Is the play calling holding the offense back?

[Kinzu]

We're not even running the Alex Smith offense with Kaep. The playcalling has not been nearly as varied or effective since the Bears game. Kaep does not seem as good at checking into and out of plays. I also wonder how much of the playbook is open to him. You would think the same amount, but we just do not look to be running the plays as effectively.

Kaep is more talented. I'm just still not sold on him being the better option, and these last 3 games have done nothing to ease that concern going into the playoffs.

 

[TobyTyler]

And not to mention hurting Kaepernick's upside permanently. The last thing we all want is Kaepernick playing the role of a 'game manager'

Let those cannons loose!

And I want Greg Roman fired, we need someone with passion and originality. The play calling has been bad enough!

He brought some of that last year but he seems to have forgotten about it. Remember the cool plays against Washington, Detroit and Philly last year. That was some good play calling.

 

[TobyTyler]

We're not even running the Alex Smith offense with Kaep. The playcalling has not been nearly as varied or effective since the Bears game. Kaep does not seem as good at checking into and out of plays. I also wonder how much of the playbook is open to him. You would think the same amount, but we just do not look to be running the plays as effectively.

Kaep is more talented. I'm just still not sold on him being the better option, and these last 3 games have done nothing to ease that concern going into the playoffs.

That's exactly how I feel.

 

[yossarian]

You know, training camps exist for a reason, to get the team into whatever offensive philosophy is being pushed, running plays, getting chemistry between everyone. The team just had a whole training camp that was geared towards Smith's strengths and weaknesses, which are fairly different from Kaepernick's strengths and weaknesses. Bashing Roman because he's failed to fully integrate Kaepernick's skills into all his set plays in the space of a few weeks seems a little unfair. Again, maybe this means that Harbaugh shouldn't have made the switch, or didn't think it through (although again I think he was right), but to say 3/4 of the way through the season that we haven't opened up the playbook from someone who rarely looked downfield to someone who always looks downfield and can run like a deer is just overly simplistic.

 

[wartyOne]

I have no clue but I am also not the guy that switched QB's either. I assume that when you go away from a guy that has a 104 QB rating, the 7th best QBR in the league, has won 80% of his starts for the last year and a half that you are doing it because you feel like the other guy gives you more dynamic playmaking, so I guess Id expect more dynamic play calling. Otherwise the move is fucking stupid

Can we please stop pretending Smith was responsible for winning 80% of the games since the start of the 2011 season? Defense and kickers won 80% of the games since the start of the 2011 season. Smith watched from the sidelines.

 

[Flyingiguana]

Can we please stop pretending Smith was responsible for winning 80% of the games since the start of the 2011 season? Defense and kickers won 80% of the games since the start of the 2011 season. Smith watched from the sidelines.

we can win with either qb. the offense overal is performing about the same. the d sets the tone and offense goes along for the ride.

 

[wartyOne]

we can win with either qb. the offense overal is performing about the same. the d sets the tone and offense goes along for the ride.

I didn't mention Kaep.

But point taken. Regardless, I think it's pretty obvious that anybody could do what Smith was doing on this team.

 

[Flyingiguana]

I didn't mention Kaep.

But point taken. Regardless, I think it's pretty obvious that anybody could do what Smith was doing on this team.

i don't agree with that at all. there are plenty of bad qb's in the league who would stink it up with us.

 

[wartyOne]

i don't agree with that at all. there are plenty of bad qb's in the league who would stink it up with us.

Arguing rhetoric here. Plenty of bad QB's would be better in this system.

 

[wartyOne]

Arguing rhetoric here. Plenty of bad QB's would be better in this system.

Let me rephrase. There isn't a QB in the league who can't dump off to the checkdown.

 

[Flyingiguana]

Let me rephrase. There isn't a QB in the league who can't dump off to the checkdown.

if it was that easy, every qb would be doing it...

 

[DoobieKeebler]

Can we please stop pretending Smith was responsible for winning 80% of the games since the start of the 2011 season? Defense and kickers won 80% of the games since the start of the 2011 season. Smith watched from the sidelines.

So, let me get this straight....

Alex Smith wins with a strong defense & he's Trent Dilfer's little brother, Alex Dilfer.

Kaepernick wins with a strong defensive performance that includes 2 defensive TDs & "the defense was holding Kaepernick back, bro! He totally would have scored hella more points!"



Hey warty, your epidermis - scratch that - *bias is showing.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

And before I get condemned for "wanting Alex back," I support whomever is a Niner. If Kaepernick is the starter, Kaepernick is the starter, and I hope he is successful. I didn't think the changeover was right, but I'm not a coach, and I've been blatantly wrong a billion times about football, so it is a good thing I don't have any say in personnel decisions.

I just think this Alex bashing is unfair & played out.

