Zak Keasey injured his arm in yesterday's loss to the Eagles and the 49ers announced he will be going on Injured Reserve.  He hasn't been placed there yet, but it will happen once they decide how to fill his roster spot.

Keasey injured his arm early in the game, which led to a big increase in Michael Robinson playing time.  Given his performance at times, this could end up being a good thing for the offense, although certainly bad for Keasey.  Keasey apparently tore a biceps tendon.

The 49ers have numerous options to plug in at fullback including Michael Robinson, Billy Bajema and Delanie Walker.  Of the three, Bajema would probably be the best in terms of the traditional blocking concerns of a fullback.  Robinson and Walker can certainly block, but they would appear to bring more to the table in terms of actually moving the ball on their own.

The 49ers currently have two players they can stick on the IR in Keasey and Shawntae Spencer.  They were waiting to move Spencer because there was no immediate need on the roster for a spot.  I'm curious to see what they add now that Keasey has also gone down.

It's hard to believe but Pro Bowl balloting is officially upon us.  No matter what your thoughts are on the game itself, it's always nice to have some of your team on the roster.  Last season, Patrick Willis was a defensive reserve while all-world punter Andy Lee was a starter.  I believe the 49ers had some alternates (BY I think), but I can't find a list of them anywhere.

So, when you get a chance head on over to NFL.com's Pro Bowl Ballot and vote early and often...or at least once.  According to the folks at NFL.com:

Fans who vote for Pro Bowl players will then be able to enter for a chance to win a trip to Hawaii to attend the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl in the Official Pro Bowl Sweepstakes presented by State Farm.  The grand prize includes an all-expense paid five-day, four-night trip for the winner and one guest to the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl in Honolulu.  In addition to air transportation, ground transportation, hotel accommodations and two game tickets, the winner and guest will receive two tickets to the NFL Pro Bowl Tailgate Party, an exclusive State Farm “I’m There” opportunity and will meet eight-time NFL Pro Bowl selection and Pro Football Hall of Fame member HOWIE LONG.  There is no purchase necessary to enter or win.  Fans can see NFL.com for details and official rules.

Balloting ends Tuesday December 9 at noon and the teams will be announced on the NFL Network's Total Access show on the NFL Network.  For those who don't get the NFL Network, I'd imagine ESPN will have its own Pro Bowl show.  The game itself will air on NBC on February 8.

Courtesy NFL

Things are certainly pretty rough this morning after yesterday's debacle.  We've got a couple open threads to discuss the ineptness of our coaching staff and people are certainly taking advantage of them.  However, I wanted to mix things up a little with something a little more light-hearted. In spite of the ugliness of the season so far, we've got some great players that are quite unique.

I was doing my usual morning scroll of the Internet when I came across something interesting.  Turns out our man Patrick Willis is doing a little blogging.  And this isn't the Yardbarker blogging of Donovan McNabb.  Oh no my friends, Patrick Willis is blogging for Playboy.com!  His first entry was written after the Saints game, and his second entry was written after the Patriots game.

His entries are an assortment of thoughts concerning just about everything and anything.  It doesn't follow any sort of pattern but appears to just be things he thinks up and decides he wants to throw down a paragraph about.  One common theme early on is his interest in MMA.  In his most recent entry, he was particularly keen on Miss Gina Carano.  For those who have never heard of Carano, check out this picture and this article.  Ain't nothin finer than a woman who can kick some ass.  The post came after her most recent fight for EliteXC and Willis had this to say:

Thing is, Gina’s so pretty, on the weekend I’m thinking, Oh, don’t get hit in the face, ‘cause those pretty cheeks are going to swell up. Don’t let her step on your feet — you saw it, her opponent was just banging on her toes — ‘cause she’s going to mess ‘em up. I’m thinking she is so fine but I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. She probably wouldn’t just slap you, she’d just punch you right in the face. When two guys are fighting, you’re cheering for them to just take it out on each other. But when two chicks are fighting, especially one as good looking as she is, I can’t help but think, Please don’t mess up that pretty face! Her father, Glenn, played quarterback in the NFL for the Cowboys, so she’s got some great genes. She’s a bombshell in more ways than one. Not only with her looks but she’s also a bombshell with her fists and kicks.

