Daily Madden: Defense, Special Teams Both Key To 49ers Victory
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - The San Francisco 49ers defense and special teams were both keys to San Francisco's 33-17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in their opening game Sunday. John Madden told the KCBS morning crew the Niners didn't need an imaginative offense. "There are times when you can just kind of manage an offense if your defense is playing great and your special teams are playing great," said Madden. "Then you can say offensively, just don't foul it up."
John said the conservative offense is not necessarily an indicator of how Harbaugh will coach the team. "Each game is really a separate entity," Madden said. "You play someone like Dallas and Tony Romo throws three touchdowns in the first quarter and you're down 21-nothing. Now where does that (a conservative offense) go?"
Does Harbaugh have a playbook of trick plays he didn't need to use in Sunday's game? "I don't know that Jim Harbaugh has a bunch of tricks," Madden said, noting the shortened pre-season work due to the NFL labor dispute. "He's just trying to get them in and out of the huddle, and get the snap count, and get everyone blocked up, and those kinds of things. I don't think trickery is part of what he's thinking right now." (9:10)
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM.
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