The Zong

Watching teams like the Patriots and Indianapolis play football this weekend, I was reminded about how, over the course of a decade or so, a bunch of football franchises will embody a certain character or personality that they will carry with them into rivalries and championships from year to year. The Brady-Belichick Pats (recent controversy notwithstanding) have the win at all costs, all-business ruthlessness that reminds me of the the Parcells-Era New York Football Giants, a team that dismantled many of its opponents much like the Patriots have done thus far this season. The Manning-Dungy Colts have ushered in a precision and class in their own dominance that reminds me of Bill Walsh’s Best Niner teams, and one could go on and on about the teams led by Jeff Fisher, Bill Cowher, etc. It has very little to do with whether the team is successful on any given Sunday, and much more about how they go about winning and losing.

What kind of character, then, is being developed by Mike Nolan’s 49ers? They are 2-1 but could very, very easily be 0-3. Here’s Alex Smith, after yesterday’s rout at the hands of the Steelers:

“We left some plays out there on the field. There were big chunks there,” Smith said. “That was a good defense we faced. And I think we’ll learn a lot from this game.”

He’s right about the defense. Pittsburgh has a great one. A defense that hasn’t allowed an individual 100-yard rushing performance since 2005 isn’t the kind of defense you’re gonna have a great day against when your only weapon is a running back. It’s kind of the coaches’ responsibility to address that, maybe by opening up the passing game a bit.

But that’s not the point. I’ve been listening to Alex Smith and Mike Nolan and countless other players talking about how they will be “learning” from the losses this team suffers (for more than two seasons now), and while that’s a great trait to instill in your organization, it’s not the character that I’m seeing this team develop just yet. If anything, Alex Smith looks as if he’s regressed this season from last, and an offense that looked improved and healthy on paper has been nothing short of tedious to watch for the first three games. I’m not sure who should shoulder the blame, but the more times I hear the players talk about learning from mistakes and losses, the less I think they’re actually learning from them. I didn’t expect them to win in Pittsburgh this weekend, but I was hoping they’d score a touchdown before there were 2 minutes left in the game.

So while Belichick’s Pats continue to refine themselves, what kind of character will the Niners develop under Nolan? Will they be the team that returns from adversity with a vengeance, the team that continually learns and improves, or just another mediocre franchise that says the right things after the games?

- M.G.