San Francisco 49ers: Is It Super Bowl or Bust This Season?

The San Francisco 49ers are among the favorites to win the 2013 Super Bowl, and with that comes some lofty expectations and immense pressure.

            The pressure comes in the form of fans expecting them to win week after week, judging by the 13-3 2012 season in which head coach Jim Harbaugh pushed all the right buttons, quarterback Alex Smith threw all the right passes and the defense came up with the big plays when the moment got tough.

            Is it Super Bowl or bust this season, though?

            A trip to the NFC Championship last season would suggest that idea.

            The 49ers returning all starters on defense suggests the same.

            This is a team built to win now because they were arguably a wide receiver, a first down or a botched punt return away from the biggest stage in sports in 2012.

            The over/under this season on the team from San Francisco is a trip to the NFC Championship once again.

            If the 49ers do not claim the over in that scenario, then the season will be a disappointment.

            Grantland.com’s Bill Barnwell wrote earlier this month on the topic of lofty expectations for the 49ers this season.

            He throws that out the window, saying the 49ers will not win more than nine games after winning 13 in 2011-12.

            “I see a team whose performance is unsustainable in a number of ways, one that will struggle mightily to re-create all the advantages they had in 2011. I think of it like a credit score: There's no one individual item that guarantees a Niners collapse, but instead a variety of extraordinary factors driving last year's success erode their current expectations from multiple angles. San Francisco simply has too much to overcome in 2012 to repeat their 13-win season. And once you've seen the evidence in context, I suspect that you'll agree with me.”

            The 49ers will have a tough time repeating the type of season they had last year, winning 13 games with a relatively easy schedule and the role of the underdog.

            This season, they have a tougher schedule and a league that has them circled on their calendars.

            However, there is nothing to suggest the 49ers cannot reach the Super Bowl -- whether they win 13 games or not.

            Jim Harbaugh is still one of the best game-planners the NFL has seen in some time, and he prepares his team for every one of the 16 games on the schedule.

            Smith now has more weapons, whether Harbaugh decides to use them exclusively or not.

            Also, the defense is all back with a reputation as being an impenetrable force.

            Still, the question remains: If the 49ers do not make the Super Bowl, is the season a disappointment?

            If you ask Harbaugh, any step in the wrong direction is, and the wrong direction this season is anything less than a Super Bowl birth.

            

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San Francisco 49ers: Why Alex Smith Will Still Be Limited This Season

The San Francisco 49ers were arguably one wide receiver away from advancing to the Super Bowl in 2012, so the organization added Randy Moss, Mario Manningham and rookie A.J. Jenkins.

            However, giving quarterback Alex Smith more weapons is not going to turn him in to something he simply is not -- especially if his head coach is still Jim Harbaugh.

            Harbaugh was not helpful in confirming Smith’s presumed new role as a quarterback that will throw at will now that he has more weapons with greater ability.

            Harbaugh called Smith an “expert in this offense” last month, after a season in which the overall consensus suggested that Smith was simply managing the 49ers’ offense to a 13-3 record.

            As long as Harbaugh is head coach of the 49ers, Smith will never have free rein to throw the ball at will or control the game anywhere near the status of a Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers.

            Harbaugh is controlling, but he is controlling this 49ers team into a position where they can be competitive for years.

            Until that situation changes, Smith will continue to be limited.

            Even 49ers legend Jerry Rice voiced his opinion on the depth of Smith’s quarterback status to USA Today.

            “I seriously think they got to take the diaper off this guy and let him play," said Rice. "Let him be a grown man."

            The reality of it is that is not the way Harbaugh’s coaching style works, and it will never change.

            He needs his input on everything, limiting Smith at times and letting him go when the situation permits.

            We saw it in the final minutes of the 49ers/Saints playoff game last season.

            But those thinking that now with the additions of Moss, Manningham, Jenkins and LaMichael James that Smith will now be able to have the freedom he never had the opportunity to use are sorely mistaken.

            As much as the roster has changed for the better, Smith’s role on this team has not.

            Managing the game is simply what Harbaugh wants and needs -- anything more would not be Harbaugh’s way.

           

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Scutaro, Belt Possibilities in San Francisco Giants Outfield Following Melky Cabrera Suspension

Melky Cabrera will not be with the team following his 50-game suspension, and with it comes offensive uncertainty in the San Francisco Giants’ lineup.

            On Wednesday, manager Bruce Bochy replaced Cabrera in the lineup with Gregor Blanco.

            However, that could very well change as the season progresses and the playoff race heats up.

