Peon Awesome

A win or tie gets the 49ers in the playoffs. Could make for some interesting decision making by San Fran. Let's say they have the ball on the Rams 40 yard line with 90 seconds left and it's 4th and 3. Analytics would say go for it if you want to win. But if all you need is a tie, then a punt might make more sense. Similarly, let's say it's 4th and short in the redzone on their 1st drive. Seems more likely you go for the fg cause if you don't convert, the Rams just need to drive for a fg to win. Would be interesting to see if something like either of those scenarios comes up.

A key point is that we would mostly need to stay out of free agency. If we sign as many players as we lose, we don't get any comp picks. So the one thing we have to make sure we avoid is signing a bunch of JAGs just to fill out the roster.

Sure I guess but it's not like we went out and made a bunch of splash signings or high picks on offense. This wasn't the New England offseason where like $100 million were spent on new receivers/tight ends or Kansas City trading a first for an OT and paying a premium for Thuney. Our flashiest moves beyond Darnold involved dumpster diving for our O line, and spending one of the last picks of the 2nd round for a 3rd WR. Either way, when you don't have coaches capable of designing a NFL caliber offensive gameplan, it doesn't matter who you have.

For the trade back brigade, you have to be careful. Your one chance at drafting a franchise LT will be at our current pick, unless you're talking a trade back of like 2 or 3 spots. A top LT doesn't drop past 12 or so. And every year, there tends to be a clear cream of the crop of maybe 10-15 players. So do you give up what's likely to be a 90% probability perennial solid starter with all pro potential, for 2 players with maybe a 30-50% chance to say the same? Another way to think about it, would you have gone back and traded Horn (or Slater or whoever was in the mix) for Marshall, Christenson and Tremble? Personally I would only consider 1 of 2 trade backs: A) 2022 1st + 1-2 future 1sts, like the Giants did with Chicago for Fields or Miami's trade with San Francisco for Lance. This is ideal if we decide on a full rebuild where we stock up on extra picks in future years that could help us land our franchise qb, or surround him with protection if we opt to pick one in 2022. You're already seeing how valuable that could be with the Giants getting an extra top 10 (possibly top 5) pick from the Bears this year. Pittsburgh trading up to take the local Pickett to become the new face of the franchise after Big Ben retires makes way too much sense and would be great for both teams. And if Pickett struggles like most rookies do, that future 1st could easily land in the top 10. B) Drop back 3-5 picks and get an extra 2nd or 2 3rds. This is only an option if our top prospect is gone by our pick (e.g. top LT). If they're there, you don't take that chance and grab them at our original spot. What I don't want is something like trading back with the Chiefs for their late 1st and 2nd, or even the Jets for their two 2nds including the one we gave them. Too much of a chance that those 2 picks are no more than backups/below average starters for their careers when we could've had a franchise LT.

They really need to go ahead and fire Brady now. If Sean Ryan is on the short list, give him a 5 week audition and see how he does. With the bye week, it's a perfect opportunity for him to assume the new role and try to design his own offense over the next 2 weeks. I'm not super high on him right now given he's the QB coach and our QB play has been uninspiring to say the least, but I'm more than happy to give him a shot. Couldn't be much worse than what we've seen from Brady most of his tenure.

I don't really know anything about Hackett but it seems like LaFleur has his hand print on everything there, including playcalling duties. What is it about Hackett that makes him an attractive candidate? Honestly just curious. I'm not sure who I'd want really. At this point, maybe someone with a track record of success as a head coach in the NFL. Mike Tomlin if Pittsburgh moves on, maybe Jim Harbaugh or perhaps there'll be a surprise firing like Pete Carroll. I'm tired of being stuck with someone trying to learn on the job and clearly in over their head to start.

Generous to give us that extra second. Doubt it will end up mattering. This 2nd half Rhule better be coaching like his job is on the line with adjustments, cause it very well might be.

It's great that a thread highlighting the fact that we have the best pass rushing duo in the entire NFL, despite costing less than $10 million combined against our cap this year, devolves into a bitch session on their limitations.

