The 49ers just announced that they officially placed Jonas Jennings on injured reserve.  It seemed like he was getting back into game shape, but the pain apparently was too much.  Jennings wanted to avoid having surgery at any cost, but according to GM Scot McCloughan:

“Jonas did everything in his power to get back from the injury, and he was cleared to return to practice as long as he wore a harness,” said general manager Scot McCloughan. “It was a matter of pain tolerance, but he wasn’t going to be 100% without surgery. We discussed it with Jonas and our medical team and all parties agreed that it would be the best thing for Jonas, and his future, to go ahead and have the surgery now.”

Barry Sims originally replaced Jennings but he injured himself and that led to Adam Snyder moving into the right tackle position.

“I think Snyder is working his tail off,” said Mike Singletary. “Snyder is doing a good job. He’s done the things that we’ve asked him do. Right now, Snyder is the guy.”

If Snyder can continue to impress, maybe we'll finally be settled at right tackle for the foreseeable future.  Either way, I think Jennings is probably finished with the 49ers.  He signed a big deal and has not been able to overcome numerous injuries over the years.  As long as the team has the salary cap space to take the hit, they might as well cut him after this season instead of continually rolling the dice with him going forward.

EDITOR'S UPDATE 3:18PM: To replace Jennings on the 53-man roster, the 49ers signed OT Jacob Bender off the New England Patriots practice squad.  Bender (6-6, 315) was originally selected by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2007 draft out of Nicholls State. He saw action in two games for the Jets as a rookie on special teams as a lineman in field goal formations and was inactive for 14 contests. Bender was waived by the Jets following training camp in 2008 and was then signed to the New England Patriots practice squad.

When we started the 2008 Niners Nation prediction game, I indicated that there would be some sort of prizes, although they had yet to be determined.  As exciting as a front page post might be, I'm sure everyone wants a little something more.

So, the great prize drive has resulted in some goodies for the winners.  I haven't determined who will get what, but if you win the regular season you'll be getting a prize and if you win the playoff you'll be getting a prize.

First off, i've received three $25 gift cards from Circuit City as part of that Game Day Tour a few weeks back.  I'm thinking two of them will go to one winner and one to another winner.  You won't be able to get a new computer with the gift cards, but they could be good for a DVD or two or whole assortment of other goodies.

The second prize is courtesy of our friends at Corn Nation.  The folks there do reviews of various college football books.  Recently they were asked to write a review of The Galloping Ghost, a biography of Red Grange.  The publisher was kind enough to pass along copies to other SB Nation sites and my copy came in the mail today.  It's not quite a $25 gift card, but a little football history is always a good thing to learn.

I'm not sure if anybody has anything they can contribute to the cause, but we're always looking for prizes for our contests.  Feel free to email me at ninersnation@gmail.com, or leave a comment if you think you have access to something we could use as a prize.  It could be some random sports-related tshirt (preferably not used), maybe you work for EA Sports and can provide a copy of Madden or some other sports related game.  Anything and everything is welcome and appreciated for our hard-working prediction game.

NFL.com runs a variety of ____ of the week polls.  Last year we did what we could to help Patrick Willis win rookie of the week and defensive player of the week, week in and week out.

This week, Mike Singletary is a nominee for Motorola Coach of the Week.  Here's what the folks at nfl.com had to say about each candidate:

Mike Singletary: Singletary recorded his first career win as head coach of the 49ers in their 35-16 win vs. the St. Louis Rams. 49ers QB Shaun Hill completed 15 of 20 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns as RB Frank Gore rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. 49ers CB Walt Harris made an interception and had a sack to contribute to the total of four sacks and two interceptions recorded by the 49ers in the win.

Eric Mangini: Mangini led the Jets to a 34-31 win over the division rival New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Jets QB Brett Favre completed 26 of 33 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns, while RB Thomas Jones rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. The Jets sacked Patriots QB Matt Cassel three times and Jets LB Eric Barton forced one fumble.

Mike McCarthy: McCarthy and the Packers recorded a 37-3 victory against the Chicago Bears. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers completed 23 of 30 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. RB Ryan Grant rushed for 145 yards and a score on 25 carries. The Packers controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes. Packers CB Charles Woodson recorded one sack and DE Jason Hunter returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown.

