It Was 30 Years Ago Today...

Freddie Solomon, taking
it to the house.

Sure, there's a lot of negativity on this blog (I prefer to call it "constructive crticism" - to each their own), but that's because Niner fans expect so much more from this franchise than what has been delivered since the Yorks took things over.

I'm going to try out a new feature on the blog as we look back at the 49ers' first championship season in 1981. Why the 1981 season? Well, for starters, this year marks the 30th(!) anniversary of that unbelievable season. And since nobody expected much from that team, today's most optimistic Niner fans can probably find some parallels between the current squad and the '81 team that came out of nowhere to capture their first of five Lombardi Trophies (for the record, aside from the fact that both had first-time head coaches hailing from Stanford, I see no comparison between the two).

So let's start off with Week 4 of the 1981 season, a 21-14 home victory over the Saints. While the game itself wasn't very exciting, it is notable for four reasons:

1. This was the last time the 49ers played a home game as just another mediocre team with a largely disinterested fanbase. Two weeks later, the Niners hosted the Dallas Cowboys and pounded America's Team by a 45-14 margin. From that point on, the Niners were on their way to the top of the NFL ladder, a position they wouldn't relinquish for over 15 years.
2. As far as I can tell, this was the last Niner regular-season game that failed to sell out - I tried to confirm on the internet, but couldn't find anything definitive.
3. Following a loss in Atlanta the previous week, this game would mark the beginning of a 12-1 run throughout the rest of the regular season.
4. Some rookie named Ronnie Lott picked off an Archie Manning pass and returned it for a touchdown, the first signature play of his Hall-of-Fame career.

What else can I tell you about the game? I was one of the 40,000 or so fans at Candlestick that day, and aside from the Lott touchdown, I don't recall anything out of the ordinary. The Saints were coming off a dreadful 1-15 campaign in 1980, but I remember thinking that the 49ers would have their work cut out for them since it took a record-setting 28-point comeback to beat them the previous December.

A look at the box score shows a rushing touchdown by short-yardage specialist Johnny Davis (that six-yard score may have been his longest run of the year), and a 60-yard hookup from Joe Montana to Freddie Solomon (which I'm guessing was probably a ten-yard route followed by a 50-yard scamper into the end zone). Rookie cornerback Eric Wright also snagged an interception off of Manning, and my main man Paul Hofer continued his abbreviated comeback season with a handful of carries.

That's really about it. Back then, we were just happy to see the 49ers pick up any win, even against the Saints. We weren't thinking about the Super Bowl, or even the playoffs at that point. We were just hoping the Niners were taking another step to respectability. Within a month, however, all of that would change...

Next week: Dwight Hicks and the defense sends a message in the nation's capital.

New Stadium Unveiled...Again

This time, we really, really, REALLY mean it, OK?

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw a story on espn.com this afternoon about the Niners "unveiling" their new stadium plans.

To whom, exactly, did they unveil these plans to? As far as I can tell, the 49ers have put on the same dog-and-pony show several times over the past few years. And decades. Don't believe me? Here's another one.

My best guess is that Lil' Jed read "The Secret" and thinks that if he throws the notion of the 49ers building a new stadium out to the universe, eventually it will actually happen.

By the Numbers

This is for sale on the internet.
Seriously.

With a very talented Eagles squad looming on the horizon for their next matchup, the Niners have to start performing better on the offensive side of the football. Here's this week's look at the numbers:

Total Offense: 213.7 yards per game (ranked 32nd - that's dead last in the league)
Passing Offense: 144 yards per game (ranked 28th)
Rushing Offense: 69.7 yards per game (ranked 30th)
Yards per rush: 2.5 (ranked 30th)
Sacks allowed: 11 (ranked 27th)

Total Defense: 306.3 yards allowed per game (ranked 7th)
Passing Defense: 243.7 yards allowed per game (ranked 16th - a big improvement)
Rushing Defense: 62.7 yards allowed per game (ranked 3rd)
Sacks: 7 total (tied for 16th)

Good News/Bad News Dept.
Good News: Alex Smith ranks 13th in the league with a 91.3 passer rating and 4th in the league with a 68.9 completion rate
Bad News: Smith ranks 22nd in yards per attempt, 28th in passing yards per game and 31st in longest completion
Good News: Vernon Davis was a big part of the offensive attack against the Bengals and now leads the team with 179 receiving yards
Bad News: Davis' total ranks 42nd in the league for total yards. No other Niner has passed the 100-yard mark in total yardage for the season (Joshua Morgan is 2nd on the team with 80 receiving yards, placing him at 114th).
Good News: If you watched last Sunday's game, you witnessed NFL history.
Bad News: The reason why history was made against the Bengals is because it was the first time an NFL game resulted in a 13-8 final score.

