Starting To See The Real Harbaugh

[TobyTyler]

In three games this year, a full one third of the schedule, the 49ers have come out and laid an egg and been out coached and beaten or tied by teams in games they should have won. I'm starting to see a pattern with Harbaugh that he cannot make in-game adjustments when the plan goes wrong. Yesterday they got extremely lucky to get a tie at home against a clearly inferior opponent.

The inability to make any kind of changes yesterday as Amendola repeatedly abused Carlos Rogers was astounding. How they let that go on and on without trying to make adjustments is just stupifying. The inability to find a way to get the ball to Vernon Davis, their most prolific weapon, is simply inexcusable. Getting torched twice on punt plays, being totally unprepared is, or should be a fireable offense for the special teams coach.

I have a bad feeling as to how this last game will affect the final standings in the division. I can now see them losing this division and missing the playoffs.

 

[Smalls]

I get your frustration with yesterday's game, but this seems kind of weak. Our record is 19-5-1 under him. He may not be the best at making in-game adjustments, but what makes that "The Real Harbaugh"?

 

[Ltrain]

farts

 

[Crimsoncrew]

A bit early to be freaking out and jumping ship. Folks were saying we got outcoached yesterday. I disagree. We got outplayed yesterday. The playcalling was fine, especially considering that Smith went down. The execution was substandard. The first TD happened because Culliver fell down. Stephen Jackson was running hard, through our tackles. You could argue that we needed to adjust better to cover Amendola, and there's some truth to that as Rogers was clearly outmatched. But even when we had coverage on Amendola, they were making plays.

This loss more than most looked like a case where the players came out flat. It all comes back to coaching in the end, but I thought the bigger failings were with the guys trying to make the plays, not the ones calling them.

 

[TobyTyler]

I get your frustration with yesterday's game, but this seems kind of weak. Our record is 19-5-1 under him. He may not be the best at making in-game adjustments, but what makes that "The Real Harbaugh"?

I guess I mean, he's not the genius we thought he was last year. Pretty much just an above average NFL head coach.

 

[TobyTyler]

A bit early to be freaking out and jumping ship. Folks were saying we got outcoached yesterday. I disagree. We got outplayed yesterday. The playcalling was fine, especially considering that Smith went down. The execution was substandard. The first TD happened because Culliver fell down. Stephen Jackson was running hard, through our tackles. You could argue that we needed to adjust better to cover Amendola, and there's some truth to that as Rogers was clearly outmatched. But even when we had coverage on Amendola, they were making plays.

This loss more than most looked like a case where the players came out flat. It all comes back to coaching in the end, but I thought the bigger failings were with the guys trying to make the plays, not the ones calling them.

How can you say the play calling was fine when once again they can't find a way to get the ball to Vernon Davis or the fact that they got 7 points in the first half against a weak team at home? The play calling was horrendous as far as the coverage on Amendola, and the inability to stop Stephan Jackson. The two huge gaffes on punt plays and a very "iffy" block in the back call against the Rams which would have been another Amendola TD on the return that called back showed that they were ver poorly prepared on special teams as well. The players were over-confident and possibly looking ahead to the Bears game but it is the coaches who are responsible to make sure that doesn't happen. We do agree however that there is plenty of balme to go around for the players as well.

 

[yossarian]

I think Roman has been very conservative in his play calling, and Harbaugh has repeatedly said it's Roman's offense. It also appeared to me the defense just got beat. And the special teams coach should be made to be a tackling dummy this next week for getting burned twice. But Harbaugh has also gotten great reviews for his coaching this year, up in Seattle Clayton was saying that they made great adjustments in the 2nd half of that game. I don't know that I would say this game showed Harbaugh to be bad.

 

[tallglassofwater007]

My biggest problem with Harbaugh is that he gets too cute sometimes. Especially with the CK stuff. But he seems to have settled down a bit with that. And he sometimes coaches with emotion too much. Especially with the challenges.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

How can you say the play calling was fine when once again they can't find a way to get the ball to Vernon Davis or the fact that they got 7 points in the first half against a weak team at home? The play calling was horrendous as far as the coverage on Amendola, and the inability to stop Stephan Jackson. The two huge gaffes on punt plays and a very "iffy" block in the back call against the Rams which would have been another Amendola TD on the return that called back showed that they were ver poorly prepared on special teams as well. The players were over-confident and possibly looking ahead to the Bears game but it is the coaches who are responsible to make sure that doesn't happen. We do agree however that there is plenty of balme to go around for the players as well.

