49ers Blog and Q&A

The battle between the 49ers and Giants rages on. In a meeting room of the Indianapolis JW Marriott on Saturday, 44 NFL writers from around the country will debate which of 15 modern-day Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists deserve a bust in the hall. Two of the most recognizable names: former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. and Bill Parcells, the former Giants coach.

The problem is that neither man played in the NFL, and getting a single non-player - much less two - into a hall-of-fame class is difficult. One voter predicted Friday that either Parcells or DeBartolo would have to be eliminated in the first round of voting or they would end up cancelling each other out in the final vote. Another said that DeBartolo's chances are "probably better than 50-50." Others are more skeptical.

Adding to the debate is a provincial split that pits West Coast voters who favor DeBartolo against East Coast voters who will side with Parcells.

Parcells, who compiled a 183-138-1 record as head coach, was the first coach to take four separate teams to the playoffs, and he won two Super Bowls with the Giants. Parcells also was a finalist in 2001 and 2002 but was not selected because voters suspected - correctly - that his retirement at the time would not last.

This is the first time that DeBartolo, the 49ers' owner from 1977-2000, is a finalist, and thus the first time that voters will debate his candidacy. The argument against him is threefold, according to voters.

The NFL is trading in shoulder pads and chin straps for tuxedos and cummerbunds Saturday. It used to be that the league's biggest awards were announced with a series of press releases.

This year, however, the NFL has gone Hollywood with an Oscars-like award show. Alec Baldwin - in an episode of "30 Rock," his character was disappointed to learn he owned the Buffalo Bills -- will host. The show will be taped Saturday night in Indianapolis and will run from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. simultaneously on NBC and NFL Network.

Several 49ers, including quarterback Alex Smith, linebackers NaVorro Bowman, Aldon Smith and Patrick Willis, and tight end Vernon Davis are expected to attend. Here are the main awards, which are chosen by The Associated Press.

Most Valuable Player
Top candidates: Drew Brees, New Orleans; Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay; Tom Brady, New England.
Lowdown: The awards are for the regular season, so Rodgers' flameout in the divisional round of the playoffs should not count. That Brees broke Dan Marino's single-season yardage record is likely to ring loudly in voters' minds. But the fact that Rodgers followed up a Super Bowl title with a one-loss season is the bigger feat. The last player other than a quarterback or running back to win this award - Lawrence Taylor in 1986.
Who should win: Rodgers
Who will win: Brees

Walls are coming down and funds are coming in in preparation for the 49ers' billion-dollar stadium in Santa Clara. Team President Jed York announced, via Twitter, that the NFL had given the green light for $200 million to be spent toward the 49ers' 68,000-seat venue, which will be ready before the 2015 season and perhaps a year earlier.

"With the NFL's muscle now behind the new stadium, we are moving forward," York said in a statement. "I expect an official ground-breaking ceremony very soon. Get your hard hats ready; we are embarking on the path to the next generation of 49ers football."

The 49ers' facility is the first to be funded under a new loan program that came about as part of the new collective bargaining agreement last year. Under the old program, teams received $150 million in loans.

In early December, the team secured $850 million in loans from Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bank and Bank of America. That money is expected to be repaid from revenue generated by ticket sales, suite sales, sponsorships and naming-rights deals. In addition, the city of Santa Clara's redevelopment agency will contribute about $40 million. A hotel tax will add another $35 million.

Work already has begun on the project as surveyors have been busy measuring distances on the parking lot on which the stadium will be built. Earlier this week, a wall at the 49ers' current practice facility, which will be built into the new stadium, was demolished. Groundbreaking on the stadium is expected to begin later this year.

-- Matt Barrows

Shawntae Spencer is a good example of how two coaches can look at the same player and see something entirely different. In 2009, Spencer was the dark-horse winner of a three-way competition to be the 49ers' starting cornerback opposite Nate Clements. Observers figured the job either would go to Tarell Brown or Dre Bly. However, the defensive coordinator at the time, Greg Manusky, picked Spencer, who was returning from an ACL injury that year, based largely on his form, technique and knowledge of the defense.

Spencer started the next 32 games and was penciled in as the starter this past season until he suffered a hamstring injury early in training camp. He aggravated the injury after trying to come back too soon, then never was able to convince defensive coordinator Vic Fangio that he deserved to start. Spencer, who turns 30 this month, only was active for nine games this season and was inactive for both playoff games. He finished the season behind Carlos Rogers, Brown, Chris Culliver and Tramaine Brock on the depth chart.

