Author: joelami

By: Joe Lami

AP file photo: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton(1) makes a mad dash for it against the Denver Broncos linebacker DeMarcus Ware (94)  during the second half of Thursday Night Football on Sept 8th

After Monday night’s 28-0 shutout of the LA Rams, the 49ers’ will be flying to the East Coast on a high note. The defending NFC Champion, Carolina Panthers, will be their opponent. Carolina lost their opening week contest to the Broncos and will want some revenge for their home opener.

Cam Newton, of course, will be the player to look out for on the Panters. Although, he may still be battered up and bruised from what Denver’s front seven was able to do to him. Newton will be a great test for the 49ers’ defense, who played phenomenally against the Case Keenum and the Rams.

“We’re playing this week against league MVP, defending NFC champions. You know, they were in the Super Bowl last year for a reason. They’re a very good offense. So, it’ll be a big test for us defensively,” said Jim O’Neil, San Francisco’s defensive coordinator.

The secondary was batting down balls left and right against Keenum, but Newton will be a much tougher assignment with better receivers as well. The 49ers defense definitely will have it’s hands full against the Panthers looking for their first win.

On the offensive side of the ball, it will be no surprise that the run game will once again be leaned on. Carlos Hyde, who finished last week with 88 yards and two touchdowns is expected to be the workhorse once again. Carolina will also need to do a better job of spying Blaine Gabbert, who rushed for 43 yards and really opened up the read-option for Chip Kelly.

The surprise of last week was Jeremy Kerley, who came to San Francisco during a pre-season trade. While still learning the system, Kearley was a target early and often, catching seven of the eleven thrown his way for 61 yards. With his breakout performance, it’s going to be evident that Carolina will work on shutting him down. Another 49ers’ receiver will have to make up for it, and it could be a good chance for Torrey Smith to breakout for the first time this season.

While the 49ers’ record reads 1-0, Sunday’s matchup will show us all where the really are by going up against the top-class in the NFC.

by Joe Lami

AP file photo: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert tunes up in San Diego pre game photo on Thu Sep 1. Gabbert gets the starting call Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams

SANTA CLARA–The regular season is upon us and for the first time since 1994, the Los Angeles Rams will travel to the Bay Area to take on the 49ers. Is it also a coincidence that 1994 was the last season the 49ers won the Super Bowl? Yes, yes it is.

After a 2-2 preseason, Blaine Gabbert’s 49ers will finally be able to show us what they can do. They get this opportunity on the grandest stage of Monday Night Football against LA, who finished 7-9 last season in St. Louis.

LA has decided to go with Case Keenum to start as their Quarterback, after taking former California star Jared Goff with the first overall pick. However, it isn’t the passing attack of the Rams that the 49ers should be worried about, it’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, running back Todd Gurley that will be carrying most of the weight for the Rams.

The front seven of the 49ers will have a lot of their plate trying to slow down Gurley, who is a pre-season favorite to be the top running back in the league for the 2016 season.

On the offensive side of the ball, the 49ers have a solid running back of their own in Carlos Hyde, who suffered a concussion in the third preseason game against Green Bay, but he is expected to be ready for Monday Night. “Teams are going to play to their strengths no matter what you have. You have two outstanding backs in Gurley and Hyde, but it’s not exclusive. You still have to defend everything, but obviously, we know we’re going to get a steady dose of Todd,” said 49ers coach Chip Kelly.

The passing attack for the Niners is something to worry about. It starts with questioning if Gabbert is an NFL starter and trickles down the arguably one of the worst receiving cores in the league. Expect Vance McDonald and other tight ends to get most of the targets from Gabbert on the season as he loves his tight ends.

There is a huge difference between this year’s 49ers and last year’s, and that’s Kelly, who is trying to recharge this offense. We saw flashes of brilliance in the pre-season from the up-tempo attack. However, the downside was inconsistency. The offense was either able to march right down the field and score or go on a quick three-and-out.

