EDITOR'S REQUEST: Is there anybody who would be interested in becoming the daily "Golden Nuggets" person for the site?  I think people enjoy the convenience of having links to check on a daily basis.  It's not a glamorous position, but I think it's an especially important one.  So, if you're interested, feel free to leave a note in the comments or email me at ninersnation@gmail.com and we'll discuss the details in a little more depth.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

We're a day removed from another bad loss and the links are certainly not rosy in nature.  Given the upcoming schedule, it's safe to say Mike Nolan is entering the proverbial hotseat.  I had considered a post asking what people thought would happen to Nolan if the 49ers lost their next three games (quite possible), but I really don't think that's an appropriate post for now.  If the 49ers lose their next three games, then, we can discuss it.

On to the links....

ESPN: Mike Sando wrote what we're all thinking: Exciting on offense is definitely not good enough for the 49ers right now.

ESPN: Sando also put together some silver linings from the game.  I'd much prefer wins over silver linings.

ESPN: Finally, Sando put together a detailed look at the 49ers committment to using Gore throughout the game (minus trailing in the 4th quarter).

Press Democrat: Maiocco rolled out a quickie report card following the game and suffice to say, the 49ers did not make the honor roll.

Press Democrat: The blitz did NOT work on Sunday in spite of the 5 sacks.

SJ Merc: A solid recap of the Steve Young jersey retirement ceremony.

SJ Merc: A third-down-stoppage stimulus package?  That's a good way to put it.

SJ Merc: Steve Young brought back some of the good ole days, for at least a little bit.

SF Chron: The 49ers receivers definitely didn't do JTO any favors yesterday with some rather ugly drops.

SF Chron: Gwen Knapp thinks there is too much of a losing culture with the 49ers.  If it is a "losing culture," I don't think it's the traditional culture of losing.  It's some twisted version.

SF Chron: The Chronicle's look at Steve Young's retirement ceremony.

SF Chron: Ray Ratto thinks the 49ers defense might still be on the field at Candlestick.

SF Chron: John Crumpacker grades out the 49ers.

Sacramento Bee: Bamm Bamm was PISSED after the game and did not do any interviews.

Sacramento Bee: The 49ers still have a long way to go.

InsideBayArea.com: Another lesson delivered by "the mastered."  I'm not sure Belichick is sufficiently a master yet...we'll see how this season plays out before bestowing such a title.

San Francisco Sentinel: Well this Pat Murphy guy certainly has a bug up his ass.  I'm certainly not happy with the team's current state, but I'm not feeling quite as negative as Murphy.  Of course, some folks here probably agree with him and think I'm off my rocker.  Nothing wrong with that.

Every so often I roll out Nolan quotes, post-game quotes and similar whatnot.  I thought I'd make the post-game quotes a more regular feature as I receive them.  Even with all the coach-speak and athlete cliches, we can probably get a little context.  Also, I'll throw in my thoughts if anything jumps out.  I'll make sure and set it off as my own opinion.

HEAD COACH MIKE NOLAN
On the game as a whole: “Okay, defensively we’ve got to get off the field better, obviously. (We) didn’t do a good job there. And offensively, we definitely have to stay on the field. We’ve got to convert on third down. Special teams was uneventful. There wasn’t much to report there. But that’s what led to the loss: gave them another big pass, uncharacteristic of our secondary. But two weeks in a row, I’m not going to say it is becoming characteristic, but we got the quarterback on a blitz and he just unloads it deep and beats us.”

The cliche of the day: “I know we brought pressure. It’s a good example of getting five sacks. (I know) how excited people get about sacks and how they think they’re directly related to winning. That should give you a great example that it really isn’t. To win is all about having more points than the other team. It gets down to staying on the field offensively on third down and getting off on defense, and a lot of other things but it’s never one area.”

Fooch: Oh Coach Nolan...I've joked about coach/athlete cliches including scoring more points than the other team but I've never seen somebody use the phrase "having more points than the other team."  Really bringing his A-game.

