Grade Mike Johnson's play calling last night:

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by HessianDud:
D+

scored another opening drive TD, which is great, but then we didn't do s**t for most of the rest of the game. It got better late--too late.

I agree with the D+.

It looked much like Jimmy Raye until the end of the game.

You are blind. You don't know what you're talking about.

I may be beating a dead horse but the problem is still Jimmy Raye. Before u laugh u need to realize that the playbook hasn't changed, just the personnel on certain plays. We run up the middle on 99% of our run plays because those r the only run plays in our playbook. We really don't run THAT much more than every other team but we don't change up where we're running to which makes it easy for the other teams d line and linebackers.

Like I said don't know if it was Sing or Mike Johnson but at first we ran up the middle almost every time and a few times to the outside on 1st and 2nd down. A few screens mixed in. It was absolutely horrible at first. We only play actioned once during the game when the whole time we had Philly eating out of our hands ready for the run. The only time we did a play action we got a 12 yard pass to Morgan. We should have done that more often.

If it was Singletary he needs to stay out of it or he is gone. If it was all Johnson then he is no different than Raye. We finally open it up when we are down 14 which we have done in the past. Too bad we didn't do it earlier.

Originally posted by miked1978:
First 8 minutes of the game: B+

Next 45 Minutes: D

Last 7 minutes: A

So far Mike Johnson is no different than Jimmy Raye.

Those 45 minutes in the middle also featured two Frank Gore fumbles, an Alex Smith Fumble and an interception. Most of those were on drives that were moving as well.

The playcaller can't play...all he can do is call the plays.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by miked1978:
First 8 minutes of the game: B+

Next 45 Minutes: D

Last 7 minutes: A

So far Mike Johnson is no different than Jimmy Raye.

Those 45 minutes in the middle also featured two Frank Gore fumbles, an Alex Smith Fumble and an interception. Most of those were on drives that were moving as well.

The playcaller can't play...all he can do is call the plays.

That's what Crabtree said last week.

Originally posted by Baldie:
I think the playcalling has improved a bit. They are totally moving the ball more than they were with Raye calling the plays. If those turnovers didn't happen and we win, then everyone is praising Mike Johnson's play calling. Its not Mike fumbling the ball, its the players. He called a good game, its just the players made the mistakes in the game. Those last two drives should represent what we should be doing on every drive. If the offense needs to be in a 2 min offense to thrive, then do that throughout the game. Alex seems to thrive on the hurry up when calling his own plays anyway.

I pretty much agree with this. The play-calling itself was good, but the execution wasn't. I think most of the problem lies with the OL. Not doing a particularly good job of opening holes in the running game, and not pass-protecting well at all. If the line issues can (ever) be fixed, it would improve the whole offense, both run and pass.

C-.

No imaginative playcalling on 1st and 2nd down. I right/I left. Power right/Power left. Team only started to move the ball when the team was in a clear passing mode.

But it's obvious that Sing is still having plenty of input in the offensive philosophy.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Yes, the runs up the gut are still predictable esp. given that teams now defend it very well AND have the luxury of going for the strip (given they have 7-8 other guys also making the same tackle). We do need an off-tackle runner or a more complete back but it is harder to sprint off tackle at Candlestick (wet grass) esp. for night games. The use of more (better) screens would help and no question, they need to get VD more involved early and often. But overall, it is a big improvement over Raye and there seems to be a "flow." Player miscues should not be counted against the OC. Ginn x1, Gore x2, Alex x1, defenses inability to get off the field (x forever), etc. And let's not forget the CONSTANT false start penalties that perpetually put us in 1st and 15 or 2nd and 15. THAT is a hard way to start a drive. So over all, I give him a B+. Getting more Ginn, VD, less Gore up the middle, more spread/shotgun and screens and crossing routes will really help MJ take the next step. Throw in a little more Westbrook, Williams and Dixon and we should be good to go. I think this was the first game where we didn't have a communication-issue penalty too!

There were a lot of off tackles runs called. It was also successful to start the game. At the end of the day, we would not be saying anything about Johnson if we don't have 5 turnovers and multiple false starts.

I'll watch the game again later this evening and note this as well. I totally agree with your last sentence.

And let's not forget, this is ONLY his second week as an OC. Not bad...we were in position to tie it. I think seeing how we flourished in the spread (and us being 0-5) may entice MJ to open it up even more!

lets see, you used frank gore up the middle about 80% of the time........

so C-

pass calls were fine, very good even

run calls were straight out of raye's playbook

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Yes, the runs up the gut are still predictable esp. given that teams now defend it very well AND have the luxury of going for the strip (given they have 7-8 other guys also making the same tackle). We do need an off-tackle runner or a more complete back but it is harder to sprint off tackle at Candlestick (wet grass) esp. for night games. The use of more (better) screens would help and no question, they need to get VD more involved early and often. But overall, it is a big improvement over Raye and there seems to be a "flow." Player miscues should not be counted against the OC. Ginn x1, Gore x2, Alex x1, defenses inability to get off the field (x forever), etc. And let's not forget the CONSTANT false start penalties that perpetually put us in 1st and 15 or 2nd and 15. THAT is a hard way to start a drive. So over all, I give him a B+. Getting more Ginn, VD, less Gore up the middle, more spread/shotgun and screens and crossing routes will really help MJ take the next step. Throw in a little more Westbrook, Williams and Dixon and we should be good to go. I think this was the first game where we didn't have a communication-issue penalty too!

