When you watch football on television, you only see what’s happening at the line of scrimmage. That’s just half the story. When I watch a game from a press box, I get to watch the other half. I want to tell you about the other half.
I watch how the wide receivers run their patterns and how the defensive backs try to cover them. Seeing all that, I try to figure out where the quarterback will or should throw before he’s thrown it.
After the play I look at the television, which is always on a 10-second delay, and I watch the battle at the line of scrimmage, the quarterback in the pocket, the other of half of the story.
In the Lambeau press box, I could see how the Packers’ coverage of Randy Moss evolved during the game, and how that affected the other receivers.
They started by single-covering Moss, showing him very little respect. That ended when the Packers’ defensive backs completely lost track of Moss in the end zone, and he caught a touchdown.
After that, the Packers were extra aware of Moss, and the Niners used that against them. Moss ran deep on one play, and the Packers completely overreacted to him, double-teaming him 50 yards down the field.
Which opened up the middle for Vernon Davis, who was wide open. And Alex Smith hit him for a 29-yard gain.
I admit, I was staring at Moss run deep on that play. I didn’t notice Davis break open. Moss was such a good decoy, he deked me, too.
The reason I tell you this is because when I’m in the press box, I can provide you analysis you can’t see in real time, except when I get deked.
Glad to be of service to you.
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Great Post! I feel like this is how Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman will use Randy Moss all season. He will burn each team once in a game, then he will be double teamed, triple teamed and the underneath stuff will open up for Davis, Crabtree, Manningham, Williams and Hunter. Also, this prevents 8 or even 7 men in the box to stop Gore. Gore must be excited to not face any more 8 man fronts for the rest of the season just because the Defense must show Randy Moss the respect he deserves…
Thanks for your take Grant. What’d you think of Wisconsin?
Nice, pleasant, pretty, green. More small town America than I’m used to.
Small towns and the country are the best places to relax. They also make great photos. But that’s just me.
Next time Grant can’t leave Wisconsin without a side trip to House On the Rock. That place is wierder than 20,000 cheeseheads combined.
I passed by a cheese castle on the drive up to Green Bay.
Grant, I don’t know if you’ve ever taken an acid trip? House On The Rock is the next best thing.
Just googled it. What a trip! Have you stayed there?
Didn’t stay, but took the tour on one of my x-country road trips. Bizarre, to say the least!
It does look bizarre yet intriguing as well. I’m adding visiting House on the Rock to my bucket list.
I agree! Fascinating!
Unfortunately my occasional business travels take me further east but I would certainly like to check this place out.
I agree, bucket list for sure.
Great post Grant. I would love to hear your analysis of what you saw from the press box regarding the secondary also. Why did they have so much success this time opposed to having problems withe receivers over the middle.
Thanks for the explanation Grant. The entire action of the game is much better absorbed in the stadium compared to on TV. It would be great if the broadcasts allowed the viewers to choose different camera angles. For me the best view of the action is from the endzone, upper deck. You can see the entire play develop much better.
@jack section 11 upper box candlestick. i believe these r the best seats in the park especially if you’re adept at using binoculars
That’s right old coach. Sat in that area from ’86-’02. Amazing how you can see the play develop. 180 degree difference from trying to see the play on TV.
Doesn’t matter where some sit, they *only* look at the stats and not the W.
Hof, +2
All 22 views are available this year with the Game Rewind package. Should be fun.
It’s very cool msc. They show each play twice, once from the all 22 press box view and once from the endzone. The endzone view is great to watch the line play, and QB movement within the pocket.
wonderful perspective. Thanks Grant. Also I’m really glad you pointed out the delay in the TV up there. That explains a lot about commentary that I had wondered about (i.e. how commentators know so much, and whether they watch the play live or on the TV….turns out both!) awesome stuff.
Thanks, that was great especially for people watching it at home and not at the game.
Can you continue to provide this type of insight throughout the season and offer up similar views on other aspects of the game (i.e. running plays or defense)?
Thank you. I can and I will.
Thanks again.
That would be great grant. But don’t say smith missed open recievers. Then you would be called an idiot. Because live tv doesn’t lie for Alex smith. Glad you got to see a sky view. I gave my tickets to a buddy and his girl that was leaving for Iraq one year and bought some cheap seats so he could enjoy better seats, and I have to say being up in the upper box wasn’t half bad. You can see more field when you’re up that high. Then again they were near the fifty. :-)
But don’t say smith missed open recievers. Then you would be called an idiot. Because live tv doesn’t lie for Alex smith.
This really doesn’t fit the rest of your post. You have your opinion which is fine, but I just felt like it should be separate from what you posted.
Having a better view doesn’t mean a whole lot if you don’t have a good understanding of the game.
Which evidently he does.