So head on over to nfl.com and vote early and often.  I think it'd be appropriate for him to get the award in his first NFL win.

I've mentioned many times before that one of the pluses to a relatively "lost season" is the ability to evaluate the players you've got and whether they can be counted on next season and beyond.  An ideal player for this sort of analysis is 49ers QB Shaun Hill.  The team really doesn't have a long term solution at quarterback and needs to determine whether they can buy some time with Hill.

Last week I took a look at the videotape of the Cardinals loss and threw out some thoughts.  This week, I thought I'd try and mix in some of Hill's quotes from his day-after press conference from yesterday.  I find it useful to look at his performance and then his thoughts after he's had time to check out the film from the game.  He didn't have a lot of specifics, but he had a couple thoughts worth noting.

In the second quarter, Hill scrambled for a one yard touchdown run to put the 49ers up 28-3.  Hill was lined up in the shotgun on 3rd and 1 and after a mere two seconds of decision-making, pulled down the ball and dove into the end zone.  He discussed the touchdown yesterday:

RE: The touchdown run you had: was that a called play or was that an option you always have if it’s open?
“No, it was a called pass play and I just kind of stepped up in the pocket and just kind of reacted to avoid, let’s say.”

RE: But a run is that always an option you have? Is that built into the play or is it all just whatever develops?
“Just like any time, you just kind of scramble any time you don’t feel like there’s a throw there or something just flashes in front of you, you can run. It was just one of those types of things. Just a scramble.”

You could look at most of Hill's performance from Sunday and see smart, efficient football.  Before going any further I definitely want to discuss his second half performance.  Hill was 3 for 6 for 21 yards in the second half, 18 of which came on a Michael Robinson dump off that was all Robinson's work.  However, I place very little blame on Hill. 

His only real mistake was pump faking on third down and proceeding to get sacked.  However, no quarterback is going to sense the sack every single time.  Other than that, the Rams got a lot of pressure and Hill spent most of the second half handing the ball off to Gore or throwing little dump offs to Gore, Foster and Robinson.  I realize it would have been nice to drop another couple touchdowns on the Rams, but in reality, this was one time when a super conservative game plan made sense.  You've shown what you can do, now let's just get through the game without any big injuries.

Now to the fun stuff.  One area of criticism about Hill is what most describe as a weak throwing arm.  He isn't a guy who will throw many deep balls to keep the defense honest.  The good news is that what throws he can make, he has done with precision and accuracy.  His two weakest throws were throws that actually needed that kind of soft touch.  The first was his 31 yard pass to DeShaun Foster.  He ran a play action fake and bootlegged to his right before lofting an arcing pass to the wide open DeShaun Foster, who had slipped into a big hole between the linebackers and the secondary.  The other saw Hill in the shotgun and pressure forming around him.  He stepped up and lofted another arcing pass, this time to Michael Robinson, who had slipped past a covering linebacker and took the 36 yard reception down to the Rams 1.

While the touch Hill showed wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, he hit the spots absolutely perfectly.  Soft passes certainly have a shot at being intercepted, but Hill wisely chose the perfect time to get the ball past the defenders.

One thing I found particularly interesting was the game plan for the passing game as compared to the Monday Night game.  Against the Cardinals, the 49ers used a lot of short crossing patterns that allowed the receivers to use their speed advantage against linebackers in the middle.  Hill was 19 for 40 and struggled at times with his rhythm.  Against the Rams, Hill threw downfield a bit more and showed great accuracy and efficiency, as evidenced by his perfect rating in the first half.

The team also used numerous quick slant passes to wide receivers.  The trio of quick slant patterns, the aggressive use of the shotgun and Hill's ability to step up in the pocket allowed the offensive line to put together as good a game as they've had all year.  It's also ironic that J.T. O'Sullivan got into the game and on his first pass he got creamed in the backfield (although he did get the ball off).  My favorite reason for having Hill starting is his decision making, whether it be getting rid of the ball quickly or knowing when pressure is coming.  JTO just lacked that instinct.  One possible reason for this could be that Hill knows he lacks the physical tools so he has to use his smarts, whereas O'Sullivan thinks he has the physical tools to wing it a little more.