There were a lot of off tackles runs called. It was also successful to start the game. At the end of the day, we would not be saying anything about Johnson if we don't have 5 turnovers and multiple false starts.

I'll watch the game again later this evening and note this as well. I totally agree with your last sentence.

And let's not forget, this is ONLY his second week as an OC. Not bad...we were in position to tie it. I think seeing how we flourished in the spread (and us being 0-5) may entice MJ to open it up even more!

This is why I think he's doing a fantastic job. The flow and tempo was good. Crabs had 6 for 86 in the first half and this force Philly to adjust in the second half leaving Ginn and Vernon open.

Missed plays and mistakes are why we are losing.

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by HessianDud:
D+

scored another opening drive TD, which is great, but then we didn't do s**t for most of the rest of the game. It got better late--too late.

I agree with the D+.

It looked much like Jimmy Raye until the end of the game.

TOTALLY disagree.

The playcaller doesn't fumble the ball on promising drives.

The Niners were moving the ball on every one of those drives where there was a turnover.

I seen plenty of punts as well. He also called to many running plays and the running game was getting stuffed all night.

Also lack of deep passes, and still no creativity.

At halftime Gore had like 22 yards and a 1.8 avg per carry. Still way to many runs up the middle. Why are they still trying to throw the ball to Moron Norris? Still didn't involve Westbrook.

While I would give him a passing grade last night, the bigger question to me is; is he improving.

The answer to me is 'yes.' The first game he had almost no time to prepare anything different than the Raye offense. Last night he put in a lot more variety and had more players involved.

There were two problems last night as I saw it.

1. Johnson did not make any adjustments after the first drive. This was the same thing as the Atlanta game. I put a great deal of that on inexperience and lack of support in the rest of the staff to look for the ways to adjust. Eventually he did make some adjustments that worked well. (I wonder how many of the plays in those last two TD drives were his calls and how many were Smith's. In a number of cases it looked like Alex was calling his own plays. He certainly audibled on what appeared to be about 1/3 of the plays.)

2. It takes players time to adjust to the change in play design and their own responsibilities and assignments. Johnson's biggest hurdle right now is trying to "change horses in the middle of the stream." Players spent all of OTAs and TC learning to think and play one way and now Johnson is trying to get them to change that mindset and those playing patterns to a very different way of playing and thinking. That is going to take time.

Originally posted by dj43:
While I would give him a passing grade last night, the bigger question to me is; is he improving.

The answer to me is 'yes.' The first game he had almost no time to prepare anything different than the Raye offense. Last night he put in a lot more variety and had more players involved.

There were two problems last night as I saw it.

1. Johnson did not make any adjustments after the first drive. This was the same thing as the Atlanta game. I put a great deal of that on inexperience and lack of support in the rest of the staff to look for the ways to adjust. Eventually he did make some adjustments that worked well. (I wonder how many of the plays in those last two TD drives were his calls and how many were Smith's. In a number of cases it looked like Alex was calling his own plays. He certainly audibled on what appeared to be about 1/3 of the plays.)

2. It takes players time to adjust to the change in play design and their own responsibilities and assignments. Johnson's biggest hurdle right now is trying to "change horses in the middle of the stream." Players spent all of OTAs and TC learning to think and play one way and now Johnson is trying to get them to change that mindset and those playing patterns to a very different way of playing and thinking. That is going to take time.

#1 is completely false. We were moving the ball. We had nearly a 100 yard receiver in the 1st half. This caused the defense to adjust in the second half and Ginn and Vernon ended up being open deep on multiple plays. This means the defense focused on Crabtree's routes more.

Johnson called a very good game.

Originally posted by dj43:
While I would give him a passing grade last night, the bigger question to me is; is he improving.

The answer to me is 'yes.' The first game he had almost no time to prepare anything different than the Raye offense. Last night he put in a lot more variety and had more players involved.

There were two problems last night as I saw it.

1. Johnson did not make any adjustments after the first drive. This was the same thing as the Atlanta game. I put a great deal of that on inexperience and lack of support in the rest of the staff to look for the ways to adjust. Eventually he did make some adjustments that worked well. (I wonder how many of the plays in those last two TD drives were his calls and how many were Smith's. In a number of cases it looked like Alex was calling his own plays. He certainly audibled on what appeared to be about 1/3 of the plays.)

2. It takes players time to adjust to the change in play design and their own responsibilities and assignments. Johnson's biggest hurdle right now is trying to "change horses in the middle of the stream." Players spent all of OTAs and TC learning to think and play one way and now Johnson is trying to get them to change that mindset and those playing patterns to a very different way of playing and thinking. That is going to take time.

well said, I agree. Though I judge him more harshly than you do for how slowly he adjusts after the first drive, I think he improved from last game overall, and that he's still an improvement over Raye. Also, to be fair to Johnson, there were several plays where Ginn was WIDE open deep down field and Smith didn't make the throw, either because of pressure or "whatever."

I stick with my D+ grade, though, because we still spend so much of the game struggling to keep drives alive.