SF vs STL - My review of the game

[bvanthielriceyoung]

- The rams are not a very good team.

-Our dline actually looked like it was getting pushed back in the beginning of the game. I was a little worried about this but the LB's were making some great plays. As the game went on, the dline started to hold their ground better. This led to a classic 9ers run defense game. Some LB's that deserve recognition are Skuta, Brooks and Bowman.

-Bowman was a straight up beast last night. I really expect either Bowman or Willis to have a game like this every week. We have the best two ILB's and a ton of money tied up in the position. It seems like we dont get enough of an impact from them sometimes. Last night was not that case.

-Brooks continues to be one of our better defenders. He continues to make plays every week. He's underrated by us and is probably a top 3 or 4 defender on our team.

-Reid continues to show of his potential. Some nice insticts and great speed. He has a really nice ST's play. I'm not sure if he blew he assignment early in the game(1st qtr I think) where Bradford missed an open receiver in the endzone.

-Play calling is definitely not our problem in my opinion. People love to blame play calling and I always hear this criticism from every fan of every team. I think its just an easy thing to blame. There are definitely plays to be made out there. (damn near multiple TD's a week are missed)

-Kaepernick, while he improved, is still not the same player out there. He made some plays and showed some glimpses of his former self. His confidence is really shot from the Seahawks game which is alarming that that could happen over one game. He is not going through his reads very well and is panicky. He has no confidence and is not taking the throws even when they are there because he's scared to mess up. I said it in the game thread but the moment I saw him go to his second read and complete the pass, i was yelling that he's back and we are on to something. He definitely showed improvement from then on. I said that kind of joking but the last game I barely remember him completing a pass to his second read. Critics always said last year that he was a one read QB but I never believed that. He went through his reads pretty good last year. This is a mental thing so it should be somewhat easy to fix but it's a little worrisome that Kaepernick can get rattled and out of his game so much.

-The offensive line, and especially in the run game, opened up some nice holes. We haven't seen this all year although it was a against a struggling Rams run D. Good to see some progression.

-Vance Mcdonald is blocking pretty darn good out there. I'd love to see him more involved in the passing game but I dont think we can expect much there until Kaepernick fixes his mental state.

-Donte Whitner had a very good game. Should have had two INTs. Great to see from him. He also had a great pass block up in the endzone that should have never been flagged. I really dont know what the NFL wants a player to do in that situation. He led with his shoulder and really couldnt change his impact target that much with the WR falling.

-All and all , it was a must win game and we got the W. I dont think it was a great game and I think the Rams missed a lot of plays out there but we also did drop a lot of INTs. We have some major injuries but we were still able to put together a solid performance. We really need to get healthy and hope that sparks our team. From what I have seen from us so far this year and with our seemingly shitty luck, I see us as an 8-8 or 9-7 ball club.

 

[TobyTyler]

- The rams are not a very good team.

-Our dline actually looked like it was getting pushed back in the beginning of the game. I was a little worried about this but the LB's were making some great plays. As the game went on, the dline started to hold their ground better. This led to a classic 9ers run defense game. Some LB's that deserve recognition are Skuta, Brooks and Bowman.

-Bowman was a straight up beast last night. I really expect either Bowman or Willis to have a game like this every week. We have the best two ILB's and a ton of money tied up in the position. It seems like we dont get enough of an impact from them sometimes. Last night was not that case.

-Brooks continues to be one of our better defenders. He continues to make plays every week. He's underrated by us and is probably a top 3 or 4 defender on our team.

-Reid continues to show of his potential. Some nice insticts and great speed. He has a really nice ST's play. I'm not sure if he blew he assignment early in the game(1st qtr I think) where Bradford missed an open receiver in the endzone.