On deactiving Roderick Green and activating Marcus Hudson: “With Rod I thought that I’d just let Tully (Banta-Cain) have the opportunity. I thought that it was important to get (Marcus Hudson) up for the special teams as well. So, Hudson did the special teams. He’s a good special teams player. I felt we’d need him for the game. And Tully had a good week. I thought we’d inspire him and see if he would do something. But I’ll look at the film, but he…again from a pass rush standpoint, I don’t know. I guess I shouldn’t say it before I know. We were okay in that area, like I said, five sacks, but we didn’t win the game.

FRANK GORE
On the offenses performance: “We just went out today flat. We went out flat as a team. We just have to go out there and stick together and play hard. We can’t give up. We just have to keep playing hard.”

Fooch: I realize a 16-game, 4-month long season can be grueling and I certainly don't know enough as a fan to get what players go through.  However, I still find it amazing when players talk about how their team came out flat.  In baseball I can see that happening because we're talking about 162 games where a single loss usually won't sink your season.  But when you're playing 16 games and each one is so important, it's a little tough to swallow.

J.T. O'Sullivan, Takeo Spikes, Nate Clements and Tully Banta-Cain after the jump...

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I just got back from Candlestick Park and frustration is probably the best word to describe how I feel.  I feel frustrated because this team shows signs of putting it together, and follows that with serious regression.  They'll put together a great offensive drive and then follow it with multiple 3 and outs.  They'll get pressure on Matt Cassel and bring him down, and then they'll follow that with Cassel having all damn day to pass the ball.  They'll make a key stop on second or third down, only to have a stupid penalty called.

I try to look at the positives after a game, and while there were positive signs today, they were follow by too many negatives.

The Defense
I'm willing to forgive the Moss bomb early because he's still an athletic freak and these things happen no matter what defense you're running.  My problem is with the lack of adjustment in this bend but don't break defense.  The theory behind a bend but don't break is to give up some first downs, give up some field goals and once in a while a touchdown, but in the end make stops more often that not.  In practice, the 49ers are struggling with the whole stopping offenses issue. 

As I was watching it seemed like the Patriots were getting first downs at will.  Cassel struggled early on but once he realized the defense was giving him a 10-15 yard cushion he picked them apart like a seasoned veteran.  It felt like the 49ers were practically running a prevent defense in the way the Patriots picked up first downs in the latter two thirds of the game.  Even though the Patriots did not have a high yards per carry, their running game still seemed wildly effective.

In just looking at the statistics, one might try and argue the pass rush was finally effective, sacking Cassel 5 times.  That person would be wrong.  The pass rush was all or nothing today as either Cassel was quickly sacked or he had plenty of time to throw the ball.  J.T. O'Sullivan was only sacked once, but it seemed like he was scrambling around in the pocket half the time.  I don't know this was planned or not, but the Patriots defense consistently forced JTO to his left side so that he had no chance to plant his feet after bootlegging out.  That was not the case with Matt Cassel and he made the quick throws he needed to.  The QB hurries and knockdowns are just as important as the sacks.

J.T. O'Sullivan
Oh JTO, what are we going to do with you? Considering he only threw for 130 yards, it was a very active day for fearless leader.  He had several ugly overthrows, he had some dropped passes and he seemed to scramble to his left every other play.  High risk/high reward is fine but things got out of hand today.  He's got 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions on the season, to go with 20 sacks.  I think the best description of him is a poor man's Brett Favre.  A VERY poor man.  Favre would make an incredibly bad decision but followed it up with 2 or 3 huge plays.  JTO, on the other hand, will make one huge play and follow it up with 2 or 3 bad decisions.  Not quite the ratio we'd like to see.

I think you'd be a blind fool to argue the offense isn't better than it was last year.  It's not pretty in the slightest, but it is better.  I didn't hear the broadcast, but in the game thread Cruithear mentioned that the CBS crew said that the passing game would look better as they get more time together.  Clearly it's better than last year, but there are definitely some timing issues that need to be worked out.  I thought it would be a roller coaster with JTO and it truly has been so far.

