What happend to the offense on this team?

Originally posted by zillabeast:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by zillabeast:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:


Alex's play dropping off?

How do you explain it though? He was the best we have seen in 2011. You could actually argue in 2012 he was even better still at least in some portions of the early season. He had some good games. I mean lately he reminds me of his rookie year sometimes....

To put it blatantly, Harbaugh and Roman engineered some genius schemes that disguised Alex's weaknesses in hopes of him actually gaining confidence and becoming a better quarterback. We were all witness to it, no one denies it. Those schemes were never meant to last forever though, and now that the jig is up and Alex is still Alex, this is the result.

This could very well be true, I think it is. Teams saw all last year and have been game planing, now Smith's confidence is on a downswing a bit. Consistency has never been his forte. Wow, I'm really surprise it's you Diago49 making this thread and bringing up Smith's ongoing fail on 3rd down conversions I mean it take more than the QB to convert, but he just don't help out that much many times. Today I found myself cussing him a lot of thet time and I thought in the past that maybe he was over the hump. There were even boos in the stands today, and that can't be good for him no matter how many times he says he don't give a $hit..What to do....?

Didn't have Mario last night and he has been clutch this season and seems to be in sync with Alex most of the time.

I don't know how many times it happened but Crabtree wasn't where Alex threw the ball on one play. Luckily it wasn't picked.

Another thing, in the last few games teams DC''s have just decided to take VD out of the game at almost any expense; like 2 defenders and + sometimes. So his big play guy is gone for now. That would seem to me to a big deal for him because VD would make him looks fabulous many times, and that would be good for the confidence factor. High level of playing is controlled to a great deal by the complete confidence to do it time in and out..

SanDiego You might want to look at this, it's very in depth and Silver does a good job of dissecting this quandary...
Silver column: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--conservative-play-call-late-raises-question-whether-niners-have-complete-confidence-in-qb-alex-smith-.html;_ylt=AuimEuZwDUVkB4kHXbd.WZlDubYF;_ylu=X3oDMTN1NHJzNG1jBG1pdANGRUFUVVJFRCBNZWdhdHJvbiBORkwEcGtnA2JjODYzMTMyLTg0MTktMzZhYy05NjkzLTBlN2JhYjFjY2NjOQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbWVnYXRyb24EdmVyAzQyMjcwNzIzLTE5YzItMTFlMi1hODE5LWYyZTYxNGE3ZmZiOQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTFoZHY1MWJpBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANuZmwEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

Dunno what's going on with teh link function posting, it's been unavailable for me for a few weeks now, what's up mods?

Ted Ginn is an important part of the team. He shortens the field and once he gets by the first wave he's at mid-field. The kickoff rules that were implemented several years ago make these kick-off returners gold. Alex has improved under Coach Harbaugh but it's not a stretch to say the ceiling does not look too high. On third and long he gets engulfed by the pass rush even though it seems he has time to make a play. If the team is serious about using Kaep, instead of so much wildcat let him sit in the pocket and look down-field. He can always take off. This way we'll have a shot at some big plays and keep the defense loose. Seattle witnessed how the big boys play D in the second half.

Today's offensive performance was more a product of playing against a great defense on a short week then anything else. Seattle has the best secondary in the league and New England has been the only ones to muster the most points against them at 23. So it's not like QBs on the level of Rodgers and Brady have been lighting them up either.

Alex looked terrible the 1st half with his accuracy but I thought aside from that bone headed INT in the 2nd half he settled down and had way better accuracy. The main problem with him is still is indecisive in critical moments. If he really wants to take it to the next level then he needs to make decisive difficult throws. The biggest comparison was last week against Eli Manning in how he killed us with spot on difficult throws.

Playcalling was an issue for the Giants game and the first half of the Seattle game but the 2nd half I thought the play calling and adjustments we made were fantastic. With a defense as stingy as the Seahawks you take what you can get and that's what Roman did and did it well.

I'm going to say the Arizona game will determine if we need to put the finger on the panic button on offense. With a 11 days Smith's finger shouldn't be an issue (if it has been) and no reason we shouldn't be well prepared for that game. Arizona is another great defense so clearly not expecting to drop 35 points on them but I we should at least look sharp out there.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
It seemed we actually started out the year more aggressive. We could both run and pass. We even had a 600 yard game. The first 5 weeks I was thinking we could maybe be a little better. We were converting 3rd downs. We never did that much last year. Now we struggle mightly to get a 1st down. Our passing in paricular has incredible struggles. O Line injuries? Alex's play dropping off? Play calling? Not using Randy Moss enough? Alex's sprained finger? Alex's multiple interception game made him even more gun shy than he already is?

