Here are my grades for the 49ers preseason game against the Denver Broncos.
QUARTERBACKS: B. Alex Smith and the first-team offense was 1-for-4 on third down and 0-for-1 in the red zone (Peyton Manning was 2-3 on third down and 2-2 in the red zone). Smith did complete 5 of 7 passes, including a deep TD to Vernon Davis. Smith also had one fumbled snap, one delay-of-game penalty and two timeouts before the play clock hit zero. Colin Kaepernick completed all four of the passes he attempted. He did not convert any third downs or throw any touchdowns.
OFFENSIVE LINE: B-. Joe Staley gave up one sack to Elvis Dumervil, and Mike Iupati got flagged for a false start.
RUNNING BACKS: B. Frank Gore carried the ball twice, once for a 1-yard gain and once for a 5-yard loss. Kendall Hunter had an 11-yard run, but Anthony Dixon was the running back of the day. He rushed 13 times for 58 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown run. Now he has a good shot to make the team, and if he happens to get cut he’ll surely get picked up by another team.
WIDE RECEIVERS: C+. Michael Crabtree caught Alex Smith’s only third down conversion – a four-yard gain on third-and-1. Randy Moss was targeted one time on a deep pass but he was triple-covered and Smith overthrew him. Kyle Williams had the best day of the Niners receivers, turning a short catch into a 45-yard gain. Ted Ginn Jr. appeared to hurt his right ankle on an end around. A.J. Jenkins caught one and dropped another.
TIGHT ENDS: B+. Vernon Davis ran away from the defense and got himself wide open on his long TD catch. That was a terrific effort. Konrad Reuland caught a 16-yard pass from Colin Kaepernick.
DEFENSIVE LINE: B. They didn’t get pressure on the Broncos’ QBs, but they did limit Denver’s running backs to 3.2 yards per carry.
LINEBACKERS: C. Larry Grant started in place of NaVarro Bowman and recorded 9 tackles, but he also missed a couple and got beat on a deep pass to a running back. Patrick Willis got juked on a long run by Willis McGahee. Aldon Smith didn’t play, and as a result the Niners got almost zero pass rush. It’s obvious he’s one of the most valuable players on the team.
SECONDARY: D. Peyton Manning made this group look bad. Carlos Rogers gave up a 16-yard completion and a touchdown to Eric Decker. Dashon Goldson failed to cover the back of the end zone on Manning’s second touchdown pass to Decker, and Tramaine Brock got beat all afternoon. Perrish Cox did intercept a bad pass, but he gave up a few completions, too.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A. David Akers made all five of his field goal attempts.
COACHING: D. Jim Harbaugh seemed to play for the win after his starters gave up a 14-point deficit by halftime – that’s the only way I can understand Akers attempting five field goals in a preseason game. At one point, Harbaugh decided to make Akers kick a very short field goal rather than let the offense try to convert a fourth-and-goal from the 3 yard line. That was a great opportunity to let the offense go for it and gain some confidence in their weakest area – the red zone.
The Niners are now three games into the preseason and they’ve shown no improvement in the red zone or on third down. It’s possible Harbaugh is saving all his Year 2 tricks for the regular season, but so far this preseason the offense looks the same as last year, and the defense looks worse.
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Grant – you need two different grades, one for the starters and another for the backups/scrubs.
That will be more revealing.
The starting secondary, the backup secondary, the entire secondary got beat by first team, second team, and like many like to point out, players who aren’t even going to make the team. The secondary is suspect.
Goldson is very poor at covering and is why the team didn’t give him the money he wanted. No other team showed any interest in Goldson either.
Rogers is much the same. Each game he’s given up at least one big play. He got beat by a backup QB.
This season we are going to be facing passing architechs. This defense succeeded last year because the majority of the teams they faced had weak passing attacks and great run offenses. I did say majority before NO, DET, Dallas, get thrown up. This season, it’s just the opposite. AZ beat the team by passing against them. Not running.
That’s why the preseason has shown the defense to be much worse. All the teams in the preseason are trying to pass. Every QB in the preseason has succeeded at that. Passing. This is going to be a long season if they don’t address the issue. Game planning doesn’t dictate a blown coverage.
1 for 4 on third down, but 5 for 7 for the game?
1 for 4 on 3rd down conversions. runs, sacks, etc
My poor reading comprehension. Didn’t see it was AS and the 1st team offense included in that stat, thanks 707.
Grant, your right on how the team looks off the same def worse
Pretty Nanilla except that pass to Vernon. Not much to look at accept they appeared to not want to expose Kendall Hunter to injury, For whatever reason he may not start but by Mid-season I feel he will be the franchise or top back. Hope they are practicing the long ball because we are not in sync. Aldon Smith may be even more key then Justin Smith this year for success. Kind of scary how far behind we were early, Peyton looked good but will be intersting how he does with consistant pass rush. That one hit by parris really jerked his neck but he got right back up.
Grant was also beaten on the long pass down the right sideline in man coverage on the RB.
No I wasn’t :)
Before all of the name calling starts, just gotta say that Colin looks to be on track for the QB slot. Sorta gave up on that idea last year, but he’s coming along and even excusing the weak OL, Smith looked stiff. just seems like the whole team is flat day in and day out…
IP,
Gotta love CK avoiding the unblocked blitzer and throwing a dart while escaping to his left.
Kaeper was the best Qb we had today.
Agree. The team looked flat generally. I wonder how much of that has to do with the missing parts not playing or plays not being run. Has a pass been thrown towards Manningham in the first three pre-season games?
Meanwhile, I agree about Kaepernick. When he’s in there he looks great.
Manningham didn’t play in this game. Pretty sure he didn’t play against Minnesota, either. Maybe getting his old #82 will help during the season.
Good assessment Grant. But the grades on offense are eerily close to many from last season. The defense was embarrassed by PM.
AES, you are being too critical of the defense. Do you believe PM plays as well with AldSmith, NBowman, TBrown, and Culiver (playing nickle package)? They didn’t blitz him at all. I would have loved to see PM play when the defense could still hit the QB.
No I don’t Hofe, but I’m voting or making my comments on face value. We had enough good players on the field and PM looked like the PM of old. Did you hear Justin Smith’ name mentioned?
P.Willis was undressed on one juke. Rodgers was burned and too many missed and broken tackles seem to be the norm over the last two games. Did Whitner play? DG put in insignificant time.
I guess it’s much to early for alarm, but some of the mental and technical errors concern me.
I have heard a lot of people talk about vanilla defense and missing some key players. My concern is we never blitzed all that much last year and this game showed the ineffectiveness of our dline to cause any type of rush.
I know we were missing Aldon but Smith, MacDonald and Sopaga didn’t create any trouble for Manning and gave up some big runs up the middle.
The other concern is the secondary. My main man TBrock will be cut. Rodgers was getting turned around and I guarantee the Packers will go after him inside.
Let’s hope the defense gets healthy and ready to go for Sept. 9
As for the offense, looks the game plan is to grind it out on the ground til the 4th Q. It’s ugly and boring at times but I hope JH and Roman have a spark of imagination moving forward.
Otherwise it’s preseaon, never expected to see much and Harbaugh delivered as much.
Culliver, Bowman and Aldon Smith were really missed, but they are not game planning for Manning so I am not worried. Our offense cannot convert third downs with Alex Smith is what worries me.
True, Coach Harbaugh mentioned early on in the week though journalists that he was not going to buy into the dress rehearsal hype and it showed. I agree in his philosophy, evaluate your players and coach them up.
Remember preseason doesn’t count.
Doc
who was he evaluating when he decided to kick a field goal from the three yard line, his pro bowl kicker?
@ DOC if preseason doesn’t count, why kick the field goal in the redzone instead of trying to go for it? Grant nailed it on the head. HB didn’t want an embarassing loss at Denver and he played to win a “meaningless” game.
Maybe he was trying to avoid injuries…
If they had lost,those very same stats would have been “D’s”. Primarily the offense. 5 fg? why?
Alex Smith needs to get better on third downs or we will want Kaepernick or Tolzien in his place. Brock played really bad. As far as Aldon Smith being an MVP, I agree but not having Bowman blitzing up the middle also made things easy for Manning.
Insetead of making a general statment like that, what exactly did AS not do on every non-converted 3rd down that you would have liked?
I want the OFFENSE to improve on 3rd down. Kevin Lynch on SFGATE a few days back wrote an article that the Niners 3rd and short offense (3rd and 2 and less) was the worst in the NFL last year. Those are generally seen as RB plays.
It wasn’t just AS. It was everybody. And nobody was good. They were all = poor.
I agree with you DS. I’d like the team to step up on earlier downs. Let’s improve 3rd downs by getting more production on 1st and 2nd downs.
correction DS. 3rd & short or 3rd & long – doesn’t matter. ALL 3rd downs are seen as running plays when Alex Smith is your QB.
houston
Funny. Because I saw AS convet a 3rd and 2 (or 3) yesterday on a completion to MC on the move as a DL came in hitting him.
Guess your version of “all 3rd downs” doesn’t include what just happened. And if JH thought as you do, AS isn’t the Niners QB. And we don’t go to the title game last year.
Guess who I’m agreeing with. JH vs.random fan on a blog. I’ll take JH thank you.
wow. Smith got one conversion. awesome. I think that put him at about one for the game and the same conversion % as last year which would put him as the worst QB in the entire league at converting 3rd downs. That’s awesome for Smith and I guess you. And if Harbaugh had his way, Smith wouldn’t be the 9ers QB. Peyton Manning would be the QB.
Again houston
Please show me actual evidence. Stop putting JH’s name in place of yours while posting. You look foolish it.
You think AS sucks. You wanted PM over AS. You think the TD pass was HORRIBLE. You think AS never converts 3rd and short. That is what your 8:46 post says. Since all 3rd and short are running plays, that must mean AS can’t convert them, right? Well, when proven wrong, you act like you weren’t.
Maybe. Just maybe. You don’t know all that you think you know. I’m guessing with you as our HC last year, we go 0-16. But hey. We get Andrew Luk. That is what you wanted anyway. JH’s word has a lot more influence than yours houston. Deal with it. And stop putting in JH’s name all the time for how you are feeling about a player.
PS TB is the one who decides personnel/draft/FA’s. That is his job. It is JH’s job to take that personnel and win. If anybody went after PM it was TB. Not JH. Simple enough for ya?
My Grades!
Injury Front – A. A couple of bumps and bruises but nothing major at least to starters.
