2013 - Week 1: Thoughts after rewatching the game...

Originally posted by Tigerlaw:

Originally posted by NCB316:
Thanks for the write-up, agreed with everything you said; ESPECIALLY the penalty. Matthews should have been EJECTED. Didn't we see a player ejected earlier in the week/day or something similar? Throwing a punch??

I'd also add that we all have to remember that even though Nnamdi didn't shut anyone down, we were playing against Aaron Rodgers and his quartet of receivers, they are going to get theirs.

Panther DL in the Seahawk/Panther game was ejected just before halftime for FAR LESS than what Matthews did

Matthews should have been ejected for the late hit, but he also should have been ejected for throwing punches at Staley (regardless of the stupidity of throwing punches at a man wearing a helmet).

On your point #1 with Kap, it is happening so often I almost wonder if Harbaugh just told him not to worry about the clock and to read the defense and make the right call and that Harbs would bail him out if it got close. Maybe not but it just happens so much its hard to think they havent worked on it and it still happens.

Nnamdi: I am not as hard on him as some because watching the game a couple times Nelson abused all our CBs not just Nnamdi and many of the times Nnamdi did get beat it was a great throw and catch which is almost impossible to defend. He does need to work on his tackling, and he did have one blown coverage that stuck out but i thought he played well in a game where you can't shut down the O you just try to stop the bleeding the best you can.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Question: When Dawson missed his first FG was it his fault or the new long snapper's?

It was definitely his fault. It was the same type of lame duck hook that he kicked at times in the preseason. I am worried about this guy.

Great job Marvin!

Originally posted by BrianGO:

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Question: When Dawson missed his first FG was it his fault or the new long snapper's?

It was definitely his fault. It was the same type of lame duck hook that he kicked at times in the preseason. I am worried about this guy.

He didnt adjust for the wind at all, watch the flags on the fieldgoal posts the wind just carried the ball off target.

to much shrilling from a couple people about dawson. he missed a field goal. big deal, he bounced back, no bad body chemistry like akers, he made one at crunch time. sure he is a vet and he played a couple of pre season games in the stick but i bet the wind there is never the same, he is a pro and he like our poor first half tackling, righted the ship in the second half and that is all you should care about, in my opinion

Hopefully my post didnt come off that way, just explaining what happened... no wind and that would of been down the middle.

Originally posted by 5280High:

Originally posted by BrianGO:

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Question: When Dawson missed his first FG was it his fault or the new long snapper's?

It was definitely his fault. It was the same type of lame duck hook that he kicked at times in the preseason. I am worried about this guy.

He didnt adjust for the wind at all, watch the flags on the fieldgoal posts the wind just carried the ball off target.

If you look at the spin on the football, it was definitely a hook, not the wind. The same thing you get from a soccer ball or golf ball.

I LOL'd when Aldon was rushing the passer with his helmit off. If you get a chance to rewatch it and pause it, the look on his face is priceless!

Originally posted by socalniner:

Originally posted by BrianGO:
Every time we tried a designed quarterback run it didn't work. The sooner we get rid of this play, the better. Players like Matthews are going to try and injure Kap. I don't blame them. I would gladly trade a 15 yard penalty for a chance to take down the main obstacle for any NFC team. It's disgusting, but the NFL is not doing anything to discourage it.

It looks like it didn't work, but you factor in how much teams need to gameplan and time put in practice to stop, it really is something we need to keep. We only need to show it a few times a game to keep teams honest, but it opens up so much more

Good point. If the 49ers stop running some of those designed QB runs, other teams will no longer fear it. Because they do fear it, those DEs/OLBs have to be so disciplined and show restrain on getting too far upfield trying to rush the QB. This makes the Staley's and ADavis' job a bit easier knowing that that the DE/OLB has a lane in which to rush the passer.

