Week 3 - With the 49ers and Seahawks both 1-1 on the year and coming off of their first loss of the season, Sunday saw the two division foes renew rivalries in Seattle where San Francisco hasn't had any luck since Alex Smith was the quarterback. But with Seattle entering the game having scored only one touchdown through their first two games, you would've thought Chip Kelly's team had a chance to steal one from the struggling Seahawks, right? Wrong. Instead, a return home to host one of their most hated rivals would awaken Seattle from their offensive slumber, scoring a touchdown just three plays into the game.
For the past six years, the 49er defense has had their hands full with trying to contain Marshawn Lynch who would almost always reek havoc against them before deciding to retire this past offseason. But even with Lynch no longer on the field to give San Francisco a headache, the Niner defense couldn't seem to find an answer for the Seattle run game as Christine Michael found hole after hole in the first half and collected his first two career touchdowns before finishing the game with a career-high 106 yards rushing. With both of his touchdowns coming in each of Seattle's first two drives, the 49ers allowed Michael to become the first Seahawks running back to tally a pair of first quarter touchdowns since Shaun Alexander in 2005. With the 49ers offense being no stranger to the three & out this year, they would add to their league-lead with five more on Sunday. Unable to generate any offense of their own in the first half, a field goal would be all San Francisco would have to show for thanks to Pro-Bowl linebacker NaVorro Bowman who forced a Jimmy Graham fumble to put kicker Phil Dawson in business. Unfortunately, Graham would redeem himself on Seattle's following drive.
With Seattle QB Russell Wilson playing through an ankle injury suffered in Week 1, the 49ers secondary was still unable to find a solution for the Seahawks' passing attack as Doug Baldwin hauled in a 59-yard reception in the second quarter followed by an 18-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Graham on the very next play. Though it would be all the points they would need, they would add a Steven Hauschka field goal before the half to take a 24-3 lead into the locker room. Wilson would torch the Niners thru the air for 243 yards before getting hurt in the third quarter when second-year linebacker Eli Harold sacked Wilson and landed awkwardly on Wilson's left ankle. And though he would only sit out for a play before returning to prove he was alright, Pete Carroll chose not to risk further injury to his franchise quarterback and elected to bring in the backup. Rookie Trevone Boykin would keep the route going by throwing for his first career touchdown just a few drives later when he connected with Baldwin for a 16-yard TD who went on to rack up a career-best 164 yards receiving. With his first career touchdown under his belt, Boykin would also be greeted with his first career interception as Niners linebacker Nick Bellore stepped in front of a pass to come up with the easy pick which would also be his first.
As for the 49ers, QB Blaine Gabbert would have another forget performance passing for only 119 yards and an interception to give the Seattle defense their first takeaway of the year. Carlos Hyde would be the lone bright spot on the day for the 49ers as he turned a would-be mediocre performance into a career day thanks to a strong fourth quarter. With only his second career 100 yard performance, Hyde became the first running back to rush for over 100 yards against the Seattle defense since Kansas City's Jamaal Charles did so on November 16, 2014. And though both of his touchdowns would both come during garbage-time in the fourth quarter with the game well out of reach, they would both come against Seattle's first-string defense as Carroll elected not to dump his starters for the bench late in the game. Hyde's late-game heroics would make the game look a lot closer on the scoreboard than it actually was as Seattle pulled off the 37-18 victory.
Week 4: With (1-2) San Francisco returning home to host the (2-1) Dallas Cowboys, Chip Kelly and company is hoping a return to Levi's Stadium will help ignite the defense which kept the opposition from scoring in their Week 1 win at home. But with Rookie QB Dak Prescott playing turnover-free football thru the first three games of his career, it'll be an intriguing match-up if the 49er defense can play anywhere near as dominant as they did in the Monday night opener. Coming off back-to-back wins following a season-opening loss to the Giants, the Cowboys appear to have struck gold with Prescott filling in quite nicely under center for the injury-riddled Tony Romo. Prescott isn't the only Cowboy the 49ers will have to keep a close eye on as Rookie RB and first round draft pick Ezekiel Elliott is coming off his first career 100 yard performance (140 yards on 30 carries) and is looking more and more like the dominant back we saw at Ohio State week after week. Having been torched in consecutive weeks, the 49er secondary could catch a huge break if Pro-Bowl wide-out Dez Bryant who is currently awaiting the results of an MRI for his knee, isn't able to play on Sunday.
