Nice win, but I'm still not happy about the play calling!

@ OP

I think its funny that people who are who are not booing Alex at the game try to retort any frustration aimed at Alex with the argument of I would rather have Alex with no picks and dismal stats than a QB who has better stats but loses.

I didn't know these were the only two choices.

On another note, I also hope the play calling improves. The slow developing run off of tackle wasn't quite working yesterday despite the 49ers persistence. And the five or six run plays starting with a first and goal at the 1 yard line was incredibly frustrating.

do we know for sure that the play calling was conservative? If there's a play that calls for the receivers to go deep but Alex checks down, is that conservative play calling? I don't have an opinion on this right now (in terms of, was the play calling conservative or the *execution* of it conservative).

Best thing about this is we still have plays teams haven't seen! We have only practiced what 20 times? We can only get better and learn more about this offense as the season progresses! I'm excited

Originally posted by NONAME:
Best thing about this is we still have plays teams haven't seen! We have only practiced what 20 times? We can only get better and learn more about this offense as the season progresses! I'm excited

I agree, this gives me optimism. Also, look at the players we have on O!! Gore, VD, Crabs, Braylon, Iupati. We actually have the potential for a high performance offense!!

Originally posted by Shaj:
do we know for sure that the play calling was conservative? If there's a play that calls for the receivers to go deep but Alex checks down, is that conservative play calling? I don't have an opinion on this right now (in terms of, was the play calling conservative or the *execution* of it conservative).

Ovr, we ran a lot of, part of this was Sing-style up the middle. If thats not conservative, then I dont know.

Originally posted by Shaj:
I agree, this gives me optimism. Also, look at the players we have on O!! Gore, VD, Crabs, Braylon, Iupati. We actually have the potential for a high performance offense!!

Yep! Once we can use all our offensive weapons with a clear understanding of the offense it'll be very interesting to see how well they can preform! O-Line seemed to give Alex some good time, so we might see some more explosive long yard plays in the future if they continue to meld together!

They were conservative, yes. Understandably so as the offense continues to build. The only thing that worries me is how much this reflects Harbaugh's train of thought. Will he try to sit on 2-3 point leads or will he continue to put points on the board?

The playcalling was much more varied though. There was a lot of Gore up the middle, but that is his strength. I feel like players are being put in good positions to make plays and that is the big difference from the Singletary era

Originally posted by gavindirishmen:

Originally posted by candlestick49er:
I don't understand why people bring up Cam's 400+ yard game when it isn't relevant to our offensive performance. You guys have to realize that every team has their own gameplan. The Panthers went into their game with the intention of passing the ball aggressively while the 49ers went with a more conservative approach.

Its relevant because Cam is a rookie QB who torched one of our division opponents with a ****load of yards with less offensive weapons and a rookie head coach.
Yeah you can say they lost the game but how often does your team lose when your QB throws for 400+? answer -> NOT OFTEN
We have a so-called veteran who isn't trusted not to make dumb decisions with the football, a 6-year veteran That is a problem.

Newton has a healthy Steve Smith, a guy who has been one of the top receivers in the league for quite a while now. Greg Olsen is no slouch and Jeremy Shockey isn't either.

Carolina had a very different game plan than did Harbaugh. Perhaps we should wait to see how Newton does in their next game before we anoint him as the next "great thing."

Originally posted by SybErkRimInAL:
shouldn't quick slant passes be some of the easiest plays to execute?? I didn't see many, if any, of them. wassup with that??

Can't wait for next Sunday.

Seattle was dropping LBs into the slant lanes.

What I cna't figure out is were these plays called b/c they were scared of ales turning the ball over, or did they actually think these plays were gonna work? Either answer isn't a positive one. If they don't trust him then why is he here? And if these are genuine play calls then they need to rewrite their game plan.

I can't lie the play calling was pretty bad. Once again this is why the majority of college guys struggle when they come to the NFL. What you did in college doens't always translate. But it is a learning process, and we can't expect perfection over night. But they really need some creativity. I mean every run on the middle was the exact same run. Very little trapping or pulling except on the toss plays. We basically just ran Gore right up the middle in a stacked box just like last year. I think that's what disappointed me the most. It's like once again they were playing not to lose. Which might be the smart thing to do, but not the fun thing to watch.

13 practices to install the offense...Just simply not enough. Not even close. Harbaugh and Roman may not even get their full or the majority of their offense installed this year. I do see it opening up and getting better each week but it is going to take time.

Originally posted by zillabeast:
Baby steps brother, baby steps. Jim kept it simple in order to prevent any silly mistakes with a brand new playbook. Week by week new pages in the playbook will be turned.

A win is a win, let the team get that under their belt and settle down. Confidence will help them a lot too.

Originally posted by SJniner7:
They were conservative, yes. Understandably so as the offense continues to build. The only thing that worries me is how much this reflects Harbaugh's train of thought. Will he try to sit on 2-3 point leads or will he continue to put points on the board?

The playcalling was much more varied though. There was a lot of Gore up the middle, but that is his strength. I feel like players are being put in good positions to make plays and that is the big difference from the Singletary era

Not only are WE waiting to see what else Harbaugh has up his sleeve, so are the Cowboys.

We KNOW Harbaugh has a lot more to this offense than we saw yesterday. We saw more in the Oakland and SD PS games than we saw yesterday. JH used what he felt he needed to use and nothing more. He DID use a lot of different personnel packages (far more than Sing ever used), some new shifts at the LOS and the Snyder move was classic. However, we can be assured there is a LOT more in his playbook than we saw yesterday.

All of this stuff is very much like Bill Walsh. Walsh always had a special play or two that he threw in just to get opponents looking at more stuff for next week. Also, Walsh NEVER threw the ball just to be throwing it. In Super Bowl years, many games featured more runs than passes. Many of those games looked very conservative in the second half, and, very much like yesterday, they were wins...just like yesterday.

This was a Jim Harbaugh (The QB Harbaugh) type win. Scrappy, not pretty, tough, resilient. That is how Harbaugh played. I just hope he does not try to do a Chicago Bears part Duex on us as Singletary did. Harbaugh played for Ditka for I believe 5 years and had most of his success with the Bears. I just hope he realizes we are not the 80's Bears and never will be.
I would also throw in, that before last year at Stanford, they were a run first team. I remember watching them in 2009 in one game they ran the ball like 18 straight times. Of course they could run the ball at will. Here, we can't even convert a run on 3rd and short.