The 49ers play the Dolphins Sunday at Candlestick. In the meantime, I’ll break down five key matchups. SLB Koa Misi, WLB Kevin Burnett and RCB Nolan Carroll vs. TE Vernon Davis I expect the Dolphins to follow the Rams’ defensive blue print against the 49ers by using a two-deep zone to try to force Colin Kaepernick to check it down. With strong safety Reshad Jones playing a deep zone, Vernon…
SANTA CLARA – It has come to our attention that quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst is in charge of game planning the 49ers red zone offense every week. The 49ers have scored touchdowns on 56 percent of their red zone trips this season – 11th best in the NFL, and 16 percent better than their red zone TD percentage last season – 40 percent. But the last two weeks, the offense…
SANTA CLARA – Thursday, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat learned the 49ers divvy up the offensive game planning. Today, I asked Jim Harbaugh if they divvy up the play calling, too. ME: Does Greg Roman call all of the offensive plays during the game, or does John Morton call the pass plays, and Geep Chryst the red zone plays? HARBAUGH: I think we’ve gone over this multiple times. Greg Roman…
Mario Manningham sat out the last two practices with a shoulder injury. If he can’t play against the Dolphins on Sunday, the 49ers lose a key weapon in the pass game. Manningham is second on the team in targets and catches, he’s dropped just one pass all season and he’s a deep threat. How do you suppose the 49ers wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator John Morton is game…
SANTA CLARA — Greg Roman spoke in the 49ers media tent Thursday afternoon. Here is what he said about his play calling against the Rams on Sunday, courtesy of the 49ers. After the game and Monday and yesterday, head coach Jim Harbaugh talked a lot about the playcalls toward the end. How much second guessing do you do of yourself for those calls, the pitch in particular and just…
SANTA CLARA — This is what Greg Roman said about the 49ers running game at his Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Have you been impressed with G/T Alex Boone’s development and in particular his ability to pull and use his athleticism for a 6’7” guy? “Yeah Alex, I though, had one of his best games, if not his best game last week. Technically, from an assignment standpoint,…
SANTA CLARA — This is what Greg Roman said about the Dolphins defense at his Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “Good afternoon. Got a good Miami team coming in here, their defense playing at a high level. When we turn the film on and, you watched them last week, they played New England. We generally, really put about six games into our scouting report for…
Jim Harbaugh constantly asserts that “this is Greg Roman’s offense” when speaking of the 49ers offense. Is that the case? It is likely the offensive game plan is not just Roman’s, but an amalgam of input from the assistant coaches. Two players on the 49ers confirmed this exclusively to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat Thursday afternoon on the record. Third string quarterback Scott Tolzien said, “For the most part, Coach…
Defensively, the Dolphins played the Patriots fairly tough on Sunday, allowing only 10 yards rushing in the first half. Unfortunately, the Fish gave up over 100 yards rushing in the second half. Mike Nolan, their defensive coordinator last year, left them with some pretty good talent and schemes, so they are not a dismal unit. The Dolphins have two 49er games against the Rams to study because Jeff Fisher’s defensive…
SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke to Bay Area reporters in the 49ers media tent Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said about Colin Kaepernick. Q: Are you ready to name Colin Kaepernick the starting quarterback going forward, or will you still make that announcement on a week-by-week basis? HARBAUGH: “We’ve got faith and trust in Colin, in the way he’s played. Therefore, another start this week.” Q: How quickly can…
Brent Jones spoke on KNBR Monday afternoon. Here’s what he said the 49ers have to do to make up for the loss of Kendall Hunter. Q: What do the 49ers do with Kendall Hunter out for the year? BRENT JONES: “That’s the thing. Frank carried the ball 23 times on Sunday, and he’s been more of a 17-to-18-carries type of guy. “Somebody’s going to have to step up. Is it…
The 49ers offense is easy to fix only if Jim Harbaugh will allow the other 49ers offensive assistant coaches to get more involved with input of personnel groupings, formations, movement schemes, runs, play action passes and drop back passes as well as Red Zone, short yardage, goal line, 3rd downs, 2-minute, four minute, coming out offense, etc. I asked Harbaugh on October 19th whether the offensive game plan is a…
Lorenzo Neal spoke on 95.7 The Game Tuesday morning. Here’s what he said about Vernon Davis’ lack of involvement in the 49ers offense. Q: What do you think of Vernon Davis’ disappearance the last two games? NEAL: “You have to get him involved. You have to believe you can get Vernon Davis involved. He’s such a weapon. He’s such a playmaker. You’ve just got to throw the ball to this…
Greg Cosell spoke on KNBR Monday afternoon. Here’s what he said about the 49ers 16-13 overtime loss to the Rams on Sunday. Q: What do the Rams do defensively that gives the 49ers fits? It was tough for the 49ers to go down the field and to run the ball. COSELL: “I think the running part was probably the biggest issue. They ran well in the first quarter, and after…
SANTA CLARA – This is Jim Harbaugh’s assessment of Greg Roman’s play calling on Sunday against the Rams. Q: Did Greg Roman call a good game yesterday? HARBAUGH: “Yes. The other play that probably gets some scrutiny is the first with two minutes to go – we throw the ball to Delanie. The flipside of that is getting both of their timeouts, running the football. There would have probably been…
SANTA CLARA – This is what Jim Harbaugh said about the fumbled fourth quarter pitch play that resulted in a touchdown for the Rams defense. Q: Was the fumble-touchdown Kaepernick’s mistake or was it the mistake of the entire offense? HARBAUGH: Tough loss. We’ve got to finish games. That’s our job to finish those games. We all take responsibility for that. Responsibility-taking starts with me. On that option play that…
SAN FRANCISCO – The 49ers lost to the Rams 16-13. Here is the grade for Colin Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick: C-. He did not play particularly well, but was sacked (3) and hit (5) too often and flushed out of the pocket far more than in previous games. He had only 1 pass play of more than 16 yards. He averaged only 6.5 per attempt, which is not a winning yards…
SAN FRANCISCO – The 49ers lost to the Rams 16-13. Here are the grades for the 49ers coaches. Coaching: F. This loss falls directly on the 49ers offensive coaches for a variety of reasons. First of all, what a horrible play to call on your 17 yard line where Colin Kaepernick is in the shotgun and running that option to his LEFT. The pitched sailed out of reach of Ted Ginn…
SANTA CLARA – Here is the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Friday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. How did the week go? “Good week. Got a chance to work on our turf field today. And playing on turf this week. But, overall, good week. Thought the focus was good and the practices were good.” Does the rain infringe upon your preparations at all? “Probably a couple different ways…
SANTA CLARA — Here is what Greg Roman said Thursday about Colin Kaepernick, courtesy of the 49ers. Usually a young quarterback can get a lot of leeway to make mistakes. You guys are in the playoff hunt and you’ve also got a very good quarterback behind him now, what kind of leeway does he have to have a bad game? “That’s a hypothetical question. We’re just getting ready to…
