You better be ready for the Harbaugh Bowl II

I have been increasingly sickened by the hype leading up to the AFC & NFC Championship games.  The drivel logic, poppycock reasoning, and bullshit theory I am hearing these days is the purest examples of East Coast bias a-la ESPN and Bristol Connecticut that I have encountered in the past 5 or 6 years.  It is ferociously disgusting and a violent abomination to the eye and ear.

I take great solace in the fact that ya'all are about to have 10,000 pounds of egg on your face.  Not a quantum of solace but great solace.  Better hedge your bets, chumps.

The AFC Championship

Let us begin (in alphabetical order) with the AFC Championship game.  All the fools of football are utterly convinced that Baltimore Ravens don't have a chance in this game.  Why?  Because Tom Brady is better than Joe Flacco.  Believe me, your reasoning is just that simple.  It ain't any better than that.  When confronted by your simpleton-logic, you may attempt to improve on it a bit, or simply defend it, but this is your argument.  Only this and nothing more.  

Well what about the rest of the teams in question?  It doesn't matter, you say.  Brady is better than Flacco.  The Patriots will win.  This is essentially the same argument that was made about the Broncos and Steelers.  Roethlisberger is a clutch guy and much better than Tebow.  The Broncos have a 0.00000000000000% chance winning.  You saw where your logic got you, didn't you?  Still you have not take corrective action and mended your ways.  You have not discarded the super-simpleton theory you cleave to, have you?

You are forgetting that this is always a team sport, the ultimate teams sport, and very seldom a quarterback dual.  One QB does not defeat another.  One team defeats another.  If you don't think so, you are absolutely and completely wrong, point-blank period.

Only four facts need to be evaluated to understand why the Ravens are going to win this game:

1. The Ravens have the most elite defense in the NFL, point-blank period.  It doesn't matter what the bullshit yardage stats say.  Four of the NFL's top 25 players are concentrated on that unit.  They are the best defensive unit in football.
2. The Patriots do not have anything approaching an elite defense, and they don't have anything approaching a top 25 player either.
3. When the Ravens play an elite team, they rise to the occasion and win.  They defeated playoff teams like the 49ers, got two wins over the Texans, two over the Steelers, two over the Bengals.   This includes clutch-QB play from Joe Flacco, who brought them back in the final moments against the Steelers.  When they play an inferior and rebuilding squad, like the Chargers, they have a tendency to look past the opponent and lose.  I don't think they are looking past the Patriots.
4. When the Patriots play a playoff team, they mostly loose.  Consider back-to-back losses to the Steelers and Giants.  They were also had by the Bills.  They nearly lost to both the Cowboys and Redskins.  When it comes to beating playoff teams, they have beaten the Broncos and the Broncos.  That's it.  An 8-8 squad that wasn't even supposed to contend this year.   The Patriots are not a powerful team, no matter what Bristol Connecticut and ESPN would like you to believe. 

Since the Ravens are not talking much trash right now, I will do it for them.  

Tom Brady will be checking his prostate after every play in the early going of this game, just to make sure it still up in there.  That's because the Raven defense is going to be knocking it loose.  This will cease sometime during the second quarter because Brady will have a bird's-eye view of that prostate after T-Sizzle shoves his head up his ass with one violent thrust.

Say what you will about Tom Brady, but I don't think he can throw the football very accurately with his head shoved up his arse.

As far as I am concerned, the Patriots are the longest of the long-shots still left in this tournament.  This is the one team that doesn't have a chance.  This game features one heavy-weight and one rooty-poot.  In case you were wondering, the Patriots are the rooty-poot.

The NFC Championship Game

After witnessing the massacre of the Patriots, we can move on to a truly epic contest:  the Giants vs. the 49ers.  Everybody knows this going to be the game of the day.  This is going to be the nail-bitter and the big drama.   This is the one where both teams can win.  This is the heavy-weight fight.

In terms of record, the 49ers are clearly the better team.  On paper, the Giants are clearly the better team. Eli looks like the better QB.  However, Alex Smith is astonishing everybody.  Both have very violent defenses.  The 49ers are much higher ranked, but the Giants are peaking right now.

I think the 49ers win.  I'll tell you why.

Everyone is talking about how the Giants are peaking right now, but I will tell you the dirty little secret ESPN is keeping in the closet.  The 49ers are peaking right now also.  They have never played better than they did in there last game.  Further, they are the more consistent team.  Finally, they are at home.

I think this is going to be an epic contest.  We have to muddle through a poor AFC Championship game so we can get to a real contest.  I am looking forward to this one.

In conclusion, you better be ready for the Harbaugh Bowl.  It's going to happen.

The Catch III

Well, that was the best damn contest I have seen in a long time.  In case you missed it, the 49ers just defeated the Saints 36-32.  The game winning play was loaded with types and shadows of playoff victories past for the 49ers.

With 9 seconds left on the clock and the 49ers trailing 32-30, Alex Smith took a quick drop and nailed Vernon Davis over the middle, at the goal-line.  Davis was hit immediately, but held onto the football, falling forward into the endzone for the game-winning touchdown.

It looked almost exactly like the play Steve Young & Terrel Owens executed to defeat Brett Favre and the Packers once upon a time in the playoffs.  Vernon Davis came off the field crying, almost exactly as Terrel Owens did.  They called Young & Owns play "The Catch II".  This was named after the famous Joe Montana to Dwight Clark play that won the 1981/82 NFC Championship game for the 49ers.

If that is the case, then this Smith to Davis play should become known as "The Catch III".

By simply taking you through the winning play, I have short-changed the drama of the game.  34 points scored in the 4th quarter.  Four lead changes in the final four minutes.  Multiple 2-minute drives executed well by both QBs.  It was a struggle all the way. This was one hell of a battle.  I am sure we will be seeing it on the NFL Network this Monday night.  It's already a classic; an instant classic.  The fans are currently ranking this game a 96 on scale of 1 to 100.  That score may go up.

So the 49ers go on to the NFC Championship Game, presumably in Green Bay, but we better not count our chickens before they're hatched.  This game, in itself, was a shocking upset.  Most of us did not believe the 49ers could score enough to win.  A very similar doubt hangs over the Giants.  They may prove us wrong also.  If so, these 49ers will host the NFC Championship game at Candlestick next week.

For me the most amazing moment came before the 49ers first 2-minute drive.  My buddy Colin was sweating bullets, saying "I wish we had Tebow."  I told him, "Maybe it's better that you don't.  With four minutes to grind down, you need to run this drive slow."

The 49ers did not run slow.  The 49ers went down the field based on two big plays.  Alex Smith nailed Vernon Davis on the bomb.  Then, showing shades of the Zone-Read Spread-Option he and Tebow both ran in college, Alex Smith ran the QB Sweep to his left out an empty-backfield shotgun formation.  He went 28 yards for the touchdown.

