2 Reasons the Niners lost this game

[Crimsoncrew]

You're right; the DBs didn't have a great game overall. But for as long as they were on the field I'm ok with the performance.

They wouldn't have had to do so much if the Niners could pass the ball. That's also why they can't run the ball; defenses are loading the line of scrimmage.

The Cowboys had possession for less than 90 seconds longer than the Niners. That's not exactly a huge disparity.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Case and point: Romo played better than Alex with a broken rib and an inferior OL. And it's not like he had a running game either;

Too many times I see Alex miss a wide open player. That's inexcuseable.

His biggest play was when Walker had 7 yards on the nearest defenser. It's just clear the guy can't make very many throws. He's extremely limited. This isn't news, but the Niners had a great chance to win a huge game and he blew it.

That's BS. The TD to Williams was a great throw. A fade to a receiver under six feet? That ball had to be perfect and it was. Smith also had a fantastic pass to Ginn on 3rd down in the first half.

It seems Smith struggled later, but he made some great throws early in this game.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

10 point lead we had! Good defenses don't let those go.

The Cowboys' D did last week.

Not exactly. Seven points off a blocked punt, and three points off an INT that was returned into FG range (the Jets offense gained two yards on the drive).

 

[Crimsoncrew]

You're right, we had a 10 pt. lead - until Alex threw the INT that immediately led to Austin's second TD. C'mon people.

No, we had a seven-point lead at that point. We had a 10-point lead in the 4th quarter. Smith didn't turn the ball over in that quarter. The offense didn't do the D many favors (seems like there was a crucial sack that I can't speak to), but the D allowed an 80-yard TD drive, a 44-yard FG drive (halted by timing more than anything the D did), and a 77-yard FG drive to end the game.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Ok, let me re-phrase it; the 49ers put Alex Smith in a position to win the game today, and I think about 26 out of 32 starting QBs would have won today in his shoes.

Let me rephrase it:

Alex Smith put the 49ers in a position to win the game today, and I think about 26 out of 32 defenses would have won today in their shoes.

From my perspective, that statement is just as accurate and maybe more so.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

We only had one 10 pt lead the entire game, 24-14. Were you drunk?

And Smith's INT came in the second quarter, over 15 minutes of game time before we took the 10-point lead. Were you drunk?

 

[FourBeeDen]

And Smith's INT came in the second quarter, over 15 minutes of game time before we took the 10-point lead. Were you drunk?

I think you meant second half, Crew...

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Dez has 1 100yd game in his career.

Dez is better than any WR on the Niners by far.

His OL is NOT worse, probably better.

I'll digress after saying I strongly disagree with that.

Smith and his 6.9 yards per attempt so far is average. Gore and the running 2.5 is GARBAGE.

Is Alex struggling because of Gore or is Gore struggling because of Alex?

Probably. Of course, the Niners were missing their top two WRs.

I would say Alex is struggling based on his blocking. He hasn't fixed all of his problems by a long shot, but in two games he has shown dramatic improvement over last year. He played well enough to win this game if he gets more help from his OL and D.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I think you meant second half, Crew...

Yeah, was just coming back to change it. Early in the third quarter. Either way, it was certainly not when we had the 10-point lead.

 

[CalamityX11]

This is a classic team loss and Alex was just part of the reason we lost. The big reasons we lost is:

1) Towards the end of the 2nd quarter the offsides penalty. If that didn't happen Cowboys punt the ball and we head into the locker room 14-0 with the ball back in the 2nd half with all the momentum. Instead the next play it's 14-7 and we give the Cowboys some life going into the half

2) Smith's terrible interception which lead to a TD for Dallas

3) This is very debatable but Harbaugh's decision to not take the penalty to extend the drive. Remember the cowboys basically weren't in FG position to tie the game till under a minute to go so if we take the penalty and extend the drive and still wind up with a 3 or better yet a TD the Cowboys likely don't have time to tie the game at the end. I say debatable because if Akers misses or their is a turnover it becomes a different reason we lost all together.

4) While Smith is taking some heat with a lot of it being justified the bigger problem on offense is the running game. Gore had 20 carries for 47 yards which is a 2.4 average with the longest run being 9 yards. So that's almost 20 wasted plays that didn't net a lot or put us in good positions on offense. Considering we're supposed to be a power running version WCO offense this is a big problem.

5) The defense wasn't stout enough to hold onto a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. I'll give some slack to the defense for being out on the field a lot later in the game but the TOP was almost a 30 30 split between the two teams so it wasn't THAT bad for them. Great defenses come up with big stops and snuff out rallys like that and we simply couldn't get off the field and gave up big plays.

In regards to Smith I'll say that the good he did washed out the bad and he didn't win the game for us but he didn't lose it either. I mean we did put 24 points on the board and most of that had to do with what he did and I don't think you can gloss over that but he could've played much better in the 2nd half and put even more points on the board and iced the game.

1) that part definitely changed the game for the 2nd half, instead being down 14-0 at half, cowboys caught a break with a late score.(not to mention a wasted opening drive by the niners in their first possesion in the 2nd half)

2) It was terrible pick, but Kitna hit an open Austin after to DBs tripped over themselves..

3) Need i say more?

4) Running is a concern(can't believe i have to say that)

5) what was the TOP in the first, some guys are bringing the TOP as a factor against the D... The D didn't see the field too often from what i can remember in the first half outside of that opening drive by dallas. Good defenses play all 4 Qs.... we can't cater to them or chalk up the poor performance to a lack of rest. For some games that's correct, but this one, they should've had plenty of energy to hold their ground. Maybe lack of subs?

