Misc' Positives & Negetives

[NinerSickness]

I think the running game failure was due to the fact that the Niners can't pass the ball, not their inability to run-block.

 

[threelittleturds]

I'll give you that. I remember thinking out loud "Hmm, that's different" when that play happened. I'd also agree that the running failure was on the O Line.

Yeah, I think you even said that in the game thread. I'll say this though, the passing offense didn't look any more innovative. It looked really basic. The creativity only seemed to show up in the running game.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

Yeah, I think you even said that in the game thread. I'll say this though, the passing offense didn't look any more innovative. It looked really basic. The creativity only seemed to show up in the running game.

That is what surprised me. I expected a lot of motion, a lot of clearing out space underneath for Crabtree and Davis to work under and I expected at least a throw or two stretch the . Too many 2,3,4 yard passes or passes to the backs. Smith made a couple of nice throws to Davis and Morgan. They'll need to open it up some to stay with dallas.

 

[CalamityX11]

Seattle played the run stronger than the pass.... that's all. Plus Synder at C isn't opening big holes vs SEA meaty beefy DL. Baas could've though.

 

[threelittleturds]

Seattle played the run stronger than the pass.... that's all. Plus Synder at C isn't opening big holes vs SEA meaty beefy DL. Baas could've though.

Goodwin was at center I think, and Baas couldn't do it last year.

Seattle just plays the run extremely well against the 49ers. I can think of a few arguments as to why. The O-Line lost the battle in the trenches for blocking, and the passing game is nothing to worry about so they can go all in with stopping the run.

 

[yossarian]

To me a huge positive was Smith not turning it over, I also didn't see the awful
inaccurate throws that plagued him in the past. The offensive line was offensive, Gore only got 50 something yards on 20 carries. The defense was great, and Aldon Smith had that nice tip after getting blocked. I think the offense will take more time to gel.

 

[threelittleturds]

I just realized Alex Smith had a 90.4 QB rating. Not bad.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Figured I'd post my usual Thoughts on the Game thing in here rather than starting a new thread.

Overall, we won to start the season, and that's a big deal. The team struggled mightily in the third quarter (a real trend over the past few years), but got their act together. The offense put together a drive when it needed to, and the D and STs both came through in a big way. Winning the sloppy games is something we haven't done much of lately, so that was good to see.

The offense is obviously still very much a work in progress. I was actually relatively impressed with the OL, at least in terms of pass blocking. Anthony Davis stepped up and played what was more or less an error-free game, and generally Smith had time to get through his progressions (though he didn't always do so). The run blocking wasn't good, but the Hawks are an underrated run D. With three 300+ guys on the DL, including Branch and Bryant both around 330+, it's hard to run up the middle against them. I think we should have tested the edges more, especially our left edge where Bryant would have struggled getting to the outside IMO. It would have been nice to see some more outside runs.

The passing game actually looked ok. Smith threw the ball pretty well. He still looks uncomfortable in the pocket (though watching Romo right now, Smith doesn't look terrible by comparison), but he threw some nice balls and took what the D gave him. I would have liked to see us challenge them a bit more. Edwards didn't do all that much, but his presence was felt. I hope we use him more. Disappointed that Davis didn't try on that deep ball. It would have been a tough one, and he probably would have been hit hard, but he's got to go for that ball. Crabtree, well, he needs to catch the balls that are thrown his way before pouting about not getting balls when he's open. That's how the NFL works.

I thought the D played quite well overall. Ray McDonald had a great game. He was stout against the run and made some big plays against the pass. He's an upgrade over Sopoaga at that spot in my book. I just hope he can keep it up. Sop also seemed to do just fine at the nose. The biggest surprise for me were the DBs. It was hard to say if Jackson was just hesitant to pull the trigger, or if the coverage really was quite good, but other than the TD, we didn't get hurt that badly by the pass. The D did get a big shaky in the third quarter, but they stepped up when they needed to. Aldon Smith had one big play, and I'm hopeful he'll build on that. And it would seem he has sparked Haralson somewhat. Once Spencer gets back, and as Culliver comes along, this D really has the potential to be quite good. I'm far from sold as the Hawks' OL isn't exactly world class (in fact, it might be the worst in the league at present), but it was a promising performance.

And STs looked good. Obviously the two returns were huge. Akers was rock solid. Lee had some beautiful punts. And the coverage was solid other than the one that was brought back by the penalty.