The Giants now have some decisions to make pertaining to their roster.

            Bochy hinted at the fact that Blanco could get the majority of the starts in the outfield, but there is also the topic of a lack of power in the lineup now that they do not have Cabrera batting third.

            Substituting his bat with the weaker bat of Blanco is simply a downgrade for a team still in dire need of offense any given night.

            So the idea of moving players from the infield into the outfield creeped into the postgame press conference room after Wednesday’s loss to the Nationals.

            The two names mentioned were Brandon Belt and Marco Scutaro.

            Bochy did not rule either of them out.

            “Marco has played some left field.  We have discussed that a little bit,” Bochy said.  “It’s been awhile since he’s been over there.”

            While the option of moving Scutaro from the utility-player role to a possible starting spot in the outfield seemed to be on Bochy’s mind prior to the press conference, moving Belt from first base back to the outfield seemed a little less likely.

            “Is it a possibility? Sure,” Bochy said.  “I think we are going to keep all our options open.  It’s probably not going to happen, but I’m not going to say it won’t happen.”

            Belt has seemed more comfortable at the plate in recent games.

            He is 9-for-16 with three home runs in the last four games.

           

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San Francisco Giants: Bochy, Players React To Melky Cabrera Suspension

Lost in the news that Melky Cabrera had tested positive for testosterone and would be suspended by the MLB for 50 games without pay was the situation it left the San Francisco Giants in on Wednesday.

            The team is now once again without a big bat in the middle of the lineup, making the acquisition of Hunter Pence at the trade deadline all the more crucial.

            Cabrera was second in the MLB in batting average (.346) and led the league in hits with 159.

            Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after the team lost to the Washington Nationals, 6-4, that he first heard the news Wednesday morning before the game.

            He then informed the team and had a brief conversation with Cabrera.

            “He was hurt by (the news),” Bochy said.  “He was obviously disappointed.  Also, the fact that he is not going to be here to help us, that hurts him.”

            Bochy said he had made the lineups for the finale against the Nationals on Wednesday prior to hearing the news of Cabrera’s suspension, but was forced to substitute Gregor Blanco for Cabrera once the news broke.

            “We’re disappointed,” Bochy said.  “Melky was having a real nice year for us.  Our thoughts right now are that we have to move on.  This team will remain focused and we will try to win ballgames.”

            Of the four players suspended this season due to violating the league’s substance abuse policy, two of them are members of the Giants.

            Guillermo Mota was suspended 100 games in early May for the second violation of his career, and Cabrera’s suspension came down on Wednesday.

            This comes in the wake of the Barry Bonds and BALCO scandals that have clouded the team’s image in the past.

            “There’s some things you can’t control,” Bochy said.  “This has not just happened with the Giants, it’s all of baseball.  The best thing we all can do in Major League Baseball is educate these guys and make sure they are informed of it.”

            In Cabrera’s place batting third in the lineup on Wednesday was Pablo Sandoval, who is presumed to have that spot become permanent throughout the remainder of this season.

            He went 2-for-4 against Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals on Wednesday.

            Reliever Clay Hensley said the team will miss Cabrera’s bat in the middle of the lineup but that the team will have to move on without him.

            “He’s going to have to suffer the consequences, but we need to put it behind us as a team.

            “You can always forgive anyone for anything.  It’s a learning experience,” Hensley said.

            Tim Lincecum took the mound an hour and a half after learning of Cabrera’s suspension, and had the tough task of putting together a good outing against the best team in baseball with the absence of Cabrera in the back of the team’s mind.

            The result was a loss on Wednesday, as he went four innings allowing four runs.

            “It is crushing, obviously, to hear that our best hitter is not going to be in the lineup,” Lincecum said.  “It’s just like a day where they took the day off.  You just have to approach it that way.”

            In Cabrera’s absence, players like Brandon Belt and Hunter Pence will be called on even more now that one of the MLB’s best hitters is not in their lineup.

            Belt said there is not much this team can do at the moment but go out and do their job on the field.

            “It was a little bit shocking at first, but somebody is going to have to step up -- somebody is going to have to step up,” Belt said.

            “It is a blow, but we have been through this before,” Belt said.

The Giants have lost Sandoval at points this season and closer Brian Wilson for the entirety of it.  

           

          

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San Francisco Giants: Bruce Bochy Pushing All the Right Buttons

Whether it has been San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s carousel of starting lineups he produces on a seemingly day-to-day basis or his unorthodox use of the bullpen, Bochy has received flack over the years.

            Today, Bochy is pulling off one of the better managerial jobs in all of Major League Baseball with the Giants.

