21 Comments
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Grant Alden's avatar

All those numbers give hope, sure. And yet the 49ers are in position to be the #1 seed if they win on Saturday. And we have yet to beat them this season. So y'all will forgive me if I don't count those chickens just yet, not until the final whistle. (Roughly four dozen hens and three roosters huddled together up at the barn. Roosters lie, incessantly.)

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Randall Murray's avatar

Re: Ernie’s comment. Issac got real pissed off at me last night, and unfortunately deleted a post with good to great numbers in it so I cannot copy here. Wish had a bit of context with his post, but while none of us want to bring back AB at RG, our OLine is mid pack, or again Issac deleted post so don’t have the numbers, top 5, especially in pass protection. Low sack rate. League avg or better in T2T. Low scramble rate by SD. Multiple organizations have the Hawks oline top 5-10 overall. We don’t evaluate all Olines here thus see all our mistakes, but for the season we’re above most teams. Considering almost no improvement by AB and Sundell just ok, I’ll attribute this to coaching and Coach K play calling.

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IdahoFred's avatar

I don't know how this will factor in, but by DVOA we are the #2 special teams and SF is #12. The Rams were #26.

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zezinhom400's avatar

Coming back to Niners good vs great offense: I agree with you on the Bears not being a good test. But SF outscored us vs Titans ( we were 30-24 and they were 37-24), and in particular Indy seems glaring: we got the Colts in back-to-back weeks, including we both faced Rivers at QB. We scored 18 (and was a hugely frustrating offensive showing), Niners put up 48.

I REALLY hope you're right and see the stats that support your argument. But the Indy games in particular suggest they are much better offensively than we are, at least now with Purdy back and if Kittle plays. Trent Williams injury a tremendous benefit for us though

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Seaside Joe's avatar

I agree and that’s why I also clarified that this not about comparing the Seahawks O to the 49ers O. The only question you posed was why I said the 49ers were good, not great. Not if they’re better than the Seahawks O. The Rams are great. They run the ball great; the 49ers run the ball bad. The have Puka; the 49ers don’t have a premier receiver weapon at all. They have a great OL when the OL is healthy. They have a more talented QB; Stafford recent struggles notwithstanding, he is talented AF.

So if the Rams are great, how can the 49ers also be great when they do so many things worse on offense than the Rams? McVay was reinventing the wheel with 13 personnel this season. I’ve never heard anyone praise Shanahan’s innovation. He’s just very good at the classics. That’s fine. I’m just saying this is recency bias because if the 49ers played the Texans last week, the tenor of the conversation would be much different.

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CabMcnabb's avatar

Is there precedent for a QB at Sam's age/time in league reducing turnover rate/frequency?

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zezinhom400's avatar

Fair enough, clearly I'm anxious on Seattle's recent offensive performance and jumped to a wrong conclusion on your comparisons. I do trust our defense and hope it's enough -- we'll know soon enough

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Scott M's avatar

Good article, thanks for trying to talk some sense into those of us that get heartburn from Shanahan and co. I'll be glad when kittle and McCaffrey are gone...they are a handful.

I'd love to see us pick up RG in FA. Draft a WR and RB. Then get whatever weapons we can wherever we can..re load and conquer. Begaw!

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Don Ellis's avatar

SSJ, thanks for the article and agree with all points.

Interestingly, the Seahawks weak strength of schedule was cited for their success early in the year by a few sites. I took a look at it now and found the Seahawks are at 5th for strength of schedule. The Rams are at #1 and the Niners at #10. New England is dead last.

Not sure it really matters in the grand scheme of things but I found it interesting.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

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Randall Murray's avatar

Re COTY. Unfortunately most voters don’t look at the strength of schedule. They will when it suits their biases and decisions then completely ignore for something like COTY.

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Candy Hughes's avatar

Brought up a memory: "one fist of iron, the other of steel, if the right one doesn't get you then the left one weel", thank you Ernie

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John A Irvine's avatar

Load 16 tons and what do you get? Good song.

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Jayanth's avatar

It'll be a good game, but I thoroughly agree. The niners have only faced lower grade teams in their win streak.

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Seaside Joe's avatar

Idea I heard on ESPN's This is Football: If Kevin Stefanski is fired, it might make the most sense to take an OC job before he goes out accepting another HC job. If Klint Kubiak leaves, Stefanski would be an ideal replacement.

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Don Ellis's avatar

I really like Stefanski...I think he is a good coach hamstrung by a terrible owner and horrible personnel decisions.

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John A Irvine's avatar

Out of curiosity who has thrown the most and second most interceptions in last 5 years? Sorry, I asked google but it was confused. Before I say this, I was a Geno supporter, but he has to be close. Simply because most Qbs who throw that many get benched. I would guess Winston, but he hasn't been starting full time.

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Seaside Joe's avatar

Last 5 years:

-Allen, 63

-Mahomes, 61

-TLaw, 58

-Baker, 57

-Tua, 54

-Geno, 53

However, Geno wasn't a starter in 2021. So these counting stats are a little unfair. You'd rather be in the game to throw the INT than not in the game at all.

Last 4 years:

-Geno, 52

-Allen, 48

-Mahomes, 48

-Baker, 44

-Tua, 44

Geno also has the most INTs in the last 3 years, the last 2 years, and the last 1 year.

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John A Irvine's avatar

Thank you.

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Don Ellis's avatar

According to Statmuse, Josh Allen is the leader followed by Patrick Mahomes. This is for 2020 - 2025.

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/most-interceptions-by-qb-in-nfl-2020-to-2025

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John A Irvine's avatar

Thank you for the info and site. Geno is not even top 10, which is surprising. The fact that Sam has the highest interception percentage is concerning. But fixable, I hope.

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Mostly Lurking's avatar

Instinctually have to like any article calling San Fran overrated and now I have to actually read it

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