Official Week 1 - Pregame vs Vikings MNF

[CalamityX12]

The wait is finally over my faithful!

Behold the first 2015-2016 pregame thread!!!

Vikings at 49ers, MNF
10:15pm ET, 7:15pm PT
ESPN Nationally

- Niners will open their home opener in the new black.



-Ahmad Brooks will start vs the Vikings

[49rangER]

Finally ready to put this off season behind us!

I expect a close game here as week 1 is always a little bit of a rusty go for most teams. I think it will be close until the 3rd quarter where we will pull away.

AP hasn't carried the load in a while but he is still AP and could have fresh legs. Bridgewater looks a little better but i still think our Defense is solid. Not quite sure about their defense but i have heard they look better.

I expect a heavy dose of Hyde and the running game from the start. Really hoping to see Kap and the OL play much better than what we have seen so far.

[ChrisPozz]

Eight is enough: 49ers bevy of captains includes Colin Kaepernick, NaVorro Bowman

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2015/09/08/eight-is-enough-49ers-bevy-of-captains-includes-colin-kaepernick-navorro-bowman/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+49ersHotRead+%2849ers+Hot+Read%29

[Jikkle]

Eight is enough: 49ers bevy of captains includes Colin Kaepernick, NaVorro Bowman

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2015/09/08/eight-is-enough-49ers-bevy-of-captains-includes-colin-kaepernick-navorro-bowman/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+49ersHotRead+%2849ers+Hot+Read%29

That's overkill on the captains IMO.

I would have 2 offensive captains, 2 defensive captains, and one ST captain.

[I_am_1z]

Sorry, but the only guy that looked like he was in midseason form tackling-wise was Bowman. Adrian Peterson didn't sit out the preseason because he's rusty, you can expect him to show up on game day. If Reaser doesn't start this game, I'll be really disappointed since he has the speed to keep up with the Viking's receivers.

[CrimsonCrew]

I really don't like the black unis. Remind me of my pop warner team, and we were awful.

[DoobieKeebler]

I really don't like the black unis. Remind me of my pop warner team, and we were awful.

I second the distaste of the black & red unis. It's the exact same color scheme/design as the "Create a Team" unis I designed in Madden 2002. Both generic and ugly.

I'd much preferred if the Niners went old school and gone with white on white w/ red socks away alternates like the early to mid 50s, or the 1960s white on grey away jerseys instead of making the Niners the newest team to among the plethora of sports franchises who've gone the super-generic "add black to any jersey scheme" route.

[49rangER]

I am probably one of the few who like the jerseys. Always have been a fan of black jerseys. They should of added a little gold but i still like them.

I'm also totally fine with it only being 2 times a year they will wear it as well don't really matter.

[Jikkle]

The unis would look decent if the pants were red or gold.

Just too much plain black just makes them look generic.

[ChrisPozz]

I am probably one of the few who like the jerseys. Always have been a fan of black jerseys. They should of added a little gold but i still like them.

I'm also totally fine with it only being 2 times a year they will wear it as well don't really matter.

That's been my stance almost word for word except for I wouldn't care if they went with an all black and red look all year long. My only major hang up is that there isn't some bit of gold to them somewhere.

Of course I think I could come up with a better black, red, and gold jersey but I don't mind it at all. Black and red in jerseys has become a little more overdone these days than it used to be when I first started to like it but when done correctly it's still my favorite look for a football team.

The black Ravens jersey is one of the best in the NFL. The Jaguars predominately black jerseys are up there and the Saints predominately black jerseys might be just a hair behind those other two for me.

[Jikkle]

As far as the game goes it's a toss up for me.

Vikings are an up and coming team and to me a dark horse wildcard team so I could see the game going either way as I don't see either team being dominant over the other.

One reason it's hard to say is because we really don't have much of an idea of what the offense is going to do. How much of the offensive struggles on preseason were due to 9ers playing vanilla and how much of a legit concern is there.

Defensively I see the 9ers matching up well because their best d lineman are run stuffers and the Vikings aren't a dyanmic passing attack so their offense plays into the defenses strength.

