Newton: Defense Wins Nothing
Defense Wins Nothing
By: Nick Newton
11.07.05 -- You know what they say; "Defense wins Championships." In only one half of one season, the San Francisco 49ers have proved that ancient saying worthless. Time and time again the defense has overperfomed and given the offense opportunities to make game winning plays. Two weeks in a row now the 49ers battered defenders have consistently stopped two of the NFL's more capable offenses. Still, the Red and Gold offensive woes, and to a lesser extent offensive play-calling, have cost us all very dearly. What to do, What to do.
Well, here are a few appetizers to start with.
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Penalties: Not just here and there penalties, but the same penalty over and over on consecutive downs, in most cases by the same player. All in all, San Francisco was penalized 12 times for a total of 80 yards. That count includes one of a few penalties on Anthony Clement, including a holding call that negated a 31 yard pass from Cody Pickett to Brandon Lloyd that wouldve put the Niners on the Giants 2 yard line. (Incidentally, it is my belief that Anthony Clement should be benched indefinately. Not just for the game losing penalty on the Lloyd catch, but also for false starting 2 plays later. Kwame Harris also held once and false started twice.)
Passing: Ken Dorsey is expendable. He should not start for this team ever again. Cody Pickett should be the starter until Alex Smith is healthy, at which point Pickett should be relegated to number 2. Despite the fact that San Francisco hasn't scored a touchdown in 2 games, the passing game isn't all to blame.
Protection: Somebody get that man a Trojan! It doesn't matter who is back there, as long as we're starting such scrubs as Kwame Harris and Anthony Clement, the QB is going to have almost no protection. I cannot overstate this; A suitable replacement must be found for a fast-fading Jeremy Newberry.
Ground Game: Most may disagree with me, but Kevan Barlow needs to be placed on the block (yea, I know the deadline is over), letting Frank Gore and Maurice Hicks (when he returns from injury) handle the running game. Barlow misses way too many opportunities to hit open holes, and despite recent improvement, still lacks the work ethic and cut-back ability needed to make him a big time runner.
TE: Please hurry back, Eric Johnson. In the mean time start Billy Bajema and Brian Jennings and leave them there. Ditch Smith, he sucks.
Time of Possession: While this factor has improved greatly over the past few weeks, it still sucks. The defense is still on the field too much. Just remember the new saying: Defense wins absolutely NOTHING, unless you have a capable offense.
My Take: RETRACTION- At the start of the season, I gave reports and opinions of all the positions around the team on both sides of the ball. In doing so, I downed our kicking crop and criticized Joe Nedney and his kicking style. Since then, Auto-Joe has become our most solid kicker in many years, and THE most solid part of our offense. I was wrong and totally retract my early-season remarks.
Filed Under: 49ers
By: Nick Newton
11.07.05 -- You know what they say; "Defense wins Championships." In only one half of one season, the San Francisco 49ers have proved that ancient saying worthless. Time and time again the defense has overperfomed and given the offense opportunities to make game winning plays. Two weeks in a row now the 49ers battered defenders have consistently stopped two of the NFL's more capable offenses. Still, the Red and Gold offensive woes, and to a lesser extent offensive play-calling, have cost us all very dearly. What to do, What to do.
Well, here are a few appetizers to start with.
Full Story...
Penalties: Not just here and there penalties, but the same penalty over and over on consecutive downs, in most cases by the same player. All in all, San Francisco was penalized 12 times for a total of 80 yards. That count includes one of a few penalties on Anthony Clement, including a holding call that negated a 31 yard pass from Cody Pickett to Brandon Lloyd that wouldve put the Niners on the Giants 2 yard line. (Incidentally, it is my belief that Anthony Clement should be benched indefinately. Not just for the game losing penalty on the Lloyd catch, but also for false starting 2 plays later. Kwame Harris also held once and false started twice.)
Passing: Ken Dorsey is expendable. He should not start for this team ever again. Cody Pickett should be the starter until Alex Smith is healthy, at which point Pickett should be relegated to number 2. Despite the fact that San Francisco hasn't scored a touchdown in 2 games, the passing game isn't all to blame.
Protection: Somebody get that man a Trojan! It doesn't matter who is back there, as long as we're starting such scrubs as Kwame Harris and Anthony Clement, the QB is going to have almost no protection. I cannot overstate this; A suitable replacement must be found for a fast-fading Jeremy Newberry.
Ground Game: Most may disagree with me, but Kevan Barlow needs to be placed on the block (yea, I know the deadline is over), letting Frank Gore and Maurice Hicks (when he returns from injury) handle the running game. Barlow misses way too many opportunities to hit open holes, and despite recent improvement, still lacks the work ethic and cut-back ability needed to make him a big time runner.
TE: Please hurry back, Eric Johnson. In the mean time start Billy Bajema and Brian Jennings and leave them there. Ditch Smith, he sucks.
Time of Possession: While this factor has improved greatly over the past few weeks, it still sucks. The defense is still on the field too much. Just remember the new saying: Defense wins absolutely NOTHING, unless you have a capable offense.
My Take: RETRACTION- At the start of the season, I gave reports and opinions of all the positions around the team on both sides of the ball. In doing so, I downed our kicking crop and criticized Joe Nedney and his kicking style. Since then, Auto-Joe has become our most solid kicker in many years, and THE most solid part of our offense. I was wrong and totally retract my early-season remarks.
Filed Under: 49ers
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