Be the Expert: How do we overcome these challenges vs. Seattle?

1) Lock-down secondary. Seattle has the best secondary that the NFL has seen in a long, long time. They lock down receivers, even good receivers, with man to man, press coverage, which allows them to commit more players to the line of scrimmage. How do you see our receivers getting open? Which leads us to the biggest concern...

2) Kaepernick's inability to go through progressions. When your prime receiver(s) is locked up, the QB has to move through his progressions to other options. This has been an achilles heel of Kaepernick, who seems to panic when his first option is covered. I've been hoping they would establish some easy check-downs to backs, but that's not happening much. How do you think Kap will responds when he looks out and sees his first/second options covered?

3) The inability to audible. The crowd noise will likely prevent audibles from the line of scrimmage. Hand signals are tough to count on. The Seahawks seem to play off the noise by shifting though different defensive sets before the snap. How do you think the 49ers handle this?

4) Snap count. Related to the above. When you can't hear the QB's snap call, you have to be looking over at the center/QB. My lineman friends tell me that's a disadvantage because it shaves time off your release, when you are looking sideways. The only thing I've heard to counter it is timed snaps, but those are iffy.

5) Lack of fullback. Let's assume Tukuafu is out...I assume Dixon will have the starting fullback role. At 230, he's not the 293 pound load of Tuke…Do you think he will be enough?

Thanks for your insights, and GO NINERS.

There's a pre game day thread already

1. Kaep will extend plays, receivers will get open

2. Kaep does go through his progressions

3. Hand signals, lol

4. silent snap count

5. FBs dont need to be 293 lbs. Big dix is enough

1. Bunch Formations against press coverage. Run the ball up the middle. Throw in a couple of reverses.

2. Mix it up a bit, move the pocket, bootlegs, etc...

3. Communication via signs might help. They've been working on it apparently

4. Silent Snap Count

5. Dixon, maybe Tuk will be back. They can also use an extra tight end or lineman

THEY MUST STAY FAITHFUL TO THE RUN. In the last two games at C-Link, Frank Gore has 15 carries... combined! That can not happen. We must stay faithful to the run. Otherwise we're going to have 3-and-outs, our defense is going to get tired, all while Seattle's defense stays rested and fresh.

We are a running team. We need to pound the run.

What we need to do is what the Saints tried to do and what Arizona did. We need to stay consistent and run the ball and try to win the TOP and Field position battle. Arizona ran the ball 1st and 2nd down no matter what. They had 38 carries for 142 yards. That seems like a lot but they were only averaging 3.7 yards on the ground. A lot of the time it seemed like they were getting nothing at all. This kept their D fresh and locked down the Seahawks offense all game. They won doing this DESPITE the fact that Palmer threw 4 INT's that game. We need to run the ball at least 30 times this game. In our Week 2 matchup our defense locked down their offense until the 4th quarter when it was out of gas. Gore only had 9 carries in the game and I wouldnt doubt that almost all of the 9 came in the first half. If our D plays as great as it is and we can keep running the ball keeping the TOP and keep Kaep mistake free, we can win this game easily. Our Run game is superior to Arizona's and the Saints yet they had success running on them. The Saints gave Seattle almost all their points on stupid mistakes. We cannot afford to play scared and make those mistakes.

Originally posted by xela510:
What we need to do is what the Saints tried to do and what Arizona did. We need to stay consistent and run the ball and try to win the TOP and Field position battle. Arizona ran the ball 1st and 2nd down no matter what. They had 38 carries for 142 yards. That seems like a lot but they were only averaging 3.7 yards on the ground. A lot of the time it seemed like they were getting nothing at all. This kept their D fresh and locked down the Seahawks offense all game. They won doing this DESPITE the fact that Palmer threw 4 INT's that game. We need to run the ball at least 30 times this game. In our Week 2 matchup our defense locked down their offense until the 4th quarter when it was out of gas. Gore only had 9 carries in the game and I wouldnt doubt that almost all of the 9 came in the first half. If our D plays as great as it is and we can keep running the ball keeping the TOP and keep Kaep mistake free, we can win this game easily. Our Run game is superior to Arizona's and the Saints yet they had success running on them. The Saints gave Seattle almost all their points on stupid mistakes. We cannot afford to play scared and make those mistakes.

