Raye's playcalling... what did you think?

It was a preseason game. Can't really take the playcalling too seriously.

Originally posted by 49ersBest1:
It was a preseason game. Can't really take the playcalling too seriously.

That's true, but you would think Preseason is the time to be at least a little aggressive.

1:30 something left in the 2nd quarter up by only two points and we go conservative?? Sure its not about the W's in Preseason, but this is the time to make mistakes, gamble and see if you can correct them in the process.

I like Raye's play calling. We had two TD passes to a fullback. Would have had a third if Alex Smith lays a touch pass out to Coffee. In the first quarter, Vernon Davis caught two passes for 40+ yards, before he was pulled. If JJ Finley catches his pass in the second half, we have our TEs catching over 60 yds of passes. And Bear Pasco catches the 2 point conversion. So I see signs of a ball control passing attack, similar in some ways to Walsh's West Coast Offense. If Raye can make D's defend our TEs, and our FB, than it will be that much easier for our WRs to get open downfield.

Given that the last 3 offensive coordinators failed to make VD a receiving threat, and Raye established that in the first 5 minutes of the game, I take that as a sign of progress.

predictable, we ran on every single first down

Its the first real time game situation for all of our players in his offense. It will only get better.

Clearly they still have to work on few things from an execution standpoint, but I thought there was a nice rythym to the play-calling. Sometimes, the first few preseason games are REALLY tough to watch, as the timing just isn't there and the play-calling seems frantic and anything but smooth. Quite the opposite on Thursday night...good job, Jimmy Raye.

Jimmy Raye is the real deal:

1. He has installed an offense that works (not the HOS no-yarder);

2. The qbs had no turnovers (not the Martz 4-6 turnover a game show); and

3. His playcalling was perfectly fine for the first exhibition -- get Coffee touches, get the ball to Vernon (finally!), try to keep moving the chains.

The OL failed to execute -- they told us but didn't show us. Oh yes, and Frank didn't play.

I give Raye a big vote of confidence!!

You can't take too much away from a pre-season game but when I factor in the two training camp practices I went to ----- I feel pretty comfortable with Raye at this point.

Raye did pretty good, remember we want to be able to run the ball on teams when they know we are running the ball. There was no trickeration in this game because there was no need for it, we wanted to line up man on man and see if we could push Denver around and I think we did a decent job.

And for the people disgruntled with the end of the first half, keep in mind Battle had his penalty that put us in an obvious passing situation. With Smith out there and some of the O-line starting to be replaced and 3 sacks in the first half.... I dont blame Raye one bit for running out the clock instead of making Smith take a 5-7 step drop and putting him in a position to get hurt to score meaningless points. Without Battle's penalty I think we continue the 2 minute drill, but once that happened it seemed as if the team just wanted to get in the locker room to make halftime adjustments.

I have had some time to mull things over. These are my observations...

For the first game, he called plays catering to a particular moment or situation given down and distance. Most of his calls were catering to his player's strengths like the throws to the TEs or the draws. IMO, some were spot on others, like running Sheets down the middle, seemed a little forced. Maybe he just wanted to test how certain players handled certain situations. However, I can see Sheets bouncing out, away from the tackles instead of inside. He's going to bring that different look, perfect to compliment Gore and Coffee's styles.

For the most part, I really enjoyed the flow of the calls and the movement of the chains. I like that the ball was passed around to all the weapons, WR, TE and the backs. This will soften the LOS for the running attack. I already see signs of it. It looks like the ol' 2000 Chiefs, with just one preseason game in the books.

This is what gets me pumped! Finally, finally, finally, an OC who uses his best weapon...correctly! I'm excited to see what Davis will finally bring to the table when properly used. His two catches were solid patterns and, get this, HANDS! I can't remember two back to back catches by that man with that many yards. Fantasy Football...CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

The other aspect of this O I can see already is the beloved play action pass. With throws to TE, FBs and RBs out on the flat and the WRs stretching the field, the running game will flourish giving us some ample opportunities to catch the safeties in the box. I can see Shaun and Alex throwing down field more often this year.

Finally, run, run, run!! This running attack is going to be special as long as everyone stays healthy. We know Gore's a beast, ready to take on the rest of the NFL. He's lean, mean fighting machine!!!!

Sure, it is the preseason. So what? It is still a glimpse into the future.

Go 49ers!

I most admit, I was not impress with the initial hiring of Raye Raye. However, I think he is doing a great job. Now if we can find someone who can call beter defensive plays, we may have a legit shot of winning some games.

Originally posted by 49time:
I most admit, I was not impress with the initial hiring of Raye Raye. However, I think he is doing a great job. Now if we can find someone who can call beter defensive plays, we may have a legit shot of winning some games.

If he uses Vernon to suit his strengths, then Vernon will be double-teamed a lot. I would really like to see how he uses Vernon, Delanie, and M. Rob in the same formation. Man, that's is going to be one serious spread of the ball.

Agreed, this is truely the 1st time I have been excited about our offense since T.O and Garcia left town.

Originally posted by unst4bl3:
I think he did good, I liked the plays called better than martz's offense. There were a few things I thought were strange.

1. before halftime we did like 4 shotgun draws.. they worked but, calling the same play is odd.

2. Wtf 2 min drill before halftime?

Otherwise it looked good, even with the 3rd stringers running it.

Before reading my criticisms, acknowledge that I'm giving Raye the benefit of the doubt since it was PRESEASON.


With that said.... if that's how he plans to playcall in real games, than he should start packing his bags.... absolutely terrible.

Why in the world do you run the ball like 4 consecutive times in an obvious 2 minute drill situation. You say that the draw calls worked? ummmmmmm.... worked to run out the clock to guarantee us no points. Those yards were given to us due to their conservative defense (I'm sorry but a 5 yard run with 1:00 left on your own 30 isn't a success)

Shaun Hill's drive only stalled because Raye decidied to run on a long 3rd and 3, Hill had converted on every third down opportunity given to him.

Nate Davis doesn't even get a pass in? I mean come on, running down the clock to preserve a preseason win is even worse than Vernon Davis celebrating 10 yard receptions...

Why do you not practice the 2 minute drill with Alex Smith in a perfect opportunity? why do you not let Nate Davis throw even a high percentage pass? That's what practice is for, and that's what preseason is for.....

Originally posted by 49oz2superbowl:


Why do you not practice the 2 minute drill with Alex Smith in a perfect opportunity? why do you not let Nate Davis throw even a high percentage pass? That's what practice is for, and that's what preseason is for.....

That's exactly what I was thinking, why would you run the clock out on a PRESEASON game?! Why not see what Davis can do? Or practice the 2 min drill