Oct 20 2008
Patriots Sink Broncos; Nolan Fired by 49ers
The New England Patriots dismantled the Denver Broncos, 41-7, Monday. New England (4-2) stayed within a game of Buffalo, the AFC East division leader, with the victory in Foxboro. Denver (4-3) committed five turnovers and the Patriots converted the miscues into 20 points. The Broncos managed to get their lone score only after New England tallied the game’s first 34 points.
Earlier Monday, the San Francisco 49ers fired coach Mike Nolan. This afternoon, rumors were rampant that the 49ers planned to fire Nolan next week. After San Francisco’s game against Seattle in six days, the team would have a bye and two weeks to prepare for the following game. However, once the public became aware of the imminent coaching change, the switch was made immediately.
Assistant head coach Mike Singletary, a Hall of Fame linebacker with the Chicago Bears, was named interim coach. Singletary has been an assistant coach since he retired as a player in 1992 but he has never been a head coach anywhere.
Singletary will need to lead the 49ers to a lot of wins. It’s clear San Francisco management prefers him to Mike Martz, who once led a team to a Super Bowl. I’d imagine there will be a national search after the season.
New England can be as strong as anyone else in the AFC. We’ll see what happens as the season progresses.