Offensive grades, November 8th

I have had the past few hours to sit down and write out some quick notes of what I thought of the game as i watched it another couple of times and here is what I walked away thinking.

Qb's- Alex came out in the first half and looked legit was on pace to throw for over 300yds, and a good game, the first pick should of been caught but that is the way things go, the throw was late. In the 2nd half there was a fundamental change to our offense that I really didnt understand. Our route combinations changed as well as the overall feel of our offense, which I do personally believe strongly contributed to Alex's bad 2nd half performance. The 2nd pick was all Alex, he didnt look off the coverage and got baited into that throw all the way, a bad read and stupid mistake. The 3rd interception was a joke not only should it have been caught(and yes it was the right read Alex threw it to the single coverage with no help) but it was also Pass interference by about a second on Morgan. Overall, in a fair assesment, Alex did not look great but once again when allowed to do what his strengths are(see last drive before half) he looked good. He had accuracy and timing issues, but timing can be changed and the extra hitches are what are causing his accuracy problems, give him a strong pocket and it will improve(see houston game). Grade- C-, below average game

Rb's- Gore is consistent as always, he missed a couple of large lanes that could of changed the pace of the game but no one is going to be perfect and he did well considering what he was given. He is a much stronger runner out of the shotgun then the OC gives him credit for and his biggest gains the past 2 games have come from the shotgun. In pass protection he was solid reading the blitz pickups and for the most part did well in protecion. Grade-B+

TE-Delanie and Vernon, moreso Vernon, are the bright spots in our offense. Vernon is really uncoverable atm and I do not understand the patterns we had him running, which were flat routes and not utilizing his vertical speed, it was very self defeating against the coverages we were seeing. Vernon was covered well but in bad routes bc of calls so I dont blame much on him, his blocking was strong and he chipped very well whenever needed. The best thing I saw from him today was him stepping up as a captain and telling others to use their head when they were doing stupid things, overall I have really loved watching Vernon coming into his own this year and hope we sign him to a huge deal for a long time to come. Grade-A, both in play and as a leader

OL-Make whatever excuses you will but right now our OL play is subpar, they are just playing bad. Take a clock to all of the QB throws, the OL is supposed to provide 5 seconds to their QB to make his reads and throws, I invite anyone to do what I did and you will see Alex is under pressure in under 2 seconds 24% of our pass plays, in under 3 seconds on over 60% of our plays and in pressure in under 4 on a whooping 87% of our plays. Providing your QB with sufficient protection 13% of the time and expecting to win/see decent QB play you are nuts. Sims held his own, Snyder was horrible, Rachal was ok, improved from what we had seen. Heitmann was good but did miss a blitz pickup, and Baas was below average as normal. That being said we need a tackle and a new guard for next year, if we went Ot, Og in the first round next year I would be happy. Grade-F, just got whipped all day.

WR-We saw some good things and some bad things today.Crabtree is good in reading zones but his hands were a littl off today, he is a rookie that is expected, Hill showed up when given the chance and his connection with Alex before half was a great flash of potential for everyone to see. Morgan had rock hands today, it was bad, he should of caught that pass that was Alex's 3rd pick. Bruce is old and slow and shouldnt see the field. Grade-C+(for Crabtree) D- for everone else.

OC- This is really where we lost the game today, in the 2nd Quarter we had the D's number we were running the right route combos and exposing the coverage where needed. We came out in the 2nd half and started running the same routes we saw when Shaun Hill was in with a much weaker arm. It was all short and easy for zones to cover, we didnt spread the field like we did in the 2nd quarter and we didnt open things up so we could let Gore run wild. I was personally blwon away by the horrible playcalling and was sad to see our Coaches give the game away. Grade-F, cost us the game and our halftime adjustments actually hindered us instead of helping.

Feel Free to share you grades as well as your critisicsm[/b]

Good work NV

When are you dropping the D's grades?

