A Giant Off-Season
(In round two of the never ending battle between the Fat Guy and me, we are discussing the top 5 things the Giants should do this off-season)Let’s get something out of the way right now – the Giants are not going to the playoffs in 2009. There are too many holes and not enough money and/or prospects to fill them. With my eyes on 2010 and beyond, I give you the genius which is RT’s top 5 things the Giants should do this off-season:

1) Acquire Jake Peavy
Allow me to give you rule #1 in baseball, if a #1 starter, who is a power pitcher and is under 30, becomes available, you do whatever it takes to acquire him. There is no exception to this rule. It is worth the gamble every single time. It doesn’t matter how good your prospects are because, after all, they are just prospects. Ask Theo Epstein while he is shining his two World Series rings how much he regrets trading the best young player in baseball (Hanley Ramirez) for Josh Beckett. Ask Brian Cashman how smart it was not to trade Phil Hughes for Johan Santana last year.
(That move was made for the Yankees and they screwed it up.)
This is the trade that makes sense to me:
Posey, Gillespie and (either Bumgarner or Alderson – whichever one they want) for Peavy.
What’s that you say: Peavy has a no trade clause he does not want to play for the Giants? I think voiding his current contract and giving him $20 mm over the next 5 years seems to make sense. Money has a way of changing player’s minds.

2) Trade Cain for Prince Fielder
They should have been done months ago. Fielder would be perfect fit for the Giants at first base for the next 10 years and his upside is ridiculous. He is only learning how good he can be and there is that whole – “We have a big left handed hitter that can put the ball into the water” – marketing plan. He will put butts in seat because of the way he plays and that is important over the next couple years. Fielder makes sense from a business side and a baseball side. Furthermore, the Giants have to trade Cain before his stock drops through the floor. Please allow me shed light on why there is an urgency to trade Cain.
(I will use bullet points so I don’t get too wordy.)
* He is an ever other pitch pitcher. Seriously, go back and watch any of his games. His first pitch hits the target and the next one bounces in front of the plate or sails over the catcher’s head. If you think this trend is going to change, you need to put the koolaid down.
* His motion is about as compact as a Cadillac Escalade. He did not exactly go to the Greg Maddox school of pitching mechanics. As a result, he will never be an elite pitcher because he does not have the command required to be dominant.
* At best, he is a poor man’s Nolan Ryan. In English that means, he will strike out a bunch of guys but is never going to be a consistent winner.)(Does he get bonus points if he beats up Robin Ventura?)

3) Don’t sign C.C. Sabathia, Derek Lowe or A.J. Burnett … Sign Brad Penny
I am feeling the bullet points so let’s keep using them
* C.C. = Why pay a guy Johan Santana money when A) he has never won anything on the big stage and B) he is not feared by elite hitters?
* Lowe = I will admit it – about 10 years ago I learned how to read people’s minds so let me tell you what Lowe is thinking this off-season: “I play in a league where all money is guaranteed so I busted my butt over the last 4 years so I could sucker an idiot GM into thinking I will care during my twilight years.. Little does that GM know that I really just want to party and I have no motivation because this contract is my last big pay day. It’s not like I have not won a World Series. Now, if I could only get a rich guy to buy the Marlins … I love Miami Beach.”
* Burnett = Trivia time: If A.J. Burnett was an NBA basketball player, what would his name be? Jamal Crawford.
(Extra Credit: If he played in the NFL, what would his name be? Jeff George.)
* Penny = Has something to prove () Hates the Dodgers () Has HUGE upside if he get through his injury (). Seems to make sense to me.

4) Trade Jonathan Sanchez for Jorge Cantu
We can all agree that Sanchez will be pitching out of the bullpen in two years. Trade him away while he still has some value. Cantu is an up and coming player who hit 29 home runs while playing in one of the hardest parks to hit home runs in. He is not a bad fielder and he is only 27. Of course, I could be the only person in the Giants fan base that thinks trying to find a long term solution at third is a bad idea.
(That’s right, I have just acquired left handed power hitting vegetarian and a player on the Mexican national team. Who said I don’t know anything about marketing!?)

