Mike Nolan is having the worst day of his life, over, over, over, over, over, over, over, over and over again, for the ninth time this season.

The San Francisco Forty Niners are turning their coach into a poor imitation of Bill Murray. What was to be a season of hope and growth has disintegrated into a season of flubs and losses and a record of 3-9. At this rate they will have a worse record than they had last season at 7-9. Can you spell regression?

I love football and I understand the basics, maybe more so than other female fans, but I don't get too excited about stats and the intricacies of defensive formation, how many sacks Lawrence Taylor had in his career.
But even I, an average fan could see that the Forty Niners problems early on were coaching-related. The 49ers have been out coached this season.
The players are a grade better overall, although the offensive line is has some aging players. But last season's team showed real promise at the end of last season. Given the money spent on defense, the expected maturation of Alex Smith and the strong running of Frank Gore it appeared the 49ers were on the rise. But, as they say, the reality is altogether different.
What has been the big difference this season? Why is the offense so horrific? I think it's coaching and the coaching inexperience and philosophy.
Mike Nolan is a defensive minded coach, so ball control and the running game is his thing. But when the running game isn't working and your offensive line isn't blocking well, then you need to open up the playbook and get the wide receivers out there, or use that physical wonder Vernon Davis in short passing situations.
The way I see it coaching has been the 49ers problem all season long.

The normally composed Mike Nolan is showing signs of wear and tear in a season of fits and starts, lost opportunities, diminished returns on investments and overall uninspired play. He is getting pretty mad and is letting his players know it.
He won the sideline fashion battle with the NFL and Reebok, but aside from that his record is pretty dismal.
The offense is simply staggeringly bad. They have potential but too often potential is just another way of saying that they really just aren't yet good enough.
I give the team credit for still going out and playing. Coaches with teams that can't win must spend sleepless nights trying to figure out where it all went so wrong. The ultimate coaching job is not coaching the 12-0 Pats but coaching the 0-12 Dolphins. Can you imagine what it must be like to try and motivate these players?
Play for pride, play for each other, play for your job, play to audition for another team next year. And clearly the players must be considering the risk of injury and the risk of a lost career for a lost cause.

Believe me it hurts like hell to utter these words, I was as excited as every other San Francisco 49ers fan entering this season.
But it has all gone terribly wrong.

Femmefan's Fearless Picks Week Fourteen
Season Record: 119-73

Week Thirteen Record: 9-7

The reverse psychology, convoluted theory of picking against my Niners seems to have worked two weeks ago. Therefore I am going back to that theory this week picking the Niners to lose to the Vikings in San Francisco . Hurts, but it's reality.

Week Thirteen Instant Replay

Week 13