Kwon back practicing is awesome. Let's hope we can get the full defense healthy minus the other IR guys and get back to early season dominance.

I REALLY wish we still had DJ Jones around too. I think he was really turning into a great player for us. Losing him has hurt almost as much as losing Ford imo.

He was crucial against the run and creating pressure.

I think with Ford back we will have enough firepower again but really need Buckner to start stepping up again as well. He's been a non factor for like 4 games now

I really hope the Eagles get it done against the Seattle. They're a very injured team as well but they have momentum and home turf always helps

I know I really don’t want to see Seattle again…those fukers just won’t roll over and die. But I don’t think Philly has enough bodies to win but never know.

I’ve learned my lesson the hard way rooting for a specific team for us to face..back in 2012 I wanted us to play Baltimore in the SB thinking they would be the easier matchup for us than the Pats…we know how that worked out.

Whoever we play we just have to bring our A game and hope we don’t suffer more injuries at this point. If we’re healthy even with all the guys on IR i think we’re balanced enough to beat any team as long as we play without mental errors or turnovers.

Definitely prefer Eagles but not gonna stress it. I have confidence in this team, especially with the players coming back, to beat anyone. Also wouldn’t mind Vikings lol

Get the Seahawks and Saints out of the playoffs round 1 please

The great thing is that we've already beaten all the top NFC playoff teams, and did so being less healthy than we are now, and twice on the road. Having home field will be huge IMO

Jimmy G is firing at the exact right time. As long as the 2 weeks off don't rust him I think we have a great shot vs. anyone in the NFC.

If we do have face New Orleans again we have home field advantage.

We have a clear path to the SB, it's ours for the taking, just have to play smart and get there

…

the legend lives!!!!!

inb4 Dave P

Mariachi! Where's Dave and Humpty?

Im rooting for Seattle and NO to lose just because I hate them most of the other NFC teams. Regardless who we play I know this team gonna be ready, more rested, and at home and I think we take it. Playoffs you never know what's gonna happen and I'm sure we'll see some interesting games this weekend.

Phoenix rises!

Legit had to do a double take to see if I opened an old thread lol.

I know EM posts on webzone but no idea if Dave or Humpty still around somewhere. I give Humpty a lot of credit for going cold turkey away from this place lol. Dave straight up vanished.

But back to the niners…saw this crazy stat posted on twitter

According to
@billbarnwell
, in the 108 snaps Dee Ford, Nick Bosa and Kwon Alexander played together this season, opposing quarterbacks posted a QBR of 3. That’s 3 out of 100. Crazy #49ers


Now I personally hate the QBR stat but there's no question having those 3 guys out there at the same time brings this D to another level. Really hope Ford gets his hamstring right and is able to play through his other ailments. As good as we were this year it's crazy thinking just how good we could've been if Kwon and Ford were playing all year at 100%.

Saw some twitter exchanges between Eagle fans trying to say Doug Pederson should be COTY because they made the playoffs with all their injuries(hmmm sounds like a familiar argument) but it's pretty clear because the 49ers kept winning nobody understands how bad the injury bug hit us this year.

Our IR list as it stands now:
starters
Kwon Alexander - starting LB
Weston Richburg - starting C
DJ Jones - starting NT
Trent Taylor - starting slot WR

Backups who became starters due to injuries or starters at one point in the season.
Marquise Goodwin - backup WR, starter early in the season
Damontre Moore - backup DE…to the backup
Jason Verrett - backup CB

Guys who were key depth and would've been starters due to injury had they not been hurt themselves
Ronald Blair - backup DE
Garrett Celek - backup TE
Shon Coleman - swing OT

Unknowns since they never played in the regular season for us
Jerick McKinnon - RB starter/backup?
Jalen Hurd - rookie WR

The guys who probably don't make the 53 had they not gotten hurt
Tim Harris - rookie corner depth
Andrew Lauderdale - depth
Shawn Poindexter - rookie WR depth

That's just the IR list.

