SF vs STL - My review of the game

[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 with this too.

now play calling IS a factor, but saying too easily blamed. just too easy to point fingers at this, so it gets exaggerated.

 

[CalamityX11]

last night's playcalling was no where near the past two games(almost 3 but the passing attack was there)...

last night was a return to our identity without the cutesy fancy smancy tip toeing... straight up power and speed....

 

[BINGO]

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.

I'm on the fence on whether or not that was a design play for Davis? Davis I thought was the 2nd read on that play, and the FB the 3rd read, 4th and last option for him was to improvise by using his legs on the rollout. What worries me about that play when I first saw it, was that I assumed that Kaep simply missed him. He did not notice that he was open. That would be a clear indication that he does not do a good job in going through his progressions. However, if it was indeed a desing play for Davis, and Kaep saw him and simply decided not to throw it for whatever reason (mental clock, hearing Quinn's/Long's footsteps) then I would be less worry about it. It would simply mean that his hesitation is due to him losing his mojo (all mental). Either way I'm not sure if that is even more detrimental to a player's development.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I'm on the fence on whether or not that was a design play for Davis? Davis I thought was the 2nd read on that play, and the FB the 3rd read, 4th and last option for him was to improvise by using his legs on the rollout. What worries me about that play when I first saw it, was that I assumed that Kaep simply missed him. He did not notice that he was open. That would be a clear indication that he does not do a good job in going through his progressions. However, if it was indeed a desing play for Davis, and Kaep saw him and simply decided not to throw it for whatever reason (mental clock, hearing Quinn's/Long's footsteps) then I would be less worry about it. It would simply mean that his hesitation is due to him losing his mojo (all mental). Either way I'm not sure if that is even more detrimental to a player's development.

My take was also that Davis was the #2, but I didn't get a great look at it.

 

[BINGO]

Tramaine Brock, Corey Lemonier, Michael Wilhoite highlight 49ers defensive depth vs. Rams - Niners Nation

 

[BINGO]

49ers Blog and Q&A: Snap judgments: Skuta starts and Lemonier shines; more snaps for Baldwin?

 

[BINGO]

49ers vs. Rams: Week 4 Takeaways - Niners Nation

 

[BINGO]

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1828901/whitner.gif

 

[BINGO]

[VINE]http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1828901/whitner.gif[/VINE]

 

[bvanthielriceyoung]

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1828901/whitner.gif

Watching that again pisses me off.

No way in hell he better get a fine.


That is a perfect defensive play. Such a sally league.

 

[MHSL82]

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

Like we didn't do in the Indianapolis game? Had we not gone for the garbage yards and TD, we wouldn't have the garbage INT! Don't mind me, I just hate garbage interceptions like hail maries at halftime. Yes, hail mary TDs depend on which team it's for. Double standard, I suppose. But those garbage time play moved Kaepernick from 97 yards to 150 for the game, I suppose.

 

[MHSL82]

Watching that again pisses me off.

No way in hell he better get a fine.


That is a perfect defensive play. Such a sally league.

Speaking of which - this gave Bradford a garbage time TD - these I hate if they are not for my team. Yes, hypocrisy, I suppose, but I would have liked a 3 or 6 point defense over a 11 point one.

 

[NinerSickness]

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

He did against the Colts. He was a bully in the run game (unfortunately the rest of the team wasn't).

He was also playing through an injured ankle.

 

[Kinzu]

Kaep still concerns me. I think last night was all about Gore and offensive line making a stand. The majority of Kaep's completions were to wide open receivers. He tried to force a few passes and was indecisive on others that led to sacks. It's a big mind boggling when a guy like Kaep is taking so many sacks.

 

[deep9er]

Kaep still concerns me. I think last night was all about Gore and offensive line making a stand. The majority of Kaep's completions were to wide open receivers. He tried to force a few passes and was indecisive on others that led to sacks. It's a big mind boggling when a guy like Kaep is taking so many sacks.

not going so far as mind boggling, but yep on sacks.

when he does break contain, doesn't make a big play out of it? you'd think a few of those pocket escapes, would turn into big pass plays? IMO biggest difference between him and Wilson.

 

[TobyTyler]

not going so far as mind boggling, but yep on sacks.

when he does break contain, doesn't make a big play out of it? you'd think a few of those pocket escapes, would turn into big pass plays? IMO biggest difference between him and Wilson.

I know it soundds strange but he seems much slower this season. Could it be all that muscling up he tried to do for the magazine?

 

[yossarian]

I'm concerned about Kaepernick too, I just don't like what I'm reading about him mentally so far compared to last year -- the stupid tweet to the 49er fans after wearing the Miami hat (I didn't mind the hat, just his reaction), him saying that he favorited the hate tweets, how rattled he looked against Seattle and Indy when last year he was great in most of the hostile away games (New Orleans, New England, etc.). I mean, there were throws and runs to be made against Seattle and he just about made the wrong decision every time. I really want to see this just be a little rough patch that a relatively inexperienced qb is going through and have him pull through and have it click. Maybe last night was a little step in that direction.

 

[purguy12]

Kap will be fine. Harbaugh tried to put the whole offense on Kap. He isnt Payton Manning or Tom brady in that regard. He is special in his own ways and he needs to run and this offense needs Gore to touch the ball.

 

[tomikcon1971]

@FauxJohnMadden: Easily the best Sam Bradford GIF of the season -- Easily the best Sam Bradford GIF of the - Faux John Madden's Photos - LockerDome

 

[supreme_clientele81]

Has anyone noticed that Kap hasn't been throwing the ball away this year? He has either taken a sack or run out of bonds not sure why he is not throwing it away