Monday Morning Link Farm

I think I've written enough about yesterday's game, so here's what others are saying about that thrilling 13-8 victory over the Bengals. Like I always say - when you face the Bengals on the road in front of nearly 42,000 fans (and 28,000 empty seats), you are in for an epic battle...

• Breakout performance by Vernon Davis
• Gore a bystander
• Game Grades
• 49ers don't blow it - and that's a compliment
• Vick's hand not broken
• Let the Vick speculation begin
• Defense dominates
• Niners unable to challenge nullified TD catch
• Right-side woes for offense in first half
• Niners have to play ugly to win
• Harbaugh first Niner coach to win home and road debuts
• David Akers to the rescue again

Live Blog: Niners-Bengals

This ain't Super Bowl XVI. Or XXIII.

Alright folks, enough of the hype - it's time to finally play the NFL's marquee matchup of the day. I'm trying the live blog thing because that's what everybody else is doing...and here we go.

1st Quarter

• San Francisco's defense hasn't lost a step since last week - they're getting carved up through the air.

• Cincinnati's opening drive results in a field goal and 3-0 lead. I can't recall Alex Smith ever putting together an opening drive like Andy Dalton just did in the third game of his NFL career.

• It only takes two plays for Alex Smith to hit the turf. The 49ers' offensive line can't protect the quarterback, even when they are holding.

• And, here we are at our first 3rd-and-long situation...and Smith throws a ball to the back of Frank Gore's feet. Punt #1 coming up.
• Niners' defense makes a stop - and a nifty return by team MVP Ted Ginn is wiped out by an illegal blocking penalty. 
• There are a lot of empty seats at Paul Brown Stadium - hope Lil' Jed is noting that a brand-new stadium won't guarantee sellouts if the team is always lousy. 
• Alex Smith remembers that Vernon Davis is still on the team and lofts him a nice pass. Vernon Davis forgets that the object of the game is to advance the ball forward, but at this point, I guess that would be nit-picking... 
• 3rd-and-5...false start. The offensive line continues to shoot this team in the foot.  
• Smith's incomplete pass to Crabtree sums up his leadership of the Niners' offense...indecisive and inaccurate. I think he had passed the line of scrimmage, too.
• Even Andy Lee is having a rough start as he shanks his second punt of the game.
• A false start by the Bengals on 3rd-and-long...wow! So many similarities between these two league juggernauts.
• 1st quarter ends with the Bengals leading 3-0. I don't think I can handle three more quarters of this. Roger Goodell should be forced to watch this game with the York and Brown families without any bathroom breaks.

