Week 13 - 49ers vs. Packers

Okay, now how to stay positive about the season? It'd be easy to sound like the guy on the radio right now (KNBR) and get down on the team, they stink, blah, blah, blah... [the Niners lost badly] Sure, that'd be the sane, realistic thing to do, but I'm going to try to stay positive about the situation.

First, I think even as people studied the game schedule before the season started that they probably would have marked today's game as a loss. It was a road game against a team that was projected to be very good. So, it's not like today's outcome was a surprise or some sort of let down. Second, let's wait and see how today's other games end up - maybe the Seahawks and/or the Rams end up losing too (although they went into this weekend expected to win their games). But the key to the Niners season is to win each of their remaining games against their division opponents, i.e. they'll have to beat the Seahawks and Rams themselves, plus the Cardinals for good measure. That's a given on their to-do list. And as for their game coming up against the late-season hot San Diego Chargers, even the Raiders (whom the Niners beat earlier this season) are handling them well so far. Unfortunately, the 49ers fate rests largely on how their division rivals fare for the rest of the season, so it's not completely in their hands.

I also have mixed feelings about how good the winner of the NFC West will be heading into the playoffs. I agree that a 7-9 (for instance) win-loss record for a division winner is kind of screwy. The way I understand it is the division winners host the first week of the playoffs. If that's true, then not only will the winner of the NFC West make the playoffs over more deserving teams with better records, but they will be playing at home too. But oh well, I can't be worried about that. And besides, whether it's the 49ers or not, a win in the first week of the playoffs should just about atone for which team has the better record. Not likely though, especially for the 49ers. Still, you never know...

So what it comes down to, and taking it week by week, is the 49ers go into next week's game in a must-win situation; they lose that game and the season will absolutely be a lost cause. Will they mathematically be eliminated? I don't know. But it's been amazing having a 4-8 season so far and still hear talk that the Niners are still in it, that going into this weekend, they were still only one game out of the NFC West lead. It comes down to next week's game against the Seahawks to determine whether or not they've buried themselves too deep a hole to climb out of. Some would say they already have.

Post-game reaction: I was flipping channels between the Raiders game and the 49ers post-game show. And there was Singletary talking about 'looking at the (game) film' again. In one sense, Singletary is coaching in the right era, because there were many years long ago that there was no game film to depend on. Not like today. Maybe one would have to go back to the days of leather helmets, but there used to be no film to speak of. On the other hand, Singletary is idealizing a game plan that isn't contemporary. Maybe it's the coordinators he has chosen to work with, but it all starts and stops with him. Well, we'll see next week. It's about making adjustments and utilizing the talent on the team to the best of their ability.

I had been thinking about Troy Smith's lack of height being a liability during today's game, especially when he stayed in the pocket, but then I remembered that Michael Vick is roughly the same height, and he's been tearing up the league. But I still feel comfortable with Troy in there. And though today's television announcers harped about the lack of accuracy of Troy's throws, I'm under the impression that Troy throws very accurate passes. He was often off-target today, but I didn't think that that was one of Troy's weaknesses. Time (hopefully will tell), but I still really like the guy's calmness and resolve.