EDITOR'S NOTE 1:40PM - Interesting analysis of Justin Smith by jfainsf49 worth checking out.

Alright, so NFL Network re-aired several games from week 2 on Sunday.  One of the games was the Bengals vs. the Browns.  I recorded this game with the hopes of going back and getting a play by play analysis of Justin Smith. I will get back to Smith in a minute.

Another game was the Cardinals vs. Seahawks. I thought this game would give me a chance to look at Bryant Johnson.  Johnson was in on most of the 4 wide sets.  Leinhart called his number twice on 3rd down. On the first drive of the game, Johnson made a catch while on his knees with a defender on his back on 3rd and 8.  Later in the game he made another tough catch on 3rd and 2. That was pretty much it for Johnson in the game.  I know this is an extremely small sample size. However,  I am going to go ahead and say it; I likes me some Bryant Johnson.

The third game that I thought would be worth watching was the Lions vs. Vikings. This game would provide the oppurtunity to see Martz in action. Also, I thought Dontarious Thomas might sneak into the game.  An interesting note about this game: J.T. O'Sullivan provided spot relief for Kitna, when Kitna left the game for about a quarter with a head injury.  I am thinking of doing a seperate dairy for that later in the week.

Here is the tale of the tape on Justin Smith from the Bengals week 2 loss to the Browns.  Keep in mind that some of the plays were not shown in the replay of the game.

First half:

-first defensive series not shown

-run at Smith, blocked by LT
-run to left, Smith blocked by TE  
-pass, Smith double teamed, knocked down
-run, Smith was sucked inside overan play
-pass, Smith dropped into coverage

-pass, Smith 1-on-1 w/LT, little pressure
-run, Smith blocked by TE
-pass, Smith fooled by play action, blocked by TE
-pass, Smith double teamed LG/C, good pressure
-run, Smith went unblocked made tackle w/DT
-pass, Smith spin move on LG/LT, good pressure
-pass, Smith 1-on-1 w/LT, quick throw, no pressure

-run misdirection, Smith blocked by LT
-plays not shown
-pass, Smith blocked by LT, decent pressure
-play not shown
-run right, Smith overan play, blocked by TE
-pass, Smith 1-on-1 w/LT, quick pass, no pressure

-run left, Smith taken out of play by LT
-pass, Smith rushed LG, quick throw, good pressure
-pass, Smith lined up as DT on stunt, no pressure
-pass, Smith blocked LT, quick pass, no pressure
-run at Smith, Smith blocked by LT
-pass, Smith in coverage, TE fell down still made catch in Smith's zone
-pass, Smith 1-on-1 w/LT, outside push, overan QB
-pass, Smith inside push blocked by LG

Second half:

-pass, Smith threw LT to the ground, no pressure
-run middle, Smith avoided cut block by TE, made the tackle
-pass, Smith inside stunt no pressure
-run lead draw, Smith blocked by LG, made tackle
-pass, Smith blocked by LT, no pressure
-pass, Smith blocked by LT, no pressure

-run at Smith, Smith blocked inside by LT

-run, Smith shoved TE in time to make tackle
-pass, Smith blocked by LT/LG, no pressure
-run, d blitz, Smith overan play
-pass play action, Smith taken out of play LT
-pass, Smith blocked by LT, no pressure
-pass, Smith(OLB?) standing until right before snap dropped into 3 point stance, good pressure

-run, Smith blocked by LT
-play not shown
-pass, Smith blocked by LT
-plays not shown
-run, Smith blocked by LG, in on tackle

Final analysis: Smith spent most of the day matched up against Pro Bowler Joe Thomas...For the most part Smith held his own...As stated in the play by play, Smith once threw Thomas to the turf...Smith plays violent and is a solid tackler...Except for a couple of situations, Smith played from a 4 point stance...Often times Smith, while in 4 point stance, switched his lead leg just before the snap...Smith looked suseptible to play action...At one point the Browns were ripping off huge chunks of yardage when they ran at Smith. Smith lined up at RE for most of the day, he did line up a DT once, and at one point he may have been in as an outside linebacker( that's the play where he was standing then dropped into a three point stance right before the snap).

EDITOR'S NOTE 2:10PM - Thanks to both jfainsf49 and JoeDontLoseSuperBowls for posting diaries about the waiving of Derek Smith. I've decided to combine them together for a general discussion. MM has a solid article about Smith's time in San Francisco. Even with his struggles the last couple of years, Smith was a consummate pro who undoubtedly provided Patrick Willis with one hell of an education about being a linebacker in the NFL. The 49ers could not have asked for any more from him when he first arrived as a free agent. Even when the team struggled he didn't complain but simply produced as best he knew how.

