Now that Alex Smith has been benched and Kendall Hunter is out for the season, Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman are changing the 49ers offense to complement the skill sets of Colin Kaepernick and LaMichael James.
The 49ers used a full house pistol formation 17 times against the Dolphins on Sunday – six times in the first half and 11 times in the second half.
The full house pistol formation looks like this: Colin Kaepernick lines up in a half-shotgun, about three yards behind the center. A tailback (Frank Gore or LaMichael Jame) lines up about three yards behind Kaepernick. Two players line up next to Kaepernick in the backfield – usually Bruce Miller and Delanie Walker. And two players line up at wide receiver – the 49ers opened the game with Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis split out.
Roman called this formation more and more as the Dolphins game went on. And it worked.
Would you like to see more of this in the future?
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It is a great way to utilize the unique talents of Kaepernick and James. Don’t want to see it overused though. They also did a lot of play action off the pistol zone read action yesterday.
It worked a few times but it also got stuffed a few times, and resulted in Kap taking a few hits. As defenses get film of it, it will become less effective as these kinds of gadget formations do. I have no problem with them using it once in awhile, but yesterday was too much imo.
Also if anyone is still under the pretense that the offense would be radically changed because Kap has a bigger arm to go downfield, you should now understand that the system will remain the same no matter who is playing. Kap’s numbers were pretty much a carbon copy of what Alex Smith put up on a regular basis passing wise, the difference being the running element Kap brings which is why he is probably the starter right now. This offense is ground and pound and throw when necessary. Better get used to the fact this is what they do and stop dreaming about becoming the West Coast Packers.
If Randy catches the ball and/or wasn’t interfered with would you have the same opinion? Alex cannot make that throw and Roman doesn’t call that play with him in there.
Also – The Redskins have proven if you have the right QB the read-option is here to stay. They lead the NFL in rushing and its week 15 in the NFL. That’s not a fluke.
Rocket,
CK has a better arm and makes throws that AS would never try, also AS is a sack specialist and CK can usually escape that.
Rocket,
You can say he plays are not the same if you like. However the selection and direction of the throws are different. Yesterday, you saw two 20-25 yard out patterns completed. Three were thrown. We don’t see those throws from the other QB. That throw to Was 57 yards perfect.
We’ve already heard that the deep ball was being taken away from Kap. With the other guy, teams encouraged him to beat them deep. With Kap, teams are now trying to force him to check down because they know he wants to get the ball down the field.
We cant expect a 133 QB rating every game. The Bear game was almost perfect. Ill take the threat downfield to stretch the defense and the throws up the field instead of 6 yards on the sidelines that we saw from the other guy. You’re seeing throws every game completed that the other guy wouldn’t even attempt. That is the difference.
Wasn’t it last year when Alex launched that one deep middle to VD and put it right in the bread box and VD dropped it? Had to have been 60 yds. A 52 yard bomb down the right sideline for a td to Crabs against the rams. Those Tds he threw to VD in the championship game were pretty decent as well! He launched one in Seattle down the sideline toward the end of the game. Don’t say he can’t make the throws! He’s done it. I think it’s pretty obvious that the coaches are a bit conservative when it comes to that.
Mike,
If Randy catches the ball and/or wasn’t interfered with would you have the same opinion? Alex cannot make that throw and Roman doesn’t call that play with him in there.
Absolutely and stop with the Alex can’t make that throw crap. It was a long ball down the middle of the field that Alex has made many times in the past, in fact they tried the same throw on a flea flicker to Moss against Denver in the preseason which Smith overthrew. Kap has a stronger arm, but some of you are getting carried away with what you believe he can do that Smith can’t. Where his arm strength shows up is the deep outs outside the numbers. He can get those to a spot quicker than Smith, but you saying Smith can’t make a 50 yard throw down the middle of the field is ridiculous and categorically wrong.
Neal,
No argument on the arm strength, but I haven’t seen many throws from Kap that haven’t been tried with Smith. The key is the mobility and his ability to keep plays alive. That is where he has a distinct advantage over Smith.
Rocket
Kaepernick has the strongest arm in the 2011 draft class that included Cam Newton. Many think his arm strength is superior to Matt Stafford’s. Alex Smith has never spun a 57 yard bomb that doesn’t look like a wounded duck, never. Can’t do it. Won’t do it, whatever.
He’s done. What was your point?
