Why does the offensive line continue to struggle in pass protection?

Originally posted by SportsFan:
Why is it they continue to struggle in pass protection?

They have good games and then bad games. They aren't consistent.

What type of dline do they struggle against?

I think every linemen had a holding penalty, even the backup guys.

Iupati had a bad game from what I could see.

I don't have data on directional runs from yesterday, but I've read that Anthony Davis is the most erratic right tackle in the NFL. He goes from all-pro to practice squad material, and back again.

He plays next to a converted left tackle who is now a guard.

Yeah they were not good yesterday. In pass blocking or run blocking. The Rams front is very good and I give them credit but we should have been able to move them in the running game and thats what was most discouraging to me. Were we not getting put in the best position to run the ball. I don't know. The playcalling was atrocious and Kaep looked lost in his presnap reads. He didn't know if he was letting it roll, or whether or not his arse was a arse or a hole in the ground. At one point he was letting it roll and killing the play at the same time only to look up and call timeout.

It isn't the OL that is such a glaring problem. Every team has protection breakdowns.

Look, the OL isn't great at pass pro... they never were... but our issues arise more from:

(1) not having intelligent quick routes to combat the blitz

(2) the QB not willing to hit the quick routes to combat the blitz

(3) the QB not recognizing when and where pressure is coming from early on

Take the "safety" play, for instance....

8 man rush.... EIGHT.... that means there is only 3 defenders in coverage. Miller goes on a quick out just beyond the LOS. Crabtree runs a deep slant from the slot right vs the single high S. VD running a deep out on the other side and getting pressed by a LB the whole time... Mario runs a deep... fly or comeback (couldn't tell as he runs off my screen). Gore stays in to block outside rusher... QB is at the 7 yard line after PA drop... he sees pressure coming from LG as Goodwin allows the DT to get over his left shoulder.... He sees the the penetrating blitz LB coming up the A-gap...

What does the QB do? Does he throw to his outlet who is wide open? (Miller) No.... he scrambles right (into the area of Gore/outside rush) and then continues into the EZ as that rusher now has a clean angle and is reaching for him. Had he set and fired to Miller from his 7 yard line to Miller at the 16, then we are talking about a QB beating the blitz.

Agree the Oline did not play very well.

A few things contributed.

First, our play calling sucked. The coaches did not make adjustments in their play calling. We missed Hunter BIG time.

2nd, Their D is vastly improved and are better than given credit for.

3rd, Errors by Kap, dropped pass by Delaine that would have ended it.

4th, Fisher is an excellent D coach and they seemed to have an answer for most of our plays.

Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
It isn't the OL that is such a glaring problem. Every team has protection breakdowns.

Look, the OL isn't great at pass pro... they never were... but our issues arise more from:

(1) not having intelligent quick routes to combat the blitz

(2) the QB not willing to hit the quick routes to combat the blitz

(3) the QB not recognizing when and where pressure is coming from early on

Take the "safety" play, for instance....

8 man rush.... EIGHT.... that means there is only 3 defenders in coverage. Miller goes on a quick out just beyond the LOS. Crabtree runs a deep slant from the slot right vs the single high S. VD running a deep out on the other side and getting pressed by a LB the whole time... Mario runs a deep... fly or comeback (couldn't tell as he runs off my screen). Gore stays in to block outside rusher... QB is at the 7 yard line after PA drop... he sees pressure coming from LG as Goodwin allows the DT to get over his left shoulder.... He sees the the penetrating blitz LB coming up the A-gap...

What does the QB do? Does he throw to his outlet who is wide open? (Miller) No.... he scrambles right (into the area of Gore/outside rush) and then continues into the EZ as that rusher now has a clean angle and is reaching for him. Had he set and fired to Miller from his 7 yard line to Miller at the 16, then we are talking about a QB beating the blitz.

Perhaps some of this is on Kaep to recognize and adjust at the line of scrimmage....no? He chose to hand in the pocket anyway.

The OL looks to be digressing and they were never all that good at pass protection to begin with.

The D stacks the box our OL gets owned and our offense struggles because Roman can't make necessary adjustments.

always been a problem

Originally posted by SportsFan:
Why is it they continue to struggle in pass protection?

They have good games and then bad games. They aren't consistent.

What type of dline do they struggle against?

I think every linemen had a holding penalty, even the backup guys.

Iupati had a bad game from what I could see.

They can't pass protect past 3-4 sec after snap and sometimes they miss people and let them come right in, regardless who is at QB. i.e. They're not very good at pass blocking.

Originally posted by SportsFan:
Why is it they continue to struggle in pass protection?

They have good games and then bad games. They aren't consistent.

What type of dline do they struggle against?

I think every linemen had a holding penalty, even the backup guys.

Iupati had a bad game from what I could see.

Pass protection has been solid against Chicago and New Orleans and it was the run game they were struggling with. Honestly I think the refs were knit picking at our O-line on some calls. Refs barely called any type of holding on St. Louis, I seen a play were Aldon Smith came in on his famous stunt and got pulled to the ground with a no call.

