Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Dieter and Hutch providing the best kind of content, which is bye week content.
And we're gonna go and dunk on ourselves and give ourselves firm professional pats on the back going over our things that we had predicted for the 2025 NFL season and if we were right or wrong, as we are now at the 49ers bye week, week 14 of the year, that's enough time to determine if these are things or not. We're going to start. We're going to start with obviously, the one that everyone was talking about, the 49ers use of 12 personnel. I know the streets were buzzing about 12 personnel.
This was deep in the weeds. But I thought with the acquisition of Luke Farrell and George kittle and Sean McVeigh using it a ton last year, that the Niners would in Fact use more 12 personnel. And I was right. But at what cost?
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Jake, you're right. Listen, they went up from 7.4% last year to 12.3% this year.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: It might not seem like much, but that's like a. A full 5% difference.
And that's what I predict it. Like we both predicted. I think going into the season is.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Like, easy to see.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: I mean, and that comes from, like, me talking to tight ends coach Brian Fleury, who's like, well, what if we use 13 personnel? What if we use 21? By the way, the 49ers haven't, you know, for them, though, like, I don't know.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: You're saying that they haven't used 13 personnel as it has now gone across the NFL as a wave. That's like a trend legitimately across the league. A true thing in the NFL in 25 is 13 personnel with Sean McVeigh leading the way. And the Niners are like, we can't do that.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: We can't. But they have put Luke Farrell and Kyle Juszczuk and George Kittle on the field at the same time. So that's sort of 13 personnel.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: I mean, it's not 21. It's not 21.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: It's not21. It's not 21. But yeah, it's been a thing. It's been a thing now, like, has it worked that well?
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Mixed results. Luke Farrell's certainly been better since George Kittle's come back, but funny how that was been on the whole. Definitely a disappointment.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. For the, like, one guy on offense they gave money to. Yeah. Has not. Has not been a revelation, if you will.
Jake, you're. You're top guy here. A top 10 special teams unit. Boy, I really thought they had them in the first half there, but they have come around, baby.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: They.
They're dealing. They're dealing on special teams. They're. They're arguably the best unit in the league.
And, and part of that was like literally just from us watching practice and going, Brand Boyer, he's like actually coaching them up. They're doing drills I've never seen before.
And I gotta say, we were right.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Good lord, those drills have really come through. Sarah Neal's coming through.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: No, I don't. I certainly don't.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: No, no, it's. It's the Jake Moody thing, which we should touch on because it is a sort of 25 replay potentially maybe if he doesn't get plucked from another practice squad. Is he not a commander these days? I thought he was.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: No, he's a Chicago Bear.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: No, I thought they plucked him off of the practice squad.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: Chicago Bears. Okay, well, yeah, wait, no, maybe he is.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: No, he got.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Maybe. No, he is on the commanders. He is on the commanders.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: I got confused.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: They're only right. It's like the Steagalls. It's the Command niners and the 40 commanders and you only get 16 wins a year between the two of them. And I think that the Niners might get about 12 of those from. From the. The pool this year. And Jake Moody has to get tossed back and forth between Adam Peters and John Lynch. I digress to say in retrospect, the Jake Moody thing, which, the, which was obvious. I mean, I was really. I felt out on an island, you know, yelling about this, saying that this is embarrassing to the Niners, that this is. This is non functional football organization stuff.
So laughable. Now Eddie Pinero comes in immediately, is better than Jake Moody ever was. Ever was. And then Matt Gay has come in for Eddie Pinero and looks the exact same.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Had a. Except for his sick doink.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Yeah, but he hasn't missed anything yet. Panero's missed some stuff.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: The own. The. The only 49ers kicker to miss a field goal this year is Jake Moody.
It's awesome.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: But we'll always have that night in Vegas that no one was watching. It's true. Special teams is. Is on the up. And when you consider that this defense with all of its injuries really is not in a position to win many games, having an offense that can push the ball down the field and having a really good special teams unit feels critical for whatever the 49ers are going to do for the remainder of the year.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm with You, what do you got? Next on list. I, I believe I see McCorkle Jones.
[00:04:59] Speaker A: McCorkle Jones trade slash contract talk, which is a vague way of saying people are going to get all frothy about McCorkle Jones and boy howdy did they.
And to be fair, deserved, deserved froth from, from the 49ers fans towards McCorkle, who was the reason the Niners are in position to make the playoffs this year.
