Looking at the standings...

[MW49ers5]

Bad teams don't make fourth-quarter comebacks, though (as we know all too well). The Niners got somewhat lucky in the Eagles game with the Ronnie Brown fumble and some shaky FG kicking, but they put themselves in a position to win that game. I can't say they got "lucky" in any of the others. They just made the plays they needed to to win.

Now, is this team the second-best in the league? I wouldn't say that. But they've played a pretty tough schedule to date and have emerged 6-1 with the only loss in OT. I think there's a strong argument for placing them second in the power rankings. The Steelers are 2-2 on the road, and their wins came against the Cards and Colts. The Pats' D has been very shaky at times. Baltimore got manhandled by the Jags and then almost lost at home to Arizona.

Our D and STs are as good as any in the league right now, and our running game has been great the past couple weeks. Now, our glaring hole happens to be at the most important position, but we might be the most consistently solid all-around team in the league through seven games.

I highlighted the only part of your entire comment that was relevant to my post (perhaps you mistakenly quoted my post?) Either way, I see from what I highlighted that we agree.

 

[MW49ers5]

i am ecstatic about how well we have done this year but i still have major concerns.
the seattle game could have been a loss had ginn not pulled out the double miracle.
lost to dallas in ot.
beat cinci by 5 in an ugly game. one big play from aj green and we lose
philly beat themselves more than we beat them. we'd be in trouble if we played them again tomorrow
smoked tampa.
beat the lions on a 4th down. we were just inches from losing.
beat the browns by 10. we were in control for most of the game. i feel harbaugh held back a little knowing they were dominating most aspects of the game.

so at worst i think we could be 2-5. at best, 7-0. that's a huge swing and i don't think we should feel so confident. yes we play seattle/arizona/st. louis 5 more times, but all of these teams have put up some good fights against very good teams. the rams just destroyed the saints!

By no means are we a lock for the playoffs. if the first seven games are any indication, we could end up winning the next 7-9 games, but we could easily lose about 7-8 games too and be in jeopardy of losing out on the playoffs if seattle or arizona make a run.

I'd still put my money on the niners but by no means are we a lock for anything at this point. the #2 ranking that everyone is clamoring about is ridiculous and i hope our players remain humbled and not cocky from all this hype.

Agreed!

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I highlighted the only part of your entire comment that was relevant to my post (perhaps you mistakenly quoted my post?) Either way, I see from what I highlighted that we agree.

With three 4th Qtr comebacks and two returns for TD's against a dominating tide shift vs. Seattle, we are as much lucky to be 6-1 as we are good.


That's what you said. I disagree. We have executed. If you want to play the "lucky" game, we should have gone 10-6 last year. The good teams are separated from the bad teams because the good teams make plays when the game is on the line. That's what the Niners have done.

But perhaps you're re-thinking that initial comment. As for where I would rank this team, I think there's a very strong argument for second in the league. I'd always go with the team with the better QB when the game is on the line, but that hasn't borne out for the Niners this season. I think we would give the Pats, Steelers, Ravens, or Saints a hard time right now.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

The Niners only need to win two more games to ensure a division title. At this point no one else is going to do better than 5 and 4 which would be a maximum of 7 wins (Seattle).

Right now though, I'm expecting 12 wins and a #2 seed.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

With three 4th Qtr comebacks and two returns for TD's against a dominating tide shift vs. Seattle, we are as much lucky to be 6-1 as we are good.

We could easily be 4-3 or even 3-4 right now. Don't take my comment negatively, I am proud of where we are and what we have accomplished thus far, but we are a long way from being as dominate as having the second best record in football makes it sound.

Agreed. The 49ers were confused and reeling in the Seattle game before Ginn took over and one play decided the Lions, Bengals and Eagles games.

 

[MW49ers5]

With three 4th Qtr comebacks and two returns for TD's against a dominating tide shift vs. Seattle, we are as much lucky to be 6-1 as we are good.


That's what you said. I disagree. We have executed. If you want to play the "lucky" game, we should have gone 10-6 last year.

