49ers defense

[JoeyBoy718]

Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Ahmad Brooks, Eric Reid...

This is still a top 10 defense.

Eric Reid is in his second year, Justin Smith hasn't been the same for years, and Ahmad Brooks has always been their weakest LBer.

 

[CATCH17]

I get that no one is in love with Kap's throwing, but Boldin, Crabtree, Lloyd and Vernon Davis is a pretty darn strong receiving group, probably one of the best in the league. In fact I don't think we have any answer for Davis at all defensively. Who is going to cover him, Heath?

And while Gore may have lost a step the rookie Hyde has had a very good pre-season. Throw in that Kap is probably significantly faster than anyone in our front 7 and I think too many people are sleeping on the Niner's offense for this game.

Kaepernick is a playmaker but he isn't a guy that is going to slice and dice us.

I think we'll struggle all year against skilled passers but a guy like Kap is defendable for our defense.

 

[Doomsday101]

Kaepernick is a playmaker but he isn't a guy that is going to slice and dice us.

I think we'll struggle all year against skilled passers but a guy like Kap is defendable for our defense.

From a passing perspective agree with you on Kap. His running is a concern, I would prefer to run zone coverage’s vs running QB as opposed to CB having the backs to the QB which makes it hard for CB to come up in support

 

[KJJ]

Well, Gore is average these days. Pass rush should just keep Kaepernick in the pocket. I don't think you can call the front seven the worst in the league until they play at least a game or two.

Gore is coming off his 3rd straight 1000 yard season with over 1100 yards last year with 9 TD's you call that average? As for the pass rush keeping Kap in the pocket what pass rush? The Cowboys lost their pass rush during the offseason. They only produced 5 sacks during the preseason while giving up 11 sacks.

The Cowboys leading sacker entering this season is Selvie who had 7 sacks last season. He's going to have a difficult time duplicating last season without Ware, Lee and Hatcher on the field. The Cowboys front 7 is as bad as it gets and if it's not the worst it's right up there.

 

[KJJ]

Expect this to be a close game down to the end and i really like our chances compared to earlier in the offseason, but Gore hasn't been one of the top backs for several seasons now and when healthy demarco is just as good if not better.

As I just mentioned Gore is coming off his 3rd straight 1000 yard season with 9 rushing TD's. His 1128 yards was more than he had in 07, 08 and 09. His 9 rushing TD's last season were the 2nd most of his career. He may not be the back he was but he's still very solid ranking 9th in rushing last season.

 

[locked&loaded]

As I just mentioned Gore is coming off his 3rd straight 1000 yard season with 9 rushing TD's. His 1128 yards was more than he had in 07, 08 and 09. His 9 rushing TD's last season were the 2nd most of his career. He may not be the back he was but he's still very solid ranking 9th in rushing last season.

Gore is a geriatric. The 49ers coaching staff are the ones most surprised he is still productive.

 

[KJJ]

Their QB is more dangerous on the run, than in passing. I do not fear Kap's accuracy one bit. We have a good enough secondary to compete with their WR's. Where we may get burned is at TE, and QB scrambles. I also want to point out that our DL as decimated as it is.... looks better on paper than the current 49ers DL.

True, Kap is more dangerous as a runner than a passer but he's still a capable passer and it doesn't take a great passer to light up the Cowboys defense. The Cowboys defense has made the likes of Matt Flynn and Josh McCown look like great QB's. I don't believe our secondary is good enough to compete with anyone at the moment. Carr is coming off a bad year and arguably the Cowboys best corner Scandrick will miss the first 4 games of the season. That leaves Claiborne who's been battling injuries all summer (what else is new) and didn't play in any preseason games.

His shoulder is still not 100% and he's clearly not ready to play so expect the Niners to go after him. The Cowboys looked awful in preseason against the run giving up over 160 yards rushing in their first 3 preseason games. With Kap scrambling around and if Gore is healthy SF should have success moving the ball on the ground. Having to guard against Kap taking off will have the defense playing the run and that will open up some underneath routes. If Gore has success that's going to open up the play action pass down the field to Davis where the Cowboys will get burned.