Mike Martz
It is completely true that one minute he seems like a genius and the next minute you're pulling your hair out in frustration.  Clearly he's made the offense better and made this a more competitive team.  However, several areas continue to drive me batty.  First, Frank Gore.  Frank the Tank touched the ball 16 teams and had one incomplete pass thrown his way.  Considering how close this game was for the first three quarters, that's simply unacceptable.  When you're averaging close to 5 yards per touch (16 touches/78 yards), you simply have to do more with him.  I understand you're not going to run Gore on a 3rd and 4.  However, a short screen pass to him probably has a higher percentage of success than a 15 yard toss to our newest entrant as hands of ston, Vernon Davis.

My second issue, look at the drive chart.  J.T. O'Sullivan led the 49ers on 13 drives today.  TWO of those drives were for more than 30 yards.   ONE drive lasted more than 10 plays, and that drive was the only over 5 plays.  The 49ers finished the game having possessed the ball for 20:08, while the Patriots had the ball for 39:52.  It was definitely week 1 all over again, as several of you mentioned in the game thread.  I think this goes somewhat back to Frank Gore, but better use of the running game and more short completions will get that clock ticking a little bit more.

Isaac Bruce
I wanted to end this tantrum on a positive note.  Isaac Bruuuuuuuuuce is probably running a close second to Frank Gore as 49ers offensive MVP so far.  Bruce finished with 3 catches for 49 yards and 2 touchdowns.  After his monster game against the Seahawks, he has settled in as a nice, solid receiving option.  This is clearly not Jerry Rice ending his career in Seattle or Johnny Unitas in his last year as a Charger.  Isaac Bruce may not be the receiver he used to be, but he is bringing some serious game to the 49ers.  I never thought I'd root for a former Ram, but Bruce is the kind of quiet professional that anybody can root for.

Looking Forward
As some of you pointed out in the game thread, this division is still up for grabs.  The 49ers sit one game back of the Cardinals.  Of coure the next two weeks could bring some serious misery as the 49ers host a likely angry Philadelphia Eagles squad and then travel to the Meadowlands to face a bad-ass New York Giants squad. 

The Seahawks are no gimme even in their current form, so the 49ers better be careful or they could go into the bye week at 2-6.  In reality one win might be all they get before the bye.  Two wins would be absolutely amazing, but they have to at least get one.  I won't say the season is on the line in the next three weeks, but this is as important a 3-game stretch as any.

Oh, and thanks again to everybody who took part in the thread today.  Even in my absence the commentary has been fantastic.  We finished with 28 commenters and 656 comments.  49erLou and Cruithear lead the way with 89 and 86 comments respectively.  The full list is after the jump.

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As I mentioned in the game thread, I'm actually attending today's game.  I don't get to very many games at the Stick due to cost and the fact that I really enjoy football on tv.  However, my dad's a big Patriots fan and wanted to get down for the game.  Hopefully he'll leave SF rather disappointed by the game.

I'll be back with a recap when I get home from the Stick, but in the meantime, feel free to use this thread for post-game chatter.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yea, it's the Pats, not the Saints.  Just got back from the game and will have a recap up soon.  Thanks for the heads-up SSreporters.

GO NINERS!

  vs. 

Date: October 5, 2008
Time: 1:15pm PST
Location: Bill Walsh Field @ Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA
Records: 49ers (2-2) Patriots (2-1)
Bodoglife.com Spread: 49ers +3; Over/Under 41; Money Line: 49ers +150, Patriots -170 - I'll go 49ers and the over. 
Weather: 65°, 20% chance of showers, Wind WNW 7mph
TV Broadcast: CBS - Dick Enberg, Randy Cross, Dan Fouts
Radio: 107.7 The Bone, 680/1050 KNBR - Joe Starkey, Gary Plummer, Rod Brooks
Spanish Radio: KIQI 1010-AM, KATD 990-AM - Fernando Arias and Ambrosio Rico
Patriots Coverage: Pats Pulpit

Streaming Video Options

Sports Bar Thread

Week 5 Prediction Games - If you forgot to pick any of the games, you can always just predict the later ones to get any points you can.  If you miss all of today's you can just pick MNF if you want.