2nd Quarter

• The quarter opens up with Andy Dalton being chased around the pocket before tossing a pass 5 yards shy of the first down. Again, the similarities between these two heavyweight offenses are staggering.
• The ball bounces off Vernon Davis' chest...
• Nobody can burn timeouts early in the game like the Niners can. 
• If you follow @CLEATUSonFOX, you are my enemy.
• Another 3rd down passing situation - and Alex lofts a nice pass for Yao Ming. Unfortunately, Joshua Morgan is the intended receiver and he forgot to bring his ladder into the huddle. Another inaccurate pass results in another punt.
• The Niners and Bengals are doing everything they can to give the Red Zone Channel producers an easy day.
• Niners start the next defensive series with an offsides penalty. These are the little things that make the 49ers a bad team. Of course, they also have plenty of big things (like their ownership and quarterback) that also make them a bad team.
• The defense holds and the offense gets the ball with another long field in front of them...
• I'd pay good money to see the robot in Real Steel destroy Cleatus.
• Nice work by the offensive line on first down, getting into the backfield before Frank Gore touches the ball. And yes, I'm being sarcastic. 
• Of course Alex Smith would run a bootleg on second and long, and of course Nate Clements would nearly knock his head off, and of course Chilo Rachal would be called for holding on the play. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 San Francisco 49ers.
• Jonathan Goodwin pulls up lame. If he can't go, somebody is going to have to step up in his place and let the opposing nose tackle into the 49ers' backfield.
• Aaaaand, another false start by the 49ers' crackerjack offensive line.
• Aaaaand, another 3rd-and-long sack. Lee's punting out of his own end zone. Hope he goes back to the bench and describes it in detail in case the offense wants to know what an end zone looks like in this stadium.
• Good to see Ahmad Brooks get loose for a bone-jarring sack of Andy Dalton. I like the schadenfreude of watching other quarterbacks get clobbered.  
• Meanwhile, in an alternate universe where fans get to root for good quarterbacks, Tom Brady has just thrown his third TD pass of the first half while nearing 200 passing yards. 
• Nice 3rd-down completion to Davis - who walks off the field with a slight injury. Only 25 more yards to reach midfield!
• Only 30 more yards to reach midfield after another false start penalty. The 49ers' offensive line is clearly spooked by this rabid Bengals crowd.
• Delanie Walker once again reminds Alex Smith that his hands are attached to his arms and not at the end of his legs. 
• Here we are at the two-minute warning - and the offense is still 10 yards shy of crossing midfield for the first time today... 
• Some guy named Crabtree just jumped about 8 feet into the air to grab an errant Smith pass.
• 3rd and 2? Harbaugh dials Jimmy Raye, who tells him to run the old bell cow up the middle. The play results in a loss of a yard and the 49ers will close out the half without crossing midfield. Against the Bengals. The Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, you read that correctly.
• Booing? Really, Bengals fans? REALLY? I seem to have forgotten about your lofty expectations for your team.
• When the other team's fans are booing their home team after shutting you out for the first half, what does that say about YOUR team?
• I need to re-think this whole "live blog" thing - I'd be better off live-blogging paint drying.

3rd Quarter

• After a first down, Smith tosses another laser to a receiver's feet. I guess I took all of those years watching DeBerg, Montana, Young and Garcia hit receivers in stride for granted.
• While waiting to see if the Niners lost this fumble, I should point out that Goldstar has plenty of discounted tickets available for the next home game against the Buccaneers. We have a strong candidate for the first 49ers blackout in 30 years.
•  Some guy named Crabtree just dropped a third-down pass that would have given the Niners a first down past midfield. Instead, it's another punt and the 49ers' offense has yet to reach the 50-yard line after 35 minutes of gameplay.
• The winner of this game is going to look back on today and realize THAT'S when they blew their chance to draft Andrew Luck. 
• Attention: do not adjust your TV set. The 49ers have crossed midfield after some guy named Crabtree caught an 8-yard pass.
• A nice pass to Davis puts the 49ers in a 1st-and-goal situation. Here comes three Frank Gore runs - but not before a timeout is burned!
• Whoops - spoke too soon - Joe Staley gets manhandled and allows a sack.
• Some guy named Crabtree grabs a touchdown pass in the endzone - but not before he stepped out of bounds. Not only is touchdown taken off the board, but it's a 5-yard penalty. It's never easy with this guy.
• Three straight penalties. 
• How bad is it when THE ENTIRE OFFENSIVE LINE is called for a false start? How is that even possible? Wouldn't that be a "true start?"
• After running approximately 17 plays following first-and-goal, the mighty Niner offense settles for a field goal. 3-3.
• Dare I mention the possibility of overtime, thus giving both teams an opportunity not to win this game? 
• Frank Gore's blocking about as well as he's running these days... 
• And the 3rd quarter ends with the Giants and Reds tied at 3.

