Game 1 Assessment:

Period.

Originally posted by natrone06:
Period.

Question mark?

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Thanks! It's one of my favorite things to do as a fan...

Yeah, Nnamdi. There were a couple throws on him that were just unstoppable; he even got his arms/hands in there WITH his head back and they STILL made the play. But where he failed was on the quick outs when we were playing 10-15 yards off (not in press). Then he's got to run upfield and make an open-field tackle with no help and with the receiver running forward already; all he has to do is make a single move and he's free for 10+. I'd blame Nnamdi more if Cox and Reid weren't put in that same situation and fail. Personally, to me, this is on scheme and not playing to our strengths. It's on Fangio.

Nnamdi was in a bit of a conundrum yesterday. If he played tight press coverage, Rodgers went to the back shoulder throw. Then when Nnamdi played off, Rodgers would go with the quick hitter. Good news is not every QB and WR has the ability to hit those back shoulder throws. Rodgers even missed on a couple yesterday.

Only issue I have regarding his coverage (defensive play call) is on the TD pass where Nnamdi played too far off and allowed an uncontested TD. Wrong time to play that far off.

Excellent point by your three! I probably didn't clarify that 3rd downs and RZ plays are where I have the biggest issue with playing off.

There also seems to be a technique issue I see as well (highlighted in the Superbowl as well). If you are playing off on 1st and 2nd downs, no worries BUT you have got to keep the WR in front of you while maintaining an eye on the QB and the play in general. It seems our CB's are taught to play follow-the-leader and when the ball arrives and the body language of the WR demonstrates the ball has arrived, THEN they make a play on the ball. And b/c of that, the CB ends up trailing the WR and the WR has the advantage. Sometimes our CB's will be able to break it up but many times they won't. This also leads to more P.I. calls b/c our CB's aren't getting their heads turned around...at all. And the consequence is beyond the easy pitch-n-catch...it eliminates any good chance of knocking down a pass and esp. with making an INT. This, to me, was a big reason why our INT's went down significantly last year.

So to recap: if you play off on 1st and 2nd downs, keep the WR in front of you, your eyes in the backfield and play down hill (for a tackle, break on the ball, defended pass or even an INT/pick 6). On 3rd downs and the RZ, play to your strengths. Play press, physical and make them EARN a catch.

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by natrone06:
Period.

Question mark?

Exclamation point!

Good you added the Gore blocking. Gore just doesnt get the credit (outside SF) for his blocking abilities. I was watching the Giants game last night and they made excuses for Wilson missing his pass block. Said what do you expect when he is only 200 pounds against the bigger pash rusher. I was calling bull because Gore always finds a way to make a huge block.

Good post

Originally posted by Rubberneck36:
Good you added the Gore blocking. Gore just doesnt get the credit (outside SF) for his blocking abilities. I was watching the Giants game last night and they made excuses for Wilson missing his pass block. Said what do you expect when he is only 200 pounds against the bigger pash rusher. I was calling bull because Gore always finds a way to make a huge block.

Good post

Thank you, that block by Gore on Matthews was epic! Textbook!

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by natrone06:
Period.

Question mark?

Exclamation point!

Ellipsis...

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by natrone06:

Period.

Question mark?

Exclamation point!

Ellipsis...

Lol NC has a tendency to write the word Period in his posts to strengthen a point. I was just poking fun. Period.

Originally posted by natrone06:

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by natrone06:
Period.

Question mark?

Exclamation point!

Ellipsis...

Lol NC has a tendency to write the word Period in his posts to strengthen a point. I was just poking fun. Period.

But I say it with an exclamation point often. Period! Haha

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Rubberneck36:
Good you added the Gore blocking. Gore just doesnt get the credit (outside SF) for his blocking abilities. I was watching the Giants game last night and they made excuses for Wilson missing his pass block. Said what do you expect when he is only 200 pounds against the bigger pash rusher. I was calling bull because Gore always finds a way to make a huge block.

Good post

Thank you, that block by Gore on Matthews was epic! Textbook!

That is one of the many reasons Gore is a perfect mentor for the other running backs. Gore has never had elite speed or Barry Sanders-esque moves. He just works at every facet of the game. He is probably the best pass protector at his position, he shows incredible patience on running plays, and he gets every possible yard on "bottled-up" plays. He was even an elite pass catcher back when the offense was dump-off heavy.

All of this makes me sad because I predict this to be his last year. I just don't see a way the team can keep his salary and resign Kaep, Iupati, and Aldon Smith. It will depend how Lattimore looks in the offseason. With a healthy Lattimore, Hunter, and LMJ... :(

Nc watch the Jordy Nelson td again. I actually think that is on whitner not Nnamdi. Unfortunately I don't know the defensive call but I think whitner got fooled into leaving his zone.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by natrone06:

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Karma:

Originally posted by natrone06:
Period.

Question mark?

Exclamation point!

Ellipsis...

Lol NC has a tendency to write the word Period in his posts to strengthen a point. I was just poking fun. Period.

But I say it with an exclamation point often. Period! Haha

I thought the ellipsis added some ambiguity to the post... Plus I'm a grammar nerd and get excited about punctuation.

Overall assessment:

The curse of #81 is no more.

The biggest takeaway from this game is that Harbaugh has built a team that can beat its opponents in so many different ways which is exactly the type of team Walsh built in the 80's. If you took away the run game, they would beat you through the air...if you shut Montana down, they would beat you on the ground with Craig. We could blow you out 35-7 or beat you in a close defensive struggle 14-10, and even more importantly, we could come back to win late in the game because of our balls-of-steel QB. And when you tried to come back against us late in the game, our defense rose to the occasion more often than not to shut you down. We had young studs everywhere, a few budding superstars and just enough crusty veterans to keep everyone in check.

Call me crazy, this particular team has a lot of those characteristics

Originally posted by VaBeachNiner:
Overall assessment:

The curse of #81 is no more.

don jinx it man, it's only week 1! lol