The whole notion that there are games you can pencil in as wins and losses this year is completely out the window. We could sweep Tampa and beat Buffalo and get blown out by Miami. This NFL season has been completely unpredictable leaguewide. The Titans have beaten the Rams, Bills and Chiefs but lost to the Jets and Texans. The Bills lost to the Jags and got smoked by the Colts last week. The same Colt McCoy led Arizona team that got pummeled by the Panthers is undefeated otherwise, with convincing wins against the Seahawks and a surging 49ers team who have outscored their opponents 94-42 in their last 3 non-Cardinals games. The list goes on and on. Let's stop worrying about who is on our schedule and who we "should" or "shouldn't" beat and focus on just playing good smart football on offense, defense and special teams. Cause when we're clicking, there's not a team in the NFL that scares me. When we're not, we get blown out by the Giants.

Definitely joining the majority in disagreeing with you. 100% agree with the decision to go for it based on our inability to stop the run. Also, I disagree with your assessment that it played out to show it was the wrong call. It actually showed why it was the right call. Even though we didn't convert, we still got the ball back with nearly 2 minutes with the potential for a game winning TD. The upside is huge; the downside is surmountable. Conversely if we punt, we might get lucky and force a 3 and out and get a chance to send it to overtime with a fg (although probably not), but even then there's a good chance we still lose in overtime since our defense could not stop them all day. If anything, being down 6 may have helped cause it forced us to play for the win rather than play conservative and likely lose anyway. Ultimately we couldn't even get in field goal range so it's a moot point. But weighing pros and cons of each and judging the flow of the game to that point, it was a no brainer to go for it and it's sad Rhule didn't register that right away and had to waste a timeout.

It's score or bust this drive. Our defense isn't forcing a punt

Why do we not have Gilmore playing man coverage on McLaurin?

The last time we extended a player after one career season when we had a young capable player poised to take his spot, we ended up with the Robby Anderson extension. Let Jackson chase his payday elsewhere. We've set ourselves up well to buffer his loss. And he might recoup a 3rd round comp for good measure. There are a lot of cb needy teams. Plus we have to make room for Horn in the lineup. Hell, we don't need to even resign Gilmore but for the right price I'd be fine with it. But even he's a luxury. Horn, Bouye and Hartsfield are a trio that would have a lot of teams envious. Gilmore and Keith Taylor Jr are fantastic depth. Then whoever wins out between Thomas Oliver and Pride would complete the roster. Obviously you'd love to keep every good starter but finding opportunities to replace players with competent players on rookie deals is how you keep a healthy cap sheet and form a complete team.

Not everything in life is about making a cheap buck. Some people use Cameo to connect with fans knowing the interaction can make a lot of people's day. There's a doctor who does a lot of comedic content on social media and has a pretty big presence particularly among the medical community. He has a Cameo and donates 100% of the money to charity. As much as Steve Smith made in his playing career and currently makes as an analyst, I really doubt he's doing these for a hundred bucks here and there.

We actually control our own destiny. Win out and we're division champs no matter what the Bucs or Saints do. Obviously a monumental task but 10 games into the season, it's nice to be able to say that.

Our biggest weakness on offense since Rhule and Brady took over has undoubtedly been short yardage and red zone situations. It honestly doesn't even matter if Cam's shoulder doesn't hold up or he struggles to connect on passes more than 20 yards. His threat as a runner is one of the greatest redzone/short yardage weapons in the entire league. With only a few days to practice and implement plays for Cam, the team already looked worlds better in that department. The worry over Cam running it in freed up Robby on the TD catch and later on a 3rd and 1, with the option to McCaffrey, the focus on Cam held the defender long enough for McCaffrey to EASILY break through for the 1st and much more. It was a beautiful thing to see. With McCaffrey as a surehanded 5-10 yards on every target as the checkdown, we honestly don't need the big play threat. We're perfectly content to slowly march down the field with 10+ play drives, extended by 1st downs on 3rd and shorts, and punctuated with 7 points whenever we reach the redzone, not 3. Cam helps ensure that. I'm admittedly a major homer and optimist, but I'm bullish on the Panthers prospects. We've got the potential to make some real noise.