Did we give something to the Packers to look at? A+. Pretty vanilla offense and defense. No game planning for the Broncos so we just got to work on things as it may relate to the regular season.
Did we give Peyton good work to prepare for the season. A . Not really, a good QB should be able to do that against a base vanilla D.
Final thoughts: Denver had pretty much a sold out stadium. They treated it like a real game. They played well. Harbaugh knows that the real work comes on the practice field. Not a bad outing for spending the practice week preparing for the Packers! And Grant, I imagine AS was charged with that fumble but c’mon man! That snap never got off the ground and you’re acting like it was all Alex’s fault.
Go Niners! Beat Packers!
I agree good analogy.
Doc
@montana
I believe the QB is always charged for the fumble. And you make some very clever points in terms of how the Broncos seemed to approach the game.
But the missed tackles are something that is concerning no matter the game plan. If a guy is there in front of you, you need to take him down. No defensive scheme in the world makes up for missed tackles.
Montana,
The first replay of the fumble showed the ball hitting Smith’s hands pretty clearly. Might have been a miscommunication.
How about the ball landing perfectly in to FG lap on that fumble only to inexplicably fly out of there when he tried to fall on it
Montana Man-
In alot of ways you are right…but us fans should be guarded in alot of ways…the 49ers may not have legitamately prepared for this game as they would in the regular season…but I can guarentee you coach fangio is not too impressed with the effort of our first unit on defense…missed tackles, poor coverage etc…we are going to have to deal with injuries at some point this year so those substitutes that you mentioned MUST step up(grant, brock, spillman, etc)…the thing that scares me the most about this upcoming season is this russel wilson…we may have our hands full with this guy…maybe you are right, we should not be alarmed…but I’ve found alot of truths over the years from the “third” preseason game that carry over into the season…just my thoughts
@bryyoung97 (great name by the way)
Not to burst your theory, but last year, in the third pre-season game we lost to Houston. Final score
Niners 7
Houston 30
And then we looked like the best defensive team of the year.
I would have thought that there should have been more of a correlation with the D line to the performance of the D secondary. My opinion the D line grades might be a bit inflated.
My logic in this game and preseason games to come is that the Offense and Defense are only going to deploy basic formations and structure as Coach Harbaugh is not the type to tip his hand in preseason. Furthermore, the coaching staff is instructing players to play conservatively to avoid injury therefore we are seeing a 3/4 speed game or 90 % vs 100 in first team players.
Look out September 9th, I see a 49er team that will hit all cylinders come opening day and an organization that will pick up where they left off only with more talent.
Just my thoughts.
Doc
Doc,
not trying to start an argument here buddy but these guys, in a game setting such as tonight, are not playing 90% to avoid injury…I guarentee you that…when you play not to get injured thats how you get injured…but, you may be right…hopefully you are right, I want to see a crisp unit on september 9th, we are going to have to bring it this year…its definately going to be harder than last year
I agree, Grant.. That same sense of constipation with the offense, but no stellar D to make up for it. Both the Texans and the Broncos brought some serious high intensity D that the SF offense definitely didn’t match. The whole effort was sluggish.
This team is going 1-15 this season.
No, I think Denver will go 10-6
Denver’s schedule is tougher than Sf’s. I don’t see them going 10-6 though I agree they are a great team. PIT, ATL, and HOU are their first three games. They get a week off against OAK before playing NE SD and NO.
Ha, good one Nick.
Pay the refs, the fans deserve better. Fans and Football deserves better. Pay the damn guys and lets get this year going. Insignifigant money for a billionaire enterprise.
Amen brother. The NFL can not go into the regular season with these guys. The officiating has been brutal.
Totally agree, guys. The owners are too tight to pay out the equivalent of nickels and dimes to the refs, when they’re running a multi-billion dollar enterprise? C’mon, man! Can you think of a better way to kill the goose that lays golden eggs every Sunday?
and can we officially mark today as the beginning of the 2012 “quarterback controversy”?
God DAMN, I sure hope so.
you can go right ahead. but nobody is going to listen to you
Grant
It will take time for the Niners coaching staff to learn how to use what they have. I made an analogy to Prime earlier. The Niners got all these new toys over the offseason. And it feels like Christmas.
Well, the parents (JH) have to assemble the toys first before you can really have it. By the time the playoffs come around, I expect most of our toys to be fully assembled. Have some patience.
DS,
I think that the coaching staff already has plays/plan for their newest editions (weapons), but why display them in preseason and show your hand for your opponents to know strategies.
I for one look to a strong 49er showing September 9th game in GB at full speed deploying all plays that exploit their opponents.
Doc
If the new toys are for Christmas it will be way to late to make the Playoffs. Clearly if your making that comparsion, Alex Smith must be the booby prize.
Neal
You still have last years toys to play with in the meantime you know.
Dont worry DS, Neal knows all about toys, he plays with his blow up doll every night!
Get lost you sick pervert.
Primate, your one living in your Mommy basement, with all of your clowns and sex toys, and just recently saw you on to Catch a Predator, with Chris Hanson. He said your screen name is Prime Perv. The good news is that you will be leaving your Mommy’s basement, the bad news your going to Prision, you are a very sick man.
I own Hack Jammer & his little side kick Neal Fitzperv!
Hey Neal, leave it alone. That thing will just drag you down.
Well when you go to prision Bubba will be taking care of you Prime Perv. You own nothing loser living in your Mother’s basement.
Ok Jack will take your advice, I think we got him pretty good, DS she is just Prime Perv tool. I’m out. !!
Neal, your Daddy told you to leave it alone, you should listen to your Daddy, is Hack Jammer your Daddy?
Neal,
It’s not about getting anybody. Just don’t get dragged down into that kind of crud.
And BTW Neal, you are right that would be too late. Just focus on Sept 9. That is when we should finally see the new toys start to produce.
Well said Jack, Neal can’t go any lower, he is bottom feeder and you are at the top, in fact, the almighty on the blog since arriving and from afar. Remember, you have been in here a long time, just watching and reading and not commenting, saving it right? Just timing it right to jump in and become “Jack Hammer, the know it all of the blog”. What a joke!
How old are you Prime Slime? Still living with your Mommy, you know eventually you can’t be living with her forever, you free loader.
just because we have new “toys” doesn’t mean we’ve significantly improved the WR corps. we’ll have to wait and see how good Randy is. as far as manningham, he is probably a decent upgrade right now, but he isn’t going to scare any defenses out there. we didn’t get any significant pro-bowl type players. not that we needed to, but adding quantity does not constitute quality. what matters most is adding quality to a position when you’re trying to improve on what your starters did previously. at this point it seems like we’ve really just added depth, with no single acquisition jumping out at you as a significant upgrade in terms of talent. again, we’ll have to wait and see whether Moss is that talent upgrade or his season turns out like Braylon’s.
that said, it is not an excuse for the QB position either. i think both the starting WRs and QB need to get much better, or replaced with better talent.
I like how you’re laying the groundwork for more excuses for Alex.
Won’t work.
Sorry to disagree with some of the stats posted here, but Niners were 4 of 12 on 3rd downs today while the Broncos were 8 of 15. Niners were 0-3 in the Red Zone while Broncos were 3-3. JH must be keeping his new 3rd down offense and Red Zone attack under wraps because what we have seen thus far this practice season games looks very familiar to that of the near bottom ranked categories last year.
The Smithers will never respond well to the truth. They just make excuses.
Then moap in your self pity all year long like you did last year.
I don’t care at all. I’ll enjoy my team winning, while you find reasons to be upset with winning.
Grant – What grade do the Bronco cheerleaders get?
A+ from me.
Crab15
Which team doesn’t get that grade from you, you horny dog you?
:- )
DS – There might be a B+ out there, I’ll be sneaking a few peeks during the road games.
DS – I’m considering creating a new reality tv channel.
NBC24 (Nothin But Cheerleaders 24 hours a day)!
Damn, that actually might work!
I better protect that idea quick.
Crab
I’m sure you’ll dedicate yourself to fully examine all samples. Don’t want to neglect none now. lol
Prime
Not a shabby idea.
Sorry crab.
I thought it was Prime who mentioned the cheerleading TV thing. Was on a mobile earlier, things don’t always look right on it.
LOL, that funny.
Doc
agree with your assessment, Grant.
as a separate comment, watching Hard Knocks is a good reminder that every team treats *every play* of the preseason as an important measuring stick for their players. i’m sure Harbaugh/Roman et al obsessed about the plays beforehand and will obsess about reviewing the film. while our coaches may be keeping some of our playbook a secret, for fans to think that our guys are coasting and that they’re going to be on a completely different plane when the season starts is naive. these are big/fast/strong/mean competitive athletes, and they dont want to get pushed around – they want to do the pushing, and the passing and catching.
it would be great if we tuned in on 9/9 and our passing game looked like it did in 1984 or 1989, but at this point it looks like its going to look quite a bit like 2011. Alex is not going to morph into Peyton Manning. That’s why Harbaugh went after Peyton Manning. our D needs to stay healthy.
Doc,
The only problem I have with the team playing at 3/4 speed is that the opposing team is playing at helter skelter level. This difference can actually result in a higher percentage of injuries.
The poor tackling seems more a case of lack of effort because I know these guys can do much better. This is something Harbaugh will need to address because this carried over from the last game. So far, we have not suffered any major injuries so all is good.
Terrell Owens gets cut. Braylon Edwards playing very good.
http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-08-26/terrell-ownes-cut-seattle-seahawks-pete-carroll-cincinnati-bengals-dallas-cowboy
So much for Jackson and Flynn, The Hawks will be starting a rookie for week one. http://espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp12/story/_/id/8305648/seattle-seahawks-tab-rookie-russell-wilson-week-1-starter
Wilson’s gonna be good. Seattle could be a playoff team.
I am not surprised Flynn is not starting in Seattle. I mentioned them as one of the 16 teams Tolzien could start for. I think Wilson is amazing, but I also think that if he doesn’t succeed this is Pete Carrol’s last year in Seattle.
Oh crap, Bad news Ted Ginn has a ankle sprain and might not start in week one. Kyle Williams might be returning punts. The nightmare begins.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-san-francisco-niners/niners-talk/Williams-could-open-season-as-49ers-punt?blockID=763391&feedID=2800
I’m gonna start calling that guy Elijah Price.
Better the first game of the season than the last.
I’m fine with Williams returning punts. He has a lot more practice, experience, and dedication now. His teamates and coaches aren’t giving him a hard time, just fans who don’t know diddily.
