Old-Fashioned

Old-fashioned way of playing, leads to old-fashioned winning. For the last few years it seemed like winnig football games was out of style in San Fransisco. The offense was inept, the defense was pathetic, and the special teams was actually mediocre. Last year I gushed about how excited I was to have Mike Nolan as the new head coach of the 49ers. I knew that the season would probably be pretty bad, but he had a plan, and you can see the results this year so far.

The 49ers are 1 - 1, with a 7 point loss to the Cardinals in which they lost the turnover battle 2-1. Yesterday they beat the Rams into submission, giving the ball to Frank Gore 30 times.

Frank Gore - My new Favorite Running Back

He was the backup to that bust Kevan Barlow, who had loads of talents but no work ethic. Last year Gore outrushed Barlow despite playing less and having 2 injured shoulders. Mike Nolan traded Barlow to the Jets and made Gore the starter.

Two games in, Barlow has 77 rushing yards and 1 TD compared to Gore's 214 rushing yards and 3 TDs. Not to mention a sparkling 4.8 yards per rush average. Gore is currently 4th in the NFL in rushing yards.

Alex Smith, after a pathetic first season, has blossomed into an actual quarterback. Quick comparison, and please note the lack of interceptions thrown:

Year	Team	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	YPA	Lg	TD	Int	Tkld	20+	40+	Rate
2005	San Francisco 49ers	9	7	165	84	50.9	875	5.30	47	1	11	29/185	13	2	40.8
2006	San Francisco 49ers	2	2	62	34	54.8	521	8.40	72	2	0	1/2	8	3	93.5

Ok, I'm done gushing over the fact that the 49ers look good. I might actually have a serious post coming up soon!