4th Quarter

• Jim Mora Jr. "coached" Steve Young? Where, in the Twilight Zone? I don't recall #8 playing defense.
• Holding, offsides, false start. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. 
• Well, the GOOD news is that Frank Gore will retire as a Niner. The BAD news is it won't happen for another three years. 
• Double Live Gonzo! Nugent makes it a 6-3 game. The Niners desperately need to get some runners on base. 
• What happened. I was folding laundry. Seriously. I see the Niners have a first and goal, so naturally Gore runs for one yard. 
• Kendall Hunter shows some explosive speed and dashes into the endzone - TOUCHDOWN!  So why isn't Frank Gore doing this? Seems kind of strange that the holes open up for Hunter and not for Gore, right? And yet, that's what we've been hearing - there are no holes for Gore, but #32 finds one on every carry.
• And now, it's up to the defense to protect a late lead again. So far so good as Carlos Rogers picks off an Andy Dalton pass. Unbelievably, it's the first turnover by the Bengals this season.
• Maybe those holes aren't opening up for Hunter, either.
• I was just about to write that the offense now has a chance to put this game away - and they promptly run twice for zero yards, setting up another 3rd and long. 
• Ah, yes - the old "run the reverse to the tight end for negative yardage" trick, which nearly takes them out of field goal range. 
• When given the opportunity to close out a victory, the 49ers' offense failed to pick up a single first down. Or a single yard.  
• Now, they're burning timeouts - they can't even line up for a field goal after an injury stoppage. Ridiculous! That is bad coaching. Plain and simple.
• David Akers bails out the offense and coaching staff by nailing a 53-yarder. 13-6.
• Apparently, I jinxed Tom Brady - he's thrown 4 picks since I mentioned him during the 2nd quarter. I should start blogging about the Steelers and Packers, too.
• And the game is back in the hands of the 49ers' defense. This is where they were torched last week, and two quick completions by Dalton put the Bengals into Niner territory at the 2-minute warning. 
• Make that three straight completions. Bengals nearing the Niner 35. 
• Make that four straight completions. Unfortunately for Dalton, the last completion was to a guy in a Niner uniform as Reggie Smith dives for the pick. 
• The play, naturally, is under review. NFL action - it's fan-tastic! After review, the interception is upheld.
• And now the Niner offense tries to burn a timeout, but they get a "too many men in the huddle" penalty. This is the second time this quarter that the offense has been caught unprepared following a lengthy stoppage in play. Somewhere, Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary are saying "I told you so - it's not as easy as you think, trying to get these idiots to get their act together."
• With ball control being the main objective, the Niners choose to keep Hunter in the game instead of the ol' bell cow Gore. When's that contract up, again? 
• This will be the longest eight seconds in the history of the league. Just get this awful game over with so I can follow all of the excellent games going on right now on the Red Zone Channel! 
• Nobody can over-think a situation like Jim Harbaugh. I guess that's a pleasant change--up from the strategy of "under-thinking" that we saw during the Singletary era. 
• Safety. 13-8.  Yes, this game is still going on. 
• The ensuing free kick mercifully ends this tedious contest. The Niners escape with an ugly win and their reward is to spend the upcoming week kissing York family ass in Youngstown. Despite this lackluster effort, San Francisco's chances of stealing a win in Philly next week look a little better after Michael Vick suffered a broken hand earlier today.

Meet Me in Youngstown

I don't think Tony Bennett ever sang songs about
this particular city...

The Niners are planning on spending the entire week on the east coast prior to back-to-back games in Cininnati and Philadelphia. This is a frequent occurrence around the NFL, but the 49ers' choice of a temporary hometown is a bit questionable: Youngstown, Ohio - the home of the DeBartolo (and, by extension, the York) family.

Why Youngstown? It's not exactly a metropolis, and there are plenty of other options that would seem to be more feasible between Ohio and Pennsylvania. But no other city would provide Lil' Jed and his cronies a chance to play big shot and show off their fancy toy to all of their neighbors.

Maybe I'm just being cynical (go figure), but it seems like the Yorks are putting themselves ahead of the team in what looks to be a passive-aggresive move to show the entire organization that they are always the top dog within the 49er empire.

And now, some links:

• Good quarterbacks go from elite to otherworldly when facing Niners
• Where have all the faithful gone? (My answer: they're still here; just not giving the Yorks their money anymore)
• Shhh - don't tell anybody, but Alex Smith suffered a concussion last week
• Smith practicing, but Crabtree remains a no-show
• Great America theme park sold to clear way for 49ers' proposed stadium
• Despair quick to set in for fan bases of 49ers and Raiders
• 49ers come up small with game on the line
• 49ers offense still hiding in its shell

Your Daily Dose of Sunshine

This former 49er fan
has more than 3x the
amount of passing yards
than Mr. Alex Smith.

The first two weeks of the NFL season have seen an unprecedented amount of scoring. In addition, the league's QBs have already passed for 15,771 net yards (that's roughly 250 yards per quarterback per game).