5) Trade Molina and Winn to the Mets for a bag of potato chips and some dip to be named later
Now that we are paying Peavy $20 mm, they need to cut some payroll. The Mets are the perfect team to take these two guys off our hands. Who cares what we get in return!? We need to save money for next year when we ….

6) Sign Matt Holiday
(Dear Fat Guy: I realize this is cheating but I couldn’t help myself)
Think about next year’s offseason for a second. The United States will be reaching the bottom of the current recession we are in. (I work in finance for a living – we are not close to the end of this economic downturn). Matt Holiday will have underperformed (think Johnny Damon in 2001) because nobody can hit in that ballpark and he is playing in the American League. Ticket sales will have cratered for all the teams not names (Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees) during the 2009 season and nobody will have the money or the desire to pay a player $20 mm a season. The combination of all of these factors will create the “perfect storm” for us to sign the left fielder we have needed since 2004 and we will get him for a lot less than he would have received this year. (Not to mention, we will piss off the A’s fans to no end. You have to love that)
After all of these moves, here is the 2009 (and 2010) Giants:
2009 Rotation: Lincecum, Peavy, (damn that is sweet), Penny, Lowery and Zito
2009 Starting Line-up:
1) Lewis, 2B
2) Renteria, SS
3) Sandoval, C
4) Fielder, 1B
5) Cantu, 3B
6) Rowand, CF
7) Schierholtz, RF
8) Burriss, 2B
9) Pitcher
2010 Rotation: Lincecum, Peavy, (still sweet), Penny, (Bumgarner or Alderson), Zito
2010 Starting Line-up:
1) Burriss, 2B
2) Lewis, RF
3) Sandoval, C
4) Holiday, LF
5) Fielder, 1B
6) Cantu, 3B
7) Rowand, CF (the worst 5th hitter in the league just became the best 7th hitter)
8) Renteria, SS
9) Pitcher
If you are looking for me at the World Series, I will be sitting in the GMs box. I figured they give it to me for a reason.
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Koski's 5

A wise man once said,

“There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas,
probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again.”

C.C. Sabathia is so tantalizing. I was going to say the Giants should sign C.C. for $120 mil. Sign Adam Dunn to play first and trade Jonathan Sanchez for A-Rod. Then the absinthe wore off. The reality is the Giants are not World Series contenders heading into next season and probably not in 2010, either. Much has been said over the last couple of years about going with younger players and I’ve said this myself numerous times. But like the Giants, the free agent market has been lacking talented young position players for years. This limits the Giants options for upgrading the offense for the future, so I say sign some older guys to short deals while we wait for Bumgarner, Alderson, Posey, Gillaspie, et al. Pitching and defense will be the key for the Giants to be competitive over the next two seasons. They have good pitching, but need to improve the defense. No contracts should be offered for more than three seasons to anybody .


1) Sign Derek Lowe
He’s a sinkerball pitcher in a division with many HR unfriendly parks. He’s got a 2.17 ERA at AT&T the last three seasons(5 starts). At 35, he had a 3.24 ERA last year and should be open to three year contract offers. According to Baseball Reference’s Similarity Scores, four pitchers with Giants connections are listed (Don Robinson, Danny Darwin, Lindy McDaniel and Dick Tidrow).Don Robinson? Caveman? C’mon. You cannot argue that the Giants need less Caveman(s). The caveat to signing Lowe is that he’s waiting for Sabathia to sign a contract and set the market for pitchers and his agent is Scott Boras. Lowe could be contemplating a massive five year deal with a True Religion Jeans contract to boot. If that is the case, I take a flyer on Brad Penny.