It sounds like Bamm Bamm is going to be blogging on a weekly basis for Playboy.  He's covered everything from Carano to video games to the team's play on the field to his brief thoughts on the upcoming election.  Heck, he even threw out his thoughts on OJ:

When I heard that O.J. Simpson got convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping charges, I was thinking that whole situation is crazy. I don’t want to say anything bad about him, but when you have a big case like he did in 1995, and you get off for that with all the evidence that was there, I would think that you would never want to get anything near wrong again, that you wouldn’t want to tempt fate, you know. Don’t do anything wrong for the rest of your life because they’re going to be on you. But he did so much stuff like that crazy book (If I Did It), then he gets caught up in this robbery scheme. You got off one time before, man, what were you thinking? It’s almost like he was destined to go to jail.

So, go ahead and check it out.  I can't find a link to all his articles, but if you check out the Playboy Sports section they'll all be in there every week.  We already knew Patrick Willis was awesome, time and again.  This is just a little more proof of that.

After a hideous 4th quarter performance, I (and many of you as well) was quite curious to see what Mike Nolan and the players would have to say about the game.  Well, here you go.

HEAD COACH MIKE NOLAN
On what happened in the 4th quarter: "Just became less effective, I guess. Naturally the defense had their problems as well so I wouldn’t put it all on one. I thought we were moving the ball well the entire game. I thought we had a good mix. I thought we ran the ball well. I thought we passed it. I thought we kept them off balance. I thought it was a good plan. Naturally a couple of turnovers there at the end and a bad punt gave way for them to get some points. So we’ve got to play better as a team. It takes a team to win a game, especially against a good football team like Philadelphia."

Fooch: You guess?  Really?  I thought the game plan was solid enough through the first three quarters, but the fourth quarter was a mess.

On the challenges: "Well, I was right there on the sidelines for the first one (Desean Jackson catch). All I asked upstairs is, was it clear that he caught it in bounds. We had it on the billboard when I saw it as well and I thought it was very close. My question was, ‘Did he have possession?’ I saw his feet. I wanted to know if he had possession because if he was still bobbling it, then naturally it wouldn’t have been a catch. So that’s why I did that one . . . 

Details on the challenge of the field goal: "The field goal. Yeah. This is not a complaint to the officials but they have to make a signal at some point that says it’s above the bar or not. Because as it is, I challenged it not knowing if it’s above or below. What I’m saying is if the challenge…I still have to challenge because I threw the red flag. Because I asked him, ‘Is it challengeable?’ And he said, ‘It really doesn’t matter now that you threw the red flag.’ So either way it was going to cost me. So in the discussions right there, they have to correct that. There’s got to be some kind of signal that says it’s not only good but it’s not challengeable or it is. Obviously that didn’t cost us the game. But anyway, [it’s] something they’ve got to fix . . .

"When he came over, I asked him the same exact question (how can they reverse that if there’s not a camera at the same place where the referee is?). Other than, can I challenge it? He asked the guy, ‘Was it below it?’ And they all kind of said it was. But outside of that, I said, ‘What views are you going to see? Are they going to be different from what I see?’ And he said, ‘I’m just going to see what they give me on the monitor.’ That was his response. So it’s not as if there’s a camera, I guess. If there was, he’d have said, ‘there was one.’ So as the way it’s setup now, it’s all fine and dandy. Basically what they get to challenge is if you’ve got a situation like last year where the thing bounces off the cross bar or hits the little machine that’s there. Then you get it. Otherwise, it’s ineffective. The challenges don’t mean anything . . .

"I thought maybe there was something…because I didn’t think it was good, to be honest with you. I wanted to hear what he had to say coming over. That’s why I also thought that coming over if he said, ‘You can’t challenge it because it was above the [upright].’ I was going to say, ‘Well then I get my challenge back.’ But he says, ‘No, you’re not going to get your challenge back.’"

FRANK GORE
On the 4th quarter play-calling: "You know, we’ve just got to finish. I’m not the coach and I don’t make the calls. The Eagles made big plays. We made mistakes and we lost the game. Our coach did what he thought was the best thing for us to get a first down and move the ball. We made mistakes toward the end. They made big plays and they won the game."

"We just need to keep playing and having fun, and keep playing hard, like every play is our last. We didn’t. We got ahead and we got comfortable. The Eagles played great defense and made great plays. They turned the game around and they won."

