Will our defense play the majority of the game in a nickel & dime?

I think it's safe to assume that the Niners will be in Nickel almost the entire game, but I personally don't see there being a ton of dime where Willis or Bowman would come off the field. Definitely nothing like what the Niners saw against the Packers or even a healthy/semi-functional Lions team. First of all, with the injuries to Edelman and Stallworth they only have 4 WRs on their 53 man roster so throw 5-wides out the window. To go 4 WRs they'd have to take their back (whether that be Ridley/Vereen/Bolden) or Aaron Hernandez off the field in favor of Matthew Slater. Unless they want to abandon their up-tempo offense, or use it only sparingly against the Niners I doubt that they will have both a back or Hernandez off the field for long stretches of time, which would be the case if they went 4-wide and up tempo. Every time the Pats change personnel they give us a chance to do so as well. So I expect them to hit us a single back, 3-wide, 1 TE set on most plays, with the occasional dose of both heavy spread sets of 4-wide equally mixed in with 12 personnel, so there's a chance the base defense will actually see a few snaps. And very unlikely that Willis and Bowman miss a significant or even notable portion of the snaps.

Without trying to make it sound like the Pats are easy to defend in any way, obviously this isn't the case, I think that the defense matches up well with what I expect will be the Pats personnel throughout a good portion of the game - Ridley, Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd and Branch. Hernandez and Welker are the two that present the most problems, mostly Welker as I'm worried about Rogers' ability to contain him after his performance against Amendola and other legitimate slot guys. And while I don't want to take anything away from Hernandez I have faith that Willis will be able to do a fine job in coverage against him. It's usually the taller TEs that give him the most problems. As every single pundit and 9er fan on this earth has already said, the key to winning this game is to harass Brady on every single snap. Aldon Smith needs to have his usually dominant primetime performance and Cowboy and Ray Mac need to drink their muscle milk because if we give Brady a clean pocket he could pick us apart with practice squad players running routes.

Originally posted by 2Legit2Quit:
I think it's safe to assume that the Niners will be in Nickel almost the entire game, but I personally don't see there being a ton of dime where Willis or Bowman would come off the field. Definitely nothing like what the Niners saw against the Packers or even a healthy/semi-functional Lions team. First of all, with the injuries to Edelman and Stallworth they only have 4 WRs on their 53 man roster so throw 5-wides out the window. To go 4 WRs they'd have to take their back (whether that be Ridley/Vereen/Bolden) or Aaron Hernandez off the field in favor of Matthew Slater. Unless they want to abandon their up-tempo offense, or use it only sparingly against the Niners I doubt that they will have both a back or Hernandez off the field for long stretches of time, which would be the case if they went 4-wide and up tempo. Every time the Pats change personnel they give us a chance to do so as well. So I expect them to hit us a single back, 3-wide, 1 TE set on most plays, with the occasional dose of both heavy spread sets of 4-wide equally mixed in with 12 personnel, so there's a chance the base defense will actually see a few snaps. And very unlikely that Willis and Bowman miss a significant or even notable portion of the snaps.

Without trying to make it sound like the Pats are easy to defend in any way, obviously this isn't the case, I think that the defense matches up well with what I expect will be the Pats personnel throughout a good portion of the game - Ridley, Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd and Branch. Hernandez and Welker are the two that present the most problems, mostly Welker as I'm worried about Rogers' ability to contain him after his performance against Amendola and other legitimate slot guys. And while I don't want to take anything away from Hernandez I have faith that Willis will be able to do a fine job in coverage against him. It's usually the taller TEs that give him the most problems. As every single pundit and 9er fan on this earth has already said, the key to winning this game is to harass Brady on every single snap. Aldon Smith needs to have his usually dominant primetime performance and Cowboy and Ray Mac need to drink their muscle milk because if we give Brady a clean pocket he could pick us apart with practice squad players running routes.

Ok 5 Wide does not have to be ALL WR, the Pats would go empty backfield with Wlker,Lloyd,Hernandez, Woodhead and Branch spread out to receiver spots IF they went 5 wide.

I still say the 49ers need score 21+ points at least to win..

