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

Tough incredibly gruesome game yesterday. We're 5 games in and have a bye week. So at nearly the 1/3 mark, let's assess yesterday's debacle with an eye on the upcoming game vs. the Giants. The good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good:

• The defense. Granted they were playing one of the more anemic offenses in the NFL, but still. This unit is looking more and more like a shutdown squad. No turnovers yesterday, but Baltimore didn't get an offensive touchdown, and anytime you can do that, you give your team a chance to win. It looks like they'll have to do more, though, unless our offense decides that 1st downs might actually interest them.
  
• Patrick Willis. Led the team in tackles yet again. I've already professed my love for the rookie. In fact I've done nothing but ride his jock all season, and yet he still has not disappointed me. Amobi Okoye may have won NFL Rookie of the Month, but P Willy is #1 in my book. If I ever see him out, 2 beers. That's really all it would take.
  
• Andy Lee. It's a good thing you're so good. Because punting the ball away seems to be our best offensive play. Seriously, though, an average over 50yds and 2 punts inside the 5 is fantastic. You are approaching Nedney status.
• The offensive line. It might be stretching it to put this under "good" given that Frank Gore couldn't get going again. But after last week's disaster, and with Jonas Jennings out, we weren't expecting big things. Snyder stepped up nicely and Dilfer had as much time as could be hoped for against a tough defense like Balitmore. So kudos on the improvement.
  

The Bad:

• The WRs. This is becoming a theme. It's looking like getting a playmaker at WR should be the #1 off-season priority. The only highlights here were Gilmore's long catch followed up by Battle's touchdown. Darrell Jackson: 2 catches for 6 yards? I thought you were supposed to be a legit #1.
• The running game. I said after the Pittsburgh game that I wasn't too concerned about the running game picking it up. I'm becoming very concerned after 2 more weeks of feeble attempts to jam it up the middle.
• Joe Nedney. Nedney's my boy. But a 52 yarder to take the lead in the last few minutes of the game has got to be made. Who knows how things would have played out, but the way the defense was going, having a 10-9 lead would have put them in a great spot. I still love you, Joe. Just don't do that again.
  

The Ugly:

• Mike Nolan & Jim Hostler. I hear that Nolan is a defensive coach. The defense looks great. So good job, Mike. But just because you like defense and are good at it doesn't mean that we don't have to score any points. So how about at least trying on offense. With the conservative play-calling that you and Hostler have put together we've been going 3 and out practically every series. Why not try going deep a little? Worst case, we'll go 3 and out. That's certainly no worse than now, and you at least give the team a shot at getting something going. But if you never go deep we're gonna have to face 8 or 9 in the box all game long. Mr. Gore can only do so much when he's being gang tackled by both safeties who can pretty much play run all day long without fear of being beaten deep. Let's get a little creative here, yeah?
  

Conclusions:

• This team has a lot to figure out on the bye week. Most notably how to get this offense going. Right now they look worse than 2 years ago when Joe Nedney was the offensive MVP of the team. 5 games in it's even worse. Andy Lee is the offensive MVP. C'mon, fellas. How about trying something more than screen passes, draws and runs up the middle.