Rocket, Just because AS can windup and just heave the ball down-field, doesn’t mean he can make that throw. Its about being accurate, which AS is not on those throws
Jordan,
We’ve already heard that the deep ball was being taken away from Kap. With the other guy, teams encouraged him to beat them deep. With Kap, teams are now trying to force him to check down because they know he wants to get the ball down the field.
This is just flat out wrong Jordan, I’m sorry. If you have the rewind package as you say you do, I suggest you go back and watch the Giant and Seattle games because they were playing two deep Safties and Seattle in particular were dropping LB’s regularly. Nobody was encouraging Smith to beat them deep and in fact I saw more 8 men in the box situations the past two weeks than I saw defenses give Smith other than Arizona for the first half of that game. The reason being Kap’s propensity to run the ball more often than Smith. You really should do more research before coming to conclusions like this Jordan.
Quotes from Rocket:
“blah blah blah, the backup quarterback, blah blah, the bust that never panned out, bla blah blah the benchwarmer, blah the guy who never found a backup who couldn’t take his job blah blah…”
He’s done. Got anything to say about relevant Niners?
I agree, which explains Gore’s lower numbers lately and why the run game opened up a little after that long pass to RM yesterday.
It is the same offense, Rocket, but that throw to moss yesterday demonstrated the difference CK can make in this same offense.
Grant – Do you have the breakdown of how many times they passed, handed off, or Kaep kept the ball out of the 17 plays? I have a feeling we will see it more and more. LMJ proved he belongs and adds a level of excitement/explosiveness. It will be interesting to see how the greatest defensive mind in football, Billicheck, defends it.
I like it but by taking away lineman up front you need to make sure the guys you put in the pistol can read and pick up the blitz’s and free rushers. If they send everyone and at least 2 if not all 3 of the backs in the pistol have to take somebody then you need to make a quick play to one of your two WR’s or the QB is gonna get crunched.
Good point about less linemen, but misdirection and lack of familiarity are aspects of that offense that give a quick QB like CK or RGIII the advantage they need to make up for the missing beef.
According to ESPN, Kaep’s 4 starts are the best ever for a QB’s first 4 NFL starts:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/84366/kaepernick-stands-tall-through-four-starts
Mike,
What did ou think about the 4 starts. I think the kid looks great. He’s made a couple of mistakes. However, he’s human. He;s going to make some mistakes. We know the talet is through the roof! Two 50 yard runs in 2 games in a row? Unheard of from the QB in this league. We don’t need a 50 yard run every game. However, the threat is an asset.
Agree on all levels. More importantly, he is a QB more suited to run the Harbaugh/Roman offense. They want a guy that is a great runner (not just an average scrambler), has and arm to threaten you deep, and can throw on the run. I’m excited to see what Harbaugh makes of Kaep some 3-4 years from now. Huge potential.
Yeah sure, but try utilizing lighter personnel too, like Randy and AJ outside with Crab and VD flanking CK.
If you put Crab in the pistol he could be responsible for blocking a blitzing LB or DE.
Yep, they say he’s a monster blocker.
Hmmm, I’m not sure that’s the kind of match up Morton has in mind when he’s making his plan each week. ;)
I’m SURE it hasn’t been, but it would be an interesting wrinkle. Plus, VD’s blocking ability likely supersedes that of either Miller or Delanie.
I think LMJ lacks strength at this point and is a liability as a pass protector. So formations like the pistol are a way to minimize that weakness by providing two backs other than LMJ to pass block.
“Would you like to see more of this in the future?”
Sure, if its working. Bring back the Single Wing and the Flying Wedge too if they work.
I’m down with the Flying Wedge, yassuh!
I’m pretty unimpressed with the offensive play calling, and have been for a long time. We’re certainly better than the Raye days (cringe), but we are still too conservative. I do not see our offense capable of beating a strong D in the playoffs. We still have 3 games left, but any talk of not showing what we can do is really window dressing to the unfortunate reality that this IS all we can do.
Watching Walker and Tukuafo lining up in another bunched run-up-the-middle formation is getting easy to defend. As for the Pistol, it looks great when CK runs off a 50 yarder, but it doesn’t do much for our passing game. And I still want a QB that does more damage with his arm than his legs. If we don’t get our passing game up to snuff, we won’t get a 6th ring.
what I love about Kaption running is that it isn’t out of control a la RG3. As exciting as RG3 is, he finds ways to get nailed. Kaption waits for his blocks, he slides, he knows when to quit on the play and try on the next.