Is this the end of the Nolan era?

It should be! If you will recall three post ago I mentioned the four games that we are currently in were crucial to the season and possibly the job of Mike Nolan. Well after the past two games I have come to the conclusion that Mike Nolan is not the answer.

Mike Nolan has had enough time to put together a winning season and has yet to come close much less make the playoffs. The addition of Mike Martz was supposed to be the missing link to this problem because offense was all we needed. Nolan put players in a defense that was supposed to be the strength of the team. What went wrong?

I hate to say it but at times Mike Nolan seemed more concerned about what he was wearing rather than the performance of his team. Well after six games in the 2008 season the wheels are falling off. The Niners lost to Philadelphia today 40-26 after leading by 9 points at the end of the third. Nolan's defense gave up 23 points in the final 11 minutes of the game and the Niner's who looked like they were going to dominate an opponent they lose focus and lose the game.

Don't get me wrong the players played hard and the Niner's seemed to be firing on all cylinders. Special teams blocked a field goal and returned it for a TD. Frank Gore was running over people and JT hadn't been sacked but then the fourth quarter came.

It is my opinion that the 49ers must move on NOW. The 49ers have lost three in a row and with the team traveling to the meadowlands next week and have a good chance of losing their fourth straight. Mike Nolan will not do what is necessary to salvage the season and there is a good chance that he will poison the current roster. The Niners could promote Martz to interim head coach and then make a play for Bill Cower. He is a master of defense and with the talent on the Niners roster he will easily turn the defense into a unit that is worthy of elite consideration.

One thing is certain that Nolan, like Alex Smith is done in San Francisco. If not now he will be gone by seasons end. To wait means that the will be competing with Oakland, St. Louis, Seattle and other teams for his top tier coaches. If they settle then we will be having this same discussion in 4 more years.

Thanks Mike for giving it the ole' college try but for the sake of the 49er's faithful it is time to move on.

What happened?

I mean seriously what happened. What happened to the ferocious Mike Nolan defense? Why are they giving up what seems to be 30 points a game? I said it a couple of weeks ago that this current set of four games would make or break the 49ers season. If they cannot compete with the big boys then what does it matter?

New England came in again with the swagger of a champion and on a 4th and 2, they said my balls are bigger than yours and went for it after they Niners held them. This was in the first half and yeah they were behind but they certainly did not need a touchdown. It is just what a team like New England does. After that point the Niners never led again and lost the game 30 to 21.

This game leaves me scratching my head because the Niners had a real chance to make a statement and they just failed. It is almost like they gave up. Now I am not taking away from the Pats. They are the best team in the league that is when Brady is healthy. But where is the moxie? Where is the guts to hold Kevin Faulk on that direct snap.

Philadelphia is next and we have looked terrible against them in the previous few years. In fact the Niners haven't beaten Philadelphia since 2003 when Jeff Garcia and Terrel Owens was on the team. The NFC East is the toughest division in football and the next two games are against NFC East opponents. If the Niners are going to make a statement they will need to do it this week at home.

I will go out on a limb and say that if the Niners lose the next two games Mike Nolan will be replaced with Mike Martz. It is already rumored after this season that Mike Holmgren will rejoin San Francisco in the front office. Also a Superbowl winning coach is still out there, Bill Cower. Hopefully we can get something moving pretty quickly because it is getting really hard for me to root for a team unwilling to make the necessary changes to win.

Too much talent to lose like that!

I was looking forward to the mach up against our old division rival the Saints. After the past couple of meetings where the Niners were demolished 31-10 in 2007 and 34-10 in 2008, I assumed that Martz and Nolan would come out swinging. Well I was wrong. The outcome was the same and the Niners played like a team looking for a new coach and lost 31-17.

For a team that is on the rise it seems like there would have been a much better game plan. For most of the game the 49er's looked tired. Drew Brees torched the expensive secondary for 363 yards and he completed 23-35 passes with three touchdowns and one int. Compare that to JTO who went 18-36 for 257 yards with one TD and 2 interceptions. I have seen worse numbers than that, especially from a recent number one draft pick but JTO also took six sacks which led to two field goals.

San Fran only converted 30% of their third down attempts. The offense looked like a version of last years. Constantly booting field goals instead of scoring touchdowns. What happen to the shoot out we were all supposed to see?

Frank Gore had a solid game with 113 total yards including 82 on the ground. Bruce caught another touchdown and Battle had a buck twenty on seven receptions. But when your offense gives up 6 sacks and the QB turns the ball over three times it is hard to win.