Overall, this team has a long way to go, especially on offense. Playing the Cowboys should actually be a pretty good test. They're moving the ball well against the Jets, so we'll see what we can do against them.

 

[CalamityX11]

One question that may not be answered after the hawks game, was it our excellent coverage or Tjax hesistancy?

Next week, we'll definitely find out. If our DL can continue their Pass rush against the Cowboys next week, we can definitely pull out the win.

Bowmand & Wilis are great 1-2 punch into the season. Glad to see PSU represent!

 

[RedneckNiner]

My biggest problem is that on third Down and in the Red Zone they acted like they had Jimmy Raye on the phone as special consultant. Jimmy what play should we run 3rd and 7.. Run up the middle, what should we do in the red zone, run up the middle. I understand some conservative but the touchdown play action to a bootleg I was impressed just really frustrated and annoyed that after the Niners got the lead they fell back to the ok we got the lead lets just play to not lose mentality.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Always nice to get the W. At times it was a little frustrating not seeing the offense go down the field more, but im guessing since we had the lead and how our defense was playing it wasnt needed.

This sunday will be our first big test. There are too many cowboy fans i know, so i hope the niners can pull this one out.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

Seattle played the run stronger than the pass.... that's all. Plus Synder at C isn't opening big holes vs SEA meaty beefy DL. Baas could've though.

I believe Goodwin started at Center and played just about the entire game there. Am I wrong?

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

Figured I'd post my usual Thoughts on the Game thing in here rather than starting a new thread.

Overall, we won to start the season, and that's a big deal. The team struggled mightily in the third quarter (a real trend over the past few years), but got their act together. The offense put together a drive when it needed to, and the D and STs both came through in a big way. Winning the sloppy games is something we haven't done much of lately, so that was good to see.

The offense is obviously still very much a work in progress. I was actually relatively impressed with the OL, at least in terms of pass blocking. Anthony Davis stepped up and played what was more or less an error-free game, and generally Smith had time to get through his progressions (though he didn't always do so). The run blocking wasn't good, but the Hawks are an underrated run D. With three 300+ guys on the DL, including Branch and Bryant both around 330+, it's hard to run up the middle against them. I think we should have tested the edges more, especially our left edge where Bryant would have struggled getting to the outside IMO. It would have been nice to see some more outside runs.

The passing game actually looked ok. Smith threw the ball pretty well. He still looks uncomfortable in the pocket (though watching Romo right now, Smith doesn't look terrible by comparison), but he threw some nice balls and took what the D gave him. I would have liked to see us challenge them a bit more. Edwards didn't do all that much, but his presence was felt. I hope we use him more. Disappointed that Davis didn't try on that deep ball. It would have been a tough one, and he probably would have been hit hard, but he's got to go for that ball. Crabtree, well, he needs to catch the balls that are thrown his way before pouting about not getting balls when he's open. That's how the NFL works.

I thought the D played quite well overall. Ray McDonald had a great game. He was stout against the run and made some big plays against the pass. He's an upgrade over Sopoaga at that spot in my book. I just hope he can keep it up. Sop also seemed to do just fine at the nose. The biggest surprise for me were the DBs. It was hard to say if Jackson was just hesitant to pull the trigger, or if the coverage really was quite good, but other than the TD, we didn't get hurt that badly by the pass. The D did get a big shaky in the third quarter, but they stepped up when they needed to. Aldon Smith had one big play, and I'm hopeful he'll build on that. And it would seem he has sparked Haralson somewhat. Once Spencer gets back, and as Culliver comes along, this D really has the potential to be quite good. I'm far from sold as the Hawks' OL isn't exactly world class (in fact, it might be the worst in the league at present), but it was a promising performance.

And STs looked good. Obviously the two returns were huge. Akers was rock solid. Lee had some beautiful punts. And the coverage was solid other than the one that was brought back by the penalty.

Overall, this team has a long way to go, especially on offense. Playing the Cowboys should actually be a pretty good test. They're moving the ball well against the Jets, so we'll see what we can do against them.

Tough to argue with any of that.

 

[SRPnVA]

How brilliant was the move to go get STs coach Brad Seely from the Browns this offseason? Paying dividends already.

 

[Rvnight18]

Ted Ginn needs his pay cut returned to him.

Ray Ray was a beast.

Justin Smith was Justin Smith. Great

Bowman and Willis, as Clyde put it, are like tornados in the middle of the field. I could't believe Bowmans closing speed on his one tackle behind the line.

