little survey on next week's Rams/49ers game

[Darkiller]

Based on what you saw on opening Week-end with the 49ers trouncing the Bears 49-7 and the Rams losing in NY to the Giants with Warner having a concussion :

what's you prodnostic for next sunday's divisional showdown 49ers AT Rams ???

[vtbub]

Niners

[WSUCougar]

I'm sure I'll be in the minority, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rams swat the Niners right out of town. And that's not homerism (I am no Rams fan). The Niners looked great, but the Bears are one of the weakest teams in the NFL. The Rams looked lousy but were still in the game against one of the NFC's better teams. When Warner got some protection and held onto the damn ball, he was throwing some lasers. His health is an obvious question mark, and Faulk's sluggish performance raises another big one. But if those questions are answered (at least to some degree), the Rams are the better team, and they will be playing at home after a rather humiliating performance.

I wouldn't want to be the Niners coming into the hornet's nest.

[TLK]

Niners and the Niners will win big.... maybe by 14

[Butter]

If SF comes out well-prepared, they should win. But if they come out sloppy like everyone sometimes will, they will get beat by Bulger... but Warner is probably at the tail end of a flame-out, sadly. He had a couple of great years, but man I think he's had it.

[Bee]

I'd give a slight nod to the Rams, but it could go either way.

[Radii]

Is Bulger starting or Warner? I'll base my response totally on the answer to that question.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Radii
Is Bulger starting or Warner? I'll base my response totally on the answer to that question.

me too. I think if Warner starts, the Rams get crushed and go into "mailing in the rest of the season" mode. I think Bulger can save their season.

I think Warner is finished.

[TroyF]

You'll have to read the Troy and Chief weekly prediction show. :) As of now, I have a pretty strong feeling about this game.

TroyF

[JeeberD]

Niners

[Vince]

I think that the Niners are going to win...but it's going to be a LOT closer than many people think. After watching the Niners paste a ridiculously weak Bear squad, and seeing Warner fumble the ball 25 times, it seems that a lot of people expect the Niners to stomp the Rams. It's already been shown that Warner was concussed earlier in the game, and I'd bet that has a lot to do with his poor production. I still think, however, that the Rams need to start Bulger if they want to win next week.

[panerd]

I am not sure why Warner is getting the complete blame for our shoddy offensive line. Obviosuly he should have thrown the ball away in the endzone in the first half, but on most of the other sacks and fumbles he had no time to do anything. I am not sure Bulger would react any quicker than Warner did.

[WSUCougar]

While I agree with you, panerd, about the poor overall play of the offensive line, what struck me about Warner's performance was his obvious lack of awareness. For a guy who emerged from the Arena League and made his name by rapidly reading defenses and unleashing the ball quickly, he often looked lost out there. Holding onto the ball too long is a QB's mortal sin in the NFL, and he did it with regularity against the Giants.

Now whether this was symptomatic of the concussion or something else remains to be seen.

[Radii]

Originally posted by panerd
I am not sure why Warner is getting the complete blame for our shoddy offensive line. Obviosuly he should have thrown the ball away in the endzone in the first half, but on most of the other sacks and fumbles he had no time to do anything. I am not sure Bulger would react any quicker than Warner did.

I think yesterday was just a continuation of last season for Warner. His career is over. I said this last year in week 2 or 3, and I have never looked back from that statement. The Rams made a horrible mistake from every possible perspective by ponying up the $6 million during the offseasno to keep Warner around, and they make it worse every week they keep Bulger on the sidelines.

That being said, if Martz refuses to give the ball to MArshall Faulk 25 times a game, I really don't know if it maters who the QB is.

[vtbub]

I can't give Warner that much of the blame, he should never been out there. The blame rides solely on Martz on this and not Kurt.

[primelord]

This is as good a place as any to dump my rant so here goes.

I find it funny that people are ready to toss in the towel for Warner so quickly. NFL fans are very fickle that way. Any time a player has a bad season the cries of his career are over come out almost immediately. Warner only played in 3 complete games last year when he was healthy. Yes he struggled in those games. However lets take a look at the teams he faced.

at Denver Broncos - #5 Total Defense
New York Giants - #10 Total Defense
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - #1 Total Defense
at Washington Redskins - #4 Total Defense
at Philadelphia Eagles - #6 Total Defense

So in all 5 games he faced top 10 defenses. 4 of them on the road. And 1 1/2 games were played with a broken throwing hand. I don't count the Dallas game because he was hurt in the 1st quarter, but even then Dallas had a solid defense too. So yes he should have played better, but people seem to forget facts to make it fit their argument. They are always quick to point out that he started out with 1 TD to 8 Int's. However either didn't see or are forgetting that 5 of those 8 Ints went off WR's hands and into the defense. They also forget that Torry Holt dropped 3 TD passes in the end zone.

And then he comes out and fumbles several times yesterday and again the cries come out. "See I told you he was over." Never mind the fact that with a concussion he was throwing lasers down the field to Bruce. Or that other than the funmbles he had an excellent day throwing the ball. There is no question he held the ball way too long on several plays, but with a concussion that all makes more sense.