2) Don’t trade Matt Cain
He’s younger than LinCYcum and his value is down after a bad luck season. Buy low, sell high, or something like that. He’s under Giant control for a few more years at a good price so there is no need to rush any trade. Trading him would mean the Giants are trying to win in 2009, which they should not be because they are not one player away from contending. Let things play out this season. We know he’s got potential, so wait to reap the benefits whether it’s for the Giants on the field or through a trade. If Cain was traded now, who would fill his spot in the rotation this season? Lowry? Misch? Please.

3) Sign Casey Blake
Look, there aren’t a lot of premier corner infielders on the free agent market. In fact, there is only one who is under 30, Texeira, and he’s going to be a pricey piece of pie. Sure, Adam Dunn is under 30 and he “could” play 1B, but he’s not the right fit for the Giants. Blake is old, 35, but he’s solid defensively and can swing the bat a little. His three year splits, .275/.346/.457. Again, his age will let the Giants offer a shorter deal, two or three years max, and Sandoval can play first base. I think Blake even played some first for the Dodgers last year, but I have to believe Blake at third and Sandoval at first is better than the other way around. Plus, Baseball Reference lists four(!) former ROTYs with matching similarity scores thru age 35: Chris Sabo, Ben Grieve, Marty Cordova AND Eric Hinske. That means something, right?

4) Trade Randy Winn/Sign Pat Burrell
Baggs talked to Sabean the other day and he doesn’t envision the Giants signing another outfielder, which is totally understandable. Can we give one back? Dave Roberts, anyone? Winn is in the last year of his contract and as a decent MLB outfielder making $8.25 mil the Giants should be able to move him. This one might not happen until summer. If the team could move Winn, that would open a space to bring in Burrell. Now, I’m not even close to ga-ga for Burrell. In fact, I’m much closer to whatever the opposite of ga-ga is about Burrell. The fact remains that the Giants cannot have a 3-4-5 of Rowand-Molina-Sandoval. Pat the Bat would strike out a ton of times, but he’d be at “home” and he can hit the ball really hard. Burrell is 31, so I wouldn’t want to see anything longer than three years. The silver lining of a recession is that guys who used to demand five year deals, and get them, will have to settle for three year deals.

5) Kick the tires on O-Dog
As of this minute, second base will be fought over by Eugenio Velez, Kevin Frandsen, Manny Burriss and whoever won the Play for the Giants Spring Training prize from the KNBR/BAYSHOF auction. Frandsen is the only one who “should” have a chance at earning the spot and he’s coming off a torn ACL. All the others need more seasoning, minor league seasoning. Orlando Hudson is an above average defender and a decent hitter. He’s 30 years old and has played more than 145 games only once in his six year career. He’s the best second base free agent this winter and he is likely going to be looking for a deal of more than three years. However, there is always a possibility he would be willing to settle for a short term deal if the price is right.

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*Opposite Sides of the Bay debates various Bay Area sports topics between an optimist(me) and a pessimist(RT).
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First up, RT.

Why you should NOT watch the 49ers in December?

1. They are not going to make the playoffs
This statement might seem a little obvious but it needs to be said. There really is no point in watching a team with no chance of making the playoffs in December unless they are winless. (that’s right – I would rather watch the Lions than the Niners). In the past, you could view a strong end to the season as a reason to believe the team is going to carry the momentum into the following year. In the modern NFL, what a non-playoff team does in December has little to do with their record the following year. As a result, does it really matter if they go 0-4 or 4-0? Think about it.

2. The Vernon Davis Phenomenon
If I would have told you last year that Vernon Davis would surpass Jeremy Shocky as the most talked about mediocre player in the league you would have called me crazy. Well, we all know what has happened and I cannot stand it anymore. I don’t care if he is good or bad. I just want people to stop talking about him. Every time you watch a Niner game you will hear something about Vernon Davis. Why in the world are we still talking about this guy and why do fans continue to debate his value to the team!? Warriors’ fans no longer talk about Belinelli so why should Niners’ fans keep talking about Davis? The Vernon Davis talk should be enough for anyone to watch something else.
(Yes – I just compared Vernon Davis to Marco Belinelli.)