The coaching certainly wasn't flawless. In particular, I hated the toss on the 2nd down before we attempted the FG in OT. The three yards we lost there might have been the difference. The two fake punts was also atrocious. But again, I think the bigger issue was the players themselves.

I don't recall all the details of the early drives, but Smith took a sack that he shouldn't have that largely derailed the first drive. I believe the next play was the screen to Gore, which was a great call and would have been a big gain if one of our three blockers had managed to get a body on Cortland Finnegan. There were a few run plays I did not agree with, but we have one of the best rushing offenses in the league, and the Rams don't have a great run D. We should have been testing them, and we were generally successful doing so.

I'm sure we called plays to Davis, but calling plays doesn't always get the ball in the guy's hands. Especially when your QBs throw 25 times and take 5 sacks. And "take" is the operative word, because the protection was not bad. Given that we lost our starting QB early in the second quarter, I thought the offensive playcalling was effective.

The D played poorly, but only some of that was coaching. We needed to double-team Amendola, especially on the 80+ yarder that was called back. But Amendola played a great game. He was catching balls even when he was tightly covered.

Even mentioning the return is ridiculous. First, it was a blatant block in the back on a guy who was in prime position to make a play. Second, a return TD of that sort is on the players losing their lanes, not the coaching. We had one of the better punt units in the history of the league last year. You think the coaching has changed? We cut several of our STs stalwarts, and our guys are not playing as well. Coaching can help that, but at the end of the day, the players have to make plays. We didn't yesterday, across the board.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

For that matter, it's pretty rich that you criticize the seven points in the first half, and then say we made no half-time adjustments when we scored 17 in that half with our second-string QB behind center.

 

[ChrisPozz]

The coaching certainly wasn't flawless. In particular, I hated the toss on the 2nd down before we attempted the FG in OT. The three yards we lost there might have been the difference. The two fake punts was also atrocious. But again, I think the bigger issue was the players themselves.

I don't recall all the details of the early drives, but Smith took a sack that he shouldn't have that largely derailed the first drive. I believe the next play was the screen to Gore, which was a great call and would have been a big gain if one of our three blockers had managed to get a body on Cortland Finnegan. There were a few run plays I did not agree with, but we have one of the best rushing offenses in the league, and the Rams don't have a great run D. We should have been testing them, and we were generally successful doing so.

I'm sure we called plays to Davis, but calling plays doesn't always get the ball in the guy's hands. Especially when your QBs throw 25 times and take 5 sacks. And "take" is the operative word, because the protection was not bad. Given that we lost our starting QB early in the second quarter, I thought the offensive playcalling was effective.

The D played poorly, but only some of that was coaching. We needed to double-team Amendola, especially on the 80+ yarder that was called back. But Amendola played a great game. He was catching balls even when he was tightly covered.

Even mentioning the return is ridiculous. First, it was a blatant block in the back on a guy who was in prime position to make a play. Second, a return TD of that sort is on the players losing their lanes, not the coaching. We had one of the better punt units in the history of the league last year. You think the coaching has changed? We cut several of our STs stalwarts, and our guys are not playing as well. Coaching can help that, but at the end of the day, the players have to make plays. We didn't yesterday, across the board.

I hate not being able to add something to a thread, but I have to say that that was as thorough and solid of a review as I've seen from you, and you are pretty consistently good about covering everything fairly. Nicely done.

 

[TobyTyler]

I think Roman has been very conservative in his play calling, and Harbaugh has repeatedly said it's Roman's offense. It also appeared to me the defense just got beat. And the special teams coach should be made to be a tackling dummy this next week for getting burned twice. But Harbaugh has also gotten great reviews for his coaching this year, up in Seattle Clayton was saying that they made great adjustments in the 2nd half of that game. I don't know that I would say this game showed Harbaugh to be bad.

Ha ha ha! Good one. I agree Harbaugh has a done a great job most of the time. It is the games where his plan doesn't work that he can't seem to figure out why. I wonder what made him think after the first 10 times Amendola burned Rogers that Rogers could continue to cover him alone?

