Coaches Film: Rams Game

[threelittleturds]

This will just be a teaser, only looked at the 1st QTR so far and I have to go soon, I'll finish up later. As promised, I'd match views with pocket pictures too so nobody got the wrong idea, to correct my earlier mistakes.

This was the opening drive, the 3 and out, unfortunately the 49ers could have easily picked it up with Ginn but Jenkins came in untouched and CK did that cool spin move to get away. But, I thought I'd highlight what I saw a little bit of in the rest of the Quarter, the DBs just dropping into a deep shell zone. Which might explain why the 49ers didn't push passes downfield.

 

[threelittleturds]

This was on the 49ers next possession that ended with the Frank Gore TD. CK got sacked on this play because I believe Boone got confused and went to help Goodwin but Anthony Davis was passing the guy to Boone so #95 pretty much pressured CK uncontested. Too bad, because if they blocked well it could have been a big downfield pass to Crabs because it was him and open space. Like I said though, drive ended with a Gore TD so no biggie.

The first two images are about 3 seconds after the snap, and the last one was about 2 seconds I guess, just showing the missed block

 

[bvanthielriceyoung]

always look forward to these and was especially curious to see this weeks, looking forward to the rest.

 

[threelittleturds]

Just thought I'd show Moss getting quasi-open in the endzone just before that quick slant to Mario for a 1st down. Kaep didn't have time again as you can see because by the time Randy was getting open he already had a guy in his face and was throwing to Miller. (again, about 3 seconds after the snap)

Another thing I noticed but I didn't take pictures of was that a few times the Rams would put 8 in the box, but then they'd have 7 in coverage... I think that confused CK a little bit and it is expected because he is just a 2nd year guy. It didn't just confuse CK though, the offensive line got confused and the Rams would still get pressure on CK with 4 rushers.

Anyway, I have to go to a lab for a bit, so I'll be back later in the evening to finish the rest of the game. Just figured I'd put up what little I had now.

 

[SJVP408]

My guess is that the Rams used the deep shell zone quite often. Coming into the game, Kaep had shown good accuracy on the intermediate to semi-deep passes. It would make sense for the Rams to take those big gains away and force the Niners to go on long drives (short gains per play). Often I saw Kaep look deep but then come back short to his dump off. I suppose Roman could have seen this and immediately adjusted by having the WRs/TEs run shorter, underneath routes and just have those two deep safeties twiddle their thumbs.

Interested to see more of these overhead shots!

 

[threelittleturds]

Well, Joe Staley is probably to blame for the 3rd possession ending without points. The first picture shows the look that the Rams gave, no deception at all, no mixed looks. Staley engaged the end and then turned him loose for no freaking reason and that guy made CK step up and eventually run to the left where his athleticism avoided a sack.

And through all that, if CK saw it, Crabtree snuck behind the defense... but no way you can get mad at CK for not seeing that after even getting to that point.., he's running for his life thanks to Staley... and that would have been an extremely difficult throw since he was running and obviously didn't have time to set his feet and if you notice the ball is in his left hand. Just thought it was neat that after all that there was a small possibility to score a TD thanks to Crabby's heads up.

Maybe someone who understands offensive blocking schemes can tell me what the hell Staley was thinking/doing... but that seems like a bigtime screw up to me.

 

[threelittleturds]

This was the 4th drive for the offense and 3rd down. The play call absolutely sucks, 4 guys all running an inside slant on 3rd and 10?? What the hell, it'd take a damn miracle to convert that with every guy pulling their defender to the same spot of the field... the middle. BTW, this is the one where he threw it to Crabtree a bit high and outside and it bounced off Crabby's back shoulder.

Maybe CK rushed the throw?? He threw it about 2 seconds after the snap, but then again... what is going to develop with everyone running an inside slant well short of the 1st down marker. Horrible play call by Roman.

 

[TobyTyler]

This was on the 49ers next possession that ended with the Frank Gore TD. CK got sacked on this play because I believe Boone got confused and went to help Goodwin but Anthony Davis was passing the guy to Boone so #95 pretty much pressured CK uncontested. Too bad, because if they blocked well it could have been a big downfield pass to Crabs because it was him and open space. Like I said though, drive ended with a Gore TD so no biggie.

