Finally, the bye week is behind us. We can resume our normal lives of watching our favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, play on Sunday. When was the last time we played on a Sunday? Week 6 against the Giants! Since then it's been all primetime and bye weeks. Did they ever stop to think about me? The bye week is not the most exciting fodder for TWiNN. Luckily the lads have been hard at work doing a lot of midseason grading, reviews, MVPs, and the like. I'm going to lead off TWiNN with the midseason review material as there is much more of it than anything else. I'm also messing around with a new format that makes each link a bit easier to contend with. Basically it's going to be like my versions of the Golden Nuggets (when done to their fullest).
Without further ado...
Midseason Review
As mentioned, there was a lot of work done on assessing the team through the first half of the season. Luckily for the writers, the bye week came after eight games, so if you want to project stats for the entire season, you simply times it by two. I like easy math (did you know that they call it maths here in Australia?). The also say tomato instead of tomato...you'll have to use your head to figure that one out.
As for the links, there's tons of good coverage here. Fooch starts it off with a piece on Football Outsiders and their drive stats, and most importantly, drive success. | Offense creating more touchdowns per drive compared to 2011. (Fooch)
With no football game to cover, Anthony Ly's Booth Review is more or less a midseason review, with a bit of hot topic added and a dash of recap sprinkled over the top. If you look at the tweet sent to Tony Dungy, it implies that we have some 'food backs' on the team. Hmm... | Booth review - bye week edition: "Bye-bye, mediocrity" (Anthony Ly)
Who's the defensive MVP for the 49ers this season? It's hard to say. There have been no standouts on a standout unit. To me that means that everyone is doing their job, sacks and pick-6s are not needed, and three-and-outs rule the day. For the record, I think Dashon Goldson is my pick. | Who's your defensive MVP? (Fooch)
The 2012 49ers seem to be following the same trend as last season's team. Defense, running game, and special teams are winning ball games. The one aspect that we've improved in has been the passing game and the improved play (and talent) of the receiving corps is the primary reason. | 49ers' midseason review: Position WRs. (Wes Hanson)
How does everyone feel about the coaching staff after the first nine weeks? Some problems cropped up in the two losses and we won't know if they've been fixed until the next game we fall behind in. Sometimes the playcalling has been questionable. Still, it's hard to argue with a 6-2 record. | 49ers' midseason review: Jim Harbaugh approval poll. (Fooch)
Offensive MVP is another question posed to you, the faithful 49ers follower. MVP goes to glory positions as a rule and Frank Gore is the most glorious of the group as far as statistics go. A case can be made for Michael Crabtree, in that his emergence as a serious threat and No. 1 receiver has allowed the entire offense to take a step forward. Or you could give a giant, novelty-sized trophy to the offensive line. | 49ers' midseason review: Who's your offensive MVP? (Fooch)
Week 10: Rams at 49ers
Who's a better running back, Frank Gore or Stephen Jackson? If you said Stephen Jackson is a wing player for the San Antonio Spurs then you get 10 points. As for Steven Jackson, boy has he slowed down lately. I guess having absolutely no passing game really takes its toll on old RBs. | Frank Gore winning longevity battle with Steven Jackson. (James Brady)
Hot Topics
What do we have to discuss in the hot topics section of this weeks TWiNN? Not too much. It was a bye week and the team was given a lot of time off as a reward for their solid first half. So much free time was awarded that Aldon Smith even had time to get / not get jumped! Brandon Jacobs had time to complain via twitter. I had time to go watch go cart races. A good time was had by all.
If you could set the depth chart for the 49ers, what changes would you make? Me, I'd make sure to get Mario Manningham as many touches as possible (although the depth chart wouldn't seem to affect that). | 49ers depth chart 2012: Week 1 vs week 9, and what would you change? (Fooch)
Player safety is always a hot topic around the league offices and we here at Niners Nation have held many board meeting to discuss it. I, for one, have to wear a helmet if I'm going to write using my eyePhone. Wes Hanson takes the topic a bit more seriously than I just did. I like how he notes that the league should definitely punish illegal hits, while simultaneously promoting legal hits, like the one that Dashon Goldson used to lay waste to Early Doucet. | The NFL, player safety, and legal hits. (Wes Hanson)
Does anyone have any idea why the 49ers have so many delay of game penalties called against them? Is our offense more complex than the next? Is Alex Smith secretly stupid? Is Mike Singletary's coach ghost haunting Candlestick Park? We definitely have an issue that needs to be sorted out. | 49ers penalties 2012: Timeouts and delay of game. (Fooch)
One 49er that is definitely shining like the Hope Diamond is Mike Iupati. The 49ers' run game is dominating nearly every game, every play, even. The entire offensive line is bulldozing through defenses, but Iupati is proving to be the cream of the crop. Honolulu awaits you, sir. | Will Mike Iupati finally earn his first Pro Bowl honors in 2012-13 season? (Dylan DeSimone)
How about those rookies, eh? No seriously...how about them? Has anyone seen or heard from them? I heard that LaMichael James and A.J. Jenkins jumped Aldon Smith during the bye week in order to gain some playing time on defense. Danny Tuccitto has some info on rookie snap counts around the league and how shockingly little the 49ers' rookies have played. He also gets credit for the best-titled article of the week and the best music reference. | 2012 rookie class snap counts: Jim Harbaugh puts baby in the corner. (Danny Tuccitto)
I mentioned that Aldon Smith had a rumored altercation. Dylan DeSimone has done a wonderful job detailing various other 49ers' off-the-field issues, whether they be legal or character-based. The point is made that one can easily overcome these mistakes and even use them to their advantage. | The San Francisco 49ers, character issues and perseverance. (Dylan DeSimone)
Brandon Jacobs was the other 49er to make headlines since the last game was played. He tweeted that he wasn't 'good enough to play' before later deleting it. It's understandable that he's frustrated and I actually feel bad for him. You just wonder if the team told him that he would be nothing more than an insurance policy when he signed or if his injury slowed him down, or if, he simply doesn't have 'it' anymore. | What to do with 49ers' RB situation going forward. (Tre9er)
FanPosts
Ah, the fanposts. I had mentioned that we might do a fanpost competition but then got no feedback! Well Fooch said, "that sounds good," or something along those lines, which is akin to your mom telling you you're handsome. Well I am handsome, darn it! And here are the fanposts. Winner gets more of the same points awarded above in the write-up of the Steven Jackson link. Plus, they get their name in parenthesis after the link, like all the famous writers from above.
The most rec'd fanpost comes from Little Bobby Tables for their epic work on the 49ers' rushing attack. They've gone and examined the top offenses in yards per carry and written up a bit on each of them. You rec it, we recollect it. Came up with that off the cuff. My mom says I'm clever. | The 2012 49ers' rushing attack: Elite on a historical scale. (Little Bobby Tables)
Up next is liberty_JAC for his piece that generated a ton of comments. They touch on everything from the World Series to Alex Smith's awesomeness. A good post to help all of us get through the bye week blues. | Random thoughts: Moss, Alex, Delanie, Harbaugh, SF Giants. (liberty_JAC)
And last but not least is DeafWriterJC for relaying their encounter with Frank Gore at a Gucci Store. I met Candy Maldonado once in the snack bar line at a Niners game and it was spectacular. I also saw Lars from Metallica eating a cheeseburger in a parking garage in the city. That's as close as I've come to the rich and famous. | My chance meeting with the one and only Frank Gore. (DeafWriterJC)
That wraps it up. Again, give us any feedback you see fit so that we can make this feature a more enjoyable read. Until next time...
Being a Sheep
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