Well, I never met Bo Diddly, but I’ve known since 6th grade not to dive or lunge to catch a punt; if you can’t get your butt under the ball, move away from it. I’m not mad at Kyle, but he made another error in judgement on one of those yesterday. He needs to make better decisions.
@brotha:
I haven’t watched the full the game yet, but it sounds like Williams has not learned from his mistakes. If not, then that is cause for concern.
@ Claude
Kyle looked good as a receiver, and did fine on a couple of other returns, no complaints. The one I mentioned, he made the catch, but it was like his one in the PO vs NYG where he came flying up to make a difficult catch.
Did’nt CK miss 2 deep throws when he came in ?
Yes. He did. Though his misses weren’t as bad as JJ’s one miss.
Every QB on the Niners roster overthrew someone today. Its JH’s way of telling his QB’s, put it where only our guys can get.
BS,
An overthrow is an overthrow stupid.
Welcher
Go welch on another bet some place else and forget about this website. We’ll forget you.
You are the original one who puts the “S” in BS.
Kaepernick was 4-4 today for 80 yards.
Jordan,
Double standard? Haven’t you judged Smith’s overthrows on a scale of how badly they were overthrown, in the past; not simply based on being overthrown? Now that it’s your boy Johnson on the hot seat, an overthrow is an overthrow. I get it.
exgolfer
You surprised?
DS,
Are you serious?
Philly,
CK missed on one that was negated by a defensive offside, and the other resulted in a long PI call. Not too shabby.
Jack thanks for clearing that up for me I was busy at the time and couldn’t hear the game just saw the throws.
Yes, the sky is falling again and it’s probably Alex’s fault as usual or maybe it’s just the approach Harbaugh and staff take for preseason games.
example: this quote from safety Donte Whitner, “We didn’t really game plan for this. You can really tell that they game planned for us.”
Game planning is why Rogers got turned around like he was square dancing tonight huh? Game planning is the reason Goldson gave up 2 TDs like they were demo cds. Game planning had nothing to do with how bad this secondary is in pass coverage. Denver just chose to expose that weakness.
Chris
Kevin Lynch said that CR is a big film buff. And a big reason why he is good on Sunday is because he studies the film of the opponent and knows the routes pre-snap.
He didn’t study much this week. No worry there.
I agree Chris. Whenever Manning was in shotgun formation he had all day and worked the inside slot receiver perfectly. Rodgers took bad angles and looked like a rookie getting completely turned around twice. You never turn your back to the ball when playing the slot, that’s Covering 101.
As far as Goldson, he has yet to make an appearance in coverage or tackling this preseaon. Maybe Vic is having the safeties play a lot of cover two and just hanging back playing soft. Who know but the pass rush and coverage from the starters looked off today, in fact all preseason.
DS study much, he didn’t study at all. Between him and Brock, they got it handed to them by Stokley and Decker.
Teams will put their QB’s in the shotgun and attack with a short to intermediate passing game this season. I was surprised more teams didn’t do it last year. I look forward to seeing the offenses improvement when they really game plan, week one will be a great test.
Prime
I think that is what Kevin was getting at.
And I read that DW said that it was clear the Broncos and PM game planned for the Niners. And DW flat out said we didn’t gameplan for PM/Broncos.
I’m with Chris; game planning will affect the outcome of the game, but I don’t think we can blame no game plan for bad blocking, poor tackling, and weak pass coverage.
Color me “concerned”.
And while I’m at it, I’d say Grant’s definitely playing to the crowd with those grades. ZERO, nada, zilch pass rush, and that rates a B for the D line? Two catches for the TEs, and that’s a B+? And the O line earned a B-? With minimal protection in passes, and almost no run threat?
Maybe we ought to stop and remember that a C means “average”. No way, no how was this effort up to that level, by anyone on the team. I’d agree with Grant’s eval of the D backfield (sadly) and the coaching. I understand that we know little, if anything, about what Coach Harbaugh’s looking for out there during these games…but more field goals CAN’T be it…can it?
So far the offense has been almost a carbon copy of the team from last preseason. The defense “appears” worse I think mostly because our expectations of them are outrageous.
I had many dire thoughts to begin last year and yet Jimmy was able to get the boys to play like champs. He doesn’t get a free pass but at this point he at least earned my benefit of the doubt when it comes to how our preseason performance translates to regular season wins.
That’s the thin thread of hope I’m hanging on to, too, Coffee. It tastes pretty bad right now, but as you say, benefit of the doubt to our coaches. Pretty hard to really doubt them after last year!
Grant,
Harbaugh let Akers kick field goals not because he wanted to win it, but probably because he wanted the special team to get some field goal practice against an opponent that was not the Niners. What would you have him do? Punt? Certainly he’s not going to do something stupid like send in a play for fourth and long in a preseason game.
Clearly Niners did not game plan while the Broncos’ offense did some of it. Nobody really cares, except for some fans. The important thing was that no one got hurt. DeCastro with the Steelers wasn’t that lucky.
Smith’s preseason stats:
13 of 19 for 134 yards,
68.4 completion percentage,
2 touchdowns,
no interceptions,
three sacks,
123.6 passer rating.
Not too bad for about 1 game worth of work.
134 yards? Are you kidding, Jack? We’d never hear the end of it.
The TD pass in week 1 to Swain was really encouraging, Smith had difficulty with that throw last year. All of the QB’s have shown improvement, which is good news. CK solidified himself as the #2 and continues to improve.
Wassup BigP? GB game is almost here! What Niner jersey you wearing on game day bro? #15? :-)
I’m not worried about our defense, too risky to go balls out in these scrimmages.
Our pass rush is clearly not good enough without Aldon in there, that’s for sure.
Big P, Smith’s TD pass to Swain was a HORRIBLE throw. He threw a line drive that will be normally be intercepted in the NFL. That pass is supposed to be thrown with loft over the DB so he has no shot at it. If the DB actually turns around it’s intercepted. Harbaugh was miked up for that game. When Smith came to the sideline, Harbaugh didn’t congratulate Smith like he did other players. Harbaugh said, “Kind of came out flat, huh.” That pass was a terrible pass for an NFL qb.
Yep.
Total agreement with you there houston. It was such a horrible throw the WR actually caught it.
Maybe AS needs to throw a lot more HORRIBLE throws then.
Houston,
It wasn’t the best throw that could’ve been made on that play, but given the defensive back was spun around like a top – something Smith could see- that pass was adequate. It did result in a TD after all.
That is nice and all.
But you can’t put a bunch of small sample sizes together over a period of time with so many variables not being acconted for (not playing the whole game, not game planning, not going against all the other teams #1′s, etc) for it to mean much.
The only thing you may get from this is that AS was careful with the ball and didn’t throw Ints, and that is always good. Good because it shows good decisoin making. The TD’s, in a preseason game tell me less. But good decision making is good against any style defense and game planning.
Culliver was missed today. I think he would have fared well against a big bodied receiver like Decker.
Some of these plays would not happened if Bowman was in the starting lineup. (i.e. pass to RB Ball and some of the long runs)
Every time I hear Brocks’ name is when he get beat. Starting from when he subbed in for injured CB Brown in the championship. Even in the preseason he seems to give up a lot of deep plays and QBs are picking on him. I’d rather have Dixon on the roster then Brock at this point.
All ESPN ever talks about are the Broncos and the Jets!! so tired of both…..They make PM seem like he’s fully recovered and fine tuned because he bea our defense. They make it seem like he played against the VAUNTED #1 D !!!! bottom line is, we don’t know what we have for this year yet and that D was missing keys parts, AS, BOWMAN, and Culliver. That’s 1/4 of our D.
I think JH wanted to see what the team had this weak in regards to back ups. Essentially separating 2nd and 3rd stringers. Next week will be about confirming them and squeezing out the last bit of juice needed for the season. You have to remember we’re really deep this year, at least that’s what most people think. I don’t see it so much on the defensive side, CB’s LB’s and our pass rushers.
Don’t be surprised if we cut someone unexpected and add from another team.
@Big Niner
My list of unexpected cuts (not likely,but still, it’s a blog. What do you want?)
1. Delanie Walker – This is his last year of his contract I believe, and last year we all spoke about how DW and VD together were going to give teams match up problems. Well, they didn’t. DW can make some very nice plays, then follows them up by vanishing. With this teams recent pick up of WR’s, we seem to be more focused on that side of things than we are about being TE deep. I was surprised we picked up a WR in round 1 (I thought a lot of mid round picks hoping one would stick). If we are really TE heavy pass offense, why didn’t we pick up Fleener? I haven’t heard anything about extending DW’s conract (getting a new one) this whole offseason. And generally, teams try to negotiate with players they know for certain they want to keep before the last year of the contract is up. And we keep having non-TE’s in the game at various points. Why not use DW? If he is a threat in the passing game, you can keep him in with VD and the defense will still have to consider pass a lot more than they do with Dobbs in as a TE.
2. Leonard Davis – He was supposed to compete with Boone at RG. If he has, it hasn’t been very long or good. He had a real shot at being the starter with Alex Boone who has never been a starter as his only competition. And he hasn’t unseated him even though he has all this experience.
There are the usual suspects (A. Dixon/Cartwright), but I wanted to come up with some new names.
I realize you are just throwing out ideas DS, but neither of these guys is in danger of being cut. There is no one to replace what Walker does. He hasn’t played because he’s been nursing an injury.
Davis is the only experienced Olineman they have as a backup and they are using him in jumbo packages so he’s not going anywhere either.
If you want to bring out a name that could be a surprise cut, I’d start with Ginn. Yet another injury on a harmless play and I’m not sure the Coaching staff wants to go through another year of will he or won’t he with Ginn. Not saying he will be cut, but if there’s a vet we expected to make it that could be in peril, it’s Ginn imo.
I’d be thrilled if Brian Tyms could make the practice squad, this guy is big (6-3), fast, strong & very athletic. Reminds me physically of T.O., when he was a rookie. I remember John Madden speaking highly about T.O. during T.O.’s first preseason.
Tyms just hasn’t played much football but he’s got freakish talent! I’d hate to see Tyms starting for someone else down the road.
Rocket, you right about Teddy Ginn. The Niners want stability there, a guy that is comfortable there and a guy who feels comfortable back there. If they have faith in Williams then great, if not, get on the horn and bring a verteran guy back there that can get it done.
If Hunter, LMJ or Culliver can do it, they better be getting plenty of reps cause as we have seen, it can make or break a chance at a superbowl.
