Greg Cosell: 49ers are pretenders

[Flyingiguana]

i'm honestly not sure if anyone can stop the saints. going into green bay will be tough a passing offense but with the amount of screens the saints do i dont think it'll hurt them anywhere as much as it hurts the packers.

 

[dredinis21]

@Flying iguana, I totally disagree. I believe we ARE equipped to beat the Saints, especially with their screens. We have 4 guys that can rush the QB without having to send extra help and two LB who are sideline to sideline. These two things alone can disrupt the screen's effectiveness. The question will be if our secondary is up to the task.

 

[BallsOfFury]

Cosell is a knuckin' fucklehead. He lacks the edge, creativity and passion of his Uncle Howard. I truly hope he continues to deem the 49ers 'pretenders', it'll boost the team's reputation when he has to sit down at his crow dinner.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

We've got a puncher's chance. It'd take things falling in the right fashion, but win two games and we're in. I feel the two hardest games will be getting there, though NE, Pit, and Baltimore can all give us problems.

Nail hit right on the head.

 

[maniax]

I think we are being generally underestimated.

People are focused on the teams with high powered offenses (GB, NO, NE) and all that razzle dazzle but have subpar defenses. I am not in any way impressed with any of the defenses of GB, NO or NE.

They are not giving as much props as they should to the teams with the better defenses, better pass rushing and better run games (SF, BALT, NYG).

I think we'll matchup fine against the Saints at home. We will put Brees under alot of pressure like we did to the Steelers.

I also think the Giants will make alot of noise in the playoffs. I think their pass rushers will bring the heat, beat the Falcons, and then go to Green Bay and give the Packers a real tough game. And if put in the situation Eli can come up big as well.

 

[deep9er]

Quick question to all. Who actually 100% thinks we can win the super bowl this year? I notice a few of you dont like are chances against a few teams but was just curious how many people think we can take it all or have no chance against the other teams?

Go ahead and put me down as one who thinks we can win it all. We are a tough and physical team to play, cant wait to see this hungry team take the field and bring it to the other teams.

'thinks' implies you're not 100% sure?

you should word it like "right here, right now, who says we'll win the superbowl without question"?

cause pretty sure i'm like the majority, i THINK we have a chance (and not long shot chance) but not saying 'without question'.

 

[deep9er]

We've got a puncher's chance. It'd take things falling in the right fashion, but win two games and we're in. I feel the two hardest games will be getting there, though NE, Pit, and Baltimore can all give us problems.

IMO its better than a punchers chance.

cause this implies getting beat up most rounds, but lands a lucky punch? don't see us getting 'beat up' every quarter?

 

[mysfit]

Niners are a bit weak on Offense but solid on defense.

As opposed to teams like NO and GB which are weak on D and strong on O.

Going to be interesting to see which has a bigger impact. Would be nice if we started executing better in the RZ.

 

[Jikkle]

i'm honestly not sure if anyone can stop the saints. going into green bay will be tough a passing offense but with the amount of screens the saints do i dont think it'll hurt them anywhere as much as it hurts the packers.

In a dome they are nigh impossible to beat but on the grass they are very beatable.

They just look really awesome right now because 6 of their last 7 have been inside domes and that one grass game was against the Titans a game they nearly lost in the final seconds.

Does that mean we'll beat them? No, because the Saints are a great team but we're more more than capable of taking them down and I do like our chances against them.

 

[deep9er]

I think the running game shows up in the playoffs. Only other team in the NFC who has a back comparable to Gore is Atlanta with Turner. They've got a tough game though @ NYG.

we all hope so, cause we'll NEED it.

although we're focused on passing offenses, we still have to stop their run game first. doesn't need to be 'cold', but do render them ineffective.

 

[deep9er]

i'm honestly not sure if anyone can stop the saints. going into green bay will be tough a passing offense but with the amount of screens the saints do i dont think it'll hurt them anywhere as much as it hurts the packers.

no we won't STOP the Saints, nor anyone else. we should think of it as slowing them down, allowing less TD's and more FG's. we certainly have the D to do it.

on the flip side, yeah our offense isn't good, but neither are their defenses. we should be able to move downfield albeit ploddingly, "dink and dunk". defenses do step up in the play-offs so they're not exactly weak, but expect we WILL move downfield.

