In depth: San Francisco 49ers

by | Mar 14, 2012 | 2011 season, 2012 season, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, NFL Random Thoughts

In 2010, under Mike Singletary, the San Francisco 49ers entered the season with high expectations, but those hopes quickly dissolved as the internal strife took the team down to the tune of a 6-10 record.

So expectations were much lower when Jim Harbaugh took over in 2011. But San Francisco rebounded, using a rock-solid, fundamentally-sound defense, a great running game and solid-to-sometimes spectacular play from quarterback Alex Smith to take control of the NFC West early.

The 49ers went 13-3, earning a first round playoff bye, on route to the NFC Championship game where only a couple untimely turnovers kept the team from advancing to the Super Bowl.

So how does San Francisco keep the momentum going? Steve Spooner, team editor at the website 49ersgab.com, shared his thoughts with Zoneblitz. Here’s what he had to say:

Zoneblitz: With expectations low heading into 2011, San Francisco came seconds short of a Super Bowl berth. What changed between 2010 and 2011 that allowed for the run? (more…)

NFL Best Bets 2011 season, Championship Sunday

by | Jan 20, 2012 | NFL Gambling

The games have gotten tougher and tougher to pick over the last few weeks and that just continues getting truer this weekend. And it’s not like I’m coming in on a hot streak either. I improved on my 1-3 wild card weekend picks, hitting two of the four predictions I made during the divisional round. But 3-5 isn’t going to win you anything in Las Vegas except maybe a couple broken legs.

Maybe I can turn it around this weekend. (more…)

NFL Lockout may have saved 49ers season

by | Jan 16, 2012 | 2011 season, NFL Lockout, NFL Random Thoughts

After the San Francisco 49ers went 6-10 during the 2010 season, firing Coach Mike Singletary along the way, Alex Smith was clearly ready to move on.

The 2005 first-overall pick was talking in the locker room with a reporter from the San Jose Mercury News who asked him if he could see himself coming back for a seventh season in San Francisco.

His response, according to this story, was: “Are you being serious? … Uh, no.” (more…)

Playoffs 2011-12: Assessing the NFC

by | Jan 1, 2012 | 2011 season, NFL Random Thoughts

It’s a new year and I’m vowing to post more and better content to this blog in 2012. Well, at least more content to this blog, anyway. I’ll start with my own assessment of the NFL playoffs.

There are too many scenarios in the AFC heading into week 17. But the NFC outlook is pretty simple. There are a couple seeding issues to be resolved and then there’s the strangely bad NFC East yet to be decided, but otherwise it’s a pretty clear picture. Here’s a reverse-order assessment of who I think the conference’s biggest contenders are for the Lombardi Trophy.

(And here is a link to my thoughts on the AFC)

(more…)