There wasn’t too much in between, making you realize that if this offense can get a drive going, they are going to be hard to stop. But, if they can’t, the defense will be in for a long day.

Monday’s game for San Francisco feels like a much win when you look down the schedule and see a hellish first month of football for the Niners. As they travel to Carolina and Seattle and host Dallas and Arizona all within the next month. If they can’t take care of the Rams in the opener, it won’t be difficult for a 0-5 start and for the season to be over before it even started.

By: Joe Lami

AP file photo: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (6) under pressure from the San Diego Chargers Adrian Phillips (31) from Wed Aug 28, 2016 pre season game. Bridgewater was injured in non contact practice on Aug 31 tearing his ACL, dislocating his left knee and other significant damage his injury has created an opening at quarterback for the Vikings

The final game of the NFL pre-season is here for the San Francisco 49ers and there are many questions still left unanswered. The first of which and that has been grabbing the most attention is who is going to be the starting quarterback. After a very unimpressive performance in his first action of the pre-season last week, Colin Kaepernick has a lot of ground to make up on Blaine Gabbert.

Surprisingly, it could be an injured Teddy Bridgewater that decides the fate of Kaepernick as a 49er. On Wednesday, Bridgewater suffered a torn ACL and had even further damage to his knee forcing him to miss the remainder of the 2016 season. With Minnesota on the prowl for a starting QB, this could be Kaepernick’s second chance at a starting role.

Kaepernick stirred up some controversy last Friday refusing to stand during the national anthem due to race issues. Causing a national debate, Kaepernick definitely brought attention to the issue. Opponents of his actions are furious, stating a disrespect to the people that help make this country free, mainly the military. Thursday night’s game against the San Diego Chargers, San Diego will be hosting their 28th annual Salute to the Military night, which of course will put even more eyes on Kaepernick.

The quarterback battle isn’t the only thing to keep your eyes on for Thursday, as there are a few starting spots available on the offensive line. Anthony Davis is making his return to the 49ers after sitting last season out, while Josh Garnett is looking to be named a starter after San Francisco drafted the Stanford Guard with the 28th overall selection of the 2016 draft. Both Garnett and Davis are battling for the starting Left Guard position.

While Garnett has been impressive this pre-season, it would be a shock to see him named as a starter, even to him. While speaking with him earlier in camp, Garnett loved his progress, but also knows his game needs a lot to perform at a high calibre in the NFL.

Despite the outcome of the game, there will be many stories to follow that will make a usual pre-season game fun to watch.

By: Joe Lami

AP photo: Seen here against the Houston Texans San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly with his assistant coaches behind him are preparing at Levis Stadium for Saturday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers

The all-important third pre-season game of the 2016 season is upon us for the San Francisco 49ers. The most important game so far for Chip Kelly has San Francisco hosting the Green Bay Packers. It will be the first real test to see how good the somewhat impressive defensive will be against Aaron Rogers.

However, even with the real test on the field, all eyes will be on the quarterback battle, as Colin Kaepernick is expected to see his first action of the fall. Friday night is starting to feel like a make or break moment in the career of Kaepernick as he is getting yet another chance with a new coach after GM Trent Balke was unsuccessful in trading him away in the offseason.

Kaepernick now joins the ranks of Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder in the quarterback battle. Yet, Kaepernick isn’t too far behind either one of them, as Gabbert has really failed to impress anyone, especially on opening drives. Ponder impressed us with his great fourth quarter against Denver’s third-string defense with only a few days of studying the playbook, but isn’t expected to get a spot on the team.

Nobody has locked up the job quite yet, which makes Friday so important. Earlier in the week, Kaepernick returned to practice to pretty good reviews from his teammates saying they have to get used to his arm again.

Kelly’s two biggest characteristics in a quarterback that he’s looking for are decision making and accuracy, something that Kaepernick has always struggled with. The quarterback competition is just getting started in San Francisco.

