Tag: Atlanta Falcons

49ers looking to give the Stick a proper sendoff against Falcons

Published on by gabeschapiroLeave a comment

By Gabe Schapiro

This Monday at 5:40pm the San Francisco 49ers (10-4) will be taking on the Atlanta Falcons (4-10), in Candlestick Park’s swan song. The 49ers are in second place in the NFC West, two games behind the Seattle Seahawks and one game up on the Arizona Cardinals. The Atlanta Falcons are in the basement of the NFC South, tied for last place with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have long been out of the playoff hunt.

Last weekend San Francisco throttled the Buccaneers, 33-14, winning their fourth straight. The 49ers jumped out to an early 17-0 lead. Tampa Bay put up a bit of a fight, getting within six points to open the fourth quarter, but San Francisco quickly squashed their momentum with two field goals and a touchdown. Colin Kaepernick had a strong performance, completing 19-of-29 passes for 203 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers. Frank Gore ran for a tough 86 yards on 22 carries, and as a team they ran for 86 yards. Vernon Davis caught his 12th touchdown of the season, and Michael Crabtree also hauled in his first score since returning from injury. Crabtree becomes just the third 49ers receiver to catch a touchdown pass. Eric Reid grabbed his fourth interception and Aldon Smith had two sacks.

This week marks the second consecutive matchup against an NFC South bottom feeder. As they did last week with the Bucs, they shouldn’t run into too much trouble with the Falcons.

Atlanta has become synonymous with playoff contender in recent years, but they have struggled mightily this season. They have dealt with major injures to many of their best skill players. They lost star receiver Julio Jones for the season, and Roddy White and Steven Jackson have also both missed time and been ineffective when trying to play through ailments.

QB Matt Ryan has been one of their few constants. He is still very talented, but hasn’t had a lot to work with, and it has shown. He’s not having a bad year, but is certainly having a down season. His favorite targets in the passing game have been Harry Douglas and veteran Tony Gonzalez. As a unit they have been very middle of the road. They are 22nd in points per game, and 16th in total yards.

Their biggest downfall, however, has been their porous defense. In nearly every facet they have been bad. They are the fourth worst in yards allowed, sixth worst in points allowed per game, fourth worst against the run, and eighth worst against the pass. They have some strong solid rushers in Osi Umenyiora and Corey Peters, but that has been one of the few bright spots.

As they have been excellent at in recent weeks, the 49ers should be able to find a nice balance to their offense against a weak defense. Gore is always reliable, and Kaepernick seems to be benefitting from the addition of Michael Crabtree to the lineup.

San Francisco got some bad news this week, when it was announced that FB Bruce Miller was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, ending his season. The fullback position is not one that many teams utilize, but Miller has gotten a heavy workload this season. He is Gore’s lead blocker, and is used often in the passing game. He is the teams third leading receiver in receptions and yards. The 49ers re-signed FB Will Tukuafu to try and soften the blow. 

49ers report: Team gets ready to bid fond adieu to 55 yr old Candlestick Park

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The last game ever at Candlestick Park this coming Monday night will feature a lot of pomp and circumstance as the 49ers close out the old park with the Atlanta Falcons. You will see a lot of superstars coming to bid the old park goodbye which includes Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, Eddie DeBartolo Jr, Steve Young, just about everybody you could think of whose still alive and kicking. There’s a rumor that some former baseball Giants might come out and say goodbye to the old place too.

So anyone that had anything positive to do with the park over the years will be at Candlestick to celebrate the final game of this old and crumbling stadium before the 49ers move down to Levis Stadium down in Santa Clara. It’s been a long run for Candlestick it’s not the greatest stadium and anyone whose been there knows it’s past it’s prime. Even in it’s prime I wouldn’t call it a great stadium it was always a hulking mass.

It’s way too cold and way too hard to get to it’s one of those places that you like it because but it’s not a Soldier Field in Chicago or a Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Fans are going to miss it but they also look forward to going to their new stadium in Santa Clara they’re kind of crossing their fingers that it will have the same impact that it did like AT&T Park had in the city for the Giants when they moved at the end of the 1999 season.

When the Giants moved to AT&T Park pretty much everybody agreed that AT&T is one of the top stadiums in baseball and hopefully the 49ers new stadium will have an equal impact and it will be like as much as AT&T Park that’s kind of the gold standard. It will be sad to see it go.

Fans have a lot of memories there I first met Lee Leonard at that stadium so it’s even historical for Sportstalk radio we had our moments there. Good times, good memories but it’s time to move from Candelstick before it crumbles to the ground and the next time we talk about it is when they blow it up which everybody would like to go and see that because it’s going to be really cool.

49ers and Falcons preview: The Falcons have a lousy record but they might be better than what their record reflects. The Niners look really good, they got the running game going and Tampa had a good running defense last Sunday so that’s a good sign for San Francisco.

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been in more control than he has in the last several weeks even in the win against Seattle this game was the best that Kaepernick has had in throwing against Tampa in five or six weeks. You also saw the defense playing well as it always has. This game coming up against Atlanta should be an interesting one.

First of all the Niners are playing the Falcons the team they beat to get into the NFC Championship game last season
but the fortunes have switched the Niners are still a very good team. The Falcons have an awful record this year they’ve been just sent reeling this year the bottom line is Atlanta has suffered a series really bad injuries and as a result they’re 4-10 so there’s no chance the Falcons are going to the playoffs. The Niners should have this game handled on Monday Night hands down.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for Sportstalk Radio