Posted By: ALpHaQ20 (17/09/2008 10:08:26 PM)
Comment: It would be interesting to know how many of these sacks were "forgiven" by big plays that resulted in first downs (just to make us niner fans feel better :) I remember the Julian Peterson sack, he taunted JTO while he was on the ground and was flagged. BTW: is it me or is JP very annoying now? Maybe cause he's a Squawk, but he irritates me with his thumb pointing of his jersey. JP needs to remember who drafted him and be thankful he wasn't put on another Franchise Tag.

Posted By: oldman9er (17/09/2008 8:13:15 AM)
Comment: This is not to be posted unless you just want to, Matt. After looking at the sacks again, I see 4 out of the 8 that should be blamed on JTO... which is not so bad. I apologize if I came off cross to you, but there has been lots of agitation lately on our QB situation. I personally feel JTO can do plenty enough to help this offense, but I'm trying to be more fair in his performances, and it seems like some are hyping him up a bit too much so far.

Response: I don't disagree that O'Sullivan could have avoided some of those sacks. Just throw it away, right? But I felt there were also protection problems that contributed to the play breaking down and O'Sullivan leaving the pocket. Thanks. --Matt M.

Posted By: oldman9er (17/09/2008 5:31:39 AM)
Comment: Matt, I stopped after your 1st sack assessment. Maybe you won't even read this by now, but I finally am watching the game again. You are dead wrong on your blame here. JTO screwed up by continuing to back up after his 7 step drop... right into J.P. If he would have stopped at 7 steps, he would have had the time. I'm not sure if you have a JTO agenda or just need better glasses, but something doesn't smell right from you lately.

Posted By: Frank (16/09/2008 11:20:06 PM)
Comment: Terrific analysis...really enjoyed how you broke it down. For some of you bloggers...whatever happened to questions/comments about the ACTUAL topic being discussed? Anyway, criticism after week one was too many turnovers. Only had one yesterday (it was costly, though), but the sacks went up. As you can see by Matt's breakdown, there were multiple reasons for them. Overall, though, they were spread out, which does show there's really no single "weak link" on our OL. That's a good thing. Can they improve? Absolutely. JTO can also get rid of the ball when nothing's there for him. I do agree with the comments about getting more TD's instead of FG's. We did score 33 pts, though, so I'm not going to be too hard on the offense (ok, one was a defensive TD). Don't know what game you were watching oneniner, but from just about every other account I've read, JTO impressed. He even turned heads of most of the East Coast homers. It was far from a perfect win...but, look around the league...even the elite teams are giving up quite a few points...check out Dallas and Philly. Definitely room for improvement, but at least we're a competitive team again. That in itself's quite an accomplishment.

Posted By: mike in MD (16/09/2008 9:36:00 PM)
Comment: jsl..that one just blows my mind. It's the exact same thing with TBC (& inserting Lelie) from last year. WHEN will he be benched & a change gets made?? It's just another example of how SLOOOW Nolan is to spot & correct a problem along with his ridiculous delays to make any halftime adjustments if he even makes any at all. If Fields is below Franklin I don't look forward to what he's going to look like. Maybe we'll get lucky & he'll be better. Our 3-4 is practically useless against the run or pass. He got the personnel to set up the 3-4 but didn't start with the 2 most critical pieces, the NT & rush OLB. Unbelievable. BTW..I made a mistake on my last post. Duh, BOTH our OLine & their DLine would have been looking at Heitman's head for the snap count in a loud stadium so there wouldn't have been an advantage. It would be true though if Heitman had developed some type of bad habit twitch before the snap that only the Defensive guys picked up on. My bad, sorry about that.

Posted By: Rich, DE (16/09/2008 8:32:23 PM)
Comment: Thanks for the breakdown. That defensive approach does seem "to fly in the face of logic". However, you showed they were more successful when bringing only 4. And, it ultimately worked because they won the game. Innovative thinking? I don't know, but certainly glad Seattle's receivers were significantly disadvantaged.