[CalamityX12]

Sack the QB, please.... lol

[CrimsonCrew]

I'm really worried about the offense. For all the coach and player talk about not getting exotic in the preseason, reports out of practices with Denver were that the offense was completely stagnant. On day two of the joint practices, the play of the day was like a 20-yard completion, and I don't think we scored a TD. The only times these teams would meet this year would be in the SB, so there's no reason we would be trying to hide scheme, etc.

Minnesota is a dangerous team. They should have a very good D, and with AD back, their offense should be able to do enough to be dangerous. There is a very real chance that we lose this game, and the schedule only gets tougher from here....

[Pattersonca65]

Looks like the Vikings have their own issues on the oline. One of their tackles has a season ending injury and their center looks like he could miss the game. Mangini has to find a way to exploit that and keep the game close if our offense struggles.

[49ermann]

It has been a long **** off season my fellow Niner fans. I've been "lurking" the boards and now that it's game week I'm ready to start anew. I hope Colin gets a chance behind this crap o-line and I hope he takes advantage of it. "The jury is still out on Kaep." That's what we keep hearing. I agree, but I can't say it's all on him. If the o-line can't protect and he gets smacked early and often Colin will start putting his head down too early and look to save his life.

[CalamityX12]

I'm really worried about the offense. For all the coach and player talk about not getting exotic in the preseason, reports out of practices with Denver were that the offense was completely stagnant. On day two of the joint practices, the play of the day was like a 20-yard completion, and I don't think we scored a TD. The only times these teams would meet this year would be in the SB, so there's no reason we would be trying to hide scheme, etc.

Minnesota is a dangerous team. They should have a very good D, and with AD back, their offense should be able to do enough to be dangerous. There is a very real chance that we lose this game, and the schedule only gets tougher from here....

I have my fears about the offense myself, i'm not necessarily buying the whole vanilla in preseason excuse. I understand the vanilla approach but there's things you look at and the offense didn't carry that confident bounce or swag. The announced starting OL barely played together in the preseason games IIRC... Kap didn't look poised and showed some bad habits again. He had some good ones, don't get me wrong, but nothing yet to say oh he's overcome his struggles etc...

[MHSL82]

Eight is enough: 49ers bevy of captains includes Colin Kaepernick, NaVorro Bowman

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2015/09/08/eight-is-enough-49ers-bevy-of-captains-includes-colin-kaepernick-navorro-bowman/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+49ersHotRead+%2849ers+Hot+Read%29

That's overkill on the captains IMO.

I would have 2 offensive captains, 2 defensive captains, and one ST captain.

Me too. But maybe instead of one ST captain, it would be ST or one more DEF/OFF guy if warranted.

[MHSL82]

It has been a long **** off season my fellow Niner fans. I've been "lurking" the boards and now that it's game week I'm ready to start anew. I hope Colin gets a chance behind this crap o-line and I hope he takes advantage of it. "The jury is still out on Kaep." That's what we keep hearing. I agree, but I can't say it's all on him. If the o-line can't protect and he gets smacked early and often Colin will start putting his head down too early and look to save his life.

I agree, but if he doesn't play well, I can't say it's all on the oline, either. This is a team game and I would like everyone to work on their weaknesses while coaches put them in positions of which they're stronger. No fitting square pegs into round holes in your system. System is important and I can see establishing your system in a rebuilding year and drafting around that, but at least for the first 8 games, I want to see us playing to our player's strengths, rather than system. I don't know if I'm articulating myself well enough, but just saying there's a difference.

[Jikkle]

http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/former-49ers-qb-dilfer-studies-kaepernick-new-offense

An encouraging read about Kap and the offense.

The key for the offense will be pass protection and if they can at least be decent at it I feel the offense could actually be good.

I think the coaching staff will make it a point to minimize the exposure of the offensive line's pass pro and maximize player strengths better.

I never understood why under Harbaugh more bootlegs and screens weren't run especially the bootlegs which Kap does pretty well out of.

[I_am_1z]

http://m.49ers.com/news/article-1/San-Francisco-49ers-Release-Depth-Chart-for-Week-1-vs-Minnesota-Vikings/9193933f-d704-4556-bb69-8afa51e1800e

Why is there a competition for return man? One of the coaches (ST coordinator?) compared Hayne's lateral speed to the games best return men ever!