oldman9er's Game 3 observations (Dallas)

Originally posted by strickac:
Props on the play-by-play. I'm rewatching the game now and here's some of the things I've noticed.

Hill didn't play as poorly as I originally thought. The pass blocking wasn't really there and other than Battle, his WRs didn't help him out any.

Josh Morgan dropped a pass about 20 yards down the field, late in the 2nd, we settled for a FG. Prior to that, on the same drive, Morgan was slow getting out of his break and disrupted the timing between him and Shaun. It resulted in an incomplete pass and would've been a first down.

Battle did an outstanding job. He gets open and comes back to the ball. Solid performance by him.

Chilo and Coffee gave the QB absolutely no time to get through their progressions. I thought Rachal looked great against Oakland, but he regressed against Dallas. He whiffed on a few stunts in the first half alone. Coffee is lucky to even get his hands on pass rushers. Until Coffee learns to pass block, don't expect to see much of him during the regular season. I love his running style, but he's a huge liability on a passing downs (when not taking a screen pass).

We really need Crabtree (and Bruce). He would be the perfect compliment to Shaun Hill. If Crab can create quick seperation as he so easily did in college, he'll be a huge asset, giving Hill a quick target. Watching Battle play so well underneath made me wonder.

Defense: This has been talked about plenty, so all I say is that unless Manusky can manufacture a pass rush through creativity, our defense isn't going to improve into the Top-10 tier, as we all hoped. It seemed that everyone except the coaching staff realized that we needed to bring in a pass rusher. Hopefully we can still land one after the rosters are cut, but don't hold your breath.

OK, one more rant on the pass rushers. I'm sick of the team bringing in guys that are even effective college rushers. Moore, Haralson, Lawson, Brooks, come on. Lawson had a decent speed rush, but that's it. For instance, watch Elvis Dumervil (4th Rd pick) this season in Denver. He's playing in Nolan's defense and just learning the 3-4, but I'm willing to bet that he easily outplays Manny and Haralson. Why? Because he has a knack for getting to the QB. Our guys couldn't bring down the QB in college and now they can't do it in the Pros.

You don't have to draft 1st rounders to get pass rushers either. Nick Reed (7th Rd) and Everette Brown (2nd Rd) are two of last season's NCAA leaders in sacks and their getting to the QB for their new squads. It's time we start drafting pass rushers, not guys that we think will better make the transition to OLB; otherwise, we get stuck with guys like Manny and Haralson, who are good LBs, but not very good pass rushers.

100% agree on certain plays where it appears Hill is holding the ball to long i really think the WR's aren't getting open. Everything you said about the pass rush was on point. the really sad thing is the team isn't even taking a flyer on late round pass rush guys they just aren't drafting them at all.

Originally posted by Afrikan:

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by Afrikan:

Quote:
2nd and 10 at DAL 43 (7:00) S.Hill pass incomplete deep middle to V.Davis. Pass incomplete at the Dallas 24; Brooking was the closest defender.
nice protection from Staley... Heitmann got beat on a move, but Wragge helped him out... Rachal and Sims were going backward, but giving time... 3 second pass was overthrown to a leaping VD ( fully stretched out) over the middle. Replay showed that the ball was also thrown well behind VD, but he made a good adjustment to give it a chance

wasn't this the one where the DT was getting penetration in Hill's face as soon as he hiked the ball....I don't know if that was considered given time...

I mean even Eric Davis said that was on the oline for letting Dallas get penetration that quick right up the middle.

edit- good job with these...i'm looking forward to the 2nd qtr. review

oh and that part about missing time...that was on KPIX....they f'd up on the broadcast for like 5 mins.....and then had the nerve to joke about it....I would've threw O'Donnell from where he was sitting if I was there.

On that pass play, Hill did have 3.5 seconds, but hesitated from a shorter route and then decided for the deeper route to Bruce. It was not a ton of time, but he had time. It was just a really bad throw, as Bruce had steps on the DB and about 5 yds of green before the sidelines.

no I'm talking about the pass intended for Vernon Davis....

the Bruce one was weird and looked like it was Hill's fault.

The play where Hill went down the middle to Vernon, he coudn't step into the throw as he had pressure up the middle. Rachal did not have a good game. Coffee also has to work on his pass protection.

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by strickac:
Props on the play-by-play. I'm rewatching the game now and here's some of the things I've noticed.

Hill didn't play as poorly as I originally thought. The pass blocking wasn't really there and other than Battle, his WRs didn't help him out any.

