Niners v. Giants: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Another ugly game yesterday. The good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good:

• The defense. They were solid again after being put in tough situations all game long. 4 turnovers by the offense kept them backed up, yet they yielded very little and virtually shut down the NYG offense on a full-length field.
  
• Patrick Willis. Guess who lead the team in tackles. Willis? How'd you know? If this guy isn't the NFL Defensive ROY, well, I don't know what I'll do. But he should be. That's alls I'm saying.
  
• Andy Lee. Can we officially begin the Andy Lee for Pro Bowl campaign? It's pretty depressing that our punter is the one offensive Pro Bowl candidate we have (maybe Clements or Willis on defense?).
• Continuing the theme, the special teams get a spot under "good." A blocked punt for a safety? Moran Norris, you can be my wingman anytime.
  
• It's a stretch, but I'm going to give "Hoss" a spot here. I've ridden him all year for his conservative, predictable play-calling, but on Sunday he mixed up formations and called more passing plays than all season to this point. Utilizing Lelie more made a big difference in the down-field game, and the Giants didn't seem to know what was coming most of the time.
  

The Bad:

• Frank Gore. I love the guy's heart and can't question his hustle. But the fumbles have got to stop. He's gotten a lot of slack because of the season he put up last year. But at what point do this year's results matter more than last season? Because he's not a top back in the league this year. And that won't change until he holds on to the ball and actually puts up a 100 yard game or two.
• The Giants' fans' wit:

The Ugly:

• Trent Dilfer. I really don't think too much explanation is necessary here. But let's just say that a better QB would not have accounted for 3 turnovers (maybe 4 depending on who you blame for the bad transfer with Gore).
• The offensive line. I was gonna move them up to "bad" because the NYG defensive line is pretty damn good and several of the sacks could have been avoided if Dilfer could actually move. But six sacks is unacceptable. And the running game was decidedly mediocre. Not to mention penalties. Yeah, when you think about it these guys really were bad.

Conclusions:

• The Forty Niners should have been in this game. NY seems to be a good team this year, but not 33 points good. The defense only gave up 9 points that weren't off turnovers. Any offensive production, whatsoever would have put them in the thick of things. I liked the gameplan, so I guess it comes down to execution. Mr. Gore asserted that the players aren't buying into Hoss' calls. The personnel should be good enough to at least be an average offensive team. So either they all need to sit down on the same page and get things straightened out, or someone has to go. Mr. Nolan, take control of your offense and hammer this shit out. It's not working right now.