The day after the season ended, Spencer sounded like a guy who believed he has played his last game in San Francisco. He is due to make $3.2 million in base salary alone in 2012 and is likely to be released and become a free agent just as Nate Clements was last season.

"I've been on that right corner since I've been here," Spencer said. "It's like seeing my lady with another guy." He said the best advice was from his brother, who picked up on the lady-with-another-man theme. "There's plenty of women out there," Spencer said.

Detroit has 20. So does Cincinnati and the New York Giants. The Rams have 21. All told, 479 players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins March 13.

Some of these players are likely to sign new deals with their current teams before March 13. Most will not. They will get to free agency and let the market determine their worth. Last year, in what was a lockout-abbreviated free agency period, the 49ers took a wait-and-see approach to free agency. With so many free agents on the market and little time to sign them, the 49ers bet that there would be bargains after the initial wave of free agency passed.

For the most part, they were right. Safety Dashon Goldson failed to get the big-money deal he was seeking and signed a one-year contract with San Francisco. Cornerback Carlos Rogers also signed for what turned out to be a bargain-basement one-year deal for $4.25 million. The 49ers decided not to outbid the Giants for center David Baas' services, and they ended up getting Jonathan Goodwin instead. Baas signed a five-year deal for $27.5 million; Goodwin's deal is three years for $10.9 million.

The one maneuver that failed was wide receiver. The 49ers signed Braylon Edwards for what seemed like a pittance -- $1 million in base salary -- at the time. Edwards, however, was cut late in the season without ever scoring a touchdown, and the 49ers must sign multiple players at that position this offseason. (More on that below).

The 49ers began the 2011 season with a power-running offense, one that leaned heavily on workhorse tailback, Frank Gore. At the midpoint of the season, however, something changed. Gore became less of a focal point, and the 49ers went from a team that ran more than it threw to one that called 33 pass plays against 24 run plays in the NFC Championship game. That seemed odd, especially for a team that was built for power football in December and January and for an offensive unit whose most valuable weapon for years had been its running back.

The explanation is partly due to the way defenses played the 49ers - they decided that San Francisco's passing game was the lesser of the two evils. And that itself is a very good reason for the team to spend a good chunk of its offseason capital bolstering the passing game with pass catchers.

But it also was because of Gore. He did not suffer a serious injury like he did in 2010 when he broke his hip. But his heavy workload at the beginning of the season left him with an array of nagging, smaller injuries by midseason that, according to a source with knowledge of Gore's condition, kept him from shouldering the same load he did at the beginning of the season.

As Gore's workload began to wane over the second half of the season, observers figured the 49ers were saving him for the playoffs, and that his role would return to normal in January. That didn't happen. Gore, who will turn 29 in May, averaged nearly 20 carries over the first half of the season. He averaged 15 in the second half and the playoffs.

When Gore had the ball in his hands, he seemed to fine. But he often removed himself from games at the end of the season and in the playoffs. During a critical fourth-quarter drive against the Giants in which the 49ers ground attack appeared to be gaining the advantage against the New York defense, it was third-string runner Anthony Dixon who entered the game. He was tripped up on a potentially big run on 2nd and 4, and ended up gaining three yards. On third and 1, he was stopped for no gain.

Aldon Smith was observed swerving in and out of lanes on the MacArthur Causeway in Miami Beach before being pulled over at 4:33 a.m. Saturday, a police spokesman said. Smith was taken to the Miami Beach Police Station where he was given two beathalyzer tests to determine his blood-alcohol level. The first was .194. The second was .176. The legal limit in Florida is .08.

According to the police report, other drivers had to brake abruptly to avoid hitting the red Mercedes Benz Smith, 22, was driving as he left the City of Miami Beach on the causeway. The officer who wrote the report said he turned on his emergency lights but Smith did not repond. The officer then turned on his sirens, at which point Smith pulled over, according to the report.

The arresting officer wrote in the report that Smith acknowledged having a "couple drinks" but that he was ok to drive and was the "designated driver." Smith was given a field sobriety test. He was then taken to the police station, according to the report, charged with DUI and transported to a Miami-Dade County correctional facility where he spent 3 1/2 hours before posting a $1,000 bond and being released.

Smith led all rookies during the regular season with 14 sacks, and he added two more in the playoffs. He set a rookie franchise record for sacks in a season and came within a half sack of Jevon Kearse's NFL record for rookies that was set in 1999.

The No. 7 overall pick in the draft twice was the league's defensive rookie of the month this past season, and he is a candidate for defensive rookie of the year, an award that will be announced Saturday. Smith has been invited to attend the awards ceremony, which will be televised for the first time.

