The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Not suprisingly, Command has good command of the game. I would add further, that in addition to letting alex call his own plays(be his own OC), it is absolutely necessary that on Mon a.m. BM(bigmike), JR, Solari(that's right), Manusky(yup),MJ, AND ALEX are all in the film room studying next opponent and ALL contributing to game plan for the next game. Alex should be part and parcel of every game plan, and if a question arises, I would defer to him. Other than that, Command said it all well.

One thing, Manusky stayed away from "PREVENT" D, until last drive of game, when on one play he reverted to Prevent D, and Colston promptly caught one for 20 yds. That was the last PREVENT call i saw. Prevent D...that's for losers...all day, every day.

That's a great point! It was in the back of my mind. That play we had both LB's DEEP and they had, what two or three consecutive dump off passes to the RB who ripped off two huge chunks to set up that seam pass.

The Good



The Bad (Ass)




The Ugly

The blame shouldn't be put on play calls on D or the D's preformance. All the blame needs to go to Adams and especially Delanie Walker for always finding ways to screw the team!!!! I think of the game and his stupid ass fumble reminds me how pissed I was last night, I mean come on!!!! Me personally, they should send Delanie to 3rd TE and bring up Byham behind The Duke, FU$K Delanie Walker!! Shuda been 28-22 Niners

Originally posted by Blitz:

Originally posted by NCommand:
The Good
Heart, passion and pride. This is something that was absent last week but we tend to display more at home
Alex Smith. Should be our OC, no question. When he is given control of the playing calling, he delivers. Incredible last drive and 2-point conversion. He put us time and time again in position to score and score big. He checked down when needed, ran for it and stayed in the pocket. Just a great game all-around. The haters should stop for one week at least
The defensive stop at the 1 yard line. That gave our offense a chance (usually we suck in short yardage situations esp. at the goal line on both sides of the ball)
Run defense. The d-line (esp. Sopoaga) and both OLB's were pretty stout against the run and Manny had nice coverage on one play. Sidenote - but why is he in coverage when we had not one but two DB's covering on the same play? Willis/Spikes/Bowman played great against the run
O-line and blitz pickup. Big props to Gore not just on his individual performance in running but on his stellar blitz pickup. Big ups to Davis (he was nasty last night), Iupati and even Baas (despite his one adrenaline hike). Heck, Synder had a hell of a game too and Synder was solid in pass protection
Gameplans. The game plan was to control the ball on offense and keep NO's offense on the sideline and run more off-tackle on the right side over Davis. Mission accomplished. On Defense, the goal was to provide pressure up the gut. Mission accomplished
Coverage. Was pretty solid all night (save for on Reggie Bush of course) but on Shockey, we finally played him right and had a DB on him. I can't fault Goldson on that huge play as that was just a great play all around (but your defenders are supposed to yell "turn" when the ball is in the air)
Execution. After Seattle, it was nice to see everyone and I mean everyone execute well
Moral victory. Chalk this one up with the Colts & Minnesota last year

The Bad
OLB pass rush. As usual, Manny got there once but coudn't finish and Haralson was no where to be found. LaBoy was active but a non-factor
Coaching. Offense - When commentors during the game note that the Saints practice stripping the ball on every play (flash back to our pathetic "stripping" drill with the Spencer/Brooks incident) you'd think the coaches would encourage ball security when defenders approached. Again, we could have used Westbrook much like how the Saints used Bush. He got his one token Wildcat play and that was it. Dixon needs to be used more off tackle to balence Gore in-between runs. We had a mismatch with VD all night but never went back to that play (this is a staple for JR). And why can we not run off left tackle? Ever...is Staley just a decent pass blocker but can't get a push or seal the edge w/o a lot of help from the TE's? Defense - The same could be said for Manusky who inserted Brooks, he gets a sack instantly and then is sparingly used after that (playing it safe?). McDonald always makes plays up the middle (ala Willis) but wasn't used until the end of the game and that was our gameplan; to bring pressure up the gut. Manny's side was eaten up all game long on screen plays and we continued to suck in coverage in the middle of the field and no adjustments were made. Special Teams - why do you punt to Reggie Bush in Candlestick winds? Kick that thing over his head or out of bounds. And in these same conditions, why are you aksing a rookie to even attempt fielding a punt? Just get away from the ball. It hurt us big time. What also hurt was the wind and poor punts by Lee esp. the safety-punt Overall - you could see the chess match going on but at the end of the night, you could see the in-game and half-time adjustments (esp. screen/run play mix) made by NO to win this game. They are just a machine and all on the same page 100% of the time. Again, we were outcoached despite having good game plans coming in