3. The CFL uniforms
Remember that friend (“Joe”) you had in college who dressed like he was always going to a Pearl Jam concert – random gray tee-shirt, beat-up jeans, worn-in shoes, permanent 5 o’clock shadow and long hair. Joe was one of your best friends that you could always count on. Some of your best memories are drinking too much on Thursdays while playing Madden until 4 am. Needless to say you and Joe had some pretty good times together.
Those times could not last as you both graduated. Joe got consumed by his job that was more about statistics and turning a profit then what defense he was playing in Madden. The next thing you know Joe looks like he is getting paid to wear J. Crew (not to mention his “never-thought-possible” corporate haircut). No matter how much Madden you and Joe play together, it is really hard to remember the good old days because nothing about the Joe’s appearance reminds of the guy you once knew. Not only does he look like a complete sell out but also his Madden skills have diminished so considerably that he isn’t even fun to play anymore. As a result, you stop hanging out with Joe because you have all but forgotten the good old days.
13 years later
You hear a knock on your door and there is Joe looking like he use to. He has come to ask forgiveness for all the stupid things he has done over the last 13 years. You are so excited that the two of you go straight to the couch for a good old fashion Madden session. Joe’s game still leaves something to be desired but there is renewed hope for the future …
Until the Niners ask their fans for forgiveness and stop wearing those sell out uniforms - why keep watching them?

4. Offense?
The offensive line can’t block anybody. The wide receivers are completely overmatched. Shaun Hill is (to be nice) mediocre. Frank Gore never gets the ball because A) Mike Martz and the rest of the offensive brain trust have no idea what they are doing or B) the organization is saving is body from getting beaten down every Sunday. Either way, there is no reason to watch the Niners in December 2008.

5. The Draft is not the regular season
The idea of watching the Niners so you can see what draft pick they are going to have in April is just plain stupid. People make this argument all the time and I never understand what people are talking about. Furthermore, I don’t even know what exactly you want to happen. Rooting for a top-5 pick doesn’t make any sense because a top-5 player is rarely worth the money he gets paid. Rooting for a pick below 5 doesn’t make any sense because the pick is a toss-up and the money they save by not signing a top-5 pick goes straight into the pocket of Jed York. If you care about the 2009 Draft – watch ESPN in April not the Niners in December.

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Koski's turn.

Why you should watch the 49ers in December.

1. The Singletary effect.
You’ve heard the refrain interim head coaches don’t succeed. What does that mean for Singletary? He’s definitely not the traditional interim head coach, but does that mean he’s the right fit for the permanent job? The last four weeks should provide insight into his capabilities as a head coach, so pay attention.
The schedule is a little daunting, which is a good thing for evaluating an interim head coach. Next week at home vs. the Jets followed by a 10 am start in Miami, another 10 am start in St. Louis and ending the season by hosting Washington. Singletary is a Hall of Famer who won a Super Bowl ring as the leader of one of the best defenses the NFL has ever seen. He doesn’t speak in shades of gray, he speaks in black and white. In his first game as head coach, he famously sent Vernon Davis to the showers early and dropped his pants during his halftime speech for visual aid. During the following bye week, there was much consternation from the media that “Today’s player” is different and wouldn’t respond to Singletary’s antics. Yet, Vernon Davis said about Singletary after the Buffalo win just last week, "I think he should get the job. He's a great coach. He's been there, done that. He knows what it takes, and he's very straightforward." Davis only has three catches over the last four games and Niners have only thrown the ball his way seven times in those four games so it would be easy for him to be unhappy. It seems, Singletary has the players attention and they like what they’re hearing. Football is a manly game. It’s often associated (correctly or not) with warfare and battle because of its violent nature and the necessity of total team cooperation for success. True competitors don’t like to play he said/she said games. They want to hear it like it is -face to face. No need for sugar coating, just come clean. It seems to be working right now for Singletary, let’s see if it works the last four weeks.
If Singletary is seemingly winning over his players, what about the coaches? Singletary doesn’t have to win over his coaches, or Nolan’s coaches, but he is handling them differently, perhaps more effectively, than Nolan did. Let’s start with Martz. Nolan brought in Martz to save the offense and, thus, save his own job. Nolan wasn’t an offensive minded guy and left Martz to work on his own in his mad scientist laboratory trying to bring the monster of JTO to life. JTO was inserted as starting QB after a puppet QB competition and proceeded to get sacked repetitively and turn the ball over more than any other player in the league. Singletary saw less than one half of JTO as head coach and immediately went to Shaun Hill. Hill has already thrown as many touchdowns in 4 ½ games as JTO did in the first 7 ½ games, with 8(!) less interceptions. Hill is also getting sacked about half as much as JTO did. You can credit Hill and you can credit Martz with changing the offense to mesh with Hill’s skill set, but what took so long? Singletary doesn’t do offense, either. Yet, he has successfully reined in Martz and forced him to call the game according to the team game plan, not the mad scientist game plan. The defense has shifted to a base 3-4 instead of the ineffective hybrid that Nolan was running. Greg Manusky has gone from up in the booth to down on the field. Seems harmless, right? While Nolan was running the defense from the sideline Manusky was up in the booth. Was Nolan spending too much time worrying about the defense while ignoring his responsibilities as a head coach? I can’t say. From everything I’ve read throughout his tenure, Nolan was always over matched as a head coach and a GM. Singletary seems to be running the team in a more CEO style than Nolan, which is a good thing. Monitor the temperature of the team and their response to Singletary throughout December.

