please visit http://www.49ersfancast.com

Week 1 Sept. 7 Arizona Cardinals – Win
Much as it sickens me to see another quarterback reprising the game that Alex Smith won for us last season, I see this as a winnable game, provided the running game is working. O’Sullivan can manage this one well if the line can give him time. Arizona’s D is okay, but not scary.

Week 2 Sept. 14 at Seattle Seahawks – Loss
Seattle will be too tough in their own house. Crowd will be pumped in Week 2, Holmgren’s last year, have to go out with a bang. Our line will struggle, therefore so will O’Sullivan.

Week 3 Sept. 21 Detroit Lions – Win
This one is too important to Mike Martz and O’Sullivan. Martz knows Kitna’s tendencies and the Niners Defense will be all over him. The issue for Detroit is the run game, and they cannot survive throwing the ball too much on our sod.

Week 4 Sept. 28 at New Orleans Saints – Loss
The Saints won’t be nearly as good as everyone thinks, but good enough in Week 4 to beat the 49ers. The defense is improved, but not that well improved. This will be a very tough crowd to play in front of, and O’Sullivan will be flustered.

Week 5 Oct. 5 New England Patriots – Loss
The Patriots also will not be as good as they were last year, but I believe they have too many weapons for us to cover, and their defense is just way too good. J.T. O’Sullivan will look arguably his worst here, and I still think may get injured by some hard hits.

Week 6 Oct. 12 Philadelphia Eagles – Loss
The Eagles are being sold entirely too short this season. They are a team on a mission, McNabb is completely healthy this season, and their defense will be strong, especially the secondary. We will run the ball well, but not enough to win, as we struggle with 3 and outs.

Week 7 Oct. 19 at New York Giants – Loss
I believe this game will be much closer than it was last season, but J.T. O’Fumble will strike again as they still have Umenyiora and Justin Tuck on the other side of the ball. Their pass rush will be too strong and I see Adam Snyder struggling here.

Week 8 Oct. 26 Seattle Seahawks – Win
I’m going to go with a win here because I don’t believe the team will let Seattle sweep them in front of the home crowd. With an anticipated four-game losing streak, it’s possible J.T. O’Sullivan may be benched, especially if he’s hurt after the three fierce defenses he faces. To be clear, I think any of our quarterbacks could be hit a lot during this stretch.

Week 9 Nov. 2 Bye
If the Niners come into the bye at 2-6, someone will lose their job, and I suspect it will be a quarterback. If they are 2-6 and O’Sullivan is not benched, I will be amazed. If they are 3-5 then it’s easier for Nolan to stick to his guns, especially if O’Sullivan gets the win against Seattle. If it’s Smith in the Seattle game and we’re 3-5 it becomes extremely interesting. That being said, I continue with O’Sullivan.

Week 10 Nov. 10 (Mon.) at Arizona Cardinals – Loss
This game depends heavily on what’s going on personnel-wise. Arizona could very well be much better than last year, and it appears Leinart is also improving. This will be a great division battle, looking dramatic if Alex Smith is the guy on the White Horse, or if O’Sullivan is looking to improve. Since he’s not good, it’s a loss.

Week 11 Nov. 16 St. Louis Rams – Win
I know Martz would love to win this game, and so would Isaac Bruce. Marc Bulger should have a better handle on Al Saunders’ offense here. The Rams just don’t have a very good defense, but our D has to contain Stephen Jackson. It’s a short week after a Monday night road game, so I hope they’re rested.

Week 12 Nov. 23 at Dallas Cowboys – Loss
We’ll know by this time whether the Cowboys are for real this year or not. They appear to be okay right now, but how will their running game perform? O’Sullivan won’t have enough to win this game, and you need a Quarterback to win this game, not just manage it. Would be closer if it were at home.

Week 13 Nov. 30 at Buffalo Bills – Loss
This could be contingent upon who plays quarterback at this stage. Cold weather, you expect Smith to be okay. O’Sullivan we just don’t know about yet. The bigger question is the Bills. How good is their defense and how will Losman be doing? If we can run on the Bills and contain their offense I think we can win it. But I think the Bills will be too much at home.

Week 14 Dec. 7 New York Jets – Loss
Brett Favre knows what it’s like to play on grass, and he also knows what it’s like to win in San Francisco. He will be on a tear at this point, with the offense down pat. That plus the balance between his arm and Thomas Jones’ running and the strength of their division makes the Jets a lot tougher in December. Their defense will also be improved, but this could pobably be a back-and-forth game with Favre coming out on top.

Week 15 Dec. 14 at Miami Dolphins – Win
The Niners will be really searching for a win at this point, and the Dolphins will make a tantilizing opponent. They just have too many holes to be a winning team, and Frank Gore is coming home so you know he’ll be running like a gazelle.

Week 16 Dec. 21 at St. Louis Rams – Loss
Again, Martz really wants to stick it to the Rams, and so does Isaac Bruce. I do not assume the Rams will be as bad as last year, and should be clicking very well offensively. I’m hoping to be in the crowd for this game. I hate to predict a loss for a game I’m at, but this is a very active home crowd, and I think the defense will wear down against Stephen Jackson and Torry Holt. It will probably be a shootout.

Week 17 Dec. 28 Washington Redskins – Loss
Washington will likely be heading for the playoffs, but in the uber-competitive NFC East, they need to solidify their position here. They could be fighting for the wildcard if the Cowboys come through. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Skins and the Giants tied for the wildcard. The Skins will be fighting for their lives. Their defense is good, their offense will be good, and the Niners offense won’t be good enough.

That says 6-10 right there, which is as much as we should expect with Game Manager J.T. O’Dilfer at quarterback for an entire year. This will not be enough improvement to save Mike Nolan’s job, and ownership will likely go in a different direction. If people are clamoring for the backup quarterback to go in all year, and Nolan and Martz both stubbornly stick to their guns, the outcry will be too much, and the team will go in a different direction.

That being said, I don’t see O’Fumble lasting the whole season. The 49ers need a quarterback who can win games, not just manage the game, especially with this difficult schedule. Four games against the NFC East, Four games against the AFC East, and an NFC West that is stronger gives us a more challenging venture than 2007, as bad as 2007 was. Considering that J.T. O’SUllivan right now is not demonstrably, concretely better than Alex Smith, I believe Smith will be better the further through the season we go. When Nolan and Martz realize that they need a quarterback who can outrun NFL linebackers without endangering the ball, who can get the ball downfield in the wind at Candlestick, who can take an NFL hit (shoulder notwithstanding), then they will put Smith in. The only question is when.