The San Francisco 49ers have been built quite well over the last several seasons. They were the new team that was “on the rise.” It seems now, they have arrived, no longer the up and coming team to watch out for, they are now the team, you are worried about coming into your home, smacking you around and taking your last beer.

Things have changed, indeed.

The Niners are a defensive beast, 1st and foremost. Defense used to be the number one magnitude for a team to be a Super bowl contender, let alone to win it. So the Niners went in that direction, as many teams have in the past. Although things have changed a bit over the years, and offense is looked at in a more cherished light than it ever has been in the past, this is something that the Niners needed to concentrate on for their future survival.

Now, besides the 49ers daunting wicked defense, they have improved their offense as well, bit by bit. Looking back at some of their significant games, they have held opposing stud QBs, like Matt Stafford to only 230 YDs, 60% pass completer, Andy Dalton to 157 and 2 picks, and teams like Pittsburgh to only 3 points, and beating every one of those teams as well. Their secondary, led by Tarell Brown and Dashon Goldson, give any opposing QB a nightmare to throw against.

Truth be told, the sky is the limit for the 49ers. Of course their offense has been keyed nonetheless through Frank Gore, their all time leading rusher in franchise history. But now they have many more options on the offensive end of things. With Vernon Davis, Mario Manningham, & Michael Crabtree, all who can catch the ball and make big play ability on the field. Alex Smith has improved his accuracy, over his 1st 4 years he was around 54% throwing the ball. Of late, he has brought up to the region of 65%+, behind Jim Harbaugh at Head Coach.

The O-line for the Niners has improved, last year they gave up 44 sacks on Smith, the most in the league. This year, he has been sacked a small number of times, and he also is carrying a 115+ QB rating with him as well, he’s making the right decisions on the field. I presume they will get even better. Smith has confirmed he can pick apart D-backs if given the time, the more time they give him clearly the more effective the Niners will be on offense.

Smith may likely never put up 5000 YDs and 35 TDs. He may not get the commercials that Cam Newton or Eli Manning get. But he is ideal for this Niners offense. He doesn’t just “manage “the game, he controls the game, behind a strong O-line and a potent running game, and nowadays with more weapons to throw the ball to.

The Niners have nowhere reached anywhere near their peak, only a few games in, they are just starting to rotate in the right direction. Give it time, and I ultimately expect Harbaugh to start opening it up progressively over the season. Signing Randy Moss was for a cause. And the reason is, to keep the secondary on their heels, which opens up the middle of the field, and Smith will take his cracks at him, making teams play him still with 2 men.

Moss is liable to get 1-2 scoring chances a game; he has just 5 targets so far, with a TD, enough to keep D-coordinators something to watch for every week. Add in Mario Manningham and Crabtree, and they’re many options for Mr. Smith. Give it time; by week 10, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Niners are scoring 32/game. Because teams aren’t ready for a foremost defensive team, that is loading up the scoreboard as well.

Could be trouble not just for the NFC, but for the NFL.

Frank Jordan of VegasTopDogs.com