 

[KJJ]

Gore is a geriatric. The 49ers coaching staff are the ones most surprised he is still productive.

Gore will be entering his 10th season and is 31 years old not many backs are still producing 1000 seasons in their 30's. It's surprising to see any back have the longevity Gore has had especially considering he's been a workhorse. His 276 carries last season was the 3rd most of his career.

 

[jday]

Their defense may be decimated, but ours is expansion quality................if we force more than 1 punt, it will be an impressive showing.............LOL

This defense is better than that...just not sure by how much. ..

 

[KJJ]

This defense is better than that...just not sure by how much. ..

It's on par with expansion quality. There's a few players on the D that
would likely be made available to
an expansion team. This is the worst defensive lineup the Cowboys have had since 89 in my opinion. On paper it's painful to look at hopefully it won't look as bad on the field this season.

 

[dfense]

Gore is coming off his 3rd straight 1000 yard season with over 1100 yards last year with 9 TD's you call that average? As for the pass rush keeping Kap in the pocket what pass rush? The Cowboys lost their pass rush during the offseason. They only produced 5 sacks during the preseason while giving up 11 sacks.

The Cowboys leading sacker entering this season is Selvie who had 7 sacks last season. He's going to have a difficult time duplicating last season without Ware, Lee and Hatcher on the field. The Cowboys front 7 is as bad as it gets and if it's not the worst it's right up there.

I'm just guessing Gore is like 45 isn't he? He's rated in the 20's for fantasy backs, not that that matters. Since the Cowboys pass rush is yet to be witnessed with the new guys, I though consentrating on keeping Kaepernick in the pocket would be easier for them.

 

[jday]

It's on par with expansion quality. There's a few players on the D that
would likely be made available to
an expansion team. This is the worst defensive lineup the Cowboys have had since 89 in my opinion. On paper it's painful to look at hopefully it won't look as bad on the field this season.

The problem with your assessment is you are basing it off of what we saw in preseason. We have not seen all the starters play at the same time. I'm not saying they will be great...just better than expansion level...which is all they may need to be to win.

 

[Staubacher]

As I just mentioned Gore is coming off his 3rd straight 1000 yard season with 9 rushing TD's. His 1128 yards was more than he had in 07, 08 and 09. His 9 rushing TD's last season were the 2nd most of his career. He may not be the back he was but he's still very solid ranking 9th in rushing last season.

Murray is better at this point. We win 31-24

 

[KJJ]

The problem with your assessment is you are basing it off of what we saw in preseason. We have not seen all the starters play at the same time. I'm not saying they will be great...just better than expansion level...which is all they may need to be to win.

My assessment is based off what I've seen the past 2 seasons from the defense and what I saw from the starters in preseason. I'm looking at the quality players the Cowboys lost from last season Ware, Hatcher and Lee. I'm also looking at the fact the Cowboys won't have arguably their best corner for the first 4 games of the regular season. His replacement Claiborne has spent the summer battling injuries as usual and didn't play a single snap in preseason. He's still having issues with his shoulder and is clearly not ready to play but he has to. The Cowboys defense was statistically the 3rd worst defense in NFL history last season which was worse than the typical expansion teams defense and that defense featured Ware, Hatcher and Lee who accounted for 17 sacks and 5 int's.

The Cowboys set at least 2 futility records last season with all 3 of those players on the field. Their replacements this season aren't even close to upgrades and Ware's replacement is going to miss the first 8 games this season. The Cowboys have players starting on defense that would have a tough time making several teams 53 man roster. The Cowboys will be running defensive players on and off the field all season trying to find a combination that works. The defense lacks so much talent it would take a Walker type trade just to fix that side of the ball in the next 2-3 years.

 

[KJJ]

Murray is better at this point. We win 31-24

At this point he probably is seeing that he's 5 years younger than Gore although Gore did out produce Murray last season in rushing yards and TD's. Hope your prediction is right but I don't see it happening.

 

[rwill784]

Our defense is just unknown. We're using last seasons results to judge this yrs unit.

Post of the day!!!!

