Some observations from the coaches film

[threelittleturds]

wow, nice posts.

Smith does miss guys a lot. I brought it up after the 1st game against the Packers because I went to the game and saw a lot of open guys that Smith wasnt hitting. When I got home I was surprised just how good Smiths stats were even though all the missed opportunities. Its crazy to think just how good of a day stats wise that could have been.

If(its a big if) Smith can start seeing some of these open guys down field, this offense could really start clicking. There is a ton of potential left on the field.

Yeah, I saw some of that in the Packers game but a few times they got open just as the Packers were sacking Smith. One play Kyle Williams torched his guy and might have got like a 40 or 50 yard reception if Smith got it to him, but he was locked in on Crabtree and Crabs picked up a 20 yard gain. No real loss there, just what seems to be Smith making his initial read of the secondary and then waiting for the guy he chooses to throw at to get open. But for the most part, the Packers were running a lot of two deep safety too. I think defenses really respect what Moss, Manningham, and VD can do if they try to man up on them without safety help.

The only badly missed opportunity was in the 3rd QTR, when Manningham beat his guy and Smith saw him and was actually going to make the throw... but for some crazy reason Bruce Miller just let Woodson go and Woodson sacked Smith. This kind of stuff has to stop though, I can understand helping out if you have nobody to block, but when Woodson is clearly blitzing why are you letting him go to help block a guy that Anthony Davis already has engaged? What the fuck.

 

[MHSL82]

to improve in this area, he just needs to hit Moss a little more. at least give Moss a chance to catch it.

it seems like he tends to over throw Moss?

He needs to know that just because Moss used to be able to catch jump balls that it isn't mandatory to throw every pass to him high like a jump ball. He always says the receivers can make him look good... let's make the receivers look good!

 

[clyde_carbon]

Alex's stats almost always look better than he actually played. He more often than not takes the easy, underneath routes without even looking down field. He's leaves a lot of yards/points on the field. Like 1z just posted, Alex is in on the bottom of that league in that department. Granted, this is also why he never throws any INTs.

 

[MHSL82]

Alex's stats almost always look better than he actually played. He more often than not takes the easy, underneath routes without even looking down field. He's leaves a lot of yards/points on the field. Like 1z just posted, Alex is in on the bottom of that league in that department. Granted, this is also why he never throws any INTs.

Imagine if we could put both never throwing INTs and rarely leaving points on the board? I like Smith but I'm not confident that will ever happen. He can get better at it, we just have to see how much. Don't expect that great of improvement. I think we can win the big one a few times with him because I assume he'll at least moderately improve. He will likely never be a shot-taker, but he'll take more shots eventually. I know there's a chance of regression or stagnation, too.

 

[bvanthielriceyoung]

what game was it this year where we were about 10yrds from the endzone, smith throws a slant to Moss for a completion but Crabtree was wide open in the corner of the endzone?

just want to know for my own sake. We're only 3 games in the year and I already cant keep the games straight.....

 

[threelittleturds]

what game was it this year where we were about 10yrds from the endzone, smith throws a slant to Moss for a completion but Crabtree was wide open in the corner of the endzone?

just want to know for my own sake. We're only 3 games in the year and I already cant keep the games straight.....

Packers game

 

[threelittleturds]

Alex's stats almost always look better than he actually played. He more often than not takes the easy, underneath routes without even looking down field. He's leaves a lot of yards/points on the field. Like 1z just posted, Alex is in on the bottom of that league in that department. Granted, this is also why he never throws any INTs.

Yep, I get the feeling he makes his presnap reads and decides that he is going to one particular guy. He'll lock in and wait for him to get open, if that guy doesn't get open then he'll look to check it down or run... if he hasn't already been sacked.

It's too bad, because he is missing a lot of better opportunities when he locks into his preferred target.

 

[MHSL82]

what game was it this year where we were about 10yrds from the endzone, smith throws a slant to Moss for a completion but Crabtree was wide open in the corner of the endzone?

just want to know for my own sake. We're only 3 games in the year and I already cant keep the games straight.....

Packers game

In hindsight, I was ok (not happy) with it because VD caught a TD on the next play, but as a pattern or a capability, I don't like missing Crabtree. We need to get him to take the next step. It's as if he has three steps. One, limit the TOs. Two, understanding the system to take advantage of what the defense gives you . Three, see the field, the opening targets, taking advantage of what the defense doesn't want you to know they are giving you.

We need really high execution to overcome missing targets. If we hit big targets, that will relieve some pressure later. Just like Eli Manning needs to think it's the fourth quarter to get to the next gear, we need Smith to think it's the first drive of the half and a small comeback to get him going (he's generally been good at the start of the halves (except for when we call two running plays and a draw off a 90 yard kickoff return)).

 

[threelittleturds]

Ha Ha, yeah poor Crabtree. He's missed out on 3 TDs so far, I haven't looked at the Lions game.