This is going to be key. In all honesty, it doesn't seem like it's "hard" to stop Seattle. Our defense did it in week 2. The defensive game plan can stay the same. On offense, we need to control the clock, do not turn the ball over under any circumstance (Seattle feeds off of turnovers like no other team these last 2 years), and Kaep needs to go through his progressions, and try to get all the guys involved in the passing game. Doing this earlier can open up things later for our Big 3. Force Seattle to drive the length of the field on every possession they have. It will happen, but it won't happen much. I find it hard to see them getting more than 17 or 20 points against us if they are forced to drive each time. Likewise, it will be tough to get more than 17 or 20 on them, but if we hang around, I trust that Colin Kaepernick will be able to come through in the end.

all you have to do is watch the saints game, they were in it until they shot themselves in the foot. you cant do that there and hope to win. i'm talking about easy things, like catching screen passes, or taking that 5 yard completion instead of wanting that 40 yarder that falls incomplete.

Originally posted by crabman82:
all you have to do is watch the saints game, they were in it until they shot themselves in the foot. you cant do that there and hope to win. i'm talking about easy things, like catching screen passes, or taking that 5 yard completion instead of wanting that 40 yarder that falls incomplete.

or going out of bounds instead of throwing another forward pass

Originally posted by socalniner:

Originally posted by crabman82:
all you have to do is watch the saints game, they were in it until they shot themselves in the foot. you cant do that there and hope to win. i'm talking about easy things, like catching screen passes, or taking that 5 yard completion instead of wanting that 40 yarder that falls incomplete.

or going out of bounds instead of throwing another forward pass

yeah a total cedrick wilson moment

Simple. Attack the Seattle linebackers. Put big bodies on them. Force them into tough decisions on every play.

Originally posted by KeenaTurner:
1) Lock-down secondary. Seattle has the best secondary that the NFL has seen in a long, long time. They lock down receivers, even good receivers, with man to man, press coverage, which allows them to commit more players to the line of scrimmage. How do you see our receivers getting open? Which leads us to the biggest concern...

2) Kaepernick's inability to go through progressions. When your prime receiver(s) is locked up, the QB has to move through his progressions to other options. This has been an achilles heel of Kaepernick, who seems to panic when his first option is covered. I've been hoping they would establish some easy check-downs to backs, but that's not happening much. How do you think Kap will responds when he looks out and sees his first/second options covered?

3) The inability to audible. The crowd noise will likely prevent audibles from the line of scrimmage. Hand signals are tough to count on. The Seahawks seem to play off the noise by shifting though different defensive sets before the snap. How do you think the 49ers handle this?

4) Snap count. Related to the above. When you can't hear the QB's snap call, you have to be looking over at the center/QB. My lineman friends tell me that's a disadvantage because it shaves time off your release, when you are looking sideways. The only thing I've heard to counter it is timed snaps, but those are iffy.

5) Lack of fullback. Let's assume Tukuafu is out...I assume Dixon will have the starting fullback role. At 230, he's not the 293 pound load of Tuke…Do you think he will be enough?

Thanks for your insights, and GO NINERS.

1. They're not a "lock down" secondary. They're a "I dare the refs to throw flags on every hold" secondary. We beat them by playing the same game: Offensive pass interference on every play. When you're being held and the ref is afraid to throw the flag, push off the defender which should make the hold even more obvious. If the ref is going to throw the flag 9 times out of 10 it will be on the defensive player. Think about it. A more conventional approach would be to use bunches, picks and rub routes.

2. b******t. Doesn't even deserve a response. Kap looks as good as any other young QB in the league when he has time to throw. Every QB would be a "one read QB" if they're running for their lives half the game.

3. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple (Stupid). Communicate hot routes to receivers via hand signals. They already do this every game. The Saints and the Cards didn't seem to have issues with the crowd noise. In fact, there were no false starts for the Saints. They just s**t the bed with turnovers and overall bad play. Shut the crowd up early and the game gets easier.

4. Silent count.

5. Use Boobie and Celek/McDonald. The lack of a true fullback hasn't hurt us so far.

bullet point number two is not worth answering

Originally posted by cciowa:
bullet point number two is not worth answering

sounds like a troll to me with these how do's

we need to run some screens (which we never do for some reason). play action roll outs, and Kaep has to buy some time for our WRs to get open.

take advantage of the defense being extra aggressive. we can draw some penalties or catch them off guard with some deep passes early on.

hopefully, we can actually make something happen on special teams. we need a a big return or two, even if it doesn't result in a TD.