San Francisco Giants: Bochy Shows Support For Alex Smith, 49ers

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith was originally fined $15,000 by the NFL for wearing a San Francisco Giants hat during Sunday's postgame press conference, following the 49ers' victory over the Detroit Lions.

Smith's fine of $15,000 was rescinded, and the NFL instead gave a warning to the 49ers quarterback.


The rule states that no player may wear non-sponsored gear 90 minutes before and after a game.

Smith's Giants support on Sunday broke that rule, although the hat has become a fixture on the head of Smith over the past year.

Earlier Thursday, the Giants showed their support of Smith and 49ers.

Manager Bruce Bochy wore a 49ers hat during the pre-game press conference, which caused quite a stir throughout the ballpark.

There is no rule that bars baseball players from wearing non-sponsored gear before or after games, but there should be a rule against a man with a 8 1/3 size hat making due with a 7 1/4 size hat, as Bochy did before their victory over the Rockies.

There has been no word from the MLB on whether Bochy will be fined for showing his support of a local team.

In addition, both Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson have shown their support for Smith.

Both said they will contribute their own money to Smith's fine, if he in fact wears the Giants hat again to a postgame press conference.

Alex, moonwalk your way down Market St. w an SF hat & Lombardi trophy & i'll take care of the fines you rack up @49ers twitter.com/BrianWilson38/…

— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilson38) September 20, 2012

Read More

San Francisco 49ers vs. Detroit Lions: Week 2 Preview and Predictions

The San Francisco 49ers will encounter another very strong offensive team when they line up against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

The 49ers, who defeated the favored Green Bay Packers last week, will look to add on to their already terrifying array of accolades shown in the Packers win by knocking off Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford and the Lions in the Candlestick Park home opener.

San Francisco has been dealt another team that will throw the ball at will.

Detroit needed a come-from-behind win against he Rams in Week 1 and will look to exploit the 49ers at the one wavering aspect of their entire package: the secondary.

Just like the Packers, the Lions will let Stafford throw the ball, just as he did when he threw 48 times in Week 1.  Stafford found 10 different receivers on Sunday, with five of them tallying over four receptions.  In comparison, Aaron Rodgers accomplished the same feat last week.

This will be a pass-happy offense coming at the 49ers on Sunday.

The problem here: It may be the only chance at defeating San Francisco.

It is not that the 49ers have a weak secondary, but that it happens to be the weakest part of an extremely strong football team suddenly thrust into Super Bowl aspirations.

Stafford will attempt to exploit the secondary based on the fact that Kevin Jones and company will not be able to run the ball on San Francisco’s front line at all.  Detroit gave Kevin Smith the ball only 13 times against St. Louis.

The goal here for the clear underdog Detroit Lions is similar to the Packers in last week’s game against the 49ers: Force San Francisco to take Patrick Willis out of the game and add another defensive back, whom they will take advantage of.

However, that defensive back is Perrish Cox, and he played a strong game against the Packers in place of Willis.  Odds are if Rodgers and the Packers couldn’t pull it off, then we shouldn’t see much resistance from the Lions either.

For the 49ers, the game plan would appear to be focused on Alex Smith and the slew of wide receiver weapons this team now has.  The Lions looked awfully stingy against Steven Jackson and the Rams in Week 1 (Jackson: 21 carries for 53 yards), but Sam Bradford was able to find a good amount of success in the air in his 25 pass attempts, one of which was a touchdown.

The Detroit secondary should not be a problem for Smith, a quarterback who has shown he can take care of the ball at all costs.


X-Factor

In order for Smith to continue his successful streak at quarterback under Jim Harbaugh, he will once again need help from his offensive line.

The Lions were able to get to Bradford last week a total of four times.  Smith was sacked a total of four times by a lousy Packers defense.  Detroit will be better.

With pressure coming early and often on Sunday, we should see Smith recognize the defense and dump short passes off to release some of the pressure he is sure to encounter from Detroit’s front line.

Look for dump passes to Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter in the backfield, or slants across the middle for Michael Crabtree that seemed to be successful against the Packers.

Also, limiting Calvin Johnson when possible will be a key task on Sunday for the 49ers.

They do not have to shut him down -- Johnson will get his catches. But limiting him when it matters and creating stops are all part of a big day for the San Francisco secondary on Sunday.

Predictions

            In such an important game for Harbaugh and the post-game handshake that cannot come soon enough, look for the 49ers to be ultra-prepared -- as if they have not been prepared in any game in the Harbaugh Era.

            Both rushing attacks should be fairly limited on Sunday, so we should expect a ton of strategy from Harbaugh and the 49ers coaching staff this week against a tougher defense and a wide receiver in Calvin Johnson that will be a test throughout the game.

49ers 27, Lions 21

           

Read More

Watch Giants' Aubrey Huff Nearly Break His Hand On Ryan Theriot's Butt

During the seventh inning of Friday night's Giants-Dodgers game, Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro blooped a two-run single into right field to score Gregor Blanco and Brandon Crawford and give San Francisco a 4-2 lead.

However, the only thing that could top that game-changing play was the reaction of Aubrey Huff on the bench.


Huff's first reaction upon seeing Scutaro give the Giants a two-run lead in the midst of a heated NL West rivalry was to smack Ryan Theriot in the butt -- and nearly break his hand.

Watch the GIF HERE

Read More