If the 49ers can bring him back cheap I'd have no problem with that considering the veteran leadership he could provide. Otherwise, I certainly wish him the best of luck going forward.

Well folks the curtain has closed on Derek Smith's career as a 49er. According to http://www.sfgate.com/sports/49ers/, Smith has been let go.

I don't like to see players go. But with Smith's decline in productivity over the last couple of years, I would have to agree with this move.

I can't wait to see how this plays out.

Any thoughts? Will the Niners now draft another linebacker to play next to Willis? Or will they hit the free agent market?

P.S. I figure this could have gone in as a comment in the Free Agency diary, but I wanted to throw up a poll.  

JoeDontLoseSuperBowl Diary: Thanks you for grooming the next Ray Lewis. Thank you for all the 120+ tackle seasons. Thank you for playing a couple season ago with essentially one good eye. Have fun winning a Super Bowl with the Patriots next year (you know Belichek is going to want him).

Poll

Who will replace Derek Smith?

• Zach Thomas
• Lance Briggs
• Kawika Mithchell
• 1st round draft pick
• 2nd round draft pick
• other free agent
• other draft pick
• guy already on the roster

  31 votes | Results

Two days and no new post. Hmmmm...I guess ol' Fooch is busy with school. Either that or he is on a bender somewhere in Vegas. Do your thing Fooch. We will hold down the fort until you return.  

How am I supposed to kill time at work now? I can usually come here and get lost in Niners gab for a good portion of the work day. But since Fooch is on a bender somewhere, what is a guy to do? Work. I don't think so. I wasn't awarded slacker of the year just to let all of my adoring fans down. That would be a total diservice to them,  myself, and everything I hold dear--namely, slacking. I mean, a former co-worker didn't call me Sir Lounge-a-Lot for no reason at all.  

Alright enough about me.

I want to know what happened to Bob_In_Pacifica? That guy was funny. He also had some interesting things to say. But alas, I guess he has a life outside of NN. The nerve of that guy. Bob if you read this drop us a line you scamp, you scoundrel. He really isn't either of those. I just like saying scamp and scoundrel.

Also what is sfgfan's deal? The guy won the prediction contest and doesn't even come back for his front page post. He always had so much to say, good stuff too. (O-where-o-where is sfgfan?) I even went over to McCovey Chronicles to try and track him down but to no avail.  

I wish I could offer some valuable insight into the draft or insight into free agency, but as you can tell, I got nothing.

I leave you all with this. And this is just for funsies(I stole that from HTS by the way). I thought it would be interesting(perhaps even controversial) to throw up a NN Power Ranking poll. A poll to determine the ultimate NN visitor:

P.S. To anyone left off of the list take no offense. I am just putting up names that come to mind. Also the utlimate NN visitor poll is based on overall literacy, quality and content of each post and frequency of visits. And you can't vote for yourself.

Poll

Who is the Ultimate NN visitor?

• other
• Braekneck
• How The Scored
• marcello
• wjackalope
• LA49er
• koryb55
• Drunken Miller
• Nosetackle Supreme
• shleckothegecko

  25 votes | Results

Well actually the word is from NFL Total Access. But anyhoo, word is that Kawika Mitchell is a free agent.

I know that some of you guys think help is needed elsewhere, like pretty much everywhere. But why not go after this guy?

The plus side. The guy is a championship caliber type player, but that is just my opinion and something I came up with after many hours of studying his game film. And he is a young guy, (actually he was born 5 days before I was).

Here are his stats from last season according to foxsports.com: 76 tckls, 4 scks, 2 ff, 1 int.

The down side. Screw the down side just sign this bastard before someone else does.

First of all, I got to wonder how silly Belichick feels for not kicking a field when they were on the 31 yard line. I was scratching my head at that point. Now Patriots fans know how we Niners fans felt for most of the season.

Second, I remember thinking after the Pats-GMen matchup in week 17 that the GMen had played well enough to win. They should've won that game, but the refs cheated them. Still, I didn't think that the GMen could pull out the big one. I guess I was caught up in the whirlwind that was the Patriots perfect regular season. But oh how sweet vengence is.

Last, as for Belichump Belicheat Belichoke Belitakemyballandgohome Belichick walking off the field with one tick left, ha ha ha ha ha ha, HA. I seem to remember Randy "The Goat" Moss doing the same thing years ago. Ahhh, how sweet it is! Suck it Pats!