J.T. O'SULLIVAN
On Frank Gore being taken out of the game plan in the 4th quarter: "I believe whatever play Coach Martz calls is the best play for our offense. We were trying to move the ball and be aggressive. He is going to call the play that he feels is going to be the most successful."

RAY MCDONALD
On the weak pass rush: "The Eagles, they max-protect and they run that west coast offense. [Donovan McNabb] gets the ball out of there pretty quick and with this defensive line it’s kind of hard to get a rush when they max-protect, especially when he gets it out of there quick. At times we did get pressure, but for the most part we didn’t make the plays that we needed to."

I think Gore and JTO's comments seem sufficiently forced to indicate a little bit of frustration in regards to the play-calling.  Of course, I could be reading too much into this, but I don't think I'm completely off-point.  All in all, they better be frustrated by the late game performance.

I really don't even know what to say.  The 49ers had a gigantic momentum shift at the end of the first half with a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown.  The 3rd quarter saw the 49ers put up 10 more points to take a 26-17 lead.  Things seemed well in hand as the 49ers were rolling.

Then the fourth quarter happened.  The 49ers managed one first down in the fourth quarter (the Morgan reception immediately preceding the next pick-6 INT).  The 4th quarter saw the Eagles score 23 points thanks in large part to starting field position on the 49ers 38, their own 49, 49ers 7 and 49ers 20.  That came via shanked punts, INTs and general crappy offense.

I want to do more insightful analysis but I'm too baffled by the hideous coaching.  I think my biggest problem is with the lack of Frank Gore when the team still had the lead.  However, there is plenty more to infuriate you.  A close second for me would be the two challenges Mike Nolan elected to take.  I don't think I've ever seen somebody challenge a field goal before.  Throw in yet another poor use of timeouts and it's just pure insanity.

While certain aspects of the game were certainly impressive, nothing can wash out the taste of what might be the most poorly coached quarter EVER. 

I really don't feel like wasting my time with analysis right now.  This coaching staff doesn't deserve it.  Rather, I'll just leave you with shlecko's graphic from the end of the game.  I think it's the most fitting.

  vs. 

Alright, the Eagles just scored to cut the lead to 26-24.  Time for the offense AND defense to step it up.  This game is there for the taking and the 49ers need to close things out NOW.

  vs. 

Date: October 12, 2008
Time: 1:15pm PST
Location: Bill Walsh Field @ Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA
Records: 49ers (2-3) Eagles (2-3)
Bodoglife.com Spread: 49ers +5; Over/Under 42.5; Money Line: 49ers +175, Eagles -210 - I'll go 49ers and the under. 
Weather: 62°, 0% chance of showers, Wind N 11mph
TV Broadcast: FOX - Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan, Chris Myers
Radio: 107.7 The Bone, 680/1050 KNBR - Joe Starkey, Gary Plummer, Rod Brooks
Spanish Radio: KIQI 1010-AM, KATD 990-AM - Fernando Arias and Ambrosio Rico
Eagles Coverage: Bleeding Green Nation

Streaming Video Options

Sports Bar Thread

Week 6 Prediction Games - If you forgot to pick any of the games, you can always just predict the later ones to get any points you can.  If you miss all of today's you can just pick MNF if you want.

Injuries
49ers: Probable - SS Michael Lewis; Questionable - LB Roderick Green; Doubtful - LB Manny Lawson; Out - CB Shawntae Spencer, OT Jonas Jennings

Eagles: Probable - DE Victor Abiamiri, S Quintin Demps, DE Darren Howard, RB Dan Klecko, QB Donovan McNabb, TE L.J. Smith; Questionable - WR Kevin Curtis, DE Juqua Parker; Out - G Shawn Andrews, S J.R. Reed, RB Brian Westbrook, WR Reggie Brown

Inactives
49ers: QB Jamie Martin, CB Reggie Smith, CB Shawntae Spencer, LB Roderick Green, LB Ahmad Brooks, C Cody Wallace, T Jonas Jennings, LB Manny Lawson.

Eagles: QB A.J. Feeley, S J.R. Reed, RB Brian Westbrook, DE Bryan Smith, G Shawn Andrews, G Mike McGlynn, WR Kevin Curtis, WR Reggie Brown.

And so we reach another important game for the 49ers.  It doesn't get any easier in the coming weeks, so holding serve at home would be huge.  Who cares if it ends up an ugly win...just get a win.

