Face it kids. My 49ers suck. It's been a long time since we've made the playoffs, and it will continue that way. I've been a die hard fan since I was a kid and watching them win all those superbowls, I finally realized that I was a spoiled kid my whole life. Then, when Steve Young went down, it was over. That was back in 1999? How did you Bangle fans survive?

The niners will make the playoffs again when Bill Parcells becomes the new head coach.

Blasphemy. Alex Smith will have a breakout year, we'll draft an O-line next year, and sign T-0. A 9-7 2007, here we come.

Until then, go Panthers.

Well you got til 2012 to get it done, then we are all done for.

Woo! 2 wins!

I'm a die-hard cubs fan. You have no idea how hard it is every baseball season.

Shut up.

At least you know what a Super Bowl is. I don't really follow the Cardinals, but lord knows at least four people in Arizona do, and the only Super Bowl coming here is one where we host two other teams.

True. I guess I was spoiled growing up watching Montana, Rice, Lott and Young win all those superbowl.

At least you dont have to sit in those 1,000 degree bleachers anymore... the new stadium looks nice.

FMP

This doesn't jive. You should stick by your team no matter what, Bandwagon.

FMPA

4-5 BABY!

ILTFMPITT

GO 9ERS!!!

it all starts with Defense and you guys seem to have that. Gore is dam good, what you need is a wide reciever that will make the big plays. Be happy you're in a weak division so winning that division will happen in 2 years.

MFMP

Niners will win the Super Bowl before the Lions do.

7 wins is so much better than I expected coming into the year.

Sure is! This was a good season compared to our past couple.

Yeah, my EXTREMELY optimistic best case senerio for them before the season was to get 6 wins, so I'm happy. I figured they would get 5. At least they can get a chance at the division the next year or 2 and maybe be the team to beat in the division again in 3 or 4.

I'm just surprised how their defense didn't do as well as I thought they would. They were building some good young talent, but it's almost like they had to start over in that department.

do you sing the same tune if you lose to denver? doubtful. strange how there is a huge difference between 7-9 and 6-10 even though it's only one game.

Look out for the Panthers next year, Jake back on track, DeAngelo break-out, Buc/Falcons = in shambles, 2-0 v. NO this year.

2007: 12-4 #2 seed.

Steve: 90, 1400, 12

Jake: 3200, 25, 12, 88.5

DeAngelo: Rec: 50, 650, 3
Rush: 1100, 4.1, 8

Pep: 70, 16.5

Dan Henning: Bald Head Island

Write that down.

What the hell do the Panthers have to do with this thread?

yes he would sing the same tune. why?

most cap room in league for next year. forty million

eight picks in the first four rounds. exact number picks in those rounds 1, 1, 2, 4

draft picks are meaningless, what are they gonna do with the money?

time will tell.


2007 49ers: 8-8, miss wildcard

so you're argument is nuh uhhhhh. good job

my argument is: 'the assumptions that cap space, and many high draft picks = a good team' is NOT TRUE, it is merely one of many possible outcomes that has yet to happen.

My argument is that your argument does not lead to your conclusion.

please show me where I said cap space + draft picks = good team. I would love to see that. yes these factors do not automatically make good teams. I said that these are reasons to be optimistic. a team with this many picks and is sure to have a couple new starters this year and probably some impact players down the road. everybody knows that being the team with the most cap space in the whole league is a good thing. picks and cap space give them a good chance to build upon what they already have, and what they have is an up and coming young team.

did anyone predict frank gore would have a breakout season? I don't think so. the offense is a lot better than people thought it would be. larry allen is a great role model for the young o-line. they are still a couple players and growing years before they can be great, but frank gore might be one of the top 5 backs in the league. we can't judge him on one good season but it's fair to say he's pretty darn good. the defense stinks, but there are a couple good young guys on there and they should add some impact players in the offseason.

my conclusion as you put it was that the niners will have a good offseason because of the factors stated. they will have a better season than this year and should be one of the best teams in the nfc in the next few years. I did not state this anywhere, but I don't understand how someone can think I was saying something different. people were very optimistic about next year, you said a loss versus denver would have changed these thoughts, I said it would because of a potentially very good offseason.

I won't make fun of your ridiculous "draft picks are meaningless" statement, but I will restate it because it is truly amazing. how do you think teams get better? they draft players, acquire players via free agency and develop their young players. there is no current cloning policy in the NFL so maybe teams are getting good players this way.