Injuries
49ers: Doubtful - LB Manny Lawson; Out - CB Shawntae Spencer, OT Jonas Jennings

Patriots: Doutbful - LB Eric Alexander, CB Lewis Sanders, WR Kelley Washington

As Maiocco has stated, this is another GPS game.  It's no guaranteed win, but I think the 49ers really need to take advantage of the situation and get what would be a huge win.  Bill Belichick had two weeks to prepare for the 49ers, but they're still playing with Matt Cassel running the offense.  This is definitely a tough game to predict considering all the potential x-factors.  I think it's safe to say we need JTO to stay on his feet and Frank Gore to have a big game.  And, of course, a solid defensive effort would be quite the plus.

Also, I won't be around for the in-game thread.  I'm actually making a rare appearance at the Stick.  My dad's a huge Patriots fan so he's coming to town for the game.  I'm obviously psyched for the game, but even more so for the Steve Young retirement ceremony.  Should be a lot of fun and hopefully the 49ers add a win on top of it.  Either way, I've pre-scheduled a post-game thread.  I'm not sure how long it will take me to get home from Candlestick, but I'll get a recap up when I do get home.

GO NINERS!

Kickoff is a little over 12 hours away and I thought I'd get one more preview out.  Scouts Inc. usually hits on a lot of the obvious, but their preview of the game is always a plus.

49ers Keys to Success (with my own thoughts)
1. Straighten out the problems on the offensive line - According to Maiocco and Stats, LLC, Joe Staley has given up a team-high 5 sacks.  His move to left tackle has not exactly been smooth sailing, but hopefully as the season goes on we'll see some improvements.
2. Get Gore the ball early and often - Certainly not a shocking suggestion.  Gore has proven his ability to contribute in both the running and passing game.  I know forcing a specific ratio can create problems but it seems foolish if he's not touching the ball 25 times a game.
3. Keep Cassel running in the pocket - Cassel has completed 2/3 of his pass and while his YPA is relatively low, it should only improve as he grows more comfortable.  Accordingly, the pass rush simply has to be there.  Eventually, Cassel is going to gain some comfort with the deep game and I'd prefer it not happen today.

Matchup to Watch
They agree with us on the Moss-Clements being the best matchup of the week.  They say that:

This week Moss gets to test out his speed and big-play ability on one of the league's better cover men. It has the potential of an exciting matchup, and both players are sure to be up for the challenge. Clements prides himself on his ability to shut down opposing teams' best receivers, and he should get opportunities to prove himself against New England. The key factor in Moss versus Clements will be Cassel's ability and willingness to get the ball deep with the timing and accuracy to allow this matchup to play out.

Let's hope for a repeat of Clements' performances against Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson.  Walt Harris will have to hold up his own end of the bargain against Wes Welker, but Moss is the biggest threat out there.

Overall, Scouts Inc. slightly favors the Patriots.  They give the Patriots the edge in wide receivers, on the o-line and d-line, in special teams and at head coach.  The 49ers get the edge at quarterback, running back, linebacker and defensive back.  They predict a 23-17 Patriots win stating that:

San Francisco appeared to lose some confidence last week in New Orleans, and the 49ers are now on pace to set a new league record for sacks allowed in a season. New England isn't without its own question marks -- and shaky quarterback play is just one of them. But the Patriots get a narrow edge in this game, if for no other reason than Belichick has had an extra week to prepare for it.

We're a day away from yet another big game for the 49ers.  The team is 2-2 and as with any early .500 team, there is cause of optimism and cause for pessimism.  I remain optimistic, although the offensive line is not giving me a lot of reason to.

Heading into tomorrow's game I'm not sure how to describe my expectations.  The Patriots were annihilated by the Dolphins but they're still coached by Bill Belichick and the hooded one had two weeks to prepare for the 49ers.  I do not expect the 49ers to roll out a 38-13 victory, that's for sure.

