Bye Week Blues

Without a game to look forward to and having slumped into the bye week, the Faithful are left wondering what to think. The season started on a high that has quickly dissipated. The team's offensive funk is now gone on for five weeks. Other than the final drive of the Cards game, Gore's 4th-and-1 touchdown run against the Rams, and the twin strikes Dilfer threw on our scoring drive last week, I challenge anyone to name an offensive highlight from this team's first five games.

Everyone's got some solution (or five) to the problems. But the overarching theme is that there just is not enough talent on the offensive side of the ball.

O-Line: We were lucky to get a good year out of Larry Allen. There's a reason we only had to spend a couple mil a year on this HoF-er at the end of his career. If he doesn't rediscover the fountain of youth he tapped last year, he's done. It was a good ride. Jonas Jennings is an enigma with his VERY private matter. His play has been choppy at best. Heitmann doesn't look like he's recovered from the leg injury he sustained late last season, which isn't a knock on him. It was a big blow and he may have just come back too soon. Smiley - no comment. And Staley has been very solid. Ideally I would like to see some shakeup here. But barring us getting blown out by the Giants, don't hold your breath.

RB: Gore's going to explode if the boys up front don't get their shit together quick. You can see the frustration on his face and in his body language. This is a problem. If he loses hope, pack it in and wait for 2008.

QB: Alex Smith is coming back nicely and may even be able to play against New York. And he was not the (only) problem with this offense. Dilfer is showing why he's been a mediocre QB throughout his career but can show flashes of brilliance. People clamoring for Shaun Hill, STFU. He's a third-stringer on the worst offense in the NFL for a reason - he probably sucks.

WR: Also a big problem area when your coach is constantly even considering bringing back Lambo Bryant. And Nolan's stubbornness in not playing Lelie may be a sign of a fatal flaw with the coach. No combination of this group has worked thus far, so throw that bum out there and see what he can do. Battle is a nice #2B or #3 and I don't even want to waste the time to go down the rest of the list.

TE: We need The Disease back. Now. Thanks for the effort D-Love, but it isn't working out. And Billy Pajamas is apparently fighting off the Injury Boogeyman in his sleep.

D-line: Has held up nicely although it seems to be playing some kind of hybrid 4-3 scheme with Franklin and Sopoaga on the field at the same time. BY started hot but has tailed off the past couple games. Marques Douglas is playing lights out in a contract year. I'm shocked. I want to see what Ray McDonald can do since there's a lot of buzz about him.

LB: Willis is a beast. Period. If he keeps this up, he'll be unanimous Defensive RoY. TBC is starting to show signs of life, especially this past Sunday. Losing Lawson was devastating, but Navies is doing a decent job in his place. Derek Smith needs to get off the field.

CB: Clements was worth every damn penny and the haters can go to hell. Walt Harris is playing at 85% of his Pro Bowl effort of last year - which is nice. Shawntae Spencer is a very solid #3 for the nickel package. Marcus Hudson and Tarrell Brown are doing well in the nickel also.

S: Mark Roman has stepped up big. As good a free safety as we've had since Merton's Funky Chicken Dance was the toast of the Bay Area. Michael Lewis is fine. Not good, not bad. Just fine.

ST: Andy Lee should book a ticket to Hawaii for the way he's been kicking. It's fair to say that if he was punting even half as well as he is, we could be staring at 0-5. And that's no joke. The twin mohawks of Jeff Ulbrich and Keith Lewis are doing a fantastic job on kick coverage. Brian Jennings somehow ends up making tackles even though he's the snapper. Maurice Hicks needs to stop jumping into tacklers on kickoffs. It's going to end badly for him. And I'm patiently waiting for the Beer Man to pop a punt return or two for TDs. You can see that he's going to do it. Just a matter of when.

Coaching: Manusky/Singletary/Defensive coaches have been great keeping us in games where their units are on the field for 35+ minutes. Hostler is a fucking joke. There are 8 year olds that play Madden who are less predictable than him. He will not be calling plays for this team next year. And if he is, someone needs to question Nolan's leadership. He's done a good job to this point. But we're starting to get into the "show me the money" period of his tenure. Enough Rollin' with Nolan - time for him to roll with us.

We need to get the young O-line guys (Baas and Snyder) into the lineup soon to see if they're serviceable or if there's a need to get more talent there. I'm confident it's the former based on how well Snyder held up against Baltimore and the fact that he'll be at RT instead of LT (Staley's home for the next decade). The team sorely needs a #1 wideout and backup QB, which will also come through the draft or free agency. Finally, and most critically, a new OC. Hostler's going to take too long to develop and frankly he looks like a stunning idiot so I'm pretty sure he never will. I nominate Wade Wilson based on the job Tony Romo and Co. are doing in Dallas