I can't find a statistic for it, but the percentage of 1st and 2nd round draft picks that have 4 yrs. or longer careers is pretty low, maybe 50/50. This means the draft is pretty much a crap shoot in MOST cases. How come we always hear about 'draft busts' and 3rd-4th rd picks that end up being 10 yr. starters. Obviously there are exceptional talents that are almost a given to excel in the NFL (Peyton, Bush), however I dont' think it's necessary for me to compile a list of 1/2 rd. picks that never amount to half the player their contract number would incline one to think they should be.

Case in point: Detroit Lions.

Every NFL team/fan is 'optomistic' going into a season. I'm a die-hard, seriously, like i pass out for periods of time after losses, Panthers fan, and so believe me when I speak about 'expectations' and 'predictions'. the mid august issue of SI rings a bell.

I don't think we have a real argument here, I just think people overvalue draft picks, and cap space, it's more about what you can get out of the personel you've got, and (cliche) 'key' positions.

Case in Point: Washington Redskins

I think this shows i'm not merely trying to be argumentative.

As for the Denver game, I think it would have impacted the outlook, broad scale, for the 49ers next year because for one thing 6-10 looks a lot uglier than 7-9, plus 6-10 is only a ONE game improvement from the previous year, not exactly a giant leap forward. In the eyes of fans, and the Peter King's of the world losing that overtime would have been fairly demoralizing based on the rest of the second half of the season

1) It's a two game improvement over 4-12

2) With the seasons from Frank Gore and Walt Harris, plus the potential of Vernon Davis and Manny Lawson, plus the upcoming draft and ability of the team to go out and get free agents, yes I would be happy with 6-10. That's why 7-9 was so much better than I expected. I thought this team was a lot worse and they proved me wrong.

Also, why would you just say "let's pretend they lost to Denver"? They beat a winning team on the road to keep them from getting into the playoffs. That's a damn good win and ignoring it makes no sense.

yea we don't have an argument. I'm not a niners fan for the record, but Mike Nolan has so far done a good job with with personel management. if you look at players let go, none of them have done anything (any many of these players were key contributors eg: julian peterson)

I think you are undervaluing the cap space. obviously this team has a bad defense. having money to fill in spots is huge. trying to do this when you can be outbid is difficult. yes, the draft is somewhat of a crapshoot but more picks is obviously better. also, I don't think teams consistently drafting well (eg: new england) is an accident.

the reason 6-10 and 7-9 would make no difference is just how bad this team was the season before. alex smith only had 1 passing touchdown that year. anything is an improvement, the team just wants to see progress. with frank gore's season and the team winning division games there is reason to be optimistic for their next season.

I am a huge 9ers fan, and according to Mike Nolan's last press conference, it sounds like they will be doing only a little, like this last year as for free agents this next year. He's looking at improving the players he already has and continue building in the draft.

He said that next season, they are going to be a team that expects to win - when this season they started to believe they can win.

“I would expect free agency to impact our football team a little better than we did last year, and I thought we did a good job last year. There’s a high profile guy in Larry Allen, who was great for us. There was a Walt Harris, who was kind of in the middle tier who was a good impact to our football team, and there was a Moran Norris, who was a player that was off the radar screen and became an impact player for us.”

I'm optimistic for a 9-7 season next year, but they do play the AFC Central (Bal, Cin, Pit) and NFC South (Car, NO, Atl, and TB), which could be difficult.

The niners will be much improved next year. Make no mistake, they will get a couple of impact free agents on defense plus fill depth through free agency and the draft. Expect to see another receiver and OL help too...Kwame Harris, finally, will be gone (I hope)

People forget that Alex Smith is still younger than any of the QB's taken in the 2006 draft and it was his third (junior) year in college before he "got it" and became a very good QB. Expect huge improvement from him next year.

Donahue absolutely ruined this team with bad drafts, bad free agents and bad deals. That doesn't get repaired over night but Nolan and the personnel dept are dong a good job and have the team headed in the right direction.

Pre free agency/draft period prediction for 2007 - 10 and 6, wild card team.

Lets hope so! Anyone know if Turner is staying with us?

49ers sign nate clements. great signing. Their D could really be fearsome soon. Shore up the O-line in free agency (lots of stellar guards available) and the draft and get Alex Smith another weapon at WR (this draft is very deep at WR). If Vernon Davis makes the leap, the niners could really turn some heads next year.

Good for them rebuilding the right way. smart.

with AB gone, they need to sign a proven wideout. maybe drew bennett.

FYP

Sorry, I'm just bitter that the Bills had basically no chance of keeping him (though I don't think he is worthy of being the highest paid defensive player ever).