-Play calling is definitely not our problem in my opinion. People love to blame play calling and I always hear this criticism from every fan of every team. I think its just an easy thing to blame. There are definitely plays to be made out there. (damn near multiple TD's a week are missed)

-Kaepernick, while he improved, is still not the same player out there. He made some plays and showed some glimpses of his former self. His confidence is really shot from the Seahawks game which is alarming that that could happen over one game. He is not going through his reads very well and is panicky. He has no confidence and is not taking the throws even when they are there because he's scared to mess up. I said it in the game thread but the moment I saw him go to his second read and complete the pass, i was yelling that he's back and we are on to something. He definitely showed improvement from then on. I said that kind of joking but the last game I barely remember him completing a pass to his second read. Critics always said last year that he was a one read QB but I never believed that. He went through his reads pretty good last year. This is a mental thing so it should be somewhat easy to fix but it's a little worrisome that Kaepernick can get rattled and out of his game so much.

-The offensive line, and especially in the run game, opened up some nice holes. We haven't seen this all year although it was a against a struggling Rams run D. Good to see some progression.

-Vance Mcdonald is blocking pretty darn good out there. I'd love to see him more involved in the passing game but I dont think we can expect much there until Kaepernick fixes his mental state.

-Donte Whitner had a very good game. Should have had two INTs. Great to see from him. He also had a great pass block up in the endzone that should have never been flagged. I really dont know what the NFL wants a player to do in that situation. He led with his shoulder and really couldnt change his impact target that much with the WR falling.

-All and all , it was a must win game and we got the W. I dont think it was a great game and I think the Rams missed a lot of plays out there but we also did drop a lot of INTs. We have some major injuries but we were still able to put together a solid performance. We really need to get healthy and hope that sparks our team. From what I have seen from us so far this year and with our seemingly shitty luck, I see us as an 8-8 or 9-7 ball club.

Spot on with the assssment of Kaepernick. One read and ball is out or he gets sacked. Its mystifying because I remember we were commenting last year about how well he went through his progressions.

 

[Flyingiguana]

the play calling was much better last night. play calling is gonna be limited because of all the injuries, but overall i liked what roman did last night.

imo kap is trying to do too much. last year no expectations, he just came out and played. roman needs to slow things down a bit for kap cuss dude is still a young, growing qb.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

The team needed a win desperately, and they got one in resounding fashion. The offense rebounded and looked pretty good, if not great. The D looked fantastic playing downhill against a short-passing attack (why couldn't they just have tackled Reggie Wayne like that???), but also got lucky with a few drops and a few passes that were just off.

Was this a fantastic game? No, I don't think so. Still some mistakes. But it was much cleaner than our recent games, and our offense in particular needed that.

Our D showed the could still make plays without several of our top players. Bowman stepped up in a huge way, the DL was again wreaking some havoc, and after some initial shakiness from Brown, the DBs did a nice job as well. That said, I don't think we can rely on our pass rush to be this effective most weeks. A decent blocking RB will be able to neutralize Bowman more often, and Lemonier was fairly quiet coming off the edge despite a few nice plays. Brooks elevated his game nicely, though, and Wilhoite did a solid job of stepping in for Willis. Just got to catch the INTs that are in our hands next time, though Whitner hung on to arguably the toughest and almost certainly the most important one.

On offense, the run game was superb. Great blocking, great reading of the blocks by Gore. The fumbles need to get resolved. In a closer game, those sorts of plays could be devastating. But on the whole I'll take it. I agree with what has been said about Kap above. As many had noted prior to this week, he's not seeing open receivers. That's inevitable to some extent - even the great ones miss open receivers from time to time. But Kap needs to improve at getting through his progressions quickly and seeing those things more often. Laying up to Bruce Miller for seven or eight yards is just fine, but I want to see us making some bigger plays when the opportunity is there. Kap forced several balls last night - granted Lauranaitis made some very good plays on a couple - and he didn't need to.

And despite the missed FG, STs had a pretty strong night. Andy seemed to finally get going with some booming punts, and the coverage units generally did a very nice job of containing Austin. I'd like to see us get a little more out of our return game, but so long as we aren't giving up huge plays, I can live with it.

