Mountain Man: I'm gonna make you squeal like a pig. Weeeeeeee!Substitute "Falcons" for "Mountain Man" and "49ers" for "Bobby", and you get a full, complete understanding of what happened yesterday afternoon at Candlestink Park.
Bobby: Weee!
Mountain Man: Weeeeeeee!
Bobby: Weee!
Oh. My. God.
After a game like that, there are just two related questions to ask: Are the Falcons that good? Or are the 49ers that bad?
Shaun Hill played his worst game as a 49er. He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Nate Clemons is back in my doghouse after making Roddy White look like the second coming of Jerry Rice. Dre Bly is in my doghouse for this little sequence:
- Bly intercepts Matt Ryan pass at about the SF 10 yard line.
- Bly heads down the sideline - 20, 25, 30, 35...
- At about the 30 or 35 yard line he starts showboating like Deion Sanders.
- At about the 40 yard line he is tackled and stripped of the ball by Ryan - a quarterback.
- Atlanta recovers the ball.
- Did I mention the Niners were behind 35-10 at the time?
"Dre's going to be Dre'," Bly said. "When I make plays, and I've made a lot, I express myself."Yeah. He actually said that. Coach Singletary needs to tear this guy a new one.
Speaking of Coach S, this wasn't his finest game, either. The team blew through its first half timeouts by early in the 2nd quarter, so they weren't able to challenge the Delanie Walker krumble (kick-off fumble) that lead to an Atlanta touchdown to make it 28-10. While we're on the subject of the krumble, WTF? WHY was a tight end returning the kickoff in the first place?
Two 49ers played well. Patrick Willis (of course) with 12 tackles was the lone bright spot on defense. And Josh Morgan had a very good game, with 4 catches for 78 yards, including a 61-yard catch-and-run that took the Niners down to the 3 yard line and led to their only touchdown of the day.
Okay, the Niners are 3-2. When I predicted before the season started that the Niners would go 9-7 and win the division, I had them at 2-3 at this point. So...they're one game better than I thought they would be. Still, there are plenty of tough games left on the schedule. Indianapolis. Chicago. Green Bay. Arizona. Philadelphia. And don't forget teams capable of upsetting the Niners: Houston, Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Seattle. If the Niners play the way they did the first 4 games, 9-7 is still possible and will, in all likelihood, win the division. If they play like yesterday.....welcome to yet ANOTHER losing season - our 7th straight.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