So how does the Niners' signal-caller stack up against the league average? At over 120 yards less per game (the 49ers are averaging 128 net passing yards per game). I think Tom Brady equaled Smith's entire output in one half of football a couple of weeks ago.

Through two weeks, the 49ers' offense is 29th in passing yards and 26th in rushing. Who would pay to watch more of the same offensive ineptitude we've seen for nearly a decade? And while the rushing defense remains exceptional (the team leads the league in averaging 54.5 yards allowed per game), the pass defense is still abysmal, ranked 25th at nearly 300 yards allowed per contest.

When your offense averages 207.5 yards each game while your defense is giving up 345.5, simple math indicates that you aren't going to win too many games. At this rate, Ted Ginn will be the team MVP.

Everybody is assuming the 49ers will handle the Bengals this week, but keep in mind that Cincinnati's offense has managed to move the ball and put points on the board while playing on the road. Their defense has been adequate, too. Sure, their opponents were Cleveland and Denver, but when comparing offenses, the 49ers rank below both of those teams.

Don't assume anything, and hope for the best. A 2-1 record heading into a clash in Philadelphia the following week would provide enough cushion in the NFC West to absorb a (likely) loss to the Eagles on the road. But a loss in Cincinnati would not only be a missed opportunity to pick up one of the 8 or 9 wins needed to claim the divisional crown, but an indicator that the Niners will play themselves back into the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes.

Update: Braylon Edwards is out "for a little while" following knee surgery. But don't worry - Michael Crabtree's back!

Random Thoughts on the Day After

Naturally, the first topic of conversation regarding yesterday's pants-soiling at the hands of Tony Romo and the Cowboys is Jim Harbaugh's decision to keep the points on the board following a penalty during David Akers' 55-yard field goal in the 4th quarter.

Defending Harbaugh's choice is asinine - there was no downside to taking the penalty. The 49ers would have gained 15 yards on the penalty and at the very least had three more plays to chew up the clock. You have to figure that they would've run Frank Gore twice, which would pick up four yards, and even if they let Alex Smith throw on one of the downs, worst-case scenario is that the 49ers would be lining up for a 36-yard field goal. Given Akers' ability to nail a 55-yarder a few minutes earlier with no winds at Candlestick on Sunday afternoon, I'd say that's about as much of an automatic as you can get. Of course, there's always the (slight) possibility that the Niners might have been able to string together a couple of first downs to burn more time off the clock, or even punch the ball into the endzone, which would have sealed the victory.

Speaking of Frank Gore, through two games, he's averaging about 2.5 yards per carry. At what point do the 49ers stop making him the focus of their offensive gameplan? I'm not sure if it's Gore's age, history of injuries or the general ineffectiveness of the offensive line, but handing the ball to Gore for minimal yardage reeks of the Jimmy Raye era. And if you take away the occasional big runs that Gore has popped over the past 2-3 seasons, you can see that 2.5 yards is about what you can expect each time he touches the ball. That's not a formula for offensive success. Rather, it's setting yourselves up for failure.

Back to the passing game - how is it that rookie QB Andy Dalton can toss 3 touchdown passes in his second career game and fellow rookie Cam Newton passes for over 400 yards in each of his first two starts, yet we're still seeing the same dink-and-dunk passing attack from Alex Smith? At this point, everybody else is doing it - why can't we? At some point, Alex is going to have to start throwing deep balls - don't forget, during his most "successful" campaign (the "Norv Turner" season), Smith was able to connect on long passes to Antonio Bryant and the rest of the receiving corps. I haven't even seen Smith take one deep shot yet this year.

And let's talk about all of this "good news" and "silver lining" nonsense that I've been reading and hearing regarding yesterday's game. There is no "silver lining" when you blow a game that you should have won against a banged-up and (quite possibly) overrated opponent at home. If anything, yesterday showed that Harbaugh still has no faith in his quarterback, the 49ers' offense is still dreadful and those free-agent defensive backs that were signed off the scrapheap are as bad as their former teams' fans told us they were.

Finally, I'd like to address the 49ers' latest gameday campaign - the "Red Out." Did fans really need a reminder to wear red to the game? How many other colors do Niner fans wear? Hell, even the seats at Candlestick are red. Making a big deal about Niner fans wearing red makes about as much sense as telling Packer fans to wear green or Raider fans to wear black. We get it. Duh.

Winners Win...