Think about this: Grant implies that Moss’s touchdown caused the GB defense to start “double-covering” Moss.
1.) Moss scored on a busted coverage, not one where he beat the defender 1-on-1.
2.) On Davis’s catch, GB had a single high safety in the middle of the field playing zone over the top, but the underneath defenders were in a combination of man and zone. Only 3 receivers went out, the rest stayed in because of the play action. GB had a corner trying to pick Davis up in man but he was too far outside and Davis ran an inside route behind the LBers. A LB manned up on Miller to the flat. The rest stayed in zone because their assignments didn’t release. The Play Action to Gore froze them and Moss’s route carried into the FS, allowing Davis the room over the middle.
My point being: They weren’t “double-teaming” Moss. The Corner was manned up and Moss was the deepest man, so the FS had to go with him. Moss was essentially clearing for Davis. Moss’s presence is a huge benefit to Davis and the offense, but GB didn’t “over-react” to Moss running up the seam. It was an excellent play call by Roman. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to earn anything more than a “B” from Grant.
I see your point, but at the same time I can make the argument that from the press box Grant had a view where he could possibly see things we couldn’t. My point is don’t say that he doesn’t know what he is talking about just because he sees a play differently.
Of course you get a better view, but my original point was that it doesn’t matter if you don’t know offensive and defensive schemes. The FS and corners were visible during the broadcast. The FS was playing deep middle. That’s not a matter of opinion.
Fair enough, but he still needs to know enough about football in order to have his job. Connections can only get you so far. After that, you better have some knowledge about what you’re doing or you won’t last long on the job.
Which I think he does.
“Moss scored on a busted coverage, not one where he beat the defender 1-on-1.”
Which is why they put extra help on him. Moss is well know for finding holes and weak spots.
Not a hard concept to grasp and Grant is right.
Adam – If you read point #2 – I explained how they DIDN’T actually double Moss on the Davis play.
When the GB defense blew the coverage on the Moss TD, it was because they had trouble adjusting to the motion. Two guys ended up covering the same underneath zone when it appeared that one of the middle defenders should have dropped under the void between the safeties.
My point being that the coverage wasn’t blown because of Moss, it was blown because GB had trouble adjusting to the shift.
Ouch!
Big M – if you don’t like the author why read the blog?
I don’t like Tim Kawakami so I don’t read his stuff. I don’t go to his articles and whine about how much I dislike Tim. I simply don’t read him.
A tough concept for you I suppose.
If you didn’t like my comment, why did you respond? Why does a bad guy make a storyline to a movie or show more compelling? Why do people call in to sports talk shows to express their disagreement? Difficult concept to grasp?
I’ve been following this blog since Maiocco. It’s been on my Bookmarks bar since then and I check it after I check on the CSN and Sac Bee blogs.
I think Grant has an interesting take on things and can be a good sportswriter, but as a football coach – I don’t like to read the bold uninformed staements he makes so often.
A perfect example is way he wouldn’t let go of his perception that Smith made the wrong read when he didn’t throw to Moss on a seam against Cover 1 in the preseason. Moss is still a pretty good receiver, but he isn’t elite anymore – yet Grant still expresses the idea that Smith should automatically look to Moss first, when his progression does not dictate that.
As a member of the media, Grant has an influence on people’s opinions. Because of the forum the PD allows, I see nothing wrong with responding to Grant’s pieces to point out that Grant is often mistaken about what he perceives to be happening in the minds of the players, coaches, and front office personnel. Considering how often he criticizes decisions based on his false premises of the game, I think this is a great avenue for discussing the tactics on the field.
Keep it flowin Big M, lovin actual football analysis! They can’t handle the truth.
I don’t normally defend Grant’s posts and I have been critical of some of his opinion pieces like his analysis of the Niner’s Draft Picks and his spat with Anthony Davis. But in this case he’s simply reporting what he sees.
Your analysis of the single high safety coverage and it’s match up against the Niner’s pass play is interesting. But HOW the Single High Safety (Free Safety?) reacts to Moss getting deep into the secondary is dictated by how much respect they have for his deep play ability AND the fact that Smith was willing to throw to him in the Endzone earlier (even though it was because of a blown coverage). The Safety in single high zone has discretion as to what degree he moves over to the side of the field that the deep threat and the amount of deep cushion the deep safety gives depends on how that Safety perceives the deep threat. The Green Bay Safety moved over immediately to cover Moss which cleared the middle of the field for Vernon Davis to make his reception. So while it was not literally “double coverage” as Grant reported, the result is same. As Grant said, Green Bay was well aware of Moss on the field and that awareness of keeping Moss in check deep resulted in Davis’s catch.
Love this kind of unique coverage. Thanks Grant.