2. Offensive line.
The unit has potential. When you use terms like “potential” it means that they aren’t good, but they are young and there is hope for a better future. Offensive line continuity is highly important to the overall success of any team. Look to see how the 49ers line plays over the next four games. The positions are firmly set: Staley, left tackle, Baas, left guard, Heitmann, center, Rookie Rachal, right guard and Snyder at right tackle. Good offensive line play involves teamwork and trust. Defensive blitzes and stunts are designed to confuse the offense into making mistakes. For an offensive line to be effective everybody has to be on the same page and that can only happen when guys play together. The 49er O-line currently ranks 8th in Football Outsiders Adjusted Line Yards(ALY), which measures the effectiveness of the RB/OL combination for all running back carries and then adjusts for down, distance, situation and opponent. Eighth!8th out of 32 teams is pretty darn impressive to me! . On the other hand, the 49ers are last in the Power Success category, which measures percentage of successful 3rd and 4th down carries of two yards and less to go as well as 1st or 2nd and goal of the same distance. The 49ers O-line also ranks 31st in Adjusted Sack Rate (ASR), which calculates sacks per pass attempt. The high ALY ranking is encouraging, indicating that (A Frank Gore is good and (B maybe the line hasn’t been playing as bad as it seems. In these next four games, look to see the sack rate drop, partly because Hill takes waaaaay less sacks than JTO, but the unit should also play more cohesively. The Power Success ranking should get better as well. On 3rd or 4th and short, see how many yards the team picks up and see which guys are making the key blocks.

3. Receiving corps.
It’s not pretty going down the list of leading wide receivers on the 49ers since T.O. left in 2003. The list includes, Cedrick Wilson, Curtis Conway, Brandon Lloyd, Johnnie Morton, Antonio Bryant, Darrell Jackson and Arnaz Battle. Four years of bad, ugly, pug-fugly receiving. No wide receiver has even had 60 receptions since 2003. This season, with Mike Martz, Isaac Bruce would have to average at least 5 catches each of the remaining games to get to 60 receptions. The 49ers need to create a more balanced offensive attack and the passing game needs to provide a more consistent threat to opposing defenses. Josh Morgan and Jason Hill have provided reasons to believe that there could be hope for the future. Morgan showed up in the pre-season then got a staph infection, lost a bunch of weight and was on the sidelines for a couple weeks. When he got back, he was looking good, and then he tweaked his groin and has been out the last couple weeks. The staph infection is random and unfortunate and the groin could be the same, but now Morgan has to comeback and prove he can stay healthy and productive. Jason Hill has had a couple nice games after barely even getting on the field last season. A strong finish to the season could be a sign of bigger and better things to come.