Tony Romo + 49ers = Superman
for a day.

...and losers blow 10-point leads at home with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Pathetic.

Dallas tried to hand this game to the 49ers during the first three quarters by missing a chip shot field goal and having Jon Kitna take snaps at quarterback. But when given the opportunity to protect a double-digit lead midway through the 4th quarter, the defense folded like a wet napkin while Alex Smith and the offense only managed a single first down.

When the offense stalled after a 4-play drive to open overtime, you figured the defense would let Dallas chew up some yardage, but it should've taken more than one goddamned pass by a quarterback with a broken rib to a wide receiver who had never caught a ball in an NFL game prior to this afternoon.

I guess the defense can pride themselves on not lettting Jason Whitten or Austin Miles burn them - again - on the game-clinching drive.

During the beginning of overtime, we were treated to sideline shots of Tony Romo, who returned to the game earlier after going to the locker room with a broken rib, coaching up his teammates on the sideline. Meanwhile, our last shot of Alex Smith before heading to the huddle showed him warming up while throwing balls to an assistant. Nope, no conferences with the head coach, no pumping up his teammates - Alex was working on his mechanics. Apparently, he hasn't quite mastered the art of the forward pass, as evidenced by several of his off-target throws throughout the afternoon.

Congrats to the Niners for adding a rare chapter to "The Tony Romo Story."

Winners win - and losers lose. Once again, the losers were wearing scarlet and gold.

More Baby Steps to Open the 2011 Season

For once, Alex Smith wasn't the
worst quarterback on the field.

Yes, it was great to see the 49ers get out of the gates with a divisional win to start the 2011 season, and it was even more impressive to see them build a 16-point lead heading into halftime on their way to a 33-17 victory over the rebuilding Seahawks.

The defense did what it was supposed to do against an inferior offense and the special teams...well, what can you say about Ted Ginn's two return TDs that sealed the game in the 4th quarter? Epic.

But then there's the offense, which looked very similar to the ultra-conservative Jimmy Raye-installed offense that stunk up the previous two campaigns.  It's obvious that opposing defenses are still keying in on Frank Gore, as evidenced by Gore's general ineffectiveness (22 carries, 59 yards, 2.7 avg), contributing to a woeful 1-for-12 3rd down conversion rate.

Jim Harbaugh showed no confidence in Alex Smith by continuing to run between the tackles in the red zone, resulting in three field goals before Alex himself dived into the end zone for the first TD of the game.

Quite simply, Harbaugh is going to have to let Smith make some plays - and Smith is going to have to be successful when given those opportunities. Otherwise, we're looking at another season of running on 1st down, running on 2nd down, and being forced to throw the ball into pass protection coverage on 3rd and long.

The Niners can't expect their kick returners to save the day all season long while mustering a paltry 200 or so yards on offense. Ask the San Francisco Giants how well an ineffective offense has worked for them this year.

But enough of that. This morning, the 49ers are undefeated with an intriguing matchup against bumbling Tony Romo and the Cowboys next Sunday. Who knows? Maybe some of the 20,000 or so "Faithful" who showed up yesterday disguised as empty chairs will actually make themselves seen and heard against Dallas.

Yep, Tickets Still Available for Sunday

I just received another email from the Niners to remind me that tickets are (not surprisingly) still available for the season opener against the Seahawks in five days. I clicked the link and found seats available in 30 sections - and that's not including the Upper Reserved sections or the end zones!

I haven't heard any news about a potential blackout yet, but this certainly doesn't bode well this year for the team's chances of avoiding a home game from not being shown on local TV for the first time in 30 seasons.

Maybe Lil' Jed will have to open up his wallet and purchase the rest of the available seats. Let's see how HE likes paying for the privilege of sitting in a plastic seat in dumpy Candlestick Park!

Baby Steps Towards the Regular Season

Who was that guy?

You know what? That was a pretty good performance by the 49ers in their exhibition finale win over the Chargers.

For one night, Alex Smith and the starting offensive unit were cohesive, crisp and effective. Aside from giving up one big play, the first-team defense played well, too.

Was this a glimpse of what's to come, or an abberation against a decent team that sat many of their own starters? Regardless, it's nice to end the preseason with a little bit of momentum.

Well done, 49ers. Thanks for giving us something positive as you head towards the season-opener against Seattle.