            It has not been easy this season for Bochy.  Managing the future of the franchise, Buster Posey, in his first season back from a season-ending injury or dealing with the high’s and low’s of Pablo Sandoval’s weight, Bochy has seemed to push all the right buttons this season.

The result is that the Giants are in first place in the NL West and still own one of the scariest playoff starting rotations in the MLB.

The biggest reason for Bochy delivering this season is the way he has handled the team amidst turmoil.

Just one week ago, San Francisco had been swept at home by a Los Angeles Dodgers team fueled by the Hanley Ramirez acquisition and pursuit of big name pitchers and looked to be the inferior team in the rivalry.

According to the San FranciscoChronicle’s Henry Schulman, Bochy held a team meeting on Friday after another disappointing series against the Mets to relax his team, yet tell them to “man up.”

“When you looked like they looked like (on the homestand) it looks like you’re having no fun. They looked flat,” Bochy said. “At the same time, you’ve got to be tougher, too. This game can humble you. You’ve got to deal with it, man up and be tougher.”
His team answered, going 4-1 in their next five games, including a sweep of the Colorado Rockies on the road where they outscored them 35-13 in the three-game series.
Angel Pagan had the biggest response to the team meeting, as he took over the lead-off duties and went 10-for-22 with five RBI in five games since.
The same thing happened with the bullpen, which had been struggling since closer Santiago Casilla blew five saves in his last nine chances throughout the month of July.
The Giants’ bullpen has allowed 26 runs in their last 11 games pitched.
According to the San Jose MercuryNews’ Alex Pavlovic, Bochy called a meeting with the bullpen before Tuesday’s game to discuss what the game-plan was going to be for the near future.
“I told them what the plan is — when we get down to six outs it’ll be Romo, Affeldt and Lopez,” Bochy said. “The lineup will dictate who will be out there in the eighth or ninth. Romo set up in the eighth tonight and Jeremy pitched the ninth, but it could have been the other way.”
The bullpen responded with 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball in the Giants’ win over the Cardinals on Tuesday, which included a four-out save from lefty Jeremy Affeldt.
While some managers take a back seat to team dilemmas, Bochy has decided to take the wheel of this team and steer them back on track with individual attention.
San Francisco looks to be back on track even with the absence of Pablo Sandoval and the struggling Hunter Pence, but credit the coaching staff of this team for keeping them afloat at a time when staying in playoff contention means everything.

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49ers: Crabtree Returns to Practice Field; Brooks, Hunter Impressing

Not since July 27 has San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree been on a practice field in Santa Clara.

            The long-awaited return of the talented wide-out had to wait 10 days, including seven practices, but Crabtree ran onto the field Monday suited up in full pads ready to practice -- sort of.

            “Today, he was back and our plan was to have him in the individual drills,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He looked good. I haven’t talked to him yet since practice, but we’ll see how he responds, how he feels tomorrow and what the soreness is like.

Crabtree had been absent from 49ers practice since the injury to his right leg, but he was seen on the sidelines over the past week looking on at his teammates.

            Why the spotlight on a player’s presence in training camp?

            If it was anyone else on the 49ers’ roster, it probably would not be that big of a deal, but this is Crabtree.

            He has yet to play in a preseason game in his three-year career, and training camp has seemed to be optional for him.

            The offseason after he was drafted he held out of training camp, and endured a neck injury last offseason, which held him out of the preseason then.

            The common interpretation of such events was that Crabtree simply does not like preseason practice -- until Monday.

            Crabtree did participate in individual drills, but nothing more.

            Because he was fairly limited in his first practice in over a week, it is up in the air as to whether he will play in Friday’s preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings at Candlestick Park.

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When asked who has stood out to him this offseason, Harbaugh was quick to point out running back Kendall Hunter and linebacker Ahmad Brooks.

Hunter will be fighting for time in the backfield with starter Frank Gore, rookie LaMichael James and newly acquired Brandon Jacobs this season, but Harbaugh has said his vision and instincts have both improved during the offseason.

“Tremendous shape, very strong, running with a lot of confidence,” he said. “Through the whole off-season, really. Has a chance to have a big year.”

Brooks, who signed a six-year $44.5 million contract in the offseason, has been equally impressive.

“Ahmad Brooks has been fantastic -- all off-season, all camp,” Harbaugh said. “I think another one of those things that speaks volumes about a guy. I don’ t know if he doubled, tripled or quadrupled his salary, but this is the best shape he’s been in. People are saying this is the best off-season that he’s had.”

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