What was that about Tim Tebow?  Let's remember, Alex Smith was doing the ZRSO thing before Tebow was.

What is this world coming too?  QB's running the football out of the spread for playoff winning scores in the NFL.  Dogs and cats living together in sin!  It must be the end of the world.  The Maya were right, weren't they?

The 1980s San Francisco 49ers: The Air Force attacks

The 49ers are often credited with being the first truly dominant pass-first football team. They dominated through the air. This is very fitting, because they were absolutely dominated by air sign guys.

I prepared this chart just two days ago and was shocked by what I found. This just might be the most clear-cut case of general synastry I have ever seen... were it not for one little wrinkle in the backfield.

Folks, I lived through every last moment of the 49er Dynasty. I was around when the 49ers were a lousy 2-14 football team, drafting #1 in back to back seasons. I watched Bill Walsh put these guys together. I survived all 14 seasons in which they were in the contenders for the title.

I know this story pretty damn well, and yet the chart I present to you on this blog just put an entirely different spin on that history. I was pretty amazed by what I found here.

As it turns out Head Coach Bill Walsh is a Sagittarius. This is not normally considered a good leadership sign. It's more a philosopher and world traveler's sign. The archetype of Sagittarius is the Wizard. I guess he was a wizard philosopher of sorts.

In any case, Sagittarius Bill was magnetically attracted to a Gemini kid named Joe Montana in the 1979 draft. And why not? Sagittarius and Gemini are 180 degree opposites. Do I need to mention the synastry of opposites again? Still, most felt his attraction to the kid was unjustifiable.

Joe was a skinny kid who was never declared the regular full-time starter at Notre Dame. He was an erratic gunslinger backup who had a knack for coming off the bench and giving the team a spark. As is true with an assortment of college backups these days, nobody thought Joe Montana was NFL material.

Bill did, and he took him in the 3rd round. This created quite a bit of controversy at the time in the SF media. Most thought it was a throw away pick for a team that could not afford to throw away any picks.

Fortunately, there was another Gemini dude named Randy Cross there to greet Joe when he arrived, and Walsh wanted to build a team team around his pet student. This included Gemini Mike Holmgren as his chief and best offensive coordinator. Libras like Tom Rathman and Jerry Rice. It included Aquarius boys like Keith Fahnhorst, Fred Quillan, Guy McIntyre, and Brent Jones.

Incidentally, Jerry Rice had an opposite number in Aries John Taylor. It should be noted that Libra and Aries are 180 degree opposites. Usually, there is great synastry between them. I (for one) thought Jerry and John had sensational chemistry together. Working with an Aries is usually no problem for a Gemini like Joe Montana or a Libra like Steve Young. Fire and Air go together well.

The one big wrinkle in this whole picture is the MVP of the team: The Catfish Roger Craig. I often said he was the balls of their offense. Craig often dragged Joe's ass to victory. It wasn't the other way around. I used to say, a decade or two ago, that when the 49ers start going into Canton, Roger Craig better lead the way. He better be the first.

It's a damn shame they don't see it that way. There would have been no 49er dynasty without him.

So what about this lone Cancer kid amongst a bunch of Air boys? Well, Cancer is side by side with Gemini in the zodiac. They are friendly neighbor signs. Joe is a Gemini. So too is Mike Holmgren. We also have to remember that this was and is the ideal offense for the Catfish.

I excluded the 49er offensive linemen from my diagram because there were so many of them during their 14 quality years. This unit was completely torn down and rebuild during that time. I have already noted the presence of a significant number of Air sign guys on that line.

The most intriguing thing about all of this, for me, is his choice of coordinators. I think we all recognize that Mike Holmgren was Walsh's foremost disciple and best offensive coordinator. Of course, he is a Gemini. Walsh chose George Seifert as his defensive coordinator. Seifert just happens to be an Aquarius.

Clearly, Walsh picked his people. He picked guys who we would be comfortable working with. This meant a whole slew of Air guys.

This is yet another great evidence of elemental compatibility and what it can do for your football team.

The Mocks of 2011 suggest a great rivalry

So, my friends at the Bleacher Report sent me a morning NFL update, as they always do, and this one contained about 50th Mock Draft I've seen this season. What did it indicate?

Well, there were two points of interest for me in this and numerous other mocks:

1. The 49ers select Patrick Peterson, CB LSU
2. The Rams select Julio Jones, WR Alabama

That has been one of the premier street-fights in NCAA football over the past three seasons. If the Mocks are correct. It will continue and intensify in the Pro ranks. We'll see these two beat on each other twice per year for God knows how long.

The reasoning is pretty simple in both cases. In Peterson's case, the reasoning goes like this:

1. Patrick Peterson is possibly the best athlete in the draft
2. Corners are undervalued, and never go that high.
3. He made a 9 on his Wonderlic, sliding him down a bit
4. The NFL is about to tamper with his value as a returner
5. Ergo Patrick Peterson slides to 7 where the 49ers cannot pass

In the case of Julio Jones, the reasoning goes like this:

1. Julio blew up the combine
2. Julio either broke his foot at the combine, or before the combine (accounts vary). While this makes his performance all the more amazing, he now has a medical red-flag. Minor though it may be, it will not be ignored.
3. Julio is the clear #2 WR behind B.J. Green
4. Julio dropped some passes in college. Shame, shame.
5. The top 10 is jammed with teams that need QBs and defense.
6. There is only one very likely spot in the top 10 where a WR will go (Cleveland)
7. Julio is likely to slide to 14 where the Rams have a desperate need.

Of course, there are exceptions to this pattern. Some think Peterson will go as high as #1. I think that is bloody unlikely; wishful thinking really. It's either QB or DT for the Panthers. Forget everything else. Nobody else is truly in the running.

Some think the Washington Redskins will select Julio Jones at the #10 spot. I think that is bloody unlikely; trade stimulus talk to be frank with you. I think some Redskin fans are signalling this to see if they can pimp the Rams for some picks.

Why do I say that about the Skins? I'll give you two reasons. Few, if any NFL insiders think the Skins will select an offensive player in this years draft. Shanahan has a serious political problem and liability on his hands. He inherited a good 4-3 defense. He arbitrarily blew up the ship and went 3-4 when he did not need too. His defense is now at the bottom of the barrel. This literally spoiled the honey moon. Shanahan created some very, very, very angry Redskin fans with this one move. If that defense doesn't get up off the carpet and show some life in 2011, Shanahan could be in some danger.

