Nolan looks for a strong showing vs. Rams

By Minh Truong  |   Friday, September 09, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

San Francisco 49ers
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The San Francisco 49ers and new head coach Mike Nolan, will open their season against the division rival Rams. Nolan replaces former head coach Dennis Erickson and has the difficult task of rebuilding the 49ers from last year's 2-15 record.

Offensively, Alex Smith was drafted to be the team's QB of the future, but after four preseason games, he was benched in favor of last year's starter Tim Rattay. The 49ers also drafted RB Frank Gore in the third round and added veteran receiver Johnnie Morton. Coach Nolan hopes that players like Morton can help make an immediate offensive impact.

The defense, which gave up the most points (452) and had the third fewest sacks (29), have pinned their hopes on the return of LB Julian Peterson and CB Mike Rumph from injury will be enough to stop "the greatest show on turf." Nolan is looking for this upstart unit to improve upon last year's pitiful showing.

The St. Louis Rams offense is still one of the league's most dangerous units. Steven Jackson was promoted to starting running back, while Marshal Faulk will be mentoring the new starter and stepping in for a few downs here and there to give Jackson some rest. While the Ram's offense didn't undergo any major changes, the defense looks completely revamped. They added LB Dexter Coakley and Chris Claiborne; DE Jay Williams; CB Terry Fair and Michael Hawthorne. They also drafted 3 defensive players and are hoping that this infusion of talent will help to improve a defense that gave the 8th most points (392) and only had 36 sacks.
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