Realistic Suggestions to Right the Ship

[Number7]

Ok, I know #fireroman and #kapiscrap at trending but we are obviously not getting rid of either in the next 8 weeks. So my question is...what can we do? Is there anything to do. I'd say best case scenario we go 6-2 and end up 10-6. Whether or not that gets us in the playoffs is iffy, but I really don't see this team getting more than 6 wins out of the last eight (and even that is wishful thinking).

Anyway, is there anything to be done? Some suggestions I've heard from people in real life are:

RUN RUN RUN: give frank the ball. More often than not. Keep the ball out of Kap's hands. This seems to be the go to suggestion and while I do like it, I think it's a bit unrealistic. It's obvious what teams are doing: stacking the box, taking gore out of the game. Forcing Kap to beat them. Not to mention the o line has regressed a lot this year. So is this the answer? I feel like they've actually tried this with like no result. If you have nfl rewind go back and watch all of gore's touches. There really isn't much going. BUT I do think we have so many short drives anyway, why not give it to him 2 or 3 times and see what happens. At least we would keep the defenses honest.

WAIT FOR INJURED PLAYERS TO RETURN: this one I hate the most. Just because we don't know. Toe injuries seem to sideline people forever. Aldon back will be huge but only if he's been working out. In starting to think bowman won't be back until December and even the. They won't rush him in if we are outside a realistic playoff push. I don't think this is the answer mainly b/c our defense seems fine. Sure not AS good but all things considered the D looks good (not in the Denver game though). Our offense is basically at full strength. So idk what is up with that.

DIFFERENT GAME PLAN: fire roman I guess. Basically ask him to retool his entire thinking. I guess that would be run run run and stop forcing Kap to be something he's not. Let him run. If he gets banged up oh well since we are losing anyway. This one is weird to me since I think the game plan is only half to blame. Kap isn't getting better. He's not showing any signs of improvement. If I wasn't a niner (and Kap) fan if probably say he's getting worse. While I would love for us to stop calling plays that force him to stay in the pocket, I'm not sure our offense can avoid holding with him scrambling.

NO MORE PENALTIES: this one I agree with. These need to stop. I think the coaches are doing a bad job. Players are making stupid penalties and some after the plays. Need these to stop, but how? Rumors of Harbaugh losing the team seem to manifest themselves in the outrageous number of penalties we get. Especially in huge situations.

KILL THE REFS: This one is a joke to me lol. As much as id love to blame the refs, I don't. I would if I thought it was them. It's not. Some of you think so though.

CLOCK MANAGEMENT: I have never seen a team worse at this. Have you? Is Kap unable to run a huddle? Are we getting the plays in late? Why does it take us so long? I'm fine with taking our sweet as time when we are up, but not in close games when we need to score. Too many wasted timeouts, delay if games and the defense being able to get perfect jumps on the ball. This needs to stop and would help a bit. Kap and coaches need to make this a priority IMO.

Anyway, there are way more suggestions and I want to hear them. But realistic. Some this we could actually do RIGHT NOW THIS YEAR that can help. We can't fire roman and Kap is our guy. This o line is the same as last year basically so what's up? How do we get them to play better?

 

[deep9er]

Ok, I know #fireroman and #kapiscrap at trending but we are obviously not getting rid of either in the next 8 weeks. So my question is...what can we do? Is there anything to do. I'd say best case scenario we go 6-2 and end up 10-6. Whether or not that gets us in the playoffs is iffy, but I really don't see this team getting more than 6 wins out of the last eight (and even that is wishful thinking).

Anyway, is there anything to be done? Some suggestions I've heard from people in real life are:

RUN RUN RUN: give frank the ball. More often than not. Keep the ball out of Kap's hands. This seems to be the go to suggestion and while I do like it, I think it's a bit unrealistic. It's obvious what teams are doing: stacking the box, taking gore out of the game. Forcing Kap to beat them. Not to mention the o line has regressed a lot this year. So is this the answer? I feel like they've actually tried this with like no result. If you have nfl rewind go back and watch all of gore's touches. There really isn't much going. BUT I do think we have so many short drives anyway, why not give it to him 2 or 3 times and see what happens. At least we would keep the defenses honest.