I will bet you dollars to donuts that the Redskins go defense in 2011. I'll bet they do it in a big way. As Mike Lombardi says, they have a 3-4 defense, and they do not have 3-4 personnel. This is the Redskins' most serious problem. It's even worse than their QB situation, which is now sitting at #2 slot. Only after this can we begin to discus the subject of a WR. Julio Jones at #10? Nope.

Can you imagine Patrick Peterson and Julio Jones in the NFC West, playing for bitter rivals? One thing is for sure: This would be good for business.

So Jim Harbaugh is now the head coach of the 49ers

Not a good move

As you know, Jim Harbaugh signed with the 49ers today. I am not particularly thrilled with this, although I am sure he is. Is this just a Ram fan disliking the arrival of a legit coach inside the division?

Nope, I don't think so. This ain't you papa's 49er organization. As you know, Eddie DeBartolo is long gone. His sister, Denise, is the real owner. She keeps pushing Josh out front of her to hide the fact that she is the true owner of the franchise, but she is--in point of fact--the owner. Believe you me, Denise is no Eddie.

Jason La Canfora explicitly said the some of Harbaugh's closest advisors warned him that the 49er front office is not configured for long-term coaching success. The 49ers have had a bunch of HCs since Denise took over. None of them has lasted long. She finished moochie pretty quickly. Several other high quality guys have come and gone. They have not had success. The reason is that the 49ers are now a Busch-league organization.

Sorry bitches, I just had to be honest about that fact.

I felt Harbaugh should stay at Stanford, but if he had to come out, he should have closed the deal with John Elway. I know that wouldn't suit Jim Harbaugh's location requirements very well, but it would have provided the best opportunities for success. The Broncos have had a bad moment over these past two seasons, but they are not a Busch league outfit. I still believe Pat Bowlen is one of the better owners in this league, and drastically better than Denise.

What are the prospects?

At the moment, the 49ers are still pretty deep in a state of denial about their present offensive unit. The truth is that they have three cornerstones of this offensive unit, none of whom get along well with each other. Vernon Davis, Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree are know for their bickering and conflicts. They show lousy offensive chemistry.

Somehow, probably because the 49er organization wants this point de-emphasized in the media, all of these conflict incidents have been down-played. They wish to say that all their problems are simply the result of poor quarterbacking. Certainly, your quarterback problems are terrible, but tossing all the blame for your offensive problems on the QB is absolute bullshit. Even the best QB prospect is going to have problems playing with this back-biting rabble.

If you press the 49ers, they will admit that not all of their problems will be solved by acquiring a franchise QB. They admit that they also need a good offensive coordinator. Respectfully, I say that is bullshit as well. You had something like 7 offensive coordinators during the 6 year history Alex Smith, and none of them worked out. Oh, but that was Alex Smith's fault. Really? The way I recall it, Alex Smith wasn't even the starter during 3 of those 6 seasons. He could not have been the entire problem.

You need to come to grips with the fact that the 49ers offensive problems are deep and chemical. You are not going to fix it by simply getting Jim Harbaugh and some quarterback. No matter how sexy Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree look together, they are a lousy couple. They don't work together well. Now Frank Gore has two surgically reconstructed knees and a broken hip. How much longer do you think he has?

Frankly, I don't like Jim Harbaugh's prospects at all unless he rebuilds that offense. A full skill-position rebuild is necessary.

Harbaugh needs a QB like a man in the desert needs water

Whilst getting a franchise QB is not a panacea for the 49ers' offensive woes, it is absolutely essential that they get one. Who is that going to be? There aren't any on the market, unless perhaps you want Donovan McNabb. Now that Luck is out of the draft, I don't see any sure-fire options in this draft. Would they take a risk on Vince Young or Cam Newton? Somehow I doubt it. The QB prospects in the draft don't look that good this time around.

Do you think he might want to acquire Jimmy Clauson cheap? This is another young Virgo QB, but not nearly as athletic or smart as Andrew Luck. Yes, it is true, Clausen is a Virgo, and I am not into him. You might be better off with a baby-Taurus like Cam Newton, but I am not crazy about that choice either.

Are you thinking what I am thinking?

Now that Jim Harbaugh has taken the 49er job, I wonder if he is going make some phone calls and try to convince Andrew Luck to change his mind. The 49ers need a quarterback, and they need one badly. Harbaugh needs a QB and he needs one badly.

How would that do him any good? The 49ers don't have the top pick. Surely you are right about this, but as usual, the team at the top of the list and the bottom of the heap is ready to deal if you will enrich them. I bet a deal including Crabtree and Davis would bring that pick to the 49ers.

Right now, I don't like what I see in the tea leaves. This whole thing was a year premature. I think Harbaugh forced a situation that just ain't right.

The most popular NFL rebuilding strategy in 2011 is...

I have heard it said that several NFL teams, most specifically the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers are going to attempt to acquire Stanford's Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck as a package deal. This seems to be the most popular theory today vis-a-vis producing a quick turn around in your team's fortunes.

It seems like the entire NFL establishment is enthralled and mesmerized by the tremendous offensive chemistry of Harbaugh and Luck. They speak of these two as a dynamic duo like Batman and Robin. They all seem to think there is enough horse power in this duo to right just about any founding ship in the league.

If true, this is another feather in the cap of the Capricorn-Virgo synastry camp. Jim Harbaugh is a 12/23/1963 Capricorn. Capricorn is the cardinal leadership sign of the Earth clan. Andrew Luck is a 9/12/1989 Virgo. Virgo is Braniac sign of the Earth clan. Christ I feel old! I am less than 3 years younger than Harbaugh and I was already 23 and stationed in Germany in the U.S. Army on the day Andrew Luck was born!

Readers of my blog will know that Capricorn and Virgo go together like corn flakes and milk, like bread and butter, like peanut butter and jelly, like cream and coffee, like pork and beans, like the Internet and porn. We just can't help it. We were specifically engineered to work together. It just works. Even when the relationship is less than perfect, it still pays big dividends. This is one of the top match-ups on the Synastry board.

There have been other dynamic Capricorn and Virgo Coach-QB combos in NFL history. Chuck Noll is a Capricorn and Terry Bradshaw is a Virgo. Don Shula is a Capricorn and Dan Marino is a Virgo. Marty Schottenheimer and Drew Brees reversed the relationship a bit, as Marty is a Virgo and Drew is a Capricorn.

Once upon a time, I was teamed with a certain Argentinian Capricorn female at work. She was the project manager and I was the software developer. Dems was the best days that ever was... Of course, I could refuse her nothing, and she appreciated that greatly. I thought she was the greatest. She thought I was the greatest. I was inspired every day to go above and beyond, and not because she nagged me. There was a great dynamism there, and everybody noticed. Certain political enemies came to fear that dynamism, and they split us up. Break up the Yankees!

