Quick thoughts on this game:
- Jordan looked good. I had my doubts about him entering the season, but looked like an above average NFL starter tonight. He doesn't do anything fancy, but he's built low to the ground, he has good footwork, he reads blocks well, and he runs hard. He was clearly the best back on the field.
- Aaron Brooks looked a lot better than he has in previous weeks. He throws a beautiful deep ball.
- Andrew Walter was the no. 2 QB tonight. He looked solid against the 49er backups. He's big and he has a strong arm. He also seems pretty poised in the pocket, although he did take a bad sack.
- Justin Fargas looked mediocre. He had a couple of nice runs and a couple of duds. He sometimes looks a little awkward when he runs, like a flailing stork. On the plus side of things, he made two nice blocks in pass protection.
- Don't be too fooled by Reshard Lee's stat line. He showed decent mobility and got into the holes quickly, but the offensive line was opening up some monster lanes for him.
- Antonio Bryant dropped one easy grab, but managed to go high and snare a 46 yard bomb over a cornerback. He only had one catch, but I think he received four targets. Only two were catchable.
- Alex Smith regressed tonight. He looked bad.
- Frank Gore looked decent. He's quick to the hole and he does a good job of running north-south, but he didn't make any special plays or stand out in any way.
- Michael Robinson looked okay. I would recommend him as the backup to Gore because he has a greater upside than Maurice Hicks and is much more versatile.