No pass rush —rogers will pick us apart.Why do we always get cowboy announcers or niner haters on t.v.—call a time out and get a delay of game penalty WHAT? Three plays running up the middle for a touchdown brilliant. Our only hope is to win are division –make the playoffs and be hot.Alex still seems to panic on 3rd downs—no intenseity on defense lets go 49ers —get it together
@ dr. dave … The ‘panic’ you see from Alex will disappear when the pass protection improves, especially on those 3rd downs. This O-line doesn’t do a great job in pass protection on 3rd downs or run blocking either. As Kevin Lynch wrote, and it’s not a great surprise, the Niners were #32 last year in running for a 1st down on 3rd and short(2yds or less). They’re the real key to the offense’s success this year.
dr. dave,
Aikman was very complimentary of the 9ers and even compared Smith’s role to his own with the Cowboys. Buck said the Niners are his pick to take the next step this year. What exactly is Niner hating about any of this?
I also didn’t see any panic on 3rd down, so either we watched different games or we saw things very differently.
Liked what I saw from CK. He scrambled but still looked long and completed a pass downfield. I liked that they took a couple of shots downfield. Even though the O was pretty vanila I liked the fly sweep to AJJ that kid can fly. Gameplan or not our secondary looked lost. Even on a 3rd down that was incomplete CR grabbed stokely and could have been called for pi. DW has allways been better vs the run and DG takes too many poor angles to the ball and for all his “balhawking” id just rather see solid if unspectacular play.
The replacement refs Holy S#!@ O Fumble advanced forward FG is good no wait penalty 1st and goal no wait changed my mind no penalty just kick the FG again. Lets hope this gets sorted out before Sept 9 or the degenerates in Vegas will have a fit.
So what single play can we obsess about for the next week and 500 posts?
Well Rib glad u asked
There was that one play where AS tried to buy time and then decided to run and got tackled from behind by dumervil. Lets break out the zapruder film and see if there wasnt a streaking WR somwhere in the stadium
If there are none, we can blame AS for not throwing it to a streaking drunk fellow from Section B.
We gottta blame AS somehow. Anywhere. It MUST be his fault. We can’t just come to the general consensus that the whole first team offense didn’t look as good as we would have hoped them to look. Nope. Must be somebody’s fault. And by somebody, of course I mean AS.
DS
That streaking drunk had a good 2 steps on the security guys
Bos49er
Did they happen to play for us?
lol
Yeah, but there was another guard over the top. He was covered.
DS, can we get Grant to ask AS if not throwing to the drunk in the stands was the correct read?
Rib come on man everybody knows the progression goes.
1)Hot girl on the cell phone
2) Guy with the boom mike
3) then and only then the drunk in the stands
At least thats the way I was taught :)
Hey guys, don’t get too down on the guards…..Chasing the guy is one thing, but do you really want to catch up to a naked drunk man at a stadium?
There’s a good chance that Alex didn’t see any of them – not even the Hot girl on the cell phone.
Nick
You ever see AS’s wife? He shouldn’t have any prowling eyes.
A more likely scenario is that he saw the hot girl on the cell phone, but didn’t pull the trigger, and instead cheched down to the chubby side kick :)
@Nick, well done sir. well done.
Nick
Guess you haven’t.
AS didn’t “settle” for just anything.
Well, it looks like MC will be off your radar for at least another week (lol)!
@ribs 6:17 am. comment.
AES
A moment that made me smile. 9yrd completion to MC and Aikman says ” he almost broke a tackle and made something out of that”
Kind of sums up his career with us so far. close but no cigar
I don’t know, that TD pass to Vernon…. I’ll have to review the coach’s film, but I’m pretty sure I saw Moss coming open deep – AS obviously missed him. Why do we have him here if we aren’t going to use him!!!
@ribico:
Actually, I am shocked that the fumbled snap hasn’t been dissected ad nauseum.
Claude….
way to go. I was hoping that would not come up and get 500 posts.
Nice article from M.Maiocco in an interview with new Fox NFL Analysis Mike Martz.
Martz shares some insights on Alex Smith past and present.
Very good read.
BIG FAT gorilla/elephant/whatever in the room…. it has been here since the end or last season. DEPTH at OLB. This is why Harbs drafted two, but both I believe are hurt.
The Smith/Smith pass rush including their stunts where Aldon loops around was stoned on key moments in the Giants playoff game. I think we need depth pass rush at these positions: OLB and DE. I would trade a running back and QB and WR to get it. Our D will struggle if we don’t get a rush and the offense I doubt will put up the numbers. Why not get rid of one of these stacked positions.
Further, I’d like to see Dobbs in exclusively at D line for the last preseason.
Yep our depth at OLB is the one thing that everyone is aware of but that no one wants to talk about… or not.
I was hoping to see the first unit longer out there yesterday. I have seen nothing different in the play calling or qb, or recievers this pre season. Steve marriuci and his knapp are starting to creep back in my head. 13-3 first season and then we found out that was the best they would be. Our coaches have to get more creative this season. I know it’s pre season but the creativity isn’t showing. Not even a tiny sample.
So I’m going to take some comments back a little. This season isn’t only on smiths shoulders its on our OC’s and harbaughs too. I didn’t want to think after last season they had to improve also. But the 3rd down and RZ execution and play calling is atrocious. And I’m not buying they aren’t trying to show their cards…. If I remember correctly JH playbook was so big and full of plays it would take them 2-3 years to learn. And I’ve seen ZERO plays that were new. The play that pisses me off more than any is when we have a 3rd and 13 and smith throws a 3 yard pass. Not even an attempt to pick up a first down. Now if he only threw 5 ints last season why isn’t the coaching staff calling for deeper routes on these situations? Or is it smiths fault? Not even an attempt? Smh! We have the best punter in the game and defenses. I want to know who’s responsible for it. And right now I’m leaning towards coaching.
I’ve watched these three qb’s this weekend. RG3, Luck, newton. And the first thing I saw with these guys was their pocket presence and field vision. I seen them look db’s off scan the field, take shots, and not throw right away to the hot read. I saw zero from our qb in this sense. It’s this simple until Mr Smith decides to stay in the pocket with pressure coming he will not improve from last season. He still plays scared and timid. His accuracy looks to be a little better. I haven’t seen much from gore either. I know he’s barely played and I hope he stays healthy. Because I have a feeling he is going to get most of the work again. Bottom line is I hope to god we didn’t see the best of the offense last season. Signed- concern fan that doesn’t want to wear a bears jersey. ;-)
Ps my fathead looked great on the living room wall yesterday. Told the wife I might keep it up all season. Disdained look I got. Lol
MD,
good points. We will never know the answer to your questions though. Harbaugh will always keep those things in house. We are all dying to know why we fail to look at wide receiver routes. I tend to put it on Smith because the second that Kaep comes in the looks at that route. Take Smith’s safety blanket ( VD ) away and I wonder what he would do seriously.
BTW, what fathead did you get?
Bay,
Yours, of course, you have one of the fattest heads around.
All legit concerns MD, not sure myself as to why we are not seeing more creativity on 3rd down. I am putting it on Roman and the playcalling because they are not helping themselves on 1st or 2nd down cause they are running the ball leaving a very long 3rd down conversion everytime!. My point is they are making it too easy for the defense.
Thye run the ball regardless on 1st down mostly, leaving it 2nd and 8, then another run or short pass which again leaves a challenging 3rd and long. Teams bring the house and there is no time but to check it down or take a sack. Add to the fact our offensive line is terrible at blitz pick up and you have the same cycle repeating, three and out, punt cause they never set themselves up for a more mangeable 3rd down, pisses me off, thats coaching!
The one bright spot is they stick to their formula. Even though it was the 2nd and 3rd string group, the 49er formula thoughout the game was run the ball, play good defense, kick field goals and grind it out. They stuck to that yesterday and came out with a W. They believe in this type of game plan and coach to it. It just seems they make ilfe harder on themsleves this way because they believe so much in their defense and speacial teams and are asking their offense not to mess it up.
Fdm….. I feel the same way. I was actually thinking about the 1st and 2nd down calls and why there aren’t more chunk plays. It seems that if a penalty happens we’re screwed still. Idk why they would bring in wr’s with speed if they aren’t going to use them. I know it’s pre season but I haven’t seen any play with them. You would think a pre season game would be a great time to take these shots. Because the games are meaningless. I guess we will have to see in two weeks. If we can’t shred gb’s defense we are in truoble. Still hoping its all good.
Bay… I got the 49er helmet and it comes with another sticker with the team name. Got it last Christmas and couldn’t put it up in my man cave because there is literally no room for it. To much stuff I’m like a 49er hoarder. Lol even scored another 49er neon from a friend who gave it to me. So that makes a bud light and bud one. Gotta find room for that one. Wheew!
It’s imperative for Alex Smith to develop game-speed chemistry with Randy Moss, and he hasn’t done it yet. Why?
Grant
1. RM has barely played.
2. The Niners clealy aren’t showing much of anything.
Those aren’t excuses. Game-speed chemistry needs to be developed, and it hasn’t been. Not good.
It looks like every play is designed to set up the run insted of the run setting up the pass. They force themsleves into long 3rd down conversion, excactly the way the defense wants to set it up.
I am a big fan of Roman but I dont get the playcalling whatsoever. He did the same thing last year in the regular season.
Grant. I agree with you. Perhaps it is the coaching staff that is limiting RM. You can count the number of series he has played during the preseason on one hand. Additionally, why have they run on 1st downs so often in the preseason? All vanilla?
Grant
They aren’t excuses. Those are the facts as the Niners have laid the pre-season out.
One thing is for sure, that game proved RM will still attract a crowd. So all the talk that AS needs to hit RM first before he gets that much attention is hogwash now.
They should have prioritized developing game-speed chemistry between Smith and his new receivers, but they didn’t. We’ll see how that works out.
I’m still wrapping my head around what you mean by “game-speed chemistry.” Is that different then just having chemistry with a player?
I don’t think the few pass attempts to Moss qualify to make an informed opinion as to their chemistry together. I’d like to see better angles of the long shot to Moss from yesterday to understand how he ended up with 3 defenders on him. You might suggest that the few attempts points to a lack of chemistry but given that it’s preseason there are too many unknown factors to consider before making that assumption.
Thanks for asking. Game speed is a real thing and it cannot be replicated in practice.
History and reputation alone says Moss is going deep. So whenever he is on the field defenses have shown they will put bracket coverage on him and maybe a safety over top. The gamble is leaving Vernon and Crabtree in single coverage underneath.
The problem as we seen yesterday was the offensive line not being able to hold up long enough to get it out before the safety moves over.