Posted By: jsl (16/09/2008 6:38:51 PM)
Comment: Nice job, Matt. But query: Why do you think Nolan keeps playing Franklin -- who's shown NOTHING -- over Fields? And, in viewing the tapes of the games, have you seen Franklin make one STRONG play this year?

Posted By: mike in MD (16/09/2008 1:55:03 PM)
Comment: 4 sacks in the 4th Qtr & none in the 3rd. I wonder when Heitman started to put his head up for the snap count? He might have started it in the 3rd but Seattle didn't catch on until late 3rd & into the 4th. Point being if the entire Defense knows when the snap count is by looking at Heitman it can be almost up to a full second advantage for the Defensive players especially blitzers coming in from the edge to gain ground against the QB or a big advantage with leverage on the interior DLinemen vs the defending OLine or headstart breaking into the gaps. Those sacks could have been the direct result of knowing that snap count & it wouldn't necessarily have been all the OLine's fault. That could potentially cut down the sack total to 4 which the OLine & Offensive execution could work on to improve. A legit 4-6 sacks sounds much better.

Posted By: Niner-Fan (16/09/2008 1:53:46 PM)
Comment: Hi Matt, What do you think about the theory that 49ers offensive line was specifically built for a power running game therefore they are not very effective in pass protection?

Posted By: NinerTed (16/09/2008 1:52:38 PM)
Comment: Nolan is completely out of touch. He said that he had great success 2 years ago with this defense and I was like 2 years ago?? We didn't have the caliber of players on D like we have now 2 years ago. He should known since him and Scott brought them in. But 2 years ago?? He really defended having 2 LB's on the field when J.Jones ran for 127? I hope your reading this John, Denise and Jed your coach is more of a talent scout than a coach. He even forgot how to be a D Coordinator I guess!!!

Posted By: A.E.S. (16/09/2008 1:15:40 PM)
Comment: hey pat- i have no problem being corrected but the defensive scheme seemed to be more in a prevent mode rather then attack. i believe we have the talent on defense which would allow us to pressure instead of preserve. also, did 'sope' play the entire game? i don't recall him making much of an impact.

Posted By: Global Nomad (16/09/2008 1:03:15 PM)
Comment: Matt did anyone try to talk to Bruce after his stellar game on Sunday? Any luck? I didn't see any quotes out of him anywhere.?.!.?

Response: He dressed in a place off limits to the media and ducked out without me seeing him. --Matt M.

Posted By: Robert (16/09/2008 1:03:13 PM)
Comment: As long as we're winning and JTO isn't hurting, I say let them get their sacks. When it comes time for Seattle to renew their contracts it'll cost them a pretty penny for these meaningless sacks that didn't help their team win.

Posted By: papa (16/09/2008 1:00:13 PM)
Comment: Hi Matt: Seattle 8 sacks, 49ers 1. We draft Manny Lawson to rush the passer, than have him cover the tight end most of the time. Same thing with Julian Peterson when he was with us. Then Seattle uses him as we should have? Also we draft Vernon Davis for his speed to create mismatch's and use him as a blocker? Is Nolan making these decisions?

Posted By: oneniner (16/09/2008 12:48:37 PM)
Comment: Did anyone really believed if we had loss the coin toss before overtime our defense would have prevented da sea-grlz from kickin a winning field goal?......Again I luv the win, but i won't celebrate before i cross the goaline.....i thought our GPS was on point after the game.....after re-thinking the game, i believe our identity is still Nedney...not what you want from a team tryin to be above .500.

Posted By: Phillyniner (16/09/2008 12:48:30 PM)
Comment: Sack #1 was by Peterson, but you said they only brought 4 guys. Was Peterson playing DE or did a lineman drop into coverage?

Posted By: oneniner (16/09/2008 12:39:42 PM)
Comment: talk about being an OLD MAN....both Isaac Bruce and Harris should be credited big time for the win yesterday. Not only did Bruce prove me wrong on production on the field.....Walt Harris forced the tipped ball, Willis returned for a td...and he was the first guy to run to the other side of the field blocking for willis...kudos to Walt Harris.

