December 6, 2024 • 12 mins
Tracy Sandler from Fangirl Sports Network joins 1st & 10 to share what to expect in the Bears-49ers matchup, discuss keys to success for the 49ers in Week 14 and highlight the team's My Cause My Cleats initiative and LB Curtis Robinson's Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nomination.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello, and welcome to the forty nine Ers First and
ten Podcast, presented by Cisco. Ten minutes of the most
up to date forty nine Ers news First Thing in
the morning. I'm your host Brion McDonald and joining me
today is forty nine Ers team reporter Lindsay Palaraz and
special guest Tracy Sandler from Fangirl Sports Network. Thanks for
(00:31):
joining the pod.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Tracy, thank you for having me. Guys.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yes, it's always a pleasure talking game day with you. Now,
let's take a look at Sunday's matchup at Levice Stadium.
The forty nine Ers are hosting the four and eight
Chicago Bears this weekend in San Francisco's looking to bounce
back after three straight losses, so both teams are coming
in hungry for a win. Tracy, what are some of
your initial thoughts on this matchup?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, the forty nine Ers have a tough task against them,
and I think the Bears record doesn't necessarily do them justice.
And maybe that's a strong way to put it, but
they've been playing pretty good football over the last few weeks.
They just keep finding ways to lose in the fourth quarter. Eventually,
in theory, that's going to change, but we're seeing Caleb
Williams play a little bit better. We're seeing things come together,
(01:20):
and they have the unquantifiable interim coach bump this week,
which seems to really help teams when when a team's
coach gets fired in the middle of a season for
reasons unexplained, the following week under the interim head coach, the.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Team seems to win and do well.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So I know that that's not an x's and o's thing.
It's very unquantifiable, but it is kind of a thing,
and it's something to look out for.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, Definitely, another thing to look out for in this
game day is that there's unfortunately been quite a few
injuries to track from the Niner side, especially after that
Bills game. Lindsay, after almost a full week of practice,
they got another day worked today. But what are some
of your latest practice updates and what are some things
you're looking out for and head coach Kas Shanahan's final
(02:07):
injury report today.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Yeah, you know, some of the injury updates are actually positive.
Dimitris Flanagan fouls and linebacker who's actually been out the
last two games is a limited participant for the first time. Thursday,
we also saw cornerback Diamador Lenor, who actually missed that
Week thirteen matchup against the Bills. He's a limited participant
on Wednesday and was upgraded to full on Thursday. So
(02:31):
that's going to provide a really big boost to the
forty nine ers secondary, assuming that he gets the green
light today, which I imagine he will, so not all bad things.
We also saw safety Talanoa Hufanga get his practice window
open on Wednesday. He's gonna be a limited participant and
did so on Wednesday and Thursday is actually playing with
a club on his hand, So I think again, just
(02:54):
in this similar way to Drake Greenlaw, just to have
a seasoned player, a veteran player back always just provides
a really good morale boost. We're going to get more
insight as to when he would actually be activated. We
don't have that information yet. A couple guys to be
on the lookout for that. We're actually added to the
injury list, which is not what we want to see.
(03:15):
But what actually happened safety George Odom who's also a
special Teams ace. He did not participate on Thursday due
to a knee injury, and then defensive lineman e tour.
Grossmatos also added to that injury list a limited participant,
also with a knee injury. And then I also forgot
to mention Jordan Elliott, defensive tackle, a starter.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
He was in the concussion protocol last week.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
He's been full of the last two days, so again
a good boost for the forty nine ers d line.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
All right, thanks, Lindi. We'll keep an eye out for
Kyle Shanahan and his final injury report later today. That'll
be on forty nine ers dot com. But now, aside
from the matchup, there is an extra special element to
game day this Sunday at Levice Stadium. The forty nine
Ers are celebrating my Cosmike Cleets this Sunday, also honoring
their Walter Payton Man of the Year, who was announced
(04:06):
just yesterday. Lindsey, would you like to give us more
information on both sides there.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Yes, congratulations are in order for linebacker Curtis Robinson. He
is the forty nine Ers nominee for the Walter Payton
NFL Man of the Year Award.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
For those that.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Aren't as familiar with this award, thirty two players are
nominated across the league, one from each team. Just for
their above excellent contribution to the community and outreach. And
Curtis Robinson is someone that has an interesting story. He
was a practice squad member he signed in twenty twenty one,
(04:44):
earned a spot on the fifty three man roster in
twenty twenty four, and unfortunately suffered a season ending ACL
tear very early in the season. I think one of
the coolest things about him, he's very passionate about education,
access outreach and helping educators in the communities they serve.