Josh Morgan dropped a pass about 20 yards down the field, late in the 2nd, we settled for a FG. Prior to that, on the same drive, Morgan was slow getting out of his break and disrupted the timing between him and Shaun. It resulted in an incomplete pass and would've been a first down.

Battle did an outstanding job. He gets open and comes back to the ball. Solid performance by him.

Chilo and Coffee gave the QB absolutely no time to get through their progressions. I thought Rachal looked great against Oakland, but he regressed against Dallas. He whiffed on a few stunts in the first half alone. Coffee is lucky to even get his hands on pass rushers. Until Coffee learns to pass block, don't expect to see much of him during the regular season. I love his running style, but he's a huge liability on a passing downs (when not taking a screen pass).

We really need Crabtree (and Bruce). He would be the perfect compliment to Shaun Hill. If Crab can create quick seperation as he so easily did in college, he'll be a huge asset, giving Hill a quick target. Watching Battle play so well underneath made me wonder.

Defense: This has been talked about plenty, so all I say is that unless Manusky can manufacture a pass rush through creativity, our defense isn't going to improve into the Top-10 tier, as we all hoped. It seemed that everyone except the coaching staff realized that we needed to bring in a pass rusher. Hopefully we can still land one after the rosters are cut, but don't hold your breath.

OK, one more rant on the pass rushers. I'm sick of the team bringing in guys that are even effective college rushers. Moore, Haralson, Lawson, Brooks, come on. Lawson had a decent speed rush, but that's it. For instance, watch Elvis Dumervil (4th Rd pick) this season in Denver. He's playing in Nolan's defense and just learning the 3-4, but I'm willing to bet that he easily outplays Manny and Haralson. Why? Because he has a knack for getting to the QB. Our guys couldn't bring down the QB in college and now they can't do it in the Pros.

You don't have to draft 1st rounders to get pass rushers either. Nick Reed (7th Rd) and Everette Brown (2nd Rd) are two of last season's NCAA leaders in sacks and their getting to the QB for their new squads. It's time we start drafting pass rushers, not guys that we think will better make the transition to OLB; otherwise, we get stuck with guys like Manny and Haralson, who are good LBs, but not very good pass rushers.

100% agree on certain plays where it appears Hill is holding the ball to long i really think the WR's aren't getting open. Everything you said about the pass rush was on point. the really sad thing is the team isn't even taking a flyer on late round pass rush guys they just aren't drafting them at all.

Yeah, especially this year. We obviously needed pass rushers, yet instead, we hire a pass rushing coach? I don't get it. I understand the Pascoe and RJF picks, but we could've dropped atleast one pick on a pass rusher.

Man, this is going to drive me crazy all season.

I think we'll be better this season, but at this point, 8-8 would be a really good season for us.

Oldman:

In reading your wonderful assessments I have drawn a number of conclusions about our team. I want to present them and see if it is any where near your assessments.

Oline:
Staley - Fairly consistent blocker - both pass and run. Still spotty at times.

Wragge - Inconsistent blocker both pass and run. Good effort but not too talented.

Heitmann - Fairly consistent blocker - teams get a lot of push on him and he goes back 2-3 yards fairly consistently before he holds. He gives the appearance to the QB of letting someone through which may be one of the causes of happy feet.

Rachal - Still learning, overall a good guard, but can be taken advantage of by quality Dlinemen.

Snyder - Fairly consistent blocking both pass and rush.

Unclear assessment on my part for any of the second level players - Bender, Wallace, and Toledo and certainly unclear on the undrafted free agents - Boone, etc.

Oline - If we get Baas back in time we may have a fairly consistent oline - not great but better than last year. Pretty good on run blocking, less good at pass blocking.

Running Backs:
Gore - Very good per training camp reports. Good running good blocking.

Coffee - Good running, inconsistent blocking.

Robinson - More awareness, better running.

Sheets - Making a strong case for a fourth back.

Norris - Good run blocker, inconsistent pass blocking.

B. Miller - Good candidate for Practice Squad

Rentmeester - Probably a cut

RBs - Expect a good running game, plays to the strengths of the oline.

WRs and Tightends:
V. DAvis - good Training camp catching a lot of balls, good blocking. Expect a break out season.

D. Walker - Good pass catcher, poor blocker

J. J. Finley - Improving

Pascoe - May end up on practice squad.

