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Matt Maiocco of the Press Democrat reported that around the trade deadline the 49ers targeted only one player. That player was Nate Clements. The 49ers however did not want to give up a 2nd round pick to acquire Clements. Clements is a free agent after this season, so if the 49ers still want him they’ll have to go out and pay him.

My guess is that Kwame Harris must have pictures of head coach Mike Nolan in a compromising position and is blackmailing him or Adam Snyder must have kicked Nolan’s dog. How else after being humiliated against the Bears can Harris still have the starting right tackle spot. You gotta wonder.

Brian Urlacher’s one-handed interception was headed to the highlight reel as soon as he tumbled to the ground after somehow batting the ball to himself.

Urlacher’s stellar play symbolized what kind of afternoon it was for the refreshed and still unbeaten Chicago Bears – and how frustrating the day was for the San Francisco 49ers.

Wearing bright orange uniforms and showing their speed on defense and special teams, the Bears overwhelmed the 49ers from the outset. They jumped to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and 41-0 halftime cushion before coasting to a 41-10 victory Sunday.

At 7-0, Chicago is off to its best start since the 1985 Super Bowl champions won their first 12 games.

“It was amazing. Twenty-four points in the first quarter? That’s pretty impressive, especially in this league. It doesn’t happen a lot,” said Rex Grossman, who rebounded from his poorest performance to throw three TD passes.

A league source tells us that 49ers running back Frank Gore has defected from Dunn, and has signed with agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Gore, a former Miami tailback, is one of the few ball-carriers from the “U” (or the “M” if your adopted last name rhymes with “Moonshine”) who wasn’t already in the Rosenhaus stable. The Miami-based agent already represent Edgerrin James, Willis McGahee, and Clinton Portis.
Word is that Gore is angling for an extension with the 49ers (and that the team has expressed interest in doing so), and that Gore was uncomfortable with the uncertainty surrounding Dunn.
Gore was a third-round pick in 2005, and is signed through 2007. He’s earning $350,000 this year and will make $385,000 next year.

[ProFootballTalk]

Youtube has suspended our user account. So this means we will not be able to upload videos of the games, highlights and such. Seems Google is afraid of the NFL coming after them for copyright infringement after Google bought out Youtube. Anyway we’ll keep looking for different avenues to bring you the highlights and lowlights of the 49ers.

Joe Montana says he sees progress in the young 49ers offense, but something remains missing.

“They need a game-breaker somewhere, someone they can rely on, which I don’t think they have yet,” the former 49ers quarterback said during a Thursday conference call about the upcoming 25th anniversary of “the Catch.”

“They’ve got some talented guys, but no one’s stepped up to be that Dwight Clark or Jerry Rice kind of guy that you can depend on all the time.”

As you might expect, the comment didn’t sit too well with the player the 49ers brought in this offseason to be that dependable receiver, Antonio Bryant.

“How do you establish yourself as the go-to guy when you don’t even have opportunities to do that?” the combustible Bryant said. “When the ball is thrown, I make the best of every opportunity. So for people on the outside to say that—you have never seen this team throw Antonio Bryant 10 passes. The most passes I’ve been thrown in a game has been seven passes.”

[Bryant looks for more touches] – Sacramento Bee

In late August of 2006, I woke up one day and checked the sports columns as I usually do from various sources. That fateful day I stumbled upon an article from an intellectual heavyweight named Ryan Garner. Mr. Garner fancies himself a “Sports Writer” and on that late August day he put pen to paper and decided to write his manifesto of analysis and opinion. For this PhD level analytical expose he chose to evaluate the new 49ers quarterback, Alex Smith.

Garner decided to “go out on a limb” and take the unpopular view that Smith was a bust. And by “unpopular” I mean everyone in the national media had already declared him a bust – so we’re talking a highly freethinking individual here. And judging by his thesis “Face it 49ers fans: Smith is a flop” (ignoring the word flop as some kind of adjective) – we’re dealing with somebody who clearly knows more about football than your average fan. CERTAINLY he is not a bandwagon hopping opinion maker – no, not at all.

I’ve never been one for looking in my rear view mirror – hindsight is 20/20 after all. However, in this case, I must break from tradition and address the assertions made by Mr. Garner. Why you ask? Because he wasn’t the only one that took a stand on Smith. Indeed – I took a stance on Smith, and I didn’t wait until the entire national media had already declared Smith’s future status.