WAIT FOR INJURED PLAYERS TO RETURN: this one I hate the most. Just because we don't know. Toe injuries seem to sideline people forever. Aldon back will be huge but only if he's been working out. In starting to think bowman won't be back until December and even the. They won't rush him in if we are outside a realistic playoff push. I don't think this is the answer mainly b/c our defense seems fine. Sure not AS good but all things considered the D looks good (not in the Denver game though). Our offense is basically at full strength. So idk what is up with that.

DIFFERENT GAME PLAN: fire roman I guess. Basically ask him to retool his entire thinking. I guess that would be run run run and stop forcing Kap to be something he's not. Let him run. If he gets banged up oh well since we are losing anyway. This one is weird to me since I think the game plan is only half to blame. Kap isn't getting better. He's not showing any signs of improvement. If I wasn't a niner (and Kap) fan if probably say he's getting worse. While I would love for us to stop calling plays that force him to stay in the pocket, I'm not sure our offense can avoid holding with him scrambling.

NO MORE PENALTIES: this one I agree with. These need to stop. I think the coaches are doing a bad job. Players are making stupid penalties and some after the plays. Need these to stop, but how? Rumors of Harbaugh losing the team seem to manifest themselves in the outrageous number of penalties we get. Especially in huge situations.

KILL THE REFS: This one is a joke to me lol. As much as id love to blame the refs, I don't. I would if I thought it was them. It's not. Some of you think so though.

CLOCK MANAGEMENT: I have never seen a team worse at this. Have you? Is Kap unable to run a huddle? Are we getting the plays in late? Why does it take us so long? I'm fine with taking our sweet as time when we are up, but not in close games when we need to score. Too many wasted timeouts, delay if games and the defense being able to get perfect jumps on the ball. This needs to stop and would help a bit. Kap and coaches need to make this a priority IMO.

Anyway, there are way more suggestions and I want to hear them. But realistic. Some this we could actually do RIGHT NOW THIS YEAR that can help. We can't fire roman and Kap is our guy. This o line is the same as last year basically so what's up? How do we get them to play better?

while I TOTALLY agree discussions should shift to the positive, human nature is to b!itch. it is just too easy to point fingers.

yes, no doubt, what can be done to help the situation, not rant and rave about who screwed up. If you fire everyone who screwed up, we won't have a functioning organization.

correct on the O-line......WTF?

 

[Pattersonca65]

Oline play better, run and pass game both improve. For that to happen, that squad first needs to stay healthy and avoid teh revolving door. Martin is scary at Center. Not that I don't think he can be a great starter someday, but it is alot to ask a young rookie to start midseason.

 

[Montalban]

Ok, I know #fireroman and #kapiscrap at trending but we are obviously not getting rid of either in the next 8 weeks. So my question is...what can we do? Is there anything to do. I'd say best case scenario we go 6-2 and end up 10-6. Whether or not that gets us in the playoffs is iffy, but I really don't see this team getting more than 6 wins out of the last eight (and even that is wishful thinking).

Anyway, is there anything to be done? Some suggestions I've heard from people in real life are:

RUN RUN RUN: give frank the ball. More often than not. Keep the ball out of Kap's hands. This seems to be the go to suggestion and while I do like it, I think it's a bit unrealistic. It's obvious what teams are doing: stacking the box, taking gore out of the game. Forcing Kap to beat them. Not to mention the o line has regressed a lot this year. So is this the answer? I feel like they've actually tried this with like no result. If you have nfl rewind go back and watch all of gore's touches. There really isn't much going. BUT I do think we have so many short drives anyway, why not give it to him 2 or 3 times and see what happens. At least we would keep the defenses honest.