He has been a regular at so many of the
forty nine ers community Tuesdays over the years, and even
(05:06):
after suffering that season ending injury, he really has not
missed a Community Tuesday unless it was involving, you know,
a surgery for that injury. So I think it's been
pretty remarkable, really really dedicated to the Bay Area community.
And yeah, the My CAUSEMKE Cleats, thirty four players from
the forty nine Ers are going to be taking part
in that this weekend. They'll be wearing customized cleats that
(05:30):
show tribute and help raise awareness for all their individual causes.
It's a really cool league wide initiative. It's been happening
over the last couple weeks. So this week is the
forty nine Ers week, just because they have a home
game and they can wear all their really cool cleats,
and we're gonna have a ton of articles on forty
nine ers dot Com breaking down the individual causes and
(05:52):
then doing a deep dive on guys like Diamador Lenor
and Tabor Pepper.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So be on the lookout for those. You know Curtis Robinson.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Every year I cover a lot of these events, and
he's at every single one, and he's at every single one,
hurt or not, and he's so engaged with everybody they're
working with, and he is just fantastic. In Lindsay's right,
he has such a great story and the injury is
so unfortunate, but he really is somebody who embodies how
the organization works in the community, how important the Bay
(06:20):
Area community is to the organization. So big congratulations to
Curtis Robinson on that nominee and with my Causemike Cleats,
I just I think it's the most fun part of
the year because when you talk to the guys about
their causes and they show you their cleats, there's a
level of pride and excitement in the causes that they're
talking about and having design their cleats, and I think
(06:42):
it really gives the players an opportunity to show fans
the other side of things that are important to them,
because sometimes fans can forget players are human and there
are things that are important to them other than football,
and we get to see what those causes are, how
they spend their time, how they spend their resources building
those causes up and again with the designing of the cleats.
(07:03):
It's just a really fun weekend and it's a really
fun day throughout the NFL. Obviously, I've really just covered
the forty nine ers doing it over the last several years,
but it's just a really cool thing to see.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
All Right, Well, thank you so much, Chasey. Now let's
talk about Sunday's matchup against the Bears again. They're coming
in zero to five in the road in twenty twenty four.
A lot of those struggles have come from close losses,
so really tough games, emotional games for them. What's your
perspective on how the forty nine ers could possibly capitalize
and take advantage of these struggles and come out with
(07:35):
a win on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, the Furtniters are coming off three losses, two really
really tough ones on the road. So I think for them,
if the Bears are getting an interim coach bump, I
think the Fortininers are getting a coming home bump to
an actual not snowing gold Day bump.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
So I think it'll be nice for them to be home.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And I think at this point for the last five games,
so the forty Niners are not out of it entirely.
So they're playing for that, and they're also playing for pride,
and they would like to show that these are the
forty nine ers that fans are used to and that
people are used to seeing. Yes, they have suffered a
multitude of injuries, but I think if they can somehow
figure out to be a little how to be a
(08:15):
little bit more efficient in the red zone, if they
can stop the run game or at least put some
sort of leakage on the run game. Right now, the
run game is literally, for lack of a better turn,
running all over them. If they can figure out a
way to not miss those tackles, to stop running backs,
to not let Cayleb Williams run around on them, because
he does have that ability, and the Forteos defense does
(08:35):
struggle with those type of quarterbacks. I think they could
really come out and win this game. They're going to
need Deebo Samuel to step up. They're going to need
Juwan Jennings to continue to do what he's doing. George
Kittle was not targeted that much in the game against
the Bills, and I think that's something they're going to
have to look at because he's so reliable. He and
Brock Purty have such chemistry between them. So I think
(08:58):
those are the ways in which they can win this matchup.
It is a winnable game for them, but they too
have fourth quarter losses, and they too have found ways
to lose in the fourth quarter. And they're going to
have to play a complete football game. That's really been
one of the big issues for the forty nine ers
all season long. They need to play a complete football game.