I glad we won. But this offense is absolutely horrendous.... We got to step it up big time if we are to win in the playoffs. Honestly watching grass grow is more fun than watching this offense. I just can't see competing against the big boys in the playoffs this year with what we are currently seeing. On the offensive side that is at least. What are your thoughts?

The offense you saw against Seattle is what our offense is. A great running game with occasional short to medium passes off play-action and play good defense. That is the formula for this team. All those that are expecting a vertical game high powered offense are going to be disappointed. That is not what the offense is. That is not Alex's game. Now if we had a Rodgers or Eli type of QB, then that is a whole different story. Remember everyone, Harbaugh catered the offense to Alex's strengths and the vertical game is NOT one of them.

As long as we don't get away from the formula, it can be successful as it showed tonite. We normally won't blow-out teams and we will have losses but the formula does work.

Even the games we won early on it still feel like our O was only good in spurts. Alex also has not look comfortable for an entire game to me.(did not watch Buffalo game)

Feels like we havent gelled on O yet. Hopefully we peak around playoff time.

When you've got Randy Moss running back and fourth in the end zone wide open and he does not get the ball there is a huge issue, this is the one guy who can get the job done out there but he's almost invisible to Smith, Alex's vision is to limited to a 5-10 yard area right in front of him most of the time, it's so frustrating to watch you know he can play well the Bills game is proof but he is not always on his game, he is taking a few more chances but now that he is he's getting picked off left and right

It's pretty simple.

The weakness of the WCO and 4-5 yard pass plays is you get to put too much on film for defensive coordinators. Moreover, while Greg Roman may be great at collaborating with Harbaugh and drawing up a playbook, he's not so great at calling plays that maintain the flow of the offense. He's also not so great at making adjustments. He's had the same problem since last year.

When you sustain so many long drives early on in the season, you can't keep using the same plays that helped you get there because you put it on film. Roman is the type of OC where if he'll see that a certain play is working, he'll try to beat it to death. It doesn't work that way in the NFL. While it was rather in consequential, the Jets took away the Crabtree slant play which worked so well in the Packers game, yet Roman kept trying to call it (at least twice). We're also seeing Vernon Davis being completely shut out the last two games, and Roman has done nothing to make adjustments.

Those schemes were never meant to last forever though, and now that the jig is up and Alex is still Alex, this is the result.

The best analysis I've read yet.

However, I will still hold out hope that Alex will get more "stable", which seems to me one of the defining qualities of a good QB and team. With that said though, any QB will eventually have games like Alex did against the Giants last week. If we can beat AZ and keep our lead in the NFC West, things will be alright(and no major inuries)

Yes we're 5 and 2 and at the top of our division but down the stretch against better teams in the play offs our offensive issues will kill us we are not playing championship football

Passing game predictable. Mostly short and intermediate routes, but lack physical receivers to fight through traffic and for the ball. So G-Ro has to call clear out routes for guys to get opened. Who has the physicality -- VD and Crabs. It becomes predictable for defense to get an idea who Smith would like to go to.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
It seemed we actually started out the year more aggressive. We could both run and pass. We even had a 600 yard game. The first 5 weeks I was thinking we could maybe be a little better. We were converting 3rd downs. We never did that much last year. Now we struggle mightly to get a 1st down. Our passing in paricular has incredible struggles. O Line injuries? Alex's play dropping off? Play calling? Not using Randy Moss enough? Alex's sprained finger? Alex's multiple interception game made him even more gun shy than he already is?

I glad we won. But this offense is absolutely horrendous.... We got to step it up big time if we are to win in the playoffs. Honestly watching grass grow is more fun than watching this offense. I just can't see competing against the big boys in the playoffs this year with what we are currently seeing. On the offensive side that is at least. What are your thoughts?

In answer to your question; the Giants, and now the Seahawks have proven that you can defend the 49er receivers one-on-one with man coverage and physically outmuscle them all over the field. None of the 49er receivers pose a sufficient threat to cause any defensive coordinator to lose sleep. Last night we had essentially the same group of receivers we had last year. With MM unavailable and Randy Moss showing more and more that he is nothing close to his old form, it is "Michael Crabtree against the world" on the outside, which leaves plenty of defenders available to double Vernon Davis.

I don't see this offense changing against quality defenses until a true #1 receiver emerges that has the speed to take the lid off the defense. We were told we were getting that in AJ Jenkins but we haven't seen it yet. Let's hope he develops in a hurry because we desperately need him.

We are saving the offense for next years playoffs