Originally posted by jta854:
For me personally, that last game was the most frustrating game to watch in a long time. Sing talked all week how he wanted Alex Smith to have a good game so it could be a smoother off season. I expected the 49ers to come out using shot gun and throwing the ball around the field. And WTF do we get? AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! The same run first down, run second, and then a draw/screen on third down for the entire first half. I mean seriously, WTF? Regardless of your feelings on Smith, how is he (or any QB) supposed to be successful when he only throws the ball on 3rd and long?
The second half was better, but why not do it the whole game?
Exactly! This proves Raye has ZERO feel for the game AND shows he does not review the opposition's weaknesses - but why would he? We will impose our will on defenses so who needs to study an opponent? The Rams were 27th against the pass and the few times we attacked them resulted in TD's...all in the second half. The Seattle game, we have a PROVEN track record of dominating them on the ground so what does Raye do? He throws the whole game and Gore gets what, 4 carries that game? I just don't know how much Singletary influences Raye but his entire career is the same as our record (8-8) = average. He has PROVEN that all 75 years in the league. I'm not against continuity but even an above average OC could have taken this team to the playoffs no matter WHAT kind of offense was run.
And I don't buy the "fix the o-line and the offense will be better" b/c Raye will still be calling the plays and defenses had ZERO problems game-planning against his predictable play-calling.
Has anyone considered that perhaps the o-line looks terrible this year BECAUSE of the play-calling? Staley, our best o-linemen looked like garbage, Heitmann, just as bad - teams were stacking the box with 9 men and run blitzing up the middle and our whole line got BEAT TO HELL and suffered injuries all year, a shot to their growth and development AND confidence! It constantly put the line out on a plank and in turn, destroyed Hill and Smith, created 3rd and longs and even hurt our defense! If you take any of our o-linemen and put them on a better team with a better OC, would they really be as bad as we were collectively? Dahl, Smiley, etc.
Again, I don't know how much is stubborn philosophy or an inability to run a modern day offense but either way, Singletary seems to be tied to Raye and likewise. The botton line is, Raye was NOT an improvement over Martz save for a couple individual achievements. Period.
[ Edited by NCommand on Jan 6, 2010 at 15:54:08 ]