I do think some of the people coming back will
(09:20):
give them a boost. Of course, there were a lot
of people lost in addition this week, and that's been tough.
But they can win this game, but they have to
do the things right that they do right, and that
is of course executing red zone efficiency, not making special
teams bunders and somehow figure out a way to stop
the run.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
The run game, yeah, well, looking at the forty nine
ers run game, there obviously are concerns about the impact
of Christian McCaffrey's season ending injury, especially given the loss
of Jordan Mason as well. Lindsay, how do you see
the offense adapting without those two?
Speaker 4 (09:54):
You know, I think it is something the forty nine
ers have had to do a lot this season, just
given with how how long the injury list is now
and how it has been in previous weeks. It's all
about the next man up for the forty nine Ers.
In Week fourteen, that is going to be rookie running
back Isaac Garndo.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
He's a fourth round pick.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
He's definitely become more involved in the forty nine ers
offense as the season has gone on. He played the
most in Week eight against the Dallas Cowboys. We were
talking to him in locker room where he said that,
you know, each week he's been preparing as if he
was the starter. You never want to see veterans and
more experienced players go down in front of you, but
(10:33):
that is the nature of football. Guys get hurt, and
it really is about stepping up and filling that role
as soon as possible, and head coach Kyle Shanahan has
given him a vote of confidence. You know, he feels
like he's ready for this moment and he's going to
have to be other changes to the forty nine ers
running back room. They've elevated Patrick Taylor Junior from the
(10:55):
practice squad and then also added claimed running back Israel
Aba Cananda off waivers from the New York Jets. So
the running back room looks a lot different than it
did a week ago. But the forty nine ers are
going to do their very best to adjust and you know,
do everything in their power in order to get that
run game going. They had a really successful showing out
(11:17):
in Buffalo. They actually had one hundred and fifty plus
yards on the ground. Obviously different personnel out there, but
they still are a talented team. So now it's just
about utilizing different players in this week.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Okay, Well, a lot to look out for on Sunday,
So thank you so much Tracy for joining us today. Faithful,
don't forget to tune into the Bears versus nine Ers
game on Fox at one twenty five pm Pacific time.
Subscribe to First and ten presented by Cisco for all
of your forty nine ers updates, and turn on the
notifications for any breaking news.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Eight
Hello, and welcome to the forty nine Ers First and
ten Podcast, presented by Cisco. Ten minutes of the most
up to date forty nine Ers news First Thing in
the morning. I'm your host Brion McDonald and joining me
today is forty nine Ers team reporter Lindsay Palaraz and
special guest Tracy Sandler from Fangirl Sports Network. Thanks for
(00:31):
joining the pod.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Tracy, thank you for having me. Guys.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yes, it's always a pleasure talking game day with you. Now,
let's take a look at Sunday's matchup at Levice Stadium.
The forty nine Ers are hosting the four and eight
Chicago Bears this weekend in San Francisco's looking to bounce
back after three straight losses, so both teams are coming
in hungry for a win. Tracy, what are some of
your initial thoughts on this matchup?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, the forty nine Ers have a tough task against them,
and I think the Bears record doesn't necessarily do them justice.
And maybe that's a strong way to put it, but
they've been playing pretty good football over the last few weeks.
They just keep finding ways to lose in the fourth quarter. Eventually,
in theory, that's going to change, but we're seeing Caleb
Williams play a little bit better. We're seeing things come together,
(01:20):
and they have the unquantifiable interim coach bump this week,
which seems to really help teams when when a team's
coach gets fired in the middle of a season for
reasons unexplained, the following week under the interim head coach, the.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Team seems to win and do well.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So I know that that's not an x's and o's thing.
It's very unquantifiable, but it is kind of a thing,
and it's something to look out for.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, Definitely, another thing to look out for in this
game day is that there's unfortunately been quite a few
injuries to track from the Niner side, especially after that
Bills game. Lindsay, after almost a full week of practice,
they got another day worked today. But what are some
of your latest practice updates and what are some things
you're looking out for and head coach Kas Shanahan's final
(02:07):
injury report today.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Yeah, you know, some of the injury updates are actually positive.
