Arizona vs. San Francisco 49ers: What Are Experts Saying About San Francisco?
San Francisco 49ers fans have 60 more minutes to get through, and then their long 2014 nightmare will be over. The team has one more game to before finally putting the nightmare of a season to bed.
The opponent? The playoff-bound Arizona Cardinals, who could still either win the division and a bye week or be forced to go on the road to play the NFC South winner in the Wild Card Round. To say the game is somewhat more important to the Cardinals than the 49ers is an understatement. It also matters to the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks more than the 49ers—they are very much a bystander in the playoff race.
Yet, the 49ers are touchdown favorites on Odds Shark. This should be a reminder of two things. First, Arizona is going to start rookie quarterback Logan Thomas, whom some had considered being more of a tight end prospect than a quarterback prospect. Second, the 49ers are still loaded with talent and simply need redirecting, rather than a full rebuild, in the offseason.
The 49ers’ attention is only partially focused on Arizona, however. The team is more concerned about the future of the head coaching staff. Will Jim Harbaugh remain with the team in 2015, or will he be gone to Michigan or Oakland? Will Vic Fangio or Jim Tomsula take over the reins, or will the 49ers look outside their own inner circle?
The future of the 49ers is up in the air at this point.
Let’s take a quick look around the Internet and see what the experts are saying about the 49ers—and see if any of them are focusing on the game itself.
Eric Branch: Just Two 49ers Named to Pro Bowl
1 of 5
Last year, the 49ers ended up with 10 players in the Pro Bowl, though only one actually hit the field. That’s not quite the case this year—only perennial Pro Bowlers Joe Staley and Mike Iupati were named to the squad this year, according to Eric Branch of SFGate.com:
"The 49ers last had just two Pro Bowl selections in 2010, their last non-winning season. The 49ers led the NFL with 25 Pro Bowl selections from 2011 to 2013 when they went 36-11-1...
The 49ers have five Pro Bowl alternates: safety Antoine Bethea, right guard Alex Boone, running back Frank Gore, defensive tackle Justin Smith and rookie inside linebacker Chris Borland.
"
I made my Pro Bowl picks for the 49ers a couple of weeks ago. It seems odd that two 49ers made the Pro Bowl from the offensive line, considering they’ve allowed an incredible 51 sacks this season. Both Staley and Iupati are among the top 10 percent of their position this year, but I feel they’d be more suited as alternates than deserving to get voted straight in. Andrew Whitworth of Cincinnati and Joel Bitonio of Cleveland would seem to better replacements for them.
On the other hand, the 49ers defense got shut out of the Pro Bowl, and that doesn’t seem right. The most egregious omission is leaving Antoine Bethea off the team, but both Justin Smith and Chris Borland deserve to make the trip to Arizona as well.
If I were in charge of the Pro Bowl rosters, I’d remove DeMarcus Ware for Justin Smith, Lawrence Timmons for Chris Borland and T.J. Ward for Antoine Bethea. The 49ers’ 7-8 record isn’t a reflection of the quality of the defense—it’s impressive that the defense has been as good as it has been with the massive injuries along the line. Those three players deserve to get acknowledgement for their work this season.
Bruce Arians: Harbaugh’s Exit “Shocking”
2 of 5
On the weekly conference call with Bay Area media, Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians was asked about his feelings about Jim Harbaugh’s apparent imminent departure.
“It’s very shocking to me," he said. "Jimmy’s done an unbelievable job. The fact that one bad season shouldn’t deter from what they’ve built there. And I think they have had pretty much everything you want culture-wise in place there. And the wins and losses speak for themselves.”
While it’s become somewhat of a foregone conclusion to 49ers fans that Harbaugh will be shown the door, it’s important to remember what a bizarre situation this is. Harbaugh has the fifth-highest winning percentage in NFL history among head coaches with at least 50 games under his their belt. Those kinds of coaches aren’t let go often. It takes a very crazy situation to even think of letting such a coach go, much less following through on it.
Arians also stumped a little for Vic Fangio as a potential head coaching candidate. Fangio and Arians were both on the Indianapolis Colts’ staff from 1999 through 2001, and Arians said Fangio would do “a heck of a job” if given his first head coaching opportunity at age 56. Fangio has only had one interview for a head coaching job—in 1997 with San Diego. He’d actually make a strong replacement for Harbaugh, if he’s willing to stay.