We're only a quarter of the way through, but it's already been a loooooong season for Tully Banta-Cain.  While nothing's guaranteed, I think it's safe to say he'll be active tomorrow given Manny Lawson's injury.

Speaking of injuries, nothing surprising in the injury report for this week.  Lawson is listed as doubtful and all three Patriots mentioned Thursday (LB Eric Alexander, CB Lewis Sanders adn WR Kelley Washington) are all doubtful.

Last week Mike Nolan said he used a challenge because he wanted to call a timeout anyways and figured why not try and get a reversal.  Mike Sando put together a breakdown of the use of challenges by Nolan and Belichick.

Adalius Thomas and Mike Nolan know each other pretty well from their time in Baltimore together.  Probably why they tried to sign him last year (that and the fact that he's really good).

49ers offensive line a major concern: Thank you Captain Obvious.

Patriots scout.com site on 5 reasons the Patriots would lose tomorrow.

Brent Jones will be an honorary captain for tomorrow's game.

Jamie Martin didn't think there were any juicy theories about Mike Martz and SpyGate.

Coming off an ugly game against the Dolphins, the Patriots rush defense will have it all it can handle in Frank Gore.

This is good timing with Steve Young getting his jersey retired tomorrow.

A general look at the 49ers by a Massachusetts newspaper that thinks we're a team making progress.

Kentwan Balmer is one of nine 2008 first round draft picks not to make a start this season.  Although he did get 20 snaps last Sunday and is slowly seeing his role expand.

Brief discussion about halfway down about potential trick plays by the 49ers.  If they do decide to run some direct snaps like the Dolphins did, I really hope they use Michael Robinson or Arnaz Battle for them.  Although apparently Frank Gore thinks he can throw the ball pretty well.

So I got the transcript from Mike Nolan's press conference today and something about it made me laugh.  Read through the following (I did not re-order them in any way):

RE: Is it a coincidence at all that Tully Banta-Cain might be up for this game when you’re playing the New England Patriots, his old team? Or is that just a function of the schedule?
“We didn’t plan on Manny getting nicked. And that’s really why it works out that way. What’s that green thing you’ve got there?”

RE: It’s a Buddha.
“It’s a Buddha?”

RE: Yeah, I got it in Hong Kong. A little fat, happy laughing guy.
“Are you a Buddhist?”

RE: Yeah, why not? We’ve all got to believe in something.
“You know Wade Philips used to say when they called him a guru one time he looked at himself and said, ‘I think I look more like a Buddha.’”

RE: What would Tully have to show you to continue to remain active if he was active this weekend?
“Play well, just like New Orleans. Make tackles, make sacks, knock balls down. Just play well. Get noticed in a positive way.”

I have to say I love how they go from talking about Tully Banta-Cain to talking about Buddha and then right back to TBC.

Also, earlier this week there was discussion about how Belichick knew player names while Nolan was more of a number guy.  Check out this discussion about the 49ers wide receivers (more the second question than the first):

RE: Do the Patriots use as many 3 and 4 wide receiver sets as they did a year ago?
“We didn’t play them last year, but the film that I’ve looked at, it’s very much what they’re doing now. Now a few years ago when I played them, as a matter of fact the last time I played them in Baltimore, they were no backs sometimes. They would go one tight end and no backs. I think they have a lot of confidence in both their tight ends as well as their backs. Enough to keep them on the field. Back then, I don’t know that they had a [Laurence] Maroney. I think they had just traded Cincinnati to get that back, what’s his name? You’ll never forget old whats-his-name. I forgot his name. The big guy. Anyhow, they do the same thing they did a year ago to answer your question.”

RE: So, their third is [Jabar] Gaffney?
“Yes, No. 10. [They have] No. 83, No. 81 and No. 10.”

While this isn't quite like listing off 15 different players, the fact that he could call out the guys number when asked who the third receiver was seems to indicate his own level of preparation.

Anyways, nothing wildly important there, but just a few lines that allow us to be even more amused by the mind of Mike Nolan.

