The 49ers Are Who We Thought They Were

The Niners game back down to earth after their resounding 28-0 victory over the Rams, after having to travel to Carolina to play a pissed off panthers team. The game began on a positive note, with a tipped pass by Bowman that ended up in Bethea hands for an INT. In fact the score was a managble 17-10 Carolina at the half.

Then, both teams remembered who they were: the Panthers, a Super Bowl team with the MVP at Qb and a top 3 defense, and the Niners, a bottom 5 team with a mediocre QB and no offensive weapons outside of Carlos Hyde. The Panthers proceeded to go on a 14-0 run in the 3rd quarter to absolutely blow the game open, to where the only question left in the 4th was would the 49ers cover 13.5, and of course, they did not.

Here's the good news: this team can actually score the ball. Against teams good and bad, this 49ers team is getting the ball in the end zone, that 75 yard pass from Gabbert to McDonald was reminiscent of the playoff pass to Vernon Davis that got us passed the Saints to the NFC championship game.

While our total yards barly capping off over 300 isn't great, 28 and 27 points two weeks in a row is a huge improvement from last year.

Time for the bad news: The 49ers have NO business being on the same field as the Panthers. The whole of Niner nation was riding high after the Shelacking we delivered to the Rams, were brought down to earth as the Carolinia Offense dropped 529 yards on their supposedly stout defense. I still have faith in the front 7, but the secondary needs some serious upgrades after getting 353 yards dropped on them through the air. More than that, you won't be many teams the Niners can beat giving up 46 points against. The offense also looked stagnant in the second half, as Blaine Gabbert once again showed he is not the answer at QB, over throwing receivers all over the field, bring the play Colin Kaepernick crowd out on Twitter. Neither of them are truly the answer at QB, as both players have major issues hitting open receivers. I am surprised Kaep is not getting more of a look, especially with the advantages a true dual threat QB has in a Chip Kelly system. Maybe the answer to that is in my previous sentence a Chip Kelly system. Maybe his old habits are hard to break (Riley Cooper), and so we won't see Kap play. Either way, this game was a reality check to those fans who got hyped on the season last week. The 3 to 5 win season is right back on track.

Think I'm wrong? Let me know @lconley55
-CC