preseason game - 49ers vs. Saints

Wow, we got massacred!

But, no worries. Going into this season, people were doing pretty good accepting that the Niners were going to go through some adjustments and growing pains, what with their new coaching staff and all. Plus there was the prolonged lockout due to having to come up with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners and players. Which meant a rushed and abbreviated off-season which put the teams with new systems to implement at an even greater disadvantage. Particularly the teams with not only new head coaches, but new head coaches whom had never been head coaches at the NFL level. Not to over-dramatize the situation, but it's kind of a perfect storm.

I'm reminded of last season, when Mike Singletary actually thanked the Seattle Seahawks for the whooping his team gave the 49ers early in the season, maybe even the first game... I don't remember. But that 'thanking' didn't portend much in the way of turning the Niners' fortunes around for the rest of the season. Well, I don't imagine that Coach Harbaugh is planning on thanking the Saints for the a$$ beating last night, but it was one heck of a drubbing that sends the 49ers back to the drawing board. Now, will the team respond by learning and becoming adept at handling the blitz? That's the lasting image I'll take from the game anyway. A pretty aggressive approach to lay on the first game of the pre-season, against a team with so much to do. Not that I'm looking for excuses, but geez!

Let's just hope that the 49ers come out of this loss stronger and more resilient. Particularly the quarterbacks. Both Smith and Kaepernick looked bad at first glance, but I can't imagine any other quarterbacks functioning any better under the circumstances. With the pressure from the rush that the Saints were putting on, what else could the quarterbacks have done? Perhaps the Niners will have 'hot' reads in place in the future, but that will take some more coordination with the receivers. Practice, practice, practice.

And just as the offense was facing an unusually blitz-happy package by the Saints defense, I wonder if the 49er defense was facing an unusually bland and straightforward Saints offense. Our offense is taking a lot of lumps for their performance, while the Niners first-string defense is getting praised. While I certainly hope they have continued success on the field, I wonder if they only looked good because of the Saints playing conservative on offense, at least conservative compared to their defense. Oh well, next week's game will tell a whole lot more about how competitive the 49ers look to be this coming season.

In the end, though, preseason games are preseason games. Last year, the 49ers under Singletary went 4 - 0, and look where that supposed success got them... a 6 - 10 record and outside looking in at the playoffs. So, again, I'm not worried - just very interested, and happy that we've got some football going on!