By: Joe Lami

AP file photo: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Christian Ponder gets tuned at camp in Engelwood Colo on Thursday in preparation for Saturday’s game in Denver

The quarterback controversy for the San Francisco has gotten even stranger this week after a report came out on Monday that 3rd string quarterback, Thad Lewis had torn his ACL in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans. With Colin Kaepernick struggling to come back from shoulder stiffness, San Francisco has brought in free agent, Christian Ponder. Ponder, who played limited minutes last season in Oakland and Denver.

It’s this week in Denver where he is expected to play some time for the 49ers after studying the playbook for an extensive part of the week. The quarterback battle right now seems like a giant game of hot potato with not one single player stepping up to take a solid lead.

Blaine Gabbert, who is technically in first place, did not impress on Sunday against the Texans in the three drive he saw, going just four of ten passing for 63 yards and a touchdown. It should be even tougher this Sunday against the Broncos, who have the league’s top defense. He really needs to step up against the competition if he wants to create distance between himself and Kaepernick for the starting spot.

While things loom gloomy at the quarterback position, at least the running back position is something to take pride in for Chip Kelly and the 49ers, rushing for over 236 yards. However, Kelly needs to see more out of expected starter Carlos Hyde who finished with only 27 yards on five carries. It was Mike Davis that impressed the most, rushing for 72 yards.

San Francisco’s first-team defense did a great job last week against Houston. Another good outing could give confidence to the Niners only hope at having a redeeming season. Especially after it was announced earlier this week that San Francisco has the worst Las Vegas playoff odds, as well as ranking dead last in ESPN’s initial power rankings.

Denver is looking at a quarterback competition of their own, after losing Peyton Manning to retirement and Brock Osweiler to free agency. Trevor Siemian will start against the Niners, after backing up Mark Sanchez in last week’s win over Chicago. Rookie, Paxton Lynch is expected to get third-team reps for Gary Kubiak.

It’s expected that the defending Super Bowl Champions blow out the 49ers, but the score won’t be the biggest story on Saturday for San Francisco as many questions need to be answered.

By: Joe Lami

AP file photo: San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly at 49ers training camp in Kezar Stadium in San Francisco last Wednesday

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The San Francisco 49ers kick-off their pre-season schedule this Sunday against the Houston Texans. The contest will give everyone a first look at the new Chip Kelly style offense and how the 49ers’ might shape up this season. After a 5-11 season, and more key positional losses for the Niners’, expectations remain extremely low for this team, but a new revival offensive look could be this teams savior.

If however, sparks don’t fly for the red and gold, fans should expect another long and painful season that will affect the pocketbook of Jed York, with an empty $1.2 billion stadium for years to come.

Sunday revives the quarterback battle in Santa Clara as well, Blaine Gabbert has taken the edge and has been named the starter for Sunday. Colin Kaepernick was struggling with pain in his shoulder on Thursday, forcing Kelly to make the decision. Even if the pain in his shoulder, Kaepernick is expected to see some first team snaps.

Many think that Kelly could be the coach that revives Kaepernick’s career, but the one-time NFC champion needs to beat Gabbert, who’s on pace to revive his career after a dreadful start in Jacksonville. This most recent shoulder doesn’t help Kaepernick’s chances either.

Houston is coming off a 9-7 record and an AFC South Championship. In the offseason, Houston went and spent big money for a quarterback, bringing in the backup from the Super Bowl Champion, Denver Broncos.

Brock Osweiler signed a four-year $72 million contract in the offseason, as the Texans hope he can be the answer to the positional troubles they’ve experienced since the team’s inception. If the gamble pays off, Houston has potential at making a deep playoff run, especially the defensive force led by MVP, JJ Watt.

Another exciting player that fans can keep an eye on from Houston is Braxton Miller. The converted quarterback will be vying for a wide receiving spot on the Texans after being drafted in the third round during this year’s draft. The former Buckeye is expected his first NFL action.