Originally posted by nw9erfan:
To me, the game came down to one play....the kickoff return for a TD... That was the difference maker. You take that one play away (and you should), and the Niners probably win that game.
The entire reason why Jones was able to run it back all the way was that there were 2 blatant holding fouls on the Ravens (one on either side of the returner)... Bruce Miller was literally held by two Ravens around his waist and D Walker on the other side was grabbed by another Raven. Just absolutely egregious. Jones simply split the 2 holds and raced to the end zone...
All I can say is this...if you are going 11 on 9, you better return it all the way. I can't believe this has not been a bigger issue nationally. It was so blatant it makes me sick
I would say this play and the James fumble were the two biggest reasons. We had 1st and 10 at the Raven 24 yard line, our offense was getting in sync, looked like we were about to take the lead down 7-3 at the time.
Also, we had 2nd and 2 at the Raven 9 yard line with 25 seconds to go before halftime and kinda settled for 3 points.
Originally posted by merm49:
Roman is a great innovator but, like others have said, he's and idiot game manager. For as dynamic of an offense we have, how many 3 and outs did we have against ATL or BAL, and early when we needed a score to quiet the crowd and set up some momentum. How many drives look nothing like their predecessor or successor?
Sure, the terrible first half, laughably bad DB play by Whitner and particularly Culiver (dude gave up like 150 yards and TD on 3 completions alone plus a killer PI), and unbalanced refs cost us, but at the end of the day--despite all these obstacles, self-inflicted and otherwise--we were in a position to win the freaking game. 7 yards away from the endzone. We had been gashing them with the run all 2nd half long--I saw a stat here that said in the second half we had 129 yards for a 9.2 ypc--Gore was rolling, the OL was mauling people, and they were without their run stopper. Go with the read option, which, even when it was 'stopped' still averaged a 2-3 yards, or the much ballyhooed jumbo formation and we win the game. Instead, he called literally the worst final 3 plays possible--all were effectively one route plays to the corner of the field-- further limiting the playing area in already cramped quarters. Furthermore, and this is something that hasn't gotten much press, by going pass-pass-pass, we left a ton of the time on the clock and BAL with all 3 of their TOs, so even we did score, BAL could easily get in position to kick the game-tying or winning FG depending on the outcome of the game. What really makes me sick is that the original 3rd down play was likely the one that would have scored the TD, but as we've seen time and again (and this is on Kap too to some degree but Alex struggled with it as well, indicating a problem with the playcaller) the play came in late and we were unable to get it off. Watching live and on the replay, you can see that a pulling Boone, Gore, and Walker are all out there ready to block and there's only one Ravens defender in the area. Though the good call somewhat absolves Roman, he/Harbs f**ked it up by getting the play in late, and then because we showed our hand, we weren't able to try it again and instead ran some piss poor route combo out of an odd formation. Kaep does deserve some blame for locking in on Crabs, because he could have run on 2nd down, had VD and Walker on 3rd, and made the right audible on 4th down, but the play calls were just s**t. We have Gore, who has given his all for the team and was having a fantastic game, the strongest and fastest running QB in the game, a massive OL, and an aging, gassed defense without their biggest run-stopper, and we go pass-pass-pass to lose the f**king bowl.
You know the ultimate blame lies with Roman when numerous players--Gore, Staley, Walker, even defensive guys like Whitner--have all basically come out and said Why the flying f**k did we not run the ball?
I'm doing better than yesterday, not as angry or depressed, but deeply, deeply disappointed. And it will linger a long, long time. I'm able to forget it for a moment or two but then remember the final drive failure and am overcome I know this level of emotional investment in the outcome of a game played by guys I'll likely never meet isn't ideal, but it's how I have been with the Niners and how I'll always be.
Ugh, pisses me off so much. How Frank cannot get one handoff in the last 4 plays is mind boggling. We were gashing them, and needed to take time off the clock if we could. Frank was tasting a ring there, so so disappointing.
My biggest complaint is even if we are gonna pass in that situation, a rollout from the 5 yard line is just dumb. Cuts half the field down in such a small space to begin with. Too bad we dont have 20 yard endzones like the CFL!
I agree with the opening post. Had plenty of downs to run it in. That was just horrible play calling all around. Most of the time when we ran on those guys we got yards. Plus the Culliver PI might have also cost us the game.
Originally posted by OldShooldNiner:
I agree with the opening post. Had plenty of downs to run it in. That was just horrible play calling all around. Most of the time when we ran on those guys we got yards. Plus the Culliver PI might have also cost us the game.
Regardless of everything else that happened, we had the ball at the 5 and 3 plays to get it in. The wrong plays were called and that is Roman's responsibility.
