Smith to Crabtree

[Southern9er]

This has been on my mind and in particular after today's game...I was sheepishly quiet...
:hdn:
Until I saw the comment below from Grant Cohn...spot on in my opinion...

"When he’s off he seems to overthrow Michael Crabtree and underthrow everyone else. I don’t understand this pattern. I counted three times today that Alex Smith overthrew an open Crabtree streaking deep down the field. Who knew Smith had the extra arm strength?"

Two passes today where CT was WIDE open could've been TDs each...both SAILED over CT's head...we've seen this in the past and like Grant says :bj: (that's for Calalmity), it seems to be everytime he's looking for CT. Forgive me for the subjectivity before the stat anal-ists descend, but damn it looks like a constant issue.

 

[CalamityX11]

Idk how to interpet this? lol

Rep'd approved!

 

[deep9er]

This has been on my mind and in particular after today's game...I was sheepishly quiet...
:hdn:
Until I saw the comment below from Grant Cohn...spot on in my opinion...

"When he’s off he seems to overthrow Michael Crabtree and underthrow everyone else. I don’t understand this pattern. I counted three times today that Alex Smith overthrew an open Crabtree streaking deep down the field. Who knew Smith had the extra arm strength?"

Two passes today where CT was WIDE open could've been TDs each...both SAILED over CT's head...we've seen this in the past and like Grant says :bj: (that's for Calalmity), it seems to be everytime he's looking for CT. Forgive me for the subjectivity before the stat anal-ists descend, but damn it looks like a constant issue.

for those two (was it three?) passes way downfield, if its going to be incomplete, don't we i would want Alex Smith to overthrow vice underthrow? its hard to be accurate downfield, the receiver needs to help?

am concerned Alex Smith is still a little inaccurate on shorter routes? being nit picky here but he's not allowing better YAC's, passes are not in good places. today he has time for the most part, so you'd think this would be better?

do like the fact they sent someone deep, and not just once.

 

[Flyingiguana]

he hit soap and staley right in the numbers. thats gotta count for something

 

[BallsOfFury]

Well those are some pretty ****ing big numbers, he'd better be able to hit them.

 

[Southern9er]

His accuracy beyond 20 yards has appeared to be horrible (subjectively)...but he has done well inside 20. Beyond yesterday it seems he's consistently overthrowing CT, not all the time but him more than anyone else.

Those passes were several steps ahead where the WR can't make an adjustment to the ball, can't run faster when you are already all out.

 

[CalamityX11]

Definitely something for Smith to improve on. This time, it wasn't a communication issue but more on Smith not putting the ball where it needs to be. I know Fouts was commenting on how Smith to Edwards was off because Edwards is much faster/quicker off his routes vs the others.... Don't necessarily buy that but I will say it's been awhile for those 2.

One thing I was liking though, slightly OT, was the movement/shifting on Crabtree. I think this will be pivotal down the stretch.

 

[MW49ers5]

Our passing offense is quite unthreatening and the Smith to Crabtree connection needs to drastically improve.

 

[mem49er]

Our passing offense is quite unthreatening and the Smith to Crabtree connection needs to drastically improve.

The results were certainly disapointing but nice to see the playcall and routes coming open. He really coud/should have had at least on more passing TD; two if you count our "smashmouth" attempts on the goal-line (would one play-action be too much to ask for?).

 

[MW49ers5]

The results were certainly disapointing but nice to see the playcall and routes coming open. He really coud/should have had at least on more passing TD; two if you count our "smashmouth" attempts on the goal-line (would one play-action be too much to ask for?).

I agree with all of this - especially our 'Singletary' approach to scoring inside the 3-yard line.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

Maybe he's allergic to Crabtree.

 

[mem49er]

Maybe he's allergic to Crabtree.

Hope not, shellfish allergies can be serious!

 

[Heathbar012]

I agree with all of this - especially our 'Singletary' approach to scoring inside the 3-yard line.