Looking forward to your picks for all games in week two. I need to make some jingle… ;- )
Thanks Grant. Seeing a live game offers so much more perspective. The little nuances of the play and even the action on the sidelines tell stories that can’t be picked up on a TV monitor.
+1
My experience with live games is that there are too many distractions. I used to go back when the Rams were still in L.A. I’ll use the Rams fans as an example. The idiots that would come up for those games in particular were obnoxious. The only way to go was with the ear piece and an old AM pocket radio so you could hear Lon Simmons at least.
For whatever reason, every time I’ve gone I get in a section where the opposing team has a handful of idiots there. The last time I was at The Stick (for a Giants game) a sewer line broke over the top of one of the sections. Kinda gave up after that, it was pretty nasty. Lots of screaming unhappy fans. :P
Maybe at the new stadium it’ll be a better experience for you.
And Grant makes a tremendous, amazing play for the respect of all Niner fans!!! What a great and fantastic piece of writing… please give us more
Grant,
Interesting post, thanks.
Grant;
Is there a reason why, at least in replays, the networks don’t use the whole field shot to give us the view of being at the stadium?
My guess, 42: Not enough “sizzle” for the average viewer in that extra wide view, plus a lack of creative thought by the directors (much easier to just do what’s always been done, it seems). I’ve often thought that every third or fourth play, coverage should start with a wide shot of the whole field (for perspective), zooming into the standard shot we always see. I think it’d give us a better feel for the momentum of the game.
On the other hand, nobody asked me, so I guess I’ll just shut up.
Also probably easier for the directors in the truck to just use the same angles that were just run.
The other thing is not all the games have all the cameras. The number is different depending on the team and the game. We’ll get a few more this year because we’re expected to do BIG things.
great stuff Grant, a good reminder of the value of “being there”.
i’ve replayed the game and i’m even more impressed with the play of our cornerbacks and safeties: Rodgers took a number of shots downfield, and they were all well defended, and there were also a lot of plays where Rodgers had plenty of time to throw but couldn’t find anyone and either dumped it short or had to scramble. from the couch, i think this was the best game by our defensive backfield in recent memory.
Very nice article Grant.
Grant, why don’t you report on the games live more often? Or is that not in the PD’s budget? Only 10 reg season road games, surely they can spring for that.
Are you counting preseason as regular season?
Thank you Grant, I try to go to one game a year and you diffently get more views and prospectives. Now that I am in my 40′s , hard to take it in all at once, I enjoy the T.V. and opportunity to rewind. Shows how fast everything can happen at once. I appreciate these details.
Grant, thanks – a unique post…keep em coming.
+1
Eh eeemmm. Great take grant. Like I said before you get 20 yards on tv. When there IN PERSON you can see the recievers who were open and the routes they run. But then again what does a season ticket holder that goes to every game know. Grant I did the same thing last season focused most of my time on the routes being ran. In fact the last time Favre and the packers played here. He pull a play action fake and roll right. And found freeman running wide open down the left side. My beer hit the ground before he caught it. And before the tv did also. I’ll just say this again. Last years Vernon post. Eric Davis is yelling “GOT HIM” before the throw. Wonder why.
Grant,
You forgot to say how dominant NaVorra Bowman played. How Justin Smith took double teams five yards into the back field. How Culliver and Brown were huge. How well Staley played in the trenches. How Crab’s hands and explosion off the line of scrimmage were something you’ve never seen before. How Harbaugh’s use of Randy Moss was genius. How Gore didn’t just run up the backs of his o line.
Great all around game by the 49ers. I’m very proud of them.
Oh and I lest I forget about Kyle Williams.
This coaches 22 film tells me just how good Jim Harbaugh and Roman are. They design pass plays for Smith that he can’t mess us. The receivers are pretty wide open when he hits them. Those 2 passes to crabtree were the worst he threw all day. Not bad.
I will day this. Kap could run this offense right now based upon the throws in this 1st game. Truth is, it’s only 1 game but I think the only tight throw Smith made was the TD to Vernon and nobody was going to catch that but Davis. Guys were that wide open.
Smith definitely missed Crabtree on that 2 yard pass to Moss. If Smith ever learns to pump fake, he might actually be better than average. Especially in this offense. Only in this offense. Harbaugh and Roman are sick. If this team stays healthy, they will not lose more than 3 games again. Not with the bullies on that offensive line. They are moving the pile 80% of the time.
23J – What up bro? How much does that (all-22) coaches film cost? Have any details on that?
$69.99 for the entire season, playoffs and Super Bowl. You get it for all teams too. Watched the Lions earlier to get a better idea of what they do. Good stuff, highly recommend it.
Yes Crabs its a good deal and fun to watch.
Hammer/Under -Thanks! I’ll be negotiating with the wife tomorrow lol. Got the NFL ticket, MLB and Bay Area sports package already.