P.S. Eli is my hero. Well at least for a few days, or maybe until next season starts!

Double P.S. What will they call that play where Eli eluded the sack and made the pass that led to the incredible reception by what's his name? I put this in a diary so I could add a poll for this very question.

Poll

What should they call that play?

• Other
• No name
• The Shake
• The Helmet Hustle
• The Answered Prayer
• The Did I Just See That? WTF? Good Googly Moogly!

  15 votes | Results

Nolan managed to pull out another squeaker. And he managed to leave me scratching my head, again.

I don't know everything, and I certainly don't know everything about football. But I do know that when the other team committs a penalty, you accept it, generally speaking(if it nulifies an otherwise successful play then no don't accept it). But any other time you accept the penalty.  

Unless, of course, you are Mike "The Onside Kicking Machine" Nolan. He didn't accept the penalty in question leaving Tampa in a 3rd and short, maybe 2 or 3, as opposed to accepting the penalty and it being a 2nd and 13 situation. <scratch,scratch>

But it occured to me that maybe Nolan chose not to accept it to prove a point. Was he telling his guys that we don't need the ref's help, we can do this on our own?

Or, is he just a jackass?

Turns out, about 4 years ago, the 49ers asked a special favor of the Seattle Seahawks.

This was the favor: We asked the Hawks to, and I am qouting directly,"Take this division and safeguard it for us. We will be back in a few years to reclaim it. But first we need to take care of some things."

The Hawks agreed.

The Niners didn't go into a deal with the "devil" without a plan. The plan was--after a settling down period--as not to alarm anyone--to send Julian Peterson as a double agent. So that's what they did. They sent him there as a spy.

Seattle welcomed Peterson with open arms. And they took great care of him, showering him in Starbucks coffee at his pleasure.  

What is more, is that the Hawks made for great stewards of the West.  Hell, they even made an appearance in the Super Bowl.

But the time has come for the Niners to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Problem is they are refusing. And Peterson got hooked on Starbucks-- double mocha latte--and refuses to come back and debrief.  

Now we may be forced to take Mike Holmgren from them, in order to get "it" back. Attempts have been made to gather recon info. Thats why the Niners brought in D. Jack. We thought we could get Jackson to turn and provide valuable insight. But Jackson is obviously a little Benedict Arnold and is playing both sides--collecting a paycheck from the Niners and dropping passes for the rest of the league, no charge:-)

[EDITOR'S NOTE 3:15PM] - Consider this the first thread to start a preview discussion. When I get a chance I'll get the Scouts Inc preview, but this is a decent start. Anybody think we can contain Adrian Peterson or does he blow up?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Niners can win the upcoming game against Minnesota if they can minimize their mental errors.  

One problem I see for the Niners this game isn't so much Adrian Peterson as it is the Viking's running game as a whole.  The Vikings have rushed well without AP and it all comes back to their most valuable o-lineman--Steve Hutchinson.  

The Niners run defense has been less than average, to say the least, giving up over 120yds a game.  It is(one of)my fear(s)that the Niners will face a running game that they cannot stop.  

Again, I think the Niners can win but the Vikings will set some rushing records come Sunday.

As I mentioned in another post, I saw the game again last night, the Cardinals v. Niners game that is. And like a said in the same post, I got to focus on aspects of the game that I could not focus on the first time.  My main focus on offense, among other things, was the o-line play.

For the most part the line did a solid job.  The Cards got pressure when they blitzed. Who hasn't? Right?  I mean that is expected.  

The Niners have had breakdowns when facing the outside blitz(see Giants game).  What else is new?

It is clear that when teams want to blitz they are going to come right up the middle--between the center and left/right guards.  The Cards had success with it and we all remember the blitz that took A. Smith out of action.  Rocky Bernard came right up the middle, unblocked. Problem is that the Niners are still allowing it to happen.  To me, that has to fall on the o-line coach.

To wrap up about the line play from last game.  Again, they did a solid job.  But when there was pressure(outside of the blitz)it came from the left side(see L. Allen, A. Snyder). And when there was pressure T. Dilfer did an awesome job
of moving in the pocket(with both hands on the ball unlike A. Smith).

We all know the Niners D gave up some big yards.  And at first it looked as if the defense was just going to lie down. But they didn't. They managed to make big plays which is what is needed when your offense is struggling.

One thing I have picked up on is this. Teams are taking advantage of P. Willis, at least in pass coverage.  Week after week Willis has been beat. It is totally understandable.  Afterall, he is only a rookie. In time his coverage skills will improve, and that will probably be sooner than later. But, still, teams are attacking that weakness.