Thank You Football Gods

[94Smith]

I could see if there was going to be key losses this off-season but there is not. Barring an injury plagued season like 2020 they will be back in the mix

 

[olyfan63]

I beg to differ, 49ers fans earned it to be proud as their team has been frequent customer to both conference champion ship games and the Superbowl. That's for the fans

For one Kyle Shanahan, he is looking down the barrel as the next Mark Levy and Bud Grant.

Kyle Shanahan has been the 49ers HC for TWO SB losses. Harbaugh was the losing HC in the 2012 Niners SB appearance, the "power outage game". Shanahan has a ways to go to catch Marv Levy and Bud Grant. Recall that Pete Carroll considers Bud Grant as a primary mentor. Both amazing coaches with poop-for-luck in the Owl. Marv should've gotten at least the "Norwood... Wide right!" loss to Tuna Parcells and the Giants. Grant and the Vikings weren't actually competitive in any of their SB appearances; I think the 16-6 loss was the closest game out of the 4.

The 49ers had a great run this year, and so many great players. Respect to them. Elite players... McCaffrey, Bosa, Warner, Kittle, Trent Williams, for sure Brock Purdy, and IMO Dre Greenlaw. So many "really good" players, Aiyuk, Jennings, Juszczyk, Armstead, etc. And very well coached... Shanahan is one of a very few elite coaches in the NFL.

I think when the 49ers lost Dre Greenlaw, it really hamstrung their D because Greenlaw is such a key part of their D. Maybe game turns out differently if he doesn't get injured. Greenlaw cost the Hawks the division a couple years ago by stuffing Jacob Hollister at the goal line. Just like SB 49 turns out differently if the Seahawks don't lose Jeremy Lane early in the game, or SBXL turns out differently if the Seahawks don't lose SS Marquand Manuel in the first half. As we know, if IFs and BUTs were candy and nuts the Hawks would have 3 Lombardis.

If Kyle keeps getting to the SB, he'll probably win the next two he's in. Law of averages. That fluke punt muff recovery was a massive gift to KC by the football gods. The Seahawks and Mike Macdonald's job is to make the Seahawks relevant again by shutting down the 49ers and being the NFC representative in the SB instead of the Niners.

 

[olyfan63]

I could see if there was going to be key losses this off-season but there is not. Barring an injury plagued season like 2020 they will be back in the mix

Purdy is still on his rookie contract so there's that. Cheap elite QB, allows for maybe 3-4, maybe even 5 additional really good players under the salary cap. It worked for the Hawks in 2012-2013-2014. I concur that 49ers regression to suckitude is NOT going to happen anytime soon. Macdonald's job is to build a Hawks defense that is the 49ers Kryptonite.

 

[Raifers]

Purdy is still on his rookie contract so there's that. Cheap elite QB, allows for maybe 3-4, maybe even 5 additional really good players under the salary cap. It worked for the Hawks in 2012-2013-2014. I concur that 49ers regression to suckitude is NOT going to happen anytime soon. Macdonald's job is to build a Hawks defense that is the 49ers Kryptonite.

I'm going to have to disagree with the "Cheap elite QB" part. Cheap contract for sure, but elite?

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Elite? God no. But he certainly is above average.

 

[AROS]

And wait until they have to start paying him real QB money.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

Not a good day for those who claim the fix was in and. the refs wanted KC to win. Watching parts again today a lineman was about 4 yards downfield when McCaffrey caught the TD pass on the trick play. I couldn't help but think of the ticky-tack one in the wild card game last year that erased a first and goal for the Hawks.

2nd, poor job of "fixing the game for the Chiefs" by calling a drive extending defensive holding call on them in OT extending a drive. That would have been easy to ignore for the officials.

 

[SNDavidson]

It's just that coming to a Seattle board is weird. I've lovingly been telling you to change teams brothers. If you're here, that's why. Leave the Shanny. Join the best kept secret sports town.

 

[Optimus25]

Worse than the loss that was incurred in XLIX?

Yes.

 

[onanygivensunday]

I loved the outcome... won $300 off of my HS buddies... since I took the Chiefs (+2) and the Under (47.5) in our Annual "Pick Every Game Against the Spread" Contest... everybody else took the Whiners and the Over.

 

[olyfan63]

I'm going to have to disagree with the "Cheap elite QB" part. Cheap contract for sure, but elite?

Elite? God no. But he certainly is above average.

The "Russell Wilson is Elite" neverending threads all over again? OMG NO, please NO!
Whatever "elite" means to each person... I'll go with "Top 5" this year and last year.

