On the Road to the Superbowl: Areas of Improvement

Fans, the best part of playing a top-notch team is that every single weakness becomes glaringly obvious. This is just highlighting concerns (there are positives to many of these BTW and almost all of them can be corrected).

Let's take a quick look and what we need to improve upon to win the Superbowl:

• Gore - is it safe to say he has zero top end speed now and appears to be losing his burst/explosion through the line (that quick first-step burst); to the edges? And catching has dropped for the third straight year. This is more of a point to note we need to start intergrating more Hunter/James into the immediate fold (save Gore). Gore is STILL the heart and soul of this team; best vision ever between the Tackles. We have the weapons to combat these issues AND give Gore some breathers to keep him fressher/quicker late in games and into the playoffs.
• DL - still gets pushed back a good 3 or 4 yards against power running teams; still struggle up the gut esp. in short yardage and in the RZ.
• OL - still gets pushed back a couple yards in short yardage; some pass protection issues and Goodwin may becoming weaker by the game.
• Burning Timeouts - still an issue
• Rogers - call it scheme but it's safe to say he not only couldn't give up bigger cushions (esp. on 3rd downs) but be slower in his breaks; lazy and 1/2-ass effort esp. on tackles.
• Predictable Play Calling - usually we run on first down for nothing and sometimes he changes it up to second downs. We only use an intermediate passing game (handful of deep balls all year long).
• First Down Production - still, this down IS our entire offense. We live in 2nd and very longs.
• Touch Pass - do we not run enough outlets for CK or practice enough for CK to work on his touch passes? 90mph fastballs to Crabtree, Miller x2, Gore, etc.
• CK - tunnel vision/touch pass/look to check-downs; it appeared to be first read (AR1 and 2) all day long again and he struggles pulling the trigger at times (hesitates) esp. on the short receivers where they are initially open. Take it esp. on first downs!
• Redzone Offense Production/Play calling/System - how much freedom is CK given to change play calls? Is he "allowed" to overrule a poor play call?
• The Others - is it sacreligious to use the following in the passing game?: Manningham, McDonald, Hunter, James, Gore, Baldwin, Boldin from the slot, Patton, etc.
• Homefield Advantage - do we have one?
• Refs - still hate us?
• Fangio/Prevent-a-win Defense - off-coverage when we're not getting a pass rush or up by 10, trouble with TE's (esp. the 2nd TE), etc.
• Pass rush? Wherefore art thou?
• Execution/rhythm offense - short yardage, goal line situations, receivers wide open, etc.
• Mental Game - this team has a way of getting the worst (legit) penalties at the worst times. Why do we always shoot ourselves in the foot?
• Return Man - sure would be nice to have one, eh?
• Screen passes or "explosive plays"?
• Finishing games/Killer instincts!
• How will we adjust without Miller?
• Our coaches are too f**king stubborn ~ Fred Flintstone

OC

/thread

LOL!

I for one feel that the offense still needs work to do. We beat Seattle at home but we all know we still need to beat them in Seattle and will probably get another chance in the playoffs.

Originally posted by Baldie:
I for one feel that the offense still needs work to do. We beat Seattle at home but we all know we still need to beat them in Seattle and will probably get another chance in the playoffs.

Agreed, we still have a long ways to go with our mindset (learn to take what the defense gives you) and execution. The great news is that Crabtree not only looked healthy but explosive. And welcome Eric Wright!

hopefully by the time the pleayoffs come around, Kap will have gelled with crabs again.

I think if they can improve the number of points they score while also reducing the points they give up, we'll be in good shape.

All due respect, but sometimes it just comes off as unnecessary whining. I am just pleased that we came out and stood strong against a quality opponent. I know we all are, and that forums are here to nit-pick about the team deficiencies.... I get that. But sometimes, you just want to enjoy a W, ya know?

Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
All due respect, but sometimes it just comes off as unnecessary whining. I am just pleased that we came out and stood strong against a quality opponent. I know we all are, and that forums are here to nit-pick about the team deficiencies.... I get that. But sometimes, you just want to enjoy a W, ya know?

Sorry, rarely do you learn much by playing bottom-feeders. THIS game is as close to a playoff game as it comes. We are 3 games from the playoffs. If we want to not only make it to the Superbowl but win it this time, these issues can't be ignored and must be improved upon. Take this list and see how we do over the next 3 games. If we correct many of these we may be THAT hot team going into the playoffs that nobody wants to face!

As to the win, hell yes! It was epic walking home last night past all the Hawk fans with my band-of-brothers...they were all looking down to the ground, popping off, etc. even though the classy Niner fans were congratulating them on a good game and looking forward to them in the playoffs; just classless in every way. This wasn't just a win, it was a psychological advantage and once again, showed their lack of class as players (Sherman) and fans. Their reactions were priceless (and expected).

PS: We'll cover all the positives in Marvin's thread!

To Hawker, I did meet a humble Hawk fan on the way home and it was a pleasure talking "football" with him.

Just going by yesterday's game. It has to be Kaep. The decision making starts with him. That INT near the red zone was big. Can't have that throw, hoping that Crabtree will out physical his defender. Throwing it short and to the inside was a basic no, no qb 101. To Kaep's credit, he did came back for some strong, beautiful passes after that.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
Just going by yesterday's game. It has to be Kaep. The decision making starts with him. That INT near the red zone was big. Can't have that throw, hoping that Crabtree will out physical his defender. Throwing it short and to the inside was a basic no, no qb 101. To Kaep's credit, he did came back for some strong, beautiful passes after that.

Yeah, into double coverage. CK will GUN it in there to Crabs and I was amazed at some of the catches he WAS making yesterday...amazed esp. given his injury. Wow!

There were so many guys wide open under 10 yards initially that he just HAS to hit. I don't care if they are the AR or not...hit them, take a 4-10 yards on first down. Take your intermediate shots later. This is a very good and physical defense. Body blow them first.

BTW: Have we tried a deeper pass once this year? Seriously...like a Wilson-like pass? With 10 in the box, you'd think we could take a deep shot at least once in 1on1. Boldin anyone?

Red zone play calling and execution are the primary culprits. The rest if your rant is unnecessary.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
Just going by yesterday's game. It has to be Kaep. The decision making starts with him. That INT near the red zone was big. Can't have that throw, hoping that Crabtree will out physical his defender. Throwing it short and to the inside was a basic no, no qb 101. To Kaep's credit, he did came back for some strong, beautiful passes after that.

Oddly enough, Kaepernick made the right read on that interception play, he simply under threw the deep ball and allowed the Seattle DB a freebie. Kaepernick did pretty well yesterday despite the QBR, but his accuracy was off a bit. In terms of the playoffs, the 49ers are going to need a little more of the dynamic Kaepernick of last season if they want to win in Seattle. From my vantage point, the game yesterday was very close and looked like it was coming down to a Wilson vs. Kaepernick thing with Wilson playing more efficient football. Kaepernick made plays when he had to, even if it was a bit ugly at times to watch.

Originally posted by bzborow1:
Oddly enough, Kaepernick made the right read on that interception play, he simply under threw the deep ball and allowed the Seattle DB a freebie.

I'll have to watch the play again but wasn't Crabtree double covered (even if initially)? But yeah, he needs to work on his arch throw and not rely on throwing straight-line lazers

Gore - is it safe to say he has zero top end speed now?


Haven't we been saying this about Gore for pretty much his entire career? :)