I was listening to KNBR "The Razor & Mr. T" with guest host Bill Walsh the other day, and I find what he says makes sense.
"In today's NFL there isn't much difference between the top teams and the bottom teams." (I'm paraphrasing.) "Essentially when I coached we had players, good players sat every position with few roster spots open during training camp. We could count on Dan Bunz being our starting LB for many years, and if someone went down, we had a replacement. We could run up the score and put in our back ups to finish the game. Today, no one has that kind of depth and games come down to players that NEVER counted before. Now you have your third wide-out making a play to win the game or muffing a play to lose the game. A special teams guy can make all the difference in the world to the final outcome of the game. The coaching and play calling means more now."
Of course, those weren't his exact words, but his point is clear. Ten years ago, Ricky Proehl wouldn't be making plays to beat the 49ers in the final minutes of the game. Why? Because the Niners would have had plenty of depth on their team to cover him well. Ten years ago the Niners wouldn't be fighting to win or lose every game by a point or two, they would either win significantly or lose. How is it that the Raiders can have an MVP quarterback one season and the very next he's a flop? Match ups and play calling. The turnover in the NFL is significant to the point where, as Bill Walsh says, "you're doing patch work each season hoping to put together a winning team."
So when we ask ourselves why the 49ers are 2-4 with essentially the same yet more experienced squad that went 12-4 two seasons ago, it's because the few plays during a game that never used to matter, now matter. The Niners made the plays two seasons ago, but failed to make them against the Rams (get down, call time out) the Browns (4th and goal from the 1), and the Seahawks (missed FG and XP) this season. Let's face it, the 49ers are FOUR plays away from being 5-1. That's just how it is in today's NFL.