 

[deep9er]

i'm honestly not sure if anyone can stop the saints. going into green bay will be tough a passing offense but with the amount of screens the saints do i dont think it'll hurt them anywhere as much as it hurts the packers.

think crossing patterns hurt us more, or delayed short patterns? another will be TE's, notably Graham but even Gonsalez.

IF we get a win, we face another good team with crossing patterns and a TE in Finley.

 

[deep9er]

I think we are being generally underestimated.

People are focused on the teams with high powered offenses (GB, NO, NE) and all that razzle dazzle but have subpar defenses. I am not in any way impressed with any of the defenses of GB, NO or NE.

They are not giving as much props as they should to the teams with the better defenses, better pass rushing and better run games (SF, BALT, NYG).

I think we'll matchup fine against the Saints at home. We will put Brees under alot of pressure like we did to the Steelers.

I also think the Giants will make alot of noise in the playoffs. I think their pass rushers will bring the heat, beat the Falcons, and then go to Green Bay and give the Packers a real tough game. And if put in the situation Eli can come up big as well.

yeah, the Giants can be a tough team because of their defense. in particular, the pressure their D-line brings. but consistency is what they lack?

Eli isn't consistent either, but when he's on, they're ON. their passing game can be almost as explosive as the others.

 

[deep9er]

Niners are a bit weak on Offense but solid on defense.

As opposed to teams like NO and GB which are weak on D and strong on O.

Going to be interesting to see which has a bigger impact. Would be nice if we started executing better in the RZ.

yep, the trend is clearly to the "strong O", but not so sure its trended all the way yet? we'll see in the next four weeks?

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

IMO its better than a punchers chance.

cause this implies getting beat up most rounds, but lands a lucky punch? don't see us getting 'beat up' every quarter?

Me neither, but I do see us needing to get lucky.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Me neither, but I do see us needing to get lucky.

Why do you say that?

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

Why do you say that?

Because the Saints and Packers are better than us. We'll need at least a couple of breaks to go our way in order to beat those teams.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Because the Saints and Packers are better than us. We'll need at least a couple of breaks to go our way in order to beat those teams.

Well that can be said about any team even for the packers and saints, those "breaks" work for every team. I believe our physical style can match up with any team. We all saw what the chiefs did to the pack, which is exactly the way we play. Grind it out and tire the other team out is what we do best, make them play our style for 60 min!

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

Well that can be said about any team even for the packers and saints, those "breaks" work for every team. I believe our physical style can match up with any team. We all saw what the chiefs did to the pack, which is exactly the way we play. Grind it out and tire the other team out is what we do best, make them play our style for 60 min!

I don't think we pressure the QB the way KC does. They get a great push up the middle and crush the pocket. The Niners don't do that. I think both the Saints and Packers have too much speed for the 49ers and I think our slow, methodical approach on offense will not keep up with either of those teams.

With Brees, however, you get a couple of turnovers per game but I always think that there is at least a little bit of luck needed where turnovers are concerned. We'll need turnovers and that is why I say we'll need some luck to beat either of those teams.

This matchup reminds me so much of the battles in the playoffs the 49ers had with the Giants in the 80s. I was always very confident that the Niners would win because I knew their offense was too much for the Giants if they didn't get lucky and get turnovers.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I don't think we pressure the QB the way KC does. They get a great push up the middle and crush the pocket. The Niners don't do that. I think both the Saints and Packers have too much speed for the 49ers and I think our slow, methodical approach on offense will not keep up with either of those teams.

With Brees, however, you get a couple of turnovers per game but I always think that there is at least a little bit of luck needed where turnovers are concerned. We'll need turnovers and that is why I say we'll need some luck to beat either of those teams.

This matchup reminds me so much of the battles in the playoffs the 49ers had with the Giants in the 80s. I was always very confident that the Niners would win because I knew their offense was too much for the Giants if they didn't get lucky and get turnovers.

I think we strongly consider going with our nickel package all game against both teams. Ray and Justin in the middle, with Brooks and Aldon outside. That should give us some push up the middle, and we should run some stunts with the Smiths.

This is particularly applicable against the Packers who can't run anyway.