The Niners have a two game home stand coming up and this is really going to define their season and maybe even decide if Nolan will be coaching them next season. New England with two weeks to prepare is the only game at the beginning of the season that I did not think we had a chance in. I still really don't. But after Miami put it to them I have a little bit of hope.

If the Niners are going to win next week they have to do it like they did in Seattle. By aggressively blitzing Cassel and moving the ball vertically down the field. Hammer Gore up the gut and use quick three step drops to keep New England off of JTO. Use the run and short passes to set up play action and burn loud mouth Rodney Harrison.

In my heart I know the Niners are a good team. But as I said in my previous post, they just lack the killer instinct and swagger. Lets see if they can show New England who the next dynasty is this week. Go NINERS

Win 2 in a row and ....

...you can call it a streak. Going into Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions the Niner's were looking to put together back to back wins.

The 49'ers came out with the new retrofitted offense cranking out points on all cylinders. Martz for now has the Niner's looking like the Niner's of old. I am not ready to crown JT the next Montana or Young but with the support of Gore and Bruce he looks like he is at best, like Jeff Garcia, the last QB to lead San Fran to the playoffs.

Last year was all about field goals. Ask Joe Nedney. It seems like he was on auto dial as a first option inside the red zone instead of the last option. In fact Martz made it clear that if the Niner's make it to the one and can't punch it in the end zone in 3 tries then the fourth one is for the offense not the special teams.

Martz who has been criticized in the past for being one dimensional mixed up the offense making it look as though Detroit's defense was grasping for straws.

Frank Gore had a terrific game running for 130 yards and a TD. JT O'Sullivan had another solid game completing 70% of his passes and throwing two TDs. Most of this work was put in during the first two quarters. By the end of the first half the Niner's built up a 21-3 lead.

The defense showed up this week. They limited Detroit to 240 total yards and intercepted Detroit on two different occasions. The defense only gave up 13 points but most of those points came late in the game. This was a far cry from the 30 points San Fran gave up to Seattle.

All in all this was a dominant performance by the Niner's. It seems as though they had the winner swagger, the dominant attitude that those winning teams have when they are in the midst of dare we say a winning season?

Now the bad news. The Niners are about to embark on the tough part of the schedule. In the next four weeks the Niners face New Orleans there, New England and Philly at home and then the NY Giants at home. These teams are arguably four of the top ten teams in the league. If the Niners win all four then I will guarantee a playoff spot but the reality is that they have a chance to win 2 out of the 4. If that does happen then I would still say the Niners have a chance for the playoffs but more importantly a chance at a winning season.

Finally.....

After 60 straight games the Niners have a 300 yard passer. That is the equivalent of 3 and three quarters of a season. I am not ready to anoint JTO as the next coming of the great one but thank you football Gods for bringing an offense that wasn't offensive BACK to San Francisco, even if it is for only one game.

JTO settled in and threw for 321 yards in a 33-30 overtime win against the Seattle Seahawks. There unfortunately will be comparisons to Alex Smith at least this first season but the closest Smith came to 300 was a loss to the Eagles. I liked Smith unfortunately he never panned out and with the great QB lore of yesterday in Niner history it is easy to get anxious for another legend. In his three years he never panned out. As smart as the kid is I would be glad to have him on the team at a much lower salary though.

In the Seattle game JTO made some great decisions but in the two games with him at the helm I have some concerns. Mainly the number of sacks he has taken 12 in just two games. Some analyst say O'Sullivan is holding the ball too long which may be true but after watching the game I think it is a combination of poor blocking and the length of time JTO is holding the ball. One thing is for certain at this pace JTO might reach the dubious record set by David Carr.

One thing I will admit, Alex Smith has never had real help. No wide receivers and no go to options. So enter Issac Bruce, he had a whopper of a game 10 catches for 153 yards and helped set up the game winning field goal in overtime. Bryant Johnson had six catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Going forward these two must be more consistent though. And where is Vernon Davis. Why doesn't Martz use him more like Kellen Winslow or Jason Whitten?

The defense gave up a lot of points. The pass defensive however performed excellently picking off Hasselbeck twice both resulting in TD's and held Hasselbeck to 50% completion. The run defense however was terrible. They allowed Dallas reject Julius Jones to rush for 126 yards and the front four were pushed around all game long. I see a first round draft pick coming.

Ultimately I am satisfied with going into Seattle and escaping with a win but if the Niners are to become a playoff team they must become more dominant on both sides. Nedney should have won the game at the end of regulation and defensive had an opportunity to ,ake this game a blowout. Nolan cannot teach the team how to shut opponents down it must come naturally and the longer this team plays together the more likely the killer instinct will develop.