RiceWatch: Game 9, Saints

1. Incomplete 4 yard hook. The coverage was interesting and obviously caught the 49ers off-guard. A linebacker was right up on Rice and covered him short, then giving way to the DBs behind if Rice actually went on a deeper pattern. First play of game. No replay of the good coverage is shown.

2. Incomplete 2 yard out, dropped by Rice. Again, instead of merely dropping to the flat, LB Mark Fields actually mans up on Rice during the first 5 yards. Second play of game. Imagine that, two short passes in a row to Rice. No replay is shown until later in Mark Malone's Spotlight segment (see below).

3. [reverse for TD, called back on block in back by Terrell Owens]. The phrase "vintage Jerry Rice" is tossed around a couple of times. Yes, it is vintage-- Rice looking good against a pathetic defense. Clearly, the play was more of a result of the lack of tackling ability on the Saints than anything that Rice did-- the Saints aren't last in defending the run despite having excellent tackling skills. Eric Allen, who could have smacked Rice, stopped and let Rice run by him for some unknown reason; probably because he thought Rice would step out of bounds as usual. Many replays are shown.

4. Incomplete 0 yard drag. No replay shown, despite great coverage again by Fields-- he hits Rice constantly during the play, giving Rice no chance to make the catch. Yes, a novel concept, actually smack Rice if he tries to cross under 5 yards.

5. 1 yard drag. Man. Tackled immediately short of the first down. No replay shown. Malone later spotlights this and calls it double coverage??

6. Incomplete 20 yard post. Great man coverage by Allen. Replay is actually shown, and announcers do a good job praising Allen. In their lauding of Allen, they mention that "he measures his performance against the best, Jerry Rice is the best." Well, they have to slip in something about Rice as the best ever every time, complete or not, don't they? And, of course, later Malone says the real reason for the incompletion is that the ball was "thrown too inside." Well, there has to be some reason or that someone could actually cover Rice, right?

7. 36 yard post touchdown. Blown zone coverage, corner drops into deep third while the safety vacates the middle, leaving Rice all by himself. Announcers actually do a good job focusing on the idiocy of the Saints defense.

8. [Rice penalized for false start. Of course, the refs fail to move the ball backwards.]

9. 8 yard out. Good pattern, rare for Rice to actually make a move. Initially ruled a TD, but overruled because even the pilot of the Goodyear blimp could see that Rice wasn't even close to scoring on the play. Pushed out of bounds.

The Saints mixed things up a bit defensively and had a lot of success. Obviously, Rice was befuddled at what to do when somebody covers his domain of less than 5 yards downfield.

The result: 3 catches for 45 yards, and most of those were the product of the blown coverage play -- not exactly "the best ever." The 49ers tried to force in 4 attempts to Rice that were 5 yards or less downfield, and Rice only was able to catch one of those.

By far the worst part of Sunday night was the Mark Malone spotlight. Here's what Malone had to say about Rice: "the planet's greatest wide receiver, the hardest-working wide receiver." Then he launched into a parade of lies when focusing on each Rice catch:

• "Double-coverage": Malone made it seem that Rice was double-covered every single play, and that's why Rice wasn't doing well. When reviewing Rice's 1 yard drag, he claimed Rice went "in double-coverage, but hammered." First of all, to call this double-coverage is a joke. True, if Rice had turned the pattern up, maybe somebody else would have picked him up, but to call this "double-coverage" without explaining, the average viewer is led to conclude that Rice outwitted two men on the catch, which is a farce. Then, on Rice's blown coverage TD, Malone explains that it was "double coverage again, somehow he beat it." We have to wonder what Malone was smoking on the sidelines. To call a blown zone assignment "double-coverage" and to assert Rice "beat" anything on the play is simply ludicrous. Finally, on Rice's 1000th, Malone claims again that Rice beats double-coverage. Maybe the Invisible Man was assisting Eric Allen on the out coverage.

• "Fearlessly over the middle": on the 1 yard drag, Malone perpetuated the toughness myth by asserting it was some act of courage to cross 1 yard downfield. In reality, the exact opposite is true-- when LBs read pass in the typical defense, they backpedal out as fast as they can, leaving the area within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage wide open. This is why the West Coast Offense wins-- they take advantage of these uncontested areas. While it may be smart, it certainly isn't tough, and Rice wasn't "fearless." This is the same guy that freaked out when he had to risk taking a hit on the onside kick.

• "Matter of inches": Malone was disappointed that Eric Allen was able to cover Rice, so he made up the excuse: the ball was underthrown.

We can only find two possible explanations for Malone to be so obviously wrong: (1) he stayed up too late partying with William Floyd and was seeing things; or (2) purposefully lied to the public with the intent to build the image of Rice as the best receiver ever. Regardless, it's unfortunate that the average fan is subject to such blatant misperceptions.