Thanks for the clarification. More so then before I think that there isn’t a large enough sample of plays to deduce that they do or do not in fact have ‘game-speed’ chemistry together.
You have to develop game-speed chemistry. The small sample size confirms they haven’t developed it. Maybe they’ll magically have it Week 1, but I doubt it.
What you are suggesting means they would have to open the playbook and call quite a bit more passes during these 4 exhibition games in order to try and build your ‘game-speed’ chemistry. First you have the problem of the fact that coaches don’t like to keep first stringers in preseason games for very long so your opportunities to see everyone together are low. Secondly, I’ve seen nothing that suggests that Roman or Harbuagh have any intention of giving teams anything to watch on film and what you want would require them giving DC’s plenty to look at. Third, I’m still not convinced about this ‘game-speed’ concept of yours versus just having chemistry with a player whether it’s on the practice field or game field. You play how you practice is the dogma preached by all coaches at all levels. I’ve not heard of a QB and WR being able to hook up consistently in practice and then somehow lose that chemistry when they get into the game, have you? If so please cite example.
Everyone knows game-speed can not be fully duplicated in practice. That’s a football truism.
Training camp is nothing like the games. There’s no tackling.
You may be right Grant. But if you have lots of passes between AS and RM, you are showing something. Something we have’t seen a lo/before.
As opposed to seeing something between AS and VD/MC. Everybody has seen that, so JH will call plays for those players. And sure enough that seemed to work well.
It isn’t just RM either. It is MM. He’s barely played.
JH is adamant about not showing anything, and that is his philosphy. He is consistent in it.
@FDM I was hoping the OL could handle the DL now that teams have to worry about RM. But if our OL can’t hold up with their protection, then much of what we want to do, we simply can’t. And we will be forced to repeat the same exact offense from last year. Hold VD in to block. Teams won’t have to worry about covering RM/MC/etc at all for more than 2 seconds if the OL can’t give AS more time. And anybody can cover anybody for 2 seconds or less.
I don’t agree that chemistry doesn’t carry over from the practice field simply because you cant fully simulate the tempo of an actual game.
Maybe they developed some kind of chemistry in practice (I didn’t notice much of that happening during the open practices, especially on deep passes), but it’s not enough. They need game-speed chemistry, and they’ll have to develop that in the regular season because they didn’t develop it in the preseason.
Grant,
I think you are overreacting. QB and WR chemistry doesn’t happen overnight, and especially not after one training camp and 3 preseason games. Chemistry is developed before, during and even long after practice has ended. I’m even talking about personal chemistry also; hanging out together, eating together, getting to know the little nuances of one’s personality. Case and point, the Saints game last year. Vernon Davis has the best chemistry with Smith of any offensive player and it showed in that game. After years of playing with VD, and especially the last few years, he has blossomed and it is because Smith knows exactly what VD will or will not do in terms of how he runs his routes etc.
Yes, I agree there is game speed chemistry, but before that can happen, they must develop chemistry in practice, which IMO, is more important.
MD, all good points.
My take is that they didn’t bring in MM, RM, BJac, draft AJJ and LMJ, etc to play *only* vanilla football. They will open it up this year because they will have to against stiff competition. I mentioned yesterday during the live blog and last week here that 1st and 2nd down production has to be optimized in order for 3rd down to be successful. In the first quarter yesterday, the 1st down was typically a run, with the exception of the VD touchdown. FG wasn’t getting any holes yesterday albeit he only rushed twice. We’ve yet to see the whole team on the field at the same time for more than a series or two.
Your frustration seems to be centered more around the quality of the preseason games. JH and staff doesn’t feel the need to show much beyond vanilla. I still feel that when they start game planning, the coaching staff will be more creative because they will have to be to win the games. The season is just around the corner and the chess game will commence!
Hofe – Very good post.
Like someone (DS?) said yesterday, remember how crappy we looked in preseason last year?
Things turned out ok.
30-7 Loss
Houston-Niners
Pre-season game 3. 2011
Comparing the two, we improved quite a bit, don’t you think?lol
Hof
Once again you are on target. The game yesterday reminded me of Rays offensive. You dont get those weapons and do nothing with them. In years past it was important for the Niners to show something in pre season as they sucked. This year we know the team is full of talent and we have a coach that understands what it takes to win. I realize we are playing vanilla but there were things in yesterdays game that just wasnt right. Tackling was one, penalities were another. It seemed the team lacked intensity/toughness yesterday. But all and all pretty much leaving most thoughts till after the season starts.
I think grant hit it on the nose. Game speed chemistry is what I’d like to at least get a glimpse of.
Now look at what you’ve done. Thx GC.
Under and Crab, thanks.
Patience is a virtue. We want to see all of the new bells and whistles but this is not the time. It will happen when it is needed. Good times.
Hof….Preseason games with Harbaugh are like his press conferences, he’s not going to give away a damn thing. I’m betting the fact that the Packers, at Lambeau, are the first game makes it even worse. LOL
61, that’s so true. lol
MD,
What other kind of chemistry is there? The only kind of chemistry that means anything is that in a game. So, by definition, the only type of chemistry that means anything is the game speed kind.
“Game speed chemistry” seems redundant.
Back off the ledge md, back off the ledge : )
There is a Bears jersey at stake. NO BUENO
MD, will that be your new avatar? You in a Bears jersey? jk lol
The Niners won, how come I came away with the feeling that they lost?
Under
1st quarter score maybe? DEN 17 SF 0
And if possible they looked worse than that score would indicate
Hoping that was an aberation but get the feeling that im whistling past the graveyard
@ Under
‘cuz they didn’t look good; no sugar coating it.
Yeah, Vanilla but they failed to match intensity and the D didn’t tackle well. Now you could tell that Coach Fox really got his guys up for a game that Harbaugh approached as a practice, but guess what? Everybody saw that 13-3 record and they’ll be gunning for us; the Niners better get used to having a target on their backs.
So now they’ll be some negativity and criticism (and no doubt some over-reaction), but there’s a simple way to shut up the critics: play good ball.
Because they looked a mangled wreck in the 1st Qtr (lol)!
The good news is that they did not game plan so looking out of sync made sense. The bad news is that not game planning is no excuse for woeful tackling.
Best news is that we suffered no major injuries.
Thursday’s game is a mere formality.
Let’s get the real season going!
@undercenter
It sucks because our starters didn’t finish the game. AS is better in the 4th quarter than he is in the first/second. We never see him in the 4th in the pre-season. I’m confident that we beat the Broncos if our starters played vs. their starters in a real game. Even if the Broncos get up early. Our D will shut teams down in the second half, and our offense turns it up.
The real answer is because you cant appreciate what it takes to win an NFL game even when it doesn’t matter.
Thats it Coffee, I cant appreciate, how right you must be. Geeeeeeeeeeez
I know.
coffee
So how much helium do you typically inhale to get such a big head before your morning coffee?
:- )
Look I know it’s a poopy thing to say but seriously; first it shouldn’t matter at all since it’s preseason but if it’s going to matter then technically all that matters is if it says W or L because at the end when it’s all counted up that’s all that get’s considered. So just appreciate the win, I promise you’d feel even worse if they had actually lost.
@DS
*in a squeaky voice* I don’t know what you mean…
Hey, where are all those guys on this blog who claimed Johnson was coming in to take Alex Smith’s job. He will be lucky to make the team.
Separate thought. Maybe others will follow me in e-mailing to NFL.com my complete dissatisfaction with the replacement Refs. Using these folks for the NFL is like driving a Ferrari on bicycle tires. The League won’t give a hoot about my opinion, but they will care about enough complaints.
“but they will care about enough complaints.”
No they wont. They’d care if we all stopped watching or going to the games but since you aren’t willing to do that then they will continue to do what they like and you’ll continue to watch and give them your money.
@ Coffee
I won’t argue this point further than to say the key is “enough”. Your general point is correct, but ultimately, like any other customer driven capitalist entity they can be swayed. If, for instance, the execs at ESPN had any cajones at all they’d be leading the charge on this issue and solidifying their role in sports culture; but they’re corporate weasels and they’ll just follow the League around like pilot fish nibbling the scraps
When I vote in elections I know that I’m bailing against the tide, but its all I’ve got so I WILL cast my vote. My e-mail to the NFL is the same.
I’m always the first to shoot of an indignant email(sometimes in bold red text..j/k) to a company or representative but I do so mostly to make myself feel better. What I have found to be mostly true is that if these were people willing to be swayed or moved by my email then the problem probably wouldn’t exist in the first place because they would have fixed it when it first appeared.
@coffee/brotha
Most of the time, changes happen when a minority get very passionate and push for it. See the “Tea Party” as a perfect example. Most republicans are not Tea party members. But not a single republican senator/congressman does anything without consulting with the minority tea party members first.
what has the “tea party” actually done other then usually make themselves look foolish. Not the example I would have chosen.
DS, keep politics off the blog. Your knowledge of how govt works is about as insightful as your knowledge of football. Abysmal
coffee
The tea party is on the news all the time. Whenever a head top Republican makes a decision, he consults with them first. that shows some pretty good power there. Whether you like them or not. A minority controls a majority. That seems quite a nice exmple (a minority of fans e-mailing to complain about the refs).
Houston
I’ll stay out of government while you stay out of football. Your post that AS threw a HORRIBLE pass that was caught for TD shows me you don’t know English. If something is HORRIBLE, it is really bad. Considering even good passes are not always caught (AKA drops), HORRIBLE passes are ones that are no where near the WR, and thus have no chance to be caught. That TD pass was caught.
But, to you, a TD pass is HORRIBLE. Sure. Made your point loud and clear there.Unless you think it was some sort of conspiracy. Which I wouldn’t put that past you.
“Whenever a head top Republican makes a decision, he consults with them first.”
I’m sorry but this sentence tells me everything I need to know about your view and understanding of the situation. I’m gonna just stop here.
I’ll take Jim Harbaugh’s assessment of Smith’s TD pass to Swain over yours. Harbaugh thought it was a bad pass and so do I. An NFL QB who can not properly execute a fade pass is HORRIBLE. High School QB’s routinely throw better fade passes than Alex Smith. If a high schooler threw that same pass to Swain his coach would tell him, ” you got away with one there. Next time you have to loft it over the db.”
Watch NEWSHOUR? Boehner consults with them all the time. He himself isn’t one, and that is an issue within the Repbulican party. That stupid budget issue where the government teetered on shutting down would never have happened if he and Obama sat alone to work it out. But because the Tea Party would freak out, he couldn’t negotiate.