Years later, I'm still pissed off about this. If you want to know what really gets my blood boiling...

My take on Harbaugh-Luck is pretty simple. Interested parties inside the league are pretty well on track. Your hunch looks like it's on the money. Whenever Capricorn and Virgo get together, good things are sure to follow. If a dynamic Virgo Capricorn pair form a partnership, that's best partnership your going to find. You should keep them together. You will be ill-advised to split them up. Splitting them up could mess up both parties.

The Mutinous Rabble

Intro

Last night, whilst running a few errands, I noticed that head coaches on the hot seat, on fire, and inflames were the major themes of the evening on Sports Talk Radio. This was also the rage on the NFL Network. It looks like we are preparing for a firestorm of firings in the coming week. Mark Clayton of ESPN says 10-11 coaches will fall in total by the end of this week. That means about 33% of the teams in the league will fire a head coach.

I hate to toot my own horn, but I was forecasting this more than a month ago.

Mike Singletary fired

So the other shoe has dropped and Mike Singletary has been fired. I say fired in the past tense because they did the job on him last night, not after this week’s final game. When I saw this news, I was once again struck dumb by the horrendous turn around in the 49er organization this season.

At the beginning of the season, the 49ers were expected to enjoy a cup-cake walk to the NFC West title, and Mike Singletary was the face of the franchise. Everywhere you drove in the SF bay area, including San Jose, Mike Singletary’s face was visible on some bill board or poster somewhere. It wasn’t always a 49er advertisement, but it usually was. Mike was the super star of the team, and the reason to believe in a turn-around.

Now there are broken dreams and flying machines laying in pieces on the ground. The turnaround came, but it went in the wrong direction. There will be a new GM and a new head coach in San Francisco soon. The GM will be hired first, and that GM will select a coach. We’ll see if this turns out to be the Big Tuna or someone else.

The 49er Problems are deep and chemical

I live in the NFC West. I have been a Ram fan for more than 30 years now. I keep a close watch on the 49ers. My best buddy in life happens to a 49er fan. This is a biting irony, I know. I observe the 49ers very closely, in the same way that the CIA used to keep surveillance on the KGB. I know these guys pretty well. They are the prime enemy. Know yourself and know your enemy is the saying,

What I say to you now, I say in a spirit of scientific objectivity, not spite. The 49ers problems are a lot worse than Singletary or the QB situation. Further, I would question whether Singletary was a problem at all. You may have just fired a non-problem, even a solution provider.

Most would reply that Singletary lost control of his ship, and the 49ers became a rudderless shipwreck as the season went along. I don’t quite see it that way. I think Singletary had a mutinous rabble on his hands, and they took the ship from him. Yes, he probably mishandled an already terrible quarterback situation, but this was not the key to 49er defeat. He could have handled the QBs well, and the 49er Bust-Collective would have lost games anyway.

The key to 49er defeat is a collection of undisciplined, strong-willed divas on offense, who want to do what they want to do, and don’t get along with each in the process. That offense was a rabble. You only need to witness the conflicts that have occurred recurred between Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree to see what I am talking about. This group has no chemistry together. Surely it was never this way with Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Roger Craig. Surely, it was not this way with Steve Young, Jerry Rice and Ricky Waters. Waters was a Diva elsewhere, but not in SF. Certainly, this internal conflict doesn’t make it easy to succeed as a QB with the 49ers, even if you have a good candidate.

Then there is the grand and sweeping problem of the 49er Bust Collective. During Sunday’s game, you had not one but two all-out bust #1 overall draft pick QBs, sitting on the bench, backing up a late-round, once-cut QB who was starting. Alex Smith, David Carr, Troy Smith… What a mess. Of course, the key issue here is that the 49ers have wasted 6 years waiting for Alex Smith to come around and bear fruit. It ain’t going to happen, so it is time to move on. It was really time to move on two years ago, but 49er organization has been very stubborn about giving up on Alex Smith. It cost them dearly over the last several years.

Now for the billion dollar question: If a leader as tough and single-minded as Singletary could not control that offensive rabble, then who can? I don’t think it can be done. The rabble, as currently constituted, will not be controlled. This is the problem the 49er organization needs to cogitate during the next several weeks while they are selecting a coach. You have had two highly professional and highly respected head coaches in a row in Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary. You even had Mike Martz in there for a time, and no man has successfully controlled that rabble yet.

Some, like Colin Cowherd would pile on the blame on the QB situation. Respectfully, I don’t think so. Certainly your Quarterback problems are terrible, but 49er problems won’t end with the acquisition of a franchise QB.

You can trade for the #1 pick and select Andrew Luck. You can hire Jim Harbaugh also. I doubt that will change things in 2011… if there is a 2011. No, the problem is lousy offensive chemistry, and not so great defensive chemistry. Certainly the defense is way ahead of the offense, and more talented also, but will they continue to be without Mike Singletary? I wouldn’t bet on it. I expect the offensive chemistry to remain lousy and the defense to get worse. We’ll see what happens.

Respectfully, you should consider dismantling your offensive unit, with the exception of the offensive line. If I were the new boss, I would release Alex Smith, David Carr, and Troy Smith. I would trade Frank Gore for anything I might get for him. I would try to acquire a ransom for Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree. I would assemble as many picks as possible and do a full-rebuild in 2011. I would clean house on the offense side and see what I can do, rebuilding around a new QB.

Knowing them, they will select a QB #1 overall. I wouldn’t do that. I would look for Jake Locker later in the 1^st round, or maybe the 2^nd. I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket. I would distribute my picks around all the offensive skill positions. I would use my several picks to try to reconstruct and reform that offense completely. I would also consider restoring the West Coast Offense, which seems to work best in your home stadium conditions at Candlestick.

I would try to hire a good 3-4 coordinator, perhaps Wade Phillips, and leave the defense intact.

Rough ride ahead

Any which way you slice it, the die is cast. The 49ers are going to look like the 29ers next year. I think it is going to be a bust-up and rebuild situation. Certainly, any man willing to take on these problems will want the authority to fix it and fix it good. Any way you slice it, the 49ers should be in for a bumpy ride next season. I would expect it to get worse before it gets better.

The current epoch of 49er history can be compared to the early-to-mid 1970s 49ers. Certainly, those were not bad teams. Only a couple of monumental performances by Roger Staubach kicked those guys out of the playoffs. Then they blew up the ship, had a couple of really bad years with O.J. Simpson and Jim Plunkett before building a history with Bill Walsh and Joe Montana.

Right now, the 49ers are at the end of the mid-1970s.