The first four weeks of the season have seen the 49ers secondary squaring off against everybody from Calvin Johnson, Roy Williams and Larry Fitzgerald to Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne and Terrance Copper.  In spite of last week's performance, the 49ers secondary remains a strength in my opinion.  With that in mind I thought we'd take a look at the biggest matchup of week, along with some other important matchups.

Matchup of the Week
Nate Clements vs. Randy Moss: As interesting as I think Walt Harris and Wes Welker is, the matchup everybody will be watching is 6-4 super-freak Randy Moss vs. 6-0 Nate "Lockdown" Clements.  Clements has been money well spent and prior to Brady going down, Randy Moss slipped into the rejuvenation machine.  However, both the principals face some problems this week. 

Nate Clements will be hoping and praying the pass rush steps up this week.  As good as he is, if even a guy like Matt Cassel gets enough time, eventually he'll probably find Moss.  Maybe it won't happen early on, but eventually Clements will get worn down.  On the other side of the ball, aside from the opening week, Matt Cassel has struggled to develop a rapport with Randy Moss.  Raiders and VIkings fans are probably wondering when he'll repeat his behavior in those cities.

Other matchups
Patriots pass rush vs. 49ers offensive line: The Patriots pass rush managed next to nothing two weeks ago versus the Dolphins and witnessed Chad Pennington absolutely pick them apart.  It was helped in great part by a great running game, but either way Pennington was 17/20 for 226 yards.  Given the number of sacks JTO has suffered thus far, a full game on his feet would really be quite nice.

49ers pass rush vs. Patriots offensive line: One thing I've noticed is that Ray McDonald has been especially quiet up to this point.  He's made plays but he hasn't been the impact guy I thought he would be at the beginning of the season.  Any thoughts on what has kept him from blowing up for the 49ers?  Aside from McDonald, I'd expect we'll see a bit of Tully Banta-Cain for the first time.  He had some good performances in the preseason garbage time so who knows what we can expect.  I do know that Parys Haralson and Roderick Green need to bring the speed off the outside and get Cassel frazzled as early as possible.  If they can get Cassel hearing footsteps early it will make their job all the easier.

49ers receivers vs. Patriots secondary: One interesting advantage might be the injury of third corner Lewis Hobbs Sanders who has missed all of practice this week.  If they're short on cornerbacks, a healthy 49ers wide receiver corp could potentially do some damage.  Arnaz Battle is coming off probably the best game of his career and a chance to face a rookie like Terrence Wheatley.

49ers running game vs. interior of Patriots defense: As Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams showed last week, this defense can be run upon.  I'm sure Belichick has the defense prepped for Frank Gore, but Gore brings enough talent to overcome such gameplans if he gets enough touches.  The Patriots interior includes the likes of Vince Wilfork at nose tackle, Tedy Bruschi and Jerod Mayo at inside linebacker and hard-hitting Rodney Harrison at strong safety.  I include Harrison because of the support he can bring in the run game.  Aside from some ugly blocking against the Seahawks, the offensive line has opened up just enough space for Frank Gore to squeeze out some sizeable runs.  A solid running game is absolutely, positively essential to protecting JTO.

The 49ers have officially ruled out Manny Lawson for Sunday's game due to his hamstring injury.  We all see him pull up pretty quickly and that usually leads to a little bit of missed time.  It's unfortunate, but definitely better to be safe than sorry.  Roderick Green will certainly be active this Sunday, but with Lawson's injury, we might see Tully Banta-Cain for the first time all season.  He was running around like a mad man in the preseason but has been inactive during the regular season.  Ahmad Brooks is also out there but I'd imagine they want another outside linebacker to fill Manny's role.

Frank Gore was held out of practice yesterday in what has quickly become a weekly tradition.  Aside from the week leading up to the opener, I think Gore has been held out of Wednesday's practice every week this season as a coach's decision.  If it keeps Gore fresh I'm certainly all for it.  Of course, when he's touching the ball fewer than 20 times a game isn't he fresh enough?  I kid...sort of.