The Ugly
Communication errors costing us a crucial 5 yard penalty. I counted several times Alex was motioning to the sideline to get the play in to which many times, it looked like he gave up and just called his own play (and they were damn good too). It was obvious the issue was not fixed (better, but not fixed). We had to take a timeout AFTER a timeout. We had quite a few personnel issues on defense too esp. when Spikes was injured causing TO's.
Losing mentality. Like I've said for years with this team, a bad team finds great ways to lose. And it never fails it seems with this team with the creative ways with which we find a way to lose, does it?
Slow start. Why is it every game we start out very slow or make crucial mistakes, have to scrap our game plan and put pressure on our coordinators. Spotting the Champs 9 points out of the gate really put us behind the 8-ball

P.S. I warned everyone we could easily go 1-4 or even 0-5 and this moral victory means nothing, unfortunately in the end. We have a terrible road record and now we go to KC on a short week, then to Atlanta (who crushed us last year and knows us) and then back home for Philly. But hopefully last night is a sign that the youngest offense in the NFL is growing up!

Feel free to add on/clarify...

I don't know if I believe that "out coached" thing. I mean, when it comes down to it, the difference was mistakes, mistakes by individuals. The coaches didn't make Adams muff the punt...regardless of him being put in a tough spot, it was ultimately he who is responsible to catch the ball or not catch the dang thing. Walker fumbling...same thing. Alex with the s**tty pass to Gore...same thing. Hiking the ball into the end zone..same thing. All these things cost us points. As it turned out we had held them to enough points that those f**k ups by individuals cost us dearly.

It's a pretty simple anysis really, you can't f**k up your individual part (your individual duty) when you play a team that is known for not f**king up their individual parts (duty), and still expect to win.

You gotta execute, execute, execute, and when it comes down to it... it's about doing your individual job and not being the one to be a f**k up.

Penalties and turnovers are a coaching issue. The whole world
knows we have talent, making it work is the coach's job. 0-2 is a reflection of that

Originally posted by craigyboy:
alex at oc...funny coz i tend to keep thinkin i'd love to see him develop into a rich gannon-type...a mediocre qb but is a savy on-field coach on a solid team. (remember raiders dominated and was an ex-coach away from winning)
much props to oline, only from what i recall saints showed more blitz than they really did...think they gameplanned to take away the underneath dink/dumpoffs.
pretty obvious one of no's focus during their 10 days was to strip. u would think manusky would've naturally task the d to go into stripmode being that we've focused it as well. that mode contributed a to and to's costed us the game.
i'm guessin westbrook and brooks are being eased in..gore showed us he can again carry a game but it always wont be so and bw will add that dimension. keep pluggin him in! as far as brooks who knows to what extent his kidney recovering involves.
tough break on the the adams muff, but bein that bush muffed one too proves how hard it is to cover at the stick.
after seattle all i'd hoped was that ALL the issues we had were correctable and so far they seem to been addressed and/or improving. next week will definitely be more telling about the season.

nice write command

Thank you. I don't think all of the issues were corrected esp. re: turnovers, communication issues were still critical, an inability from the coaches to scheme/defend properly, etc. But overall, it was a much better gameplan, executed much better and we had a chance to beat the Saints at "home." Now let's see us win on the road, in a short week, after an emotional loss in a loud stadium. I actually think this is a bigger test then the Saints game esp. given our terrible road record!

[ Edited by NCommand on Sep 21, 2010 at 09:38:32 ]

Yea Staley's run blocking has always been shaky. I agree on all the positives. It seems like they never seem to trust smith until they have no choice at times. Let him go out there and win the game. As good as Gore was with the rock he was even better at pass protection.

They have to find a fix to Manny and Parys's horrible pass rushing skills.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Blitz:
I don't know if I believe that "out coached" thing. I mean, when it comes down to it, the difference was mistakes, mistakes by individuals. The coaches didn't make Adams muff the punt...regardless of him being put in a tough spot, it was ultimately he who is responsible to catch the ball or not catch the dang thing. Walker fumbling...same thing. Alex with the s**tty pass to Gore...same thing. Hiking the ball into the end zone..same thing.

You gotta execute, execute, execute, and when it comes down to it... it's about doing your individual job's and not being the one to to be a f**k up.

I hear ya...certainly don't dismiss the notion that had the players made the correct plays in these situations, the outcome might have been different. I was merely noting that the communication issues from the coaching staff cost us the game as well. NO's made good adjustments at halftime and in the 4th by exploiting the middle of the field (our big weakness) and with screen plays offset by runs to the right side of the field (for a TD). They took advantage of the seams and managed the 1:19 to perfection for the win. Meanwhile, our coaching staff is asking a rookie punter to field balls...in candlestick winds in conditons where all he has to do call for a fair catch and let it drop. Also, we continued to punt to Reggie Bush. This is all on the coaching. We never took advantage of Westbrook (which would have caught the Saints off guard), didn't exploit our mismatches with VD and didn't stay with or come back to what was working on many occasions. That, is coaching. The Saints coaching staff did not put any of their players in positions to fail and made good in-game and half-time adjustments to win this game. Yes, the players still have to execute but at the end of the day, we were outcoached (not as badly as in Seattle though).

