Pretend you're Harbaugh this week

Originally posted by BHulman:
I would rather have our coach take a tail kicking and hopefully learn from it during the first preseason game than have him thanking Pete Carrol for whipping our tails after the first game. My guess is Harbaugh won't be so easy to surprise from here on out.

Not sure Harbaugh would have changed what they were doing had he known their blitz plans. He seems to be the type of coach, like Walsh, who plans his preseason games to see specific plays being run so that he could evaluate specific players. He might have played Smith less but that's about it. Also, he knows better than we know how few practices they have had and how unlikely it was that they play well.

Originally posted by niner4life21:

Originally posted by BigDaddy:

Send Dixon to the PS and find another RB to fill his spot.

Agree. Dixon is all talk. He dances too much and does not play as big as his size. That xavier Omon dude #33 looked much better than dumbass Dixon.

I agree Dixon thinks he's a 250 pound Barry Sanders. I hope he gets cut because he brings nothing to the team.

Originally posted by kidash:
IMO, has nothing to do with the QB play thus far. The line did not give him anything to work with.

- 98

IN YOUR OPINION? It was all on the Oline, thats basically the story of smiths career. The QB cant do his job if he doesnt have any time. No QB could have success with our Oline play the last 5 -6 years.

Originally posted by tohara3:
this

Yeah, but this is the 2nd year this line has been together, let's not forget that. They should be better than they showed, if only because they should know each other pretty well by now.

Originally posted by Bali-Niner:

Originally posted by tohara3:
this

Yeah, but this is the 2nd year this line has been together, let's not forget that. They should be better than they showed, if only because they should know each other pretty well by now.

Maybe our OL just isn't very good.

Originally posted by WillistheWall:

Originally posted by Bali-Niner:

Originally posted by tohara3:
this

Yeah, but this is the 2nd year this line has been together, let's not forget that. They should be better than they showed, if only because they should know each other pretty well by now.

Maybe our OL just isn't very good.

Could very well be too true. That was hands down, THE worst pass blocking I can remember seeing ever. The look of Smith & Kap running for their lives just was so clear, brutal, just brutal..

Originally posted by WillistheWall:
Maybe our OL just isn't very good.

I think it's too easy to get caught up in the atrocity that we witnessed in our first preseason game but people really are panicking too quickly. Lets not forget that we just came off a four month lockout and it will take time for these guys to learn their assignments, build up their cohesiveness and get up to speed. Which also means our coaching staff have only had a couple of weeks to coach these guys and be glad that this happened in the first preseason game where now the coaches will have time to watch the film and correct some of these things. If our line still looks like this after our third preseason game which is where you usually see the starters play for the greatest amount of time, then we can all start to panic a little. In the meantime lets all calm down and let our coach do what he was hired to do.

1) Well we have plenty of tape on blitz's provided by Saints D! I would start with protections and reads.

2) QB's and WR's were not on the same page with some of their routs. Work on hot reads to take advantage of blitz happy teams.

3) Clean up the penalty's!

4) Move some pieces along the OL. Move Goodwin to 1st string and rotate Snyder and Rachal. Rachal needs to know that he is competing for his job. Maybe that will light a fire under Rachal and get some better production. Snyder is the most versatile player on the line, but that should not limit him to back up especially if he is a better player than Rachal.

Originally posted by greywolf447:
1) Well we have plenty of tape on blitz's provided by Saints D! I would start with protections and reads.

2) QB's and WR's were not on the same page with some of their routs. Work on hot reads to take advantage of blitz happy teams.

3) Clean up the penalty's!

4) Move some pieces along the OL. Move Goodwin to 1st string and rotate Snyder and Rachal. Rachal needs to know that he is competing for his job. Maybe that will light a fire under Rachal and get some better production. Snyder is the most versatile player on the line, but that should not limit him to back up especially if he is a better player than Rachal.

Agree with you on all points. Would add that the QBs need to learn to improvise. This is an area Smith has not done well when under pressure. In college he showed the ability to run, roll out and pass and throw late accurate passes while on the run. Why can't he still do these things? Has he been taught to stay in the pocket, even though the pocket is an illusion with the line he's had for his career?

But I still put some of this on Smith as he needs to assert himself...perhaps not in game one of preseason, but certainly before the season starts. Other QBs would have been livid at Staley, Snyder, Rachal and Davis for allowing clean shots by DLinemen. LBs blitzing is acceptable at this point, but getting hit by a DLineman two seconds after the snap?

This line looked like they were in walk through mode and I guess that should be expected given the lack of practice, but letting the D T-off on your QB is just not acceptible and I saw no passion in the line when the QB was hammered...other than Staley pointing a finger at Iupati.

The o-line is the biggest issue but also need to get the special teams improved. Seely will be working them hard this week.

Originally posted by 80sbaby24:
I work Baalke's ear in attempt to get a real quarterback in here.

No i tell Ballake to get me some starting OL in here and fast even if he trade for them !

Originally posted by Kolohe:
First order of business would be to bench Rachal, play Snyder at RG, start Goodwin at C. Second, add veteran QB or trade for a young QB. third, add veteran NT.

All great moves BTW. Continue to install the offense and defense. Work on picking up blitzes and more importantly making the other team pay for it quickly. We are certainly gonna see it again now.

Okay, I'm Harbaugh this week... I keep doing exactly what I have been doing for the best two weeks. Guys on here freak out if the team doesn't look like it did under the Bill Walsh regime. News flash! We're never going to be that good, no one will! We're a good football team. It's just too early to make drastic conclusion about a team that's been together for 11 practices. The Defense is going to look good in the preseason, that's a given no matter who you line up out there. Offenses in the preseason usually stink. Especially when they haven't practiced for very long and their learning a new style. Do I bench Alex though? Yes! Without question. Alex Smith is genius playing the position. He just doesn't have game day smarts. He could rewrite the playbook from memory, he just can't execute it under pressure. Alex cannot read defenses or blitz packages. That's never going to change. You cannot coach game day smarts.

Getting back to this freak out thread.... Stay the course, it will get better. Just not with Alex at the helm. Vet FA QB time??? Oh yeah! Way past due. Give Colin the chance to learn from someone who doesn't already outplay on game day. Alex might be smarter then Colin, but Colin's got something Alex will never have...

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by niner4life21:

Originally posted by BigDaddy:
Send Dixon to the PS and find another RB to fill his spot.

Agree. Dixon is all talk. He dances too much and does not play as big as his size. That xavier Omon dude #33 looked much better than dumbass Dixon.

I agree Dixon thinks he's a 250 pound Barry Sanders. I hope he gets cut because he brings nothing to the team.

We can haz Barlow 2.0?

Originally posted by 49erRider:
I noticed Gore was the only one who was able to pick up blitzers. This is why he is one of, if not the best all-around RB in the league. If we had 5 more Frank Gores (with added height and weight, obviously) on the line, we'd have a hall of fame O-Line.

By the way, why the F*(& is Chilo still in the starting lineup? He was getting abused by 2nd-string DLinemen.

This is just not accurate. On the first 9 plays, Gore picked up two blitzes, and was the key blocker on a roll-out. He made 1 decent block on his 1st pick-up and the an anemic block on the other two. RB Dixon made two blitz pick-ups also, and actually disrupted his man slightly better. On the first 9 plays, Rachel was NOT the problem and held the point of attach better than others.

See the Detailed Breakdown of NO Blitzes and Oline Play in the forum. I'll work on the rest of the game and see if there is any basis to the criticism of Rachel.