The first two images are about 3 seconds after the snap, and the last one was about 2 seconds I guess, just showing the missed block

Displays one of the standout weaknesses of this O Line that I've been harping on for a while; how easily confused they are on stunts.

 

[threelittleturds]

5th Drive

This was the 1st play of the 5th Possession, VD got himself open... and with CK's arm and accuracy, I consider that open with that much space and distance ahead of the DBs. It just would have been an extremely tight window because you can see the CB going back into that deep shell too.

But the protection really wasn't that great with Anthony Davis getting beat outside forcing CK to step up and then CK had to roll to the right as Iupati also got beat; and eventually threw it to Crabby on a low incomplete pass because well he was under pressure as you'll see in the last pic with the guy tackling him as soon as he got the ball away. Better protection could have got a nice pass to VD.

Although, I also think it's fair to argue that CK read the CB dropping into that deep shell zone and tried to get it to Crabtree for the easy 6-7 yards on 1st down that the defense gave him, but the pressure didn't allow it. Anyway, main thing I noticed was the offensive line not doing CK any favors here.

 

[clyde_carbon]

This definitely wasn't one of Roman's best game plans.

 

[threelittleturds]

End of 5th Drive

Well this is how the 5th drive ended, all of the receivers going deep right into the Rams deep shell zone defense. Mario was the only guy who noticed and came back to the 1st down marker to give CK somewhere to go with it, but couldn't haul in the pass at the sidelines if you remember. Playcalling again, not very impressive. 3rd down and all of the receivers are doing the same thing... wtf Roman?

 

[threelittleturds]

6th Drive, end of the Half

That's Teddy Ginn wide the freak open, I guess I'd be tempted not to cover him either if I were the Rams...hell the Rams guy is turned away from Ginn... but you can't say CK missed him because as you can see in the first two pictures, CK is getting flushed out of the pocket and has a guy in his face.

The 3rd and 4th pictures show why CK had to leave the pocket, Long completely turned Anthony Davis around on a spin move and the other Rams DE was in the process of beating Staley with an outside rush. So after CK had to get out of there, the guy Iupati was blocking easily got away and sacked CK as he was running to his left.

A pity, because better blocking and CK would have had an easy easy pass to Ginn in the endzone.... keep in mind though it was Teddy, and with his hands that isn't a sure TD catch.

Well thats it for the first half, and man did the Offensive line and Roman suck.

 

[threelittleturds]

I forgot to post this from the first half, Jenkins just watching CK and making an immediate move on VD once CK started to make the throw. I'm not sure why the 49ers coaches didn't see this and then try to see if they can catch Jenkins slipping and bait him with a pump fake to VD and then hit Crabby or whoever for a deep pass when Jenkins leaves his guy wide open to try and jump the short route. Yes, I do see the safety over top but I get the impression he was leaving his responsibilities too to get a headstart on hitting VD.

I bring that up because I'm remembering how the Seahawks burned the 49ers for a TD when Clements was doing this, they baited him with a quick pump fake then hit his guy for an easy TD when he tried to jump the route.

So this was the opening play of the 3rd Quarter, that is Bruce Miller that the Rams have their back to and who they left wide open. He's not a huge receiving threat and CK was looking to the left side of the field and the defense was just watching CK's eyes so Miller slipped into space. As soon as CK started to run to the right where he eventually ran for 7 yards that deep Rams guy at the 40 yard line on the bottom of the picture spun around and was in position to potentially cover the two 49ers in that area.

I guess he was open, and CK really wasn't under pressure so he had time to scan the field, but how good is a FB at catching a pass 20-25 yards downfield? I just thought it was interesting that the DBs were watching CK and letting guys get "open" but as soon as his head turned to the right they tried to get into position to cover the guys in their zone.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

Just want to say thanks for the pics & insight over the course of the season (so far). Hope to see more.

 

[threelittleturds]

Having some technical difficulties, not sure if it's my internet connection or NFL.com, but the video is out of focus and jumpy so I guess I'll have to try to finish later.