Smith’s vision: Linebacker Derek Smith stayed on the practice field for a long time with a team doctor to discuss a new visor to be installed in his facemask.

Smith said he has a “lazy eye” and apparently needs corrective goggles or a visor when he plays.

That explains everything…

Both Jonas Jennings and Larry Allen are expected to start this weekend against the Bears. For the first time since who knows when the 49ers will have a complete healthy line. Nolan has said the line will be the same starters which opened the season against the Cardinals. Which means Kwame Harris is still the starting right tackle.

In the hopes of solving their bear of a defensive problem, the 49ers have come up with an elephant. After giving up a league-worst 194 points in their first six games, the 49ers could well return to practice today from last week’s bye with a new look on defense.

It will involve the old elephant, a defense once devised by former defensive coordinator and head coach George Seifert that highlights a pass rusher.

“What we do to a large degree is very much like what you had with (Charles) Haley and (Chris) Doleman, and those kinds of guys with the 49ers,” coach Mike Nolan said before escaping Friday for a rare weekend away. “That guy is always the ‘rush’ guy, but he flip-flops sides. That’s really basically what we’re doing. They used to play it here.”

Haley, Tim Harris, Rickey Jackson and Doleman all played the pachyderm, which puts a pass-rusher out wide, usually in a three-point stance.

While the 49ers don’t yet have a player the caliber of the aforementioned group, Brandon Moore, and rookies Manny Lawson and Parys Haralson will try to revive the stampeding pass-rushing role.

It will also mark the annual return to the 4-3 defense, which the 49ers have increasingly played as the season progresses.

Source: [San Francisco Chronicle]

The 49ers considered two trades for defensive players before Tuesday’s trading deadline, but the teams were asking for picks in the first four rounds of the draft and the 49ers didn’t want to surrender them. Also both players were in the last year of their contracts, meaning the 49ers might have a shot at them in free agency.

Source: [San Francisco Chronicle]

http://www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot

Vote Gore

LT Jonas Jennings was named one of the team captains in a vote among his teammates a couple weeks ago. But it’s obvious that 49ers coach Mike Nolan is getting frustrated that Jennings has spent so much of his time with the team on the sideline.

Jennings missed 13 games last season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. He has missed all or parts of four games this season. The latest injury that kept him out of the lineup was a wrist sprain. When Nolan was asked last week if it’s a severe wrist sprain, he answered, “No.” He also had surgery early last week to repair a ligament in his pinkie finger.

I am certainly not questioning the severity of Jennings’ injuries. Heck, I sit behind a computer all day, so the only physical risk I face is a case of hemorrhoids.

I don’t know if Nolan would like to see Jennings play through these injuries or if he’s trying to light a fire under him. But Nolan has voluntarily brought Jennings’ name into the conversation whenever he has been asked whether Adam Snyder will replace RT Kwame Harris.

“Right now, he’s going to work at both tackles,” Nolan said of Snyder. “He’s going to compete for the tackle position on both sides. Today, he was at left, because Jonas still isn’t practicing yet. But, he’s going to compete for both tackles.”

Remember, the 49ers made a huge commitment to Jennings prior to last season, signing him to a seven-year, $36 million contract. The 49ers awarded him a $12 million signing bonus – the most the organization has ever spent to attract a free agent from another team.

Now he is competing for his job.

“I’ve got to get the best guys on the field,” Nolan said. “I think competition makes you better.”

Snyder was considered the favorite to win the job at RT when training camp began, but he was sidelined with a strained bicep and missed a good portion of camp. Now, Jennings is the one who has been unable to “compete.”

“He can’t compete while he’s on the sideline watching,” Nolan said. “That’s kind of how Snyder was taken out of the mix on the right side. He wasn’t competing, because he was injured in training camp.”

Source: [Matt Maiocco]

Defensive changes are a coming. Actually a few of them have already started. The game against the Chargers brought an end to Tony Parrish consecutive starting streak, Mark Roman started in his place. Also Ronald Fields got the start over Anthony Adams. Both Adams and Parrish are free agents after this season and all signs point to them not being retained. One other mention in the team shakeup is that when the line is completely healthy Adam Snyder will be competing for both starting tackle positions. As long as Kwame Harris isn’t starting on that line I’m a happy man.

This is beautiful and it could not have happened to a better team. Well besides the Rams or Raiders.