Paul Ryan is the vice president nominee He is a bigtime tea party guy. Romney didn’ have their support. Now he does because of Ryan and Ryan’s connections to the tea party.
Seems to me that if the republican vice president nominee was chosen in large part for his tea party connections and Boehner is talking with them about Wall Street fiasco, that they have their grips in pretty tightly.
@Houston:
Wow, you’re cranky this morning. Is it because the Mike Martz interview pretty much confirmed that you didn’t know what you were talking about concerning Smith’s health in 2008?
@houston
” Harbaugh thought it was a bad pass and so do I.”
Care to share your sources for this material. I’ll give you some time to create your own webpage and for you write whatever you like. You know. Stuff that isn’t remotely true. Then share the link and act like it is legit.
And you said HORRIBLE. Not bad. So, you are on the line with HORRIBLE.
DS – I actually enjoy politics but let stick to football and cheerleaders in here. :-)
I can second Houstons contention that Harbaugh said the pass came out a little flat to Smith when he came of the field. The mics picked it up. However, to say it was a horrible throw is offbase houston. It didn’t have enough air under it but it also got where it needed to be for a TD so to call it horrible is hyperbole to the extreme.
Claude what interview are you referring to? Did Martz do another one recently?
Rocket
http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-san-francisco-niners/niners-talk/Martz-Stabilization-has-led-to-Alex-Smit?blockID=763493&feedID=5936
@rocket:
Martz spoke with Matt Maiocco/the press in Denver yesterday/this past week:
Maiocco’s report on discussion with Mike Martz
The money quote:
“Alex, when I had him, he was just not right,” Martz said. “He missed a lot of throws that he normally wouldn’t miss. I knew there was something wrong. I didn’t say anything to him. And eventually he realized it, and that’s when he had his (shoulder) surgery.”
Thanks UC and Claude. I remembered reading Martz saying something like that previously but then couldn’t find any reference of it when Houston and I were debating the subject a few months ago. Smith didn’t seem right at any point that offseason and this pretty much confirms it.
@DS
They’re all tools to the might $$$
* tools for the mighty $$$
Houston, we have a problem.
I am 100% behind you on that. We the fans deserve better from the product being put on the field. They are disputing about insignifigant money. I will join you for sure.
With all the betting goin on in Vegas i can imagine that there is a smoke filled back room at some sportsbook where Joey the face is contemplating making the NFL an offer they cant refuse to bring back the normal refs.
Just think of all the money Vegas will lose if fewer people bet because of all the ref uncertainty
@BOS
You’ve hit on it and I think that was Coffee’s point; its always about money. If enough little bits (e-mails or votes or opinion polls) add up it can (but usually doesn’t) reach a tipping point. The NFL changed the rules of the game to appease some marketing execs in the TV Networks (Cash Cow); their customers. If TV’s advertisers (networks’ customers) get worried about public opinion effecting their bottom line, the pressure works its way backward.
Coffee, I believe, thinks its Quixotic to expect the masses to force the change; in the case of Football and TV, he’s probably got history on his side. Still, I’m chipping in my mini-bit in the hopes that the scales will tip eventually.
And just generally I’d agree we’re better served avoiding specific political references on a sports blog.
brotha Tuna,
The officiating has been bad quite often, but honestly other than the replacements getting confused at times on enforcing penalties and ball placement, I haven’t seen much difference from the regular guys. The replacements are under the microscope and every negative thing they do is blown out of the water. The fact is I see the regular guys screw up multiple times each and every single week. It’s become a story because people are much more focused on it than they are when the regular guys are in there.
Don’t get wrong, I’d like to see the regular officials back, but I think the NFL wants to change the system in regards to how these guys are employed and in how they are held responsible for a poor performance. The plan is to hire more crews and some as fulltime employees to replace the crews who are making too many mistakes. Money is usually at the center of the disagreement and this case is no different, but I also think the changes the NFL wants to implement would help in the long run.
Another cogent post from Rocket. You bring up some good points. Yet, how goofy was that hubbub with the fumble and the ineligible-challenge? The appearance was that nobody really knew what was what; shoddy, imo. If the one dude on the sidelines with the headset is the authority, dress him up and make HIM the Head Referee.
Its like consulting a lawyer and being told that they need to check with their Dad before getting back to you. Its no f……… way to run a business, and like last year when the League ran half-prepared teams out there and charged full price for tickets (and the networks charged full price for ad spots), they couldn’t care less.
& Yes, Coffee, I recognize the irony of that point relative to our convo earlier today, that apparently we’ll watch anyway and so enable the NFL to dis us.
Dennis,
I can count those bloggers with perhaps three fingers (lol).
The sample size of those who wanted JJ over AS never registered on any practical meter.
And you are right about JJ even making the team. I don’t think he does.
Very inconsistent and accuracy is a major issue.
CK7 and Tolz are definite keepers.
The 2012-13 QB roster will show:
Alex Smith – Starter
CK7 – Backup
S.Tolz – 3rd String
This game was remionding me of the Saints pre-season game. The 49ers frustrated me to with a run up the gut all day. But JH did not do anything but play fundementle football. We will see the game on 9-9. Then we will see the pass rush, blitz, and a wide open attack. At this point KW looks a whole better than Randy M.
What are your perdictions on the GB Grant….
Grant are you working on your 53 man roster prediction or sticking with the one from 2 months ago?
Hopefully this game brings this team back down to reality that they are one of the hunted teams, and nothing will come easy. I know its pre season but the defense seems to get beat and the offense i see no different formations from last year, no four wide reciever formations on third down, so hopefully its just not showing their hand before the packers game! Lets go Niners!!!!
Hate the Lakers.
Hate the Dodgers.
Makes up for it a lot by not liking the Raiders and liking the Niners though.
@ Exgolfer
Me 2, but ease off; this guy is a for real 49er fan, and every year when he comes back a few of us bark at his danged Dodger & Laker loyalties. There are 49er Faithful all over southland.
Tuna,
Ease off? Huh? That was eased off.
I could’ve said that I hope that Kobe and Howard burn the Lakers to the ground, and that Adrian Gonzalez, Beckett, and Crawford have all had there better days and see their performance fall off a cliff [unless they go to another team]. That would’ve been incendiary. Good thing I didn’t say anything like that.
It’s all in fun, anyway. No big deal.
BTW, don’t you think someone coming on to this blog with a screen name with a positive mention of Lakers and Dodgers is a little provocative? Hey, it was all in fun, but now I’m getting pissed off. [Still kidding, I can't bring myself to use :), :-) , ;) or ;-), sorry].
Tuna,
I live in LA, too.
A few thoughts on this one. Seems like the offense is stuck in neutral like it was much of last year. It’s preseason but it would be nice to actually see the 1st team offense actually string together a drive for a TD. The o-line looks like it is not playing well at all. That’s a major concern. Alex Smith is the checkdown King. The man is so risk averse I think you can actually see the bullets he’s sweating before he releases the ball after holding onto it for 2 seconds too long. It will be interesting to see if Smith actually overcomes his fear and unloads some deep passes to Moss. The one pass he did throw to Moss was the wrong throw since Moss was triple covered. I almost wondered on that pass if Harbaugh or Roman told Smith to throw it to Moss before the play no matter what because they got so tired of seeing Smith check down. If Smith can’t take advantage of the team’s deep speed I wonder how long it will be before the receivers become disgruntled.
I’m not too worried about the D. We most definitely need Aldon Smith back. With more pressure on the QB, the secondary won’t look nearly as vulnerable which is the case with most secondaries in the league. I think the biggest concern is depth. Seems like we will be in some trouble if we suffer a key injury on defense. If the offense is so poor again this year, the defense will need to carry the team as they did last year.
Worked Sunday so I listened to the game on the radio. Did the 49ers first string defensive line get pushed around in the running game as badly as it sounded like?
I know Bowman and Aldon Smith were out, but Haralson sets the edge well and Grant is a good run stopper too. There should not have been a dramatic drop-off in run defense.
I’m hoping it’s just pre-season stuff. Players working on weaknesses. I also heard some of the 2nd and 3rd string linebackers were missing gap assignments. A correctable situation.
Brodie It wasn’t just the DL being moved out, defenders were making contact but not making tackles. Plenty of that in the secondary as well.
Brodie, I never asked to take my Nate comments back. I will never do that PERIOD. I think about things before they are written and then I stand behind them 100%.
I get it, my one view on here is polarizing, commenters on this blog don’t like Nate. Fine. We’ll never agree on Nate, a guy who never got a sliver of a chance on a team that gave 8 years to a guy who is right down the middle avg. Judge ppl based on actual play, not unknowns. The very small sample size of NFL(pre-season) minutes Nate got, were stellar.
Judge me, or any commenter for that matter, based on the body of what they’re saying. I’ve said lots of different things on this blog, mainly about QB’s (since its such a huge position to fill) Specifically the ones on our great 49er roster. I compare and contrast to all the new QB talent around the league.
Tolzien has brought back my excitement for the potential of this team to get back to the great heights of the BW era. Much like Eagles fans are excited about Nick Foles and their future with him. That’s right, not Mike Vick, but a rookie named Nick Foles.
4 you Bro Tuna……not Brodie
Yeah, Sled, thought that might be for me. I actually think this was one of your better posts. I didn’t mean to sound patronizing in saying that either.
Speaking for myself, I don’t and never have disliked Nate. You seem to think he’s a lot better than I do, and yes, that’s a minority opinion that’s hard to defend. McC brought in Nate to Seattle and he so impressed in his second chance that they cut him, signed a FA for big $ and drafted a QB and are getting rid of the guy who Nate never threatened in competition. And then nobody in the NFL offered Nate a chance to compete in TC. Dumped by Seattle, not picked up by Az/Mia/Jax/TB/KC; nobody.
Therefore, when you make a statement that Nate is better than Alex, something unsupported anywhere and inconsistent with what I’ve seen, it makes me question your judgement on all things qb-related.
Now that’s just my opinion versus yours. I never expected you to take it back, but some statements are hard to leave unchallenged.
Bro Tuna,
I commonly forget about the Bills even being in the league, but since they’re back in minor news after trading for T. Jackson it made me think how they’re exactly where our 49ers used to be.
their organization just put down a huge investment on a guy who is the East Coast Alex Smith. He’s been mainly a backup, he throws lots of INT’s and now after one good year, he was given to keys to Buffalo.
But I think he makes some ppl in their organization nervous so they’re trying to find backups off the scrap heap who may have to fill in. Instead of drafting and beating down every door to find a bonafide top tier QB, they’re trying to manage the mediocrity.
