After failing miserably again on Sunday to the New England Pats, the San Francisco 49ers continue their downward spiral under the leadership of Jed York and his father John.

Life Without Lawson

The news and notes for the week: - Manny Lawson won’t play with his hamstring injury and that means TBC! Tully Banta-Cain , who played well against the backups in exhibition games, will get his first look.

Randy Moss streaked downfield with more urgency than he ever showed during two years playing on the other side of the Bay, grabbing Matt Cassel’s stellar throw and speeding away for a score before the first quarter was even half over. The New England Patriots didn’t forget how to win just because their regular-season winning streak is over.

Life Without Lawson

The news and notes for the week: - Manny Lawson won’t play with his hamstring injury and that means TBC! Tully Banta-Cain , who played well against the backups in exhibition games, will get his first look.

Pats inconsistent defense will be challenged by 49ers (Yahoo! Sports)
It seems a little unfair that after Dean Pees had to watch his Patriots defense get shredded by the Miami…

Niners retire Young’s jersey (AP)
As Steve Young listened to the Candlestick Park crowd roar at his jersey retirement ceremony, he looked at Jerry Rice and wished he was in his old No. 8 uniform instead of a suit. “Honestly I feel like I want to play,” Young said after the ceremony. “My life is sublime now and great and wonderful in many ways but you can’t replace it.” Young was honored at halftime of the San Francisco 49ers game on…

Pats inconsistent defense will be challenged by 49ers (Yahoo! Sports)
It seems a little unfair that after Dean Pees had to watch his Patriots defense get shredded by the Miami…

American public labeled O.J. guilty years ago

Behind Enemy Lines: 49ers/Patriots, Part III
In the final segment of an exclusive three-part series, SFIllustrated.com’s Craig Massei and PatriotsInsider.com’s Jon Scott go Behind Enemy Lines to take a closer look at Sunday’s game between the 49ers and Patriots. Let’s conclude the series with key matchups, keys to the game, why each team will win and why each will lose, and final predictions from both Craig and Jon.

Jags’ Nelson, Florence out for Steelers game
The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without half their starting secondary against Pittsburgh on Sunday night. Safety Reggie Nelson (knee) and cornerback Drayton Florence (groin) will miss the game, coach Jack Del Rio said Friday. Nelson bruised a knee two weeks ago at Indianapolis when he collided with teammate Brian Williams and sat out last week’s game against Houston. Florence strained his groin on the final series against the Texans. Both players missed practice all week.

No surprise: T.O., Al Davis star in NFL soap opera
As T.O. and Al Davis give in to their worst impulses, Ricky Williams is trying to resist some old temptations, Kevin Hench says.

Former 49ers running back Roger Craig won’t even try to guess how many times he was hit during his 11-year NFL career.

Former football star Lawrence Phillips was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, two years after he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. The sentencing was repeatedly delayed while Phillips fought to withdraw a guilty plea in a domestic abuse case that could have led to a stiffer sentence.

49ers Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)

The San Francisco 49ers are coming off a humbling performance - their worst game of the season.

Did the 49ers take a step backward in a 31-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints? Niners coach Mike Nolan said he’ll be able to provide an answer after his team plays the New England Patriots on Sunday at Candlestick Park.

“It all depends on how we respond,” Nolan said. “I’d like to think we’ll step forward from it. Coming out of it is what I’m most concerned with. So if that game makes us better because we learned some things from it, then that’s a good thing.”

The 49ers have their issues on both sides of the ball, but Nolan believes everything bad that came from their loss to the Saints is correctable.

Quarterback J.T.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. : Mike Nolan refers to his version of the nickel defense as the Big Sub.