Pass rush was constant. Even if we didn't get a sack, Tjax never seemed comfortable and was moving to avoid contact.

Aldon had a great tipped pass after being blocked.

O-line needs to open holes up for gore. Pass blocking looked good. Big beefy line for Seattle though.

Alex I thought looked good. The few chances he had to throw down field he did well. A food back shoulder throw to Vernon. The pass to Morgan was a beautiful throw. The throw to Edwards in the endzone would have been a TD if there wasn't PI. And he used his legs more. He needs to do that. He has a way to go, but he showed me enough. I want to see him throw a little more. Plus the downfield blocking on that toss to Gore was great.

Hunter had a great blitz pick up. Also had a good run with a strong second effort.

Vernon.... Come on man!

Crabs was pulled out after his foot started hurting him again. But he dropped a pass first.
Secondary made me happy. Whitner got screwed on that call.

 

[Rvnight18]

Ohh and Akers had a great game and has an acting career when he retires

 

[Rvnight18]

Ohh and Andy Lees punt that stopped on the two.... That was some voodoo shit...

 

[southbaysportsfan]

I was wondering when Crimson was going to give his recap?!

 

[MHSL82]

Yeah, I think you even said that in the game thread. I'll say this though, the passing offense didn't look any more innovative. It looked really basic. The creativity only seemed to show up in the running game.

That is what surprised me. I expected a lot of motion, a lot of clearing out space underneath for Crabtree and Davis to work under and I expected at least a throw or two stretch the . Too many 2,3,4 yard passes or passes to the backs. Smith made a couple of nice throws to Davis and Morgan. They'll need to open it up some to stay with dallas.

The overall offense, even if Harbaugh were hiding things, would be better than yesterday's performance if we were as far as we need to be; however, perhaps it's a combination of only using what we know and are comfortable with right now and saving more innovative things for when we need them (against Dallas and Baltimore) and are more confident in our ability to execute them. Why waste them against Seattle? I suppose if it weren't for Ginn's returns, we would have seen slightly more innovative plays, as we saw a better drive with bigger pass plays to start the 4th when Seattle got closer.

A few posters noted innovation with the running game and a hesitancy to throw; I see that as setting the pass up through the run on a season scale, not a game scale, as well as building Alex and the offense's confidence. While I don't think it signifies as much distrust in Alex as some suggest, I see that Harbaugh can't possibly have that much trust in him yet. We need to see him progress first. If he never does then we'll literally move on (not jst in an acceptance of a stop-gap way). It buys time for practice and since we won, no harm no foul. I understand we need to get in as rhythym and practice innovative plays to be ready for Dallas, but no need to give them film when we still need to practice to get them down. Big picture, while it was closer than it should have been through 55 minutes, Seattle isn't a team you give everything up from the getgo. Again, I suspect we would have if it weren't for Ginn's returns.

I may be wrong about the strategy, but we all know how Harbaugh is a calculative coach who strategizes short and longer term plans. I expect more in the next game and to be in full swing against the Ravens with a minidose against the Eagles.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

The overall offense, even if Harbaugh were hiding things, would be better than yesterday's performance if we were as far as we need to be; however, perhaps it's a combination of only using what we know and are comfortable with right now and saving more innovative things for when we need them (against Dallas and Baltimore) and are more confident in our ability to execute them. Why waste them against Seattle? I suppose if it weren't for Ginn's returns, we would have seen slightly more innovative plays, as we saw a better drive with bigger pass plays to start the 4th when Seattle got closer.

A few posters noted innovation with the running game and a hesitancy to throw; I see that as setting the pass up through the run on a season scale, not a game scale, as well as building Alex and the offense's confidence. While I don't think it signifies as much distrust in Alex as some suggest, I see that Harbaugh can't possibly have that much trust in him yet. We need to see him progress first. If he never does then we'll literally move on (not jst in an acceptance of a stop-gap way). It buys time for practice and since we won, no harm no foul. I understand we need to get in as rhythym and practice innovative plays to be ready for Dallas, but no need to give them film when we still need to practice to get them down. Big picture, while it was closer than it should have been through 55 minutes, Seattle isn't a team you give everything up from the getgo. Again, I suspect we would have if it weren't for Ginn's returns.

I may be wrong about the strategy, but we all know how Harbaugh is a calculative coach who strategizes short and longer term plans. I expect more in the next game and to be in full swing against the Ravens with a minidose against the Eagles.

Interesting. Let's hope that is the thought process.