POLL: Is Jim Harbaugh losing control of the team?

Not losing... lost - ever since the final game of last season. Coach is the reason our old vets don't, and probably, will never have a ring. Also, I think Smith took the teams mojo with him.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
Jim is not losing the team. Jim has lost focus. We need to commit to running the football and playing Bo Schembechler football. It is what got Jim here and he needs to be reminded of this

I agree, in theory, however, the league has figured out how to stop his running game. What Harbaugh/Roman MUST do is figure out ways to make the passing game work. Yes, the lack of depth at WR hurts but other teams have injuries and still come up with ways to win. The problem seems to be that he still insists on doing the same thing rather than change.

It is unfathomable that at a time that the WR group is struggling, that Jonathan Baldwin who has caught 41 passes against all levels of competition the past two years from junk QBs, remains inactive. In the meantime, the injured Indy secondary looked like the Seahawks secondary against the crew that went out there yesterday.

Harbaugh is still playing the cards he was dealt two years ago. Time to see if he has anything else.

The league never figured out how to stop the 49ers power running game. That was the beauty of the power run game we had in 2011. Everyone knew it was coming, but no one could stop it. It was all about going out and saying OK, we dont care if you know we are gonna run the ball, we are gonna do it anyways and we are gonna wear your defense to s**t in the process. They figured out how to stop the gimmicky packages. If we went back to the 2011 offense, it wouldnt matter if the defense knew exactly what play was called on every down. Frank would still get his yards.. And the offensive line would still wear down the defense.

This team is much more talented on offense than that 2011 team.

This is NOT the same offense of 2011. Its nothing like it. The problem IS the change in the offensive gameplan.

His arrogance is catching up with him - I love him but he has to step back stop treating everyone (including the press) like they are below him and he knows better. Humble pie will do him good if he chooses to take it.

He is a good coach but we are going to see how good - this is his first real crisis - He needs to step up.

They need to start being honest about some of their players - Kyle Williams is Garbage - pure arrogance keeping him and letting Ginn walk.

Some of our losses have been dictated from the CAP fine - but some were just poor choices.

And they need balance on Offense stop trying to push it down field ALL THE TIME - keep the same system - just like Alex was here EXCEPT push it here and there when there is an opportunity.

Alex Smith 3-0 no turnovers looking good in KC...Karma is smacking us in the face HARD.

KAP is good and is the future and has all the potential but they have to rein the game plans in and get back to what got us here.

no. of course gore is going to be pissed when his carries dwindle to 0 lol. dude is a fierce competitor. i'm sure it's all water under the bridge.

I wouldn't say he's lost control of this team but he and Roman are trying to run this team like they still had Alex at QB. Kaepernick (paired with the right set of receivers) has the tools to be a top 5 passing QB in this league. So right now, our offense lacks identity. Until we can determine if we are pass first or run first we are in a quandary.

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
Jim is not losing the team. Jim has lost focus. We need to commit to running the football and playing Bo Schembechler football. It is what got Jim here and he needs to be reminded of this

I agree, in theory, however, the league has figured out how to stop his running game. What Harbaugh/Roman MUST do is figure out ways to make the passing game work. Yes, the lack of depth at WR hurts but other teams have injuries and still come up with ways to win. The problem seems to be that he still insists on doing the same thing rather than change.

It is unfathomable that at a time that the WR group is struggling, that Jonathan Baldwin who has caught 41 passes against all levels of competition the past two years from junk QBs, remains inactive. In the meantime, the injured Indy secondary looked like the Seahawks secondary against the crew that went out there yesterday.

Harbaugh is still playing the cards he was dealt two years ago. Time to see if he has anything else.

The league never figured out how to stop the 49ers power running game. That was the beauty of the power run game we had in 2011. Everyone knew it was coming, but no one could stop it. It was all about going out and saying OK, we dont care if you know we are gonna run the ball, we are gonna do it anyways and we are gonna wear your defense to s**t in the process. They figured out how to stop the gimmicky packages. If we went back to the 2011 offense, it wouldnt matter if the defense knew exactly what play was called on every down. Frank would still get his yards.. And the offensive line would still wear down the defense.

This team is much more talented on offense than that 2011 team.

This is NOT the same offense of 2011. Its nothing like it. The problem IS the change in the offensive gameplan.

Yes no one has learned to stop the 2011 offense. We were running it all throughout 2012 until we made the switch to Kap. Then we veered toward the gimmicks and got away from the I and power running principles and now here we are looking like some finesse ballers when we are built to impose our power running upon people with a mix of the passing game. Colts weren't shutting down the run, Greg Roman did that

Originally posted by pete98146:
I wouldn't say he's lost control of this team but he and Roman are trying to run this team like they still had Alex at QB. Kaepernick (paired with the right set of receivers) has the tools to be a top 5 passing QB in this league. So right now, our offense lacks identity. Until we can determine if we are pass first or run first we are in a quandary.

No they ran the ball with a power running game when Alex was here. Now we are into pistol and read option and pass first going for the big play and neglecting the check down. We have been beaten with our own 2011 offense by both SEA and IND. They protected their QBs with a power running offense like we should have done with Kap and then let the best man win

Jesus Christ.

Originally posted by okdkid:
Jesus Christ.

Wants to run too.

Originally posted by Rascal:
Frank is a key veteran figure of this locker room, if what allegedly happened is true, the rest of the guys won't look at this lightly. This is the start of a head coach losing his team.The players are now lost wondering why the heck are they being creamed 2 games in a row. They don't know why and want to look at their coach to lead them out of the slump, but things are only getting from bad to worse.

If anything coach Harbaugh is losing anything, he is losing some of the support that he has had on this forum.