WAIT FOR INJURED PLAYERS TO RETURN: this one I hate the most. Just because we don't know. Toe injuries seem to sideline people forever. Aldon back will be huge but only if he's been working out. In starting to think bowman won't be back until December and even the. They won't rush him in if we are outside a realistic playoff push. I don't think this is the answer mainly b/c our defense seems fine. Sure not AS good but all things considered the D looks good (not in the Denver game though). Our offense is basically at full strength. So idk what is up with that.

DIFFERENT GAME PLAN: fire roman I guess. Basically ask him to retool his entire thinking. I guess that would be run run run and stop forcing Kap to be something he's not. Let him run. If he gets banged up oh well since we are losing anyway. This one is weird to me since I think the game plan is only half to blame. Kap isn't getting better. He's not showing any signs of improvement. If I wasn't a niner (and Kap) fan if probably say he's getting worse. While I would love for us to stop calling plays that force him to stay in the pocket, I'm not sure our offense can avoid holding with him scrambling.

NO MORE PENALTIES: this one I agree with. These need to stop. I think the coaches are doing a bad job. Players are making stupid penalties and some after the plays. Need these to stop, but how? Rumors of Harbaugh losing the team seem to manifest themselves in the outrageous number of penalties we get. Especially in huge situations.

KILL THE REFS: This one is a joke to me lol. As much as id love to blame the refs, I don't. I would if I thought it was them. It's not. Some of you think so though.

CLOCK MANAGEMENT: I have never seen a team worse at this. Have you? Is Kap unable to run a huddle? Are we getting the plays in late? Why does it take us so long? I'm fine with taking our sweet as time when we are up, but not in close games when we need to score. Too many wasted timeouts, delay if games and the defense being able to get perfect jumps on the ball. This needs to stop and would help a bit. Kap and coaches need to make this a priority IMO.

Anyway, there are way more suggestions and I want to hear them. But realistic. Some this we could actually do RIGHT NOW THIS YEAR that can help. We can't fire roman and Kap is our guy. This o line is the same as last year basically so what's up? How do we get them to play better?

RUN RUN RUN: No. we can get rid of this one right off the bat. The O Line cannot block. That's a non-starter

WAIT FOR INJURED PLAYERS TO RETURN: NO. Who that is currently injured right now is going to return and help this offense?

DIFFERENT GAME PLAN: OK. But where do you start? If you start with the given that we have the best 5 man receiving corp in the NFL then you have to determine why you can't get the ball to them. There is evidence that it is Kaepernick, that he is just not very good in recognizing open receivers or throwing in the face of a rush. There is undeniable evidence that the O Line is atrocious as well, so what do you do when you don't have a line that can run the ball or pass protect and a QB who cannot play the position the way you want him to? But there is also eveidnece that the passing scheme is just not very sophisticated and is easily stopped no matter how good the receivers are. That can be changed but is your QB equipped to handle that? I don't think so.

NO MORE PENALTIES: Yes, but I would amend it to "fewer" penalties. No team has no penalties. This won't change however until Harbaugh can instill some discipline in a very lackadaisical team.

CLOCK MANAGEMENT: Yes. Absolutely atrocious. But how can you correct it when the coaches cannot get the play on in time and when they do, your QB cannot recognize what defense the other team is in so takes forever to call the play?

I suppose, if I were Baalke or York, I'd clean house of the coaching staff. It won't change otherwise.

 

[Number7]

Alright, some weird responses as if you didn't read what I wrote at all, but I will respond.

while I TOTALLY agree discussions should shift to the positive, human nature is to b!itch. it is just too easy to point fingers.

yes, no doubt, what can be done to help the situation, not rant and rave about who screwed up. If you fire everyone who screwed up, we won't have a functioning organization.

correct on the O-line......WTF?