They have no choice but to overpay people at the moment. Reality of the 49ers situation. Still a good signing. PLUS.......

I am sure the backend of that contract will NEVER EVER EVER end up being honored. People get so caught up in 8 yrs 80mill. Cmon wake up. Look at the signing bonus that is what matters. He will have to restructure his contract in at most 5 years (maybe less) or they will cut him.

Enjoy watching Clements tackle WR's past the first down marker, coming up on a RB after he is tackled, getting a few picks here and there against backup QB's. Glad he is gone.

Damn was I prophetic back then or what????

"impact free agents and fill depth through free agency and the draft" - Done many times over
"Expect to see another receiver" - Done, three times! Ashley Lelie, Daryl Jackson, Jason Hill
"and OL help too" - OT Joe Staley in the draft
"Kwame Harris, finally, will be gone" - Still hoping but expect it to happen after June 1.

Rated by most as the franchise with the best offseason in the league.

Post free agency/draft period prediction for 2007 - 12 and 4, NFC West champs!!

HUH?

September 10 vs. Arizona 7:15 pm W
September 16 @ St. Louis 10:00 am L
September 23 @ Pittsburgh 10:00 am W
September 30 vs. Seattle 1:05 pm W
October 7 vs. Baltimore 1:15 pm L
October 14 BYE
October 21 @ NY Giants 10:00 am L
October 28 vs. New Orleans 1:15 pm L
November 4 @ Atlanta 10:00 am W
November 12#* @ Seattle 5:30 pm L
November 18* vs. St. Louis 1:15 pm W
November 25* @ Arizona 1:05 pm W
December 2* @ Carolina 10:00 am L
December 9* vs. Minnesota 1:05 pm W
December 15* vs. Cincinnati 5:15 pm L
December 23* vs. Tampa Bay 5:15 pm W
December 30* @ Cleveland 10:00 am W

Hello 9-7

Unfortunately 9-7 will probably be good enough to win the NFC West this year. The 49ers only true competition is our beloved Seahawks and the non-conference schedule is rough this year.

Seattle:
Sun 9/9 Tampa Bay W
Sun 9/16 at Arizona ?
Sun 9/23 Cincinnati ?
Sun 9/30 at San Francisco L
Sun 10/7 at Pittsburgh ?
Sun 10/14 New Orleans L
Sun 10/21 St. Louis W
bye
Sun 11/4 at Cleveland W
Mon 11/12 San Francisco W
Sun 11/18 Chicago ?
Sun 11/25 at St. Louis ?
Sun 12/2 at Philadelphia L
Sun 12/9 Arizona W
Sun 12/16 at Carolina L
Sun 12/23 Baltimore L
Sun 12/30 at Atlanta ?

Seahawks record 5-5 (+ ? = 6). If they go half and half on the ? games, the Seahawks would be 8-8 again.

Chances are the Seahawks will be back to 2005 form if everyone stays healthy this year. But, Alexander's foot looks like it is still broken and may become an issue. Hasselbeck and the receivers will be top notch, so the offense will probably be good this year provided the running game doesn't get stuffed like 2006. But our main issue was inconsistency on defense. We couldn't stop the run, especially Gore. Plus home field was tarnished last year and games against New Orleans, Baltimore, Cincinatti and Chicago are going to test that again.

It's going to be a fun year. It won't be a cakewalk like it has for the last three years. It will be more exciting than the Super Bowl run in my opinion provided the refs don't get in the way. The NFC West will have a lot of parity this year and be similar to the NFC East in toughness of schedule. I'll never say Arizona is going to be strong until they actually prove it, but there is a lot of potential there. And you can't write off St. Louis either.

Final standings
Seattle 9-7 (4-2 div)
San Fran. 9-7 (4-2 div)
St. Louis 8-8 (2-4 div)
Arizona 7-9 (2-4 div)

You mean division not conference.

Trent Green plays/played for the Chiefs. Not the Rams

I don't know what you're talking about. I don't see any of that in my post.

Dude ... it's saturday morning and I'm asleep and hung over.

Just pointing it out.

You know your a sick football fan when you watch Inside Minicamp on NFLN.

Yeah I Tivo'd it.

I can't wait for September. This is going to be a great year to watch football in the Northwest -- even if we end up 7-9

I see 10 and 6 but i see your point.

And the Mariners suck BTW FWIW

49ERS BABY WEEEEEEEEEE bump

Ashley Lelie, will have his best season in his 1st yr with the 49ers!