So, last year we would have been 10-6 if we had experienced enough luck; however, this year we have a winning record of 6-1 and luck has nothing to do with it. Sure.

 

[BallsOfFury]

Truthfully, I'd be happier if they rated the 9ers 22nd than 2nd. Stay humble, stay hungry.
I just wanted to know how other fans felt.

 

[MW49ers5]

Agreed. The 49ers were confused and reeling in the Seattle game before Ginn took over and one play decided the Lions, Bengals and Eagles games.

Exactly.

 

[MW49ers5]

Truthfully, I'd be happier if they rated the 9ers 22nd than 2nd. Stay humble, stay hungry.
I just wanted to know how other fans felt.

Yep~! I feel just like that.

 

[CalamityX11]

Agreed. The 49ers were confused and reeling in the Seattle game before Ginn took over and one play decided the Lions, Bengals and Eagles games.

Who knows what would've happened in the seattle gm had Ginn didn't bail us out. We surely dominated and set it in cruise control afterwards...

BUT for the Lions, Bengals and Eagles games, would you not say they were solid to great comebacks considering our offense is new and being helmed by Alex?

The Lions game showed we can battle back and forth with an upper tier offense and a mighty front 4(often overlooked)

The Bengals we were getting stopped and smacked around til the 2nd half where we actually generated enough offense and made stops on defense(after the first Q really).

The Philly game, we didn't stop playing and capitalized big time on their mistakes. But can we agree that Philly's d couldn't stop or last til the end with our offense?

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I highlighted the only part of your entire comment that was relevant to my post (perhaps you mistakenly quoted my post?) Either way, I see from what I highlighted that we agree.

So, last year we would have been 10-6 if we had experienced enough luck; however, this year we have a winning record of 6-1 and luck has nothing to do with it. Sure.

No. If you're going to play the "what if" game, you could easily argue that the Niners could have gone 10-6 last year. If Nate Clements goes out of bounds against Atlanta. If the D holds against NO. It's an exercise in futility. NFL teams are fairly equivalent in terms of talent. Coaching and execution frequently make the difference. The Niners have executed this year.

The way the ball bounces will always affect games, but we're past the point of luck. Luck doesn't get you to 6-1 against the schedule we've faced, and writing off close games is just silly. This team is not currently built to win by large margins. It can do so, of course, but we don't have the QB to destroy a team the way some other teams do. But our record is not the product of luck to the same degree as it is due to our ability to execute at a very high level on D and STs, and to come through in the clutch on offense, does. So again, maybe you misspoke.

 

[MW49ers5]

No. If you're going to play the "what if" game

I'm not playing the 'what-if' game. Listen, less and less of what you are posting is relevant to my point, so let's just end this here - thanks.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Who knows what would've happened in the seattle gm had Ginn didn't bail us out. We surely dominated and set it in cruise control afterwards...

BUT for the Lions, Bengals and Eagles games, would you not say they were solid to great comebacks considering our offense is new and being helmed by Alex?

The Lions game showed we can battle back and forth with an upper tier offense and a mighty front 4(often overlooked)

The Bengals we were getting stopped and smacked around til the 2nd half where we actually generated enough offense and made stops on defense(after the first Q really).

The Philly game, we didn't stop playing and capitalized big time on their mistakes. But can we agree that Philly's d couldn't stop or last til the end with our offense?

Agreed. Let's look at those other games from the opposite side. Against Philly, we were giving them a lot of trouble on D until Vick improbably slipped a sure Ray McDonald sack and threw a TD pass. Take that "one play" away, and it's an entirely different game. The same goes in the Detroit game for the TD to Burleson. They couldn't do anything on offense, and that play was a close call itself. Take that away, and we win cleanly. I personally never felt all that threatened in the Bengals game. They took the lead by three and we drove down and scored a TD on the next drive.

Luck isn't irrelevant, obviously, but at the end of the day we have consistently done what it takes to win games.

 

[deep9er]

With three 4th Qtr comebacks and two returns for TD's against a dominating tide shift vs. Seattle, we are as much lucky to be 6-1 as we are good.