The irony is that you could the same grades for just about every game this season, including the ones we have won. And thats what makes this loss so unacceptable. We talk work ethic, change of strategy, etc. during the week, but when gamtime comes...it's the same garbage over and over. What this team needs is a new look on offense. Sure, a new coordinator could do wonders, but Im sick of using that excuse for the past 5 years. We've had 5 coordinators since Smith was drafted, and 3 of them were/are head coaches in this league..yet the results have been the same. It's time to change personnel.

I agree. I'm glad you gave the QB some thought and not an instant F. He played pretty damn well the first half. Second half just went to s**t for the whole team.

Always enjoy and appreciate your analysis.

i would only disagree with your grade on Raye. I would probably give him at least a C. I really thought they neglected the run today. Smith did look good out the gate, but the defense is gonna adjust. They didn't create any type of balance with the run. Plus most of Gore's runs were for good yardage. I think the F is too harsh for Raye.

god i don't get it why are we so bad in the 2nd half?

I blame Raye. While he did start to open up the play-calling, he put the game too much in the hands of Alex Smith. Whether or not Alex Smith is a franchise QB is debatable, but he can move the ball and make plays at times. A young offense like ours with a questionable QB should not throw it 40 times and only rush 15.

But it was a step in the right direction... just a little TOO much. I felt the next couple games would be one of growing pains. We don't know what our offensive identity is, and we're paying for it this season.

Today, we moved the ball MUCH more effectively. We had several long drives and were able to score. Unfortunately though, we shot ourselves in the foot and turned the ball over too much. I think we'll figure it out... But the question is... will we figure it out in time to save our season?

I think the right balance is about 55% pass, 45% run... Today, it felt like 70% pass, 30% run.

Originally posted by nvchamp9ers:
I have had the past few hours to sit down and write out some quick notes of what I thought of the game as i watched it another couple of times and here is what I walked away thinking.

Qb's- Alex came out in the first half and looked legit was on pace to throw for over 300yds, and a good game, the first pick should of been caught but that is the way things go, the throw was late. In the 2nd half there was a fundamental change to our offense that I really didnt understand. Our route combinations changed as well as the overall feel of our offense, which I do personally believe strongly contributed to Alex's bad 2nd half performance. The 2nd pick was all Alex, he didnt look off the coverage and got baited into that throw all the way, a bad read and stupid mistake. The 3rd interception was a joke not only should it have been caught(and yes it was the right read Alex threw it to the single coverage with no help) but it was also Pass interference by about a second on Morgan. Overall, in a fair assesment, Alex did not look great but once again when allowed to do what his strengths are(see last drive before half) he looked good. He had accuracy and timing issues, but timing can be changed and the extra hitches are what are causing his accuracy problems, give him a strong pocket and it will improve(see houston game). Grade- C-, below average game

Rb's- Gore is consistent as always, he missed a couple of large lanes that could of changed the pace of the game but no one is going to be perfect and he did well considering what he was given. He is a much stronger runner out of the shotgun then the OC gives him credit for and his biggest gains the past 2 games have come from the shotgun. In pass protection he was solid reading the blitz pickups and for the most part did well in protecion. Grade-B+

TE-Delanie and Vernon, moreso Vernon, are the bright spots in our offense. Vernon is really uncoverable atm and I do not understand the patterns we had him running, which were flat routes and not utilizing his vertical speed, it was very self defeating against the coverages we were seeing. Vernon was covered well but in bad routes bc of calls so I dont blame much on him, his blocking was strong and he chipped very well whenever needed. The best thing I saw from him today was him stepping up as a captain and telling others to use their head when they were doing stupid things, overall I have really loved watching Vernon coming into his own this year and hope we sign him to a huge deal for a long time to come. Grade-A, both in play and as a leader

OL-Make whatever excuses you will but right now our OL play is subpar, they are just playing bad. Take a clock to all of the QB throws, the OL is supposed to provide 5 seconds to their QB to make his reads and throws, I invite anyone to do what I did and you will see Alex is under pressure in under 2 seconds 24% of our pass plays, in under 3 seconds on over 60% of our plays and in pressure in under 4 on a whooping 87% of our plays. Providing your QB with sufficient protection 13% of the time and expecting to win/see decent QB play you are nuts. Sims held his own, Snyder was horrible, Rachal was ok, improved from what we had seen. Heitmann was good but did miss a blitz pickup, and Baas was below average as normal. That being said we need a tackle and a new guard for next year, if we went Ot, Og in the first round next year I would be happy. Grade-F, just got whipped all day.