Author's note** Unfortunately, the information about Smith's arrest came in piecemeal, first from the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections and then from the Miami Beach Police Department. There is no intent to pick on Smith by revisiting the arrest. Instead, the intent is to provide the pertinent information.

-- Matt Barrows

Aldon Smith, the 49ers' first-round draft pick and a candidate for defensive rookie of the year, was arrested on charges on driving under the influence in Miami Beach early Saturday morning. According to a Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitations spokeswoman, Smith was arrested at 4:33 a.m. and was booked into the county jail at 9:18 a.m. He posted a $1,000 cash bond and was released at 12:42 p.m.

A Miami Beach police spokesman was not able to provide any information about the arrest.

Smith, 22, led all rookies during the regular season with 14 sacks, and he added two more in the playoffs. He set a rookie franchise record for sacks in a season and came within a half sack of Jevon Kearse's NFL record for rookies that was set in 1999.

The No. 7 overall pick in the draft twice was the league's defensive rookie of the month this past season, and he is a candidate for defensive rookie of the year, an award that will be announced next week. Smith is from Missouri and played at the University of Missouri.

The 49ers issued a statement Saturday afternoon: "The 49ers are aware of the recent matter involving Aldon Smith. We take these issues very seriously but will reserve further comment at this time, as this is an ongoing legal matter.The 49ers will continue to gather the facts and monitor the developments closely."

Another 49ers defender, defensive end Ray McDonald, was arrested for DUI last year after being clocked at 94 mph on Interstate 280. In 2005 coach Jim Harbaugh was arrested on DUI charges in Encinitas, Ca. while the head coach at the University of San Diego. He later pled guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving, was given three years probation and fined $1,300.

-- Matt Barrows

All season long the 49ers relied on a simple formula: takeaways + excellent defense + cautious offense = wins. The equation proved sound throughout 2011 and got them within a step of the Super Bowl.

But in the NFC Championship game, the formula failed. The 49ers nailed the defensive part of it - Justin Smith and company were again relentless in the second half. And the offense committed no turnovers, took the lead in the third quarter and tied it in the fourth. It was the takeaway portion that didn't come through. Going in to the game, the 49ers had forced a league-high 43 turnovers. Against the Giants, they had zero, only the second time in 18 games that had occurred.

But that's the very nature of takeaways. They are fluky - pouring in like a monsoon at one moment and then drying up like the Gobi Desert the next. The 49ers led the league with a +28 turnover differential this year. The next highest differential in franchise history -- +22 in 1981 - was followed by a -8 differential in 1982. Which is to say that while the 49ers, and every other team for that matter, will shoot for another banner year in takeaways in 2012, it can't be counted on and shouldn't be such a crucial component of the team's winning formula

History shows (see below) that teams rarely duplicate their takeaway success from one year to the next. It also should be noted that the two 49ers players directly responsible for the most takeaways - cornerback Carlos Rogers and safety Dashon Goldson - are both free agents and may not be back.

The difference in the post-game rhetoric about Eli Manning and Alex Smith is stark. As Manning heads to the Super Bowl to face Tom Brady and the Patriots, the talk again is where Manning falls in the pantheon of elite quarterbacks and whether he and Brady are on the same plane. If Manning wins, he'll have one more Super Bowl title than brother, Peyton, who is generally considered the best quarterback in the game.

Smith, meanwhile, has been vilified for being unable to propel his team to a single point or even a meaningful first down when the 49ers desperately needed one in the fourth quarter and in overtime. All of the goodwill he received following the 49ers' win over the Saints has vanished.

After re-watching Sunday's game, however, the difference between the two quarterbacks from the second half onward was miniscule. Both defenses became dominant as the game went on and made things extremely difficult for the quarterbacks. No one was open. Manning's second half and overtime statistics: 16-31 (51.6 percent) for 135 yards and a touchdown. Smith's: 10-19 (52.6 percent) for 117 yards and a touchdown. Manning was sacked four times in the second half and overtime; Smith was sacked three times. The 49ers converted only once on third down in the second half and overtime. The Giants converted only twice.

It should be noted that Smith also rushed six times in the game for 42 yards. Manning was credited with one run for -2 yards. Both of the Giants' second-half scores followed turnovers by return man Kyle Williams and started deep in San Francisco territory. The 49ers didn't have any takeaways in the game, although Manning had two poorly thrown passes that should have been intercepted but instead fell to the ground when 49ers defensive backs ran into each other.