Post Game Analysis (vs. St. Louis Rams)

The common excuses for losing games with Alex at the helm also plagued Troy Smith.

-Constant pressure
-0 for 11 on third downs
-killer penalties
-sometimes boneheaded playcalling

The difference? Troy Smith found a way to win! I am not sold he can keep repeating performannces with QB ratings over 100. It willl be interesting if he can keep bringing these performances.

I would not be suprised if Gore starts racking up some major yards, and we see many more playactions. Teams are going to have to start respecting the deep ball, so Gore is likely going to start seeing some huge running lanes.

Even if we don't make playoffs, at least Niner football is fun to watch again!!!

The Good:
I liked how Troy Smith wasn't afraid to take shots downfield and got the ball around to multiple receivers.

The playcalling seemed more aggressive and used Gore more than just runs up the middle.

The defense holding the Rams to a punt in OT. Their trend so far this season was to buckle in clutch situations

The Bad:
0 for 11 on 3rd down conversions is embarrassing.

Way too many dumb penalties that negated big plays.

It was the St Louis rams, this game should have been wrapped up in regulation and never have even made it to OT.

The Ugly:
Troy Smith mean mugging all the players on the sideline. That had to be the stupided ish I have seen all season. with the exception of maybe Carr's helmet.

Originally posted by HomerJ:
The Good:
I liked how Troy Smith wasn't afraid to take shots downfield and got the ball around to multiple receivers.

The playcalling seemed more aggressive and used Gore more than just runs up the middle.

The defense holding the Rams to a punt in OT. Their trend so far this season was to buckle in clutch situations

The Bad:
0 for 11 on 3rd down conversions is embarrassing.

Way too many dumb penalties that negated big plays.

It was the St Louis rams, this game should have been wrapped up in regulation and never have even made it to OT.

The Ugly:
Troy Smith mean mugging all the players on the sideline. That had to be the stupided ish I have seen all season. with the exception of maybe Carr's helmet.

I don't think the playcalling was more aggressive. I think it's been like that since Johnson became OC. Our QB is finally throwing down field to receivers who are NFL open.

The game plan against Denver was very conservative yet Troy still average 10+ yards per completion. Look at the Rams, their QB rarely looked deep.

Troy should've been well over 400 yds with a minimum of 3 TD's yesterday...all but for the penalties. It was clear early on that AD couldn't handle Chris Long...yet Singletary did nothing to get him some help. I thought that's why we drafted Byham, who's shown he's fully capable. Just another example why Singletary has no business being a head coach. Mike Johnson's coming along nicely as a play-caller...he took off the leash with Troy and it paid off. Problem is, they didn't get the return they should've...costly penalties, some of which could've been avoided had they given AD some help. The best takeaway for me is Troy got the ball into his playmaker's hands...Gore, Walker, Vernon, Crabtree and Morgan all made a discernible impact.

On defense, I liked Manusky's aggressiveness...yet, despite that, they still gave Bradford too many chances to beat us. The kid's impressive...sure doesn't play like a rookie. What a future. Anyway, once again, we put some decent pressure on him, but he escaped too many times. Our guys have to put the QB's on the ground more consistently. That's especially true against upcoming teams like the Bucs, Packers and Chargers. Without impact pressure, QB's like Freeman, Rodgers and Rivers will eat our secondary alive.

On ST's...Ginn's a wimp. He didn't even try to return one punt...I've also seen him run out of bounds way too many times during the season. His speed is useless if he's not tough enough to use it. Kudos to Andy Lee and Nedney...especially the latter, who toughed it out and produced the game winner.

Originally posted by SnakePlissken:

Del. Walker - Rec/4; 80yds
V. Davis - Rec/4 ; 79yds
F. Gore - Rec/3; 67yds
J. Morgan - Rec/1; 65 yds
M. Crabtree - Rec/4; 61yds

that's a nice distribution, isn't it? 2TE-2WR-set with gore in the back and you spread the whole defense apart...

Originally posted by communist:

Originally posted by SnakePlissken:

Del. Walker - Rec/4; 80yds
V. Davis - Rec/4 ; 79yds
F. Gore - Rec/3; 67yds
J. Morgan - Rec/1; 65 yds
M. Crabtree - Rec/4; 61yds

that's a nice distribution, isn't it? 2TE-2WR-set with gore in the back and you spread the whole defense apart...

Can't believe Josh Morgan couldn't finish off that reception! T.Smith should of had 4 TD passes!

Originally posted by rk1642:

Bad team that hasn't won on the road this season if I remember right.