Posted By: jgwindsor (16/09/2008 12:38:47 PM)
Comment: OK someone explained that sacks don't come into the QB rating formula.....but if JTO would have thrown the ball away his QB rating would have gone down....so I put forth JTO kept his QB rating high by taking sacks....what u say this is convaluted thinking? I am just saying....where is my winking face

Posted By: oneniner (16/09/2008 12:34:56 PM)
Comment: -"Turn the page."---Are you kidding?....No way we are turning the page after this showing. A. Smith should be the QB in 09.......After watching Mcnabb and Romo last nite, JTO is a back up for life. There is no way anyone can feel good about this team...we still have an overrated O-Line coach..etc, I really don't see the difference between JTO and Tim Rattay....I mean cmon guys do we really think JTO will take this team to the playoffs.

Posted By: mike in MD (16/09/2008 12:26:28 PM)
Comment: Next time we get into a situation like that with the crowd noise...Heitman could relay to JTO/the Offense & say the snap counts on the 2nd time the helmet goes up, or the 3rd, or back to the 1st. To throw off the D or draw an offsides.

Posted By: Darren11 (16/09/2008 12:14:07 PM)
Comment: Posted By: Demian (16/09/2008 1:16:39 PM) Comment: Darren11- Nolan is staying. Alex is gone. Live with it. Have you ever had anything in life not go your way ? Take it in stride. Be a man. Have the ability to learn from mistakes instead of dwelling on them. Let's get back to talking about the points Matt brings up in is articles instead of being bitter. If you can't get over it, then find a new team. Maybe you can root for Alex's new team next year. Thanks as always for your great work Matt._____________________ I spotted something very interesting, the New Orleans Saints EXTENDED the contract of their coach (Named Peyton I believe, sorry if misspelled) before the season had ended. Least the Saints have done some things right with this guy, like winning, like getting a fairly decent team, and you know what else? Bringing hope to a community devastated by a hurricane. While we haven't had any major disasters in SF, what about what this Saints coach has done? Bringing hope to the community by WINNING, by NOT doing things that embarrass the team, and looking like a real coach. These are things Nolan will never be, Nolan is a coach that will be booed on gameday from the Stick. Mike NOlan has chosen the wrong approach to irritate the media and irritate me the long time fan. As a long time fan of the 49ers, I have a choice. Matt Maiocco has a choice don't he? What if Matt decided to start wanting to cover the Raiders, or not want to do NFL anymore? What would you do, fan? I saw ntohing more then 1 to a 2 star entertainment from the 49ers and no hope. The D is 32 to me, the O is like 25, we don't have a #1 WR, and we don't have a pass rush. If Seattle had WRs, they'd beat us 48 to 25 like GB slapped Detroit. We should've lost that game for that would've axed Nolan quicker then Lane Kiffin. That's why I ask for blackouts, a strong message gets your coach and a stronger message gets JT replaced. Too bad Matt can't say that when a QB competition is one sided to favor JT O Sullivan, that's called CHEATING not 'that's the way it is with Alex Smith and we must dump him for no reason.' If losing the games means firing the coach, I beg and plead the Lions please beat this team. Nolan and JT have got to go.

Posted By: Pat (16/09/2008 12:05:29 PM)
Comment: Hey AES, we ran a 4 man front all game long, not a 3 man, you watched right? To compare our 4 man front against theirs isn't really fair. We were down 14 and Martz went to more down field plays and 7 step drops by JTO. Those plays take a long time to develop. Seattle on the other hand had the lead and runs a ball control offense, west coast style with 5 step drops and quick passes. What was Hasselbecks longest completion? 31 yards to McMullen and he fumbled, 2nd longest is 17 yards.

Posted By: mike in MD (16/09/2008 12:05:09 PM)
Comment: oops..I meant Coach Foerster/Warhop. I'm glad too that you explained the giveaway that Heitman was showing with the snap count when bobbing his head up. After hearing about that I thought it was a bad twitch or habit he developed that was going to have to be corrected. Good deal.

