CEAFOD

I lose again and am really slipping back. Deepie has lost 4 in a row and right there with me near the bottom.

JSR has lost 3 in a row and in the middle of the pack. Scott has won 2 in a row and finds himself in third in a largely mediocre league.

Robs has a little tougher test but still wins to remain undefeated and continues to look strong.

ESPN Power Rankings - Week 10

Puckers hold on to the top spot.

Pears climb one spot to #9.

Skins hold at #22.

BECK SUCKS!!!

No real surprise that the Skins fell to the 9ers given our offensive woes. Interesting because my prediction was pretty much spot on. It's tough because defensively we did enough to win the game. The problem is that our offense is terrible and I am convinced a large part of it is because of John Beck. The guy cannot play. With that, let me get into my grades.

Special Teams: B: This is largely because of Gano's 59 yard FG which was pretty tremendous. The kick and punt coverages were good too. However, Banks is starting to look like the second coming of ARE. Actually not that bad but what bothers me about him is that he is so intent on trying to make a play that he forgets his fundamentals. He fielded a punt inside our 5 and then did nothing. That is football 101 and it was a mistake. He also regularly tries to return kickoffs that are sent deep into our end zone. I understand why he is doing this as he is trying to justify his job on the roster since this is his only function but he has to do better and be smarter. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind seeing Austin back there.

Defense: B-: I thought this group did enough to win the game. Given that they got NO help from the offense, I was pleased with their effort. The turnover right before the half that set up the 49er TD was a killer but we got consistent pressure Smith and did a decent job against Gore. I am comfortable with this group.

Offense: D-: The only reason why this grade is not an F is because it was nice to see production from Hankerson, Helu, and Mo Hurt. Hankerson actually looks like he is capable out there as he saw his first extended action. However, Beck is useless. Much of the blame for the offensive issues fall on him. I know Shanny was trying to defend him but you could see in his face he wasn't thrilled with Beck. All he did was dump off. For F's sake, Helu caught 14 passes! Never took a shot downfield. Blocking was decent during the game so that is not an excuse. Again, teams are going to take the run away and force Beck to beat them and he can't do it. There were also some dropped balls by Davis and Austin that were disappointing but I am tired of Beck.

I wasn't happy when the switch was made as we were 3-1 (on the road to 3-2) and atop the East. I admit that I wasn't satisfied with Grossman and I still don't think he is that great but he is much better than Beck. I heard Kyle Shanny last week saying that Beck is essentially a rookie but if that is their feelings on the guy, why make the freaking change when they did? You put in a rookie when the season is tanked and you want to see the potential future.

Now I will say that Beck was okay in Carolina. He made some nice decisions and throws but he was bad against the Bills (granted I thought the offense was bad in general so I can't put it all on him). However, I put more blame on him against SF because again he had time and his WRs (Davis and Gaffney) said that they were open a number of times. Beck will say that he needs to review the tape but I say F THE TAPE! He isn't capable of playing. He was probably scared of throwing INTs (especially after his first downfield throw was an INT - looked like he was late throwing it to Davis).

Now I like what we have done on defense and I said before the season started that we needed to see progress on the defensive side of the ball and I give credit to Shanny for improving the defense but the one thing he has completely botched is the QB situation. The Mc5 situation was a fiasco and going to Beck was a mistake. Shanny has already named Beck starter for next week's game against Miami and now that Beck is in, I am fine with that but this should be the last straw. If Beck can't get up and perform against the team that drafted him and then cut him, he will show that he can't play and I say go back to Rexy to at least get something going with our offense.

I can appreciate the players telling Beck to keep his head up and patting him on the back but our offense has taken a big step back with him in. Also, those roll outs that Beck does isn't fooling anyone. A j.v. high school coach could game plan against that and it's obvious the last three weeks our opponents were ready for that so that's not doing anything. Again, lets see what Beck can do against the Fins but if it goes south (which I expect), bring Rexy back.

I pretty much said this was going to happen. I said that Beck would get in and struggle and all the people chanting for Beck will see him for what he is and then want Rexy back. We'll see what happens.

Skins vs. 9ers preview

This one is going to be interesting. After two weeks playing away, the Skins are back at home having dropped three straight. We are also playing a rejuvenated 49er team that has been looking good. Here are my thoughts:

1. Offense: It really falls on Beck and Kyle to get this thing going. The 49ers have the top run defense in the league and I don't doubt for a second that they are going to force Beck to make plays. I imagine they will crowd the box and send extra pressure to force Beck to make mistakes/hold on to the ball and take sacks. I don't have a whole lot of faith in Beck so I think this could get ugly. I imagine the fans will start to boo early on as the offense struggles under Beck. I won't be too surprised if we see Rexy back in there in the second half. We'll see how this goes.

2. Defense: I expect a MUCH better performance from this group. I don't believe much in Alex Smith and we have to get back to playing better. I am just hoping that our offense doesn't put the defense in short fields. I really expect to see these guys step up and make plays. This is the area of the game I will be most interested in.

3. Special Teams: I know Banks wants to get a spark and runs the ball out of the end zone every time he gets a chance and that's fine but he has got to do better to justify his spot on the roster. Same for punts. Otherwise, just let Austin have a chance to see what he can do and if it is the same, get rid of Banks to make room for another player.

In the end, I think our offense will struggle again. Beck and Kyle will really be on the hot seat this game and will really need to make some plays. However, I think the 49er defense is good and they are going up against an injury riddled offense with no real QB so I am not expecting much. I think our defense will play well but it won't matter because our offense will sputter. Skins will fall 19-9.

HAIL SKINS!!!

Theo fires Quade

Theo moved quickly and made his first big move by firing manager Mike Quade. Quade was a good players manager but he didn't seem to fit the Epstein mold. He wants to start with a clean slate and it's probably a good thing.

Would be interesting to see if he hired Tito although I highly doubt that given the issues surrounding Francona this offseason. Not sure if that type of added drama would be needed in Chicago.

Ryno is also ruled out as Theo called him up and told him that he was not in the running. Sandberg appreciated the call and wished Theo and the Cubbies well.

Will be interesting to see who they settle on.

ESPN Power Rankings - Week 9

GB holds on to the top spot.

After a bye week, the Pears hold steady at #10.

Skins drop two spots to #22.

CEAFOD

Scott pulls out a victory and Deepie and JSR lose again. I get pasted by Robs so we are all part of the muddled middle.

Robs continues to dominate and is looking unstoppable at this point.