With Alex, he has always had the NFL mind and work ethic but his mechanics/muscle memory combined with lack of vision always will keep him average.
I just want Nate to get 5 real NFL games as has been given to lists of others a la Jon Beck/ Painter/ Kolb/ Skelton/ T. Jackson to answer the ? once and for all.
Nate was in Arena league with KC and his WR’s dropped every pass, as has been happening to Tolzien. The blame goes to the WR not the QB in those cases, you’d think that’s common sense. The coach in KC cut Nate and that team was in the dumps the rest of the year while Nate went and won his league with WR’s who caught his laser beams.
All these teams that cut Nate, have shown that they don’t have better answers and most of the coaches lost their jobs with the staff they went with.
I think only Tolzien is better than Alex right now and has the grasp of the playbook to run this better.
Ok sled. If Nate can get an opportunity and show it on the field I’ll get back on board. That’s the evidence people like me would be looking for. Its not impossible either, we all know Kurt Warner’s story. Jeff Garcia another case in point.
PS Are you in Sales? Kinda relentless……. : >)
It seemed to me that denver game planned and the 49ers did not at least i hope that was part of the problem. kap looked good but he still worries me in the pocket, he stares down receivers and takes to long to get the ball out. The pass to williams just as easily could have been picked off. The O line looked weak early in the game especially run blocking but that might be attributed to no game plan. Dixon looked good but i believe that wether he makes the team or not will be decided by brad seeley. it was an overall terrible performance in the 1st half but like i said earlier i think it might have been an example of one team game planning and the other being as vanilla as possible
oldcoach
I agree with most of what you said.
But I liked the pass to KW. I think CK threw it outside on purpose. It wasn’t luck. Now I don’t think CK can do everything that a stater can, and I am worried about his windup against the top DB’s in the NFL who will get plenty of pick 6′s when CK faces them. But that play to KW, nothing to fault any Niner player on that one.
Did you notice KW’s burst after the catch? Very impressive. The guy is great with the ball in his hands no doubt. He just has to make sure it stays there.
yeah i left kw out he looked good at wr and pr
I was thrilled when the 49ers traded up to draft Kaepernick in the 2nd. I still like the guy, but like any new player, there was some “if’s”‘ of course.
I thought Kaepernick could be an NFL star “if” he could quicken (or remove the loop motion) in the first part of his release, and “if” his nimble feet scrambling could translate to nimble 3-5-7 step drops inside the pocket.
It’s dangerous to try to radically change a QBs throwing motion, but I was hoping a few “tweaks” and better footwork would speed his delivery.
I’m not saying Kaepernick’s motion is super-slow like Drukenmiller or Tebow. The latter part of Kaepernick’s pass release is super quick.
Funny, when Kaepernick throwing on the run his throwing motion is more efficient. Maybe they should put a treadmill under center.
The path is clear. Quicken the throwing motion (and read underneath coverages better) and be a star. If not, he’s little more then a valuable situational weapon.
i was calling for the 9ers to draft kap during the summer before his senior yr at nev. i believed when they drafted him he would be a 2 yr harbaugh project and he seems right about on target for sept 2013
+1
Too bad we have 40 WR’s, the Raiders released Thomas Mayo and I’d love to put him on our practice squad for a year and see if he cant blossom next season.
NFL.com has a cut tracker, here’s the link.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000055282/article/nfl-roster-cuts-begin-with-vince-young-terrell-owens?module=HP11_headline_stack
I’m pretty concerned about Staley on the left side. Love the guy but the word seems to be out about attacking his side. He was beat or on his back on more plays than one in Denver. Hope he can improve soon but it’s not just him. We can have all the RB’s and deep threats in the world, but they’re of little use if the O-line continues to be a question mark.
I wanted to post some thoughts on the game after watching it a couple of times, but before I do that a couple of things:
1) Some of you really need to relax. Every year it is said over and over by pretty much anyone who comments that preseason means nothing, yet when I come in here and read the game blog today it’s comical in it’s emotional outbursts and overreactions. Preseason is not for the starters people. It’s for the guys who are at the bottom trying to make an impression to make the team. Starters for the most part play sparingly, with little consideration given to strategy. What you saw yesterday was a team going through the motions and most importantly trying to avoid injury. The defense was playing at half speed at times and defenders avoided going to the ground if possible.
2) What you see in these games is not what you see for intensity or gameplanning in the regular season. This is fluff with the occasional play they want to test. For the defense it’s lets get the hell out of here on our feet. Don’t let yourself get fooled by results in preseason. As was mentioned above, the Niners were awful in the preseason for the most part last year and all it did was lead to a 14 win season. Perspective ladies and gentlemen; keep it in perspective.
The offense as you will see in my breakdown was not great but it wasn’t worth worrying about either. If you want to panic and base your outlook for the future off of preseason games, that’s your right but you are going to look foolish when the games start for real.
Now what I noticed right off the bat was the Niner defense not playing at full game speed. Over and over I saw the Dline push but not go all out and usually just stand up to protect themselves from being cut or rolled into. This was to me a team that was trying to come out of the game healthy and that was the main goal.
On the first Bronco drive, Fangio sent one 5 man pressure and it resulted in an incomplete pass. Otherwise they just played base and kept players in front of them. On the second drive, he sent two 5 man pressures. The first one came on a 3rd and 6, forced Manning into a poor throw but Stokely made a great one handed catch while being covered by Larry Grant which is a mismatch. The second came on the TD when it was picked up, Rogers got turned around and Manning found Decker in the endzone. Other than that it was base defense and one stunt by Haralson that resulted in a big hit on Manning. Manning’s final possession came after the fumbled snap and started at the Niners 24. On a 2nd and 3 the Niners got extremely confused as they wound up rushing 3, both Brooks and Willis took the RB out of the backfield, Goldson stood frozen in the middle of the endzone covering no one, and Brock wound up having to cover Decker one on one and got beat in the back corner of the endzone. So to review, 8 players wind up in coverage on 3 receivers and a back and leave Decker one on one with perhaps the worst CB on the roster. Not good communication on this one.
The other problems I saw consisted mainly of poor tackling. Two plays in particular come to mind when our 2nd string defense was on the field during the Broncos final possession of the first half. First on a 3rd and 6, Hanie dumps the ball off to Moreno 5 yards from a 1st down and Cox and Spillman are both in position to tackle him short of a 1st down and miss. Then the worst one which was Brock making a feeble attempt to put a shoulder into a TE’s legs which was comical in how bad it was. That play wound up putting Denver into a 1st and goal at the 5.
Now the offense: First drive they wind up in 3rd down and 4. They run a play that has KW in motion and then running an out into the flat. He’s open with a gap between he and the nearest DB big enough that he’ll be able to turn up the field and get a first down, but Smith feels pressure behind him pulls it down and runs for no gain. This is a clear example of how Smith has to pull the trigger and doesn’t. If he throws it on time, KW has a first down; instead he hesitates, pulls it down and winds up taking a sack.
2nd drive starts pretty good. Smith throws a slant to Crabs, who spins outside and nearly is able to break the tackle and get a first down. On 3rd and 2, Smith gets pressured, rolls to his left and throws a nice pass to Crabs for a first down along the sideline. Unfortunately Smith fumbles the snap on the very next play, Gore somehow can’t corral it when it’s right between his arms and it results in a TO.
3rd drive begins on the Denver 40 after a failed onside kick and first play is a beautifully conceived throw to Davis who beats Von Miller badly for an easy TD. The WR is on the outside, runs a slant which acts as a non contact pick and Davis is off to the races. Great play and the first of it’s kind the Niners have run this preseason. My guess is they only ran it because the score was getting out of hand and they wanted to get something on the board to keep the guys positive. Next possession starts deep in Denver territory after Cox intercepts a pass by Hanie. This possession looks a lot like what we saw last year too often and was the epitome of vanilla. Two runs on 1st and second down, small gains leading to 3rd and 6. On the third down play Denver has a Dime personnel with two deep zone, every receiver is covered by somebody with another guy standing close by. Nowhere to go with the ball, Smith has to throw it away and settle for a FG. This is where they need to start coming up with more imaginative play calling. This is where you need to get away from the ground and pound and set up a pick play or WR screen or something to just get the defense spread out and susceptible to a mismatch. The Niners tend to make themselves too easy to defend in the redzone and seem to want to make sure they at least get a FG instead of selling out for a TD.
The final possession was a mess from the start. Somehow the offense takes a delay of game penalty coming out of a timeout when the wrong personnel were on the field and had to make a late change. That is unacceptable at any time and was embarrassing to see. Then Iupati false starts to make it first and 20. The next play Hunter gets around the left side on a sweep for 8 yards. Nice gain only Iupati gets called for holding and Denver gets an unecessary roughness penalty to nulify the play and make the Niners do it over. Well the Niners take the do over reference literally and run the same exact play only this time Hunter is dropped for a 1 yard loss. At this point common sense dictates you need to run a play that will get you at least 7-8 yards if not more so you can have a managable 3rd down…umm except if you’re Roman who calls a run off tackle that nets 3 yards and puts them into 3rd and 18. The next play is predictable when the Broncos get pressure from the left side and Smith is forced to get rid of the ball for a short gain. Saw this too many times last year as well. I don’t know why Roman is in love with running the ball on 2nd and long, but it rarely works and puts his guys in a bad spot on 3rd. Of course this drive started with the shot to Moss but I’m guessing they just did that to make the Broncos loosen up a bit as they were tightening up the passing lanes. For those wondering about Smith’s arm strength: the throw was 55+ yards in the air. Now he just needs to get his accuracy to coincide with it.
This is all I’ve rewatched so far but a couple of things stood out to me. The Oline protection for the most part was pretty good. Smith had time and his numbers were better because of it. The running game didn’t gain much when the starters were in there which left the offense in long down and distance conversions too often. Alex Smith with the exception of not pulling the trigger to Williams on the first 3rd down and fumbling a snap, played pretty well. Moved around better this week in the pocket and found VD for the TD ( I want to hear Ted Robinson call it just like this this season). I don’t put the other 3rd down misses on him at all. He had nobody to throw the ball to in the redzone and then faced a 3rd and 18 deep in his own end. This is a case of being in a no win situation on both.
Defensively, the tackling as a whole was awful, but as mentioned I didn’t see many defenders who were willing to put themselves in harms way to make a tackle. Rogers especially looked like he wanted to be encased in bubble wrap and not have anybody touch him. The intensity was also poor, but we have to remember that this is meaningless to these guys. They are already focusing on GB and players are trying to make sure they come out of these practice games healthy. If you see the same effort against the Packers, then you should worry. Until then, don’t.
