Jul 30th 2008 8:33PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: 49ers, NFC WestA lot of names — Bryant Johnson, Isaac Bruce, Mike Martz, etc — have been brought in to revive a moribund 49ers offense that has ranked 32nd, 26th, and 32nd in the league in Mike Nolan’s first three years. So how’s that turning out?
The thing that struck me about this practice was, “Man, this is really, really bad.”
…
The 49ers’ pass game looked just as Martz described it the other day — “organized chaos” — though I’m not sure about the organized part.
It’s OK, Matt Maiocco. Don’t be shy.
… the play was extremely sloppy — perhaps the worst I’ve ever seen.
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It’s difficult to believe they’ll be able to function in a game setting on Aug. 8 against the Raiders.
So … yeah. This is your 2007 49ers, v2.0. Of course, it’s still too early to start judging the team by these practices, especially given the fact that the players are trying to learn a very complex offense and no single quarterback is getting the reps necessary to build a rapport with the pass-catchers.

But that’s just the problem. A lot of jobs are riding on this season in San Francisco. Yet while Martz’s offense will be better than last year’s, that’s not necessarily saying much. It takes one full season just to begin comprehending his system fully, but that’s a season many people can’t spare. And so the onus gets put on Alex Smith or Shaun Hill to be a hero. But, a question: when has either proven he can thrive under pressure in the NFL?