I remember it well and what is ignored by many was why Matt took over in 06, Kurt Warner was a turnover machine. He was brilliant in streaks and then fumble games and seasons away. Mccown had some good games prior to Warner and then more of the same. Warner could have 3-6 turnovers in a game and counter with 3-6 TD's, Same thing with the Rams or Giants.
I am not talking down Kurt Warner, He mastered the put maximum pressure on the defense style offense, GSOT or whatever. 9-7 got us to the playoffs but it was a balanced gameplan lead by Edge that got us through Seattle(112 rush attempts compared to 10 in the SB) , the playoffs and into the SB in 2008. A weak NFCW was good, but we were destroyed -straight up- passing like our hair was on fire in the 2nd half of 2008. We were and are the exception not the rule.
Matt Leinart and anybody with any sense, knew that turnovers were the dealbreaker, that everything great done by an offense, defense, special teams , FO and ownership can be destroyed with a fumble or interception. Monday Night Meltdown put color to it as well as any game in history. But we have a lot more examples than any other team, and are the most exciting team in footbal. We have the what the hell factor. For that Edge and Matt, Beanie to some degree were treated like punks and banished to the bench.
The simple fact remains, a balanced gameplan is safer than an ultra aggresive pressure passing offense. Every NFL game and season is more likely determined by negative play or penalty than by outstanding performance. Yea Beanie Wells' lost 4 fumbles in 3 years is a non topic-compared to QB and receivers fumbles and interceptions with Whiz's aggresive field flipping pressure offense.
The answer is a balancing act of both, max protections, well timed trick plays. The Niners played it close to vest and ate up our division and went to the NFCC game last year. Whiz has the experience under Cower in Pittsburg, But has went from 1st in rushing attempts and balance to last in rushing attempts in Pittsburg to last with Cardinals over the last 5 years. Niners will do it again if we don't overcome, modify and adjust.
Somewhere in between is the answer and we move in that direction last year, Kolb , Skelton, Manning does not matter as much as these football fundementals. Yea defenses are adjusting to agressive pass game friendy rules, but if you want to keep your QB upright, Your Oline humming consistantly, your defense rested and your ST explosive..... FEED the the Bean and Rwill too.
from the read
There’s just one problem with Whisenhunt’s Leinart-Warner analogy: It isn’t true that when he was coaching those two he made it an even competition and let the best player play. In fact, in 2007
Whisenhunt started Leinart over Warner even though it was obvious that Warner was better than Leinart, solely because Leinart was a highly drafted 24-year-old and Whisenhunt believed the Cardinals were a rebuilding team who should stick with the younger player. Whisenhunt eventually saw the error of his ways, picked Warner over Leinart, and got to the Super Bowl with Warner leading the way, but that was only after he gave Leinart more chances than his play warranted.
The good news is that Whisenhunt seems to have learned a lesson from the Warner-Leinart competition when it comes to choosing a quarterback. The bad news is that neither Kolb nor Skelton has done anything to make anyone believe he can be anything like Kurt Warner.
. But I'd say we have as good a shot at landing Brees as we do of Kolb or Skelton being a SB QB...