[00:05:18] Speaker B: No doubt about it. And I think we sort of expected it to be more in training camp, which only happened a little bit, but like still happened. He, he absolutely dealt.
No question about it.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, where would this team be without Mac Jones is, is such an obvious question. It almost, it's almost like the defensive.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Line didn't pick up the slack.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: Jake, you had a, a thing.
I won't call it a prediction, but it sure reads like a prediction.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: It was a prediction this defensive line.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: Would crack 50 sacks. I feel like if you played this season four times, they might get to that number collectively adding all four seasons up. Jake, as we speak today, how many sacks do The San Francisco 49ers have?
[00:06:03] Speaker B: 16. They have 16 total sacks, which is dead last in the NFL.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: How many sacks does Miles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns. There we go.
[00:06:11] Speaker B: He has 19 and it's not going great.
All I'll say is one not a great prediction. I will say I think that there was a path if they're, you know, $30 million edge rusher didn't have his ACL explode and then the rookie, you know what is 11th overall pick didn't have his ACL explode. And then, you know, injuries to their other like sort of big signing.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: Yeah, you're making the case that yet her gross Mattis was the difference between 16.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: Simply saying it didn't help. It didn't help.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: No, it did not.
Mikel having no bag at all didn't help. Nick Bosa getting triple teamed on every snap didn't help.
I, I, I will go back and watch. There was a level of incredulity from me regarding this number. I thought it was a little lofty, but, but yeah, I don't think they're going to get there.
[00:07:07] Speaker B: It was an every other year thing. They'd come close to hitting 50. They had like 48 every other year.
Not, not this year. Not this year. So slightly off.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: I had a thing that has been so on the goddamn money. I'm just going to give myself one of these little, little pat on the back right here and then I'm Just going to read this little blurb that. That I think you put together or robots. That's fine. The media cycle will focus heavily on Brandon IU being pressured to play, and there will be a lot of talk about the team trading for a wide receiver.
It was so much worse than that. I. The AI and I undersold that. Wow. Yes. There was a lot of talk about when will I be back? Pressure. I don't know if I'd go as far to say that there was media pressure. I don't engage enough with sort of the underbelly of the 49ers media world to quite pick up on that. I'm sure it existed, but I don't think it bubbled up to sort of my surface adult parent level.
But boy howdy, when it came, it came in a big tsunami wave with Brandon iu. We found out the Friday before Thanksgiving that they're just done with him and.
[00:08:17] Speaker B: That he's interested, that they're like, yeah, maybe we'll. He'll still. He'll still play. And they. They kept asking John lynch about it. They're like, well, yeah, we'll see.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: It felt like Kyle was the only one who wasn't in on the decision. He's like, I think he can still play. And it's like, yeah, that was why we're in this problem.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: The best possible way this ends is for him to come back and lead the Niners to a Super Bowl.
I think it's the only logical.
Logical way this plays out.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: I. I understand where you're coming from. I'm gonna give the odds of that at a zero percent. And frankly, that has very little to do with my opinion on the 49ers winning the Super Bowl.
That is strictly a Brandon Iuk John lynch relationship note. That's what I have there.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: My next one is also a dud.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Though I will say if we take out one word, there is something to be said here. Alfred Collins foot talk.
That we will just be constantly talking about Alfred Collins's foot. We are kind of always talking about Alfred Collins, both good and bad. Just not one specific appendage.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: He's had a couple different injuries, but because there have been so many other injuries, there hasn't been any room to be like, oh, Alfred Collins has struggled with injuries. They're like, no, he's playing while other guys have perished on the football field. So, like, he's battled through. I do think we're talking about it. That, like, he came in. I think we were talking about it on Sunday.
This last Sunday of like.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: How healthy is he? How much does he need the bye week? Yeah, all that stuff because like Mikel Williams desperately needed it, as Kyle Shanahan said. And I gotta imagine Alfred Collins battling through stuff. He needed it too. But that said, hasn't hasn't been much of a storyline talking about.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: No. And we're still bullish on Alfred Collins making the breakthrough. I'm still bullish on Renardo Green getting to the point where we can have all pro talk about him. But that ain't going to happen this year. That was one of my things for the year that Renardo Green was going to take that step and become one of the America's finest shutdown corners.