As much as I would like to profusely apologize for picking such tough games last week I did pretty awful in picking.  I think that's punishment enough. I don't expect it to get much easier this week.  Of course the two nationally televised games suddenly aren't exactly worth televising.  Anybody have the cajones to pick Cleveland?  If I'm one of the leaders maybe it's worth it on the off chance they pull the upset (ooops, I'm giving away strategy!)

EDITOR'S NOTE 11:45: And we've got ourselves a logo.  Thanks again to wjackalope for giving us yet another money logo.

49ers vs. Philadelphia - Sunday 10/12 1:15pm

New England @ San Diego - Sunday 10/12 NBC Game 5:15pm

NY Giants @ Cleveland - Monday 10/13 5:30pm

Chicago @ Atlanta - Sunday 10/12 10:00am

Green Bay @ Seattle - Sunday 10/12 1:15pm

Dallas @ Arizona - Sunday 10/12 1:15pm

I think the 3 rotating games (the non SF, non-SNF and non-MNF matchups) are rather difficult.  The Falcons are rolling along, surprising just about everybody.  Seattle got blasted last week, but maybe they just needed some time to get the chemistry back with the healthy receivers?  And Arizona is coming off an upset of the Bills.  Can they pull it off for the second straight week?  I really hope not.

Also, anybody have an idea for a better name than "The Prediction Game."  Sounds pretty lame to me.  Or maybe it's a simple game that doesn't need to be complicated by some crazy-ass name.

We're back for four downs on the Eagles defense with Jason from Bleeding Green Nation.  The Eagles have a perenially solid defense that flys under the radar.  Given the 49ers offensive struggles we'll have to keep an eye on the Eagles defense.

NN: Mike Nolan was praising Jim Johnson in his Wednesday press conference.  Is there anything in particular we should know about the scheme Johnson brings?  Will we see a lot of exotic blitzes or is the defensive line sufficiently strong enough to create enough pressure?

BGN: Whether the front 4 is getting pressure or not Jim Johnson is likely to bring pressure from everywhere. It's basically his MO, especially when facing a young QB. I fully expect him to send blitzers from every which we he can in an attempt to confuse O'Sullivan.

NN: Given the hefty contract Asante Samuel received, expectations were certainly high.  How has he fared so far?  Isaac Bruce has been the best wide receiver threat so far, so will we see Samuel on Bruce all day or just whomever is on his side of the field?

BGN: Samuel has a couple of interceptions... so far so good with him. It's kinda hard to gauge the impact of a corner in just a few games. I doubt you'll see him on Issac Bruce all day, generally the Eagles don't play matchups with DBs and WRs. They tend to leave their corners covering one side of the field. So depending on where Bruce lines up he could see Samuel, Sheppard, or Brown.

NN: In your Q&A with Hogs Haven the issue of RB and TE coverage was brought up.  The Eagles seem to be struggling in that department.  Given that, how do you see the Eagles trying to stop Frank Gore in both the rushing and passing games?

BGN: I think our struggles against TEs and RBs in coverage is a by product of the blitz. When teams have had success with those guys, it's been on screens and quick dumps that are designed to counter act the Eagles blitz. So my only hope is that when they do blitz, they blitz smart and always be watching for the screen.

As for stopping Gore on the ground... until last week the Eagles hadn't let a team rush for more than around 70 yards. Their run d against some good backs(Steven jackson, Forte, Barber, Willie parker) was stifiling... but last week Clinton Portis racked up 140 yards on us... So many of us are certainly paying special attention to what they do against Gore this weekend. What is the real Eagles D? The one who was leading the NFL in rush defense over the first 4 weeks, or the one we saw last week? I think the important thing will be to seal off the edges. Even the Redskins, who ran all over us, weren't able to get much up the middle where the Eagles are very solid. When they've struggled it's been on the edges. If the 49er TEs and OTs are able to seal off the Eagles LBs on the edges Gore could have big day.

NN: In the recent past the Eagles defense always seems to be solid without getting a lot of media attention.  Aside from Brian Dawkins, Asante Samuel and maybe Sheldon Brown my knowledge of the Eagles defense is rather limited.  Is there one guy, aside from those three who could make a big impact this Sunday?

I'll say Stewart Bradley. He was a 3rd round pick out of Nebrask last year and won the starting middle linebacker job this year. So far he's really been exceeding our expectations. He's a big, fast run stopping guy in the middle and is really growing into one of those field generals you love to see as and anchor of your defense. If Frank Gore has a bad day on Sunday, it'll probably be in large part to Stewart Bradley.