Morgan - Inconsistent play

Bruce - good route running good hands

Crabtree - Hope he gets signed, we can use the help

Battle - the most consistent wr so far.

Spurlock - Some hope of a wr

Zeigler - Some hope

Hill - little to no sightings

TEs and WRs - Need good blocking in a run oriented offense. Need good hands, hopefully someone will break out. Not a good presentation in the preseason.

QBs:
Hill - Not very consistent during the preseason. Unclear to me whether that is a function of him, oline, wrs, or all of the above.

Smith - Some improvement according to oldman. Better pocket presence, poor WRs catching the ball. Second string.

N. Davis - Best arm, best awareness, at this stage of the game. Still a rookie but potential.

Huard - not much play, unclear whether he will be cut or not.


Dline:
Justin Smith - Pretty consistent motor, good effort, gets a lot of double team. Our best lineman.

A. Franklin - Occasional penetration, but gets moved back a lot. Inconsistent push.

I. Sopoaga - Inconsistent push, gets pushed out of position easily, occasional burst of something.

Demetric Evans - Inconistent push, not much of anything special.

McDonald - Good jump off the ball, doesn't seem to know where the ball is, but fairly consistent push.

Balmer - Your reports seem to indicate significant improvement. When he plays he is around the ball, and is getting better push, more awareness of getting a hand up in the passing lanes, more movement to the ball. So hope of better participation.

K. Mitchell - He seems to do well at least against second to third stringers. Don't know if he can handle 1st string players. Seems to have some consistent energy.

RJ. Francois - Some potential maybe practice squad player.

Dline - potential of Justin Smith DE; Mitchell NT, K. Balmer of being our best line. Second line McDonald DE; A. Franklin NT; Evans/Francois DE

Linebackers:
Willis - has been injured so not a lot of comment. Good to have him back and he should be a wonderful tackler and maybe get 3-5 sacks this year.

Spikes - Very consistent ILB. 3-5 sacks

Harolson - Fairly consistent OLB - 10+ sacks. Your reports, at least to my untrained eye, indicate fairly consistent pressure. 10+ sacks would indicate pretty good season.

Lawson - The mystery man. Great coverage backer, Can hold the rush lane fairly well. Does not seem to have the physique or drive to run over RBs and TEs to get to the QB. Yet, your reports indicate 3-4 times a game he gets very close to a sack. If that is a possibility then I am predicting 5-7 sacks this year. That would give some balance to Haralson and would give us 15-20 sacks between the two OLBs. That is not world beating but it does give some consistent pressure.

Then the backups are not clear yet - Brooks, Moore, Harris, McKillop, Washington, Ulbrich, Briggs. Four to five of these players will make the team.

LBs - Another 5-7 sacks with the LBs other than Lawson/Harolson.

DBs:
Clements - Very inconsistent play in preseason. Covers too far off, inconsistent communication with the rest of the backfield. May be losing a step or two.

T. Brown - When he has played very consistent coverage. Seems to be coming into his own. Quality

D. Bly - Very consistent play so far. Bly and Brown may be the most consistent players for coverage.

Spencer - Unclear how well he is playing, but no identifiable reports of getting blown away.

Green - Unclear play level

Hudson - Unclear play level.

Roman - lots of tackling - but slow and not always in the right place.

Goldson - hard hitting, potential to make a lot of plays at safety.

R. Smith - Consistent ball hawking play for fumbles and intercetions - good improvement.

M. Lewis - Concussions may be a large factor in whether he can play this year. One or two more concussions and he may be out as a player.

C. Taylor - May end up being a backup by default.

DBs - Clements and Roman are the current weak links in the DBs. If Clements can play, and decides to play, then we may have a good backfield. 8 interceptions is pretty good. When Goldson gets his confidence it could be a pretty good backfield. Every bit of pressure will make them that much better.


Conclusions -
Offense - Good running game. See if Bruce and Davis can provide enough WR help to keep the defense honest. Will need some help from at least one more receiver - Morgan, Hill, Spurlock, Zeigler, Crabtree. Should have good time of possession with run game.

Defense - Has the potential to be a steady and consistent defense. May improve on sacks and pressure if Balmer develops. Lawson needs to get 5-10 sacks to protect Harolson. Backfield seems to have the potential to be good especially if Singletary can deal with Clements. He may have to bench him to get his attention. If Clements can play well we could be in good shape. Goldson and Smith may make a good safety combo. I expect lots of interceptions and strips.