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NFC West is definitely much improved. However, all those teams are beatable.They're all well coached but none has a QB that puts the fear of God in Ds. There's no Aaron Rogers or Tom Brady there.

Packers will still win the NFC North, I bet. Harvin was a draft day steal. The kid is as much a stud in the NFL as he was in Florida. He is fun to watch.

I got Houston by 30 tonight over the Jets.

The Jets defense is still an ok defense. They have absolutely no o-line or running game (am I talking about the Jets or Cowboys?).

Houston by 30 was a tad too much.

The Jets defense is ok, primarily through scheming. Their pass rush is anemic. Their run stopping ability is meh. Houston played the game super conservative and it still wasn't really that close. Sanchez remains awful. I'm not sure Tebow is a huge improvement, but at least he's a gamer. I'm curious what'll happen if Indy beats them.

Giants playing San Fran this weekend. That one should be fun. NE playing Seattle and should win, but I'm hoping Brady gets beat up a bit there.

Monday night Denver vs San Diego.. Oi Vey.

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Can we order that bust for RG3 yet?

Ugh, Vikes. The Packers laid an ass whooping on Texas though, for sure.

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No team in the NFL is fully healthy. Success in the NFL is based on depth and overcoming injuries. That is something the Steelers have always been good at, but I think now the age of their defense is catching up to them.

Great performance by him, but let's see how RGIII does against the Giants next weekend.

Pats lost, I love it.

Chargers... wtf.

Go Vikes!

WOW, did the 49ers look good last night. Where was THAT team against St. Louis?

5 1/2 sacks for Aldon Smith, and he made the Bears' OTs just look stupidly bad at times. (see: that insane juke/fake from the 2nd half that led directly to a sack for an example). Smith only needs something like 2 more sacks this year to pass Reggie White's record for most sacks in a player's first 2 years in the league. That's certainly an impressive name for him to be even partially in the conversation with, I think, yes?

The one thing that worries me is what will happen with the 49ers' QB situation going forward. Alex Smith has performed really well at times, but Kaepernick gave the offense a real vertical dimension it had been lacking. I realize it was only 1 game, to be sure. However, it was 1 game against the team who supposedly had THE best D in the league, even better than the 49ers' D, and it was a Monday Night game, with all the extra pressure that entails. (Oh, and I think the 49ers rather emphatically settled the question of which team has the better D, don't you?)

I'll be anxious to see what happens when they play next week. Though, if they play like they did last night, I really don't see who is ever going to beat them.

-Arlos

Arlos wrote:WOW, did the 49ers look good last night. Where was THAT team against St. Louis?

5 1/2 sacks for Aldon Smith, and he made the Bears' OTs just look stupidly bad at times. (see: that insane juke/fake from the 2nd half that led directly to a sack for an example). Smith only needs something like 2 more sacks this year to pass Reggie White's record for most sacks in a player's first 2 years in the league. That's certainly an impressive name for him to be even partially in the conversation with, I think, yes?

The one thing that worries me is what will happen with the 49ers' QB situation going forward. Alex Smith has performed really well at times, but Kaepernick gave the offense a real vertical dimension it had been lacking. I realize it was only 1 game, to be sure. However, it was 1 game against the team who supposedly had THE best D in the league, even better than the 49ers' D, and it was a Monday Night game, with all the extra pressure that entails. (Oh, and I think the 49ers rather emphatically settled the question of which team has the better D, don't you?)

I'll be anxious to see what happens when they play next week. Though, if they play like they did last night, I really don't see who is ever going to beat them.

-Arlos

No I don't think they emphatically settled the question of which team has the better D.

Kaepernick perfomed like a god damned genius. He's practically Steve fucking Young. Our offensive line was terrible, even moreso than usual. Did you see his passes while on the run, hitting his receivers in stride right on the money? Did you see the pocket caving in on Kaepernick and him being able to get out and still throw the ball or rush? He was ridiculous and no D would have been ready for that. Alex Smith couldn't do that in a million years. Combine Kaepernick's versatility with the 9ers current offensive options and every D in the NFL has to make 6 way guesses. With Alex Smith at the helm, the 9ers are a defensive team with a stable offense. Put Kaepernick there and you're hot on both ends if he keeps this up and I think he can. The only NCAA player in history to have over 10000 pass yards and 4000 rush yards. Dude is a fucking GEM. Alex Smith is barely not hot garbage. He plays patterned and safe and while his offense stays solid, it's not explosive like Kaepernick's offense. Kaepernick DRILLED the Bears with passes, scared the fuck out of them and then the rushing game ate us alive.

Trust me I'm salty as shit that my team lost but watching Kaepernick play was amazing.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Kaepernick play the rest of the year, although I question if he's the better answer this year than Smith who has played very well.

I think the 49ers have a fairly easy road to the playoffs, but we'll see how real they are in week 15. As I've said since the day he was hired, Harbaugh is a very good coach. It doesn't surprise me a player with a penchant for being a wonk, but also great athletic skills is too appealing to him not to start. I think he will have a tough time in the post season, though.

I don't think any athleticism can make up for 1st time playoff choke factor but Kaepernick is real. Smith colors by the numbers and does ok but the 9ers will never win BECAUSE of him. He does a passable job while Kaepernick has the potential to be a great. Imo.

I agree Kaepernick has more upside, but the flip side is the 9ers won't lose because of Smith, either. I can't say the same about a rookie. The Bears play a consistent base defense, which Harbaugh exploited. We'll see what happens when BB and his mad scientist crew puts some wrinkles in the mix. Then again, if Kaepernick is as accurate as he was against the Bears, it probably won't matter. However, it was just one game at home. Playing in Foxborough in December will be a different experience for him.

