49er's Mercy Kill

Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network is reporting that the San Francisco 49ers have decided to fire offensive coordinator, Jimmy Raye. This follows the Sunday's 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, in which the 49ers ammassed only 251 yards total offense, went 4-17 on third down, and gave up five sacks.
There were already rumblings of discontent after the team layed a similar egg in the season opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks, a game in which the offense produced a whopping six points against a conference foe that they were projected to dominate. Un-named sources in the locker room hinted that part of the offense's problems were Raye's inability to relay the play calls quickly enough. This lead to a week's worth of finger pointing and "rat sniffing" (Head coach Mike Singletary's words).

See, Raye is "long in the tooth", and that may be putting it lightly. I don't ever want to be accused of discrimination based on age, but the man is old enough to remember when Y. A. Tittle was a young punk. Combine his "experience" with Alex Smith's "I can't believe this team hasn't figured out than I'm a bust. Not on Jamarcus Russell's level, but not far from it." talent, and you get a clearer picture of why the team is struggling. All that continued into the Monday Night Football matchup against the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.

The 49ers finished strongly against the Saints, and it was thought that the game would be used as a positive to correct the course of the season. Then... Sunday happened.

San Francisco 49er fans, who had playoff aspirations, and talked a lot of trash to their friends during the offseason about as much, are more than disappointed by the teams showing so far. (Who has two thumbs, and chooses the Green Day song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" to describe the team's 0-3 start? Me, that's who.)

2010 San Francisco 49er's Preview

2009 saw the 49ers continue to improve under hard-nosed head coach Mike Singeltary. Alex Smith started to show a little of the promise that encouraged SF to take him 1st overall a few seasons ago. Fans are hoping for much of the same this season from a team that just might surprise some people around the league.

Offense
At points last season, the 49er offense looked sluggish until QB Alex Smith regained his starting role and began to move the ball down the field. Smith is competent working out of the shotgun in the spread offense. The Niners also went out and got him a deep threat in WR Ted Ginn Jr., so expect to see more of that formation this season. WRs Michael Crabtree and Josh Morgan are very good threats on the outside and TE Vernon Davis is a fantasy stud and a matchup nightmare for defenses. No linebacker in the NFL can stay with him, and he's too strong for most safeties. He might be the third best TE in the league; behind Antonio Gates & Jason Witten. This will allow Ginn to streak down the slot for long bombs. Hopefully he can hold on to the football this season, as his 7 drops last year were among the league's leaders. The OL is decent but an broken foot suffered by C Eric Heitmann will hurt the effectiveness of RB Frank Gore early on. If healthy he'll still be able to rack up another 1,000 season. Rookie RB Anthony Dixon will get a few looks our of the backfield when Gore needs a breather.

Defense
Defensively, the Niners take on a lot of the characteristics of their scrappy head coach. The DL has good size, but LB Patrick Willis is the heart of soul of the defensive unit. He racks up a ton of tackles, a few picks, forces fumbles and also manages to get a handful of sacks to boot. He's the best middle linebacker in the NFL. To aid him SF picked up veteran LB Takeo Spikes in the off-season and combined with Manny Lawson they form a very solid tandem. The DBs are decent, with CB Nate Clements being the most capable of shutting down opposing receivers.

Prediction
9-7

If the offense can muster up enough points with Alex Smith under center the Niners should continue to improve, challenge for the division title and a playoff spot. The defense is good enough to always keep them in games. Look for the young up-and-coming team to improve as the season progresses and be competitive week in and week out.

-ALR