Week 13: Thoughts after rewatching the game...

Originally posted by drakan:

Originally posted by susweel:

Because it was the right call and would have worked if buttfingers could catch the ball. the bad part was throwing to walker and not vd.

Receivers drop passes from time to time...it's part of the game. should have played it safe and milked the clock, but then again Harbaugh loves to gamble.

The ball was right in his hands, there is no excuse for that type of drop at that critical time

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by drakan:

Originally posted by susweel:

Because it was the right call and would have worked if buttfingers could catch the ball. the bad part was throwing to walker and not vd.

Receivers drop passes from time to time...it's part of the game. It was an unnecessary gamble that backfired. Should have played it safe and milked the clock, but then again Harbaugh loves to gamble.

f**k playing it safe, go for the kill

Sweep the leg

Originally posted by drakan:

Originally posted by susweel:
Because it was the right call and would have worked if buttfingers could catch the ball. the bad part was throwing to walker and not vd.

Receivers drop passes from time to time...it's part of the game. should have played it safe and milked the clock, but then again Harbaugh loves to gamble.

Brutal to do that on the first play though. They should have at least got that clock moving even if Gore gets stuffed. I too was wondering why we would make such an odd call. If anything run two up the middle take a shot at the endzone on 3rd and take the field goal hopefully forcing the Rams to burn those time outs.

The worst part is the penalties we get at the worst time. I really hope that Harbaugh takes care of these godamn penalties with the game on the line.

harbaugh looks like a genius if walker doesn't drop that ball.

Uh....If Delanie Walker catches the pass we are all in a much better mood today. THAT'S why.

PLEASE STOP THROWING TO WALKER

Originally posted by johnnyredneat:
Great read as usual. I'd add a few points:
1. I'd definitely add that Kaep seemed to really struggle pre-snap. Not reading blitzes, frantic audibles with 2 seconds on the play clock, constantly burning time outs. We burned all our timeouts to avoid delay penalties in what was a close game throughout. Ultimately didn't have an impact, but could absolutely have cost us the game. This is another thing that took a while to sort out when AS was the QB.
2. We're built to run the ball and throw short/medium timing routes. It's the way the whole team is constructed, it's how we've played since Harbaugh became coach. It's what we've practiced every day for two years. Changing to a more downfield vertical stretch offense isn't going to be an easy process.
3. A screen or two would have been nice against their constant up-the-middle A-Gap blitzes.

OP and above - AGREE and good points -- must add:

1. Hunter's stretch runs were sorely missed, the defense was crashing gaps hard looking for Gore. The 49ers have a really difficult time with disruptive defensive line schemes - Giants, new Rams, old AZ capabilities. Hunter's stretch runs helped keep them honest. Kap's scrambles should help too eventually. James may be the solution here, certainly not Jacobs (although I have been waiting to see him!)

2. BRUCE MILLER - This guy is seriously becoming the next Rathman - he can catch well, makes yards after the catch, adjusts superbly to the QB scramble, and even on his limited carries he makes good yards. He is getting a bigger role with the ball each game. He may be the 49ers emerging weapon.

3. Roman is good - but when a defense shows up prepared for him, he struggles to adapt quickly. The Rams and Giants had our number early and we never adjusted. I won't even comment on the pitch call - I swear, when Ginn motioned to line up deep I said to the table - "Oh man, not a trick play with 3:48 left in the game." I felt like I jingsed us!

4. OL - there is something wrong with the OL -- some DLs just beat them up. It has to be scheme. the 49ers must not be doing a great job self scouting which schemes they are vulnerable to.

Finally, although an A Smith fan - I suspect he would have struggled even worse with the pressure Rams were getting. And like the OP said, Kap's elusiveness and some 3rd down conversions just weren't ASmith possible.

Because the rams were set up to defend the run and it was the perfect call. If you call a play and have a receiver wide open in the endzone it was the right call. Also, our kicker isn't firing on all cylinders right now so 3 runs and a miss puts us in a position to lose rather than win.

Just as bad is the fact in overtime we are about 54 yards for a FG and we run it straight up the middle 3 times in a row to try a 51 yard FG. This the time to try a pass on one of those 3 plays and get into better position for a struggling kicker that we know is mentally struggling not hurt like Jim Nolan says. The quick out to Moss was for the taking every snap fof 5 to 6 yards at a whack. The CB was ten yards off and back peddling at the snap. Terrible play calling and even worse clock management.

Originally posted by bpg4980:
This was very close to as dumb as the pitch to me. There was approximately 1:45 left, the rams only have 2 timeouts, and it's first down. Get the clock moving again at all costs! Yes, Delanie should have caught the ball. But the rams will have a harder time winning the game if we run Gore up the middle 3 times than if we score a TD on 1st down. They'd have about a minute to try to get in FG position WITH NO TIMEOUTS rather than 1:40 and 2 timeouts to score a TD. Then there is the chance that by running 3 times we pick up a 1st down and they literally never even see the ball again! The way we were running it may be long odds that we get the 1st down, but it's no less likely than scoring a TD on the Delanie play. So what do we do? Pass on 1st down (the dropped TD) run once and hold while doing it then have Kaep run out of bounds and stop the clock again! The way all teams (even elite defenses) play at the end of games, we gave the rams 1:30 and a timeout, we could have lost in regulation a decent amount of the time! Just horrific play calling - beyond words stupid... If you want to pass on 3rd down to try to get a TD AFTER the rams have used both timeouts, that might be excusable as long as there is a run option for Kaep and he is told only to throw the ball if someone is wide open. But to pass on 1st down in this situation was unforgivable. Whoever called this play (whether it was Roman, Harbaugh, or a Kaep audible) did us a tremendous disservice. It may not quite as bad as the pitch, but to me it was close.

the niners won a game on mf years ago vs saints when the the saints off corrdinator--carl smith--did a similar thing, killing the clock with an incomplete pass

Seems like after the drop and hold the team said "f**k it" and settled for the FG

i think the pass was a bit over thrown...





if you measure it by the alex smith standards

Originally posted by Geeked:
The most AWESOME PART! If you're going to be conservative and not throw it down field WHY ON GODS GREAN EARTH do you give all but one receiver routs that mature after 15 yards.........AND run a couple successful short pass plays only to shut them down for NO apparent reason.

I'm starting to think that long pass to Kyle Williams the other week was an abhoration. If they truely wanted a game manager to throw 15 yard dinks why did they bench Alex? This makes NOOOOOOOOOOOO sense to me. Starting Kaep and drawing up a "game manager" game plan is like bringing in Nolan Ryan from the bull pen and having him throw change ups and curve balls all game long.

Guess I'm disappointed because I thought Harbaugh was a clever guy. He's turned this team into a clusterf*ck.

Originally posted by susweel:
PLEASE STOP THROWING TO WALKER

A week after he has the 2 biggest catches of the game vs. the Saints....lol

Originally posted by monsterzero789:

Originally posted by drakan:

Originally posted by susweel:

Because it was the right call and would have worked if buttfingers could catch the ball. the bad part was throwing to walker and not vd.

Receivers drop passes from time to time...it's part of the game. should have played it safe and milked the clock, but then again Harbaugh loves to gamble.

The ball was right in his hands, there is no excuse for that type of drop at that critical time

The only thing I would add; we didn't run sht all day