Whatever the case may be, we're going to need the Shaun Hill from this past week to show up if we want to beat the Cowboys.  Cleary the Cowboys are several notches above the Rams and it won't be so easy.  However, if Shaun Hill continues to make quick, good decisions, I think he could excel against the Cowboys.  A big plus would be to get Josh Morgan back, but those groin injuries can be tricky.  If Morgan misses more time, maybe Hill can continue to develop chemistry with Bryant Johnson and Jason Hill.  I think the offense is talented enough to hang with the Cowboys.  They'll just need to play a smart, efficient game.  Fortunately that is a speciality of Shaun Hill.

Hey guys, don't forget to check out the comments where Fooch has provided some links and I'll be making the majority of my edits simply in comments from now on. Thanks.

ey all, time for another edition of Golden Nuggets. If you didn't read into yesterday's edition and you're hungry for information, quotes, etc about Sunday's game against the Rams I suggest going back and looking into it, there's some pretty interesting stuff. Today there's not much else, just some more praise for Shaun Hill, more wrap-ups, and ominous warnings of future thrashings we're sure to receive at the hands of Dallas, Buffalo, Miami, etc... If you're to believe the articles, that is. As far as that goes, I'm not too sure (the losing part) I'd love to win and I'll hope and root regardless. I'll post all the relevant links that should be read, remember, regardless of lack of news I'll never post something that isn't interesting/shouldn't be read by a fan. So without further ado, here's some links for you this morning...

And we start off with Shaun Hill! He's boring right? Hell no he's not boring, but was supposed to be. (MercuryNews.com)

In this weeks "Team Issued," Tony Wragge talks about the Rams and the game. (49ers.com)

Hill will do whatever it takes. This I firmly believe. I'm not certain he's the QB of our future, but damnit the guy is winning me over. (49ers.com)

Its "Work Mondays," not "Win Mondays," but it seems like its still an enjoyable day, which is good. Study the film, etc. I like it. No more win Mondays, study that film! (SFGate.com)

The schedule gets harder. An article from Niner Insider with a few quotes from Singletary. The thing that interested me the most is that he's unsure how long Josh Morgan will be out. That hurts, a lot I believe. He seems to be optimistic about Robinson, Tarell Brown and Michael Lewis, however. (SFGate.com)

Here's an article that talks about Patrick Willis and Mark Roman, and why the green dot signifying the radio transmitter has made its way back to Roman. (SFGate.com)

This article talks about the Win Mondays, and gives a few quotes from Singletary about Mike Martz. Big focus is being put on these guys remaining close, the team that is. (SacBee.com)

Is the pain just about to start? This article says it will, and I'm not sure what I think. I'm a bit on edge. (RealFootball365.com)

Patrick Willis is back on top of the league in tackles? Awesome. (49ers.com)

Here's a post from an Arizona Cardinals blog that breaks down the NFC West, with some opinions on the 49ers game against the Rams and the upcoming match up with Dallas. (RaisingZona.com)

That's all for me, folks. Hope you enjoyed the links. I'm exhausted right now, so I probably missed a few, but in reality there's not a whole lot to post yet. I haven't slept yet, I got home around 1:00 AM and decided I wouldn't be able to wake up in time for the Nuggets.. so I stayed up, of course! Silly sleep. I'll sleep after posting this for about three hours, get up, and hope there's more links to post. (PS -- How 'bout them Bills sucking it up? Good for us?)

The 49ers invested a nice little chunk of change in free agents for the second consecutive years and were expecting big things.  Justin Smith has delivered as expected, Isaac Bruce has been up and down, DeShaun Foster has not done much of anything, including the hideous fumble yesterday, and we've discussed J.T. O'Sullivan plenty.

Aside from the bigger name free agents, two signings have provided a much greater impact than I realistically expected: Allen Rossum and Takeo Spikes.  Both had very solid games yesterday, continuing a trend for both that has lasted all season long.