All of this bodes well for the Rams

The augurs say this omen portends good things for the Rams. The Cardinals have landed. The 49ers, who looked poised for a good epoch, are burning as we speak. The Seahawks are still a franchise QB and some change away from competition. You can’t imagine my surprise as I look at things and realize that we might well be the favorite to win the division next year… if there is a next year.

It sucks to be a Ram fan today

Yesterday was very disappointing for Ram fans every where. You must understand that the 49ers are #1 on the bad-fags in Rams' encyclopedia. They are the most hated enemy on our hit-list. What do you call 53 dead 49ers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start. Back in the 1980s, I used to pray that God would send the big San Andres Earthquake so that Joe Montana and Jerry could go to hell together, along with the rest of the San Francisco bay area.

Are you getting the picture? Good. Let's continue.

The loss was bad on several levels. We missed another opportunity to win a close game. We missed another opportunity to assert a winning record. We missed another opportunity to take over a clear-cut leadership in the NFC West.

Clearly, we just aren't ready for that yet. Our weakness at the WR position is the absolute reason why we are not ready for that yet. Clearly, the Rams had problems punching the football into the endzone all day long. It was most devastating at the very end of the game when Sam Bradford drove us deep into redzone, with just a few ticks remaining. We just could not punch it in. We had to kick a game tying field goal instead of scoring a game winning touchdown. We should have ended the affair right there, but we could not.

Why not? Let me tell you why.

Terry Bradshaw used to say that there is nothing worse than throwing against a zone defense when you are a scant 1-yard away from the goal line. When you put 4 or 5 lightning-quick defensive backs into a compressed box like that, you are much more likely to throw an interception than a touchdown pass.

In that situation--at chest level--you don't have a window to throw through. Rather you have a 45 micron fracture in the fabric of time for just 0.45 milliseconds. Naturally, you can't squeeze a football through that kinda space-time. Either you have a big physical receiver who can leap, or you try to punch it in on the ground.

Clearly, the 49ers knew we did not have that kind of receiver. Ergo, they threw all their resources into stopping Steven Jackson. Given the time on the clock, we couldn't take many cracks at the endzone with Steven Jackson. Guess what? The outcome was not in our favor.

Now, let's play a hypothetical little game. Suppose in some hypothetical alternate universe, the Rams had had a pair of 1st round choices in the 2010 draft. Suppose Billy Devaney decided to take Sam Bradford with the top pick and the marvelous Dez Bryant with other pick.

Now let's fast-forward to those crucial moments at the end of the 49er game yesterday. What happens now? Sam throws a high, but highly accurate, strike at Dez at the goal line. Dez goes up and gets it, falling forward into the endzone. We win. The end. Dez probably would have done it with greater ease than the touchdown he got against the Giants yesterday. Frankly, it probably would not have come down to such a situation, as we would have scored more points throughout the game.

Sam doesn't have a receiver like Dez Bryant to throw to. Many good quarterbacks do. It is pretty clear to me that the lack of deadly receiver cost us another close game.

Former Seahawks coach Jim Mora Junior called us out on this subject at the end of the 2010 draft. I totally agreed with him. He prophesied that the lack of decent receiver threats would be the Rams undoing in 2010. It looks like he is turning out to be right about that. I thought our weakness at the offensive line would be the death of us first, but I certainly hated the receiver situation also. As it turns out, the line is firming up pretty well.

I'm pissed the Devaney passed on Seyi Ajirotutu. You know I pointed him out to the team. I wrote Seyi up as one of my favorite college football players in the 2010 draft. Look at how well he is doing with the Chargers! Imagine how much better off we would we be if had squandered a late 7th round pick on the kid. We could have had him as a free agent also, but its tough to out-romance the Chargers.

In the 2011 draft, priority A#1 for the Rams has to be the Wide Receiver position. Now, if a true Kellen Winslow clone is available, I could be convinced to go with a tight end, however I doubt that will be the case. In all likelihood, we need to find a wide receiver.

With that said, what are the prospects for a receiver-hungry football team in the 2011 draft? According to CBS Sports, the prospects are not all that good. They have three WR listed in their top 50. None of them are higher than the #31 position.

Under-classmen have not declared yet, but given the possibility of lock-out and/or rookie salary cap we are faced with, I doubt many of kids will want to declare in 2011. Given the number of under-classmen who came out last year, and the scant few who may declare this year, 2011 could be a truly horrid draft.

[My ass bleeds for the Patriot fans.]

So who are the top 10 receiver prospects according to CBS Sports?

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1. Leonard Hankerson The University of Miami 6-3 208

2. Jerrel Jernigan Troy State 5-9 185

3. Ronald Johnson USC 5-11 190

4. Niles Paul Nebraska 6-1 220

5. Titus Young Boise State 5-11 170

6. Austin Petitis Boise State 6-3 201

7. Dwayne Harris East Carolina 5-10 205

8. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos Iowa 6-0 200

9. Greg Little North Carlonia 6-2 220

10. Cecil Shorts III Mount Union 6-0 190

I only know three of the names on that list: Leonard Hankerson, Ronald Johnson, and Niles Paul. Regrettably, I have not seen much Boise State lately. I intend to check them out soon. The only guys on this list I can actually vouch for are Leonard Hankerson and Niles Paul.

The only guy I really want to build around is Leonard Hankerson. I mentioned him once before when I was commenting on the Randy Moss mess. I do like Niles Paul, and I would like to see him in a Ram uniform, but his DUI in 2009 might affect his status with Billy Devaney. Devaney has been criticized by NFL analyst Jamie Dukes for building the all-humanitarian, saintly choir-boy team. Personally, I would take him.

The NFC West is a mess

A little prologue. I am not a cheerleader. I am not here to extol any team. I am not going to hype the new season. I am not trying to sell tickets. I am not here to lick the booties of a key access points. I am not a promoter or a glad-handler

My objective is absolute accuracy. I want to make an accurate prediction that matches the final outcome of 2010 season. I want to describe the exact fact of the matter.

It seems to me that the NFC West is a mess. Top to bottom, this is the worst division in the NFL. You have only one moderately play-off caliber club in the San Francisco 49ers, but don't bet on them to go far. You have two teams on the down-slope of rebuilding. Then you have the loosing-est team in football, over the last three years, now entering the 3 year of a comprehensive rebuilding program. The Rams hope to be headed up, but how high can they go?

As we evaluate these football teams, keep in mind Herm Edward's Law: Having a franchise QB is worth four extra victories per year.

The 49ers

The 49ers are (by far) the most talented and complete football team in this division. They are the only team worthy of a playoff birth. They have an outstanding defense and they have excellent offensive weapons. There is just one little fly in the ointment: The quarterback position.