4. P-Willy.
Patrick Willis was defensive rookie of the year for 2007. He’s got the second most tackles in the NFL this season after leading the league last season. If there is one guy you can watch on this team every defensive play, it’s Willis. He’s active. He’s exciting. His motor is always running on high. He’s a playmaker. Yet, he hasn’t been the same P-Willy all year. Sure, he had that 85 yard INT return against Seattle early in the season, but something has been missing. Mostly, it’s because O-lineman were getting to him and keeping him from making more tackles. The constant changing of defensive sets put out there by Nolan seemed to be the biggest reason for his drop off in production. Last year, the success of P-Willy had to do with the NT clogging up opposing offensive lines enough to let P-Willy roam freely and hunt down ball carriers. Since Singletary took the headsets, he and Manusky have stayed with a base 3-4 most of the time. Players (Sopoaga and Franklin, mostly) can focus on that one formation and getting comfortable in their responsibilities. This newfound defensive stability should allow P-Willy to do what he does best – dominate. Watch for P-Willy to make more plays over the last month.

5. 2009 1st round draft pick.
The 49ers are likely going to be selecting between the 6th and 12th picks in the April draft. I’d feel pretty comfortable if the 49ers get the 11th pick. Since 2003, here are the #11 picks: Marcus Trufant, Ben Roethlisberger, DeMarcus Ware, Jay Cutler, Patrick Willis and Leodis McKelvin. That’s going to be a prime pick that should contribute immediately. Who will it be? Go over and check out the top 12 rated prospects and various sites and then pick your favorites. Could they get a Michael Jenkins or Vontae Davis to step in for an aging Walt Harris? Will they decide they need to go Michael Crabtree or Jeremy Maclin at wide receiver? Or maybe pick an OT, with Michael Oher or Eben Britton, moving Snyder to the utility lineman role? I didn’t even mention the elephant in the room, quarterback. Sam Bradford? Matt Stafford? These last four weeks will be used by the coaching staff and front office to evaluate personnel. Do your own evaluations. Keep track of who’s giving up big plays, sacks, dropping passes, missing tackles or not really doing anything when they’re on the field? Which players are standing out above the rest? Diagnose the most troubled starting position and then check the draft boards and figure out who would fit best.

There are reasons to watch the Niners in December.

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Marc Stein and Marcus Thompson report that Al Harringotn to the Knicks for Jamal Crawford.


I was fooling around with the trade machine after Baron opted out and I looked at the Knicks and Crawford, of course I wanted David Lee, too. The W's are playing for the playoffs this season, which will make the fans happy. If Morrow, Wright and Randolph can get some quality minutes along the way, they'll be playing for the future as well.

I guess there will be no LBJ/D-Wade/Bosh action in 2010. Oh well.

I know Crawford has 3 years left on his deal, but he fits well with Monta. As Monta's undersized, Crawford is a 6'5" PG, granted a shooter PG. It'll be nice to see what the team looks like with Crawford, Ellis/Morrow(if he stays hot), StackJack, Maggette and Biedrins are capable of. Hopefully, they're capable of a playoff spot.

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The Giants signed the first free agent in the MLB for 2009, today. They inked Jeremey Affeldt to a 2-year $8 million deal.

Keith Law breaks down the signing and is surprisingly supportive of the move and the terms.

Law is usually pretty pessimistic and seemingly more so with the Giants, so this was a nice change.

The Giants weren't able to find a reliable left handed reliever since Eyre left and Affeldt is more than just a LOOGY.

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Per Marcus Thompson II, StackJack will extend for 3 years and about $28 million.