Guys who have gotten hurt and missed games

Starters:
George Kittle
Richard Sherman
Joe Staley
Mike McGlinchey
Kyle Juszczyk
Tevin Coleman
Dee Ford
Robbie Gould
Jimmie Ward
K'Wuan Williams
Ahkello Witherspoon
Deebo Samuel
Jaquiski Tartt
Mike Person

Key depth/guys who became starters due to other injuries/were starters at one point
Matt Breida
Dante Pettis
Azeez Al-Shaair
Julian Taylor
Kentavius Street


Now some of these guys only missed a game so it's obviously exaggerated a bit but we had some big heavy hitters miss multiple games and a chunk of the season and yet we kept winning so we didn't need to use that as an excuse and the media didn't mention it much until our defensive injuries late in the season.

But there's no question in my mind at full health this roster would be unreal. I really wish we got to see Trent Taylor and Hurd in this offense as well.

I know this season still has games left but with the bye week I’ve been thinking about next year. I really want AJ Green in FA. Sign him to a short term deal with a lot of incentives. Something like what they did with Sherman. Assuming Sanders is gone, which isn’t for sure, our WR corps is pretty meh. We all love Deebo but after him it’s a lot of unknown.

And then as far as the draft I think we can afford to just go BPA. We don’t have any glaring issues. We’re gonna need replacements soon for Sherman and Staley so those positions might be high priority. There are some big corners in this draft. Maybe we let Ward walk and get a first round safety? Even though Armstead likely either walks or we franchise and trade, our defensive line is still solid. Our linebackers are solid.

No 2nd, 3rd or 4th round pick right now. We do have 2 5ths. I’m guessing we get at least a third round pick for Armstead. Sanders maybe signs somewhere and we get a 4th or 5th comp. What really sucks is we’re stuck with Solomon unless we just flat out cut him after June 1st. Nobody is going to trade for him with him making $11 mil next season.

Are you all watching any of the playoff Wildcard games? I just have zero interest in any of them.

Yeah I'm going to watch them, it's not having stress free football. Curious to see if the Bills and Titans have what it takes to hang. Plus tomorrow those games are crucial

Zero interest in the AFC games today.

Obviously interested in Eagles/Seahawks tomorrow since that's most likely who we'll be playing.

Vikings? I have to say I’m shocked they won in New Orleans. I was hoping they’d win because I thought Saints were our biggest threat but now I’m wondering if this is a case of careful what you wish for.

Vikings don’t scare me but they do make me nervous if we’re not playing our best football.

Their offense is very talented. Cousins has his faults but he’s played well this year and with Thielen, Diggs, Cook and Rudolph there are a lot of weapons for him to work with.

But what worries me most is their D, specifically their DLine. Worst game Jimmy has played for us was the Vikings game last year so hopefully we come in with a much better game plan and execute much better.

Key for us will be to run the ball well and use PA passes with a bunch of screens mixed in to keep their elite edge rushers from destroying our offense.

Hopefully we’re going to be hungry to avenge last years loss and get to the NFC Championship at our house.

It won’t be easy but if we play smart, avoid turnovers on offense and limit penalties we should win but I would kind of rather play Seattle. Vikings imo are a more well rounded team.

Haven't got to watch the Vikings much this year but I do know if the pass rush shows up I really like our chances. They have excellent players on both sides of the ball and are well balanced so we need to play our game and play well to win. I really do like the emotional and physical aspect of being well rested, at home and getting some guys back for this game. I think it's gonna be tough for them to come back to west coast after beating NO and come in and beat us in our place.

I expect us to play with a lot of energy and the result to be more similar to what we saw earlier on in the season. I know it's the playoffs and anything can happen but I am ready to see our guys get a playoff shot at home and see how it all plays out. I like our chances.

Gonna be a long week of waiting but I’m glad we are in position of waiting.

Really hope the rest revitalizes the defense. If we’re being honest they’ve been pretty chit lately. The dL depth has been a big loss. Getting Ford and Tartt back will be big. If Kwon can go that’s even better.

If our D shows up and looks like it did earlier in the year I’m confident our offense will do their part.

The team has already exceeded my expectations for this year but at this point it would still be disappointing if we didn’t get to the SB at this point but one game at a time and Vikings aren’t pushovers. We better not overlook them like the Saints did.

