Harbaugh's Challenge on Last Drive--Genius!

Originally posted by dj43:
That is basically the way it is supposed to work: They line up strong on the right side with the flow going back toward the middle. Rice, or in this case Crabtree, lines up in the backfield and runs in the opposite direction of the flow. The defenders get caught up in the flotsam and cannot get back outside to defend the easy short pass.


ARRGGHH, another dump off pass by Alex Smith. hehehe

There was a defender that followed Crabtree across the formation to the right side. But when he got there, at the snap, he took one of our receiver (Ginn) to the corner of the end zone instead, leaving the outside defender to cover Crabtree. Except Edwards made a block on the defender within the 5 yard rule to free up Crabtree Good execution by our guys. And good throw through lots of traffic up front by Smith.

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
was thinking the same, a longer timeout with a challenge then a regular TO

Same here. I think some just bafffled at the call because of the previous coaching staffs Inept coaching philosophies.

Yeah my Wife was hating on that challenge but I loved it.
A: we needed to regroup and or rest on D
B: on the outside chance it was reversed, that could have been a nail in the coffin for the G Men

Totally worth the timeout

Nolan did the same thing in 06 so I wouldn't call it "genius." It's just a loop hole.

Harbaugh just confirmed during press pass he challenged to give the D a break.. :)

Brilliant move, I was watching it with a couple friends and they said that was a dumb move... but I knew there was a reason to it! GENIUS!

I had to think why he called it only to see the defense walk slowly back to the sideline and it hit me. Freakin' brilliant! Longer time to rest and slow momentum of the other team.

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
was thinking the same, a longer timeout with a challenge then a regular TO

So was I . . . might as well take a shot and get another minute or two on top of a regular T.O. for the D to catch their wind.

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Nolan did the same thing in 06 so I wouldn't call it "genius." It's just a loop hole.

you dont think nolan was a genius?

I said the same thing when he threw the flag 1) he was giving us a rest and 2) was trying to kill the momentum that the Giants had.

Harbaugh is a genius and we're going to win the Super Bowl

Thats exactly why he challenged it

http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2011/11/14/why-harbaugh-challenged-a-seemingly-obvious-catch/

Today, Harbaugh was asked why he challenged the play. He responded that his primary motivation was to give his defense a rest in the latter stages of a game in which New York controlled the ball for 34:37 and ran 70 offensive plays.

After losing the challenge, San Francisco still had one timeout left and Harbaugh didn't think he would need multiple timeouts in the final minutes.

"Our guys were starting to get tired I thought and needed a little bit of a blow," Harbaugh said. "Another thing was just take a shot at it being incomplete. It was on the boundary. He went to the ground. You never know if the ball might have moved."

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Yup everyone knew and (assuming) Harbaugh that it was a catch, but what better way to give the defense and a attempt to break some kind of momentum the offense was building.

It was just like a timeout with the addition of the challenge. Anyone know if you net more time on a challenge vs a timeout?

Originally posted by dj43:
In his interview that is up at NFL.com, Coughlin freely admitted that the 49ers stymied them in some cases and just surprised them in others. He clearly sounded frustrated. What they had hoped to do did not work.

That is why I would hate to be a Giants fan. Coughlin gets so frustrated sometimes, and seems to just take it out on everyone. He gets so worked up and irrational, it takes him out of his gameplan. The coach should be the stabalizing force on the sidelines, not the one ranting and raving like a madman. Then you add in Eli, who can play some great football - but when you presure him, he cracks. He throws int's, and starts blaming his receivers and starts pouting like a child. The two most important people, and the two that need to keep their heads the most, are the two easiest people on the entire team to rattle.

another huge moment was when Coughlin challenged a play in the 2nd half, had he didnt and they had all 3 Timeouts, they could of had the ball back with like 15 secs.

I hadn't really thought about it from this angle. Interesting.