 

[MHSL82]

This was the 4th drive for the offense and 3rd down. The play call absolutely sucks, 4 guys all running an inside slant on 3rd and 10??... Horrible play call by Roman.

This definitely wasn't one of Roman's best game plans.

Well thats it for the first half, and man did the Offensive line and Roman suck.

3rd down and all of the receivers are doing the same thing... wtf Roman?

Well, Joe Staley is probably to blame for the 3rd possession ending without points... Maybe someone who understands offensive blocking schemes can tell me what the hell Staley was thinking/doing... but that seems like a bigtime screw up to me.

Conspiracy theory - both Roman, Davis, and Staley want Smith back as the quarterback. Being Smith's BFF, Staley's whiffing blocks for no apparent reason. Having the Smith Davis connection since 2009, with a little drop off this season, Davis drops the only target he got in the Saints game. Being more risk adverse and not fully going with Kaep, Roman is calling his worst plays right after Kaep is given the job without medical issues with Smith... just kidding, I don't believe any of that.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

[...] just kidding, I don't believe any of that.

Haha you got me. I didn't look at your name before reading your post & almost immediately I was thinking to myself "This post is out there... even for TobyTyler/NolanNonsense."

 

[MHSL82]

Haha you got me. I didn't look at your name before reading your post & almost immediately I was thinking to myself "This post is out there... even for TobyTyler/NolanNonsense."

Ha. I added Davis in there last minute, thus the grammatical error of using the word "both" to describe three people's actions and forgot to fix it. I thought someone "out there" could wonder about Staley whiffing because he actually is a BFF with Alex who has spoken out to coach - but to add to the fake conspiracy, if you watch after the toss fumble, he looks like he's smiling/laughing (he's really just fidgetting with his mouthguard with his teeth or stunned). But I thought no one could believe that the "I will be the best TE all-time" Davis would drop a ball on purpose. Obviously, the Roman one was even farther out.

 

[MHSL82]

Question for three - I've noticed you on this thread noting how Kaep really isn't to blame, mentioning the oline, Roman's playcalling, etc. I've seen you note such things when Smith was QB - so no issue here. My question is, after watching all the plays in All-22 with both QBs - what perspective changes do you think you would have if you were to rewatch the Smith games after seeing both Smith and Kaep games? I'm not talking about Smith or Kaep's abilities here, really, but more about the whole team, pass protection, route running, separation, etc. Do you notice any patterns?

 

[threelittleturds]

Question for three - I've noticed you on this thread noting how Kaep really isn't to blame, mentioning the oline, Roman's playcalling, etc. I've seen you note such things when Smith was QB - so no issue here. My question is, after watching all the plays in All-22 with both QBs - what perspective changes do you think you would have if you were to rewatch the Smith games after seeing both Smith and Kaep games? I'm not talking about Smith or Kaep's abilities here, really, but more about the whole team, pass protection, route running, separation, etc. Do you notice any patterns?

I've seen similar issues with the offensive line and blocking before, if you remember the Packer game I showed a play where Kyle Williams was open and Smith saw him but Bruce Miller just let Woodson go for no good reason and he sacked Smith.

In the Vikings game that same weird thing where a guy could have easily blocked the defensive player who eventually disrupted the QB happened on the overthrown pass to Moss in the endzone. Boone just let the guy go to block nobody and he got in Smith's face and he missed Moss. Similar to Staley just letting his guy go to block nobody in this thread.

These are just two off the top of my head where I noticed the O-Line and other blockers didn't do Smith any favors, there were probably others but I think it just jumps out at me now because of how CK is better at escaping that first rusher, a lot of these plays here might have ended much sooner as a sack if Smith were QB.

If I took a closer look on some of the playcalling with Smith, I bet Roman screwed him on 3rd down a few times too. I just didn't notice that before and I wasn't really looking either. This was the first time after a game that I felt the playcalling was bad, so I guess I looked for it this time.

So in my opinion I think both with Smith and with Kaepernick the receivers have demonstrated the ability to get open on a pretty regular basis, and the offensive line and protection has broken down a few times with both QBs too. Like I said before, I think it just stood out a little more this time because CK makes a little extra something out of these breakdowns that probably would have been quick sacks with Smith.