Thankfully a lot of guys were around last year when they took it to us at their house. Hopefully we’re eager to repay them for that game. It was one where very few went right for us…let’s flip that script on Saturday!

Good luck to y'all. Now that I don't have a dog in the fight anymore, I'm pulling for y'all.

Honestly, I don't think we could ask for a better match-up. I wouldn't let today's game fool you, the Vikings showed up and played their very best game, coupled with the Saints playing one of their worst games, and it still went into O/T. If that OPI was called then it's a FG and Brees could have brought them back and won it.

Every team is obviously dangerous, but if we play the way we are capable of playing then this should not even be close. Our defense is much better than the Saints D and we are going to get a lot more pressure on Cousins with Ford and Bosa both in it. Our DBs shouldn't give up those big plays either. On offense, I think Jimmy G gets it done coupled with a strong run game. Saints had some success running but abandoned it too early

Again, I'd rather Vikings than Seahawks. They just played a tough, physical, emotionally draining game that went into O/T. We are well rested and should have 4 starters back. We should have this on all accounts

I'd say Eagles would be a better matchup lol but you play who's in front of you.

Vikings are well rounded and have some scary players. As I said before my biggest concern playing them are their edge rushers. Hunter is one of the best in the game and when he's not going crazy Griffen is pretty damn good on his own. They had the same amount of sacks this year as we did so our OL better play their asses off.

Definitely need to come in ready to play and have a smart game plan against these guys. I think the Saints may have under estimated them and it bit them in the ass…I would hope the way we looked against them last year(most of the players were on that team) and the fact that Vikings just knocked off the Saints at their house we'll take them much more seriously.

Get the W. Then get 2 more after it. Let's finish this awesome season strong.

and the D guy grabbing the left arm wouldn't be consider DPI as well?

I think it was a good no call - even if he doesn't touch him that play would have end up in a TD - Ball was pretty high and in a spot the D Player has very little chance to do something.

I'd much rather play the Vikings than the Saints and I don't mean any disrespect to the Vikings. I think the d line can get to Cousins whereas with the Saints they pressured Brees but never got home. Plus Brees is one of those QBs that gets a lot of calls in his favor.

Should be a really close game.

No question I'd rather face Vikings over the Saints but hopefully it won't be a case of "careful what you wish for" I remember in 2012 I was hoping we'd play Baltimore in the SB instead of the Pats…that didn't go well

The one thing that makes me feel better about the matchup is that Minnesota used their week 17 game as a bye week for their starters. Just a handful of starters got any meaningful snaps. I believe the only starter on their D who played was Hunter and he had 1 snap(probably for incentive related reasons)

On offense only their C and 2 Guards played and it was just 37% of their snaps. They came into this Saints game pretty well rested and it showed, especially on defense. Well while they'd be more rested than a team like Eagles/Seahawks who went all out week 17 and then played a tough game WC weekend they'll definitely won't be as fresh after an OT game and then having 6 days before our game.

Hopefully our guys are well rested and play like they did after our last bye week.

Niners Nation
✔
@NinersNation

Fun fact: 49ers safety Jimmie Ward only missed four tackles during the regular season. He missed a tackle 8.9% of the time, which was the eighth-lowest rate among all defensive backs who had at least 40 tackles.
494
9:55 AM - Jan 6, 2020


I just saw this. I am pretty sure we were all confused when the team decided to keep him around. Guess it worked out really well!

Accurate. Rudolph had such a height advantage that even if PJ Williams was in next to him and jumped up to block the ball he couldn't have reached it. It was a perfectly placed ball. I actually appreciate when the refs let the players actually play. That's real football.

Oh yeah I agree it was definitely a good no call. I'm just saying, the way that game was being called, I would not be surprised at all if that OPI was called

Yeah we gotta play someone though lol I agree maybe Eagles could have been a little better but not having to play the Saints or Seahawks (yet) is huge

If we can get to an SF / GB NFCCG I think we have a clear path to the SB. Even if we have to play the Seahawks again I think we get there