We’re back with a second 49ers mailbag. We still don’t know what we are going to call this segment that is replacing Punterville articles in importance, but we have a few suggestions. I’m leaning on “Ask Pato” as my contribution for naming conventions. Here are some others:
- Fool’s Gold Mailbag
- Panning for Fool’s Gold
- Fool’s Gold Pan
- Fool’s Gold Mine
- The Golden Fool Mailbag
If we’re really going to do this regularly, and do something on fool’s gold. Or just something about the fool writing this, I’d also recommend considering a title containing “Iron Pyrite,” another name for fool’s gold.
I’ll give it a couple more weeks before I iron out a true name.
If you want your questions to be answered, make sure to keep an eye on the feed when I open the mailbag. I‘ll search that post, and may take it one step beyond to find some comments in other posts that could be good questions for the fool in This 49ers Q&A Remains Unnamed.
Ok, now onto your questions:
A lot of fans/pundits have been saying “we would’ve lost this game in 2024.” How much of that is just things breaking our way this season, and how much is genuine progress from last year’s team? Do you expect the team to keep improving as the season goes on and depth develops?
—JFAR49er
Yes, there are a lot of people saying that. I was/am one of them.
I don’t think this is so much about things breaking the 49ers’ way. Unless you count the Rams taking the ball out of Matthew Stafford’s hands on fourth and 1. No doubt the Rams would have gotten the first down on the ground, possibly scored. And they might not even have gotten that far because the goalline haymaker wouldn’t have happened either. Last year, the 49ers couldn’t finish getting out of a wet paper bag. This year, they are closing games.
Another example is Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks; the final minutes were reminiscent of the same scenario as last year against the same team. Except this time, the 49ers had Nick Bosa in the lineup, and they didn’t just let Sam Darnold strut into the end zone like Geno Smith.
Another point on the luck factor is the officiating, which has been terrible. if you look at officiating, they are winning despite things going the other direction. Officiating has been horrible for the NFL this year, and the 49ers (surprise, surprise) have been on the losing end of many backbreaking calls and no-calls.
I don’t think this is so much an issue of balls bouncing their way or getting lucky; I think it’s a matter of a lot of adjustments and overall mentality from last year. There wouldn’t have been urgency on the Nick Bosa sacks in Weeks 1 and 2, there wouldn’t have been a field goal going through the uprights to win the game against Arizona, and there definitely wouldn’t have been a fourth-down stand against the Rams.
In short, that’s progress. The 49ers improved their roster through the draft and enhanced the coaching (FINALLY!).
If you believe that Shanahan went to a shorter passing game with Mac, what’s the chances he could continue that when Purdy returns? I liked it.
-99
Depends on what the defenses do. Shanahan has pointed out that defenses are selling out to stop the run and stacking the box. That’s what’s been making the 49ers take it to the air 40-some times a game.
For the Rams, that defensive line is no joke, and Kyle Shanahan has done the quick passes on the regular when facing them. This was the game plan when they had Aaron Donald because holding on to the ball was a luxury the 49ers wouldn’t have. Even without Donald, the Rams have a decent defensive line, and getting the ball out quickly is basically so Mac Jones doesn’t get grounded further into hamburger.
You saw during the Rams game that even when he got rid of the ball quickly, he got drilled. So that’s why the quick passing game was going on. If they were waiting for things to develop, there’d be a record day in sacks.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be another interesting one because word is out that the 49ers aren’t bad against the pass. So what Tampa Bay does could dictate the game. They are stout against the run, but have issues in the secondary. This is what the Seahawks exploited and what the 49ers may exploit as well. They have some secondary pieces out as well, so that could also play into the 49ers’ game plan.
Are they ever going to call/fine players for late hits on Mac Jones? He literally got murdered.
-ninerfan25
I guess you are referring to the Rams game where Jones was beaten around like a rag doll. Fines for the previous week typically happen over the weekend. So if any Rams defenders were going to get slapped with one, I’d expect it by Saturday at the latest. I’m not sure if playing on Thursday night means fines would come earlier.
If there are fines, your guess is as good as mine. We, as fans, can call some of them missed roughing, even dirty, but I don’t see anything that would warrant a fine from the NFL for last week. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some fines, either.
Assuming Aiyuk returns to near full health, he plays. Pearsall is almost a 1B at this point. And Jennings is the clear No. 3. And now we have Bourne clicking too. And when all-world Kittle returns we know Tonges may finally be the clear No. 2 we’ve been waiting for. But wait — CMC needs his touches… I think you see where I’m heading: we have the makings of a good problem. What are your thoughts about distribution when everyone is back and healthy?