We had 2 weeks to get ready and rest up players.

And if their TE catchs that ball on their last drive in regulation, they win and we lose and its another heart breaker for us. That was lucky for us pure and simple but maybe its our turn to start getting the breaks cause until now we havn't had one.

if if if...if clements hadn't fumbled the ball, the falcons wouldn't have won the game...if walker hadn't fumbled the ball in the redzone against the saints at the end of the first half and if the saints hadn't had the safety, we would have won against them. if smith hadn't been sacked on the last play against the eagles, we would have had a chance to win the game. we had a lot of bad luck in those games (ok, we deserved the lost against the eagles...), now we had the good luck on our side. and we deserved it...the game was til the last second on the line b/c of OUR MISTAKES.

and yes, they could be some parallels to hill, JTO and even alex...but if you dig deep, you will always find something to worry about. i don't have any illusions about our QB-situation...I still think that we have to go after a QB in FA or in the draft. but IF troy can prove he isn't a one-hit wonder in the next games, we have not to go for a QB in the first round, the 2nd would be enough.

Originally posted by HomerJ:
The Good:
I liked how Troy Smith wasn't afraid to take shots downfield and got the ball around to multiple receivers.

The playcalling seemed more aggressive and used Gore more than just runs up the middle.

The defense holding the Rams to a punt in OT. Their trend so far this season was to buckle in clutch situations

The Bad:
0 for 11 on 3rd down conversions is embarrassing.

Way too many dumb penalties that negated big plays.

It was the St Louis rams, this game should have been wrapped up in regulation and never have even made it to OT.

The Ugly:
Troy Smith mean mugging all the players on the sideline. That had to be the stupided ish I have seen all season. with the exception of maybe Carr's helmet.

that's is called swagger and it works when you get the w

Originally posted by communist:

Originally posted by rk1642:

Bad team that hasn't won on the road this season if I remember right.

We had 2 weeks to get ready and rest up players.

And if their TE catchs that ball on their last drive in regulation, they win and we lose and its another heart breaker for us. That was lucky for us pure and simple but maybe its our turn to start getting the breaks cause until now we havn't had one.

if if if...if clements hadn't fumbled the ball, the falcons wouldn't have won the game...if walker hadn't fumbled the ball in the redzone against the saints at the end of the first half and if the saints hadn't had the safety, we would have won against them. if smith hadn't been sacked on the last play against the eagles, we would have had a chance to win the game. we had a lot of bad luck in those games (ok, we deserved the lost against the eagles...), now we had the good luck on our side. and we deserved it...the game was til the last second on the line b/c of OUR MISTAKES.

Yeah, thats exactly what I said but maybe you can't read. What, I can't point out that we were lucky for once? Does that really take away from your excitement?

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by HomerJ:
The Good:
I liked how Troy Smith wasn't afraid to take shots downfield and got the ball around to multiple receivers.

The playcalling seemed more aggressive and used Gore more than just runs up the middle.

The defense holding the Rams to a punt in OT. Their trend so far this season was to buckle in clutch situations

The Bad:
0 for 11 on 3rd down conversions is embarrassing.

Way too many dumb penalties that negated big plays.

It was the St Louis rams, this game should have been wrapped up in regulation and never have even made it to OT.

The Ugly:
Troy Smith mean mugging all the players on the sideline. That had to be the stupided ish I have seen all season. with the exception of maybe Carr's helmet.

I don't think the playcalling was more aggressive. I think it's been like that since Johnson became OC. Our QB is finally throwing down field to receivers who are NFL open.

The game plan against Denver was very conservative yet Troy still average 10+ yards per completion. Look at the Rams, their QB rarely looked deep.

I think you are letting your anti-Alex filter distort your view of what has been happening the past four games: Mike Johnson has been allowed, or simply has demonstrated that it takes variety and planning to have a good offense, and that entails a more aggressive approach. Ever since Johnson took over, the offensive design has been more aggressive. It has taken time to shake off the Raye/Sing cobwebs. Yes, Troy executed on some plays yesterday but Mike Johnson is the big hero. Let me give you an example:

In the Raye/Sing offense, the first play/series was to say, "we are going to run up the gut until you stop us." Since everyone has known that for two years it was easy to stop, and everyone stopped it.