Many folks had high hopes that Alex Smith turned the corner last season. I myself thought he turned the corner this past season. This preseason, Alex Smith has looked plain ordinary. He looks like a journeyman QB, not a franchise QB. How far can you go with such a QB? Round 1 of the playoffs? Round 2? Not round 3 unless dumb luck strikes.

If Alex Smith should happen to resemble a franchise QB by the end of the season, the 49ers might contend for the Super Bowl. How likely is this to happen? I doubt it will happen. Right now, we have to say that the 49ers have found their starter, but they do not have what we would consider a franchise QB.

The 49ers were 8-8 last season. Due to the spiraling collapse of the NFC west, they should improve to a minimum of 10-6. I am going to predict an 11-5 finish for the 49ers.

The Cardinals

As I have stated before, I think Cardinals are staring down the gun-barrel at a long and disappointing fall. Think of all the key Cardinal playmakers who just aren't there anymore. Anquan Bolden, Antrel Rolle, Karlos Dansby, and ace QB Kurt Warner. The Cards just gave up on Matt Leinart. Larry Fitzgerald has gone down with a knee injury.

I know they think they found replacements for several of these players. I completely disagree with them. They have not. I will admit that Chris Mortensen is correct when he says the Cardinals think better of themselves than most experts do. Sure, fine, but what does their false confidence have to do with anything? Zip, zero, ziltch, nada, nothing, sweet fuck-all, that's all

Derrek Anderson is now the new starting QB in Phoenix. For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why anyone would regard Derrek Anderson as a franchise QB, least among them Ken Weisenhunt. This guy is not a used-to-was. He is a never-was. Sorry, just have to be brutally honest about it. I cannot believe that fellows like Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter can talk with a straight face about how Anderson will be a solid replacement for Warner. Say what?

I can see no reason why I would be optimistic about the 2010 season if I am a Cardinal fan. Remember Herm Edward's law? This was a 10-6 football team with Kurt Warner. I am going to subtract 4 victories because of Kurt's retirement, and 1 more for everybody else.

I think this is a 5-11 Cardinal football team, and believe me, that is a generous assessment of the situation. The Cards could be worse than that.

The Seahawks

What about the Seattle Seahawks? Folks, this is year ONE of a comprehensive rebuilding project. They fired the GM and the Coach. They sacked the staff. They have flushed good veterans who could have helped them. We see every evidence of a full-scale rebuild in progress. Remember, this is just year 1 of the project.

Seahawk fans are mavens, and they still believe they still have a quality team that was just in the Super Bowl a couple years ago. Actually, that was almost 5 years ago, and most of those guys are gone.

The Seahawks had a very good draft in 2010. They might well have had the best draft of any of the 32 NFL teams. Still, this will not produce a big or sudden turn around.

The truth was spoken by Michael Lombardi recently when he said that Seahawks have one of the least tallented rosters in the NFL in 2010. This assessment was made just a few days ago, after the 53 man roster for 2010 was finalized.

I agree with Lombardi. I would simply add that this is precisely what you would expect in year #1 of a comprehensive rebuilding project. I can also tack on the good news/bad news that you will be in position to claim your next franchise QB: Jake Locker.

The Rams

This brings us to the Rams... My specialty. Folks, no man walking the face of the Earth is a bigger heathen, atheist, skeptic, apostate, non-believer in the Rams rebuilding program than I am.

I have said many times that selecting a surgically repaired QB, with the #1 pick, giving him an 80/50 million contract, and putting him behind a crappy offensive line is the dumbest rebuilding plan I ever heard of. Certainly, only a very, very foolish man would execute such a plan. Certainly, there is no such fool currently occupying any of the 32 NFL GM seats! This is the reason I was absolutely certain the Rams would not select Bradford in the 2010 draft.

Words cannot express how my mind boggled when it first began to dawn on me that Devaney was serious about doing this. The horror... the terror... the dread... Nothing could stop him either. Devaney was fixated. When you add in the fact that Devaney passed on Ndamukong Suh to launch the Jim Plunket 2.0 story...

Why don't you just drive a truck off a high mountain cliff? How about that strategy for rebuilding the Rams?

Now with all that said, it would appear that Sam Bradford is validating Devaney's decision to take him #1 overall in the 2010 draft. Thus far, Scorpio is looking very good. He looks a whole hell of a lot more like Peyton Manning than JaMarcus Russell. Of course, no one in his right mind expected Bradford to be a Russell. The question is whether he can stay alive, not whether he has tallent or is motivated. I would still bet on the Plunkett outcome.

In the meantime, Bradford is making Devaney look like a loony-toon mad genius.

The key challenge for the Rams in 2010 is to validate the decision to draft Sam Bradford. Let's remember Herm Edward's Law. Having a franchise QB is supposed to equal 4 more victories. The Rams need to finish 5-11 to make the 2010 draft look good. Is this possible? Tentatively, I will say yes, it is possible.. mostly because of the spiraling collapse of the NFC West.

The most surprising story of the 2010 preseason, in my book, has been the Rams sudden offensive strength. The Rams only got toasted in one game: a 28-7 loss to the Vikings. The rest were all victories. In game 3 the Rams popped 36 points on the Patriots. In game 4 the Rams popped 27 on the Ravens. That ain't easy to do folks.

Let's remember that the Rams were 32nd out of 32 teams in offensive point production in 2009. The Rams scored a total of 175 points in 16 games, or 10.9 points per game. The Rams were shutout by both the Seahawks and the Redskins. Both the Seahawks and the Redskins finished in the bottom 6 of the league. How did this team pop 36 on the Patriots? How did they pop 27 on the Ravens? More shocking than this, how did they do that without Steve Jackson in the lineup?

Certainly a lot of the credit belongs to Sam Bradford, but...

More surprising than that was the aggressive play calling of Pat Shurmur. He must have heard folks like me calling for his public Crucifixion. Our cries for blood have been fueled by Shurmur's pathologically conservative play calling. In 2009, you could describe Shurmur as the Anti-Peyton. Well... not during the preaseason of 2010. We can only hope Shurmur keeps it up. Aggression is a beautiful thing in this context.

Am I downing Jimmy Clausen's draft stock by design?

Had an interesting conversation with a buddy on mine named Colin yesterday. I have mentioned him a few times. He runs most of the Mann Theatres North of the 10 freeway in Los Angeles County. He is a 49er fan, from my old neighborhood in my home town of Fresno. It should also be noted that he wants the 49ers to take Tim Tebow. We are at loggerheads over this.

Colin accused me of intentionally downing Clausen's stock, by design, with the purpose of selecting the kid in the 2nd round. I was flabbergasted. On the face of it, the argument is silly for a lot of reasons.