-Spartan83
A very nice problem to have. If there’s anything I’ve learned as a fan, the 49ers don’t get nice things often. If you don’t expect injuries to level the playing field, you haven’t been a fan of this team for very long. This is really assuming best-case scenarios for everything; Aiyuk is nowhere near being ready, Jennings is a game-time decision for Sunday, and McCaffrey can’t get going thanks to the offensive line and teams stacking the box.
If everyone were healthy? I want a 50/50 split. The 49ers have shown that selling out to stop the run will make opposing defenses pay. Once they lay off that, hopefully McCaffrey gets more touches. A 50/50 split between running and passing is ideal. Some names you are missing for the run game include George Kittle and the offensive line. The 49ers are doing what they can with what they have. Given all these injuries, I’m skeptical that EVERYTHING falls into place where they can go back to ground and pound.
When the 49ers traded for Stevie Johnson in 2014, the overall question was “why?” since they had Michael Crabtree, and both were similar players. The same could be asked about Bourne and Jennings, but if anyone can make player-specific plays to confuse defenses, it’s Shanahan. I’d love to see what he’d dial up with a healthy wide receiver room.
After watching MNF it’s pretty clear the NFL has an officiating bias issue, why aren’t they correcting some of these bad game changing misses from the sky judge? The obvious OPI flag pickup and horribly missed DPI resulting in the INT both benefitting KC come to mind, but the inconsistent application of roughing the passer based on which passer is getting roughed is widespread and pervasive.
-CanWeCloneJoe?
First, a PSA on officiating bias whenever I talk about this: There isn’t any. And it’s impossible for the league to really throw or rig a game if that’s what you’re thinking, also. With all the things going on in Vegas, it just isn’t possible. But bias and game fixing are not the same as incompetence and unaccountability, and the NFL has the latter two in spades.
As to why things aren’t getting better? You got me. We live in 2025, and the NFL insists (or is reluctant, if you look at what gets voted on in owners’ meetings) on not fixing these things. What boggles my mind is that all these proposed changes come up at owners’ meetings, yet they are deadlocked or shot down half the time. They could have given the sky judge more power this offseason in a proposed rule, but who knows if it would have passed.
I know the arguments about DPI, roughing, and reviewing all personal fouls are that it would slow the game down even more. Stopping it to verify if the penalty occurred and other related issues would add more time. I say there is one way to fix this:
Rather than stopping the game when possession is changed or on random TV timeouts, stop the game to review things and air the inventory there. This would encourage officials to review their plays so the networks can air their commercials.
Furthermore, in 2025, do we really need to stop the game, have a conversation, and have an official walk to the middle of the field to explain what the foul is before moving the ball to the new spot? Couldn’t we just call the penalty, move the ball, and skip all that clutter? All of this could be sped up with a sky judge and/or someone with a gazillion TVs around them who can quickly say “no,” “yes,” or “throw a flag here.” I’m sure head referees don’t want to be told what to do, but really, it should be a resource. Maybe head referees get promoted to sitting in the chair watching the games.
I don’t really have an answer besides teams/owners bringing actual good amendments to owners meetings and arguments for/against it. The tush-push might finally get banned in the 2026 offseason, which should have happened a few years earlier, but the arguments for doing so were weak. The one thing the league shouldn’t want is an accusation that the game is fixed. While it’s a bull[decorum] theory and childish, all it takes is one accusation by someone of importance, or one official to be in on something, and an investigation to occur. Whether right or wrong, the NFL’s credibility would be shot.
Should I get the FF Tactics remaster?
-James Brady
First: DOOOOOOM.
Second: I experienced Final Fantasy Tactics both in its release heyday in the 90s, The War of the Lions remake on the PlayStation Portable, and attempted the iPhone version (that one sucks, I do not recommend it). I can say that Ivalice Chronicles (the most recent remake) is/will be my preferred way for future playthroughs. The only real gripe I have is the shading filter, which looks like a dithered mess, but you get used to it.
The big quality of life change is that the entire game is sped up exponentially. In the original, getting into a random battle meant 45 minutes of your life down the drain. Now, with the fast-forward feature, it can be like five minutes. Or you can just run away. Oh, and you can actually leave multi-battles this time. So if you get to Riovannes for the dreaded Wiegraf fight (IYKYK) in this version, you can leave and power up instead of getting softlocked. That fight is still unfair and one of the toughest in video games, though. They didn’t change that.
In short: yes, buy the bloody thing. It’s a good time. Makes me want to play Tactics Ogre now. But Wiegraf still sucks.
About the Author: Insidethe49