How exactly do you know what the players are feeling or how they will or will not react?

The guys that you are talking about so authoritatively are professionals, not children. They have been playing football for years.

I would assume almost every one of them has lost two games in a row and most of them have probably have been creamed two games in a row.

Again, I have not spoken with any of them, so I am not going to be presumptuous and pretend I know what they feel.

The team has lost two games in a row. The team, from Baalke on down, as a collective unit is responsible for the loss.
The team has to locate the problems and then fix them.

I feel relatively confident that as professionals, the players will not replicate the reactions so prevalent on this forum.

yes.

This is a joke topic right. How is he losing the team after a bad start? Would you take a look at the injuries this team has suffered and tell me how anyone would be able to coach out of that mess.

They are dropping like flies out there and its not a coaches fault. Do I think they need to change some things and that being served some humble pie is probably good, yes. But come on, he is a great coach and if we are lucky will be around for a long time.

Originally posted by Pillbusta:

Originally posted by IdahoNiner:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
Jim is not losing the team. Jim has lost focus. We need to commit to running the football and playing Bo Schembechler football. It is what got Jim here and he needs to be reminded of this

I agree, in theory, however, the league has figured out how to stop his running game. What Harbaugh/Roman MUST do is figure out ways to make the passing game work. Yes, the lack of depth at WR hurts but other teams have injuries and still come up with ways to win. The problem seems to be that he still insists on doing the same thing rather than change.

It is unfathomable that at a time that the WR group is struggling, that Jonathan Baldwin who has caught 41 passes against all levels of competition the past two years from junk QBs, remains inactive. In the meantime, the injured Indy secondary looked like the Seahawks secondary against the crew that went out there yesterday.

Harbaugh is still playing the cards he was dealt two years ago. Time to see if he has anything else.

The league never figured out how to stop the 49ers power running game. That was the beauty of the power run game we had in 2011. Everyone knew it was coming, but no one could stop it. It was all about going out and saying OK, we dont care if you know we are gonna run the ball, we are gonna do it anyways and we are gonna wear your defense to s**t in the process. They figured out how to stop the gimmicky packages. If we went back to the 2011 offense, it wouldnt matter if the defense knew exactly what play was called on every down. Frank would still get his yards.. And the offensive line would still wear down the defense.

This team is much more talented on offense than that 2011 team.

This is NOT the same offense of 2011. Its nothing like it. The problem IS the change in the offensive gameplan.

Yes no one has learned to stop the 2011 offense. We were running it all throughout 2012 until we made the switch to Kap. Then we veered toward the gimmicks and got away from the I and power running principles and now here we are looking like some finesse ballers when we are built to impose our power running upon people with a mix of the passing game. Colts weren't shutting down the run, Greg Roman did that

I'll take a partial exception to that. What the league has learned, although it is nothing new, is that if you bring a safety down and play 8 in the box, it is very hard to run.

The running game depends on the OL being able to get a blocking angle somewhere along the line that allows the RB a hole to get through. Usually such a situation occurs as the result of a double team with a pulling guard or tackle. Occasionally a dominant player along the line can win a one-on-one battle to create a lane but that depends on other players at least being able to neutralize their opponent so they can't get over to fill the hole. However, for the most part, the OL must get an angle if they are going to open a hole.

What Seattle did, and Indy as well though to a lesser degree, was to put 8 at the line but IN THE GAPS between the OL rather than head up on them. With 8 on the LOS, they were able to fill EVERY gap with a big strong player that was very hard to beat one-on-one. With all the noise, the offense lost their split second snap advantage and that, combined with that gap defense, the running game all but disappeared.

The usual response to such a defense is to pass behind the area vacated by the safety or LB that has crowded the LOS but for reasons known only to Harbaugh and Roman, they refused that strategy and the rest is history. In 2011, Alex Smith was being fitted for his Captain Checkdown costume and wearing it well. If a team loaded the box, they paid for it with a 6-8 yard completion right behind their back. As a result, teams were reluctant to go to 8 in the box.

None of that is new but without strong downfield receivers, and lacking the will to use a short area passing game, the running game has disappeared. The good news is that all the elements of that 2011 game is still there, except for Alex Smith. However, Kaepernick SHOULD be able to make those same throws if Roman is willing to include them in the game plan. So while I am not yet convinced CK is experienced enough to make those same reads, the solution remains the same.

Harbaugh needs to look in the mirror and face his demons. Put the ego aside and go back to what worked when Smith was QB. In so doing, he will still have the downfield capability of Kaepernick while preserving the running game.

Originally posted by jimmythegreekjr:
With the increase in penalties, lack of discipline, an offense reminiscent of the Jim Hostler era, a defense giving up a lot of running yards, mistakes in the passing defense, back to back embarassing losses, etc..Is everything unraveling for Jim Harbaugh?

Enough with the hyperbole, people. Its been two games! Jimmy, your thoughts may be warranted if we see such performances every other week throughout the year, but I really dont see that happening. The reality is, the niners, particularly under Harbaugh, have not only been good, but exceptional. The fact that this is the first time under his tenure the team has lost back to back games and under .500 since he took over the team speaks volumes. NFL teams, even the quality franchies, get off to shaky starts at times (ie 07 and 09 giants, '12 Broncos at 1-2, 08 Cardinals, etc.). Though their should be some concerns, especially with out o-line, receivers, penalty issues, just to name a few, lets put things into perspective and remind ourselves the kind of talent we have on this team and the world-class coaching staff developing them. I think we should be grateful this is happening at this point in the season and not later as it'll say a lot about our football team as assembled now and going forward.

The players do not like or respect him.