Originally posted by Psinex:
I wouldn't say the Niners gave it to them, rather the Niners made a lot of stupid mistakes, bone-headed penalties. I even thought Frank Gore was going to get penalized when he pushed someone's face. I'm sure that Seahawks were talking a lot on the field. Harbaugh needs to coach his players to be smart. If Seattle thinks they can get under the skin of our players, they'll keep doing it, keep trying to intimidate and act like a bully. What really surprised me is how badly Joe Staley played. On a lot of running plays and pass blocking miscues, the replay showed Staley getting beat, missing his blocks, etc. I'm sure that he wasn't the only one, but he is a crucial part of the line.
If the Niners want to win this year, they will need to become balanced on offense. Since Kaepernick took over, I feared this day would come, when the forever scrambling QB, quick strike deep pass-type of offense met its match, and subsequent demise. Kaepernick is good, but he's not good enough to overcome a gameplan that stops the run and the deep pass simultaneously. He has to take shorter plays and let the receivers try to gain yards after the catch. He needs to be more cerebral, instead of just trying to jam the ball in to tight windows. Kaepernick needs to mature as a QB, and utilize every part of the field, no matter how deep or how shallow he needs to go. He needs to improve his progression, checking each receiver, not locking into just one. He needs to be shifty with his eyes, use pump fakes and misdirection. These are all things that will hopefully become a part of his arsenal.
Nice post.
This was a game in which Kap showed his limitations and maybe some immaturity.
His ability to throw every type of pass, especially touch, is not where it needs to be. That'll come. What's critical is that he develop a better sense of what to do when a play breaks down or his first options are not available to him. When that happens and he has to revert to "sandlot" football, he seems to miss locating the open receiver and really his most effective weapon is to run. Until the game was getting out of hand, he refused to do that. Although he professes not to read the press, he obviously does, because early he seemed intent on proving that he was a "passer" and didn't need to run at all. He did later, but perhaps after a lot of damage had already been done and opportunities missed.
In fact I was a little surprised by his lack of instinct in this game. I really though that he was better than that. When he scrambled late in the game he missed spotting receivers who had worked themselves open and at other times he forced the ball when an easy first down was to be had if he just ran. Wilson, by contrast, even though he was handled masterfully by the Niner defense, seem more polished in this respect.
The other thing that struck me was how easy he was to bring down. For all the working out he does, he seems to lack a bit in the "balance" department and is knocked off quite easily. Seems a little delicate. He also got "trucked" by SHERMAN after an interception. LOL. That looked humiliating for a tough guy; either make the tackle, or get out of the way. A guy that has looked the opposite of that is Luck and he's coming to town next, so we'll see.
Finally, take a page out of Willis' and Harbaugh's book. Give credit where credit is due. The team got beaten fair and square by Seattle. Kap sounded really sour grapes in just not acknowledging that post game.