Allen Rossum
Thanks to the power of the Internet, you can still see my thoughts on the Allen Rossum signing, way back on March 2:

Allen Rossum - This falls into the "Whatever" category of signings.  Hopefully he can make a nice little impact in the return game.  While I understand letting Hicks go, I definitely will miss some of his big special teams plays.  He made important stops and could set the 49ers up with solid field position on occasion when returning.

Boy was I wrong about that.  As mentioned in yesterday's post-game notes and quotes, Rossum is on pace for career highs in both kick return and punt return average.  The man is in his 11th season and recently turned 33.  For the NFL, that's usually when you start going over the hill and speed is often the first thing to go.  For Rossum, it has clearly not been an issue. 

There were times in the preseason when he was returning some pretty deep kicks that had many of us concerned, but clearly it was just to get the work in.  Yesterday, Rossum averaged 20 yards on his 2 punt returns and has continually set the 49ers up in excellent field position.  If the offense continues to show some consistency, we'll find even more value in these big returns.

Takeo Spikes
After the 49ers signed Takeo Spikes, I indicated that I thought the team's linebacker depth had improved, even if people felt Spikes was washed up.  He had suffered a bad injury to end his tenure in Philly and was working at a new position, the 3-4 Ted.  Spikes was a crazy playmaker in his prime and the Ted is not known as quite the playmaking position.  The position is supposed to do the grunt work to open up holes for Patrick Willis to make tackles.

And yet, Take Spikes has been a huge impact player on and off the field.  Yesterday he had another solid performance, with 6 total tackles and a pass deflection.  On the season he has 60 total tackles, including 2 for losses, 6 pass deflections and a team-high 3 interceptions (not sure if that's a good or bad thing).  He is currently second on the team in tackles behind Bamm Bamm and it feels like he is making a big play every game.

What I've also found refreshing is his attitude towards the team.  I've noticed that in post-game quotes he's often included.  Additionally, when the local Fox channel talks to the players outside the locker room, he is usually one of the players involved.  It's hard to tell what kind of leadership role he has taken, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he's one of the main guys players look to for guidance.  It's just a guess, but based on how he conducts himself, it seems like a relatively educated guess.

So who really has bee the bigger "surprise?"  Or maybe you're not surprised by the performance of either?  My vote is for Allen Rossum.  Even though Takeo Spikes finished 2007 injured, he had some decent numbers, although it was a rather quiet season for him.  As my March post showed, I really didn't expect a whole lot from Allen Rossum.  And yet he has been one of the few bright spots of an otherwise disappointing season.

Fooch's Note: We get so fixated on the 49ers, it can be easy to forget about the rest of the NFL.  Thanks to Josh from Hollywood for taking us on an amusing trip around the league.

My name is Josh from Hollywood, and I'm a couch potato. Since I spend every Sunday (and some Thursday nights) planted on the sofa watching football, I figured I might as well give you my thoughts from the weekend’s action in the NFL -- whether you wanted them or not. The rest of the site is usually devoted to Niner-centric news, so we thought it might be nice to have a regular post on some of the odds, ends, and trends from in and around the rest of the league. My motto is "1 Man. 2 TV's. 15 games. No pee breaks." (I have a bed pan, and a very understanding wife.)

But seriously, congratulations if you make it all the way to the end of this post. And remember, you may think this is long, but Peter King picks bigger pieces than this out of his poop. Or something.

HUNGRY EYES: I'm really hoping the play of Shaun Hill against the Rams this week is a sign of things to come, because I’ve discovered that knowing your team has no long-term answer at QB is a lot like being a guy who's longtime girlfriend just dumped him -- you feel scared and alone, and you want to fill the void, but quickly realize there aren’t a lot of winners out there (in the dating scene or the QB market).

Sitting on the couch every Sunday scanning the field for potential solutions, I feel like the dude at the bar with the lonely eyes, desperately searching the bar for a friendly face. Only finding good QBs with long-term deals (dating equivalent: hot chicks with serious boyfriends), or bad QBs you wouldn't want leading your team anyway (i.e. fugly girls you wouldn’t introduce to your friends), you soon sink to searching the sidelines for an experienced, affordable backup (cruising for hookers after the bars close).