Sorry for the extremely long post. I tried to shorten it a bit but there was too much I wanted to write about. I’ll write a shorter one when I review the second half.
Rocket,
I agree with your take on the defense not playing at normal speed. If you read NFL.com or some of the other articles, you’d think PM won the SB. He is posted all over the football rags – given the enormity of the (*preseason*) game, overblown by the national media as usual. No wonder so many want to see more during the preseason…the media is feeding that mindset.
The preseason is for the subs. I liked what I saw from KW – a short pass using his speed for big yardage. He would be a better underneath guy than MC due to his outstanding quickness. ADix played very well and should make the team. It will be interesting to see how the staff finalizes the roster with a very talented group.
hof
Then what does MC run then? I’m assuming we have RM on the deep routes. If KW is the underneath guy, where does that put MC?
Great post Rocket. Agree with all of your takes. Looking forward to your thoughts on CK’s performance as well.
You hit on the problems I felt were biggies. Tackling and clock management having wrong players and the penalities. Even when your playing vanilla you can look good doing it. They didnt on more then one occasion. Hof brought up the point that you dont go and get all these new weapons and not use them. Its vanilla and I have confidence in Harbaugh and staff to deploy the weapons they have in the GB game. It will be after the GB game that myself will either cite the greatness or the failure of the team.
@undercenter
Kevin Lynch said the time management issue was due to the replacement refs not resetting the playclock on that one play after the timeout. So, that is why that penalty occurred.
…nice read…@rocket
rocket
Per your point (1) , you certainly put in a lot of material/thought in a long post about a game that means nothing when kickoff Sunday happens.
:- )
Rocket,
There you go again.
You have it all wrong, you need to be more tense, and nervous, can’t relax. Get all wound up over the 49ers not passing for a minimum of 300 yards and shutting out every opponent. Drive yourself, and everyone else around you crazy with constant parsing and over analysis of every meaningless, er, meaningful play of preseason.
And if you can’t achieve this state of adled frenzy naturally, you should cheat. Start with a coffee, or red bull IV. If that doesn’t work, try crack. Apparently it works for a number of posters on this blog.
I’m going to triple my caffiene intake before the next game so I can experience it from some of the others point of view. Failing that…Crack it is.
Nice post rocket. While our O Line has done a good job in the run game, our pass protection is still an area that needs improvement. ProFootballFocus recently came out with their 32 in 32 team review of the niners. One glaring stat that popped out to me, they had us as 29th ranked team in terms of pass protection. This makes sense I guess when Alex Smith was the most sacked qb last year. The left side of our line graded out much better than the right, but Goodwin, according to them, was the second worst center in pass protection. I really thought Goodwin had a much better season than their analysis, but was still interesting to read. The rest of the article is here: http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/08/24/32-teams-in-32-days-san-francisco-49ers/
JDilla,
Thanks for that. A few of us have talked about the same thing previously and it was a problem last year. I really did see some improvement in the game on Sunday though. Let’s hope they are able to take a step up and play much better this season.
i think the clock mangement problems had more to do with the replacement officials than the players. from what i have read funding the refs pension will cost the nfl one third of one percent of their gross. i think it will be a crime to make fans pay full ticket price to see games officiated by incompetent officials. goodell should be ashamed of himself
Yup on both counts. And it’s a lockout, not a strike. The refs are willing to go to work during negotiations.
The NFL has so much leverage over the networks nowadays, I’m not expecting TV/Radio commentary to be as critical of the league as the situation warrants. If these replacements were on the field in the 70′s, imagine how Howard Cosell would be laying into them.
he would be telling it like it is
telling it like it is, slowly, ponderously, pedantically, over and over again until someone live on air told him how smart he was for saying it.
A bit off topic… just heard the 49ers waived Jason Slowey, Cameron Bell, Kourtnei Brown, Patrick Butrym, Ben Hannula, Joe Hastings, Matthew Masifilo, Cory Nelms, Deante’ Purvis, Joe Giorgio Tavecchio and Brian Tyms.
Mildly surprising were Slowey and Tyms. I thought Tyms might be practice squad material, and Slowey could be groomed for Center depth.
Darius Fleming was moved to the PUP list.
So Owusu is still with us then. For now. I hope he sticks. He has size and speed. I don’t any of our current “gameday WR’s” have that combination.
DS,
What about Randy Moss?
@ex
RM is tall and all. But he doesn’t have the rep of breaking lots of tackles. Like Owens or Rice do. I haven’t seen enough of Moss (he just sat around walking in circles when he was a Raider) to know if he accelerates (I meant accelerate in my post above, not really flat out speed) fast out of a break.
What I saw Owusu do was shake off a CB, and accelerate very fast. RM I doubt does that. Besides he only has a 1 year contract. And if he is not resigned, we’d still need that type of WR even if you are correct. Why not have him around the whole year to learn the offense?
@ DS
I have to quibble on a couple of your points re:Owusu.
He’s 6-2, Randy is 6-4 and a leaper. They’re both very fast, and imho, we have nothing to worry about with RMs acceleration. Chris is younger, but Randy is ……….Randy Moss. Chris isn’t guaranteed a spot on the 53 or the PS yet. My take on Owusu is that he’s not in competition with Moss, he’s competing more with guys like Ian Williams, Boobie, Rueland, Colin Jones. In some ways with Kyle Williams too, although I’d think KW is ahead at this point. Just opinion.
brotha
I’m not saying Owusu is RM. And of course he isn’t likely in competition with RM. Strange things happen though, and Randy still is Randy (attitude wise never a full 100% like a JR was).
My point being that if/should the Niners choose to not have RM next year, we would have a big tall WR who can accelerate quickly on the team if he made it or was on the practice squad and nobody picked him up.
MC (should he be a Niner next year) does not fall under that category of WR. Nor does AJ/KW (who are fast/accelerators, but not particularly large in size). TG is not a guy who breaks lots of tackles after a catch neither and he may not be here this year.
We don’t have that type of WR on this team right now who is projected to have any major contributions this year who we know will be here next year. Owusu could be that guy (for next year likly). Not saying Owusu is higher up on the WR ladder than RM/KW. But I don’t think that ladder means as much this year anyway.
@DS
Good points. Tyms was not as fast but had a bit more bulk than Chris. I’m trying to guess the plan. Can’t see Swain-Owusu-Palmer making the 53. So try to sneak Nate & Chris through to PS and then have to cut Swain?
brotha
I didn’t know Swain was still around till TC. I thought after the title game he was gone. Then he had the best performance of any WR so far has had in the preseason. So I have no idea who/what TB/JH will do.
In JH I trust
is the only thing I’m certain about when it comes to the WR position.
So what single play can we obsess about for the next week and 500 posts?
Good stuff!
Alright, rewatched the second half and here’s what I took from it:
Kap is improving every time he takes the field. After starting with an overthrow to Ginn, he settled down and played some good fundamental football which is what he has to learn to do. He threw a nice deep pass to Swain who was held resulting in a PI call. He was decisive on his roll outs making a quick decision to pass or throw, gain 8 yards on a rush to his right on one play, then escaping pressure, rolling to his left and firing a strike to Reuland for a 16 yard gain on another. He’s also learning from mistakes he makes from one drive to the next. Case in point: Kaps first inclination is to run, sometimes when he doesn’t have to. On one 3rd down play the pocket started to collapse, so Kap stepped up and had Cartwright sitting 5 yards in front of him ready for a dumpoff that may have not gone for a 1st but would have had a chance, and most of all would have kept Kap from absorbing an unecessary hit. Instead Kap just pulled it down, got 2 yards and was piled on by 3 defenders. Those are the types of things he has to get away from and he did. The next drive, Kap rolled to his right, looked like he was going to take off, but then waited for the LB to come off his coverage of Dixon, then threw the ball to AD for a nice gain and didn’t get touched. So a clear case of learning something during the course of a game. The kid is athletic and smart. I like the way he’s starting to develop out there. He threw the ball on time in most cases, especially on the throw to KW and another to Jenkins where he was throwing the ball as he took the last step of a 5 step drop. Really exciting to see the progress he’s making.
Another thing that jumped out at me, was the Oline play in the second half. It was really good and that was surprising because it seemed like every play, there was a new alignment with subbing in and out. One play in particular really stood out to me:
3rd and 1, deep in Denver territory, Leonard Davis lined up as a TE and Tukuafu at FB. Mike Person and Joe Looney are at LT and LG respectively and both block down creating a huge gap. Derek Hall pulls from his RG, comes through the hole and blows a LB out, Davis blocks his man down and Tukuafu takes his guy 4-5 yards outside. The result is a huge lane for Dixon to run through and a TD virtually untouched. It was a play I kept watching over and over it was executed so beautifully.
Davis and Tukuafu really did a great job in their roles in the jumbo package. Both were knocking guys back and often down as well. On one play inside the Bronco 5, Davis drove his man 5 yards into the endzone, unfortunately he was the only one who did on that play and it was stuffed, but it showed how strong this guy is. I was also impressed with Looney and Hall who were continually pulling and getting key blocks on some nice runs by Dixon and Cartwright. Hall is a guy I think you will see on the PS he has done a nice job. Person almost may have saved his roster spot with this game as he played pretty well both in run and pass protection.
Tolzien and JJ really didn’t get much time in there, but Tolzien had the better of it, making some nice throws, 2 of which should have been caught and one that was, while JJ overthrew Celek on a corner route that would have been a TD. Curiously, JJ only had one possession and then Tolzien came back in. I don’t know if it was due to injury but it was interesting. I’m not sure if they’ve made up their mind who the 3rd guy is, but I’m guessing it’s Tolziens job to lose based on how he and JJ perform in the final preseason game.
I also have to mentione Tremaine Brock because he had one of the all time bad days a CB can have. Beaten repeatedly both short and long, brutal effort and execution in tackling and just looking lost all afternoon. I don’t know if he’s built up enough good will to overcome it, but he has to be on the bubble right now, especially with Cox showing pretty well on the other side. He got beat a couple of times, but both were in front of him and he made the tackle, and he also had the pick. I think he’s won the #4 CB job.
Lastly Kyle Williams did a nice job on the punt returners after the man of glass (Ginn) went out with yet another injury. The only mistake I saw from KW was when he called for a fair catch on a punt late in the game and forced his way through a mob of players to make the catch. He just needs to back off sometimes instead of making every catch, but other than that he looked pretty smooth.