NFL Week 2: Nobody any good wore this number

The '84 Bears would destroy any of the NFL's 2012 teams. I think the Niners not only can win it all this year, I think they will.

On a related note, the top of the NFC in the mid-'80s was nuts. The '83 Redskins may be the best team to lose a Super Bowl, the '84 Niners were basically unstoppable, the '85 Bears are arguably the greatest single-season team in history and the '86 Giants were almost as good as the previous three. I don't think you'll ever see a stretch like that again, with four different teams being so dominant one right after the other.

 

I agree about the 1985 Bears being the best team of my lifetime. I think there are a couple Niners teams that might be in the mix for No. 2 on that list.

My biggest problem with picking the Niners to win it all this season is Alex Smith. Although, the job Harbaugh has done with him is amazing, I just don't know how confident I would feel with them going against the Pats or the Ravens with him at QB. Then again, maybe this team will be like the Ravens and Bucs teams that won titles without a top QB.

 

Smith has really impressed me lately. The kid seems to have somehow transformed into a guy who doesn't get rattled. The open courting of Peyton Manning was a big fuck you to him, but he starts the season off by playing very well in a road win against the NFC favorites. I think Smith will end up winning over Niners fans.

 

I don't see why there are still so many questions about him. He was a cool customer last year -- he had a few game-winning drives and I think he threw like 6 INTs all year -- and then had a star turn in the playoffs against the Saints. He wasn't good against the Giants, but A) no quarterback was in the playoffs; and B) I put that way more on the receivers, who were not NFL caliber. You see how he looks with Moss and Manningham in the mix. Smith had some nice hookups to Davis that game.

They'll always be a running team, but he is preventing anyone from loading up against Gore.

Big question is how they handle RBs. Jacobs is hurt and James was a healthy inactive Sunday.

 

These are not your father's 49ers. Bill Walsh and Joe Montana ain't walking through that door.

 

He's a long way from being Walsh, but after the previous decade, I have ZERO complaints about Harbaugh...

 

I've watched everyone QB the Niners from John Brodie and Steve Spurrier to Plunkett to JT O'Sullivan and Shaun Hill.

Alex Smith is getting better but he's still not elite. Last year, the Niners had a great defense so he was not asked to do too much; he could not complete a 10 yd out in crunch time, unclear whether it was the QB or the WRs, I lean towards the QB. He was just too hesitant/careful. Even the playoff run, they completed ONE pass to a WR for 3 YDS! It looks better with Moss, Manningham, and Crabtree. Let's see. The only reason why Davis got open was that the Saints got stupid and decided to blitz and go 1 on 1 with Davis rather than laying back in a zone.

'85 Bears better than the '84 or '89 Niners? No way. Montana > McMahon.

 

Walsh was Harbaugh's biggest fan and was predicting greatness from the day Harbaugh arrived at Stanford.

 

I'm still dying to know why coaches who go from Stanford to the NFL are so much more successful than coaches who go to the NFL from almost any other college.

 

That's a good question. My off-the-cuff guess would be that Stanford coaches never have a physical advantage over their opponents, so they always have to win on scheme. When Pete Carroll was at USC, there were times he called plays that worked simply because Reggie Bush was so much quicker than anybody else. Harbaugh/Walsh/Denny Green never had that luxury.

 

Wait, we're lumping Denny Green in with Bill Walsh in terms of NFL success? Seriously?

 

Mizzou's question was about why Stanford coaches are more successful than other college coaches when they jump to the NFL. Denny Green easily fits in that category.