Blogs

Morning Tailgate: Dec. 13

There’s a new video posted on NewSantaClaraStadium.com that all 49ers Faithful fans will want to check out.

The video features incredible aerial views of the new Santa Clara Stadium, future home of the five-time Super Bowl champs.

Book your own tour of the new stadium site and learn more about securing a seat in the new building.

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Mike Iupati Raises Play

As of early Monday morning, 148,154 fan votes had been placed for Mike Iupati to start for the NFC in the 2013 Pro Bowl.

Add another to the tally.

Well, it’s not an official vote, but 49ers veteran guard Leonard Davis believes San Francisco’s starting left guard is worthy of such an honor.

“He reminds me of the things I used to do,” said the 11-year veteran with three Pro Bowl selections to his name. “Even right now, He’s got a chance to be the best guard in the league.”

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49ers Named Week 12 Top Protectors

For the second time in an eight-week span, the San Francisco 49ers offensive line has been selected as the Week 12 Madden Most Valuable Protectors by Hall of Fame coach John Madden.

San Francisco’s  line allowed no sacks in a 31-21 win over the New Orleans Saints. It was the first no-sack effort turned in by the line since a Week 5 win over Buffalo. Coincidentally, it was the last time the 49ers won Madden’s award.

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Willis Leads NFC LB Pro Bowl Voting

Patrick Willis is the first player in the history of the San Francisco 49ers to make five consecutive Pro Bowls to start a career.

The star linebacker is on pace to make it six straight appearances in the league’s annual All-Star game with 2013 Pro Bowl vote standings being released on Wednesday. Willis leads the NFC linebacker vote with 91,609 selections with five weeks left in the voting prior to the Dec. 26 Pro Bowl Selection show on NFL Network.

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Morning Tailgate: Nov. 7

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a mid-season awards list without members of the San Francisco 49ers.

Several 49ers were listed on mid-season awards released earlier in the week and continue to be named on recently released All-Pro teams from various media outlets.

ESPN.com’s respected NFL writer John Clayton took a break from rocking out to heavy metal music in his parents house and listed three 49ers among his mid-season All-Pro team, naming Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati and Patrick Willis on his first-team unit.

Davis and Iupati were also selected by NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah and ESPN.com’s Mike Sando’s All-NFC West team (along with several 49ers teammates). Sando listed four members of the 49ers offensive line on his first-team unit, with Jonathan Goodwin being left out. The 49ers center, however, received praise from Yahoo! Sports.

More on that in today’s Morning Tailgate.

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49ers Earn Mid-Season Accolades

The 49ers are 6-2 atop the NFC West at the halfway point of the season, and are eager to get back between the lines on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams at Candlestick Park. San Francisco has emerged as an NFL powerhouse once again behind Coach Jim Harbaugh and the talented roster assembled by general manager Trent Baalke and his staff.

Members of the media across the country have weighed in on the 2012 season through nine weeks and offered their mid-season awards. To no one’s surprise, the lists are littered with 49ers.

Third-year tackle Anthony Davis, in particular, has been recognized for his stellar season in the trenches, earning All-Pro honors from Sports Illustated’s Peter King and Pro Football Weekly. Davis has anchored the right side of the offensive line since being drafted No. 11 overall by the 49ers in the 2012 Draft, and has emerged as one of the game’s top talents in both run-blocking and pass protection.

“Entire Niners line playing well,” King wrote, “but Davis is one of the NFL’s most improved tackles.”

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Niner Talk: Bye Week

The voice of the San Francisco 49ers Ted Robinson was profiled in a 49ers.com feature story earlier today along with his broadcasting partner Eric Davis. Robinson, however, played double-duty for 49ers.com on Friday, also joining us for our latest Niner Talk podcast.

The respected broadcaster discussed his bright spots of the first half of the season, naming third-year guard Mike Iupati and second-year cornerback Chris Culliver as his two most unsung players of the first half for the 49ers.

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Morning Tailgate: Oct. 29

The 49ers, Cardinals and Monday Night Football are no strangers to each other. In fact, San Francisco has six MNF matchups with Arizona all-time, including five of the past six years. Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group examined tonight’s tilt in the desert and the burgeoning rivalry between the two divisional foes.

“No, it’s not as historic as the Bears-Packers, Cowboys-Redskins or Raiders-Chiefs,” Inman wrote. “It’s also not the type of high-stakes rivalry the 49ers have forged with the Cowboys and Giants. But the 49ers and Cardinals aren’t friendly neighbors in the increasingly competitive NFC West.”

Today’s Morning Tailgate rounds up the best headlines from the weekend and offers more insight on tonight’s primetime showdown.

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Morning Tailgate: Oct. 23

Many would argue that the San Francisco 49ers’ all-time rushing leader will wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.

But still, even in the short term, Frank Gore will be represented in Canton, Ohio.

The Hall of Fame recently received items to display from the team’s history-making performance in a Week 5 win over the Buffalo Bills. In a 45-3 victory, the 49ers became the first team in league history to rush and pass for more than 300 yards in the same game.

To celebrate the achievement, the Hall of Fame is preserving the milestone in the form of a game ball signed by Alex Smith and Frank Gore, plus Gore’s game-worn gloves and shoes.

Gore’s pink Breast Cancer Awareness cleats picked up 106 yards on 14 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown run. Smith posted his best outing of his eight-year career that day, finishing the game with 303 passing yards, three touchdowns and a career-best passer rating of 156.2.

49ers.com visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this season and put together a blog with photos and a recap of the experience.

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Morning Tailgate: Oct. 22

San Francisco 49ers fans are somewhat spoiled when it comes to special teams. It’s understandable though.

After all, it’s hard to notice and appreciate all the efforts of All-Pro, Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee when everything he does looks so routine.

Lee’s five-punt effort last week against Seattle, however, wasn’t overlooked by respected Sports Illustrated football writer Peter King, who listed Lee as his Week 7 Special Teams Player of the Week. King ranked San Francisco as his No. 5 overall team, too.

The nine-year veteran punter continues his stellar play with a 47.5 average on his 26 punts, including 14 inside the 20-yard line. Lee placed 28 punts inside the 20-yard line last season and is on pace to beat that mark this season.

According to King, Lee’s booming right leg blends perfectly with San Francisco’s roster.

“Jim Harbaugh knows the kind of team he has. It’s a field-position team. His passing game is not explosive, but his running game is very good, and his defense mostly suffocating,” King wrote in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column.

“On Thursday night, Lee, the superb punter for the Niners, played right into Harbaugh’s plans. He punted five times. He pinned the Seahawks back at their 4-, 33-, 14-, 9- and 6-yard lines. (Average post-punt drive start: 13-yard line.) Seattle had five punt-return yards all night. Niners 13, Seahawks 6.”

King also gave praise to the interior of the 49ers offensive line for their dominant running in the second half of the 49ers win.

“Left guard Mike Iupati, center Jonathan Goodwin, right guard Alex Boone. You want to see how to wear down a defensive front? Watch the three men on the Niners offensive line batter a very good Seattle front seven (and tackles Joe Staley and Antony Davis played well too) for 175 rushing yards on 32 clock-eating carries,” King Wrote.

“My favorite run of the Thursday night win over the Seahawks: Early in the fourth quarter, Frank Gore took a handoff from Alex Smith. Boone cut left to erase defensive lineman Jason Jones, Goodwin blasted out to smother defensive tackle Clinton McDonald, and Iupati, foraging for a victim, ran ahead to clear out middle linebacker Bobby Wagner. Gore was off to the races. Gain of 37. This is what these three guys did all night for Gore and Kendall Hunter, particularly late, when their physical dominance showed.”

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