Know Your Niners: Parts I and II

By Richard Brear  |   Wednesday, October 22, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

San Francisco 49ers
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"Confidence is a very fragile thing." - Joe Montana

In September, the 2-5 San Francisco 49ers took out the 1-5 Seattle Seahawks in overtime, 33-30, at Qwest Field. J.T. O’Sullivan passed for 321 yards despite being sacked a season-high eight times. His Niner teammates Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Bryant Johnson, Isaac Bruce and game-winner Joe Nedney had particularly solid afternoons, too. Just like last time, all of them will start this week against Seattle.

Furthermore, Matt Hasselbeck and several other gears in the Seahawk train will sit out this week’s game. It was Hasselbeck’s game management, savvy and skill that gave Seattle its lead for three quarters. In Hasselbeck’s place this go-around is Seneca Wallace, who completed passes for a sniveling 73 yards against the Buccaneers last Sunday.

In advance of this week’s matchup with the Seahawks, should the 49ers confidently mark in another win before kickoff?

Not smart. The Niners had to come from behind late in the fourth quarter to tie the Seahawks in the first of this season’s two battles. And although Hasselbeck and several key receivers will stay at home or ride the bench this week, there’s little reason to believe that RB Julius Jones will be denied another 100-plus yards of rushing this week. And despite the Seahawks’ loss Sunday night in Tampa, their defense is very much alive and well. It's the same group that was in O'Sullivan's face throughout the last matchup.

Fans should hope that San Francisco, in its first game under interim head coach Mike Singletary, focuses one more time for a full 60 minutes on defeating Seattle and forgets about the comfort of the oncoming bye week.

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Know Your Niners Quiz

Answers for this quiz will appear in my column next week. Winners’ names will appear as well.

Hint: All 49ers in the quiz are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

1. Had his pinkie finger amputated.

2. A San Francisco native.

3. Completed a 97-yard pass.

4. Led 31 fourth-quarter comeback wins.

5. “World.”
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About Richard Brear

My first newspaper article of many appeared in print in the 1960's, but my fascination with journalism never got too serious until roughly twenty years later. In the 80's, I became a certified teacher of English Language Arts, got degrees from the University of Houston, and began teaching writing...
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