Posted By: Simon Brown (16/09/2008 11:55:55 AM)
Comment: Matt, thanks for the break down. As an out of market fan I depend on your blog to keep me up to date. Thanks again.

Posted By: Pat (16/09/2008 11:52:55 AM)
Comment: We have played 2 of the more aggressive teams in the league and in both games, got behind big early. We were forced to pass a bit more and you can't under estimate the crowd in Seattle. It will be interesting to see how things transpire this Sunday, especially if we take the early lead.

Posted By: Jack (16/09/2008 11:51:00 AM)
Comment: Great breakdown of the sacks Matt. Sacks seem to happen a lot in the Martz system. I believe that Lions were sacked 55 times last year. I thought that Hot Reads were to be the answer to blitzes. Matt we're any sacks avoided by making Hot Reads?

Posted By: niner (16/09/2008 11:47:01 AM)
Comment: thats a new stat for me, The qb's fault sack. dont we have a "good" ol that has drafted and picked all these guys? Dont we have 2 ( not like the caveman days of one: Mckittrick) so the one who cant teach pass protection could get help? Maybe we need Drunkenmiller or Robinson to play becasue they can taek the punishment better. We are currently on a rate to get more than last years 55 sacks, 60 maybe? All I know is that if last yar is any example, we better have 3 more qb's ready in the wings after we lose these 3.

Posted By: Otis4949 (16/09/2008 11:34:48 AM)
Comment: Matt, another opinion question I know you never answer but for some reason I keep asking. Any thoughts as to why Ronnie Fields didn't play awhole lot? In the first two game and the 4 preseason games it's failry evident to me that Franklin gets horrible leverage and gets moved around with a fair amount of ease. My guess here is that Ronnie is much better at getting seperation with his hands thereofre making him a better pass rusher while Franklin is a bit heftier and seems to be built lower to the ground. I guess I answered my own question but even during run plays in the preseason as well as week one Ronnie seemed to hold is own very well and in my opinion did a much better job of taking on two blocks, excuse me, requiring to blockers for runs... Thoughts?

Posted By: Nevyn (16/09/2008 11:22:43 AM)
Comment: Matt, my point was the Sims had a bunch of negative plays just as Jennings did. The only real difference is that Sims weay the QB gets hit, too.

Posted By: itsmechris (16/09/2008 11:19:38 AM)
Comment: Great analysis because I was going to rant and rave about how the center was making it so easy for the noseguard with all that head moving stuff. Maybe they can come up with a 'on 2' head move or something to keep d-linemen honest?

Posted By: RealFan49 (16/09/2008 11:16:13 AM)
Comment: As for moneyball, that is so Donohue. That bastard was too lazy to do proper draft research so he pulled picks from the morning newspaper and made up the story about moneyball to fool the meedja. Like when he whiffed on Mark Clayton in the draft, he went for Skip Bayliss' Mercury News suggestion for WR. Who bombed.

Posted By: RealFan49 (16/09/2008 11:12:16 AM)
Comment: Outstanding work Matt. This to me is constructive criticism. Useful in that it shows how the players can improve. Thanks a bunch.

Response: Thank you. I'm working an another blog post for later today that I hope you'll find interesting, too. --Matt M.

Posted By: A.E.S. (16/09/2008 11:03:47 AM)
Comment: Matt, thanks for your insightful breakdowns on all the games. as always your perspective is straightforward, honest, and highly repected by your many readers. your review on the eight sacks on sully' in the c-hawks game bears one interesting stat; most of seattle's sacks were created by the four-man front. hopefully nolan can learn from this, his infactuation with the 3-man front is not working and now that the offense seems able to put respectable numbers on the scoreboard it's going to be critical to give the defense the proper schemes to get to te q.b. what do you think about the 3-man front?

