Daily Madden: Low Expectations For 49ers
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - In the wake of a lopsided pre-season loss to the Houston Texans, John Madden said it's important to remember the 49ers are starting at a big disadvantage to established teams due to the NFL labor dispute.
"It hasn't been fair to a new coach coming in," Madden told the KCBS morning crew. "You can't pick up many players in the off-season in free-agency, you can't coach the players you have, you can't put your systems in, and you have new coaches with the same players that didn't do very well. And you're supposed to turn it around in three weeks. That's not going to happen."
John saw the Raiders lose 40-20 to the New Orleans Saints at the Coliseum Sunday, and he's still concerned about the Oakland defense.
"Sometimes I think we get carried away on all these teams about how the quarterback is doing," Madden said. "We don't really look at the defense. If you don't solve that problem, then you're not going to do anything anyway no matter who the quarterback is."
At the track and field world championships in South Korea, Usain Bolt was disqualified from defending his 100-meter title when he jumped from the blocks early.
Madden said he doesn't think the new zero-tolerance false-start rule is fair.
"Instead of looking for ways to get a guy out, they ought to look for ways to keep him in... If you're going to err on one side or the other in these things, it ought to be to give him an opportunity to compete." (8:20)
(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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