Yesterday, with 7+ in the box, the first play was a designed roll-out, a very different call from ANYTHING that had been shown in the past, and it was a big gainer. The next play was a wide toss to Gore which also got some nice yardage - another huge break from the past. I can't recall seeing that play called more than 2 or 3 times all season. IOW, Johnson had said, "we aren't just about running up the gut anymore. If you are going to stop us, you have to do more than just stop a Woody Hayes dive play." Johnson was telling the Rams, and the 49ers that we aren't the same team anymore. Johnson had taken good advantage of the bye week and continued to put stuff into the playbook that likely wasn't even there under Raye.

Throughout the game, Johnson had three receivers running routes that put a great deal of pressure on the Ram pass defense. In the past, it was rare that we even saw three receivers on the field, much less running routes that were designed to not only play off each other but set up other routes for later in the game.

That strategy worked despite a ridiculous number of penalties. We NEVER have seen anything like that since the Martz days, which were also the days of JTO.

Mike Johnson was the hero of the game. He used ALL the offensive players to achieve the result. He ALLOWED the QB to make plays instead of holding a tight bridle on not only the QB but the entire offense.

I have no illusion about this team running off 6 wins in a row but I do see the first signs of an offense that has obvious efforts to sequence a variety of plays that build on one another and require the defense to do more than just load up the box to stop Gore. We finally are beginning to see some thought and progression in the offense. We are seeing some solid adjustments. It looks like the OC actually is watching the game and taking advantage of what he sees. In that past, Crabtree, Davis and Walker would not even be down the field to make the plays they made yesterday. That is all Mike Johnson. Yesterday was only the latest development in his development as an offensive designer and play caller. Props to him.

Not sure if posted already , but we can't be doing that. We had to go for it on fourth down just to make up for the lost yardage. This was the Rams. And up and coming team, but we can't do that against a winning team i.e. the Packers , Bucs.

3 t.ds...damn.

Originally posted by TDilvr:

Originally posted by rk1642:

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by truekingcarlos:
We barely beat a bad team at home.

Is that considered post game analysis.

Bad team was leading the division.

Bad team that hasn't won on the road this season if I remember right.

We had 2 weeks to get ready and rest up players.

And if their TE catchs that ball on their last drive in regulation, they win and we lose and its another heart breaker for us. That was lucky for us pure and simple but maybe its our turn to start getting the breaks cause until now we havn't had one.

You know what? Take this luck crap and ram it hard. How come every effing time a 9er makes a good play down the stretch in crunch time, some wiseass has to say it was lucky?

This is the 1st time the 9ers have won after a bye in a long time. The Rams are much better than expected and everyone here wishes that Alex Smith 2005 ='ed Sam Bradford 2010.

On the flip side Troy Smith is looking like he might be a decent QB.

We won. Yet to some the win sucks. Really?

Really, shove it? nice rational debate from the more typical zoner. Where or who was the db your talking about making a play on that TE on their last drive in regulation? I sure didn't see one but maybe you can enlighten me. I was only talking about that one particular play in it was lucky for us and everyone knows it! And I'm happy we got lucky FOR ONCE since we have not had any this year. Where did I say the win sucks?

and and interception returned very close to the goal line that would've likely resulted in another touchdown. I think it was 4 TD's negated by penalties!

What I loved about this game was the cohesiveness exhibited by our players through all the adversity especially getting three TDs called back due to penalties. For example, I noticed a vicious block by Crabtree, nonetheless, against Laurnaitas on that swing pass to Gore in the fourth.

Take a look at the highlights...Crabtree comes all the way across the field and Whap!!!

I was like, "Holy crap! That was Crabtree? Yea, that was Crabs alright!"

Very nice indeed!

Originally posted by Joecool:
I don't think the playcalling was more aggressive. I think it's been like that since Johnson became OC. Our QB is finally throwing down field to receivers who are NFL open.

The game plan against Denver was very conservative yet Troy still average 10+ yards per completion. Look at the Rams, their QB rarely looked deep.

I don't think you're showing any anti bias. The deep routes that were regularly being called by Johnson are now receiving throws, and accurate throws at that. You might even say that the deep routes are receiving priority in Troy's reads, he's commiting himself to buying them time to develop--come hell or high water, a trait that may bite him in the rump before too long. I don't think bias is involved in pointing that out, you simply have two QBs in the same system showing varying commitments to the deep routes.

The yards after the catch stat that the announcers kept bringing up was also telling. Troy isn't just making those throws with greater frequency, he's hitting his receivers in stride and allowing them the opportunity to accomplish something with their touches.

Again, I think you're analysis is spot on and I disagree that you've shown any sort of bias. At the end of the day, Troy wants to throw the ball deep and he's willing to roll the bones on buying the time necessary to do so.