 

[Rvnight18]

Would love to see more MLB blitzes like bowman did last night. Maybe with Aldon out, they continue that. Just a big fan of getting pressure up the middle.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Wanted to add that, even though it's the Rams and they looked like crap tonight, given what the Rams did to us last year, I think it's significant that we went into their stadium and manhandled them in a week when there would have been lots of excuses if we'd been sloppy. It doesn't mean much if we can't turn around and do it next week against Houston, but it's a good start to getting back into solid football.

 

[purguy12]

Best part of last night was watching Bowman take a big step as now being the best MLB in the game or atleast in the talks. In my opinion he is better then Willis.

 

[CalamityX11]

I would like to see more Bowman on the MLB blitz/pass rush than Willis for now... Bowman was a natural pass rusher out of penn state so why not use it?

Dorsey had a good game, off the bat, good energy and attitude... lets see him bring it vs Houston.

playcalling on the offense was so much better vs the last two weeks... its not even close, coming back to our identity and the OL beasted. Gore ran well, Hunter was good and Dixon got his.

Baldwin needs to start and see some targets... we still need to add to the passing game til reinforcements arrive.

 

[CalamityX11]

Lemonade was good... it will be tough on him going forward but he needs to play well... I've noticed he attacked opposite of Justin a few times too... or all of them IIRC.

 

[bvanthielriceyoung]

Kap forced several balls last night - granted Lauranaitis made some very good plays on a couple - and he didn't need to.

Kaps inconsistencies are a little hard to understand. He definitely forced a few balls last night but then other times, seemed hesitant to throw to wide open receivers.

The biggest play that sticks out to me is in the 2nd half, we are backed up and we call a roll out. Vernon Davis is wide open for about a 30yrd catch and would have a ton more room to run. Maybe a TD here if Davis's hamstring holds up. Kaepernick had to see him but didn't want to throw it for some reason. Even Mayock said that with the design of that play, Davis is most likely the 1st read. You could tell the design of the play was for Davis and for some reason Kaepernick didnt throw it to him. He's gotta fix these mental and confidence issues fast.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Kaps inconsistencies are a little hard to understand. He definitely forced a few balls last night but then other times, seemed hesitant to throw to wide open receivers.

The biggest play that sticks out to me is in the 2nd half, we are backed up and we call a roll out. Vernon Davis is wide open for about a 30yrd catch and would have a ton more room to run. Maybe a TD here if Davis's hamstring holds up. Kaepernick had to see him but didn't want to throw it for some reason. Even Mayock said that with the design of that play, Davis is most likely the 1st read. You could tell the design of the play was for Davis and for some reason Kaepernick didnt throw it to him. He's gotta fix these mental and confidence issues fast.

I think on that particular play he got jumpy in the pocket, rolled out, and lost sight of Davis. Only explanation I can think of. There wasn't a defender within 7 yards of Davis.

 

[TobyTyler]

Best part of last night was watching Bowman take a big step as now being the best MLB in the game or atleast in the talks. In my opinion he is better then Willis.

They area very nice pair of Inside Backers.

 

[jayviabay]

I would also add that kap needs to learn how to look off defenders and stop locking on targets. If a team is playing zone, looking into the backfield, his eyes takes you right to the target. I dont know if that is being coached up but there needs to be more emphasis on it. Also, utilize a pump fake, I dont think i have ever seen him do it?

 

[Rathman44]

Best part of last night was watching Bowman take a big step as now being the best MLB in the game or atleast in the talks. In my opinion he is better then Willis.

It kind of scares me how much money we have tied up with Willis. He's looked slow out there so far this year - well, at least slow for his standards. Can't imagine a pulled groin is going to help with that. The only good thing is that not much of his contract is guaranteed from here on out...hopefully we can get a restructure because I don't think we will be getting 9M dollars worth of play from his ILB spot in the next few years. It just won't be the most effective use of the cap space imo.

 

[Yadahell]

-

-Vance Mcdonald is blocking pretty darn good out there.

This stuck out to me last night. He hadn't shown much in the first few games in that area.

