Nov

8

Bad Time to be a Niner Fan?

Posted by sf49ers

November 8, 2007 |

Ever since the beginning of the season, the San Francisco 49ers were the sexy sleeper pick for NFL regular season success but they seem to have lost steam. Although they have loosened the purse-strings to get such free agents as CB Nate Clements and WR Darrell Jackson. Especially with the tandem of young offensive talent in QB Alex Smith, RB Frank Gore and TE Vernon Davis, it seemed they were destined for a good season.

A contributor to MSNBC even went as far as to pick the Niners to lose in the Super Bowl to the powerful New England Patriots and now for sure, he is eating crow now. The main problem with the 49ers is that no one is assuming responsibility as a leader of this team and once they do find that leader will they be considered a decent team. Here is the rest of the article:

Yet, as we in media laugh over our mid-summer miscues and reference obscure hyper-caffeinated sodas from the early 1990s over email, there is one group out there that’s not exactly yukking it up over the Niners’ misfortunes. That’s, of course, the Niners fans who have suffered through this nightmare of a season.

At 2-6, and owners of the 31st ranked total offense in the league, it’s been anything but fun and games for the San Francisco faithful in ‘07. Frank Gore — the NFC’s leading rusher in 2006 — has yet to break the 90-yard mark this season and now finds himself out with an injury, while neither Alex Smith nor Vernon Davis have shown any real signs of improvement from last year. Darrell Jackson’s been a non-factor since the preseason and the offensive line’s been an utter mess. At 32nd in passing offense and dead last in the NFL in yards per game, the Niners offense makes the ‘06 Raiders look like Jerry Glanville’s Run N’ Gun teams of the early ’90s.

And though rookie Patrick Willis’s been solid and Clements has done a good enough job at cornerback, the defense isn’t exactly putting the clamps on its opponents either. In the bottom third of the league in pretty much every defensive category, they’ve been more “walk right on through” than “lock down.”

Losers of six straight, the season’s pretty much done in San Francisco.

Of course, there’s always April’s NFL Draft to look forward to, right? After all, that’s the saving grace of any terrible NFL team. Right? Hello?

Eek. Not quite.

Back on Draft Day in ‘07, the 49ers swapped their first-round pick in the ‘08 draft for the Patriots’ 28th pick overall in 2007. Joe Staley, the player chosen with that pick, has been a nice piece on the Niners line.

He’s NOT a top five NFL pick.

The fact that the 2007 Patriots — arguably the greatest team in NFL history — own the rights to the Niners’ 2008 pick has become the salt in what’s been an ever-expanding wound to San Francisco fans everywhere.

David Fucillo, editor of the popular 49ers fan site, Niners Nation explains, “The draft pick issue is like the ultimate knife in the back. Whenever I feel like it can’t get worse, I think about that draft pick, and well — it gets worse. Even worse is that it’s going to the best team in the league. All I can hope for is that Roger Goodell decides to take the 49ers pick from the Patriots as part of the punishment. If this was David Stern running things, he’d finagle a way to get the pick back to San Francisco (since they have been one of the marquee franchises in the past).”

hat’s not happening, David.

Whereas fans of the Rams, Jets, and Dolphins can rely on misty-eyed dreams and pigskin-related fantasies of Glenn Dorsey, Darren McFadden, and Brian Brohm wearing their teams jerseys next year, 49er fans have nothing of the sort to look forward to.

Fucillo agrees, “There’s not much. I guess, perhaps, we can always hang our hat on the yeoman-like effort of punter Andy Lee, currently third in punting average and third in lowest punt return average.”

Yep, that’s how bad it’s gotten. They’re hanging their hats on the punter in San Francisco this season.

Source: Fox Sports


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Mike Stremski on November 8, 2007 7:39 pm

    This article really sums it up in San Francisco. This author deserves major props.

  2. Lucas McHale on November 9, 2007 5:38 pm

    Well…the 49ers are like bugs…they can carry a lot on their back(the defense) but when they see a bigger person (better team) they get squashed (killed).

    Good analogy dont ya think, sf49ers?

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