I was very impressed by Kap on one particular play that resulted in a failed 3rd down attempt. I forget the time in which it happened, but it was a 3rd and 8(?) and Kap dropped back to pass, finding no one, he proceeded to scramble looking for the 1st down. We know Kap has shown good decision making in running out of bounds and sliding to avoid hits, but one scenario I worry about is when he needs a first down and is a few yards short, with a defender closing in. Would his ultra-competitive nature instinctively tell him to take on a LB/DB and try his hardest to get the first down? Or would he show restraint and slide, even though it results in punting? He slid a couple yards short of the first down and they punted. Excellent maturity and restraint imo.

Originally posted by thl408:
Good point. If the 49ers stop running some of those designed QB runs, other teams will no longer fear it. Because they do fear it, those DEs/OLBs have to be so disciplined and show restrain on getting too far upfield trying to rush the QB. This makes the Staley's and ADavis' job a bit easier knowing that that the DE/OLB has a lane in which to rush the passer.

I was very impressed by Kap on one particular play that resulted in a failed 3rd down attempt. I forget the time in which it happened, but it was a 3rd and 8(?) and Kap dropped back to pass, finding no one, he proceeded to scramble looking for the 1st down. We know Kap has shown good decision making in running out of bounds and sliding to avoid hits, but one scenario I worry about is when he needs a first down and is a few yards short, with a defender closing in. Would his ultra-competitive nature instinctively tell him to take on a LB/DB and try his hardest to get the first down? Or would he show restraint and slide, even though it results in punting? He slid a couple yards short of the first down and they punted. Excellent maturity and restraint imo.

The coaches are obviously telling him to do this, and its a great idea. We don't need that first down more than we need Kap to keep throwing passes. The idiot fans of other teams are already calling him a wuss for not trying to get those first downs.
I'd rather have a wuss throwing for 400+ yards than a tough guy rehabbing in the trainers room.

Originally posted by 5280High:
On your point #1 with Kap, it is happening so often I almost wonder if Harbaugh just told him not to worry about the clock and to read the defense and make the right call and that Harbs would bail him out if it got close. Maybe not but it just happens so much its hard to think they havent worked on it and it still happens.

Nnamdi: I am not as hard on him as some because watching the game a couple times Nelson abused all our CBs not just Nnamdi and many of the times Nnamdi did get beat it was a great throw and catch which is almost impossible to defend. He does need to work on his tackling, and he did have one blown coverage that stuck out but i thought he played well in a game where you can't shut down the O you just try to stop the bleeding the best you can.

Your thoughts on Nnamdi were pretty much what I was thinking. Rodgers completes over two thirds of his passes. If you hold him to less than that, you've probably done a pretty good job. Usually when that happens, it's because your pass rush has put pressure on him. Our pass rush wasn't as good as usual today, and some of Rodgers' throws went to the only place that they could have gone. On these I give credit to Rodgers and the Packers. Nnamdi had pretty good to excellent position on all but a couple of the passes that went his way. But where blame can be placed at his feet is precisely where you placed it: his tackling was poor!

In the past Brock has tended to give too much cushion, allowing easier completions; but his tackling has been excellent. Pick your poison.

Should the Niners demand a fine and suspension for Fabio?

Originally posted by kray28:
Should the Niners demand a fine and suspension for Fabio?

Nah, makes us look like whiners. Let the league offices handle it

I mostly agree with you about Greg Roman, but I do think that sometimes he tends to outsmart himself and get too cute with his playcalling. One such occasion was on the 49ers possession in the 4th quarter when they were up 31-28. On the first play Kap threw the ball to Miller who picked up a first down. It was then first and 10, and Roman called a read-option. I really didn't think that was wise at that point because we saw all game that GB had been pretty much pouring all their effort and energy into stopping the read option. We were killing them through the air and it seemed like Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter had just begun to find their rhythm on the previous drive. But that play call put us at a 2nd and 12 which made the rest of that series much more difficult. On 3rd and 12 Kyle Williams did get open, but Clay Matthews' pressure on Kap prevented him from throwing an accurate pass. We shouldn't have been in a 3rd and long situation though. Overall I really liked Roman's gameplan, but it's those types of plays that sometimes irritate me.