Originally posted by NeeJ49er:

Originally posted by blm7754:

Originally posted by PatsFanNH:
Hye guys Pats fan here, and if the 49ers are in nickle and dime all game I expect a BIG does of ridley.That said I expect a tough game, but god no more injuries!!!

WTF is this guy doing here???


As a rule of thumb, don't post on a 49er fan site if you are a fan of the Cowboys, Packers, Giants, Seahawkes, Cardinals, Rams, or whomever we are playing on the given week.

Nothing wrong with the enemy stopping by for a civil chat, I visit opposing teams message boards during the week too ...the only message board that was filled with nothing but a*****es was the Seahawks board...bunch of know it all pricks ...least this Pats fan isnt trashing us and talking big $hit

I do it too.

Originally posted by PatsFanNH:

Originally posted by 2Legit2Quit:
I think it's safe to assume that the Niners will be in Nickel almost the entire game, but I personally don't see there being a ton of dime where Willis or Bowman would come off the field. Definitely nothing like what the Niners saw against the Packers or even a healthy/semi-functional Lions team. First of all, with the injuries to Edelman and Stallworth they only have 4 WRs on their 53 man roster so throw 5-wides out the window. To go 4 WRs they'd have to take their back (whether that be Ridley/Vereen/Bolden) or Aaron Hernandez off the field in favor of Matthew Slater. Unless they want to abandon their up-tempo offense, or use it only sparingly against the Niners I doubt that they will have both a back or Hernandez off the field for long stretches of time, which would be the case if they went 4-wide and up tempo. Every time the Pats change personnel they give us a chance to do so as well. So I expect them to hit us a single back, 3-wide, 1 TE set on most plays, with the occasional dose of both heavy spread sets of 4-wide equally mixed in with 12 personnel, so there's a chance the base defense will actually see a few snaps. And very unlikely that Willis and Bowman miss a significant or even notable portion of the snaps.

Without trying to make it sound like the Pats are easy to defend in any way, obviously this isn't the case, I think that the defense matches up well with what I expect will be the Pats personnel throughout a good portion of the game - Ridley, Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd and Branch. Hernandez and Welker are the two that present the most problems, mostly Welker as I'm worried about Rogers' ability to contain him after his performance against Amendola and other legitimate slot guys. And while I don't want to take anything away from Hernandez I have faith that Willis will be able to do a fine job in coverage against him. It's usually the taller TEs that give him the most problems. As every single pundit and 9er fan on this earth has already said, the key to winning this game is to harass Brady on every single snap. Aldon Smith needs to have his usually dominant primetime performance and Cowboy and Ray Mac need to drink their muscle milk because if we give Brady a clean pocket he could pick us apart with practice squad players running routes.

Ok 5 Wide does not have to be ALL WR, the Pats would go empty backfield with Wlker,Lloyd,Hernandez, Woodhead and Branch spread out to receiver spots IF they went 5 wide.

I still say the 49ers need score 21+ points at least to win..

I agree about the 21+ points.

Originally posted by 2Legit2Quit:
I think it's safe to assume that the Niners will be in Nickel almost the entire game, but I personally don't see there being a ton of dime where Willis or Bowman would come off the field. Definitely nothing like what the Niners saw against the Packers or even a healthy/semi-functional Lions team. First of all, with the injuries to Edelman and Stallworth they only have 4 WRs on their 53 man roster so throw 5-wides out the window. To go 4 WRs they'd have to take their back (whether that be Ridley/Vereen/Bolden) or Aaron Hernandez off the field in favor of Matthew Slater. Unless they want to abandon their up-tempo offense, or use it only sparingly against the Niners I doubt that they will have both a back or Hernandez off the field for long stretches of time, which would be the case if they went 4-wide and up tempo. Every time the Pats change personnel they give us a chance to do so as well. So I expect them to hit us a single back, 3-wide, 1 TE set on most plays, with the occasional dose of both heavy spread sets of 4-wide equally mixed in with 12 personnel, so there's a chance the base defense will actually see a few snaps. And very unlikely that Willis and Bowman miss a significant or even notable portion of the snaps.