Posted By: Cyrus (16/09/2008 10:58:10 AM)
Comment: Matt- thank you for addressing my previous questions about the snap count in this post. While it did not adversely affect the pass as much, I thought it killed the run-- the O-line was not able to generate any push. One more questions: given their Moneyball admiration, has anyone in the front office done an analysis regarding if/when its better to take a holding penalty rather than give up a sack for x yards? I would imagine that at some point, not losing a down is more valuable than losing say 4 yards (ie 6 yd sack vs. 10 yd penalty).

Posted By: Louie in 09.... (16/09/2008 10:49:51 AM)
Comment: I'm starting to get a little worried about Nedney. I know he won the game for us but he hasn't been very conistent lately. I say we give Nedney one more year and then draft Louie Sakoda out of Utah in this upcoming draft. He is so good...Never to early to start dreaming.

Posted By: Jon in SoCal (16/09/2008 10:48:39 AM)
Comment: Matt: Are you watching a DVR broadcast version or are the 9ers nice enough to give you an edited copy/DVD to look at the game? I felt that JTO held the ball a bit when he should have thrown it away. Is Baas going to be working in at all at LG

Posted By: ninerindallas (16/09/2008 10:34:47 AM)
Comment: I was impressed with JTO's performance sunday with going for over 300 yards and all, yet i was not completely sold on him. i was less sold when it looks like 2 possbley 3 of those sacks coulda been avoided.......But hearing JTO come out and say he was proud of the offensive line and that they did a good job says alot about a guy who has been sacked 12 times in two games, not to mention however many times he's been knocked down and preasured. thats a pretty classy thing to do. And i promise it wasn't overlooked by the o-line either.......i am still completely sold on him yet but with that one comment he showed a little intagrity and that means alot to this fan.....tear'em up niners

Posted By: 49er Fan (16/09/2008 10:27:34 AM)
Comment: Great blog. I admit I did not start reading Matt's work online until this season but what a cut above the other people covering the team. Nice that a beat writer takes the time to review things like this and try to analyze them for us. I am 47, watched this team since I was a boy at Kezar, and don't remember reading writing with this much substance.

Posted By: Sandeep (16/09/2008 10:26:10 AM)
Comment: You mention that "They'd switch it up in passing situations to LE Haralson, LT McDonald, RT Smith, RE Green." Did you see Smith lining up at DT much during training camp, or do you think that this was specifically planned to match-up against the Seattle OL? I don't recall ever hearing about Smith at DT...

Response: No, this is nothing new. Smith moves inside to DT when Haralson and Green are on the field in pass-rush situations. --Matt M.

Posted By: sandip (16/09/2008 10:21:05 AM)
Comment: I should say 'peripheral vision'..

Posted By: sandip (16/09/2008 10:18:49 AM)
Comment: REB- because it's too complicated. The tackles can see a head bob with periphery vision. Actually being able to distinguish between bobbing up, then down or whatever other trickery requires them to actually be looking at the center. They're better off trying to watch the ball from the corner of their eye. Besides, the defense has a better view of the center's head than the O-lineman.

Posted By: Demian (16/09/2008 10:16:39 AM)
Comment: Darren11- Nolan is staying. Alex is gone. Live with it. Have you ever had anything in life not go your way ? Take it in stride. Be a man. Have the ability to learn from mistakes instead of dwelling on them. Let's get back to talking about the points Matt brings up in is articles instead of being bitter. If you can't get over it, then find a new team. Maybe you can root for Alex's new team next year. Thanks as always for your great work Matt.

Posted By: REB (16/09/2008 10:09:28 AM)
Comment: With Heitmann's heads-up signal for the snap count allowing Seattle to get off quickly, why didn't we have a "head fake" move to draw them off sides? Adding such a misdirection signal to the mix shouldn't be difficult. The alternate would be a head up and then down for the snap. Simple; but it'd work after establishing the original pattern.

Posted By: Dean (16/09/2008 10:05:41 AM)
Comment: Matt- I really do enjoy this blog and have learned to skip over anything written by Darren (sorry Darren :-) but I must call you on this: Blame is a subjective thing when you don't know the intended design of the play. --Matt M. With all due respect are you not placing blame without knowing the design of the play?

