49ers DEAD LAST in NFL in Receptions by Tail Backs (by a wide margin)

Originally posted by Ninefan56:

Originally posted by maxsmart:

49ers had a TOTAL of 23 passes completed to the running backs the entire year (2013)! Dead LAST in the entire NFL!!!! Gore had 16 catches, Hunter had 2 and LMJ had 2 all year! WTF? Roger Craig averaged ~80 catches for 5 years in a row. Several RB's had over 70 catches in 2013. Not throwing to the RB's is bizarre since it's one of the easiest completions, gives the QB and RB's confidence, keeps the defense honest, was the mainstay of Walsh's offense (which supposedly Harbaugh studied intensely), yet the 49ers were DEAD LAST in the NFL in pass completions to RB's!!!! That is insane, because these passes are easy, safe, keep the chains moving, pulls in the safety and opens up deeper passes. Also a little flare to Hunter or LMJ has a very high completion rate and the potential for a big play, yet they only had 2 catches all year!

Is the problem Harbaugh, Roman, or Kap?

And yet somehow we managed to make it to the NFC championship game with this glaring defect. It is clear that our offense is not the West Coast offense of the 80s and yet we somehow managed to get to the playoffs and come one play away from going to the superbowl, with our defective runing back passing game. Why do you think that happened?

Yup. I don't miss those rb passes on third and long.

Harbs / Roman / Kap

Originally posted by Ninefan56:

And yet somehow we managed to make it to the NFC championship game with this glaring defect. It is clear that our offense is not the West Coast offense of the 80s and yet we somehow managed to get to the playoffs and come one play away from going to the superbowl, with our defective runing back passing game. Why do you think that happened?

On another thread a poster solved it (at least for me). So here it is. We run a lot, so the DB's and LB's are very close to the line of scrimmage. If the back runs a swing pass or a flair out, it's not going to go anywhere because the LB's and DB's are already at the LOS.

On the other hand, if we passed more, the DB's and LB's would drop more and drop deeper and free up those underneath routes. It makes sense to me, play action passing is the bulk of this offense. Tough for Gore to go out on a swing pass when Kaep fakes a dive up the middle to Gore.

Their bad at it now, that's what practice is for.

Originally posted by DuctTape:
I think the statistic in the original post is misleading.

Bruce Miller had the 2nd MOST receptions by a Fullback last year with 25. (2nd to Tolbert with 27)

Where do the 49ers rank in RB receptions with that added in?

Also, Frank Gore had 1 fewer reception in 2013 with Kap than in 2011 with Alex (16 vs 17). Every year prior to that except his rookie season he had 40 plus receptions... it seems pretty clear the lower RB receptions the last 3 years is due to coaching/scheme and not Kap vs. Alex.

THIS


and Roger Craig was listed as a FB like the first 5 years of his career

Originally posted by maxsmart:

Originally posted by 9ers:
I remember when we use to pass to the running back all the time.... We fckin sucked.

Like when we passed all day long to Roger Craig, Wendall Tyler, Paul Hofer, Ricky Waters and won 5 superbowls? Sucked like that?

Do you think it's good to be last in the NFL in passes to RB's?

Like when we passed all day long to Bruce Miller but you failed to even mention him as if he wasn't even part of the team?

The fact you created such a dreadful thread makes me question why you are even a 49ers fan.

I think your thread starting privileges should be revoked until you can post a one page essay on why you are a 49er fan.

Maybe we can complain about why a our FB in the 80's got more touches than our RB

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
And yet somehow we managed to make it to the NFC championship game with this glaring defect. It is clear that our offense is not the West Coast offense of the 80s and yet we somehow managed to get to the playoffs and come one play away from going to the superbowl, with our defective runing back passing game. Why do you think that happened?

On another thread a poster solved it (at least for me). So here it is. We run a lot, so the DB's and LB's are very close to the line of scrimmage. If the back runs a swing pass or a flair out, it's not going to go anywhere because the LB's and DB's are already at the LOS.

On the other hand, if we passed more, the DB's and LB's would drop more and drop deeper and free up those underneath routes. It makes sense to me, play action passing is the bulk of this offense. Tough for Gore to go out on a swing pass when Kaep fakes a dive up the middle to Gore.

And against a team like Seattle, they (well everyone) knows that they only need to stack the box on first downs. After that, it's back to press, cover 3, man and rolling coverages AND utilizing a LB right at the LOS to spy on CK (while bringing the rotating heat off the edges on 2nd and 3rd downs). What does this mean? It means we now have a one-man advantage...a player that has absolutely nobody covering them. In this case, it was Gore, McDonald, Hunter and James. And with our standard go-routes and intermediate+ deeper routes, not only where these guys not covered, they had plenty of green in front of them, often times with 2 blockers out in front, man-on-man. While some cringe and revert back to the "Alex days," when you are playing a stellar defense like Seattle's who was hell-bent on stopping our intermediate passing game and CK's legs, to beat them, sometimes you DO have to take what they, literally, give you. It's a game of chess, of scheme, of recognition and adjustments. We lost on all these accounts unfortunately.

Player - Targets - Receptions - Drops

A Boldin - 129 - 85 - 5
V Davis - 84 - 52 - 4
B Miller - 36 - 25 - 1
M Crabtree - 33 - 19 - 1
F Gore - 26 - 16 - 1
M Manningham - 23 - 9 - 2
V McDonald - 19 - 8 - 3
J Baldwin - 9 - 3 - 0
Q Patton - 5 - 3 - 1
K Hunter - 4 - 2 - 0
G Celek - 4 - 2 - 0
A Dixon - 3 - 3 - 0
L James - 3 - 2 - 1

F Gore - 26 - 16 - 1

And it had to be that pass.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
F Gore - 26 - 16 - 1

And it had to be that pass.

ugghh..I know. He had 70 yards of open field ahead of him.

Really... compaired to how much they run... I'd think they need to rest so passing to the WR was well... call it a lack of options.

Not to refute any points on this thread, but unless someone's already pointed this out, the Niners are probably dead last in total offensive plays. They run a slow offense on purpose.

Maybe not use it as the primary weapon on offense, but as a tool to get the ball out faster and having more targets that the qb can get the ball to is not a bad thing.

Gruden explains the importance of using "all 5 weapons" and throwing the check-down pass to keep the defense honest. Shows how Manning and Brees etc use the short check-down frequently.

Johnny Manziel: Gruden's QB Camp

Between the 28-30 min and 36-41 minute Gruden discusses the importance of the short check down pass to the RB.

Originally posted by NCommand:

you DO have to take what they, literally, give you. It's a game of chess, of scheme, of recognition and adjustments. We lost on all these accounts unfortunately.

Exactly correct, A+ work