She’s been giving me crap about being on here too much, she said I’ll be driving a “Geek Squad” car soon. She’s a real riot man.
Hoferfan’s a pro at negotiating so I’ll get some tips hopefully. :-)
Hey Crabs,
Your boy is finally getting his due. Played just as hard last year. Glad his work is visible. You would be surprised at how much Moss is opening up things fir Crabs.
Sounds like something I should check into, budget pending of course.
23J – I’m just as happy that Ahmad Brooks is getting some much deserved recognition.
Like Hofer says…..good times!
Yeah Crabs, he is. He hs a nice contract to go with it! Lol
Crab, if you get the all-22 film *only* for the 9ers the cost is 34.99 to sign up. It is 69.99 for all teams.
Nah – Hofer, you have to get the whole package. Watch the 49ers on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday but what’s left for Weds, Thurs, Friday and Saturday?
Hofe – Thanks, I’d consider just getting Niners package.
What about the negotiation advice?
The only bad thing about that Hof is that you only get the all 22 for select plays, and for your team of choice. The bigger package gives you everything for every team.
Maybe I’m just greedy and want the best ; )
Oh no. Imagine if everyone got the coaches film. Yikes. What good vibes we are building lately will be back to square 1. For 35 bucks, I will be getting it too. Where and how J23?
MD, NFL.com and it does give you a play by play view for *all 9er* games for $34.99. The only difference in premium pricing is viewing *all NFL games* with all-22 video.
I warn you guys now if you get this prepare to get major flack from significant others in your life. I’m a football junkie and this has pushed me over the edge and in need of rehab.
My guess is that every game will come down to how well the coaches coach. We have some great players but it comes down to (ultimately) how well they’re used and how effective the schemes are.
We have a ton of role players (Smith included) who are much better because they’re studying the right stuff during the week and not trying to do too much. At least that’s what it looks like to me. The only guy who will challenge Harbaugh is the probably the other Harbaugh. His brother is probably the only one who will know the tendencies and know the coaches well enough to make some educated guesses.
That’s my working theory for now :P
Sounds as good as any Adam. How nice is it to watch a game knowing we most likely have the edge in Coaching, after years of waiting for Nolan or Sing to screw up?
BBrooks on NFL.com did a a great job breaking down some of the 9er plays against GB.
Jordo, you really think CK could run the offense as well? i’m not going to bad mouth CK the way you do AS, but I doubt your proclamation. Keep trying though! lol
Jordan,
I will day this. Kap could run this offense right now based upon the throws in this 1st game. Truth is, it’s only 1 game but I think the only tight throw Smith made was the TD to Vernon and nobody was going to catch that but Davis
You are oversimplifying this. It’s not just about throwing into tight places. It’s about getting the team into the right play and knowing where to go with the ball. I like the way Kap appears to be improving, but he is not ready to run this offense the way Smith does. Another season on the sideline watching and learning and we should have a bonafide QB competition for the #1 job next season.
Rocket says, “Another season on the sideline watching and learning and we should have a bonafide QB competition for the #1 job next season.”
I agree with you on this Rocket. If CK continues the improvement it will get interesting. The only caveat is if they win the SB this year. What a beautiful problem to have.
Md,
This coaches film will confirm what we already know. I’ll just leave it at that bro. The eye in the sky dont lie!
I bet we havnt seen the best of the offense or defense or special teams. The best is yet to come.
Grant is absolutely right. There is a night and day difference between watching on TV and watching from the press box.
Our seats at the Stick are in section 20 just below the press box. Perfect. Our seats in the new stadium are around the 40 yard line upper deck with a PSL of only 2K per seat. The Niners offered us seats lower down and closer to the field for a higher PSL amount and we said no thanks. I would rather sit up high and see the patterns develop instead of looking at the backs of the players jerseys.
Nice we traded in our gold section seats for lower but a higher row. At 4 grrrr. Thank god they have a payment plan. :-)
Not only our 49ers get no media love, but my Oakland A’s don’t either. One hell of a game last night and are the second best team in the AL, but still every headline is Baltimore. I know the A’s were picked to win it all in the beginning but c’mon show a little love. It’s like the A’s just came out of nowhere all of a sudden. Lol reminds me of another bay area team last year. Screw the east coast media.
I agree with you MD. But for me personally, when football season starts, I try to pay little attention to baseball all together. But, it’s hard to avoid baseball when KNBR and The Game are constantly blasting away about it. It’s good that the local teams are doing well, however.
Nick – What’s goin on with Panda? Can’t hit/field and he’s blowin up again. Too many Memphis BBQ burgers?
OK Nick I’ll try not to mention my Giants for you pal. :-)…. one last “Beat LA!”