Without trying to make it sound like the Pats are easy to defend in any way, obviously this isn't the case, I think that the defense matches up well with what I expect will be the Pats personnel throughout a good portion of the game - Ridley, Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd and Branch. Hernandez and Welker are the two that present the most problems, mostly Welker as I'm worried about Rogers' ability to contain him after his performance against Amendola and other legitimate slot guys. And while I don't want to take anything away from Hernandez I have faith that Willis will be able to do a fine job in coverage against him. It's usually the taller TEs that give him the most problems. As every single pundit and 9er fan on this earth has already said, the key to winning this game is to harass Brady on every single snap. Aldon Smith needs to have his usually dominant primetime performance and Cowboy and Ray Mac need to drink their muscle milk because if we give Brady a clean pocket he could pick us apart with practice squad players running routes.

Very nice post!

Originally posted by blm7754:

Originally posted by PatsFanNH:
Hye guys Pats fan here, and if the 49ers are in nickle and dime all game I expect a BIG does of ridley.That said I expect a tough game, but god no more injuries!!!

WTF is this guy doing here???


As a rule of thumb, don't post on a 49er fan site if you are a fan of the Cowboys, Packers, Giants, Seahawkes, Cardinals, Rams, or whomever we are playing on the given week.

False.

As a rule of thumb, post respectfully and don't let SOME of the poster on here get to you, and you will do just fine.

Welcome PatsFan.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
False.

As a rule of thumb, post respectfully and don't let SOME of the poster on here get to you, and you will do just fine.

Welcome PatsFan.

Thanks, I just thought he was being tongue and cheek anyways.

Originally posted by PatsFanNH:
Ok 5 Wide does not have to be ALL WR, the Pats would go empty backfield with Wlker,Lloyd,Hernandez, Woodhead and Branch spread out to receiver spots IF they went 5 wide.

I still say the 49ers need score 21+ points at least to win..

Fair point, but that doesn't change the fact we wouldn't need to leave our nickel defense to defend that type of spread.

And I completely agree about the 21+ points. I think if our defense can hold the Pats in the 17-24 point range the loss would fall squarely on the shoulders of our offense.

2legit, if we play nickel all nite or dime, we will be playing the D that brady loves. He will just sit back and kill us. I appreciate your viewpoint, but if we don't pressure brady we lose....and not by a little either. We will lose by same score or worse as Texans, who played into brady's hands, playing nickel and dime. Me, if i see that, I am going to read about our 28 pt loss in the newspaper. i won't be able to sit thru a scenario as bad as that one.

Fangio will probably do what he did against the Saints and Giants last year. A lot of mixed zone man coverages Bait Brady to seem like man but then have someone jump the route for a pick six.

Originally posted by DaDivaRecieva15:
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In da 50cent defense

Originally posted by blm7754:

Originally posted by PatsFanNH:

Hye guys Pats fan here, and if the 49ers are in nickle and dime all game I expect a BIG does of ridley.That said I expect a tough game, but god no more injuries!!!

WTF is this guy doing here???


As a rule of thumb, don't post on a 49er fan site if you are a fan of the Cowboys, Packers, Giants, Seahawkes, Cardinals, Rams, or whomever we are playing on the given week.

As long as folks aren't disrespectful nobody round here gives a fudge. Keep it about football n have a good time.

Agreed, no injuries and a good game.

Go Niners!!

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
2legit, if we play nickel all nite or dime, we will be playing the D that brady loves. He will just sit back and kill us. I appreciate your viewpoint, but if we don't pressure brady we lose....and not by a little either. We will lose by same score or worse as Texans, who played into brady's hands, playing nickel and dime. Me, if i see that, I am going to read about our 28 pt loss in the newspaper. i won't be able to sit thru a scenario as bad as that one.

Playing nickel shouldn't effect our ability to pass rush in the slightest. In fact, if anything it probably makes it easier to pass rush in nickel because Aldon gets to put his hand in the dirt most times. All that happens is Soap comes off the field and Culliver comes onto the field. Soap provides little to no pass rush. Nickel and dime aren't play calls, they are simply personnel groupings. We can blitz just as much from nickel and dime as we can from base. Going into nickel doesn't necessarily mean playing soft coverage, it's just getting the right number of DBs on the field to handle the WRs so we don't have a linebacker or safety in man coverage against a WR.