Dimitris Flanagan fouls and linebacker who's actually been out the
last two games is a limited participant for the first time. Thursday,
we also saw cornerback Diamador Lenor, who actually missed that
Week thirteen matchup against the Bills. He's a limited participant
on Wednesday and was upgraded to full on Thursday. So
(02:31):
that's going to provide a really big boost to the
forty nine ers secondary, assuming that he gets the green
light today, which I imagine he will, so not all bad things.
We also saw safety Talanoa Hufanga get his practice window
open on Wednesday. He's gonna be a limited participant and
did so on Wednesday and Thursday is actually playing with
a club on his hand, So I think again, just
(02:54):
in this similar way to Drake Greenlaw, just to have
a seasoned player, a veteran player back always just provides
a really good morale boost. We're going to get more
insight as to when he would actually be activated. We
don't have that information yet. A couple guys to be
on the lookout for that. We're actually added to the
injury list, which is not what we want to see.
(03:15):
But what actually happened safety George Odom who's also a
special Teams ace. He did not participate on Thursday due
to a knee injury, and then defensive lineman e tour.
Grossmatos also added to that injury list a limited participant,
also with a knee injury. And then I also forgot
to mention Jordan Elliott, defensive tackle, a starter.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
He was in the concussion protocol last week.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
He's been full of the last two days, so again
a good boost for the forty nine ers d line.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
All right, thanks, Lindi. We'll keep an eye out for
Kyle Shanahan and his final injury report later today. That'll
be on forty nine ers dot com. But now, aside
from the matchup, there is an extra special element to
game day this Sunday at Levice Stadium. The forty nine
Ers are celebrating my Cosmike Cleets this Sunday, also honoring
their Walter Payton Man of the Year, who was announced
(04:06):
just yesterday. Lindsey, would you like to give us more
information on both sides there.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Yes, congratulations are in order for linebacker Curtis Robinson. He
is the forty nine Ers nominee for the Walter Payton
NFL Man of the Year Award.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
For those that.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Aren't as familiar with this award, thirty two players are
nominated across the league, one from each team. Just for
their above excellent contribution to the community and outreach. And
Curtis Robinson is someone that has an interesting story. He
was a practice squad member he signed in twenty twenty one,
(04:44):
earned a spot on the fifty three man roster in
twenty twenty four, and unfortunately suffered a season ending ACL
tear very early in the season. I think one of
the coolest things about him, he's very passionate about education,
access outreach and helping educators in the communities they serve.
He has been a regular at so many of the
forty nine ers community Tuesdays over the years, and even
(05:06):
after suffering that season ending injury, he really has not
missed a Community Tuesday unless it was involving, you know,
a surgery for that injury. So I think it's been
pretty remarkable, really really dedicated to the Bay Area community.
And yeah, the My CAUSEMKE Cleats, thirty four players from
the forty nine Ers are going to be taking part
in that this weekend. They'll be wearing customized cleats that
(05:30):
show tribute and help raise awareness for all their individual causes.
It's a really cool league wide initiative. It's been happening
over the last couple weeks. So this week is the
forty nine Ers week, just because they have a home
game and they can wear all their really cool cleats,
and we're gonna have a ton of articles on forty
nine ers dot Com breaking down the individual causes and
(05:52):
then doing a deep dive on guys like Diamador Lenor
and Tabor Pepper.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So be on the lookout for those. You know Curtis Robinson.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Every year I cover a lot of these events, and
he's at every single one, and he's at every single one,
hurt or not, and he's so engaged with everybody they're
working with, and he is just fantastic. In Lindsay's right,
he has such a great story and the injury is
so unfortunate, but he really is somebody who embodies how
the organization works in the community, how important the Bay
(06:20):
Area community is to the organization. So big congratulations to
Curtis Robinson on that nominee and with my Causemike Cleats,
I just I think it's the most fun part of
the year because when you talk to the guys about
their causes and they show you their cleats, there's a
level of pride and excitement in the causes that they're
talking about and having design their cleats, and I think
(06:42):
it really gives the players an opportunity to show fans
the other side of things that are important to them,
because sometimes fans can forget players are human and there
are things that are important to them other than football,
and we get to see what those causes are, how
they spend their time, how they spend their resources building
those causes up and again with the designing of the cleats.