 

[TobyTyler]

My biggest problem with Harbaugh is that he gets too cute sometimes. Especially with the CK stuff. But he seems to have settled down a bit with that. And he sometimes coaches with emotion too much. Especially with the challenges.

I am just amazed that he would not try something different with Amendola that stubborness and belief that his way was the right way cost them the game.

 

[TobyTyler]

The coaching certainly wasn't flawless. In particular, I hated the toss on the 2nd down before we attempted the FG in OT. The three yards we lost there might have been the difference. The two fake punts was also atrocious. But again, I think the bigger issue was the players themselves.

I don't recall all the details of the early drives, but Smith took a sack that he shouldn't have that largely derailed the first drive. I believe the next play was the screen to Gore, which was a great call and would have been a big gain if one of our three blockers had managed to get a body on Cortland Finnegan. There were a few run plays I did not agree with, but we have one of the best rushing offenses in the league, and the Rams don't have a great run D. We should have been testing them, and we were generally successful doing so.

I'm sure we called plays to Davis, but calling plays doesn't always get the ball in the guy's hands. Especially when your QBs throw 25 times and take 5 sacks. And "take" is the operative word, because the protection was not bad. Given that we lost our starting QB early in the second quarter, I thought the offensive playcalling was effective.

The D played poorly, but only some of that was coaching. We needed to double-team Amendola, especially on the 80+ yarder that was called back. But Amendola played a great game. He was catching balls even when he was tightly covered.

Even mentioning the return is ridiculous. First, it was a blatant block in the back on a guy who was in prime position to make a play. Second, a return TD of that sort is on the players losing their lanes, not the coaching. We had one of the better punt units in the history of the league last year. You think the coaching has changed? We cut several of our STs stalwarts, and our guys are not playing as well. Coaching can help that, but at the end of the day, the players have to make plays. We didn't yesterday, across the board.

I think you are absolutely correct on that. The angle would have been shorter and besides, I think without that loss on the previous play, nthe following 4 yard gain by Gore would have been a first down?

As for the block in the back, I thought it could have gone either way. I've seen much worse not get called.

The last part above that I bolded you are absolutely correct on. I can't argue that but I don't think Harbaugh had the team ready or was astute enough to make the needed adjustments once the plan on both offense and defense were not working.

 

[ChrisPozz]

I am just amazed that he would not try something different with Amendola that stubborness and belief that his way was the right way cost them the game.

How do you know no adjustments were made during the game? Because he had a nice day? Did you see the same type of coverage(s) over and over or similar techniques used over and over again? If so, explain what you saw for me. I didn't get to see the game start to finish.

 

[TobyTyler]

For that matter, it's pretty rich that you criticize the seven points in the first half, and then say we made no half-time adjustments when we scored 17 in that half with our second-string QB behind center.

I didn't see any adjustments. They managed one drive and scored another TD directly after a funmble by the Rams. They completely botched that last drive and were fortunate Kaepernick's pass to Wiliams with 7 seconds remaining was so bad that he couldn't catch it.. He'd have been tackled by one of the three Rams guarding him and the clock would have run out.

I did think that Kaepernick did a credible job in the 4th quarter except for the two horrendous fumbles he had that were covered by his teammates.

 

[TobyTyler]

How do you know no adjustments were made during the game? Because he had a nice day? Did you see the same type of coverage(s) over and over or similar techniques used over and over again? If so, explain what you saw for me. I didn't get to see the game start to finish.

Because I watched the game and had my eye particularly on Amendola the entire game. He was always covered alone by Rogers. Even the laymen in the crowd watching where I watched it continually kept commenting on "that #16 guy" and wondering why they didn't take him away. If the Rams, with inferior personnel on defense can take away Vernon Davis while pretty much shutting down the rest of the 49er receivers even with Jenkins being benched, then the 49ers certainly should have been able to limit Amendola. It was almost like they completely were unaware of how good this guy is.

 

[clyde_carbon]

The real Harbaugh? You mean the best HC in the NFL?

 

[USCDoom]

The real Harbaugh? You mean the best HC in the NFL?

LMAO!! I guess you cant please all the people all the time.

 

[clyde_carbon]

LMAO!! I guess you cant please all the people all the time.

I'm not taking any coach over Harbaugh today, sorry.