So the lesson is when you make a mistake that hurts your team, just keep compounding the mistake, cause like, you've already done worse, so who cares? It actually makes it a hell of a lot more important that we don't. We've wasted enough money on our QB situation. But sure, let's go with your attitude. Why not sign Josh Rosen and Dwayne Haskins this offseason? We literally signed 2 QBs who failed at their last stops. We are way past the point of worrying about whether 2 more might fail.

Is that how you see it? We got a 6th round pick and saved $4.5 million by trading Bridgewater. Much different than straight cutting Darnold with no picks or cap savings whatsoever. To me cutting him makes zero sense. If you can't trade him, at least keep him as your backup. Stupid to pay Darnold $18 million anyway and then have to pay for a backup qb on top of that. Just lighting money on fire.

Some of the takes on here are so laughably bad I can hardly believe it. Who in their right mind would trade a 2nd round pick to get rid of Darnold? That is the most absurd thing I've heard. We have 1 of the best cap situations in the NFL. There is literally zero problem resigning whoever we want, even with Darnold's contract. The Saints were $90 million over the cap, barely cut anyone worth a damn and resigned a few key contributors in the process and still had a bit of caproom to spare. So why do we need to do a desperation move to free up cap we don't need? Also keep in mind that a good 2nd round pick brings in more than $18 million in excess value. Look at Chinn. He's got a 4 year, $5 million contract. How much would we spend on a veteran starting SS for 4 years that's even 80% as good as Chinn? At least $30 million. So the net value is easily $25+ million in that case. I would keep Sam as a backup unless someone surprises and offers a Bridgewater type compensation. You want to trade Darnold and a 7th for a conditional 6th while eating half the contract, ok whatever, I don't hate it. Otherwise keep him in the vein of Nick Foles in Chicago and move on in 2023. Darnold's problem is mostly mental. Have him spot start a couple games due to injury when there won't be any pressure or expectations and he could be ok. Plus if a starter on a contending team goes down with an injury before the trade deadline, maybe they'd give a late round pick out of desperation. Cutting Darnold for nothing and then having to spend even more to sign a different backup just doesn't make much sense.

If we're worried about a 3-5 team knocking us out of playoff contention, we probably don't deserve to be in the conversation. I'm just impressed at how dominant our defense was against the same team that dominated this Niners team shutting down the high powered Rams offense.

We can sign all 3, easily. The question is whether that money is better spent elsewhere. I'd sign Reddick, no question. You aren't replacing him. Then play semi-hardball with the corners and see who will accept a reasonable, team friendly offer. If neither, roll with Horn, Bouye, Henderson, Hartsfield and Keith Taylor Jr. That's still a good secondary. I feel like a 2 year, $20 million contract for Gilmore would make sense and let the young guys grow into their roles. Patrick Peterson is a good comp and he just got 1 year, $8 million. Just not sure if the market will dictate more than that, and if so, not sure if it's worth it.

Panthers would be in the playoffs as the 7 seed. They're also only a half game behind the 6th seeded Saints. The team is clearly pumped with Cam joining the fray and for the first time in a while there's a tangible confidence in this team. Gonna enjoy this 180 feeling compared to where we were this time last week.

I'd definitely consider replicating today's formula with a heavier dose of Cam if you think he needs a little more seasoning/conditioning/mastery of the playbook, etc. But once he's up to speed, he gives you more than PJ can; you let him fly. That's not to take anything away from PJ; he deserves major props for a very solid day today.

Feel like Elflein in for Paradis ended up being a sneaky big upgrade. Auditioning for starting center in 2022.

In the grand scheme it's a pretty meaningless snap, but I love the fact that they had PJ throw it on 3rd and 6. They are making a statement. Done are the days they're going to play scaredy, not to lose football. We're gonna stomp on their throats. Let's keep that energy going.