Trying to talk yourself into Matt Cassel at up to $10 million a year is depressing enough in itself, but it's especially hard on us Niner fans who grew up watching the primes of both Montana and Young. It's like a guy who once dated Giselle Bundchen and Angelina Jolie being relegated to picking up chicks outside the local Pretty & Plump outlet.

Continue reading this post »

Ahh, greetings Niners fans, James here with Monday's edition of Golden Nuggets. I'd like to get something out in the open before I continue. My second nuggets post was labled "No Foster, please..." and you know what? I'm getting close to eating my words. He didn't show anything fantastic, and did in fact give up a fumble, but the guy showed some pretty good athleticism. I'd like to see more of him this season, at least when we're saving Gore. That being said, he still needs to be cut this offseason and replaced by Thomas Clayton from the practice squad.

Now... I'm getting out of my place! I'm here to post links, not to ramble on about stuff. So here it goes, I'll try and post all the diverse links first, and I may post all the other ones that are still interesting but contain a lot of the same info, with a few exclusive quotes and stuff after the jump if I get that far. Needless to say make the jump and check 'em all out. On to the links.

I'll kick things off with John Crumpacker telling us why we should've won the game, and why we in fact, did win the game.

Tom Fitzgerald, also from SFGate gives a short article about the interceptions from Walt Harris and Nate Clements. I had almost forgot about them, and I'm glad I've been reminded these guys still know how to catch a ball not intended for them.

More from SFGate, this time dealing with Singletary, how he feels about his first win, and how he's just a bit irked on the fact that we didn't finish properly. I'm still a little shaky on the exact definition of finish, but yes the second half did leave something to be desired.

Here's a nice article on Shaun Hill. Its interesting to think about where we'd be right now if Hill got the starting job at the beginning of the season.

Niner Insider gives us some good quotes and a short summary of the game.

Mining the Gold Rush returns to the Golden Nuggets, Samuel Lam lets us know the importance of basking in the happiness of this win, even if we only played one half.

A little foggy about a few things that happened? Niner Insider was there, and here's a summary of all the drives. And here's one from Matt Maiocco, which seems to be a bit more in depth.

Here's a quick little summary/whatever from ESPN. Nothing special, just a short read that you should check out.

Matt Maiocco gives us the most informative article yet. From quotes, to letting us know that Vernon Davis wants Singletary to stay as coach, to a summary of the game, to a Q&A, its got it all. Check it out here

Maiocco also gives us two other wildly informative articles (this guys on fire.) Two important questions and a good summary. So.. why wasn't Hill starting at the beginning of the season? Oh, and one more pretty full of statistics. Find it here.

And now 49ers gets graded over at Press Democrat.

Mercury News does a wrap up, with a lot of interesting quotes I haven't seen yet. To note is that apparently Singletary thought Martz could've kept up the pace of five touchdowns in the second half if he had a mind to. I wonder.

Singletary really is thriving on motivation, and hope. To save space I'm going to rapid-fire the rest of the Mercury News posts that I could dig up. Shaun Hill gets praise (he deserves it, damnit!) No more "Win Monday" day off for the Niners. (Good.) Here's another wrap-up, stacked to the brim with opinions. (Scared of Singletary staying? Offensive minded coach next season? Bah, I say.) Apparently, there was a falling out between Vernon Davis and DeShaun Foster. (Hm..) More Shaun Hill praise

And one more before the jump, the transcript of the post-game press conference.

Make the jump guys, plenty of more links to come--and more to come later as well.

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Not surprisingly, the 49ers were quite pleased with the win, but recognize the need to close out games a little more consistently.  Of course, when you're up 35-3 it's easy to let up on the gas.  I just got the post-game notes quotes and thought I'd throw some of them up.  We'll hear from Coach Singletary, Shaun Hill, Walt Harris, and Takeo Spikes, with the first two before the jump and the latter two after the jump.