Response: I'm trying my best to figure out why those plays went wrong. But I have admitted that it's my opinion, based on what I believe was the intent of the play call. --Matt M.

Posted By: fiverings (16/09/2008 9:58:03 AM)
Comment: Matt, As always, good work. While it is early in the season, it would appear that JTO is getting sacked once every four pass plays, this a trend the 49ers have to address. On the other hand, very few teams have won on the road, after giving up 8 sacks and being down by 14 points early. IMO, this win was about players making plays and persevering: Willis, JTO, Bruce and W. Harris.....hopefully, this trend will continue.

Posted By: Jed (16/09/2008 9:37:36 AM)
Comment: Correction: MacDonald-Soap-Fields-Smith.

Posted By: BHF (16/09/2008 9:37:24 AM)
Comment: Good analysis. On sack#1 if Gore and JTO do their jobs then the pass is out and it doesn't matter what Staley does with Peterson. Seems like JTO and Gore deserve about 90% of blame on that one.

Posted By: Jed (16/09/2008 9:36:46 AM)
Comment: Great stuff. Since 2005, Seahawks have been 1st, 6th and 4th in sacks. With the crowd and several inexperienced Niners on offense, they were gonna get some sacks. In the "sub" 4-2-5, did the Niners play Franklin or Fields more? Seems like MacDonald-Sopoaga-Fields-MacDonald is the more versatile unit.

Response: Typically, it was LE McDonald, LT Sopoaga, RT Franklin, RE Smith. They'd switch it up in passing situations to LE Haralson, LT McDonald, RT Smith, RE Green. Fields did not get a whole lot of action. --Matt M.

Posted By: Randy in Santa Rosa (16/09/2008 9:31:09 AM)
Comment: Beating the division champs at Qwest is like beating a HS team? Bruce for 153 yards against a good Seattle D is just OK? I've heard it all now.

Posted By: Darren11 (16/09/2008 9:29:48 AM)
Comment: Also, Randy, the 49ers change players so many times, there's no telling who's out there. TV don't say 'coming onto the field right now is Takeo Spikes, or Marcus Hudson is relieving Walt Harris.' All I see is either 3 Dline, 4 DLine, 3 LBs or 2 LBs, and jumbled secondary.

Posted By: Nevyn (16/09/2008 9:29:05 AM)
Comment: Well, this certainly debunks the notion that Sims was a big second half upgrade to Jennings. False starts vs getting beat clean a couple times.

Response: Jennings had two false starts and one holding penalty in the first haf. --Matt M.

Posted By: Darren11 (16/09/2008 9:27:44 AM)
Comment: Randy, 33 to 30 OT wouldn't even be rated 4 stars by Mick LaSalle. I know Goldson got hurt, Spencer is dinged, least Nolan was smart to get 11 DBs, we may need all of them the way they throw themselves out there. The Seattle win out of 4 stars would be a 2 star rating. The Lions game is one star. New ENgland is worth 3 stars. Beating Seattle is like beating a high school team. A W has to mean something and right now in the words of Piers Morgan, the talent is not there. I want my W to be like getting a great entree and it goes down easy. I still feel even if we do the job, Nolan still has to go. We also don't have a pass rusher and I still have yet to see a #1WR. What Bruce did was OK, but I expect better, Randy. I'd still take Clayton over Mrob for we need 3 established RBs, not 2.

Posted By: Rich, San Ramon (16/09/2008 9:20:47 AM)
Comment: Terrific work, Matt. Terrific.

Posted By: Randy in Santa Rosa (16/09/2008 9:17:37 AM)
Comment: Goldson was on the field until he got hurt. Spikes was on the field. M Rob is a ST ace... Do you even watch the games, Darren?

Posted By: Steve (16/09/2008 9:13:23 AM)
Comment: Priceless. We win ON THE ROAD and you're writing about who to blame. Priceless. Well, at least you are catering to your public. Love the small print that actually shows that statistically the Nolan defense was actually effective.

