toe to toe with Tennessee. In a black and blue brawl, it was the Cardinals who were every bit as physical and matched the intensity and toughness of the Titans all game and all over the field.

Tennessee is a trash-talking, big-stick-wagging squad that uses intimidation as part of its game plan. Arizona not only didn't back down, they dished out some of their own handcrafted punishment as well.

For a team that is usually defined by the finesse of its efficient passing game, this was a statement game. Given that the Cardinals next host the Vikings in a flexed prime time Sunday Night Football affair, they will need that violence to carry over into the next game and beyond.

3. Coming into the contest, Tennessee had allowed a league-fewest seven sacks in 10 games. By the end of their 11th game they had allowed 11 sacks.

Darnell Dockett was an uncontainable beast, notching three of the sacks on his own against one of the best offensive lines in the league.

4. Perhaps most importantly, this was one of the best all-around performances by the Arizona team this season. The entire team stepped up with Warner out. The game ball could be given to any of a handful of players who made tremendous contributions.

My game balls go to:

Matt Leinart, who answered the critics with a stellar performance, completing 21 of his 31 passes for 220 yards without a turnover.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for three huge textbook pass deflections in pass coverage, and for causing the fumble on Kenny Britt that gave Arizona the ball with four minutes to play while clutching a four-point lead.

LaRod Stephens-Howling for being a special teams demon. After Chris Johnson's deadly 85-yard run to put Tennessee up by 10 points, LSH answered on the very next play with a 99-yard kickoff return to cut the lead back to a manageable three. He downed two punts inside the two-yard line and made a huge hit in kickoff coverage.

Ben Graham continued his Pro Bowl caliber punting. Our "Big Ben" had five of his six punts downed inside the 20, with a long of 64 yards and an average of nearly 50 per punt. Graham is one of the quietest special teams MVP candidates in the league.

Darnell Dockett had 3 sacks. In big games, big time players make big time plays. Again, this was against the team that had allowed the fewest sacks in the league this season.

Tim Hightower ran hard, averaged five yards per carry, scored a TD, and displayed his smash-mouth style by making Titans defenders pay for coming into contact with him. He accounted for 78 total yards on 14 touches.

Karlos Dansby did one heck of a job in run coverage. Yeah, that's right, run coverage. That’s what you call it when you are playing against Chris Johnson.

Anquan Boldin made several highlight reel catches.

Antrel Rolle, Michael Adams, and Adrian Wilson should all get a mention for helping set the tone of the game with devastating hits.

You can't call a loss a character win, but you can still win character in a loss.

Don't hang your heads for too long, Cardinal fans. To do so would overlook what a fantastic game Arizona just played.

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Seattle Seahawks Problems Start and End in the Trenches

Sam Woods — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:37:20 -0500

With the 2009 season in the books, its time to start looking at next year. What are our positions of weakness? The thing we lack most? The missing key that has been holding us back from stretches of dominance, outside the NFC Worst.

The problem with the Hawks is in the trenches, on both sides of the ball.

They lack enthusiasm. They lack will power. They lack attitude. They lack the ability to stay on the field.

They lack talent.

This offseason Ruskell, or whoever, will have sit down with Mora, Knapp, and Gus Bradley, and figure this thing out. Hopefully they come to a conclusion, that many of us have already come to.

We need talent. We need a playmaking cornerstone for our defense for years to come. Someone who creates opportunities for our linebacking trio, and returns Marcus Trufant to his Pro Bowl form.

Elvis Dumervil. Dumervil, 25, is entering free agency after the season, and will be asking for a fat wad of that green stuff. If I know Belichick (and I do) he wouldn't pony up the cash, preferring to create his next playmaker. I'd have to guess McDaniels will want to do the same.

Seattle is a hard place to convince free agents to come to. With the long plane rides, remote feeling, weather and lack of Lombardi trophies, this isn't the ideal "go to" place for a budding star.

We do, however, have the VMAC, as well as Quest Field and the 12th man pride. We also have Paul Allen.

Paul Allen has a will to win and will do whatever it takes, and has the cash and track record to back it up. With huge amounts being thrown at Patrick Kerney, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Deion Branch in recent years, he's a step away from Dan Snyder.

In my estimation, it would take six years/$54-60 million. This is based off Chris Canty (six yr./$42M) and Terrell Suggs (six yr./$63M). With the league headed into an uncapped year, this deal should be heavily frontloaded, so we can afford other premier players.

In order to make this signing, we release Patrick Kerney and plug Dumervil in his place.

As for the rest of the line, the talent is there, we just need to use it properly.

For starters, Colin Cole should only be used in Goal Line situations, if that, as he has proven he is completely inept. Brandon Mebane slides back to LDT, where he excelled in previous years, freeing up sacks for Kerney and Darryl Tapp.

Cory Redding slides into Brandon Mebane's previous spot, taking advantage of his quickness over slower guards.

At the other end will be a revolving door of Tapp, Lawrence Jackson and maybe even Nick Reed. In the draft we could scoop up first round talents like Brandon Graham or Derrick Morgan if the opportunity comes with our second round pick.

That's all I've got for right now. I can almost guarantee you this plan will change come free agency and draft time, so don't be surprised.

Soon I'll do the same thing, but on the other side of the ball.

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