What to do with the 49ers?

They have decided to start over and begin to clean house for 2011.  Mike Singletary was fired less than 24 hours after losing to the St. Louis Rams and missing out on the playoffs for the eighth consecutive year.  This year was supposed to be different.  After all they by all accounts had the most talented roster in the division.  The Rams had a rookie quarterback leading them.  Seattle had a new coach in Pete Carroll.  Arizona lost one of their best receivers (Anquan Boldin) and Kurt Warner decided to retire.  What happened to what was supposed to be a successful season?
Their general manager, Scott McCloughlan resigned before the 2010 draft.  That was the first sign of trouble when the 49ers scrambled and had vice president of player personnel Trent Baalke take over the football operations.  The draft went well for the Niners and they had everything in place to succeed.  Unfortunately they were thumped by Seattle in the first game.  It started a tail spin of losing and they were 2-6 going into their bye week. 
The main problem was what cost Singletary his job.  His inexperience as a head coach and making adjustments on offense.  The team lost confidence in quarterback Alex Smith before Singletary did.  Their other quarterback Troy Smith was seen arguing with Singletary during their loss to the Rams this past week.  When pressured to make a move earlier in the season, he decided to let his offensive coordinator, Jimmy Raye, go after hiring him last season.  Clearly Singletary seemed to be out of his element as the season went on, but he does still have a future as a coach, just not a head coach anytime soon.  Tight end Vernon Davis’ turnaround to his career is credited to Singletary getting tough with him in 2008 when he was named interim coach.
Now team CEO Jed York has announced that he will hire a GM first who will then hire the head coach.  The wise move, but Jed has to be careful.  There are many qualified candidates out there, but he has to look for examples of a quick turnaround in other franchises.  Kansas City’s is the current example where Scott Pioli was hired away from New England and then hired Todd Haley as the head coach.  A rough first year in 2009 led the Chiefs to bring in established coordinators on offense (Charlie Weis) and defense (Romeo Crennel) that has led to a division title in 2010.
San Francisco won’t get the big name GM, but they will need someone who has experience in evaluating talent and knows what it takes to win in this league.  That GM will then need to hire someone who has the same attributes, but would also need to have an inkling for the bay area.  Jon Gruden’s name comes to mind.  As does Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh.  Gruden would be perfect, but he seems pretty comfy in the broadcast booth.  Harbaugh probably likes college too much and won’t want to risk coming to the NFL just yet with labor issues looming.  The franchise has a long storied history and they need to get back to that very soon or they will be left behind once again.

Is this the best we’ve seen of Tom Brady?

He is without a doubt the MVP this year.  Yes, Michael Vick has been nothing short of amazing for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he hasn’t done what Brady has after they traded away their best receiver (Randy Moss).  Had New England not traded for their former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch, I think it would have been different.  Branch and Brady play like they haven’t been apart for four years.  Brady’s stats say it all: 34 TD, 4 INT and 3,701 yards passing.  Once again there are only two quarterbacks right now who are their own offensive coordinator.  Brady is one and the other is Peyton Manning.  We’re already trying to look for the new king of the pass, but you have to look no further than those two.  Tom Brady broke records the last time he won the MVP award (2007).  This season is even better with the talent around him and the season the Patriots are having.

New Orleans wants to defend their title

Everyone, including myself, were wondering if the New Orleans Saints were going to be able to defend their title.  They will after an important win over their division rival Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.  Drew Brees had two crucial interceptions late in the fourth quarter, but the Saints rallied and were able to win by a field goal.  They are healthy and they are determined to not have a Super Bowl layoff like most teams have in the past decade.   It’s not impossible for them to repeat, but they are being overlooked and that will be a mistake when the playoffs are underway.  With that win over Atlanta, they are in position to win the division if Atlanta should lose their final game.  New Orleans is primed for another run and the rest of the league should take notice that the defending champs are ready to go.