Why are we so friggin bad early in games?!?

Mistakes and penalties. Long pass to VD wiped out by someone who couldn't stand in the right alignment at the line.

I was fairly worried about this before the game as well. In order to win games, the offense needs to get into a rhythm, and obviously this has to change because the rhythm on offense hasn't come together until we are down (especially in the postseason).

I think it is a combination of playcalling, Kap's inexperience and getting stupid penalties that hinder stringing first downs together.

I was actually happy that they got their first completion, but obviously we got called for the illegal formation and that hampered the rhythm because we ended up going 3 and out.

It's up to the coaches to call plays that will help build a strong starting drive in games.

It's up to the players to be up for the game from the get-go, and not to wait until the 2nd quarter or even 2nd half to be amped up and ready to go.

Our team is young, and I think they have a mentality where they'll shake it off and come back later. This is good because it shows they have a never die attitude, but you can't always rely on that to win games.

They've done it a few times already, but this was bound to happen sooner or later.

Originally posted by paperplanemedia:
Read the thread title. He plays on O and our O was bad early. Got it?

I disagree with this, the offense did manage to move the ball fairly well early on, they just couldn't get a touchdown early and the James fumble was absolutely brutal, they were deep in Baltimore territory, had they scored there, it would have been 10-7 49ers. After that fumble, things kind of fell apart, Kaepernick really seemed to struggle after the interception but he got into a groove again in the 2nd half.


Bad turnovers, dumb penalties, that is all you need to lose playoff games.

Ginn with the I thought I was at the 10. Bad communication on defense. Illegal formation. Fumble.

Because Roman starts every game the same. Hand the ball to Gore up the middle and the other teams knows that we are going to do just that and they end up with long yardage on 2nd and third downs and then have to punt. He needs to do play action on the first play and get the defense questioning what they are doing. Give them something to think about.

Offense typically takes 2 or 3 series to really get going. They go 3 & out on the 1st drive, give the opposing team great field position, and our struggling D couldn't stop them from scoring first.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by 49erfeeeever808:
because new england exposed our weaknesses and we've had no (first half) answer since.

Meh, their biggest success was Justin Smith being injured. Without Justin, the pass rush doesn't come, this team doesn't play the run as well and the entire defense looks suspect.

It's all Justin Smith that holds our defense together. Which worries me as he is getting older and has injuries.

Originally posted by SealTeam6:
Coaching

Has to be.

Originally posted by drakan:

Originally posted by paperplanemedia:

Originally posted by InHarbsWeTrust:

Originally posted by drakan:
because Kaepernick is inconsistent.

He plays on D?

Read the thread title. He plays on O and our O was bad early. Got it?

exactly

Bad early, ouch!
Didn't set the record of the greatest comeback in Superbowl history (then he must suck).

You do know we have spent the last 7 years building a team around your boy, not Kap. And this is not Singles Tennis, Kap don't win it by himself or lose it. Always hate when talking about QB like they are 90% of everything. Trent Dilfer wouldn't have a ring if that was the case.

Now that HarBaalke have figured out that we have a franchise QB for the next many years and will build around him and you know will bolster this sad defense. And our defense not given up franchise record points to a Superbowl team known for there Defense, not there Offense ......34 flippin' points (Had Joe Montana had such poor defenses on his teams and forced him to score 35 .. .he would have lost twice).

I think the Niners start out conservative on defense every game, no blitzing--nothing special and then make adjustments. On offense kaep isn't looking to run in the first half as much but in the second half he plays like Kaep. The Green Bay game being an exception.

Originally posted by chico49erfan:
I really, truthfully believe our defense was gassed this year. We need some depth, BAD.

I agree with this, and this is why our pass rush suffered as the season wore on. Are there any other teams that never sub out their edge pass rushers?

We need to fix that if we plan on winning a Super Bowl.

The Niners are good in the second half because teams start playing soft. Did u see the cushion the receivers were getting in the second half? Same thing happened in the Atlanta game. We struggle against teams with confident db's wherein the dc doesn't have any problem leaving them in tight man coverage ala Seattle. It's human nature. Look at how the Pats came back on us in the second half. It happens all the time. I wouldn't judge how prolific our offense is based on second half stats.

It has been everytime we are favorites we go conservative... I mean on Offense our first 3 drives are the most predicatable ever especially every 3rd game, and on defense the ravens first 2-3 drives WE PLAYED FLIPPING ZONE! Our CBs get burned over and over when we go zone we don't have the guys to play that we are a man coverage teamand you can go back and look at the pats game, the pack game, and the falcons game and realize that all plays that burnt us passing were in fact zone coverage I cringed when I saw us do it.

Originally posted by OldJoe:

Originally posted by drakan:

Originally posted by paperplanemedia:

Originally posted by InHarbsWeTrust:

Originally posted by drakan:

because Kaepernick is inconsistent.

He plays on D?

Read the thread title. He plays on O and our O was bad early. Got it?

exactly

Bad early, ouch!
Didn't set the record of the greatest comeback in Superbowl history (then he must suck).

You do know we have spent the last 7 years building a team around your boy, not Kap. And this is not Singles Tennis, Kap don't win it by himself or lose it. Always hate when talking about QB like they are 90% of everything. Trent Dilfer wouldn't have a ring if that was the case.

Now that HarBaalke have figured out that we have a franchise QB for the next many years and will build around him and you know will bolster this sad defense. And our defense not given up franchise record points to a Superbowl team known for there Defense, not there Offense ......34 flippin' points (Had Joe Montana had such poor defenses on his teams and forced him to score 35 .. .he would have lost twice).

It never fails. Someone criticizes Kaep and they are automatically labeled a Smith fan. SMH........