Oh you can bitch all you want. This wasn't made as an attempt to tell people to stop bitching. I just wanted to address the problems right now. It just seems like everyone is saying Kap sucks and Roman (possibly Harbaugh) need to go. Which is fine, if you feel that way then fine, but that isn't a discussion for now, because there is no way Roman is getting fired during the season and there is no other option than Kap. So yeah, this thread isn't meant to be some positive ray of light, just a look at our current situation, with realistic suggestions to help (if there are any at all). So go ahead and bitch, I don't mind that at all.

My main purpose of posting this was to see if there actually IS a solution right now? Are we just totally giving up on the season? Is there a way to play better? Or are we just not that skilled. I would love it if there was a way to right the ship and salvage a good season out of this, I'm just not so sure there is much to be done.

O-line seems to be our most obvious problem. Aside from Martin though it's basically proven players who before this season we were all very happy about. It's not just Martin, so something else is wrong. I know people go to chemistry which is could be, I agree, but this is 2 months into the season now, so if chemistry is the problem I'm guessing there isn't much to be done about it. Maybe they need to use more max protect with our line to help them out. They clearly can't get the job done so changing something might help?

Oline play better, run and pass game both improve. For that to happen, that squad first needs to stay healthy and avoid teh revolving door. Martin is scary at Center. Not that I don't think he can be a great starter someday, but it is alot to ask a young rookie to start midseason.

The offensive squad is healthy. This is basically full strength. Yes Martin in for Kilgore, but everything else is there. I never expected our offense to be that good, but I am actually shocked at how horrible they are so far. It's very frustrating but aside from "play better" I'm not sure I really have any suggestions to help. Either the talent or drive isn't there, and who to blame that on is pretty impossible to gauge. But the problem isn't just Martin (if he's even the biggest problem). No one on that line is playing well and they were better than most a season ago. What gives?

The defense has had all the injuries this year and they really haven't mess up. Yeah shredded by Peyton and co. but that's going to happen with our corners (they weren't even healthy then) from time to time.

RUN RUN RUN: No. we can get rid of this one right off the bat. The O Line cannot block. That's a non-starter

WAIT FOR INJURED PLAYERS TO RETURN: NO. Who that is currently injured right now is going to return and help this offense?

DIFFERENT GAME PLAN: OK. But where do you start? If you start with the given that we have the best 5 man receiving corp in the NFL then you have to determine why you can't get the ball to them. There is evidence that it is Kaepernick, that he is just not very good in recognizing open receivers or throwing in the face of a rush. There is undeniable evidence that the O Line is atrocious as well, so what do you do when you don't have a line that can run the ball or pass protect and a QB who cannot play the position the way you want him to? But there is also eveidnece that the passing scheme is just not very sophisticated and is easily stopped no matter how good the receivers are. That can be changed but is your QB equipped to handle that? I don't think so.

NO MORE PENALTIES: Yes, but I would amend it to "fewer" penalties. No team has no penalties. This won't change however until Harbaugh can instill some discipline in a very lackadaisical team.

CLOCK MANAGEMENT: Yes. Absolutely atrocious. But how can you correct it when the coaches cannot get the play on in time and when they do, your QB cannot recognize what defense the other team is in so takes forever to call the play?

I suppose, if I were Baalke or York, I'd clean house of the coaching staff. It won't change otherwise.

I'm not sure you can get rid of the "run first" suggestion so easily though. I mean, if they can't block, they can't block the pass either. Like I said, I don't think the running game is anywhere close to good and I don't think it's is only b/c of the O-line. Something is off with Gore too. Something is off with the whole game plan with the run game. Roman does seem a bit pass happy, but nothing has come of the running game even when we've tried it. I think most teams have game planned to stop the run though and good job on them. There has to be some kind of adjustment to this though. Maybe some screen or some short passes so they start spreading out. Right now no one is afraid of us passing and in turn isn't afraid of the run at all. I do think they might as well try running a lot more though since passing hasn't panned out at all.

