Why do the 49ers give up so many sacks? How can they improve?

As much as the 49ers OL is great for run-blocking, they do seem to have some issues in pass protection, but this can be the result of many other factors. I just want to hear people's opinions on what these factors are, compared to say teams like Denver, New Orleans, New England, Minnesota, Atlanta, Is it the OL personnel? If so, who are the weak links? Would changing out a single player such as Goodwin, who has been noticeably struggling at times, make a big difference? Is it he QB leading to sacks by not being decisive enough/holding on to the ball too long? The offensive system? What can they do to improve?

Current 49ers rankings

Sacks given up=8th most in the league

Hits on QB=14th most in the league

Il be annoying here and give it a try: Our o line is built for the run, we can def pass protect but I think after going 100 on a run they are a lil tired and cant give 100 on the pass(would like to know what play is ran before most of our sacks, i would bet a run) could be wrong, and also two or three of our guys all struggled a bit comming out of college in pass protection. I think teams scheme against us well because they know we are strong one on one, and maybe our qbs dont help out on occasion. hows that

Kaep is guilty of holding on to the ball too long, i'm sure it can be a little exhausting trying to block for him, the same way it is trying to block for Roethlesberger

Originally posted by modninerfan:
Kaep is guilty of holding on to the ball too long, i'm sure it can be a little exhausting trying to block for him, the same way it is trying to block for Roethlesberger

I dont think its really this. Like i have said in previous posts, i feel that he needs to develope a bit more awareness for the rush, when to step up into the pocket, and when to flush out of the pocket, and which way to flush.

Last week was an example, where in the first half he asnt really feeling the pressure well, and as flushing out of the pocket a bit premature, and the pocket wasnt colapsed. He simply needed to step into the pocket to buy more time.

In the second half, he seemed to feel it alot better, and on a few plays he stepped up into the pocket really nice, hung in there and made some big plays.

I dont have numbers, but for me it seems like we give up the sacks when the inside of the pocket is collapsed through the center/guard gaps. I certainly think center is our weak link.

Partly because of play calling.

He has to wait for the receivers to get open. Need shorter slants and 3 step & release plays.

I also think a no-huddle offense would help especially against teams like Seattle.

Like wally , I put this all on play calling. Roman knows kap has the BIG ARM, so he calls for 50 yarders. That doesn't work when a team like SEA, RAMS, et al, have great passrushers and kap has literally no more than 2 seconds to get the ball gone. Calling for big passes for kaps big arm isn't what we need from roman. Dinks and dunks, get the 3-7 yd plays on 1st or 2nd down, and then the D backs off LOS and Kap will have more time. Also with dinks and dunks working, Ds will have to back off LOS which opens it up for Frank. I think this is play calling primarily, and our OL will block 50% better if they have to hold blocks for no more than 2-3 seconds.

As per wally, short slants, releases, dinks and dunks are going to get Ds off our LOS. As for no huddle, again agree wth wally .

The pass protection issue has been ongoing I seen it last year as well the O-Line just lets the pocket collapse that's part of the reason Alex Smith struggled the way he did now it's affecting Colin.

What we need are a couple of Smith brother type guys on our O -Line, they will need to retool that O-Line if they really want a SB win we now have a QB that can go deep with a powerful arm he just needs some protection to get rid of the ball, if you have watched the last several games Colin has to roll out almost right away due to instant pocket collapse.

I know our line guys both on O and D are tired and banged up because we have no real rotation and that's taking a tole on the whole team right now.

I think it's a scheme thing. We need an offensive coordinator who knows how to be innovative in the passing game as well.

For what it's worth, both Kap and Alex had exactly 218 passing attempts. Alex was sacked 24 times and Kap only 16.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
For what it's worth, both Kap and Alex had exactly 218 passing attempts. Alex was sacked 24 times and Kap only 16.

I wonder what the total yardage lost was? Some of Kaepernick's sacks have unnecessarily resulted in big losses. Although some potential sacks have resulted in big plays.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
For what it's worth, both Kap and Alex had exactly 218 passing attempts. Alex was sacked 24 times and Kap only 16.

Thanks for pointing that out. I was just going to post that I thought they were getting a little better at not allowing sacks as the season went on. And, Kaepernick seems a little harder to sack. But really, this O-line was built for the run. They're very large and strong. A lot of the better pass protection lines are smaller guys with quick feet. They are getting better at it though.

Originally posted by gato80:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
For what it's worth, both Kap and Alex had exactly 218 passing attempts. Alex was sacked 24 times and Kap only 16.

I wonder what the total yardage lost was? Some of Kaepernick's sacks have unnecessarily resulted in big losses. Although some potential sacks have resulted in big plays.

Kap lost more yardage overall, but Alex was sacked more often. So Kap was better at avoiding sacks in general (better scrambling ability), but when he did get sacked, it was for bigger losses as he was scrambling. Alex typically took his sacks nearer the line of scrimmage/in the pocket.

too answer your question, Staley and AD are our weak link as far as pass protection goes.

i think we'd be better off with a more "pure" TE than Walker. someone that's a better blocker and someone better at being a quick outlet and at finding soft spots in the zone............. that will also let us use VD more effectively for quick out, etc....



or just a TE that can catch the ball............ VD isn't very good at that either.

And this is WITH two very mobile QB's. We now are seeing that it wasn't just Alex taking the sacks. It's CK too and when he's not, he's often times forced to scramble and/or run for his life. This has been a perpetual problem for a long long long time. The OL generally only block for 2 seconds and then let their man go...perhaps that's coaching or perhaps the QB is to get it out under the 3 seconds per play design. Either way, it's very poor and leaves the QB with one real receiving option and if that man is covered, we're screwed; we look horrible in ad-lib plays (minus the QB). The WR's seem to be getting a little better as of late. The other big issue is that while we ARE built to run, Gore hasn't had a 100 yard day since week 7. Some of that had been the emergence of Hunter but for a team built around the run game, I found this a bit odd. This OL and QB in particular, struggle mightily against 4-3 defenses where the DL is active and the DE's are good at containing the edges. Everyone knows Gore can't run off tackle and is very slow laterally and James is just now starting to see a few more carries on the edges (not a lot of success like we had with Hunter). Play calling is also another strong contributer esp. inside the 10 yard line, RZ and jumbo packages with zero receiving options fools nobody. The first 2/3rd of the year we had almost all of our success on 1st downs. We get progressively worst after that down esp. 3rd downs. Lots of issues with the OL but it also has a lot of factors affecting it as well. And that is with being very lucky re: health!