NFL Week 10: The wake 'n' bake Santonio Holmes version

I don't think the Niners are like any of those teams you mentioned -- OK maybe the '04 Steelers -- because the Niners bring a top-flight defense into every game. I also think they're going to garner a lot of respect from the nation, which will sit up and take notice on what they do to the Giants.

But if they lose, I disagree that this is some kind of referendum on whether they are for real. They also won in Detroit at 10 a.m. (when the Lions were 5-0), and Cincinnati is 6-2 and a playoff contender, so they already have wins that are at least of the quality that beating the Giants would be.

 

Also, the Giants are as Jekyll and Hyde as a team can be. If the Niners beat the Giants from last week, ya, that's a big win. If they beat the Giants team that lost to the Redskins and Seahawks, well, not quite as impressive.

 

They got their asses physically whipped, Monday night. And it was great to see.

 

Granted, I'm a huge Niners fan, but that defense is probably the best in the league.

The offense isn't very good, but Gore is doing great and Alex Smith is playing smart and isn't making mistakes.

I don't think the Giants game is a "must-win" by any stretch. It would be a good win, but I think reading too much into a win or a loss would be foolish at this point.

 

The Niners this year remind me of the 2005 Bears. If Harbaugh can figure out how to get some big plays out of the offense, and with a full offseason that seems pretty certain, San Francisco could be awesome next season. If that defense continues to play at such a high level, even a modest upgrade in the offense would make for a dominating team. The 2006 Bears team was unstoppable until Grossman fell apart. Still, they easily won the NFC title game with Grossman making a couple of big plays. I'd give Harbaugh and Smith a better-than-average shot at putting it together next year and making a deep run in the playoffs. This year, I think the offense will be the team's downfall in the playoffs when another team will figure out a way to score 20-plus points, a la Carolina vs. Chicago in the 2005 playoffs.

 

The great secret of this year's 49ers, though, is that Alex Smith hasn't had to do shit. He is making solid decisions, yes, but Harbaugh and Roman are calling plays that make his decisions so easy -- look at receiver #1, look at receiver #2, run for your life. That's it. Mostly he is only ever scanning one side of the field. And he still hasn't made what you'd consider a difficult throw, the kind that Rodgers/Brady/Brees (or even Cutler) make just because they can do it no matter what the coverage is. He has also had some misfires, many of which show up as completions but could have been touchdowns if he had thrown it to the proper side.

He is vastly improved over where he has been, but he is as much of a system quarterback as exists in the league today.

That's the step they need to take -- winning a game with their quarterback when Gore is bottled up and the other team is scoring some points. Haven't done it yet.

 

That's probably a good comparison. Nobody thinks they're going to win it all. Nobody thinks they're going to the Super Bowl and they'll be a popular pick to be upset in the Divisional round if they do get the No. 2 seed.

I've been asked all year... are the Niners for real?

For real as in beat the Packers? Fuck no...
For real as in one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the NFC? Absolutely...

 

That defense is so good that if the offense scores 17 points, they're going to win more often than not.

 

I haven't seen a ton of the 49ers this year, but this sounds like Roethlisberger's rookie year when the Steelers went 15-1 and he wasn't asked to do all that much.

 

That's my point, LTL. The Niners will eventually need Smith to make plays, and I don't see him making that progression (no pun intended) this year. I'd be surprised if San Francisco didn't flame out early in the playoffs. But I like that Harbaugh is an offensive guy in regards to what this team is capable of moving forward. Maybe this is all smoke and mirrors and will come crashing down, but I like when the Niners are good, and it's fun to see a team come into its own.

Right, Mizzou, but that only applies in the regular season. There will likely be at least oone and possible many teams in the playoffs the 49ers cannot hold down like that. Then it's on Smith and the offense. You think the 49ers are holding the Packers to 17? Hell, I don't think they'll hold the Giants to 17 this week. The Saints? No way.

 

Also, LTL, remember that the 2005 Bears won 10 of their last 11 heading into the playoffs with rookie Kyle Orton at QB. Smith is being asked to be Peyton Manning in comparison. The Bears beat Tampa on the road that year 13-10 in a game when their only TD drive was 1 yard, after a fumble recovery.

 

New England has the 32nd-ranked defense in the league, for six straight weeks. They're not fooling anyone.