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Harb made his decision and we moved on.

Defense let them drive down the field and score 3 straight times. Offense couldnt do anything with the ball to kill more time off the clock. End of story we move on to the bengals.

 

[CalamityX11]

but the D allowed an 80-yard TD drive, a 44-yard FG drive (halted by timing more than anything the D did), and a 77-yard FG drive to end the game.

The Defense needs to do themselves a favor and get them out of drives... if not, expect them to wear down....

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I wanted to revisit this afresh. Literally the only offensive play I saw in the second half was the TD to Walker, so I can't really speak for what transpired and what Smith did or did not do. I also missed the last few minutes of the second quarter. However, perhaps as a result, I have an unbiased view of what Smith did early in the game. In the first 25 minutes, I saw Smith play very well, maybe as well as he ever has. His pass to Williams was perfect, he threw a great pass to Ginn on 3rd and 10 with pressure in his face to keep our first scoring drive alive. I didn't have a great view of his incompletion to Walker that killed the first drive, but that one looked like it should have been caught to extend the drive. I also saw Smith take two or three sacks that were ENTIRELY on his blockers.

As said, I don't know what happened just before and after the half, but Smith WAS the offense prior to that point. Given the rushing numbers, I don't see that anything changed after half. Ultimately, it was the sacks that crushed the Niners. Were those sacks in the second half on Smith? Cause in the first half they definitely were not.

 

[taughtmepatience]

I think the Harb decision signaled to Dallas that the Niners were going to go super conservative, which led to a huge momentum shift.

I'd like to see K. Hunter mixed in more. I think an infusion of speed will help create some plays when the o-line isn't creating many holes. 2.5yds/carry is not going to win many games in this NFL.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

1) that part definitely changed the game for the 2nd half, instead being down 14-0 at half, cowboys caught a break with a late score.(not to mention a wasted opening drive by the niners in their first possesion in the 2nd half)

2) It was terrible pick, but Kitna hit an open Austin after to DBs tripped over themselves..

3) Need i say more?

4) Running is a concern(can't believe i have to say that)

5) what was the TOP in the first, some guys are bringing the TOP as a factor against the D... The D didn't see the field too often from what i can remember in the first half outside of that opening drive by dallas. Good defenses play all 4 Qs.... we can't cater to them or chalk up the poor performance to a lack of rest. For some games that's correct, but this one, they should've had plenty of energy to hold their ground. Maybe lack of subs?

As near as I can figure, the Niners had the ball for 17:39 in the first half, to 12:21 for the Boys.

 

[CalamityX11]

As near as I can figure, the Niners had the ball for 17:39 in the first half, to 12:21 for the Boys.

sounds about right, i'm pretty sure Dallas opening drive ate 7 mins....

It could've been lack of subs?

 

[CalamityX11]

I wanted to revisit this afresh. Literally the only offensive play I saw in the second half was the TD to Walker, so I can't really speak for what transpired and what Smith did or did not do. I also missed the last few minutes of the second quarter. However, perhaps as a result, I have an unbiased view of what Smith did early in the game. In the first 25 minutes, I saw Smith play very well, maybe as well as he ever has. His pass to Williams was perfect, he threw a great pass to Ginn on 3rd and 10 with pressure in his face to keep our first scoring drive alive. I didn't have a great view of his incompletion to Walker that killed the first drive, but that one looked like it should have been caught to extend the drive. I also saw Smith take two or three sacks that were ENTIRELY on his blockers.

As said, I don't know what happened just before and after the half, but Smith WAS the offense prior to that point. Given the rushing numbers, I don't see that anything changed after half. Ultimately, it was the sacks that crushed the Niners. Were those sacks in the second half on Smith? Cause in the first half they definitely were not.

The answers will vary as to who's fault the sacks were on.... there were times off a PA that Alex turned around and gets face fucked instantly... miralcously he held on to the ball on 2 sacks that could've easily gone for TDs on fum recoveries.

There was moments where it was on Alex... not to mention all the hurries and hits...

In OT, Ware covered Gore on the flat which threw Alex off and got sacked cause (A) he didn't throw it away or (B) the OL gave up/def penetrated quickly enough to stop alex from reading the field.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

sounds about right, i'm pretty sure Dallas opening drive ate 7 mins....

It could've been lack of subs?

Drive charts with duration here:

Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers - Drive Chart - September 18, 2011 - ESPN

I didn't catch the end of the game, so no idea why we wore down and couldn't cover.

 

[CalamityX11]

Drive charts with duration here:

Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers - Drive Chart - September 18, 2011 - ESPN

I didn't catch the end of the game, so no idea why we wore down and couldn't cover.

11 minutes in the first half roughly for Dallas... it obviously went downhill in the 2nd, but the defense had plenty of energy(should had) to play the 2nd....

 

[FourBeeDen]

The answers will vary as to who's fault the sacks were on.... there were times off a PA that Alex turned around and gets face fucked instantly... miralcously he held on to the ball on 2 sacks that could've easily gone for TDs on fum recoveries.

There was moments where it was on Alex... not to mention all the hurries and hits...

In OT, Ware covered Gore on the flat which threw Alex off and got sacked cause (A) he didn't throw it away or (B) the OL gave up/def penetrated quickly enough to stop alex from reading the field.

just to point out, Smith was not out of the pocket at that point. Throwing away the ball will result to a "grounding" penalty which includes a loss of down