Although, the sugar coating is that 2 of Crabtrees missed TDs resulted in TDs for VD. The only significant lost TD to Crabs was that roll-out to the right where Smith just didn't pull the trigger.

 

[49ermann]

Yep, I get the feeling he makes his presnap reads and decides that he is going to one particular guy. He'll lock in and wait for him to get open, if that guy doesn't get open then he'll look to check it down or run... if he hasn't already been sacked.

It's too bad, because he is missing a lot of better opportunities when he locks into his preferred target.

That's exactly how I see it as well. Smith does a good job with the pre-snap reads. If his pre-snap read is open he'll get rid of the ball to him with an accurate sharp throw. If that receiver is covered then he'll check it down or take off. He's got to go through his progressions and get the ball down the field.

 

[ViperVisor]

He's got to go through his progressions and get the ball down the field.

I wish he was do some shoulder fakes and then hit a big play too.
But faith in the O-Line blocking consistently isn't there. Were at about 10% sack rate again.
FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2012 OFFENSIVE LINES

MIN looks to of counted on Allen and 3 dudes to rush most of the game. Did a decent job.

Our 4 man rush was inadequate.

 

[SFAnthem]

Wow, good thread and analysis

Thanks!

 

[clyde_carbon]

I wish he was do some shoulder fakes and then hit a big play too.
But faith in the O-Line blocking consistently isn't there. Were at about 10% sack rate again.
FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2012 OFFENSIVE LINES

MIN looks to of counted on Allen and 3 dudes to rush most of the game. Did a decent job.

Our 4 man rush was inadequate.

Funny, after week 2 there were a bunch of people on here saying that we had one of, if not the best, OL in the league.

 

[ViperVisor]

Funny, after week 2 there were a bunch of people on here saying that we had one of, if not the best, OL in the league.

Looks better but Center is meh and middle pressure is the worst. And a lot of Jumbo formations with more than the starting crew.

2 tough match-ups on the road so far. So need more games to see if we got some real improvement.

 

[NinerSickness]

Funny, after week 2 there were a bunch of people on here saying that we had one of, if not the best, OL in the league.

I still think they do. Was never a fan of Goodwin, but I still think the Niners' have ond of the best OLs in the league (if not THE best). They're better at run-blocking than pass-blocking though.

 

[clyde_carbon]

I still think they do. Was never a fan of Goodwin, but I still think the Niners' have ond of the best OLs in the league (if not THE best). They're better at run-blocking than pass-blocking though.

Well, I don't know if we have THE best OL in the league, but I'm having trouble coming up with 5 OLs that I'd rather have. I was just making the point that I don't think we can make that excuse for Alex anymore.

Although I'm still not quite as high on Anthony Davis as some people on here.

 

[sjballer03]

Great thread. I hope to see more of these as I have also subscribed to the Coaches film.

The observations here bring up a nagging question that hasn't been answered. Why are blockers disengaging from their initial assignments? In one example, Boone unsuccessfully tries to pass on his block to Goodwin. In the other example, Miller leaves his man and goes to double another. Both instances resulted in pressure on Alex and affecting his pass. Anyone have an idea why this is happening?

 

[clyde_carbon]

Great thread. I hope to see more of these as I have also subscribed to the Coaches film.

The observations here bring up a nagging question that hasn't been answered. Why are blockers disengaging from their initial assignments? In one example, Boone unsuccessfully tries to pass on his block to Goodwin. In the other example, Miller leaves his man and goes to double another. Both instances resulted in pressure on Alex and affecting his pass. Anyone have an idea why this is happening?

Welcome to the board

 

[Flyingiguana]

Well, I don't know if we have THE best OL in the league, but I'm having trouble coming up with 5 OLs that I'd rather have. I was just making the point that I don't think we can make that excuse for Alex anymore.

Although I'm still not quite as high on Anthony Davis as some people on here.

our pass protection isn't that good. it's much better than last season so far and i think smith needs to trust the protection and step up into the pocket. i'm sure the coaching staff and smith is going over the missed opportunities. we'll just have to see how the offense progresses. as mentioned earlier a lot of teams are playing 2 deep safeties so we're basically being given that underneath stuff. smith is more than happy to hit those all day.

 

[threelittleturds]

Great thread. I hope to see more of these as I have also subscribed to the Coaches film.

The observations here bring up a nagging question that hasn't been answered. Why are blockers disengaging from their initial assignments? In one example, Boone unsuccessfully tries to pass on his block to Goodwin. In the other example, Miller leaves his man and goes to double another. Both instances resulted in pressure on Alex and affecting his pass. Anyone have an idea why this is happening?

The thing with Boone's example, probably just a flaw in the scheme. Maybe Goodwin called out another rusher, or Boone thought he did, so he passed off the first guy expecting to get the 2nd rusher. Just a guess of mine, no evidence to support it.

With Miller, I think he just fucked up. 2nd year guy, they're still going to make mistakes from time to time. Rathman probably coached him up real good after the Packer game to never let a guy go on the outside when you're the last guy on the outside.