He's had games. He's also had games where he looks woefully off that mark. I do think that the Niners changing up their basic coverage schemes a lot and kind of putting in these bespoke defenses week in, week out, put Ronaldo behind the eight ball a little bit. Now that's on him. That's not on Robert Sal. You have to do what you have to do. But I don't think Ronaldo, the mental side of the game is where the physical side of the game is for him right now. And you hope that that changes in the years to come. But as it stands, he's been fine but not exciting.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm with you. My next one. Upton Stout is a thing.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: He is a thing.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: He's certainly a thing. He's certainly a thing. I mean, there was a lot of talk about Upton Stout, particularly early in this year where you're like, who this guy might be a complete and total whiff. He's off the pace.
He's up and down.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: And I gotta say, we were talking about it. He's turned the corner a little bit. He's been tackling a lot better. I think you mentioned it. There's like a rotation a little bit more with the big nickel stuff to not have him be an every down player. Yeah, I would say he has been a thing.
[00:11:35] Speaker A: Oh, unquestionably. I mean, he was a thing from week one and he's remained a thing all the way through. Unlike a Marquis Siegel who was absolutely a thing in week one and then disappeared, sits in the press box. So I do think he's been active the last couple weeks as a special teamer, which, you know, maybe he's on the Jair Brown path at least a bit earlier in his life. But Upton Stout, unquestionably a thing and you know We. We noted in. In the preseason, we really liked his feisty and energetic play style, at least according to Google Gemini here. Boy, howdy, have we mentioned feistiness every time we talk about him? I mean, it has not diminished in the least bit. Both complimentary and derogatory. Feisty. That's right.
This one. I think of all the predictions I feel I nailed the most, which is all about 2026. Gaslight is coming, and I know that it has not been overt. They have never said it because they have remained in playoff position and technically holding a playoff spot for all but one week this season.
But the phrasing from lynch and Shanahan and everybody this entire time, if you can't read these tea leaves, you are illiterate. That is, I mean, like, legitimately, like, people are like, they never said it out loud. And it's like, yes, they also don't give you the game plan expressly every week, but they do tell you the things that you can infer, like, no, Sherlock, they haven't said it out loud. Yeah, we're punting this season, but everything that they've done, including the Brandon Iuk thing, which feels like the final straw in the 2025 punt, everything. As the injuries piled up, they kind of remove more and more of the veneer of it. This. This organization has been absolutely earnest about. It's all about 26. And anything that happens in 25 is gravy. And let's be clear, pretty tasty gravy. Confusing. You don't understand all the flavors, but a pretty tasty gravy.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: There are some mushrooms in there we can't identify.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: Poisonous. Who's to say?
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a very, very, very nose forward.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: It's like. It's like a funk to it. And sometimes, you know, it's. What was the.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: A lot of umami going on in that.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: Now we're talking. Yeah, it's a very umami filled team. Jake, this was the boldest prediction of all. In. In the things.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: I made this prediction and you didn't.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: I'm pretty sure I actually did.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: But I think we. I think we exchanged predictions. Yeah, we had some of the same ones.
[00:14:03] Speaker A: It's. It's a. It's a partnership show. Some. What is mine is yours.
Quieter offensive line talk was a prediction for this season. And I feel like you won or I won.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: I. I think it's. Yeah, I think. Absolutely. I mean, it was loud.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: Let's be clear. It was loud for a while.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: It was loud early, but as the AI says the offensive line will perform above average. I guess it says well above average. Maybe.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: What's well, man? What's well above?
[00:14:32] Speaker B: I would just say above average. Causing the constant media slash fan talking, complaints about the online to get quieter, which has undoubtedly happened over the last five weeks.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Yeah. I think. And I think that was always going to be like, this has always been like a second half of the season O line that they come around. There's a lot of nuance and detail to their blocking schemes and how things have to be timed up and passing things off and they have done a pretty good job. Like there have been some really ugly moments. But like you look around the league at some of these O lines, including the Browns who like had a bunch of stars and completely fell apart.