1. I am not Billy Devaney. I don't get to pull the trigger on draft day.
2. Who the hell listens to me? Can I actually down someone's draft stock with my meager presence online?
3. Nothing horrifies me more than the notion of the Rams selecting Clausen. In fairness, Clausen probably does not like the idea of playing behind the Rams half-squat line either.
4. I sincerely hope that either the Seahawks or the 49ers will select Clausen at #14 or #16, thus squandering one of those surplus picks, and preventing our rivals from getting that much better.

At the moment, the scenario which plagues my worried mind the most is the following: What happens if Clausen falls out of the first round and is sitting on the board at #33 where the Rams select for the second time? My blood runs cold. Beads of sweat form on my brow. My blood pressure rises. My heart palpitates. I am in a state of terror at that point, if such a thing comes to pass. Pray the Seahawks or the 49ers will spare us from this horror.

Surely, a 2nd round pick spent on Clausen is a wasted pick. You may think I am wrong, but you are wrong. I have said many times that this kid is never going to make it in the NFL. He is not a Sunday quarterback. I have no idea in the world why you believe his skills will translate well into the NFL. I see no such prospect for the kid. Watching him for 3 years, I never even suspected that people like Mike Mayock, Bucky Brooks, Mike Lombardi, Charles Davis, Todd McShay, or even Mel Kiper Jr. would give this kid a first round grade. He is a second (or third) day draft pick at the very best. I guess I should have known that Kiper would fuck up.

So why are the scouts fucking up? Let me tell you why:

1. Older scouts still consider Notre Dame to be a football factory. Far from suffering negative prejudice, as some foolishly suppose, Notre Dame kids enjoy a certain degree of unmerited favor.
2. Dynastanalingus: The Patriots were the last reigning dynasty in the NFL. That dynasty ended several years ago. Charlie Weis was a fairly undistinguished but noteworthy member of that dynasty... Before he went on to become a failed head coach at Notre Dame. He has a lot of unmerited favor because of this fact. Weis has campaigned for Clausen in a way he never did for Brady Quinn. Scouts have taken this seriously.
3. The Pro System Bias: Many scouts do not keep track of current events in the NFL. If they did, they would know the Spread (or at least a form of it) is now the most successful passing attack in the NFL. I guess nobody noticed that the Patriots have been using the Spread since 2007, and it spread around from there, if you will pardon the pun. I guess nobody noticed that both the Colts and Saints used a lot of it this year. The Spread has its origins in the NFL. The Bengals basically invented the thing in 1988 where Boomer Eisason ran out of Zebra Shotgun (and without a huddle) most of the game. It moved from there to Buffalo where they called it the K-Gun. In short, the advantage Clausen enjoys is really not much advantage at all. The disadvantage Spread kids suffer is not really that significant. The Spread is a conventional Pro System now.
4. Clausen has great statistics: In his junior year, maybe. So what? Tebow has awesome statistics through his entire career. According to the critics this does not make him Sunday material. The same has been said of Colt McCoy. If stats don't count for Tebow or McCoy, they don't count for Clausen either. Discard this point.

You need to ask yourself the following serious true/false question: Notre Dame + Dynastanalingus + Pro System Bias = NFL Franchise Quarterback? The answer is false. If this is your reasoning, you reason fallaciously. There are plenty of logical fallacies and factual errors in the case for Clausen.

Let us pray that Devaney is not snookered by the fallacious reasoning of the scouts. Let us pray that the Seahawks or the 49ers will ensure that the Rams do not select Clausen. We'll all be much happier that way.

Time to dump the West Coast Offense in St. Louis

It is time for the Rams to dump the West Coast Offense and adopt a more spread-like offense. Our experiment with the West Coast Offense has been a complete and unmitigated catastrophe. I don't mean maybe either.

The West Coast allegedly came to St. Louis in the form of Scott Linehan on January 19th of 2006. He was fired after game 4 of the 2008 regular season. Linehan will be forever known as the man who destroyed the Greatest Show on Turf. He destroyed it by getting rid of the Martz offense, which was little more a collection of plays custom tailored to the exact strengths of our offensive players. Linehan jammed our players into his edition of the West Coast system, a complex ball-control passing system based on flexible and adaptive routes. The players, particularly Torry Holt, Issac Bruce and Marc Bulger absolutely hated the system. They made a lot of mistakes. They were used to running exact routes, tailored to their strengths, and they loved it.

Linehan's solution was to get rid of Issac Bruce, try to unload Torry Holt, and stick with Bulger because of his cap number. That failed miserably.

Two years ago, the Rams drafted #2 overall, signifying that we were the 2nd worst team in football. Two years ago we did the same thing. This year are drafting number 1, signifying that we are the worst team in professional football. As I have stated many times on this blog, we are the worst team in professional football for 1 reason: We finished dead last in scoring. This indicates we have the worst offense in the league. So much for the West Coast in St. Louis.

Make no mistake, a large reason for our lack of point production is the West Coast Offensive system. The West Coast is outdated, outmoded and obsolete. It does not work well anymore. As coach Brian Billick says, nobody plays the West Coast offense as Walsh once did. Everybody has absorbed some components of the system, but nobody plays it as the 49ers did. This is because your can't play it as the 49ers did and enjoy success.

The 49er offense worked for a brief period of time and for just two historical reasons. In 1981 we were only 3 years removed from the 1978 rules changes which opened up the passing game. Teams were absolutely bomb-happy. Defenses were deathly afraid of the bomb. Second, we were only really 1 year removed from the epoch of the Steel Curtain defense. Everybody was still emulating the Steeler model of defense. This system was very much like the Tampa-2, dropping safeties back deep to stop big plays. They used their big and bad 4 down linemen to attack the quarterback, without much recourse to the blitz.

The epoch of 1981 to 1990 was just about perfect for dink-n-dunk scheme that Mr. Walsh invented. Most defenses would surrender the short pass to you, not believing that you could march down the field on a collection of mistake-free short passes. To his credit, Bill Belichick was
one of the first guys to realize that this program was lethal if left unchecked.

Belichick's response to the West Coast was simple and beautiful. He decided he would only defend 40 yards of ground from the line of scrimmage. He knew most of the action would occur in the first 15-20 yards from scrimmage. He called this first 20 yards the redzone. This turf would be defended with a hard man-on press coverage. The next 20 yards was called the yellow zone, and it was defended with a soft-zone coverage; a scheme notorious for generating vicious hits. His linebackers were instructed to smother running backs (like Roger Craig) circling out of the backfield. He knew full well that the 49ers had no thought of going deep down the field on a typical play. He understood Joe Montana did not have the arm to throw the football 50 yards down field with accuracy.