Name 5 QBs clearly better than Purdy both this year and last year. My list of 1 is "Patrick Mahomes".
Name 5 QBs who got their team to the conference championship game this year and last year. My list of 1 is "Patrick Mahomes".

Sure, there's Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, and a handful of QBs who had 1 good season and then sucked or were injured or didn't get their team over the hump in the playoffs. (e.g. Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence)

The truly bizarre thing was when Brock Purdy won the NFC Championship game with his LEGS. Who saw that coming? Not me! That was supposed to be something only Lamar or Josh or Patrick could be *expected* to do.

Sure he has tons of weapons, a good O-Line and Shanahan calling plays. All Purdy does is make play after play and win games. In the big game, Purdy came within 1 Spagnola corner blitz of winning that Super Bowl against an excellent KC defense. (I think SF wins if they score a TD even if Mahomes gets a tying TD, SF wears KC down.)

I just find it amusing how quick people are to disrespect Brock Purdy, apparently because he doesn't have top-tier arm talent. If he had same stats and wins with a big arm, like Lamar, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Aaron Rodgers, Stafford, etc. for sure people would give him more credit. One comp to consider is Kurt Warner with a weaker arm and much better mobility. Or maybe the disrespect is just because Purdy plays for the bitter enemy 49ers.

I'd sure be super happy if the Seahawks got Purdy-level performance out of a rookie QB, maybe Penix or JJ McCarthy.

 

[Raifers]

The "Russell Wilson is Elite" neverending threads all over again? OMG NO, please NO!
Whatever "elite" means to each person... I'll go with "Top 5" this year and last year.

Name 5 QBs clearly better than Purdy both this year and last year. My list of 1 is "Patrick Mahomes".
Name 5 QBs who got their team to the conference championship game this year and last year. My list of 1 is "Patrick Mahomes".

Sure, there's Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, and a handful of QBs who had 1 good season and then sucked or were injured or didn't get their team over the hump in the playoffs. (e.g. Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence)

The truly bizarre thing was when Brock Purdy won the NFC Championship game with his LEGS. Who saw that coming? Not me! That was supposed to be something only Lamar or Josh or Patrick could be *expected* to do.

Sure he has tons of weapons, a good O-Line and Shanahan calling plays. All Purdy does is make play after play and win games. In the big game, Purdy came within 1 Spagnola corner blitz of winning that Super Bowl against an excellent KC defense. (I think SF wins if they score a TD even if Mahomes gets a tying TD, SF wears KC down.)

I just find it amusing how quick people are to disrespect Brock Purdy, apparently because he doesn't have top-tier arm talent. If he had same stats and wins with a big arm, like Lamar, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Aaron Rodgers, Stafford, etc. for sure people would give him more credit. One comp to consider is Kurt Warner with a weaker arm and much better mobility. Or maybe the disrespect is just because Purdy plays for the bitter enemy 49ers.

I'd sure be super happy if the Seahawks got Purdy-level performance out of a rookie QB, maybe Penix or JJ McCarthy.

Man, to me he’s just not elite or top 5. He wouldn’t have his stats if he were elsewhere. You put darnold in there and he’d probably have career setting stats. Would that make him elite and top 5 caliber? IMO, no. Again, with CMC, jimmys stats were just as good if not better than Purdys (smaller sample). Does that make him a top 5 qb? Look how he did this year. If Jimmy came back to the niners and played because purdy got hurt or something and with how familiar he is with the season, I would totally expect him to but up insane stats. If you want to call that disrespect, that’s fine, that’s your opinion. For those of you who rush to judgement and think purdy is elite? That’s fine that’s your opinion to and I am just stating mine.

As for getting to the Super Bowl, man the football gods musta been behind him. He was one early pick away from not being there. Felt they woulda been out of it early. The lions? They lucked out.

Edit: and yea 1 year. Do you decide if a qb is top 5 or elite after 1 year? Cuz as you posted, things can happen. Funny how one thing I hear many many people say that this is considered purdys first year.

 

[olyfan63]

Man, to me he’s just not elite or top 5. He wouldn’t have his stats if he were elsewhere. You put darnold in there and he’d probably have career setting stats. Would that make him elite and top 5 caliber? IMO, no. Again, with CMC, jimmys stats were just as good if not better than Purdys (smaller sample). Does that make him a top 5 qb? Look how he did this year. If Jimmy came back to the niners and played because purdy got hurt or something and with how familiar he is with the season, I would totally expect him to but up insane stats. If you want to call that disrespect, that’s fine, that’s your opinion. For those of you who rush to judgement and think purdy is elite? That’s fine that’s your opinion to and I am just stating mine.