Today should be a good game for them. The Saints have been hot, and Brees is a test for any D.

Here's hoping Cleveland beats the shi'ite out of Pittsburgh, too. My only hope for my Bolts is Norv and AJ are gone. The sooner the better.

Well, Kaep isn't a rookie. This is his 2nd year. I think he did fine today though, don't you?

Oh, and I think the D passed their Brees test, eh? 2 pick-6s, and a bunch of sacks? I think they were pissed everyone was saying the D was only so dominant last week because Chicago was playing a backup QB. The D did as well or better this week, and did it against Drew Brees and the hottest team in football.

Anyway, are the 49ers right now the best team in the NFC? I kinda think so. If you disagree, who do you say is better, and why? I know the Falcons have a better record, but have you seen any of their games? They look like they're doing it with smoke and mirrors.


In other news, the Browns actually won a game! *stunned*

How the fuck does San Diego allow the Ravens to convert a 4th and 29 play?

Best 3 teams in the AFC are Denver, New England and Houston. Pick your preferred ordering there.

-Arlos

Yeah, forgot Kaep was a draft pick last year. I'm not sure if any D is playing nearly as well as San Fran's. Tough to argue against a team that gets two pick 6's on Brees. I think Green Bay and the Giants are capable of putting a lot of points on the board against San Fran. The rest of the NFC, not so much..Atlanta and Tampa are likewise very well coached teams, but neither has the D the 9ers do this year.

In the AFC Denver and Houston didn't wow me this week. Both could easily have lost to very mediocre teams. Likewise, Baltimore is a ho hom 9-2. New England is playing the best ball in the AFC right now IMO. I like Pitt with Roethlisberger, too. Pitt's D is playing very well. If they had any O at all they would have won that game despite the 20 turnovers or so they had.

I'm interested to see how San Fran does at New England in a few weeks, especially if they play Kaep.

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Imagine how fun it is to be a Chiefs fan and watch your team take a timeout then punt the ball to Peyton from the Bronco 45 on 4th and 6 with 6 minutes to go in the game....

I don't understand why a 1-9 (now 1-10) team would ever punt once they crossed midfield.

The Chiefs were doomed the moment they hired Romeo Crennel. The best thing they could do is fire him and hire Mike Zimmer this offseason.

Lyion wrote:The Chiefs were doomed the moment they hired Romeo Crennel. The best thing they could do is fire him and hire Mike Zimmer this offseason.

Actually, I think 2 of the biggest coaching candidates are going to be the 49ers' OC and DC. Just look at the kind of job they've done. We're actually pretty worried about other teams poaching one or both of those guys away this next offseason here in the bay area, as we don't want to lose either one. Would not surprise me at all if we did lose one though.

-Arlos

Fangio was coaching Stanfords D before the 9ers. I don't expect him to get many bites with his lack of HC experience. Likewise, Greg Roman is probably going to get a college HC bid long before he gets an NFL one. You are fooling yourself if you think any NFL exec would take either of those guys over Chip Kelly, Nick Saban, or Brian Kelley.

From Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column on CNN SI (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... index.html):

5. I think these sound like the top five college coaching candidates for NFL head coaching jobs, per chats with front office people in the last two weeks (in order):

1. Chip Kelly, Oregon
2. David Shaw, Stanford
3. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
4. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (even coming off the bad season at Iowa, he's well-respected in the NFL)
5. Doug Marrone, Syracuse.

I didn't include Bill O'Brien of Penn State because (and call me naïve) I can't see him preaching love of, and loyalty to, Penn State, and then leaving after 12 months. But never say never in this business.

6. I think these sound like the top 10 NFL assistants who will get sniffs for head coaching jobs in the league next year (in order):

1. Mike McCoy, Denver offensive coordinator
2. Mike Zimmer, Cincinnati defensive coordinator
3. Vic Fangio, San Francisco defensive coordinator
4. Perry Fewell, Giants defensive coordinator
5. Dirk Koetter, Atlanta offensive coordinator
6. Dave Toub, Chicago special teams coordinator
7. Bruce Arians, Indianapolis interim head coach/offensive coordinator
8. Ray Horton, Arizona defensive coordinator
9. Kyle Shanahan, Washington offensive coordinator
10. Clyde Christensen, Indianapolis quarterbacks coach.

Nick Saban? Really? The man's a weasel. After how he slimed his way out of town in Miami (which was a repeat performance of how he skipped town and left Michigan State), it is going to be a *LONG* time, if ever, before he gets considered for a NFL head coaching job again.

-Arlos

You can't argue Saban's results at Alabama, though, and he's in the mold of Belichik.

I'd have to question why in the world Mike Mccoy would be on that list, given their O last year was terrible, and this year it's more Peyton Manning than anything he's done.
I agree with all the college guys except David Shaw who inherited Harbaugh's team. Ferentz isn't leaving Iowa, but he'd make an excellent NFL coach.

If I were an owner, I'd give Arians serious consideration right now. The guy has a great history of working with players, and yet not being a 'players coach'. His results in Indy in a difficult situation have been outstanding.

Chiefs are beating the drum for the usual suspects of Cowher/Gruden. Some want Chip Kelly.

I don't think we can get anyone reputable though without firing Pioli first. His determination to be secretive and run the Patriots west is killing the franchise.

Personally I'd like to see us give a look at Billick.