I'm hoping Rowell did this extension because he knew that only a happy StackJack would be a productive StackJack. If StackJack isn't happy and he's not playing/practicing/being a leader on this young team, then that could lead to further problems down the road.

It is strange to work out an extension with a guy two years away from free agency who's already 30 when there is absolutely no need to do the extension now.

I like StackJack, so I'll give it the 'ol wait and see approach, but I'm cautiously pessimistic, just like any good Warriors fan.

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A 104 yard kickoff return for a TD to open a MNF game opens eyes, but besides that play how has he been doing? According to Football Outsiders:

San Francisco's kickoff returns have been worth 10.7 points in estimated field position compared to the NFL average, more than any team except Cleveland.

So, the 49ers return game has been even better than Chicago? I know Hester missed a game or two, but wow. I didn't think Rossum would offer much when he was signed this off season. I thought he'd be decent and able to hang on to the ball, but he's old. Instead, he's been a bright spot, giving the offense decent field position at worst and even contributing on offense occaisionally, well, one play, but it was a touch down.

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Here's what I wrote for Football Outsiders for the games that I've charted for them this season. I'll post the link to the FO site when they post it on Friday.
***Update*** Check out the NFC comments.

AZ(Week 1 & 10)- The Cardinals’ success is directly related to their passing game weapons and the fact that opposing defenses can’t double team everybody. In week one, Anquan Boldin was held without a reception in the first half. In the second half the Cardinals moved Boldin around and used Larry Fitzgerald as a decoy to create open space underneath. Boldin had eight catches on 11 targets in the second half, six of the catches resulted in first downs. Boldin is a beast and is continually exploiting mismatches. With Larry Fitzgerald demanding attention wherever he is on the field and the emergence of Steve Breaston as a deep threat, smaller nickel backs or slower linebackers are forced to try and stop Boldin who racks up YAC once he gets the ball. We saw a lot of this in last Monday night’s game against the 49ers as well. Fitzgerald had eight catches, but most underneath for shorter gains. Breaston got deep and had over 120 yards receiving while Boldin caught most of his passes within ten yards of the line of scrimmage and found the end zone twice. We also saw Boldin running the Wildcat a couple times. I was going to say I’m surprised we haven’t seen Boldin running the Wildcat more this season, but I think I’ll say don’t be surprised to see Boldin running the Wildcat more the rest of this season. Pay the man.

ATL(Week 2 and Week 4) – Week 2 at Tampa Bay. Michael Turner was held in check this game. Turner had a third of his carries stopped for no gain against Tampa Bay. The Falcons red zone offense suffered because of the struggling running game. Only two of the Falcons’ 12 red zone plays gained more than one yard. The Falcons were not afraid to pass the ball after the running game stalled as they tried to attack Philip Buchanon, but he played relatively well, for him, giving up five completions on eleven targets. Tampa’s running game was strictly boom and bust this game. Dunn only had two carries for more than 15 yards(1 TD and 1 FD) while he had eight rushes for less than five yards. Earnest Graham had a similar line, but broke a 68 yarder to appease fantasy football owners. The Bucs spread the passes around amongst the coverage, but all four of the passes at Chevis Jackson picked up first downs. Tampa’s running game was inconsistent and that carried over to their red zone performance. One of nine rushing plays in the red zone gained a first down, Dunn’s 15 yard scamper. This game was won on field position as Matt Ryan threw two picks on Atlanta’s side of the field that gave the Bucs the ball in the red zone. Ryan didn’t look like a shell shocked rookie this game, rather just an inexperienced QB running into a disciplined, strong defense.

Week 4 at Carolina was similar to the week 2 matchup versus Tampa. Michael Tunrer struggled running the ball against a good defense and the passing game wasn’t able to create plays down field. Micahel Turner’s longest run on 18 carries was for ten yards. Again, the Falcons weren’t afraid to go to the passing game, but Ken Lucas and Chris Gamble were up to the challenge. Ryan completed 11 of 21 passes against those two, but only four first downs and no touch downs. Another game where Matt Ryan looked uncomfortable, but not panicky, but the Falcons weren’t able to move the ball inside the Carolina 15 yard line all game. Meanwhile the Panthers picked on Brent Grimes, a lot, with Muhsin Muhammad no less. Delhomme completed eight of twelve passes against Grimes, seven of the eight for first down/touch downs. All six of Muhsin’s catches against Grimes were for first downs and a touch down.

