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Niners made personnel blunders
Posted: Wednesday November 17, 1999 08:51 AM
No team has made as many personnel blunders this season as the 3-6 49ers. For starters, the team patched together a weak line in front of quarterback Steve Young, who still has not recovered from the concussion he suffered on Sept. 27. With backups Jeff Garcia and Steve Stenstrom running the offense, the Niners have failed to score a touchdown on offense in three straight games for the first time in franchise history. The team embarrassed itself by signing Lawrence Phillips and wasted a $1.2 million signing bonus on Charles Haley who has gone three games without a tackle and six games without a sack. And there's even more bad news for the Niners: On Sunday a holding call ended linebacker Lee Woodall's 88-game streak of not being flagged for a penalty. Ross's decision boneheadedJust how boneheaded was Bobby Ross's decision to go for a two-point conversion late in the game against the Cardinals? Well, his explanation that his team was banged up and in no shape to try and win in overtime was later disputed by several of his players. And even more disturbing was the play that was called. Quarterback Gus Frerotte is not much of a scrambler and until the play broke down, the Lions had only one receiver in the end zone. Head coach a lateral move for Capers?Jacksonville defensive coordinator Dom Capers is already at the top of most lists should there be a coaching change in Cincinnati or New Orleans. But, according to his players, that might be just a lateral move for Capers. Safety Donovin Darius told me the Jaguars have two head coaches this year. "Coach [Tom] Coughlin on offense and coach Capers on defense." Reasons for bad playHere are some quick explanations for the bad play of the Steelers, the Panthers and the Broncos: Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart has a quarterback rating of 41.3 in Three Rivers Stadium; Panthers defensive tackle Sean Gilbert has one more interception than cornerback Eric Davis; and the Broncos line now features two seventh-round draft picks, a 10th rounder and an undrafted free agent. Banged up at homeAnd finally, Oakland coach Jon Gruden was sporting a shiner this week after suffering what he called a "goal-line" situation at home. It seems Gruden's son, Jon II, head-butted his old man on fourth-and-inches while playing football at home. Said Gruden "I guess it made him mad when I stuffed him on third-and-goal." Sports Illustrated staff writer David Fleming covers the NFL and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated.
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