 

[Gold Rush 86]

I disagree with u about the 49ers being a 8-8- or 9-7 ball club. If we can beat the Texans next weekend on Sunday night football I think we can be 6-2 or 5-3 going into our week 9 bye. I guess it all matters if we beat the Texans and if we do I would say this is a 10-6 or 11-5 ball club.

 

[purguy12]

Yes we have nice stretch of games here were we can build up a nice record. Bowman is a freak right now. I hope they continue to use him like that.

 

[FourBeeDen]

I just want to point out that it was a classy move by Jeff Fisher to choose to kneel down the last minute and change instead of trying to run some garbage plays... This came after the injury to Joe Staley... Normally you would see a coach use the remaining time as additional practice... but wanting to avoid further injuries, Fisher decided to just kill the clock and end the game

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I disagree with u about the 49ers being a 8-8- or 9-7 ball club. If we can beat the Texans next weekend on Sunday night football I think we can be 6-2 or 5-3 going into our week 9 bye. I guess it all matters if we beat the Texans and if we do I would say this is a 10-6 or 11-5 ball club.

If we beat the Texans, we're basically right on pace. Figured we'd be 4-1 coming out of the first five in a best case scenario. Going 3-2 is about in line with expectations. Granted I pegged Indy for a win...

 

[deep9er]

- The rams are not a very good team.

-Our dline actually looked like it was getting pushed back in the beginning of the game. I was a little worried about this but the LB's were making some great plays. As the game went on, the dline started to hold their ground better. This led to a classic 9ers run defense game. Some LB's that deserve recognition are Skuta, Brooks and Bowman.

-Bowman was a straight up beast last night. I really expect either Bowman or Willis to have a game like this every week. We have the best two ILB's and a ton of money tied up in the position. It seems like we dont get enough of an impact from them sometimes. Last night was not that case.

-Brooks continues to be one of our better defenders. He continues to make plays every week. He's underrated by us and is probably a top 3 or 4 defender on our team.
-Reid continues to show of his potential. Some nice insticts and great speed. He has a really nice ST's play. I'm not sure if he blew he assignment early in the game(1st qtr I think) where Bradford missed an open receiver in the endzone.

-Play calling is definitely not our problem in my opinion. People love to blame play calling and I always hear this criticism from every fan of every team. I think its just an easy thing to blame. There are definitely plays to be made out there. (damn near multiple TD's a week are missed)

-Kaepernick, while he improved, is still not the same player out there. He made some plays and showed some glimpses of his former self. His confidence is really shot from the Seahawks game which is alarming that that could happen over one game. He is not going through his reads very well and is panicky. He has no confidence and is not taking the throws even when they are there because he's scared to mess up. I said it in the game thread but the moment I saw him go to his second read and complete the pass, i was yelling that he's back and we are on to something. He definitely showed improvement from then on. I said that kind of joking but the last game I barely remember him completing a pass to his second read. Critics always said last year that he was a one read QB but I never believed that. He went through his reads pretty good last year. This is a mental thing so it should be somewhat easy to fix but it's a little worrisome that Kaepernick can get rattled and out of his game so much.

-The offensive line, and especially in the run game, opened up some nice holes. We haven't seen this all year although it was a against a struggling Rams run D. Good to see some progression.

-Vance Mcdonald is blocking pretty darn good out there. I'd love to see him more involved in the passing game but I dont think we can expect much there until Kaepernick fixes his mental state.

-Donte Whitner had a very good game. Should have had two INTs. Great to see from him. He also had a great pass block up in the endzone that should have never been flagged. I really dont know what the NFL wants a player to do in that situation. He led with his shoulder and really couldnt change his impact target that much with the WR falling.

-All and all , it was a must win game and we got the W. I dont think it was a great game and I think the Rams missed a lot of plays out there but we also did drop a lot of INTs. We have some major injuries but we were still able to put together a solid performance. We really need to get healthy and hope that sparks our team. From what I have seen from us so far this year and with our seemingly shitty luck, I see us as an 8-8 or 9-7 ball club.

agree about Brooks, it is hard to find three down OLB's. he's underappreciated because he doesn't get enough sacks, otherwise his overall play is good.