 

[MHSL82]

Its funny you mention this B, I actually looked at it earlier on NFL.com. The Niners are averaging 2.9 plays per game of 20+ yards ( not very good BTW, 12th in the NFC) so I figured that that number must be going up under CK and it is but it 3.0 per game compared to Alex being right under 2.9. I also looked at numbers like average yards per play ( higher under Smith), average ypa ( slightly higher under CK) and offensive ppg ( higher under Smith). The reality is that the offense really isnt making more dynamic plays, it feels like it may be because Kaep makes some of them with his feet where Smith made them other ways. Numbers all point to it being pretty much the status quo. EXCEPT for 1 stat which shows that on plays that the Niners lose yards they lose almost 3 times as many per play with Kaep in the game as they did with Smith. Basically the good is about even but when its bad its WAYYY worse with Kaepernick in the game. Granted these are pretty limited sample sizes for him but its still reality.

Maybe this is lack of experience in checking out the bad play into the good play? Experience may have informed the QB when these plays, based upon the defense, were losers and so when they were checked out of, we either got more yards or fewer lost yards. Kaep should improve these numbers, just like the yards per attempt will go down (they were well above Aaron Rodgers' record year, so yeah, they'll go down a bit). Experience will make him better. (Some people argue that Smith's experience would make him a better choice, others are looking for things Kaep may have after 7.5 games of experience.)

I'm all for wins - I don't care how we do it. Even with Harbaugh choosing Kaep over Smith, I don't think he cares for the low-hanging fruit - in other words, "elite" comment = bs, "low-hanging fruit" comment = true. Having said that, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if the low hanging fruit made some previously tough wins easier.

 

[wartyOne]

if it was that easy, every qb would be doing it...

If it were that simple, every team would be in the NFCC. Some coaches don't hold that philosophy.

 

[wartyOne]

So, let me get this straight....

Alex Smith wins with a strong defense & he's Trent Dilfer's little brother, Alex Dilfer.

Kaepernick wins with a strong defensive performance that includes 2 defensive TDs & "the defense was holding Kaepernick back, bro! He totally would have scored hella more points!"



Hey warty, your epidermis - scratch that - *bias is showing.

Did I say any of this? Have I ever credited Kaepernick for the Saints' game?

Get a clue. Or is your Alex bias making you retarded?

 

[wartyOne]

And before I get condemned for "wanting Alex back," I support whomever is a Niner. If Kaepernick is the starter, Kaepernick is the starter, and I hope he is successful. I didn't think the changeover was right, but I'm not a coach, and I've been blatantly wrong a billion times about football, so it is a good thing I don't have any say in personnel decisions.

I just think this Alex bashing is unfair & played out.

Clearly you don't. You think the Alex bashing is unfair because you think he's a legitimate QB.

The Alex bashing is credible. This is coming from somebody who wanted him with the first overall back in 05, and supported him until it became obvious that he is vastly limited.

If you disagree that he is vastly limited, than we'll agree to disagree.

 

[MHSL82]

At first I was thinking that teams were paying extra attention to VD was why his targets were limited. But after watching the Rams and Dolphins game that can't be the reason.

If you watch closely both the Rams and Dolphins stacked the box vs the 49ers. With 8 in the box that means you have a single high safety. With a single high safety it makes it much harder to double the TE since he has a 2 way go. So there isn't as much focus on VD as I had previously thought.

Also I think Kap prefers to throw the ball to Crabs and Manningham. Davis has become the 3rd best receiver on our team. We need to run more plays to him a quick out crossing pattern post seem route something that uses Davis's athleticism.

(Sarcasm alert) Kaepernick saw how in the NFCC game, getting all the yards to tight ends, including two long TDs, equaled 3 yards to receivers = loss = blame to QB (and WR), forget the QB-TE combo effectiveness. So, he's getting his yards to WRs and none to our primary TE, to avoid that. Plus, he saw how getting first downs on 1st/2nd down was ignored, so he's waiting for third down to get the FD. (Niners had 15 FDs, Giants 20 - but only 1 of ours was on third down.) My stats are real, but I am only joking. I understand the importance of third down, red zone, and receivers.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

Did I say any of this? Have I ever credited Kaepernick for the Saints' game?

Get a clue. Or is your Alex bias making you retarded?

You are right, it is unfair of me to project MY interpretation of the current Smith narrative on this board as something you personally said (partly because I don't want to try and dig up proof... not that I'd find any).

We can agree to disagree, I'll accept that, but the board is still going to be littered with posts similar to those you've made that harp on Smith even though we all know he is clearly done as as starter in SF (barring injury). The Kaepernick Era is *Now*.

With that said, got anything else interesting or relevant to say about the Niners? Alex has been terrible since 2005, but I don't think anyone is going to stop the presses because everyone already knew.

This isn't a weird Tim Tebow situation, and Alex is not going to rip the team in half, so acting like a wise ass that can point to "how awful you used to think Smith was" is a pointless endeavor IN MY OPINION.

(p.s. I've always been retarded. A retarded asshole, but still a retard. :panda

 

[DoobieKeebler]

Clearly you don't. You think the Alex bashing is unfair because you think he's a legitimate QB.

I thought the change was unnecessary & thought the need to subsequently bash Alex as a way to support Kaepernick was unfair. I really don't care if Alex never plays another down as a Niner... I just want a SB.