I don't get to see the browns play much, bur Rubin might be the best kept secret in the NFL. He is like a rock in the middle of the field. With taylor and jackson the browns are solid up the middle, especially against the run.

It might not have seemed like it, but the browns did a pretty good job of containing justin smith. The running game wasn't working for teh browns, but that is more a product of the 9ers having a stout run d.

The halftine defensive adjustments were on point. This was the most meat and potatoes game plan I have seen from the 9ers this year, the running game had variety as usual, but the passing game was basically slant, slant, streak.

@texas9erfan said:

LOL! Tell me about it.

I'm so sick of the BS coming from Niner fans right now, I'm almost... ALMOST... ready to jump on board the Houston Texans bandwagon. After 30ish years of Niner fandom that would be a hard thing to do. But hey, at least I'm not considering the COWBOYS!!

Then go root for who ever the hell you want. You are not rooting for the posts from the fans you read on the internetz, you root for the football team.

When I was a young lad at the ripe old age of six I was given a choice. I could root for the raiders like my father or the 9ers like my grandfather.

My dad told me how the raders were the biggest, the baddest, and the fastest team in the NFL. They were winners and changed the game. They would even cheat if it helped them win. They were the meanest team in the NFL. The team, and their fans, would destroy the weak without remorse, they would do whatever it took to win, and they won because of it.

Then my grandpa talked to me. The told me that even if you were not the biggest or the fastest, the will to win is all that mattered. There is a difference between being mean and being tough. Being mean is hitting a guy when he is not expecting it out of bounds like a coward, being tough is getting your finger cut off just to play in a football game, because it helps the team win.

Fast forward twenty-two years later, I was playing catch with a buddy who had a cannon for an arm. I was trying to catch a football, and it jammed my pinky. It was fractured down the center. I was fortunate to have it popped back into place, but for the rest of my life it will be deformed. Every time I look down at my right hand and see my disfigured pinky it reminds me of the class and toughness the 49ers embody.

That is what being a 49er fan is all about. It is about class and toughness. It is a lifetime commitment reguardless of what happens, it is about standing for the ideals that the organization stands for. It is about giving three hours, 16-20 sundays per year to your favorite team reguardless of what happens. If you are not on board for the commitment it takes to be a true fan then get the xxxx out of here. Winning with class is a very big part of the 9er way, and somthing you obviously don't understand.

I would much rather congratulate the other team on their effort than gloat about a win....

Ok, I know when somebody goes over the top, it is commonplace to not only defend your team, but in doing so, downgrade the other team. That being said, this defence is clearly better than decient. They are top 5 in the NFL at least.

Yards are not what wins games, points win games. Holding teams to the fewest possible points is the main objective, not holding them to the fewest yards.

Here are some stats on what the 9ers have been doing on defence:

2nd in points per game

10th in YPA against the pass. So despite giving up the 6th most yards in the passing game, the 49ers are still making teams work for that yardage.

5th in YPA against the run, and 2nd in YPG.

3rd in third down conversion percentage

1st in red zone defence, and are the only team to not give up a rushing TD in the red-zone.

Justin Smith

The browns have played Dalton, Collins (worse than painter), Henne, Hasselback, Camboller, and whithurst.

Here are their YPG numbers:

Hasselback (13th)

Dalton (23rd)

Henne (24th)

campbell (27th)

Collins (33rd)

Whitehurst (35th)

Naturally the browns passing yardage is going to have pretty good numbers compared to the rest of the NFL, but it says just as much about the teams they have played as it does their performance against the pass. In that situation, if the browns have an average passing defence, their raw numbers should be top five.

By comparison the 49ers have played

Jackson (25),

Dalton (23),

Vick(11),

Stafford(9),

Freeman(13),

Romo (6).

The 9ers pass defence raw numbers have been inflated by playing high yardage quarterbacks. On top of that passing yardage numbers are the single chink in what is otherwise a very strong over-all resume. More importantly, those yards are not leading to points, which is what really matters.

Somebody mentioned the 9ers using walker because they are thin at reciever. That is simply not the case. Walker is a viable weapon that can create a mis-match with linebackers, cornerbacks, and saftys alike. If the 9ers used their speedy slot reciever there to run the slant he is not able to drag the dude into the end-zone the way walked did. He can block, run and catch. He will line up all over the field, including in the slot.

I am sure alex smith's reputation preceeds him, and ask any niner fan, for his first six years I have been one of his biggest critics. But he is playing well. His ball placement is very good, he is accurate, effecient, and compliments the running game very well. Most importantly he has made the timely plays when the team needed him to make a throw. Being clutch counts for a lot, and alex has been very clutch this year. His yardage numbers are not great, but that is because he is not throwing a lot of passes, and he hasn't needed to. When the 9ers were down at half time against the eagles, he came out slinging the ball and ended up with 290 yards in a come from behind victory.

I am certainly an any given sunday type of guy, but the 9ers have a pretty clear edge going into this game IMO.