 

[HanD]

As I just mentioned Gore is coming off his 3rd straight 1000 yard season with 9 rushing TD's. His 1128 yards was more than he had in 07, 08 and 09. His 9 rushing TD's last season were the 2nd most of his career. He may not be the back he was but he's still very solid ranking 9th in rushing last season.

that's fine. i guess our definition or one of the top backs in the league is different. for me, gore is in the middle tier of backs. the top tier consists of AP, JC, mccoy, forte and lynch. after that, there is a huge list of guys who are close together either because they are on the decline or have more to prove. very solid for me doesn't equal one of the top backs in the league.

 

[KJJ]

I'm just guessing Gore is like 45 isn't he? He's rated in the 20's for fantasy backs, not that that matters. Since the Cowboys pass rush is yet to be witnessed with the new guys, I though consentrating on keeping Kaepernick in the pocket would be easier for them.

Gore is 31 which is like 45 for an RB. Fantasy ratings mean nothing he ranked 9th in rushing last season which was one spot ahead of Murray. We witnessed the defense with the new guys in preseason and they weren't impressive. Everything we've been fearing this offseason you could see coming to light in preseason. The Cowboys had virtually no pass rush during the preseason. Melton who the Cowboys will be counting on is coming off an ACL and has missed a lot of work with the Cowboys being cautious with him. He's had only 15.5 career sacks which is only 4.5 sacks more than Hatcher had last season. Melton hasn't registered a sack since week 12 of the 2012 season. It's not like he's going to have DWare helping to free him up. Looking at the career sack totals of the players the Cowboys will be counting on this year it wouldn't surprise me if the defense sets a franchise record for the fewest number of sacks in a season.

I know sacks aren't everything but sacks indicate pressure and if your D isn't producing sacks they're probably not producing much pressure. If you can't apply pressure you won't be keeping Kap in the pocket. It takes pressure from different angles to keep a QB in the pocket. The Cowboys aren't going to have near the pass rush to keep Kap from hurting them with his legs. Go back to the season finale in 2012 vs Washington RG3 put up 63 yards on a bad wheel against the Cowboys D. I've been watching football long enough to know the defensive lineup we'll be fielding on Sunday isn't built to contain a duel threat QB. I saw Kap put up over 400 total yards (rushing/passing) vs the Packers 2 years ago. He carried the ball 11 times for 130 yards vs a great Seattle defense last season in the playoffs.

 

[jday]

My assessment is based off what I've seen the past 2 seasons from the defense and what I saw from the starters in preseason. I'm looking at the quality players the Cowboys lost from last season Ware, Hatcher and Lee. I'm also looking at the fact the Cowboys won't have arguably their best corner for the first 4 games of the regular season. His replacement Claiborne has spent the summer battling injuries as usual and didn't play a single snap in preseason. He's still having issues with his shoulder and is clearly not ready to play but he has to. The Cowboys defense was statistically the 3rd worst defense in NFL history last season which was worse than the typical expansion teams defense and that defense featured Ware, Hatcher and Lee who accounted for 17 sacks and 5 int's.

The Cowboys set at least 2 futility records last season with all 3 of those players on the field. Their replacements this season aren't even close to upgrades and Ware's replacement is going to miss the first 8 games this season. The Cowboys have players starting on defense that would have a tough time making several teams 53 man roster. The Cowboys will be running defensive players on and off the field all season trying to find a combination that works. The defense lacks so much talent it would take a Walker type trade just to fix that side of the ball in the next 2-3 years.

I suspect because this defense is nameless, that may actually work in their favor. Wishful thinking...i know...but i still say it is too soon to say for certain what we have.

 

[KJJ]

that's fine. i guess our definition or one of the top backs in the league is different. for me, gore is in the middle tier of backs. the top tier consists of AP, JC, mccoy, forte and lynch. after that, there is a huge list of guys who are close together either because they are on the decline or have more to prove. very solid for me doesn't equal one of the top backs in the league.

I'm looking at Gore over his entire career so to say he's one of the top current backs wouldn't be correct. Granted he would be behind all the backs you mentioned at this stage in his career but he's still a quality back capable of having a big game against a Cowboys defense that ranked 28th vs the run last season and got shredded on the ground during the preseason.