Game Thread: Panthers @ 49ers

[notmyfault]

It's his third season.

As a starter, smart ass.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Kap has barely played a full year of games. Yes it was disgusting today but man you guys are negative fucking Nancy's. Yea I'm pissed we lost and I get it you are too. But I just saw Andrew luck lose to the rams. It is what it is. We move on. I give credit to Carolina's defense shit if it wasn't for our d letting a run that should have never been a TD them we could have won. We move on.

Easier to forgive if Kap hadn't struggled throwing the ball for seven straight games now. He has plateaued - frankly he has regressed - this year. He is doing an extremely poor job of reading defenses, and his pocket presence is poor. Look, the "I miss Alex" bit is a bit hyperbolic. And Hunter with the fumble, and the stupid penalties did him no favors. But Kap is the QB of this team, and he was awful today. That falls on him. It's hard to see this team winning the division, and all but impossible to expect it to go into Seattle and win. We desperately need Crabtree back, but the way Kap is playing this year, I'm not sure that will make that much of a difference.

 

[tallglassofwater007]

Yeah- I'm a little concerned, but still hoping for the best. Eternal optimist style. McDonald (other than 1 game in my recollection) certainly hasn't replace what Delanie Walker brought.

But McDonald is a rookie. To expect him to replace the versatility of Walker this early is asking a lot. Walker dropped a ton of passes anyway. McDonald has the talent to be a big time player.

 

[Kinzu]

They need to take every read-option and pistol formation play out of the playbook and just shred them. It was cute last year but it does not work anymore.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

You can't give Gore the ball only 16 times in a game like this. He should have had 20-25 carries and we would have won the game. He was making a lot of good plays. The coaches never seem to call a screen or a draw to slow down a Dline that is just pinning their ears back.

This. Carolina consistently speed rushing on obvious passing downs left such wide lanes even Dixon could have rubled through if Roman had dialed up a draw play. A screen pass or 2 would have been great as well, just like you said.

It seemed like Roman didn't call many quick routes to get the ball out of Kaep's hands fast and build the offense's confidence by gaining yards. Boldin and Mario could have eaten things up, and Gore should have gotten more looks in the passing game if Roman felt he HAD to call a pass.

IMO it is unfair that some people are solely blaming Kaep for this.

 

[jds_49ers]

Im tired of hearing about our WR this and WR that. Plenty of other teams have crappy WR yet still have a consistent passing game. It is a mixture of the plays being called and the limitations of Kap. If after 10 weeks of coaching these players and you still can't get a WR open something is wrong. I thin Roman is a huge problem for this team.

 

[Yoshi]

Yeah- I'm a little concerned, but still hoping for the best. Eternal optimist style. McDonald (other than 1 game in my recollection) certainly hasn't replace what Delanie Walker brought.

Either it's him or the offense hasn't utilized him to the fullest. Case in point - Ted Ginn Jr, - his numbers in one season with Carolina will eclipse his entire passing stats in 3 seasons with the 49ers.

I think most of us agree that LMJ and whoever comes out of Oregon's offense won't make the highlight reel in the NFL.

And Kaepernick is still an enigma, although this does not look good at all for him.

 

[Stokes1931]

Also, most of the 9ers runs are 2 TE sets with a FB too. Only had one non injured TE so that takes out almost half the play book

But surely you can have someone like Boone as a backup blocking tight end, I mean, he's a tackle, right? He knows how to block. If a TE goes down, why abandon the position? Especially just for blocking purposes. The guys know the playbook, tell him what to do if he is a bit confused.

 

[tallglassofwater007]

Easier to forgive if Kap hadn't struggled throwing the ball for seven straight games now. He has plateaued - frankly he has regressed - this year. He is doing an extremely poor job of reading defenses, and his pocket presence is poor. Look, the "I miss Alex" bit is a bit hyperbolic. And Hunter with the fumble, and the stupid penalties did him no favors. But Kap is the QB of this team, and he was awful today. That falls on him. It's hard to see this team winning the division, and all but impossible to expect it to go into Seattle and win. We desperately need Crabtree back, but the way Kap is playing this year, I'm not sure that will make that much of a difference.

I wouldn't say he has been terrible for 7 games. He hasn't been asked to do very much in the passing game the last 5 or 6 games.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

You can't give Gore the ball only 16 times in a game like this. He should have had 20-25 carries and we would have won the game. He was making a lot of good plays. The coaches never seem to call a screen or a draw to slow down a Dline that is just pinning their ears back.

