Week 5: Thoughts after rewatching the game (twice) ;-)

I simply cannot believe how well the o-line played yesterday. On paper, the Bills D line is supposed to be pretty good. They got blown the f**k up on damn near every single snap.


Mad props to the o line. It all starts with them.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Yeah I have spoken about this on several occasions in my weekly "Thoughts after rewatching the game."

When Walsh became the head coach of the Niners, it was a league dominated by the run. It was all about huge players who could rough you up and stop the run. Walsh devised an Offense that ran counter to conventional wisdom and dominated the NFL.

Fast-forward 30 years. Its a pass dominated league. Defenses have been forced to counter by stocking up on smaller, faster players to get the edge on the pass rush and cover fleet recievers in space. Harbaugh and Roman do something very Walshian and devise an offense that counters the conventional wisdom and innovate in the RUN game. Teams are no longer built to stop the run and are no longer anywhere near as stout.

I have read for years now that it's a passers league and you NEED to throw the hell out of the ball to win. Thats true...until it's not.

Best. Post. Evar.

I've been trying to explain this to posters who complain about passing yards. You summed it up pretty well there.

Always a pleasure to read, Marvin.

Originally posted by buck:

It might not have been that noticed, but Dixon did not dance. He had two runs where he went north and south.

edit: He had four rushes for 21 yards, an average of 5.3 yards a carry, and one touchdown.

I did notice that kuz! Looked like a different runner out there.

Originally posted by AXEGRINDER:

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Yeah I have spoken about this on several occasions in my weekly "Thoughts after rewatching the game."

When Walsh became the head coach of the Niners, it was a league dominated by the run. It was all about huge players who could rough you up and stop the run. Walsh devised an Offense that ran counter to conventional wisdom and dominated the NFL.

Fast-forward 30 years. Its a pass dominated league. Defenses have been forced to counter by stocking up on smaller, faster players to get the edge on the pass rush and cover fleet recievers in space. Harbaugh and Roman do something very Walshian and devise an offense that counters the conventional wisdom and innovate in the RUN game. Teams are no longer built to stop the run and are no longer anywhere near as stout.

I have read for years now that it's a passers league and you NEED to throw the hell out of the ball to win. Thats true...until it's not.

Best. Post. Evar.

I've been trying to explain this to posters who complain about passing yards. You summed it up pretty well there.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
What do you think is the problem with the special teams?

How was the Oline in pass protection? Seemed like they handled it well? Didn't seem as though Buffalo was energized or was the Oline just that dominant?

Seemed like the Dline held up well, and got pressure but not a lot of sacks? Is that a correct observation?

What adjustments did the Defense do at halftime that allowed them to throttle Buffalo? Was it the mind set of Buffalo or was there something that SF did differently at halftime?

The offensive playmakers for SF seemed on just about everything. What seems to be happening with Moss? Is he being replaced or is everyone else playing so well that that Moss is not needed?

The Buffalo Pass Rush was pretty much non-existant. They either got dominated by the line or were completely fooled by play-action. Thats the joy of Balance.

As for Moss, he plays primarily in red-zone O. The Niners scored alot of their points from OUTSIDE the redzone. He was in there and actually made some a good block for Kaep on his TD.

Randy's presence will be felt when it's a close game and the Niners need to score in the red-zone. He will either be the guy who cathes the TD or the guy who commands triple coverage and gets someone else wide open.

Great post as usual

Any comments on the ST problems and potential solutions, is it a blocking issue or is it the return man issue?

Just watched a couple of plays again and their misdirection is so great now. The TD by Dixon was partly set up by the fake end around. They have so much speed and use so many formations that the Defenses can't ease up...ever!

Next week they will play aganst a much faster D that is much more disciplined...will be fun to watch.

Originally posted by AZ9er:

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
What do you think is the problem with the special teams?

How was the Oline in pass protection? Seemed like they handled it well? Didn't seem as though Buffalo was energized or was the Oline just that dominant?

Seemed like the Dline held up well, and got pressure but not a lot of sacks? Is that a correct observation?

What adjustments did the Defense do at halftime that allowed them to throttle Buffalo? Was it the mind set of Buffalo or was there something that SF did differently at halftime?