OK, yeah, i can agree with that.

And even with all that, I am finding it hard to believe that the niner's don't outscore the Siants if:

Baas doesn't give them two free points.
Walker doesn't fumble on the 10 yard line.
Smith doesn't throw an int inside the 15.
Smith doesn't throw an int to Gore.
Adams doesn't muff a punt deep in our territory, leaving the Saints with an easy field goal opportunity.

We lost by three points, I am having a hard time believing that the above long list of individual f**k ups does not eqaute to the difference between winning and losing in this game. Hell, Baas gave them , literally gave them 2 of those three points!

I know one thing looking at the above list, I can sure as hell see at a very conservative minimum... 3 points left on the table by us, even with all the other stuff you mention.

Kick the field goal instead of Walker fumbling...3 points.
Don't give the Saints 2 points free of charge with the Bass snap.

That's the game right there, even after spotting them the two int's by Smith (one in the red zone, denying us 3-7points) and the muffed punt (giving the Saints three points).

I don't know man, I just really find it hard to believe that this game didn't come down to the individual list of f**kups above. We lost by three, one man, one player,gave them 2 of those three...he f**ked it up and him alone..no excuse, s**t s**t s**t individual play. That leaves one point...and we can't find one point in that long list of individual f**k ups? Hard to believe, for me anyways.

Originally posted by Hopper:
Brooks missed all of TC and Preseason and a regular season game and still pulled off a sack.

We have finally have a pass rusher on our hands, we need to use him more.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Lawson and Haralson need to be looked at big time. How long can we play a 3-4 when your two starting OLB can't generate ANY pressure what so ever?

Lawson got pressure.... Didn't you see the third down play where he made Brees scramble to the sideline and throw it away? I agree with Haralson, though.

[ Edited by Wodwo on Sep 21, 2010 at 09:36:47 ]

Originally posted by Wodwo:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Lawson and Haralson need to be looked at big time. How long can we play a 3-4 when your two starting OLB can't generate ANY pressure what so ever?

Lawson got pressure.... Didn't you see the third down play where he made Brees scramble to the sideline and throw it away? I agree with Haralson, though.

Haralson has been a major disappointment since he signed his contract. To me, he was the most dissappointing player on the team last year, and he's well on his way this year as well.

Manny...he's a keeper. Sure he is not the pass rush threat, but he fits the scheme well. He works well within the bigger picture..that is to say, his pro's far outweigh his minus's, his benefit far outweighs liability's.

[ Edited by Blitz on Sep 21, 2010 at 09:41:56 ]

Originally posted by Blitz:
OK, yeah, i can agree with that.

And even with all that, I am finding it hard to believe that the niner's don't outscore the Siants if:

Baas doesn't give them two free points.
Walker doesn't fumble on the 10 yard line.
Smith doesn't throw an int inside the 15.
Smith doesn't throw an int to Gore.
Adams doesn't muff a punt deep in our territory, leaving the Saints with an easy field goal opportunity.

We lost by three points, I am having a hard time believing that the above long list of individual f**k ups does not eqaute to the difference between winning and losing in this game. Hell, Baas gave them , literally gave them 2 of those three points!

I know one thing looking at the above list, I can sure as hell see at a very conservative minimum... 3 points left on the table by us, even with all the other stuff you mention.

Kick the field goal instead of Walker fumbling...3 points.
Don't give the Saints 2 points free of charge with the Bass snap.

That's the game right there, even after spotting them the two int's by Smith (one in the red zone, denying us 3-7points) and the muffed punt (giving the Saints three points).

I don't know man, I just really find it hard to believe that this game didn't come down to the individual list of f**kups above. We lost by three, one man, one player,gave them 2 of those three...he f**ked it up and him alone..no excuse, s**t s**t s**t individual play. That leaves one point...and we can't find one point in that long list of individual f**k ups? Hard to believe, for me anyways.

My friend, you won't find one person on the board who doesn't agree with you on thi point. It just AMAZING me how we find new and creative ways to lose. It's heartbreaking to watch...esp. when you KNOW it's coming!

Originally posted by glorydayz:
I love how everyone keeps saying for turnovers!

When Baas (sp) snapped the ball over A. Smiths head,
it led to a safty which stopped our drive plus gave them two points (1 turn over), then we had to kick off to them (another turnover).

So if you really look at it we had 5-6 turnovers by spots!

This was the difference in the game. Even more so than the muffed punt. Punts will occasionally get muffed but a snap should NEVER be shot to the moon. That was incredibly costly.

It's down right scary how bad Haralson has regressed since signing that extension. Add another mistake by Scott the drunk.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Blitz:
OK, yeah, i can agree with that.