I think Harbaugh wanted to reward Gore, but everybody knew it. You're right that a play-action roll out with a dragging Walker, Davis in the corner and Peele in the flat would've gotten 6. The Browns D put everything into stopping Frank (even though it looked like they didn't). Overall, though, the play-calling prowess exceeded the execution yesterday. Still, a W is a W, and this team just a few wins away from clinching the division.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Smith has missed an open Crabtree repeatedly of late. I think we can chalk some of that up to a persistent lack of chemistry between these two (though at this point that's a bit of a head-scratcher), but on a couple of those throws yesterday Smith just missed him. So long as we're winning, it's not the end of the world. But we won't beat the class of the NFC if these two can't start hooking up. With the playoffs virtually assured at this point, we've got nine weeks to work out the kinks.

I'd also like to see more passes to Davis down the seam. That pass has been all but unstoppable over the past two seasons, and I can't recall seeing it once this year. It's possible teams are just getting better at defending it, but especially with Edwards back in the lineup, we need to be challenging them up the deep middle. Make the safety choose between Davis and our WRs. Not to mention it's the one deep pass Smith consistently throws very well.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

My grandma would probably overthrow Crabtree. He's slow as fuck, remember?

 

[EaseUrStorm]

What I was thinking is that the defense would start anticipating play action after all those runs. So you can catch them off guard by continually running. If the 4th down play was ruled a TD, then it goes down as a good call.

Cleveland's bad run defense had to be another reason for that play calling. Harbaugh loves cat and mouse games, which made it look Singletaryesque. Definitely give the benefit of doubt to this coaching staff compared to the previous ones.

Third downs will be a major focus for the rest of this year. This is the biggest area to improve on to get geared up for the playoffs.

 

[Southern9er]

Smith has missed an open Crabtree repeatedly of late. I think we can chalk some of that up to a persistent lack of chemistry between these two (though at this point that's a bit of a head-scratcher), but on a couple of those throws yesterday Smith just missed him. So long as we're winning, it's not the end of the world. But we won't beat the class of the NFC if these two can't start hooking up. With the playoffs virtually assured at this point, we've got nine weeks to work out the kinks.

I'd also like to see more passes to Davis down the seam. That pass has been all but unstoppable over the past two seasons, and I can't recall seeing it once this year. It's possible teams are just getting better at defending it, but especially with Edwards back in the lineup, we need to be challenging them up the deep middle. Make the safety choose between Davis and our WRs. Not to mention it's the one deep pass Smith consistently throws very well.

And that's really my point...we are doing well with what we have and Smith is slowly getting his polish on finally, but without those deep passes producing fruit at a reasonable rate we will struggle against the better teams. From yesterday Ray maybe right...Crabtree just ain't covering the ground and Smith needs to get better adjusting that throw...

Smith, Crabtree and Edwards have their work cut out for them, Vernon Davis has been largely ignored in the vertical game, but maybe that's intentional? Not sure if Crabtree's lack of camp showing is part of this...but it is at least a contributor.

 

[SY8goat]

My grandma would probably overthrow Crabtree. He's slow as fuck, remember?

When your a WR and a 6-2 260 lb LB could cover you step for step, your SLOW.

 

[Mozart'sGhost]

for those two (was it three?) passes way downfield, if its going to be incomplete, don't we i would want Alex Smith to overthrow vice underthrow? its hard to be accurate downfield, the receiver needs to help?

am concerned Alex Smith is still a little inaccurate on shorter routes? being nit picky here but he's not allowing better YAC's, passes are not in good places. today he has time for the most part, so you'd think this would be better?

do like the fact they sent someone deep, and not just once.

That's not being nitpicky at all. Accuracy is critical to getting YAC.

 

[threelittleturds]

Those two definitely need more time together. Lots of missed opportunities because they don't have any chemistry. It'd be great if at least one of these years, Crabtree decides that training camp is important enough to participate in.