Some intriguing notes from the game first:

• The 49ers 35 first half points are the most they have scored in the first half since the 49ers scored 42 points vs. Atlanta (10-18-92), which is the most points they ever scored in a half.
• Hill became the first 49ers starting QB to post a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in the first half. The previous best was Steve Young’s 156.5 rating vs. New Orleans (9-14-97).
• Gore entered the game with 728 yards rushing and added 106 for a season total of 834 rushing yards. He is on pace for 1,334 yards. He needs 166 more rushing yards to become the first 49ers player ever to have three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
• Gore now has 4,239 yards rushing as a member of the 49ers and needs 50 yards to move past Hall of Fame RB Hugh McElheny into sixth place on the 49ers all-time rushing list.
• LB Patrick Willis entered the game with a team-leading 108 total tackles and added eight to give him 116 for the year. He is on pace to finish with 186 total tackles.
• KR Allen Rossum is averaging 27.9 yards per kickoff return. He is on pace to finish with a career year. His best average of 25.8 during his third NFL season in 2000 with Green Bay.
• Rossum is averaging 16.9 yards per punt return. He is on pace for best his best season in that category as well. His best season so far was a 14.0 average in 2003 with Atlanta.

49ers Head Coach Mike Singletary
RE: Is that the kind of effort you are looking for in the first half?
“The first half: I thought we did a decent job in the first half. We talked about coming out and starting fast, executing, doing the things we need to do in order to win the game. So we were very excited about what happened in the first half. We came in at halftime and we talked about going out and finishing what we started in that first half.”

RE: What does that mean: finishing?
“Finishing meant that at some point in time the offensive line, when we’re backed up, that we could put it in their hands and they drive it out. Finishing means that we don’t jump offside two, three, four times in a row. Finishing means that we don’t walk off the field. We jog off the field. Finishing means that however we started the game, we need to end the game stronger than we started. That’s finishing.”

RE: You mentioned a bunch of things you guys didn’t do. Are you displeased?
“No, I wouldn’t use the word displeased. I told the guys before one of the things I didn’t do when I played was focus on what we didn’t do well. So I wanted to make sure that I told them that I was very, very proud of the fact that they played hard and we won the game. But here’s some things we need to work on going forward if we’re going to be a great team. So, no, I was not displeased. I just pointed those things out that we have to correct.”

RE: The defense in the first half, especially with the turnovers, how important was that?
“It was really important going into the game that we really handled their vertical game well. Of course they got some runs early which shocked me a bit. I talked to Greg [Manusky] about it and we weren’t getting moved quick enough. We would slant one way and they’d adjust and we would not. And guys were getting caught in the slide and getting cut off, and it caused us to get gashed so that made sense, and we corrected that going into the second half. But there were a lot of good things that happened in this game. A lot of positives to come out with and continue to work on, work forward with.”

RE: It might not be Mike Singletary’s team but this is Mike Singletary’s first win as a head coach. How does it feel standing up there?
“I’m very humbled by it. My mom and my dad passed away in the last four years. Dad last year. Mom about four years ago. And I just thought about them and if they could see that. But I’m very thankful and very proud of that, more so for the guys than for myself because they deserve it. They’ve been working their tails off. I’m telling you they’ve been working their tails off and doing a lot of things right. I’m really excited about them. But going forward it has to be all of us. It has to be the coordinators. It has to be the position coaches. It has to be the quarterback. It has to be the defensive line. It has to be every one of us in order to get out of this thing what we want to get out of it.”

QB Shaun Hill
RE: Was today’s offensive output a surprise?
“No, it’s not really a surprise. The one thing Coach Singletary talks about is ‘don’t blink.’ You can’t be surprised about something like that. It was the power of the offense and the defense did a heck of a job out there and gave us a lot of opportunities. They gave us great field position and we were able to capitalize with offensive touchdowns.”

RE: What is your reaction to your first half perfect passer rating?
“I didn’t realize that I had a perfect passer rating in the first half. The funny thing about that rating is it might say that somebody is perfect, but I promise you there were some mistakes in there about myself. So, I wasn’t perfect. We have to enjoy this win. It’s been a long time since we’ve had this feeling. But we cannot approach tomorrow any differently than if we had lost. We still have to learn from this game. There were mistakes out there today, myself included.”

After the jump, we'll hear from Walt Harris and Takeo Spikes...

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