The offensive playmakers for SF seemed on just about everything. What seems to be happening with Moss? Is he being replaced or is everyone else playing so well that that Moss is not needed?

The Buffalo Pass Rush was pretty much non-existant. They either got dominated by the line or were completely fooled by play-action. Thats the joy of Balance.

As for Moss, he plays primarily in red-zone O. The Niners scored alot of their points from OUTSIDE the redzone. He was in there and actually made some a good block for Kaep on his TD.

Randy's presence will be felt when it's a close game and the Niners need to score in the red-zone. He will either be the guy who cathes the TD or the guy who commands triple coverage and gets someone else wide open.

Great post as usual

Any comments on the ST problems and potential solutions, is it a blocking issue or is it the return man issue?

To be honest I didn't spend a great deal of time watching blocking schemes etc on Special Teams. I'm not too worried about it tho considering the coach. ;-)

OK, only things I can think of to work on after this whoop'n are:
1. Roman...please, please no more kicking FG's at the 1 yard line after three straight unsuccessful runs (you get the idea)
2. Staying with that, have we EVER gotten a 3rd and short first down via run? LOL
3. Whitner still struggling in coverage and Brown/Rogers continue to play way off and give up EASY catches and then I see them often times two-hand touch their responsibility (vs. tackling them or trying to jar the ball loose). Its one thing to play 15 yards off your man and another to shy away from even trying to tackle them. DO SOMETHING! Annoys the crap out of me...
4. Harbaugh, after we scored again, give Kaep almost an entire quarter to play QB; stop with the running-crap. I wanna see this guy call and play, read a defense, make a pre snap read and actually throw a pass!
5. Horrendous penalties. Man, those were killlers!
6. Ginn looks tentative and slow esp with that first step.

PS: Had to find something here. On a side note, MONSTER props to Sopoaga coming back and playing amazing after that brutal looking knee injury and no dropped passes, extra kudos in the pass protection game, Gore/Hunter are unstoppable and nice to see WIlliams get some balls his way.

Very NICE!!!

Originally posted by AXEGRINDER:
I simply cannot believe how well the o-line played yesterday. On paper, the Bills D line is supposed to be pretty good. They got blown the f**k up on damn near every single snap.


Mad props to the o line. It all starts with them.

Dr. Z Unsung Man in the Trenches of the Week

The award for the offensive lineman who was the biggest factor for his team in the weekend's games, named for my friend Paul Zimmerman, the longtime SI football writer struggling in New Jersey to recover from three strokes in November 2008. Zim, a former collegiate offensive lineman himself, loved watching offensive line play.

Alex Boone, guard, San Francisco. OK, so holding the Bills' interior defensive line without a sniff all of a sudden is not such a big accomplishment. But Boone, the fourth-year college free agent from Ohio State with the big wingspan, played every snap for the Niners Sunday and allowed no quarterback hits or sacks on Alex Smith or Colin Kaepernick -- and he helped pave the way for one of the great offensive days in 49ers history, a 621-yard monster. He's strong enough to have neutralized Marcell Dareus when they competed, and even though his 6-foot-8, 300-pound frame is not a classic guard body, he's been an upgrade at a spot that frustrated San Francisco the last couple of years.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/10/08/week-5/index.html#ixzz28k8D2kee

Who loved you from day 1 and always believed you were a starting quality OL, Boone?

ME !!!!

Sorry to hear about Dr. Z...enjoyed his commentary (somehow missed hearing about it until now).

Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
Who loved you from day 1 and always believed you were a starting quality OL, Boone?

ME !!!!

Right there with you Mac...although I thought he should have stayed at OT. Can't believe a guy 6'8" can get such good leverage in the middle and move guys out, but that's what he is doing. He and AD competing with Staley and Iupati for best side...will be a great debate for years! As someone mentioned, it has really helped Goodwin as well.

Look forward to Marvin every Monday!!! Agree about Boone and also about Goal Line strategy...stop running up the middle!

Guys, I am over here delighting in the wicked block schemes we are pulling out in the run game. Some really cool, creative stuff!