We could easily be 4-3 or even 3-4 right now. Don't take my comment negatively, I am proud of where we are and what we have accomplished thus far, but we are a long way from being as dominate as having the second best record in football makes it sound.

agree. obviously ESTATIC at where we are regardless of how we got there. also proud of this team for playing hard and the O-line not falling apart from earlier problems. but on the other hand, we could easily be 4-3 too. a T.O. here and in another game, and the outcome changes?

some years you play hard but it doesn't bounce your way, some years it does bounce and here it is.

 

[MHSL82]

Bad teams don't make fourth-quarter comebacks, though (as we know all too well). The Niners got somewhat lucky in the Eagles game with the Ronnie Brown fumble and some shaky FG kicking, but they put themselves in a position to win that game. I can't say they got "lucky" in any of the others. They just made the plays they needed to to win.

Now, is this team the second-best in the league? I wouldn't say that. But they've played a pretty tough schedule to date and have emerged 6-1 with the only loss in OT. I think there's a strong argument for placing them second in the power rankings. The Steelers are 2-2 on the road, and their wins came against the Cards and Colts. The Pats' D has been very shaky at times. Baltimore got manhandled by the Jags and then almost lost at home to Arizona.

Our D and STs are as good as any in the league right now, and our running game has been great the past couple weeks. Now, our glaring hole happens to be at the most important position, but we might be the most consistently solid all-around team in the league through seven games.

Just a hypothetical opinion question. If Dallas were 5-2 right now, would we be seen as the number 2 team? Or is everyone just looking at out of the Steelers, Patriots, Green Bay, Saints, Ravens, and 49ers who would win? Cause I know our only loss came in overtime but it almost seems that with Dallas being dismissed (as far as being a great team) it makes our loss look worse. My guess is those who rank us aren't paying attention to everyone we're playing (evidence that Hoge thought we were 6-1 because we played in this division) but maybe it's a factor? If we didn't belong to the NFC West but had the same record against the same teams, would we be number 2? (I know that we'd play different teams if we were in a different division, just for the sake of argument)

 

[MW49ers5]

agree. obviously ESTATIC at where we are regardless of how we got there. also proud of this team for playing hard and the O-line not falling apart from earlier problems. but on the other hand, we could easily be 4-3 too. a T.O. here and in another game, and the outcome changes?

Some years you play hard but it doesn't bounce your way, some years it does bounce and here it is.

Well said.

 

[SRPnVA]

Truthfully, I'd be happier if they rated the 9ers 22nd than 2nd. Stay humble, stay hungry.
I just wanted to know how other fans felt.

I'd rather be rated 2nd and win more games to back up that rating. No one's going to stop competing because the team climbed the leaderboards. The goal of every player should be to win every game and become champion of the :globe:

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Out of curiosity, other than recent history, what do people think makes Baltimore that much better than us?

 

[mem49er]

Ravens have given up exactly 3 more points. That's not per game, 3 more points the whole seeaon, and 14 of them yesterday were on the St's and a turnover giving AZ 1st and goal. Baltimore gives up far less points per game and beyond stats, they are actually scarier. We're getting there but not there yet.

I'm not following that statement. Both teams have had their byes. The Niners have given up fewer points. Are you talking about solely the defense? Even if we eliminate defensive and STs points from consideration, the Ravens are allowing what, two or three fewer points per game? I wouldn't call that "far less."

And in terms of opponents, the Niners have played the 4th, 9th, 12th, 18th, 24th, 27th and 28th scoring teams. The Ravens have played the 8th, 11th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, 31st and 32nd scoring teams. So the Niners have faced the more challenging schedule. The Ravens have a great D, but so do the Niners the way they've been playing over the past few weeks.

That was a typo, I meant to say Baltimore gives up far fewer yards, specifically yards through the air. I think we are pretty comparable on front 7 though their OLB's have a slight edge. I think that their secondary is more than a touch more solid their defense as a whole has shown the ability to dominate games more than once. We did it against TB but I wouldn't say we have in any other games.

 

[deep9er]

Out of curiosity, other than recent history, what do people think makes Baltimore that much better than us?

they're not MUCH better than us.