Blogs

Morning Tailgate: Oct. 8

The San Francisco 49ers became the first team to join the NFL’s 300/300 club. Sunday’s 45-3 win over the Buffalo Bills featured 311 rushing yards and 310 passing yards, making the 49ers the first team in NFL history to rush and pass for more than 300 yards in the same game.

The 2012 team did it on Bill Walsh Field, too.

The win was impressive on many fronts. Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee reviewed the masterful performance in his latest postgame review blog.

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Morning Tailgate: Oct. 5

The 49ers roster is littered with playmakers. Team photographer Terrell Lloyd and Kym Fortina were in New York to capture the 34-0 shutout victory over the Jets and collaborated to make this great photo gallery. Don’t forget to check out their “Biggie Head” gallery from Green Bay either.

San Francisco has jumped out to a 3-1 start in the competitve NFC West, where Arizona (4-1), St. Louis (3-2) and Seattle (2-2) have .500 records or better. Much of the 49ers’ success has to do with their offensive line, which has developed a strong rapport in its four games as a unit. Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com discusses the growth of the o-line and how they’ve improved since last year.

“Nobody is questioning the 49ers’ offensive line now,” Maiocco wrote. “In fact, the line might be the team’s strongest position on that side of the ball.”

Up next, the 49ers will have to try slow down Mario Williams and Buffalo’s defensive line, which is one of the best San Francisco will face all year. Tickets for Sunday’s 1:25 p.m. kickoff are still available through NFL Ticket Exchange. More stories about this weekend’s matchup can be found after the jump.

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Morning Tailgate: Sept. 24

Greetings from Boardman, Ohio, site of the 49ers headquarters for the next five days.

We’re up early (East Coast time) to share the top headlines from the 49ers first loss of the season, a 24-13 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings. The loss was uncharacteristic for the 49ers in the Jim Harbaugh era. The team’s normal efficient, ball-control offense and hard-hitting defense did not perform for 60 minutes and it cost the team.

Bill Barnwell of Grantland.com writes that the Vikings “Out-Ninered the Niners.” As a result, All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman recorded a career-high 18 tackles against a run-heavy offensive attack.

Minnesota’s commitment to the run game was key, according to Barnwell, who added, “Fortunately for the Niners, they caught a lucky break in terms of scheduling. They’re assigned to play the Jets next week, a team that will likely be without star cornerback Darrelle Revis, who appears to have suffered a serious knee injury during his team’s win over the Dolphins on Sunday.”

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Morning Tailgate: Sept. 21

Alex Smith has led the 49ers to a 15-3 regular season record since Jim Harbaugh took over as head coach before the 2011 campaign. Much of Smith’s success has been attributed to Harbaugh, who has helped the 49ers quarterback become one of the league’s most efficient players under center.

Chase Stuart of FootballPerspective.com analyzed advanced statistics and metrics of Smith’s season along with other NFL quarterbacks of the past and concluded that Harbaugh had similar years during his NFL playing career. Stuart specifically looks at Smith’s low interception rate among other things, noting, “Since Harbaugh came to town, Smith has a 93.6 passer rating, the 7th best mark of any quarterback over that time frame.”

Today’s Morning Tailgate also features a look back to yesterday’s show of 49ers support from the San Francisco Giants and more.

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49ers Healthy for Home Opener

The San Francisco 49ers enter Sunday night’s home opener relatively healthy. Two players, wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. and running back Brandon Jacobs, were officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s matchup with the Detroit Lions.

Both players were inactive in the team’s 30-22 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Harbaugh, however, said Jacobs is “getting close” to returning to action.

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Morning Tailgate: Sept. 13

Calvin Johnson’s injured foot is the hot-topic as the 49ers continue to prepare for a Sunday night home opener against the Detroit Lions.

The wideout gracing this year’s EA Madden video game cover did not practice on Wednesday but returned to work on Thursday according to multiple reports.

In order to stop the wide receiver who has caught 45 touchdowns since 2008, the most in the NFL, the 49ers will use many defensive looks. The same coverage or defensive philosophy just won’t work for 60 minutes against Johnson.

Cornerback Tarell Brown is “geeked” for the challenge, writes Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle.

“Brown and the rest of the 49ers secondary will likely need all available senses on Sunday night when the Lions arrive with All-Pro wideout Calvin Johnson, who led the NFL in receiving yards (1,681), ranked second in touchdowns (16) and was fourth in receptions (96) last year,” Branch wrote.

CSNBayArea.com’s Matt Maiocco and Mindi Bach also discussed the challenge of stopping the player known as “Megatron” in their latest Matt & Mindi segment.

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Brad Seely Excited for Opener

Just a few hours before the San Francisco 49ers boarded Friday’s flight for Green Bay and the season opener against the Packers, Brad Seely was already chomping at the bit to get the 2012 season underway.

While the opening coin toss has yet to be contested, it’s certain one of Seely’s special teams units will be called upon to get the game started. With that in mind, it’s understandable that the 49ers assistant head coach/special teams coordinator was especially energized on Friday afternoon.

“Everybody is always excited about the opener,” Seely said. “The opener is a big deal. I don’t care where you go, if you’re playing at home or on the road it’s a big deal.”

Highly effective and disciplined special teams are trademarks of the coaching staffs Seely has been a part of in his previous 23 years patrolling NFL sidelines.
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Jim Harbaugh: “Time to Compete”

The San Francisco 49ers know the challenge that lies ahead.

The Green Bay Packers have won 19 of their last 20 games at famous Lambeau Field. The 49ers hope to end the streak this Sunday when the team’s meet at 1:25 p.m. PT.

“My favorite thing is to watch our guys compete on Sundays,” said coach Jim Harbaugh on Friday following his team’s final day of preparations in the Bay Area.

Harbaugh was pleased with the week of practice from his 49ers players and coaches.

“We’re ready to go,” Harbaugh added. “Guys have worked their tails off.”

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Morning Tailgate: Aug. 27

Fresh off the San Francisco 49ers’ 29-24 come-from-behind win in Denver, the Morning Tailgate has all the top headlines from the team’s second preseason win of 2012.

Sunday’s win was a hard-fought effort that saw the 49ers score 19 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Broncos on the road. All four 49ers quarterbacks led scoring drives, leaving the coaches with plenty to contemplate as they put together the quarterback depth chart. By 1 p.m. PT, the team will trim its roster to the mandatory 75-man limit. Currently, the 49ers have 89 players on the team.

Many of those 89, including running back Anthony Dixon, were singled out by Jim Harbaugh following Sunday’s victory. Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle highlighted Dixon’s hard-running in his game notebook. The 49ers coach mentioned many of his hard-workers, a list that featured 355-pound guard Leonard Davis, who lined up as an extra blocker with the first-team offense.

Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com noted Dixon and Davis’ efforts in his game notebook.

“(Davis) is eager to please,” Maiocco wrote. “And he likes his new role, which was unveiled on Sunday when he was used throughout game at tight end as an extra blocker.”

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Morning Tailgate: Aug. 4

The on-going labor dispute between NFL officials and the league continues into the preseason with Sunday’s preseason Hall of Fame game between the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals featuring replacement officials.

Such officials have been out to 49ers training camp sessions and have received positive feedback from coach Jim Harbaugh.

“I haven’t seen the film from today’s practice but after yesterday’s practice it was very good,” Harbaugh said, per CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “They saw everything I was able to see and more. Today, they were right on it. I think they had another good day today.”

More 49ers headlines can be found after the jump.

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