So is it possible Kurt Warner will never be the same QB again? Sure I guess it is possible, but I have yet to see where the proof of that is.

And another one of my favorites is that Marshall Faulk needs to get 25 carries a game in order for the Rams to win. Of course he has never been a 25 carry a game back with the Rams. In 99 he only had one game all year where he had more than 25 carries. In his career with the Rams he has only had 11 games of 25 carries or more. Yes they need to get Marshall Faulk the ball more, but running the ball 30 times a game has never been the Rams style.

[panerd]

Well, Martz is going with Bulger so somebody disagrees with you.

[primelord]

Originally posted by panerd
Well, Martz is going with Bulger so somebody disagrees with you.

Well 1) They are only doing that until Warner gets medical clearance to play. If Bulger is going to have to start because Warner won't be ready it makes sense for Bulger to be taking all the 1st string snaps in practice. 2) I wasn't arguing that Bulger shouldn't be the starter this week. I was arguing that Warner's career isn't over. Or more accruately I haven't seen anything that tells me it's over. And 3) Martz doesn't even know when to kick a field gola so what the hell does he know? :)

[panerd]

Primelord-

I am in complete agreement, not the other way. I don't think we can win it all with Bulger, but have a chance with a healthy Warner. My post was more of a FYI (though I am sure you are getting the same overblown Saint Louis coverage I am) than a critisism of your post. I agree 100% with everything you said.

[Swaggs]

I have both Garcia and Warner in my fantasy league, so let's just hope for a shootout. :)

[tucker342]

gotta pick the 49ers...

[MIJB#19]

Amsterdam Admirals fans never root against Kurt Warner, he was the QB in the last winning season.
I'm all for the Rams (and maybe having Marshall Faulk on my fantasy team helps a bit.)

I wonder how big the loss of guard Tom Nutten is, really.
Nutten had been bodyguarding Warner since they played together in the NFL Europe 5 years ago.
Their careers have been a bit parallel until this preseason, Nutten announced his retirement a month ago (after siging for the Jets in free agency a few months earlier)...

[Sublime]

I'd have to say the Niners will win, not in a blowout, but not in a close game either....say 31-21. Faulk looked very "non-Faulkish" in the game, I mean Kevin Faulk looked more like Marshal than Marshall did. I think Faulk would have to have an excellent game for them to win, even if Bulger does do well.

[Travis]

Rams, and big, this could possibly be the worst week to face them as they have to know that their season could possibly hang in the balanace if they get smacked again. If the Niners can weather the early storm that the Rams are going to come out with, more power to them, but I'm just glad it's not my Hawks playing St. Louis this week, they're going to be a very desperate team and there's so much talent there it's scary.

That, and well, I've hated Garcia ever since he stepped in as Calgary's QB up here, so I always root for him to lose. Doesn't help T.O. is there either. Please Rams, smack them good!

[Franklinnoble]

Rams. Bulger gets the start, and this is a must-win game for St. Louis.

[Sharpieman]

I want Warner to start, because then the Rams will surely lose, but it looks like Bulger will get the start, so it makes a much tougher game for the niners. Primelord, I was something that would make me expect Warner's career is over, six straight losses, 14 fumbles in his last 4 games and he just doesn't look like the old Warner. This will be a close game, no doubt about it. And people underestimate this niners defense. Yes they played against a team with no offense. But last season before LB Jamie Winborn got hurt, he recorded 17 tackles in one game. This Linebacking corp of the Niners is the backbone of their defense. Also remember that the niners defense is built on speed, just for the rams. The Rams are not a smashmouth team and they will try to use their speed against the Niners, which works into the Niners plans. With all that said, the Niners have lost 7 of thier last 8 in St. Louis and I can't ever count out the Rams with Bulger at QB. My pick....Niners 31-27

[jander]

Maybe Warner is done, but come on...last week Favre throws like 4INTs and nobody is here saying he is done.

Maybe he has lost it, who knows. I still think they give him this season...maybe trade him to some team that needs a QB like the Bears. Maybe a change of scenery would do good too? Who knows..

As for fantasy, I made a mistake last week...I have Warner, Garcia, and Bulger (mainly if Warner did struggle I figured to pick him up). So anyways, I played Warner, as I didn't know what to expect from Garcia....BIG mistake there. Would have been better with Garcia. Now this week I am going with Garcia....so don't be suprised if the Rams light up the niners...hehe that's just my luck!!!

[Aesyrqwe]

Easy pick: Rams

This time around Rams have a qb whos not gonna fumble in the endzone. Hopefully they'll be smart enough to hand the ball off more as well..
As for the Niners, well, they played the Bears and won...

La De Frickin Dah

We all know the Bears suck, a good amount of points came off of turnovers CoughkordellCough.. Bear defense wasnt horribly bad, held them to what? Five field goals? Not the greatest, but we held them outa the endzone for the most part when we werent givin them the ball on the five..

Anywho My pick is the Rams over Niners 27-16

-Aes-