I think Clock management and fewer penalties are key. To me, the niners don't (and really haven't ever that much) look like a well oiled machine. It's like they don't practice the clock management and little deatils of the game that end up counting so much. I don't understand when I see so many teams get the play in with about 15/16 seconds to go on the play clock and we get up to the line with about 7. And the times we do get the plays in early we sit on it until it gets down to one. It's just so predictable and with upcoming games in NO and NY it's going to be even harder with the crowd noise. I think mechanically the coaching staff and the players need to work on shit like this. It helps morale. But to be in the top 7 or so penalized team and the worst team at clock management is something that CAN be fixed, so hopefully they do something. But they haven't ever so I doubt it.

Basically there isn't any quick fixes to this THIS YEAR, but I was hoping there was something. Yes, the coaching staff will probably be cleaned out (I think this would have happened regardless of success though), but that's not the kind of thread I made this for. Not saying you can't talk about that, but I'm talking about the next 8 games. Kap is our QB, the coaches are our coaches. Is there anything we can do? Or are we just not good enough to win enough games?

 

[maniax]

Put Crabtree on the bench when there's two minutes left and we are going for the win.

That way there is no chance in hell Kap will try to pass to him.


On first and goal with the game on the line, put a 4 WR spread on the field and spread out the D and let Kap run it into the end zone.

 

[HighTopFade]

Put Crabtree on the bench when there's two minutes left and we are going for the win.

That way there is no chance in hell Kap will try to pass to him.

Yeah, good one. The offensive plays has become too predictable. Personally, I'd like to see more play action, sweeps, tosses, and even shovel passes. Also would like to see our regular go to guys take a break and give players like McDonald, Carrier, Ellington, and Patton a chance.

I hate to sound negative, but missing the playoffs this year is conceivable in this tough division. May as well try different plays and players. Play like you have nothing to lose.

 

[Montalban]

Yeah, good one. The offensive plays has become too predictable. Personally, I'd like to see more play action, sweeps, tosses, and even shovel passes. Also would like to see our regular go to guys take a break and give players like McDonald, Carrier, Ellington, and Patton a chance.

I hate to sound negative, but missing the playoffs this year is conceivable in this tough division. May as well try different plays and players. Play like you have nothing to lose.

Its more than conceivable, its very probable.

 

[purguy12]

Depends: Next year a new OC but for this year go back to the running game like we did the last 2 years.

 

[Montalban]

I think what will really tell us if the ship needs righting is how the team performs in New Orleans after the disgraceful display last Sunday. If they come out fighting, they are OK. If they lay down again and continue to make stupid mistakes then Harbaugh really has lost them and they are done.

 

[MHSL82]

As to Roman and the offense, Kaepernick needs to do what the WCO/Reid offense does. If he does that and then takes shots more than KC, they will win out, IMO. No one says that taking shots all day with a bad oline is good and being too conservative is bad, too. So if they get positive yards, albeit short, Kaepernick has a strong enough arm to then take advantage. Running to get play action would help.

It seems that people call what KC does easy, ignore how successful it is, but then struggle trying to do the opposite - either get foiled by INTs (not us) or too long developing pass plays with a bad oline (us). Why not a hybrid that takes advantage of both and add a running dimension for Kaepernick? If you have a stronger arm and more willing to throw deep QB, why the hell not take the high percentage, high YAC, time consuming drives (resting defense) with opportunistic shots that your QB both is physically able to do and willing? It seems stupid to do what we're doing with our oline injuries.

When the oline gets healthy and gels, then switch if that's your preference.

 

[MHSL82]

Put Crabtree on the bench when there's two minutes left and we are going for the win.

That way there is no chance in hell Kap will try to pass to him.

On first and goal with the game on the line, put a 4 WR spread on the field and spread out the D and let Kap run it into the end zone.

