Alliance... » It wasn’t much different than what he did for

BERKELEY Trent Brown Jersey , Calif. (AP) — over video of his latest performance.seasons as a tight end with the Dallas Cowboys. But instead of being one of the faces of perhaps the NFL’s most high-profile franchise, Witten holds one of the most prominent television jobs in the sport: lead analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”Witten is approaching his new role in similar fashion as he did his old one, when his comprehensive film work made him the second-most productive tight end in NFL history.“That’s where you really learn and grow, the ability to go back and see it,” Witten said. “Sometimes it’s good and you’re like we need to build on that. Sometimes it’s not so good and you’re like, man, I’m so disappointed that was a bad rep.“No different than a route that you run and that’s not what you’re looking for. What gives me confidence is diving into that process and doing it with guys who I enjoy being around and they have the same mindset.”Witten is part of a brand new announcing team for ESPN after Jon Gruden left the analyst chair for a second stint as Oakland Raiders head coach. Witten joins play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore, who switched jobs with Sean McDonough, who went back to college games; on-field analyst Booger McFarland; and the only returning member of the team in sideline reporter Lisa Salters. The group makes the regular-season debut Sept. 10 when Gruden’s Raiders host the Los Angeles Rams.This team was put together following an exhaustive search that featured auditions with about 13 analysts. The tests were thorough, featuring dinners at Tessitore’s house to see what kind of off-screen rapport could be built, as well as practice games in a studio.Tessitore and producer Jay Rothman were in agreement that the team of Tessitore, Witten and McFarland was the best. Then began the process of making that belief come true.The offseason has been spent doing rehearsal games in studios and at stadiums; holding film sessions; having countless discussions and text message exchanges; sharing dinners and drinks; and broadcasting two preseason games.All in an effort to build the chemistry that will make for a smooth telecast each week.Tessitore said he’s already spent more time with this team before the start of this season than he did in an entire season with his college crews.“In all my years of broadcasting, I only know one way to be on a crew, and that’s you’re now my brothers and my family. That’s the only way I know it to be Justin Ellis Jersey ,” Tessitore said.“That means that you’re at my house for dinner, we’re hanging out together and we’re working out together, drinking wine together, traveling together, texting each other, communicating and we know each other’s families inside and out, and we’re serving each other. That just gets extended to the broadcast when the red light turns on. That’s critically important to me.”This new group of announcers is being thrust onto one of the biggest stages in broadcasting. “Monday Night Football” has featured some of the industry’s titans over the years: announcers Howard Cosell, Al Michaels and John Madden; Super Bowl-winning coaches and quarterbacks Gruden and Joe Theismann; and Hall of Famers Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Dan Fouts.This crew starts with far fewer accomplishments. Tessitore has had several roles at ESPN for 16 years, doing boxing, horse racing and college football and basketball. This is by far his highest-profile job.McFarland started at the SEC Network in 2014 and has done only a handful of games in his career. Witten is a television rookie following in the footsteps of his former Cowboys teammate Tony Romo, who went from the field to the broadcast booth to great acclaim last year as CBS’ lead analyst.“He did an incredible job,” Witten said. “As a friend, I’m proud of him. It’s not easy for him to have that success. Although I recognize I’ll always be compared to that and that’s what’s going to happen Rodney Hudson Jersey , I really don’t try to compete from that standpoint.”The new crew will also have a bit of a new approach with McFarland, a former NFL defensive tackle, serving as an on-field analyst from a mobile crane that will be positioned about 10 feet off the ground at the line of scrimmage.McFarland will have a desk with monitors showing replays, stats and a live look into the broadcast booth, where Tessitore and Witten will have a camera on McFarland to make it a seamless team.“I kept using the words extension of the booth,” Rothman said. “How can we give Booger the resources that Jason has up top to truly be an extension of the booth, and how can we make that work and not worry about the orchestration and stepping on each other?”Rothman came up with the idea while shaving in May and immediately presented it to his technical staff. Four months later, McFarland did his first game from the “Booger Mobile.”He said this setup allows him to contribute as a full-fledged third man in the booth rather than a sideline analyst needing permission to get on the broadcast, and gives him a better appreciation of what’s happening on the field.“It’s an entirely different feel,” he said. “You can see the play, but there’s a difference between seeing it and feeling it. Feeling a guy’s speed and power is just a different deal. It’s actually been pretty cool. Once you understand the mechanics of it, it’s worked pretty well.”With so many new parts, the crew understands this will be a work in progress, but the members are excited to see how it all develops.“There’s still a learning process for all of us Lamarcus Joyner Jersey ,” Rothman said. “We’ll be a lot different in Week 8, a lot different in Week 15 and a lot different in Year 2. All for the good. But it’s been fun.” The big news for this game is whether the 49ers will have CJ Beathard at quarterback or Nick Mullens. The thing about that is the 49ers haven’t won a game with Beathard out there, so we don’t know if Mullens would really be a significant downgrade. Clearly QB is a concern for them. That’s a given. Their strengths lie elsewhere, while the Raiders have had some difficulty this season finding a strength. They certainly have weaknesses though, so the key will be trying to figure those out.Slow the run This first one is by far the hardest to accomplish. Notice I didn’t say stop the run? Because that would be asking way too much from this Raiders defense that has been the wort in the league in rushing yards per game allowed (144.7).This may be the one area where these two teams are the farthest apart. The 49ers are fifth in the league in yards per carry (4.8) and the Raiders are the worst in the league at stopping it.The past couple weeks teams have figured out the way to beat the Raiders early is to run the ball. Matt Breida has 487 yards this season and is averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Last week the Colts ran it down the Raiders throats to great success. The Seahawks did the same the week before. Both teams controlled the clock, limiting the Raiders offense’s ability to respond.Figure out the safety situationIt’s time to stop messing around with the safety position. Stop moving players in and out of the lineup and settle on two guys. Those two guys need to be Erik Harris and Karl Joseph. The biggest problem for the safeties last week is one that has been an evergreen problem for the Raiders the past few years – covering the tight end. The 49ers have one of the better tight ends in the NFL in George Kittle. He’s currently third in the NFL among tight ends with 584 yards receiving.Last week, the Colts had great success with their tight ends. Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron both had great days. Even third tight end Mo Alie-Cox had an acrobatic touchdown catch.No player was more victimized by the tight ends than Marcus Gilchrist. Joseph had a couple of catches made on him as well, which is why Harris should be given tight end duties. He and Joseph are the young safeties who still have something left to prove. Reggie Nelson is past it and Gilchrist is a known commodity. Go with Harris and Joseph and stick with them better or worse.Protect Derek CarrWe saw last week what Derek Carr can do when he gets protection and time to throw. We have seen this at times in his career before now. If he gets comfortable, he can make some eye popping throws. And the moment he gets uncomfortable, that all goes out the window.The 49ers best pass rushers are the Dynamic Ducks Duo of DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead. Buckner leads the team with 4.5 sacks this season and is a force on the inside while Armstead has 3.0 sacks from the defensive end position. Buckner in particular is going to give the guards all they can handle and the tackles on occasion as well. Last week the Raiders offensive line looked as good as they have all season in protecting Carr and it allowed him to throw for three touchdowns, two of which were deep passes.Kelechi Osemele is questionable for the game with his knee injury that has had him out for a month. His presence would be valuable, but only if he’s full go. A gimpy Osemele would be a bad match-up with Buckner. They’d be better off going with Jon Feliciano in that case and giving Osemele another week to heal up.Follow @LeviDamien