Aside from that Jonas Jennings and Shawntae Spencer are the only other guys missing practice, for obvious reasons.  Although, in yesterday's press conference Nolan mentioned Jennings' injury was meant to be a 3-4 week time table, which is fast coming to a close.  I'm really not sure how to feel about that considering his performance up to that point.  Again though, if healthy he is more talented than Barry Sims.

Patriots
On the Patriots side of the ball, the bye week allowed any bumps and bruises to heal.  They had three guys miss Wednesday practice: LB Eric Alexander, CB Lewis Sanders and #4/#5 WR Kelley Washington.  All are backups behind some pretty impressive performers (Bruschi, O'Neal and Moss) so those are not big injury issues.

We're four weeks into the 2008 NFL Season and 49ers QB J.T. O'Sullivan has been sacked 19 times.  That puts him on pace for 76 sacks, which would tie David Carr's single season record.  That also happened in Carr's rookie season and while he had a couple decent seasons, he never really recovered from the beating he took.

The Patriots have struggled a bit, but even I was surprised by how poorly their defense performed against the Dolphins.  Even with the offense losing Tom Brady, that defense has a whole host of playmakers.  Coming off such a poor performance, I think it's safe to say the hooded one will have his defense chomping at the bit and looking for blood.

Accordingly, the 49ers offense is going to have figure out a way to protect J.T. O'Sullivan and keep him on his feet more often.  I realize the Martz offense is high risk high reward and the QB is going to be sacked fairly often, but the rate so far has been ridiculous.  Jon Kitna was sacked 63 and 51 times in the two season of Martz but that was the Lions who struggled to develop a running game and didn't exactly have thre greatest offensive line in the world.

The problems so far seem to be threefold: 1) The offensive line struggles to provide JTO with time to pass, 2) When the line gives him time, JTO will hold onto the ball too long, and 3) Some of the play-calling leaves a little something to be desired.

I think the first two are areas that are both self-explanatory and I don't think much can be added to the conversation.  As far as the line is concerned there are certainly some replacement options available.  We've got some potential fill-ins and could shake things up but I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make.  As for JTO, well clearly he needs to learn to either throw away the ball or gallop along for a few free yards.  Pretty straightforward.

The play-calling is what I want to address.  We've been over and over and over the Vernon Davis problems.  What I don't understand is why Martz doesn't run more screen passes and short, quick passes to him?  Those passes drastically increase the chances that he won't drop the ball and he has proven time and again that if he gets the ball in his hands he will more often than not make some thing out of it.  If I had every game on tape I could probably point to numerous times when he gets the quick screen or quick hitches and turns up field for a first down or more.  I realize many would prefer Vernon Davis be running deep and making plays that way, but I really don't understand why they don't run specific plays just to get the ball in his hands.  Am I the only one?  Is there a reasonable explanation?

The second issue in play-calling is Frank Gore.  This past Sunday, Frank Gore ran the ball or had a pass thrown in his direction (both complete and incomplete) a total of 10 times in the first half.  In one situation, Gore ran on first and second down for 9 yards setting up a 3rd and 1.  The next play was an incomplete pass to Isaac Bruce.  I realize you don't want to force the running game if it isn't there, but if you don't think Gore can get you 1 yard from Frank Gore, there is clearly a problem.

I was never a fan of Mike Tice's "Randy Ratio" up in Minnesota.  However, in the case of Frank Gore, I think you have to come up with a minimum number of times you want him to touch the ball and then do whatever it takes to reach and exceed that number.  He's a bull of a running back who can shimmy through the smallest of holes.  A struggling offensive line will not completely hold him back.

I realize much of what I'm stating would qualify as "the obvious."  But if it's so obvious, wouldn't the coaches realize this too?  The Patriots defense presents numerous dangers, particularly coming off an embarrassing performance.  The 49ers will have to adjust to keep JTO on his feet and making plays.  All I ask is for more quick stuff to Davis and some kind of Gore ration (we can call it the "Frank Factor").