Gore came up hobbled at the end of one run, and was not going to get a heavy dose after that. The very next play Hunter replaced him and fumbled which was crushing. Hunter/James did nothing for he offense in this game to keep things rolling after Gore hobbled off. The defense did everything possible to win this game, and Carolina did everything possible to give the game away. If our offense wasn't completely pathetic today it would have been a win.

 

[Nastastical]

The coaches never seem to call a screen or a draw to slow down a Dline that is just pinning their ears back.

This is something that for the life of me I can't figure out. Defenses are extra aggressive against us, yet our coaching staff never try and loosen up the defense with screen calls. It really makes no sense to completely ignore that aspect of playcalling, but for 3 straight years Roman somehow repeatedly does it.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Right? I'll put it to frustration. But it's quite disgusting seeing these posts. No wonder the crowd at the games are bad. These post while frustrated are laughable. Ya we sucked but it was a straight defensive battle today.

I'll cheer this team on until the bitter end. But they cannot afford to drop games like this in this division. They played like shit today, and I'm not going to candy coat it. The D was good - it just sucks that one awful TD made the difference. But the offense can't continue like this. Today was a total regression against a good defense. And it's depressing that much of the regression is attributable to our young QB.

 

[Stokes1931]

And what's with the delay of game penalties and being forced to use time outs to avoid them? Are the plays coming in late? Is Kaep trying to overthink the situation?

 

[jds_49ers]

I wouldn't say he has been terrible for 7 games. He hasn't been asked to do very much in the passing game the last 5 or 6 games.

Was he not asked to do much or they know he cant do much and play to that? You have to think the coaching staff doesnt have much faith in him much at this point.

 

[Pattersonca65]

I'll cheer this team on until the bitter end. But they cannot afford to drop games like this in this division. They played like shit today, and I'm not going to candy coat it. The D was good - it just sucks that one awful TD made the difference. But the offense can't continue like this. Today was a total regression against a good defense. And it's depressing that much of the regression is attributable to our young QB.

Exactly, are fans just supposed to be quiet when the offense plays poorly.

 

[Kinzu]

I don't think Carolina deserves a lot of credit. Their defense was not that good and offensively they were about as bad as we were. We were running the ball all over their defense. The only thing that was making them look good was dumb penalties and bad playcalls putting us in obvious passing situations. The 49ers did more to stop themselves today than Carolina did on defense.

 

[CalamityX11]

They need to take every read-option and pistol formation play out of the playbook and just shred them. It was cute last year but it does not work anymore.

Amen....

 

[tallglassofwater007]

Was he not asked to do much or they know he cant do much and play to that? You have to think the coaching staff doesnt have much faith in him much at this point.

So why is everyone screaming they want Smith back? They thought so much of him that they traded him away.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

And what's with the delay of game penalties and being forced to use time outs to avoid them? Are the plays coming in late? Is Kaep trying to overthink the situation?

Didn't have one in the 2nd half, so I guess there was a wasted TO in the 1st half? I didn't even notice one at all; I thought getting plays in on time was something SF did right this game. *chuckles*

 

[Yoshi]

Some of you guys are acting really silly right now. Kap shoulders some of the blame today, but with no pass protection, and receivers who aren't creating any separation, what exactly do you want him to accomplish out there? When he did get receivers the ball, they dropped easy ass catches; VD at the goalline; McDonald downfield; Hunter for a easy 1st down. Kap had no help out there today.

Lets also not act like Alex Smith doesn't struggle immensely against top defense that bring pressure; against Balt in 2011, NYG in the NFCG, STL in 2012, and Sea in 2012. Without a player to take the top off the defense, that forces DBs off the LOS, then teams that bring heavy pressure will always have the upper hand against us.

Kaep also held onto the ball a little longer than usual, such as that 2nd to last drive in the 4th quarter where he was sacked. Had he thrown the ball away, that drive would have been a lot more manageable. Our offense isn't built (whether it's lack of personnel, lack of opening the playbook, lack of the offensive line providing solid pass protection, or all three) to throw the ball downfield so any negative plays behind the line of scrimmage are suicidal for this offense.

When it comes to acumen on the playing field, I'm in agreement with Crimson - Kaep has totally regressed this season. You're gonna have those fans on here who are hanging off of one gonad, if not both, but the truth is being exemplified on the field.