As for getting to the Super Bowl, man the football gods musta been behind him. He was one early pick away from not being there. Felt they woulda been out of it early. The lions? They lucked out.

Edit: and yea 1 year. Do you decide if a qb is top 5 or elite after 1 year? Cuz as you posted, things can happen. Funny how one thing I hear many many people say that this is considered purdys first year.

No worries, let's check in again next year on Purdy.

To me, this was Purdy's 2nd year. As for Jimmy G, whatever the stats, Jimmy G didn't have the clutch gene, always seemed like SF was one Jimmy G brain fart away from snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Football gods smiling on Purdy? Well, putting him on this loaded SF team with Shanahan as his play-caller, yes, the gods favor him, he's lucky, when considering that luck = preparation meets opportunity. From my eye test, Purdy is SO MUCH better than Jimmy G. Jimmy G failed to lead scoring drives in the SB while SF was giving up a 10-point 4th qtr lead. Jimmy G failed to hold a second half lead (4th qtr?) against the Rams in the NFCCG the year the Rams won the Owl with Stafford. Meanwhile, Purdy rallied the Niners from a 17 point deficit against the Lions in the most recent NFCCG. Purdy got the Niners to within one 4th-and-1 defensive stop from getting another Lombardi.

I'm NOT a Niners fan, so it feels funny to be extolling the virtues of their players, but I've seen enough of them to appreciate and respect the too-many terrific players they have and the coaching of Kyle Shanahan. They are the bar the Seahawks need to match up to and clear. I also see Purdy as an underdog story, Mr. Relevant, along the lines of Kurt Warner, and I'm a sucker for a good underdog story.

(I also tend to root for Christian McCaffrey when he's not playing against the Seahawks, because he's well, you know, his heritage, when's the last time there was an elite NFL running back of his kind, you know, a running back from Stanford? OK, so there was Calvin Hill from Yale, but Stanford and Yale aren't exactly NFL RB factories.)

 

[knownone]

Purdy will be an interesting player to watch going forward because he's tough to evaluate. On the one hand, his efficiency numbers are all-time great. Conversely, the Niners had the second-lowest contested catch rate in the league. And Purdy is in the bottom 20 in EPA on contested throws. Similarly, their receivers were 1st in yards after the catch and 1st in yards after contact. If you compare what Purdy's working with to someone like Allen or Mahomes, it's not even close.

The good thing for the Niners is that they don't need him to carry the team to succeed.

 

[Jac]

49ers are the betting favorite for 2025 Super Bowl . I think that is wishful thinking. Players are too competitive to just show up. The same drive that fuels back to back super bowls is the same drive that will keep talented players working to achieve their goals if they have failed multiple times. Professional atheletes didn’t get to this stage by showing any degree of “quit” in their lives

I don't think it's quite that simple. Losing a SB takes something out of you. There's this idea that gets floated around message boards that "we did ABC this year and almost won. We're so close so next year, all we have to do is "ABC+1". But that "ABC" is so hard in the first place, and everything needs to perfectly fall into place to even get back to the SB. This obviously includes staying injury free, which is even harder after a long playoff grind along with key aging players. Kittle is going to be 31 and is not a great bet for staying healthy. McCaffrey is going to be 28, which is probably at the apex of his ability. But he's coming off 417 combined touches through the regular season/playoffs, so next year might be it for him at the truly elite level. Trent Williams is obviously ancient. Then, there's the coaching trust issue. We all know that the 49ers will be in the mix next year, largely driven by Purdy's development. But it's such a physical/mental grind to have to start all over in July and fight off all the up-and-comers through 19-20 games just to get back to the SB, knowing that you were a single play away (multiple times) from winning it. The Seahawks were never the same after 2014 for all of the above (and more).

 

[Raifers]

No worries, let's check in again next year on Purdy.

To me, this was Purdy's 2nd year. As for Jimmy G, whatever the stats, Jimmy G didn't have the clutch gene, always seemed like SF was one Jimmy G brain fart away from snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Football gods smiling on Purdy? Well, putting him on this loaded SF team with Shanahan as his play-caller, yes, the gods favor him, he's lucky, when considering that luck = preparation meets opportunity. From my eye test, Purdy is SO MUCH better than Jimmy G. Jimmy G failed to lead scoring drives in the SB while SF was giving up a 10-point 4th qtr lead. Jimmy G failed to hold a second half lead (4th qtr?) against the Rams in the NFCCG the year the Rams won the Owl with Stafford. Meanwhile, Purdy rallied the Niners from a 17 point deficit against the Lions in the most recent NFCCG. Purdy got the Niners to within one 4th-and-1 defensive stop from getting another Lombardi.