[00:15:11] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: And I think you take the 49ers O line over quite a few of them.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: I've asked the question on this show, I've asked this on other shows, I've asked this in print. I've asked this a million times. 49ers fans who want to complain about the offensive line, point me to your champion, show me who you want this team to be and you'll say, the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles offensive line is appreciably the same as the Niners offensive line. Right now they're running back who had 2,000 yards last year can't move the ball. They can't protect Jalen Hurts, who's now a one read. Get it out quickly, quarterback.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: Everyone on the team seems to want.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: To perish, which at least the Niners are following through on their threats in that regard. Then you'll go, what about the Colts? Yeah, what about the Colts over the last eight weeks? Tell me how that offensive line has looked since their early season. Boom. Well, what about the Broncos? You're telling me that that Mike McGlinchey is the difference between the these two offensive lines? Like legitimately, like what on the Broncos offensive line can the Niners not recreate? And frankly Miners, Quinn, Minors that you have Trent Williams, like, I understand that, you know, one's coming up and one's going down, but like come on now, like name me the guards on the Broncos right now.
No. Okay, we know who their tackles are, right? Like I like their center. Like we can pick and choose. We can Frankenstein an elite offensive line out of the best pieces from a bunch of different teams, but as a collective five man unit. Come on.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: To be fair, you also knew that their other offensive linemen had horrible last names. There's a Wattenberg And a Palszewski.
So that was unfair.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: You should always remember Palszewski.
Like, this is. I just keep coming back to it because people will say, oh, you know, dude, or this or Jake, this and that. Okay, one, this is all recorded. You can toss it in the computer machine and they'll more or less spit it back out to you, as evidenced by this, in fact, episode. And so tell us where we said that the 49ers had the best offensive line. But again, if you are holding them up as something that's not good, I remind you, all these offensive lines sucks. Jake, real fast. I do want to give you a bit of a shout out here. We have not talked about this in any capacity on any other show.
You were a big Rosen. Rosengarten guy.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: 2 years ago for the Ravens. Now he is awesome. He's got a terrible beard and a hell of a game.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: So Rob couldn't anchor for his first year. But.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: That'S.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: That's an offensive line that you could talk about as best of the best. And they still got problems. So the 49ers, as a collective five man unit, really looking positive. And now, you know, by the way, who their five are. With Burford taking that left.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: I was just gonna say one thing that we didn't predict to be a thing. Spencer Burford.
Spencer Burford has absolutely been a thing at guard now with Barch, who just. It has like two or three games and you're like, oh, what's going. Oh, and then his. Yeah. And you. And, you know, we talked about the rotation and sort of question it, and it's like, well, they probably knew at some point.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. You can't be going out here, putting your closer in, who can only give you 30 pitches and expecting him to give you 100, 100 pitch complete game. But so, yeah, you got to go. You got to go with Johnny Holstaff at left guard. Jake, I'm gonna throw this on you. It's not on the rundown. Give me a thing. For the final four weeks of the regular season.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: I think for the final weeks.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: That the 49ers, there's like a lingering feeling of like, will the 49ers and Seahawks face off in basically the division championship game in Week 18?
[00:18:47] Speaker A: Not one seed, maybe the one seed.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: Not that it will actually play out that way. You know, the Niners could easily lose to the Colts, and they have then the Bears, and who knows, even the Titan. But, like, there's a real path there where you can see it. And I think that they beat the Titans. And it's like, ooh, is this gonna. Is this gonna happen?
[00:19:12] Speaker A: Is this gonna be feisty? They look dangerous right now.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: That's my prediction that that will. Whether or not it manifests is. Is a totally different thing.
But the thing is that Talk, that talk.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: 2019 revisited. Final game, division on the line.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: By the way, only game my sisters have ever been to was that game.
[00:19:32] Speaker A: Don't go to another one.
[00:19:34] Speaker B: They're like, every football game's like this, right? No windows open in Seattle. Deafening. Incredible.
[00:19:40] Speaker A: Awesome. What a great game that was.
And I would have said that even if the Niners had lost that game. That was an outstanding football game. Dre Greenlaw, one yard line, all that stuff.
Unquestionably, my thing for the final four weeks of the season is Brock Purdy driving it downfield.
I don't think that we are going to escape this, either in the positive or the negative realm, but Brock Purdy being able to drive the ball down the field, 20 yard and overthrows is going to be the thing for the final four weeks of the season and in all likelihood, in 99% of likelihoods, the playoffs as well. So. So that's my thing. Brock Purdy not. Not the turf toe, particularly just the ability to drive the ball down the field. Can he give you more than Mac did? We're about to find out.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: That's right, folks. See you soon.
[00:20:29] Speaker A: Maybe by.
