Tuesday Notes: 49ers Game Observations

by Sean Yuille on Sep 23, 2008 3:57 PM EDT in Notes Comment 0 comments

Since the Lions are on a bye this week, I'm going to spread out the usual early week posts (around the NFC North and fantasy recap) over today and tomorrow. Expect around the NFC North to be up later today and the fantasy recap tomorrow. Here's a little spoiler for the fantasy recap: I was 0.8 points away from being undefeated in all of my leagues. Instead, I have a combined record of 8-1 instead of 9-0. Note to self: Don't bench Roddy White at the last second!
Rod Marinelli said that he has no comment on what Bill Ford Jr. said about Matt Millen on Monday.
Really the only positive that came out of the 49ers game was the play of Rudi Johnson. He came in for Kevin Smith early on and Smith never got another chance to play. The reason for that is because he didn't need to. Johnson was breaking off solid runs and making things happen.

The best play of the game wasn't even a run for Johnson. Instead, he caught a screen pass and was off to the races after breaking a couple tackles. He made a move or two to get into the end zone for the Lions' lone touchdown of the game.
Gosder Cherilus started at right tackle instead of George Foster on Sunday. Cherilus had one false start penalty early on, but settled in nicely after that. Even so, the offensive line was pretty bad as a whole throughout most of the game.
What's the deal with all of the dropped passes? First it was Roy Williams, who has dropped passes each and every week. Then last week, Calvin Johnson joined in and had a couple drops against San Francisco as well. Michael Gaines and Shaun McDonald also dropped a couple passes on Sunday. Considering it's becoming rare that Jon Kitna hits his targets, the receivers have to at least catch the throws he gets to them.
Roy Williams has been called for an offensive pass interference penalty in every single game this season. The calls seem like they're pretty weak, but Roy must have a tendency to shove off when the ball is coming his way.
Speaking of Roy Williams, he questions the Lions' offensive philosophy.
Guard Stephen Peterman broke his hand and had an MRI to see how severe the injury is.
Travis Fisher strained his groin.
Jordon Dizon was inactive against San Francisco due to a neck injury. He and every other rookie on defense were on the inactive list.
As expected, there are still tickets available for the Bears game on October 5. I'm hoping the tickets don't sell out and no company steps in to get rid of the unsold ones. I want the Lions to get blacked out as it would be just another sign that the fans are angry and they want change.
The Lions may suck, but at least they're not as bad as the Rams. Right now Detroit is really in the bottom tier of the league with the Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs, but St. Louis is actually worse than the Lions statistically speaking.
Also, the Lions may have an idiot for an owner, but they're not the only team. Oakland is one big clusterf**k right now as it was reported yesterday that Al Davis was going to fire Lane Kiffin. As of this afternoon, Kiffin still has his job, but it seems like he very well could be fired at any instant. William Clay Ford may be too loyal to Matt Millen and an idiot for not firing him, but at least he isn't a total douchebag like Al Davis.