Preseason Week 1: Thoughts after Re-Watching the game...

Originally posted by lamontb:
I was most impressed by the short yardage runs. Really in the last few years they have been terrible on short yardage runs. They always get stuffed in goal line situations. Another reason why they struggled in the red zone last year. They dropped the ball vs the Giants when they couldn't convert on that short yardage run late in the game and had to settle for 3. Jacobs and Bruce Miller along wiht the entire o line looked great.

I don't think they will use Moss much in pre season. Gotta save whatever he has left in the tank for the regular season.

And watching the game it seems like offense will continue to attack Whitner covering tight ends.

I think we may really have something special going on with Boone/LD at RG and the improved conditioning of Jacobs.

Originally posted by lamontb:
I was most impressed by the short yardage runs. Really in the last few years they have been terrible on short yardage runs. They always get stuffed in goal line situations. Another reason why they struggled in the red zone last year. They dropped the ball vs the Giants when they couldn't convert on that short yardage run late in the game and had to settle for 3. Jacobs and Bruce Miller along wiht the entire o line looked great.

I don't think they will use Moss much in pre season. Gotta save whatever he has left in the tank for the regular season.

And watching the game it seems like offense will continue to attack Whitner covering tight ends.

YES...I saw that with Whitner. He just doesn't have the hieght to cover those TEs. That is one of the D's few weaknesses....they are vulnerable to TEs.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by lamontb:
I was most impressed by the short yardage runs. Really in the last few years they have been terrible on short yardage runs. They always get stuffed in goal line situations. Another reason why they struggled in the red zone last year. They dropped the ball vs the Giants when they couldn't convert on that short yardage run late in the game and had to settle for 3. Jacobs and Bruce Miller along wiht the entire o line looked great.

I don't think they will use Moss much in pre season. Gotta save whatever he has left in the tank for the regular season.

And watching the game it seems like offense will continue to attack Whitner covering tight ends.

YES...I saw that with Whitner. He just doesn't have the hieght to cover those TEs. That is one of the D's few weaknesses....they are vulnerable to TEs.

Yeah, I was really suprised how the short middle ALWAYS seemed to be open. Again, I dont think they game planned though. Hopefully we tighten that up by the time the season rolls around.

EDIT: Aldon looked like he was ready to pick up where he left off. I could see this dude getting sacks in the high teens low 20s this year, depending on J.Smith.

Who was number 40? Pretty sick game for him

Originally posted by elguapo:
Who was number 40? Pretty sick game for him

DeMarcus Dobbs.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by elguapo:
Who was number 40? Pretty sick game for him

DeMarcus Dobbs.

This. Him and RJF were getting nice pressure up the middle all night(well not all night but you get the point). Dobbs was also open for a moment and the receiver that Tolzien was throwing to when he was picked.

Originally posted by Marvin49:


7) O-Line: Wow: I mean....WOW. That....was impressive. I don't know how much of that was the Niners being good and how much was the Vikings being bad and how much was that it was just a preseason game...but for one game the O-Line looked REALLY good.

This one for some reason gets less credit then the praise in other areas. (#7)

Minnesota was working on a lot of blitz packages from Safeties and CBs and normal LB blitzes.

The OL line really did a lot better picking those up in their first action which to me is the best news. Hopefully it continues Saturday

Originally posted by Marvin49:
1) ... Enter Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman. They build an offense that innovates in the RUN game. They MAUL those defenses designed to stop Brady and Brees. All I've heard no for over a year is that "You need to have a QB and a great passing offense to win". BS. You need to have an imagination and a game plan to defeat the team lining up on the other side of the ball. The Niners will run the hell out of the ball this year and with Gore, Hunter, Jacobs, and James they will have ALOT of success.

Great post!

I have to agree with #1 in large part, defenses aren't built to stop a power game anymore and that's something that can be exploited to a degree with the sort of game planning and creativity that Harbaugh and Co have displayed. That said, most any defense can stop the run if they're dedicated to doing so. Not so with the pass, at least not to that same degree. The 49ers have to be able to make teams pay when they stack the LOS. Hopefully they're able to do so.

Also, I thought James looked pretty good. Limited opportunities and wasn't able to get into open space, so maybe that's where the concern comes from. He looked shifty to me, can't wait to see him play in PS game 2.