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Over the last decade or so, the NFL has become the entertainment powerhouse of the world. Leaving most of its competitors in the dust, the multi-billion dollar brand that is the National Football League is the reigning champ when it comes to being the most lucrative product in the U.S. and has always been about "more." With the proposals of more regular season games being added to the NFL schedule to the addition of more playoff teams thrown into the postseason mix, rule changes are also a hot topic and is something the league looks to add more of. And with the NFL Annual Meetings this week, many of those potential rule changes that were discussed whether accepted and declined, were the talk of the sports world. Here's just a few rule changes the NFL looks to tackle at the start of the 2014 regular season.
One of the most talked about and more controversial rule changes that the league hopes to take head on is banning the use of the 'N' word. In hopes of cracking down on those who use the word on the field, officials will now be assessing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against anyone who's seen or heard using the term which derives from and often reminds us of some of the darkest days our country has ever seen. In the eyes of league officials, cleaning up the language used on the field and eliminating this word is the NFL's way of addressing a mutual respect sportsmanship issue according to the suits. Though playing football in the NFL isn't your everyday occupation, it's a job nonetheless and if someone working at the grocery store for example isn't allowed to use the word when on duty, the same should be said in this case. Not to mention the case that if not all players can say it (those that aren't African American), nobody should be able to. But then again there's always the possibility of calling the penalty on the wrong player which could could open up a can of worms and cause more harm than good.
While the next potential rule change isn't exactly as controversial as the last one, it's guaranteed to be equally as unpopular among players. Having taken a bad wrap for being known as the "No Fun League," the NFL just got a lot less fun for players who enjoy celebrating a certain way after scoring a touchdown. Several seasons ago the NFL went forward with the ban on using the football as a prop immediately following celebratory antics by the creative minds of Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens among others who didn't quite invent the touchdown celebration but without a doubt changed the way we look at them today. Starting next season, officials will be issuing penalties to those who dunk the football through the goalpost. While it's not yet known how many yards will be assessed on the call, this has to be devastating news for Saints tight-end Jimmy Graham who's made it his signature move after paying the end zone a visit. With 41 career touchdown receptions under his belt, including a personal-best 16 TD's last season which led the league, Graham slamming the ball through the uprights has become just as synonymous with his game as his scoring ability. Unfortunately for him, it'll now be followed by a penalty unless he picks up a new move.
But Graham can't get too infuriated regarding the rule change because he's partially to blame. During a road meeting with the division-rival Atlanta Falcons back in November, Graham scored a go-ahead touchdown and put an exclamation mark on the play by dunking the ball Shaquille O'Neal style with two hands, tilting the goalpost in the process. What would end up being a goalpost malfunction, would create a delay of game, requiring a maintenance crew to bring out a ladder and a level to straighten things out (pun intended). Graham took to his Twitter account after news broke about the new rule change, giving us some laughs by tweeting: "I guess I'll just have to lead the NFL in penalties next year! #FunPolice". Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers is another dunk happy tight-end that'll be saddened by this news. Meanwhile, former tight-end Tony Gonzalez who like Graham and Gates comes from a basketball background and also took to the slam dunk quite a few times throughout his Hall of Fame career, seems to have hung it up at the perfect time as he announced his retirement at the end of last season.
While adding another 5 feet to the goalpost was passed with little debate, potentially tweaking the PAT (point after touchdown) to the 25 yard line has not yet been approved and will be tested during the first two preseason games starting at the 20. It's no wonder that kickers successfully converted on 1,256 of 1,261 extra point attempts this past season, making the PAT virtually outdated and downright unnecessary given how automatic they are. Commissioner Roger Goodell who's looking to breathe some excitement back into the PAT, is hoping this proposed experiment which would basically make the extra point a 37-yard field goal attempt, will do just that. It'll also be a hell of a lot more exciting for teams in the mid-west or far east who play outdoors and endure extreme weather conditions. Assuming it gets approved, it'll also be interesting to see what influence this will have on teams in favor of the two-point conversion.
A few other needed adjustments moving forward include what's being called the "NaVorro Bowman Rule" which allows officials to make the recovery of a loose ball in the field of play a reviewable call. This comes after the blunder that took place during January's NFC Championship between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks in which Bowman severely injured his knee after clearly recovering a fumble to no avail due to the play being non-reviewable. And while we're on the subject of reviews, refs can now seek help if needed by consulting with the officiating department in New York during replay review. Lastly, the game clock will now continue following a quarterback sack outside of two minutes. While many including myself would say the league has tacked on far too many penalties when it comes to hits on the quarterback or players in general, this latest batch of proposed rule changes seem a lot more tolerable than those added in the past.
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