When confronted with the Belichick-Box, the only solution is for the Quarterback to (A) Run with the football (B) wait for the deep pass to open up. For a receiver to clear coverage more than 40 yards down field in full pads, more than 5 seconds of good pass-protection is needed. This was tough to come by as Lawrence Taylor and Leonard Marshall were rushing from the same or different sides of the line. Montana tried to hold the ball for more than 5 seconds in the NFC championship game of 1990/1991. Leonard Marshall effectively terminated his career with the 49ers on that day.

The Belichick Box defeats the West Coast offense. It is now the default defensive position for all teams about to play West Coast opponent. If you don't have an All-Pro offensive line, you won't break the box. If you don't have a super-mobile QB, you won't break the box. If you don't have world-class sprinters at the WR position, you won't break the box. This is why the West Coast Offense doesn't work anymore. Too much talent is required to defeat a relatively simple defensive scheme.

Guess what? The dirty little secret the NFL keeps in the closet is that a modified version of the Spread Offense is now the king of all passing attacks in Pro Football. This is the system the New England Patriots have been running since 2007. This is the system that allowed Tom Brady to break the touchdown record with 51. This is the system Ben Rothlisberger has been working in for the past two years. Both participants in this year's Super Bowl also use plenty of spread in their weekly play list.

The Spread Offense has aspects of the West Coast and aspects of the Air Coryell offense embedded with in it. This is a pass-first offense, where you establish the passing game, and then run later. You control the football and gain the lead by passing. Unlike these schemes, it is run out of the Shotgun. You line up with 3, 4 and even 5 wide receivers. Unlike these schemes, it almost always employs the quick-time, or no-huddle offense. Many plays are called at the line of scrimmage. The Spread most resembles what used to be called the Run-N-Shoot offense.

Interestingly enough, the Spread is considered a very QB and Wide Receiver friendly offense. It is flexible and adaptable to the strengths of your players. It is considered simple enough to implement in the short college season with relatively young and inexperienced players.

If this is a Copycat League, teams should emulate success, and anti-imitate failure. One of the most stubbornly run biased teams in the league has been my Rams, and we are officially the worst team in football. The most run biased team in Football is the Jets. They barely made the playoffs at 9-7. The Colts are dead last in rushing (#32) and yet they are the favorite to win this year's Super Bowl.

What does all this tell you?

1. 1-15 up to 9-7 is the victory range for run biased teams.
2. 9-7 up to 16-0 is the victory range for Spread teams.
   
3. Dump the Run First approach.
4. Adopt the Pass First approach.
5. Do not force players into a ridged and complex system like the West Coast.
6. Adopt a simple and flexible passing scheme like the Spread.
7. Tailor the system to fit the strengths of the players, as Mike Martz did.
   

The NFC West will dominate the 1st round of the 2010 NFL draft

The four teams of the NFC West controls control 5 of the first 16 picks (31.25%), and 6 of the first 26 picks (23%) on the board in the 2010 draft. Both the Seahawks and the 49ers will draft twice in the 1st round.

The Rams will kick off the day with the absolute #1 pick. The Seahawks are next up with the #6 pick. The 49ers are next with the #13. The Seahawks follow immediately with the #14 pick. The 49ers will draft again 2 picks later at #16. The Cardinals will bottom out the order at #26. The Rams will draft again at #33, giving the West 7 of the top 33 picks (21.21%).

It should be noted, in passing, that the Rams appear interested in parlaying their top pick into multiple picks. It will be difficult to gain multiple first rounders unless they deal with other members of the NFC West, which seems unlikely at this point. Given their porus offensive line, the Rams are unlikely to want Ndomukong Suh in a 49er or Seahawk uniform.

The NFC West is commonly regarded as the worst division in the NFL. Over the past several years, the division has been noted for an almost total lack of franchise QBs. Now that Kurt Warner has retired, not one team in NFC West has an established, healthy, combat ready franchise QB. This includes Matt Hasselbeck. One theory holds that the NFC West will pull nearly every quality QB prospect off the board at some point in the first 33 picks. This would not be wise in year described as 'a bad year for Quarterbacks' by NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock.

One thing that might prevent the West from grabbing QBs is the dominance of Defensive Head Coaches in this division. Mike Singletary, Steve Spagnuolo and Pete Carroll all come from the defensive side of the line of scrimmage.

Although the teams in the West are poor, they could be getting a lot better soon. They will be pulling a large and disproportionate number of picks off the board in 2010. If those choices are well used, the division stands to improve greatly in 2010 and beyond.

Mike Vick to the 49ers?

Most of the NFL news today revolves around the release of Michael Vick from the U.S. Penal system. He is now a free man. So where does he go from here? Many sports writers are advocating his reinstatement. I doubt that will be much a problem. I happen to think he will be reinstated without much delay.

One reason to predict a quick reinstatement is that Roger Goodell knows Vick won't have an easy time finding a job. Animal rights activists are a bitch. Taking two prime years out of an athlete's career is also a bitch. The life & times of a black quarterback who runs a lot is not exactly easy either. Vick has the reputation of being a throwing tailback. That is as difficult to live down as the dog-fighting rep. Goodell probably won't hesitate to say yes because his yes won't guarantee Vick a future in the NFL.

So in view of this, where can Vick play quarterback in the NFL? In a previous blog entry, I advanced my theory that the team with the worst QB situation in the NFL is the team most likely to sign Vick. So who the heck is that Football team? There are several candidates, but I think that one of them stands out head and shoulders without a peer: The San Francisco 49ers.

Let's face the facts jack, the 49ers ain't got nothing at the QB position. They have shit-squat, poodly squat, and cock-squat at the three QB slots on their depth chart. To you 49er fans out there: This is not a Ram fan breaking your balls. It is what it is, as Peyton Manning would say. You know that this is the truth. Your biggest single problem in life is the fact that you don't have a QB. Most 49er fans in the know openly lament this fact. I have heard considerable weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on the radio up North, and it is all about the QB situation. Gone is Joe, gone is Steve, gone is Elvis, gone is Bono, gone is Jeff... they have all gone away. Several 49er fans I know would kill for the second-coming of Steve DeBerg.

With that said, the 49ers have already stated emphatically, absolutely, and categorically that they have no interest in Michael Vick. You better re-evaluate that decision. Unless Coach Singletary categorically refuses to work with this guy, you should sign him. If Coach Singletary is open and receptive to the idea, you better sign him. Right now, this is your only-ist wing and a prayer of coming up with the Franchise QB in time for 2009.

On the other hand, I am beginning to suspect that Vick will become a Patriot. This is probably the Patriot's only-ist hope of getting back into the Super Bowl in 2009. Vick will probably accept as it is an opportunity to win a big [blank]ing ring.