Posted By: mike in MD (16/09/2008 9:13:13 AM)
Comment: thanks Matt..I see what your saying since they were blitzed 3 plays in a row so there could have possibly been a quick slant or screen play called. What I was implying is if they had a regular play called that wasn't vs the blitz. In that case it should fall on the QB to recognize it & change the play.

Posted By: Darren11 (16/09/2008 9:06:36 AM)
Comment: The real problem is coaching. Whenever players are not doing the job, Nolan doesn't want to replace them. Look at the list: Goldson should play for Roman. Somebody else for Jennings. Takeo Spikes should clearly play over Ulbrich. We should've had Clayton for M Rob. The more Nolan does this, the more we will not get wins. Example: Seattle was a hurt team. That was was 42 to 7 game written all over it. Detroit, coming off a 48 to 25 loss to the Packers. How much you want to bet that it'll be 49ers 28 Lions 21, a game Mike Nolan can not and will not play? I agree with everybody that says we need to replace this coach.

Posted By: Jason (16/09/2008 8:54:50 AM)
Comment: The scary thing about reading this post, five of the eight sacks started with the phrase the Seahawks rushed four. It's five against four, you should not lose the battle 60% of the time. I know the Seahawks have a very good pass rush, but that is not good. Matt, any chance we see a move to get Baas back in the lineup, either by moving Wragge to LG or having Baas play there? Seems to me Snyder is just not picking up his game since being named the starter.

Posted By: mike in MD (16/09/2008 8:52:21 AM)
Comment: Great work, did you give a copy to Coach Manusky to save him time on the sack breakdowns? In total I say 7 sacks, Heitman stepping on JTO's foot was a fluke play. On the blitzes (#5, 6, & 7) you might put more blame on the QB for not recognizing it & calling some hot routes. There's quite a few sacks/pressures on 4-man rushes..some good practice before playing the Giants. They're front 4 is vicious.

Response: Blame is a subjective thing when you don't know the intended design of the play. --Matt M.

Posted By: shootme (16/09/2008 8:51:40 AM)
Comment: On sack No. 5, you say that JTO ended up with 7 defenders near him when he went down. Shouldn't you put some of the blame on JTO for not recognizing it (and a receiver, as well)? With that kind of pressure, it seems there should have been a hot route to get the ball out quickly. Did they disguise that blitz well?

Posted By: rj (16/09/2008 8:51:19 AM)
Comment: How many seconds is it reasonable for a quarterback to expect his OL to hold off the passrushers?

Response: It depends on the play called. --Matt M.

Posted By: Randy in Santa Rosa (16/09/2008 8:50:06 AM)
Comment: I think it's time to bench JJ... He's a human turnstile and a broken pinky away from being on IR. I trust Sims more than I do JJ.

Posted By: DaveInDavis (16/09/2008 8:47:29 AM)
Comment: Excellent analysis, Matt. With respect to the defense pressuring Hasselbeck, did anything jump out at you as to why we were able to bring pressure at certain points in the game (e.g. last Seattle series in regulation), but were impotent for most of the game. Was this because Seattle was clearly in a passing situation? Thanks for the great work!

Posted By: Darren11 (16/09/2008 8:45:08 AM)
Comment: I still hope Alex Smith will be back in 09. we might be the LA 49ers soon.

Response: Turn the page. Let's try to keep comments germane to what is addressed in blog post. Thank you. --Matt M.

Posted By: Wisconsin9er (16/09/2008 8:41:38 AM)
Comment: You mentioned yesterday that there would be a conference call with Patrick Willis. Did anything if note come out of that? Thanks for always staying on top of things!

Response: Yes. Frank Gore came through for us, and there was no timetable on getting Willis, so the assembled media asked to speak with him on Wednesday, instead. --Matt M.

Posted By: Giovanni Carmazzi (16/09/2008 8:24:18 AM)
Comment: Matt, how often did Seattle go with 3 and/or 4 WR's vs. only 2? This would explain our nickel and dime packages.