Chris Wesseling: Michael Crabtree Uncertain About 49ers Future
3 of 5
Michael Crabtree will be a free agent this offseason, and it doesn’t seem to be a situation where he’ll instantly re-sign with the 49ers. Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Crabtree said that he didn’t “even want to talk about” a potential return to the 49ers. NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling implies the feeling may be mutual:
"Struggling to get open and rarely making defenders miss after the catch, he has managed to top 50 yards in just six of 15 games. The receiver Harbaugh has raved about as the best catcher with the most reliable hands in history is also among the league leaders in drops.
In short, he's not the same player he was prior to 2013 Achilles surgery. Crabtree has insisted that an early-season foot injury is not an issue, even if Game Rewind suggests otherwise.
"
Crabtree has 10 drops, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). That has him tied for third in the league. Some of that might actually be Colin Kaepernick’s fault, as the historically sure-handed Anquan Boldin has nine drops himself, but it’s not a team-wide problem—players like Stevie Johnson and Brandon Lloyd have much lower drop rates.
Crabtree’s last great season was 2012, and if there was any confidence that he would bounce back to that form, he’d be worth a major contract. After two years of disappointment, however, the 49ers would probably be best off letting some other team gamble on Crabtree, rather than locking themselves into a long-term deal with a player who is struggling.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Beat Writers: 49ers’ MVP Is No Contest for Local Media
4 of 5
The 49ers' traveling beat writers got together and made nominees for team MVP this season, and there was a pretty solid consensus. According to Niners Digest’s Chris Biderman, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch, the Bay Area News Group’s Cam Inman, CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco and Mindi Bach and The Sacramento Bee’s Matt Barrows, the most valuable player on the 2014 49ers is Antoine Bethea.
Barrows wrote:
"The 49ers' secondary was supposed to be a weakness after starters Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown left in free agency in the offseason. Instead it's been a strength. Bethea has been the leader of the group both on the field and in the meeting room where his professionalism promises to rub off on youngsters like Eric Reid and Jimmie Ward.
It’s hard to argue with that choice. Bethea has come in and played a phenomenal role invigorating a secondary that was supposed to be absolutely horrible this season. He was viewed as a sub-par replacement for Donte Whitner when he departed in free agency—a budget option for a cash-strapped team. Instead, he’s been a Pro Bowl-caliber stud and vocal team leader. He’s certainly this year’s best new addition.
"
Part of his unanimous acclaim, however, is because the defense as a whole has played above expectations and the offense has played below them. I would have voted for Bethea as well, but I’d give a tip of the hat to Joe Staley, who has been his usual phenomenal self. He won the team’s Bob McKittrick Award for top offensive lineman, and he’s been the brightest bright spot for the offense all year long.
Giving the MVP to an offensive lineman might feel like giving too much credit to the offensive line as a whole, however, so I can’t complain about Bethea too much. He’d be my defensive MVP for sure. I’d also throw an honorable mention to Justin Smith, who’s still putting up huge numbers at age 35.
Heath Evans: Cardinals Will Lose Season Finale to San Francisco
5 of 5
Perhaps this is cheating, but Heath Evans of the NFL Network has done something quite phenomenal—his preseason predictions for the Arizona Cardinals were correct for the first 15 games. Despite the injuries to multiple starting quarterbacks, Evans’ preseason projections have held up week in and week out.
If the Cardinals lose to the 49ers this week, Evans will be 16-of-16 in game-by-game predictions for the Cardinals. Considering the picks were made before training camps even opened, that would be quite the accomplishment.
Is he a brilliant analyst? Does he have dark mystic powers allowing him to see the future?
Is it luck?
It’s a great deal of luck, but as someone whose preseason picks were not fantastic, I’m pulling for him. I’m only 7-of-8 on my preseason predictions (and 2-of-6 over the past eight weeks), so seeing anyone try for a perfect season on pre-training camp predictions would be impressive.
I think he’s going to do it, too. With the Cardinals quarterback situation being what it is and the 49ers wanting to get a win in what is likely to be Harbaugh’s last game with the franchise, I see the 49ers ending the season on a high note.
Prediction: 49ers 27, Cardinals 7
Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him @BryKno on twitter.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