Originally posted by bzborow1:

Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
It isn't the OL that is such a glaring problem. Every team has protection breakdowns.

Look, the OL isn't great at pass pro... they never were... but our issues arise more from:

(1) not having intelligent quick routes to combat the blitz

(2) the QB not willing to hit the quick routes to combat the blitz

(3) the QB not recognizing when and where pressure is coming from early on

Take the "safety" play, for instance....

8 man rush.... EIGHT.... that means there is only 3 defenders in coverage. Miller goes on a quick out just beyond the LOS. Crabtree runs a deep slant from the slot right vs the single high S. VD running a deep out on the other side and getting pressed by a LB the whole time... Mario runs a deep... fly or comeback (couldn't tell as he runs off my screen). Gore stays in to block outside rusher... QB is at the 7 yard line after PA drop... he sees pressure coming from LG as Goodwin allows the DT to get over his left shoulder.... He sees the the penetrating blitz LB coming up the A-gap...

What does the QB do? Does he throw to his outlet who is wide open? (Miller) No.... he scrambles right (into the area of Gore/outside rush) and then continues into the EZ as that rusher now has a clean angle and is reaching for him. Had he set and fired to Miller from his 7 yard line to Miller at the 16, then we are talking about a QB beating the blitz.

Perhaps some of this is on Kaep to recognize and adjust at the line of scrimmage....no? He chose to hand in the pocket anyway.

Some, for sure. I wouldn't hang ALL of the blame on the QB.. just as I wouldn't for the other QB.

.. but there were some plays that exhibited a painful lack of pocket presence and composure. Our team is built to handle limited but smart QB play. Our defense was dominating that arse.. We forced 5 straight punts... then forced a long FG try... shut down 5 more drives outof 7..and those two, only yielded two FGs... It was our offense giving up points that was such a killer..

give the rams D a little credit.
They played lights out. the schemes and play calling was perfect for what the niners tried to do (in most cases)

Rams seem to kind of have the Niners number this year for whatever reason. Granted, a lot of it has been self inflcited

Davis was getting owned all day. He has a nasty busted finger which may account for some of the misses.

However, the play calling was transparent and stubborn. There were no adjustments throughout the game. The Rams were blitzing every play and were not very creative doing so. There were few if any attempts to disguise the blitz.

When the 49ers went to the quick slants, things started to click again. Then Roman decided that he would go back to the game plan that didn't work.

I don't know, I'm not as disturbed with Kap, or the line as I am with Roman's complete pigheadedness in regards to running the plays HE wanted.

Roman was sailing into the wind the whole game and wouldn't budge.


A two year QB isn't going to be able to shine in that situation. An offensive line loses all it's advantage when the defense knows what's going to happen.

Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:

Originally posted by bzborow1:

Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
It isn't the OL that is such a glaring problem. Every team has protection breakdowns.

Look, the OL isn't great at pass pro... they never were... but our issues arise more from:

(1) not having intelligent quick routes to combat the blitz

(2) the QB not willing to hit the quick routes to combat the blitz

(3) the QB not recognizing when and where pressure is coming from early on

Take the "safety" play, for instance....

8 man rush.... EIGHT.... that means there is only 3 defenders in coverage. Miller goes on a quick out just beyond the LOS. Crabtree runs a deep slant from the slot right vs the single high S. VD running a deep out on the other side and getting pressed by a LB the whole time... Mario runs a deep... fly or comeback (couldn't tell as he runs off my screen). Gore stays in to block outside rusher... QB is at the 7 yard line after PA drop... he sees pressure coming from LG as Goodwin allows the DT to get over his left shoulder.... He sees the the penetrating blitz LB coming up the A-gap...

What does the QB do? Does he throw to his outlet who is wide open? (Miller) No.... he scrambles right (into the area of Gore/outside rush) and then continues into the EZ as that rusher now has a clean angle and is reaching for him. Had he set and fired to Miller from his 7 yard line to Miller at the 16, then we are talking about a QB beating the blitz.

Perhaps some of this is on Kaep to recognize and adjust at the line of scrimmage....no? He chose to hand in the pocket anyway.

Some, for sure. I wouldn't hang ALL of the blame on the QB.. just as I wouldn't for the other QB.

.. but there were some plays that exhibited a painful lack of pocket presence and composure. Our team is built to handle limited but smart QB play. Our defense was dominating that arse.. We forced 5 straight punts... then forced a long FG try... shut down 5 more drives outof 7..and those two, only yielded two FGs... It was our offense giving up points that was such a killer..

What's in bold is the biggest issue. The following points don't really matter when the play call doesn't incorporate quick slants or hitches. I don't think either QB would have been able to win against Roman. He totally screwed the pooch.

The only thing that I believe Smith could have done was check off to a different play at the line of scrimmage. However, with the way Roman was going at it, this may have got Smith benched. It was quite obvious that Roman was more wedded to his scripted game plan than to his own life.