Forget what I said, just go with this. It seems like Kaepernick has to be the hero. I feel he cares about being the one who scores and maybe to who catches it. No Gore? When the Niners give him three choices, one of which is a Gore run, it seems he picks the pass more when close to the end zone in the fourth than he does before that. No way to prove it. Maybe Roman always calls passes?

 

[darken65]

For this next game at least: Run with two TEs and Miller in the back field with a change up of Gore and Hyde . Boldin and Johnson as WRs. The Saints will stack and blitz early and often. Let Kap run or hit the short routes that he can read quickly. In other words get the ball down the field without relying on a huge passing game while attempting to help the OL. On Defense let Tank have snaps alternating with Ray Mac and keep Lynch and Borland still getting plenty of playing time. The sencondary hasn't looked that bad IMO so keep it the same. Bottom line here....heavy on the run,short passes that Kap can handle and simple plays to move the ball.

 

[deep9er]

how to right the ship? they should be working on pass protection schemes every day, this means TE's and RB's too. they should be working on who will pick up whom no matter where the blitzer(s) come from.

they should be working on check downs, to either the RB or FB. they should be working on one receiver doing a 'hot' route.

defensively, we can always use pressure, but even then we'll be ok as is. not expecting us to shut down the Saints, but we'll hold them down to a reasonable score. C'mon Offense!

 

[AU_Fever]

Put Crabtree on the bench when there's two minutes left and we are going for the win.

That way there is no chance in hell Kap will try to pass to him.


On first and goal with the game on the line, put a 4 WR spread on the field and spread out the D and let Kap run it into the end zone.

Agree. Why not throw it to Boldin, your most reliable receiver. Kap keeps forcing it to Crabtree. I don't know why they don't give it to Gore more in the redzone. Also, with the struggles of the Oline, why not throw a couple of screens or slants. Kap has been sacked 27 times this season and is on paced to be sacked over 50 times.

 

[Kinzu]

Go back to the offense we had pre-Kaep. You know when it was more creative with lots of different packages and pre-snap movement designed to attack with the run and get receivers open quickly. We look to often now for the home run plays in the passing game instead of just looking to move the ball down the field. It's like a baseball team trying to hit the homerun everytime instead of just looking for hits and getting guys on base to score.

I swear either Kaep is not capable of running a more complex offense or Kaep's ability has made Roman lazy with his schemes.

 

[deep9er]

Go back to the offense we had pre-Kaep. You know when it was more creative with lots of different packages and pre-snap movement designed to attack with the run and get receivers open quickly. We look to often now for the home run plays in the passing game instead of just looking to move the ball down the field. It's like a baseball team trying to hit the homerun everytime instead of just looking for hits and getting guys on base to score.

I swear either Kaep is not capable of running a more complex offense or Kaep's ability has made Roman lazy with his schemes.

Kaep has good and bad points, certainly more good. But like most QB's he has limitations in the passing game, so IMO it is the former. not limited all over the field, but in short, 'tighter' spaces.

also suspect our receiver strengths isn't getting open QUICK?

 

[zman1527]

Roman really does need to go. This game against the Saints he seemed to be channeling Jimmy Raye: no imagination, no misdirection, zero creativity. Run when they expect run, pass when they expect pass, see a massive blitz coming ignore it and hope for the best. This great defense is being wasted by the failure to get much out of the talent on offense.

 

[Montalban]

Roman really does need to go. This game against the Saints he seemed to be channeling Jimmy Raye: no imagination, no misdirection, zero creativity. Run when they expect run, pass when they expect pass, see a massive blitz coming ignore it and hope for the best. This great defense is being wasted by the failure to get much out of the talent on offense.

Or he needs a QB who is capable of running the offense he wants to run.

 

[zman1527]

Or he needs a QB who is capable of running the offense he wants to run.

You are blaming the QB? If he cannot get it done with this QB, then we have big problems. Kap is NOT the problem.