OAK (Week 2 and Week 6) - An Oakland Raiders game is a tough watch in real time. It’s even more excruciating to chart them, but they don’t throw too much so at least the clock moves a little faster. Since the less that is said about the Raiders is probably the better, I’ll stick to the interesting stuff. The Bills attacked DeAngelo Hall 11 times in the Week 2 game. The first four were incompletions including and interception. Six of the next seven passes were completed, four for first downs, all in the second half. In Week 6, Drew Brees completed more passes in three quarters than JaMarcus Russell completed in the two games I charted for the Raiders, combined. In fact, Russell couldn’t even attack 2007 FO Piñata Jason David, instead, David only allowed one catch on seven targets and grabbed and INT. On the other side, the Saints didn’t attack Hall that much and instead focused on the Raiders LBs. Brees completed 13 of 15 passes against Raiders LBs to seven different receivers, eight of those receptions gained first downs or touchdowns. In fact, 14 of the 30 pass plays for the Saints got first downs and they were six of six on third down rushing, five first downs and one touchdown. If game charting is “Press Your Luck,” drawing the Raiders is a “Whammy.”

SF – My home town team and team I’ve charted most of the season has been a disappointing roller coaster, but it’s better than trying to watch the Raiders. Nate Clements has been solid and I think he’s living up to his contract. Although Larry Fitzgerald caught a touchdown in each game against Clements, he’s been limited to underneath routes and I don’t know anyone that can stop Fitzgerald one-on-one inside the five yard line. I charted the 49ers-Lions game, but I don’t even feel like that counted. 11 of 16 completions went for a first down or touch downs and eight of 25 rushes did the same. The Lions receivers were sloppy and had six drops. Although Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson caught six passes against Walt Harris and Nate Clements, five were in the second half, well after the game was decided. Vernon Davis has played rather well, which probably sounds strange, what with the poor numbers and missed opportunities. Davis is an excellent blocker, which has doomed him to being held back to block a lot more that in the past because of all the deep drops in the Martz offense. Last season, Davis caught 52 passes, while this season he only has 17 receptions. This discrepancy has less to do with his abilities as a receiver and more to do with the amount of targets he’s seeing. Another “loser” in the 49ers offense if Frank Gore, which sounds absurd because he was leading the league in yards from scrimmage for a while. Gore is the type of runner who is always capable of breaking a big play so it makes no sense to limit his touches. Martz seems to forget about Gore sometimes, important times. Against the Pats, Gore didn’t have a third quarter carry and only three fourth quarter carry even though the game was close. Against the Eagles, when the 49ers gave up 23 points in the fourth quarter, while JT O’Sullivan turned the ball over three times, Gore only had two carries.

New England(Josh McDaniels) is really good at creating mismatches for their receivers, just like the Cardinals. Moss is a constant deep threat and often draws double teams allowing McDaniels to move Wes Welker around underneath as he sees fit to exploit coverages. Against the 49ers, Welker caught seven of the eight passes thrown his way and got five first downs. New England focused on nickel back Donald Strickland, much like the Cardinals did, and completed five of six passes against him for four first downs. I didn’t get what the 49ers were doing on defense against Moss. The 49ers chose to double Moss a lot, which is valid, but they used two cornerbacks to do it. I don’t understand that logic. After all, corner backs are used to getting help over the top and not giving help over the top. Secondly, the book on Moss is to jam him at the line and disturb him physically. The 49ers played off Moss. On Moss’ long touch down catch, he ran free down the field for 10 yards before Walt Harris and Nate Clements were on him, only Harris stumbled and that was that, TD.

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