Thanks again to Bleeding Green Nation.  The Eagles will definitely be a tough opponent.  While this is anything but a guaranteed win, the 49ers really need to avoid a long losing streak right now.

A few years back, the Eagles were trailing a game by 10 points with under 2 minutes to play.  The offense drove down the field to score a touchdown to cut the lead to 3.  The problem?  Time had either expired or there was less than 10 seconds to go with no timeouts.  Either way, it would have made more sense to get inside the 20 and kick a field goal since you needed 2 scores no matter what.  It seems like teams are always screwing this up, while you or I no the obvious answer via Madden.

Anyways, the Sports Guy posted a mailbag column today, and I realize what most of us think of him in terms of his football analysis.  I try to take him with a grain of salt and just try to be entertained.  However, he brought up a good point in one question that I wanted to flesh out here:

Q: On behalf of every Eagles fan, can you please be the one media guy who doesn't suck up to Andy Reid and point out all the reasons why he sucks and needs to either resign or start smoking? The man either needs more oxygen or more nicotine. Thanks in advance.
-- Randy, South Philly

SG: I'd be delighted! Reid is like Art Shell with a better PR staff. He makes terrible decisions at the worst possible times. His players make boneheaded mistakes (like the DeSean Jackson spike, or McNabb's pathetic eight-minute drill in Super Bowl XXXIX) and nobody ever blames him. He doesn't seem to understand the strengths and weaknesses of his players even remotely, as we witness every week when poor David Akers is forced to try 50-yard field goals with a 43-yard leg and their crappy offensive line is forced to keep ramming it down someone's throat on third-and-1. His clock management has always been horrendous -- always -- even back when the Eagles were going to the NFC title game every year.

Here's how much Reid has slipped as an NFL coach: During the Skins-Eagles game, Antwaan Randle-El threw an option pass TD that Reid challenged even though Randle-El was clearly behind the line. There was no debate. I watched the play live and didn't even know what Reid was challenging until Troy Aikman guessed it correctly. ("You're exactly right, Troy!") So we wasted two minutes watching replays of Randle-El throwing the pass from two yards behind the line of scrimmage, then Philly eventually losing a timeout on one of the five dumbest challenges of this decade. And I was sitting there thinking that we needed some sort of "Coaching Boners" stat to capture the following things …

1. Calling for inane challenges that have no chance of getting overturned.

2. Horrendous goal-line plays that cause fans to start booing even as the ball-carrier is getting tackled.

3. Egregious and indefensible brain-farts by a player.

4. Any needlessly counterproductive decision along the lines of "David Akers couldn't make a field goal of more than 50 yards right now unless we injected him with enough cocaine, Red Bull and HGH to kill a thoroughbred horse, but screw it, we're trying this 52-yarder anyway."

5. Screwing up the clock management in the "Two minutes to go and we need two scores" scenario.

6. Screwing up your three timeouts when there is less than four minutes left, you're trailing and you need to save as many seconds as possible.

When you think about it, we could easily keep track of those six categories. And if we did, we'd find that Andy Reid has doubled the total of any other coach for 2008 coaching boners through five weeks. I am convinced.

Personally I think Mike Nolan could challenge Andy Reid in some of the coaching miscues.  The point being, what do people think Andy Reid brings to the table?  Managers/head coaches in each sport have different responsibilities that make some jobs harder and some jobs easier.  WIth an offensive and defensive coordinator already in place, as well as a sort of eye in the sky up in the coordinators' booth to tell you about potential challenges, can an NFL head coach really have all that much impact on the game, aside from calling timeouts? 

I think the areas a head coach primarily affects on game day are 1) down 10 with 2 minutes left is one time and 2) sometimes use of timeouts.  Of course that list rises with the more responsibility a coach has (e.g. head coach acting as offensive coordinator).  However, if there is a separate OC and DC, can you blame the head coach for calling a certain play on 3rd and 1?  Is a head coach to blame for his rookie wide receiver spiking the ball a yard from the end zone?  I can see some of the blame Reid should have received for that joke of a 4th quarter drive in the Super Bowl, but even then McNabb probably could have hurried things up a little bit as a veteran QB.

So what do you think?  How overrated or underrated (or I guess plain rated) is the NFL head coach?