(07:03):
It's just a really fun weekend and it's a really
fun day throughout the NFL. Obviously, I've really just covered
the forty nine ers doing it over the last several years,
but it's just a really cool thing to see.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
All Right, Well, thank you so much, Chasey. Now let's
talk about Sunday's matchup against the Bears again. They're coming
in zero to five in the road in twenty twenty four.
A lot of those struggles have come from close losses,
so really tough games, emotional games for them. What's your
perspective on how the forty nine ers could possibly capitalize
and take advantage of these struggles and come out with
(07:35):
a win on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, the Furtniters are coming off three losses, two really
really tough ones on the road. So I think for them,
if the Bears are getting an interim coach bump, I
think the Fortininers are getting a coming home bump to
an actual not snowing gold Day bump.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
So I think it'll be nice for them to be home.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And I think at this point for the last five games,
so the forty Niners are not out of it entirely.
So they're playing for that, and they're also playing for pride,
and they would like to show that these are the
forty nine ers that fans are used to and that
people are used to seeing. Yes, they have suffered a
multitude of injuries, but I think if they can somehow
figure out to be a little how to be a
(08:15):
little bit more efficient in the red zone, if they
can stop the run game or at least put some
sort of leakage on the run game. Right now, the
run game is literally, for lack of a better turn,
running all over them. If they can figure out a
way to not miss those tackles, to stop running backs,
to not let Cayleb Williams run around on them, because
he does have that ability, and the Forteos defense does
(08:35):
struggle with those type of quarterbacks. I think they could
really come out and win this game. They're going to
need Deebo Samuel to step up. They're going to need
Juwan Jennings to continue to do what he's doing. George
Kittle was not targeted that much in the game against
the Bills, and I think that's something they're going to
have to look at because he's so reliable. He and
Brock Purty have such chemistry between them. So I think
(08:58):
those are the ways in which they can win this matchup.
It is a winnable game for them, but they too
have fourth quarter losses, and they too have found ways
to lose in the fourth quarter. And they're going to
have to play a complete football game. That's really been
one of the big issues for the forty nine ers
all season long. They need to play a complete football game.
I do think some of the people coming back will
(09:20):
give them a boost. Of course, there were a lot
of people lost in addition this week, and that's been tough.
But they can win this game, but they have to
do the things right that they do right, and that
is of course executing red zone efficiency, not making special
teams bunders and somehow figure out a way to stop
the run.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
The run game, yeah, well, looking at the forty nine
ers run game, there obviously are concerns about the impact
of Christian McCaffrey's season ending injury, especially given the loss
of Jordan Mason as well. Lindsay, how do you see
the offense adapting without those two?
Speaker 4 (09:54):
You know, I think it is something the forty nine
ers have had to do a lot this season, just
given with how how long the injury list is now
and how it has been in previous weeks. It's all
about the next man up for the forty nine Ers.
In Week fourteen, that is going to be rookie running
back Isaac Garndo.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
He's a fourth round pick.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
He's definitely become more involved in the forty nine ers
offense as the season has gone on. He played the
most in Week eight against the Dallas Cowboys. We were
talking to him in locker room where he said that,
you know, each week he's been preparing as if he
was the starter. You never want to see veterans and
more experienced players go down in front of you, but
(10:33):
that is the nature of football. Guys get hurt, and
it really is about stepping up and filling that role
as soon as possible, and head coach Kyle Shanahan has
given him a vote of confidence. You know, he feels
like he's ready for this moment and he's going to
have to be other changes to the forty nine ers
running back room. They've elevated Patrick Taylor Junior from the
(10:55):
practice squad and then also added claimed running back Israel
Aba Cananda off waivers from the New York Jets. So
the running back room looks a lot different than it
did a week ago. But the forty nine ers are
going to do their very best to adjust and you know,
do everything in their power in order to get that
run game going. They had a really successful showing out
(11:17):
in Buffalo. They actually had one hundred and fifty plus
yards on the ground. Obviously different personnel out there, but
they still are a talented team. So now it's just
about utilizing different players in this week.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Okay, Well, a lot to look out for on Sunday,
So thank you so much Tracy for joining us today. Faithful,
don't forget to tune into the Bears versus nine Ers
game on Fox at one twenty five pm Pacific time.
Subscribe to First and ten presented by Cisco for all
of your forty nine ers updates, and turn on the
notifications for any breaking news.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Eight
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