The best team no one is talking about: Jim Harbaugh's 49ers
No one expected this. No one could have scripted it. The San Francisco 49ers were supposed to be one of the underclass of the NFL, a B-rate contender in a D-rate division. They weren't supposed to be upstaging the elites. They weren't supposed to be for real.
Bringing Jim Harbaugh forty miles north from Stanford caused a brief pulse among a long dormant fan base, but the ripples of life didn't extend far beyond the Sierras. Outside the wine country, here is the general perception of the Niners:
Alex Smith is a seven-year joke. Frank Gore is on his last legs. Michael Crabtree is a diva rapidly approaching bust status. The offensive line is still a shambles. And the front office is letting key pieces of the defense walk, weakening the one thing they do well.
After three games, even after two wins over the hapless Seahawks and the unsettled Bengals, little was done to change that storyline. Tony Romo's week 2 dramatics and heroics completely obscured the fact that San Francisco was the team that had knocked him from the game, and was dangerously close to pulling off the upset.
Last week, though, they put the league on notice. They went into Philadelphia, took Michael Vick's best shot, and came back to deliver one better. They stole a much-needed win from a desperate Eagles team, forcing the Dream Team into the kind of stupid mistakes and late defensive breakdowns that the Niners had been known for. Suddenly, this team looks like it's for real.
With this signature win, the Niners now own a commanding lead in the division over the Cardinals, Seahawks and Rams, who combined have two wins on the season. And unless they seriously falter in the second half, none of this bunch has what it takes to catch them.
How did this happen? Here are the key ingredients of the red and gold revival.
Jim Harbaugh is encouraging Alex Smith to play within himself.
Don't look now, but the guy who everyone held up as the poster child for quarterback busts is playing good football. A former #1 overall pick, now fifth in the league in the traditional quarterback rating. He didn't get there by lighting up the secondary with vertical passing; instead, he is playing smart, conservative, mistake-free football.
The early returns of this approach weren't much to shout about. Through three weeks, Smith led the least-productive passing unit in the league, as the team averaged a pitiful 213 yards of total offense per game. That the Niners won two of those opening three games spoke more about the level of competition they played, and the strength of the defense. But rather than race out of the gate overloaded with a playbook the team didn't fully understand, Harbaugh kept things simple for his quarterback and let his confidence build.
As Chris Burke of SI.com breaks down, that approach helped Smith keep a cool head and make plays against an aggressive but undisciplined Eagles defense late in the game. Smith looked instinctive out there, extending plays with his feet and making smart reads and gutsy throws to will the Niners back into the game.
Alex Smith has never started and finished the same season as his team's #1 quarterback. And many draft observers saw Colin Kaepernick -- the strong thrower with the oak-tree build -- as the team's quarterback of the very near future. But Smith appears to be channeling his inner Vinny Testaverde, potentially ready to salvage a long and productive career out of the ashes of his shambling start.
Frank Gore finally has help in the backfield.
The remarkable thing about Gore's productivity in San Francisco is that he was truly a workhorse back -- by necessity as much as by choice. Maybe the Niners would have liked to pair him with a second feature back, but they never had anyone worthy of the title. His companions over the last few years? Glen Coffee, who quit football after one season. Anthony Dixon, very good at falling down. The last gasp of Bryant Westbrook. DeShaun Foster. Michael Robinson. And a succession of players who will have a difficult time persuading their children that they actually played in the NFL. That changes year, though, with the addition of Kendall Hunter. While Hunter (3.4 ypc) and Gore (3.7 ypc) aren't tearing things up in the ground game, Hunter's ability to work in open space in the passing game is providing a much-needed second dimension to the Niners' offense. Combining passing and rushing, Hunter is averaging a healthy 5.9 yards per touch. His touchdown provided the winning points against Cincinati in Week 3, and his 40-yard catch and run against Philadelphia was a key play the Niners' comeback. Benefiting from the added help (and from Philadelphia's ineptitude defending the run), Gore finally had a breakout rushing game, nearly doubling his season total with 127 yards and a TD. If San Francisco can keep his legs fresh by liberally rotating between the two, they give Smith a lot of room to operate a conservative but efficient offense. Promoting from within is working on defense. GM Trent Baalke didn't hear many cheers when he let dominant nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin and still-productive linebacker Takeo Spikes walk in free agency. He surely heard growing rumblings as he sat on more than $30 million dollars of cap space, refusing to sign anyone to replace them. As it turns out, he knew what he was doing. ESPN's Mike Sando highlights the efforts of the Niners' defensive players who were promoted to the starting lineup: linebacker Navorro Bowman, converted nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, and new starting DE Ray McDonald, who is taking over Sopoaga's old job. Additionally, rookie Aldon Smith is excelling as a pass-rushing outside linebacker with ten combined sacks, hits and QB pressures already on the young season. Oh, and Justin Smith and that Patrick Willis guy are pretty good, too. The emergence of these players allows the 49ers to continue the schematic strength of their defense -- pressuring the run and the pass simultaneously with only their front seven. By not having to sacrifice bodies in the coverage game to defend their opponents' base offense, they can prevent a lot of big plays. While Michael Vick still had a good day statistically, the Niners held Philadelphia's scoring down, making the comeback and eventual win possible. With games coming up against the powerful Buccaneers and the red-hot Lions, the road ahead doesn't get easier for Jim Harbaugh's 49ers. But if they can keep their streak of good play going, and rack up a couple more signature wins, they will not only command their division, but announce themselves as a legitimately dangerous team in the NFL. How long has it been since we could say that about the team by the bay?
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They are playing so tough, it's great to see. Dirty secret the Niners were my favorite team as a little kid so I am very glad to see them finally winning something. Hopefully they can really build upon this.