WR-We saw some good things and some bad things today.Crabtree is good in reading zones but his hands were a littl off today, he is a rookie that is expected, Hill showed up when given the chance and his connection with Alex before half was a great flash of potential for everyone to see. Morgan had rock hands today, it was bad, he should of caught that pass that was Alex's 3rd pick. Bruce is old and slow and shouldnt see the field. Grade-C+(for Crabtree) D- for everone else.

OC- This is really where we lost the game today, in the 2nd Quarter we had the D's number we were running the right route combos and exposing the coverage where needed. We came out in the 2nd half and started running the same routes we saw when Shaun Hill was in with a much weaker arm. It was all short and easy for zones to cover, we didnt spread the field like we did in the 2nd quarter and we didnt open things up so we could let Gore run wild. I was personally blwon away by the horrible playcalling and was sad to see our Coaches give the game away. Grade-F, cost us the game and our halftime adjustments actually hindered us instead of helping.

Feel Free to share you grades as well as your critisicsm[/b]

All other things correct, I dispute your final conclusion's.

4 TO's. 24 points off off those TO's. That cost us the game, plain and simple.

Alex Gets an F.

3 INT's and 2 Fumbles is not C worthy let alone D worthy.

Well don't put all the blame on Alex. He had 1 legitimate INT. The rest were due to balls not being caught. And that fumble, for crying out loud can somebody block.

Originally posted by Wubbie:
I blame Raye. While he did start to open up the play-calling, he put the game too much in the hands of Alex Smith. Whether or not Alex Smith is a franchise QB is debatable, but he can move the ball and make plays at times. A young offense like ours with a questionable QB should not throw it 40 times and only rush 15.

But it was a step in the right direction... just a little TOO much. I felt the next couple games would be one of growing pains. We don't know what our offensive identity is, and we're paying for it this season.

Today, we moved the ball MUCH more effectively. We had several long drives and were able to score. Unfortunately though, we shot ourselves in the foot and turned the ball over too much. I think we'll figure it out... But the question is... will we figure it out in time to save our season?

I think the right balance is about 55% pass, 45% run... Today, it felt like 70% pass, 30% run.

I agree. It's almost like we got to run the spread got to his head. We were running the ball effectively today, and there was at least 3 2nd and shorts blown because we decided to pass the ball and got sacked.

You can open the passing game and still run the ball.

Bottom line is we cannot finish. That is a direct result of youth, inexperience, lack of continuity, and no stability on offense.

Smith looked a little JTO ish out there. I'm glad he's letting it rip but damn let's not self destruct. He had 115 yards in the second quarter then pooped.

In response, to all who believe I am harsh in my judging of Raye and you put the onus on Alex Smith, I would simply make the suggestion that you watch the route combos Raye had Smith throwing into. THey were basic route combo's that were not create mismatches in the secondary like the first half and forcing us to throw to our outlet on basically every play, as evidence of that please watch the last drive where 4 of the last 5 passes where thrown to outlet recievers bc down the field wasnt open. As an Oc you need to create open WR's bc of mismatches, you need to confuse the defense, we were not doing that. As I said Alex did not play good but when the playcalling was there, Alex looked good, and Frank was getting his carries. In the 2nd half we needed to run slightly more and not be so straight forward on our pass plays, it made it easy to beat us, it cost us the game.

Originally posted by jcs:
Alex Gets an F.

3 INT's and 2 Fumbles is not C worthy let alone D worthy.

A grade of C for Alex is an excuse for a fan who cant let go.