I mean, I might as well use the current JIC collage while I still can. If we jettison Bosa, I'll put Tomlinson in there.
So the Super Bowl has come and gone. Like most of you, I rooted against KC. The Niners really had plenty of chances to win that game. At the half, I saw a lot of people Tweeting that Kyle Shanahan would definitely learn his lesson and run the ball, particularly with McCaffrey. That was not the case and it really hurt their chances to put that game away. The Ravens spent the entire second half trying to score (during which KC didn't score a point) and they kept shooting themselves in the foot. That's the crazy thing about coaching. Reid is now seen as an all-time great, but does anyone remember when he was constantly getting blasted about his clock management even after he was fired in Philly? I've referred to an SI article after their loss in Foxoboro with Alex Smith. Does Shanahan deserve blame for their Super Bowl loss? It sure seems like it. The fact that his team wasn't aware of the new OT rules wasn't a good look, for sure. It was interesting that right after the game was over someone Tweeted that they can't accept any team that hasn't won a Lombardi getting off the list. Of course, FAITHFUL READER, that has been my primary obsession every Super Sunday since we started "Chargering" in about '04.
But I'm letting that go. If we don't win, it doesn't matter who does. As I said after Harbaugh's press conference, there are no guarantees. He admits as much since he lost the lone Super Bowl he reached. But his sole reason for being back in the NFL is to win one and that's the only thing that matters for the Bolts. So it works out.
Like most of you, I listened to Joe Hortiz's press conference, when it wasn't cutting in and out. He was also on Money Smith and Daniel Jeremiah's podcast. Besides his love of compensatory picks, what shone through was that he and Harbaugh are committed to building a tough and complete team. We know Telesco never did. We also know it only matters what the results are. However, we can't say that ownership is going the cheap and easy route. Dean told Harbaugh he was "starving" for a winner and he's spent like it. We can "chop it up," as the kids say about Minter, Roman, Ficken and even Hardwick. The reality is, no one knows how it will pan out. However, we complained well before this year about ownership needing to hire competent football people. They hired the best available and let those guys pick their own colleagues.
I will try to keep posting every few weeks now that there seems to be more to positive about. I don't do mock drafts but am excited to see what we do. That applies to entire season. Now, If you'll excuse me I am going to hang out with my 13 year-old son before he changes his mind.
JIC,
RLW