And even with all that, I am finding it hard to believe that the niner's don't outscore the Siants if:

Baas doesn't give them two free points.
Walker doesn't fumble on the 10 yard line.
Smith doesn't throw an int inside the 15.
Smith doesn't throw an int to Gore.
Adams doesn't muff a punt deep in our territory, leaving the Saints with an easy field goal opportunity.

We lost by three points, I am having a hard time believing that the above long list of individual f**k ups does not eqaute to the difference between winning and losing in this game. Hell, Baas gave them , literally gave them 2 of those three points!

I know one thing looking at the above list, I can sure as hell see at a very conservative minimum... 3 points left on the table by us, even with all the other stuff you mention.

Kick the field goal instead of Walker fumbling...3 points.
Don't give the Saints 2 points free of charge with the Bass snap.

That's the game right there, even after spotting them the two int's by Smith (one in the red zone, denying us 3-7points) and the muffed punt (giving the Saints three points).

I don't know man, I just really find it hard to believe that this game didn't come down to the individual list of f**kups above. We lost by three, one man, one player,gave them 2 of those three...he f**ked it up and him alone..no excuse, s**t s**t s**t individual play. That leaves one point...and we can't find one point in that long list of individual f**k ups? Hard to believe, for me anyways.

My friend, you won't find one person on the board who doesn't agree with you on thi point. It just AMAZING me how we find new and creative ways to lose. It's heartbreaking to watch...esp. when you KNOW it's coming!

Well, at some point, people gotta start putting it on their own shoulder's...a "the buck stops here" mentality has to set in on the individual level.If they do it...great, and Sing will be a hero...if they don't, not so great and Sing will be a zero and he will ultimately pay for that.

Originally posted by Blitz:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Blitz:
I don't know if I believe that "out coached" thing. I mean, when it comes down to it, the difference was mistakes, mistakes by individuals. The coaches didn't make Adams muff the punt...regardless of him being put in a tough spot, it was ultimately he who is responsible to catch the ball or not catch the dang thing. Walker fumbling...same thing. Alex with the s**tty pass to Gore...same thing. Hiking the ball into the end zone..same thing.

You gotta execute, execute, execute, and when it comes down to it... it's about doing your individual job's and not being the one to to be a f**k up.

I hear ya...certainly don't dismiss the notion that had the players made the correct plays in these situations, the outcome might have been different. I was merely noting that the communication issues from the coaching staff cost us the game as well. NO's made good adjustments at halftime and in the 4th by exploiting the middle of the field (our big weakness) and with screen plays offset by runs to the right side of the field (for a TD). They took advantage of the seams and managed the 1:19 to perfection for the win. Meanwhile, our coaching staff is asking a rookie punter to field balls...in candlestick winds in conditons where all he has to do call for a fair catch and let it drop. Also, we continued to punt to Reggie Bush. This is all on the coaching. We never took advantage of Westbrook (which would have caught the Saints off guard), didn't exploit our mismatches with VD and didn't stay with or come back to what was working on many occasions. That, is coaching. The Saints coaching staff did not put any of their players in positions to fail and made good in-game and half-time adjustments to win this game. Yes, the players still have to execute but at the end of the day, we were outcoached (not as badly as in Seattle though).

OK, yeah, i can agree with that.

And even with all that, I am finding it hard to believe that the niner's don't outscore the Siants if:

Baas doesn't give them two free points.
Walker doesn't fumble on the 10 yard line.
Smith doesn't throw an int inside the 15.
Smith doesn't throw an int to Gore.
Adams doesn't muff a punt deep in our territory, leaving the Saints with an easy field goal opportunity.

We lost by three points, I am having a hard time believing that the above long list of individual f**k ups does not eqaute to the difference between winning and losing in this game. Hell, Baas gave them , literally gave them 2 of those three points!

I know one thing looking at the above list, I can sure as hell see at a very conservative minimum... 3 points left on the table by us, even with all the other stuff you mention.

Kick the field goal instead of Walker fumbling...3 points.
Don't give the Saints 2 points free of charge with the Bass snap.

That's the game right there, even after spotting them the two int's by Smith (one in the red zone, denying us 3-7points) and the muffed punt (giving the Saints three points).

I don't know man, I just really find it hard to believe that this game didn't come down to the individual list of f**kups above. We lost by three, one man, one player,gave them 2 of those three...he f**ked it up and him alone..no excuse, s**t s**t s**t individual play. That leaves one point...and we can't find one point in that long list of individual f**k ups? Hard to believe, for me anyways.

the center postion has just proven how critical it is. the snap/safety most likely wouldn't of happened with heitmann but in all fairness baas for the most have been holding it down.
the dw fumble was for sure 3 or 6pts, but they played stripball when it counted.
adams fielding the windy punt was the nail on the coffin.
tough breaks that happens and unfortunately it all went their way.