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

Originally posted by Marvin49:


7) O-Line: Wow: I mean....WOW. That....was impressive. I don't know how much of that was the Niners being good and how much was the Vikings being bad and how much was that it was just a preseason game...but for one game the O-Line looked REALLY good.

This one for some reason gets less credit then the praise in other areas. (#7)

Minnesota was working on a lot of blitz packages from Safeties and CBs and normal LB blitzes.

The OL line really did a lot better picking those up in their first action which to me is the best news. Hopefully it continues Saturday

Sorry to bring up Alex but just as he does/did, I feel the OL needed an off season as well. When have these guys ever had consistency in coaching? I mean we have 3 first rounders up there with good talent, and a pro-bowler at C. We've seen them play really well at times, but then counter that with a horrible showing the next week. I've always felt this line could be really dangerous but they have never had a chance to really sit down and gel in the same system themselves. I don't know just having the trust in each other, knowing what each other can do I think takes time.

Originally posted by mkeniner:

Originally posted by Marvin49:
1) ... Enter Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman. They build an offense that innovates in the RUN game. They MAUL those defenses designed to stop Brady and Brees. All I've heard no for over a year is that "You need to have a QB and a great passing offense to win". BS. You need to have an imagination and a game plan to defeat the team lining up on the other side of the ball. The Niners will run the hell out of the ball this year and with Gore, Hunter, Jacobs, and James they will have ALOT of success.

Great post!

I have to agree with #1 in large part, defenses aren't built to stop a power game anymore and that's something that can be exploited to a degree with the sort of game planning and creativity that Harbaugh and Co have displayed. That said, most any defense can stop the run if they're dedicated to doing so. Not so with the pass, at least not to that same degree. The 49ers have to be able to make teams pay when they stack the LOS. Hopefully they're able to do so.

Also, I thought James looked pretty good. Limited opportunities and wasn't able to get into open space, so maybe that's where the concern comes from. He looked shifty to me, can't wait to see him play in PS game 2.

I'm not advocating running the ball on every down. I'm just saying they will be a run first team. If the other teams stacks against the run, they WILL pass the ball just as the did in the regular season against the Giants.

As I said...it was a very small sample size on James. Looking forward to the next game on Sat.

Moss did look really slow to me at FanFest as well.

2) The QBs: I was very suprised by my reaction to the QBs in this game. After Alex, the guys I wanted to see most were in this order: Johnson, Kaep, Tolzien. I came away likeing them in this order: Tolzien, Johnson, Kaep. Look, the 78 yard run was great, but they really had Kaep back there running the Pistol from College. I already know he can run that. Every time they put him in a conventional set, he just looked really unnatural. He didn't look comfortable. I still don't like the release either. Johnson looked smooth and played fairly well. Tolzien tho...I was VERY impressed with him. FAST release. Handles pressure. Looked comfortable. Numbers would have looked much better if recievers had caught the ball and he had had slightly better protection. Going into this I figured Tolzien was the odd man out. Now I'm wondering if Kaep becomes trade bait.

I agree, I do not think Kaep is close to Tolzien in the IQ or Football IQ dept. A trade may not happen until draft time next year.

Originally posted by SportsFan:
Moss did look really slow to me at FanFest as well.

I told ya'll he's old and washed up.

Out of curiosity, what has Johnson shown you that you like him more than Kap?

Originally posted by JiksJuicy:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

Originally posted by Marvin49:


7) O-Line: Wow: I mean....WOW. That....was impressive. I don't know how much of that was the Niners being good and how much was the Vikings being bad and how much was that it was just a preseason game...but for one game the O-Line looked REALLY good.

This one for some reason gets less credit then the praise in other areas. (#7)

Minnesota was working on a lot of blitz packages from Safeties and CBs and normal LB blitzes.

The OL line really did a lot better picking those up in their first action which to me is the best news. Hopefully it continues Saturday

Sorry to bring up Alex but just as he does/did, I feel the OL needed an off season as well. When have these guys ever had consistency in coaching? I mean we have 3 first rounders up there with good talent, and a pro-bowler at C. We've seen them play really well at times, but then counter that with a horrible showing the next week. I've always felt this line could be really dangerous but they have never had a chance to really sit down and gel in the same system themselves. I don't know just having the trust in each other, knowing what each other can do I think takes time.

If this line comes together and actually give AS time to throw..it doesn't matter who we have at WR