I'm NOT a Niners fan, so it feels funny to be extolling the virtues of their players, but I've seen enough of them to appreciate and respect the too-many terrific players they have and the coaching of Kyle Shanahan. They are the bar the Seahawks need to match up to and clear. I also see Purdy as an underdog story, Mr. Relevant, along the lines of Kurt Warner, and I'm a sucker for a good underdog story.

(I also tend to root for Christian McCaffrey when he's not playing against the Seahawks, because he's well, you know, his heritage, when's the last time there was an elite NFL running back of his kind, you know, a running back from Stanford? OK, so there was Calvin Hill from Yale, but Stanford and Yale aren't exactly NFL RB factories.)

Very valid points. I also see purdy as 2nd year. We’ll see about Purdy only time will tell. There are always so many what ifs and stuff. Like what if Dan Campbell had kicked a FG in the 3rd to go up by 3 scores again to match what SF did, would purdy still come back? And like what if the refs didn’t screw teams over in the playoffs (or Super Bowl), would players still have turned out as they did and have the same legacy?

Yea Jimmy gave up a 10 point lead, but whether it’s adjustments or whatnot, SF’s defense failed that last quarter. I’ll pass on Kyle’s play calling. I’m fine with a play caller who understands his/her players and gets the most out of their skillset and having them produce. Sometimes to me, all that pre motion snap is like watching a basketball player do all this fancy dribbling but going nowhere.

I’m all for the underdog. Especially during March madness!

 

[WarHawks]

I could see if there was going to be key losses this off-season but there is not. Barring an injury plagued season like 2020 they will be back in the mix

The SB hangover for losing teams is a thing. Ask us how we know this.

 

[toffee]

Definitely. That looks fun.

Great martini stories - I didn’t know the history of the Espresso martini. I do like them tho.

Espressos Martini is especially delicious, but its standard recipe called for 2 oz of vodka and 1oz of kahlua. A shot is normally 1.25 - 1.5oz, so that yummy espresso martini would be like two shots.

Most espresso martini were consumed after dinner, as after apperif before dinner and wine during dinner. Well, let's just said that I called uber for this dinner

 

[olyfan63]

Espressos Martini is especially delicious, but its standard recipe called for 2 oz of vodka and 1oz of kahlua. A shot is normally 1.25 - 1.5oz, so that yummy espresso martini would be like two shots.

Most espresso martini were consumed after dinner, as after apperif before dinner and wine during dinner. Well, let's just said that I called uber for this dinner

OK, you talked me into it. Off to Costco to get the biggest bottle of Kahlua they have! If my GF likes it, she'll be having one each day before work, lol.

 

[olyfan63]

Purdy will be an interesting player to watch going forward because he's tough to evaluate. On the one hand, his efficiency numbers are all-time great. Conversely, the Niners had the second-lowest contested catch rate in the league. And Purdy is in the bottom 20 in EPA on contested throws. Similarly, their receivers were 1st in yards after the catch and 1st in yards after contact. If you compare what Purdy's working with to someone like Allen or Mahomes, it's not even close.

The good thing for the Niners is that they don't need him to carry the team to succeed.

I appreciate the analysis. To me this says that Purdy is excellent at quickly reading the progressions and throwing to the most open/least risky receiver. It also shows that Shanahan's scheme is terrific at getting players open and Purdy truly understands it. It could also be that Purdy has excellent spatial intelligence for throwing receivers open/maximizing their YAC by optimal ball placement. There's stats, and then there's interpretation of the stats; what are they actually showing.

Purdy seems to have at least 3 good WRs plus a top receiving TE, and an elite receiving RB. He finds them, and they make plays in the passing game for him. Haven't really studied how Buff or KC receiving weapons match up, don't see them as often. Purdy is making the most of his opportunities with the weapons he has. He's better than Jimmy G IMO but JG seemed to have injuries that affected and limited him his last couple seasons with the Niners. I'll admit I doubted Purdy early on and thought perhaps he was simply a system QB, but then he continued making plays, that on replay, showed a remarkable understanding of defenses and where to go with the ball, and good skill and accuracy in ball placement to give his player the best chance with the least risk.

At this point, Purdy passes my eye test, but I can appreciate a healthy skepticism. Purdy struggled badly against the Ravens defense, and I do hope Mike Macdonald sprinkles his magic 49er-Kryptonite dust on the Hawks D.