1) Kap: Missed some throws, made some others, took the bait on a trap coverage, and generally played fairly well. Also had some drops and was under pressure quite a bit. While it doesn't show up in the numbers, I did see something I liked. I saw him stand in the pocket and resist his urge to take off and run. I saw him scramble and escape and keep his eyes down the field for BOTH of his TDs. There were a few occasions where he threw the ball a bit behind the receiver but there were also throws like the one Vernon dropped that was plain pretty. The TD to Gore was inhuman.
Kap grows bit by bit, game by game. While he isn't playing perfectly, I like what I see. Remember when Kap started with a bang last year but then had over 200 yards only once in like 9 games? That's not happening this year.
I'd be interested tho to see what he was seeing on a number of those plays where he stayed in the pocket.
2) Delay of Game: I know this is a big one for some people. It annoys me as well...but I think we need to put it into context just a bit. Is it excusable? No. Does it have to stop? Yes. There is a reason it's happening though. The 49ers are effectively the anti-Eagles. Stanford and Oregon are the same way. They try to accomplish their task in two completely different ways. For the Eagles, its all about snapping the ball every 20-25 seconds. To do so you have to be fairly vanilla in personnel grouping and you count on the D making a mistake lining up and eventually tiring them out.
The 49ers are exactly the opposite. They seek to hold the ball as long as possible. They always snap the ball with only a few seconds on the clock and this isn't because they are slow getting the play in. It's BY DESIGN. It allows them to force the D to declare their intension, it keeps the D off the field and rested, and it allows for all sorts of personnel groupings and formations.
As such, the Niners under Harbaugh/Roman will always ride a fine line. They allow themselves a much lower room for error and the result is a few delay of game penalties in every game. It happens. It's going to happen. Such is life. They need to improve no doubt, but I think understanding what they are doing is important to understand why they have this problem.
The upshot though? The upshot is that they can have all of those personnel groupings and when teams like these face one another, you can gets a 43/17 TOP split like they did yesterday. The 49ers D never tired because they simply weren't on the field. While so many want to congratulate the 49ers Defense for their performance yesterday (and it's deserved), you also need to be cognizant of the fact that the 49ers offense held the ball on long drives and kept the defense off the field. Yes, those 5 yard penalties are a killer and drive me crazy too...but if you look at all the other benefits of riding that fine line....it all kinda makes sense.
3) WRs: What a difference a year makes. Vernon gets hurt. McDonald didn't play. Crab misses some time. Kaps number in that span? 463 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 96.7 rating. Remember last year when Vernon got hurt and Boldin was the only viable target? MUCH, MUCH different this year. both Stevie and Lloyd played well tho one of Stevies better plays was wiped out on a bogus call on Lloyd. That TD catch tho was the first TD reception by somebody not named Crabtree, Davis, or Boldin in 2 years.
4) Cox: Hrmmm. What to do with Parrish Cox. The guy has probably been their best DB this year and he's a backup. What do you do when Brock comes back? Sit the rook and play him in the slot? I just dunno. Whats clear tho is they need to find a spot for him. He's playing the best he's ever played right now.
5) Bethea: Antoine had himself a damn good game yesterday. a few tackles/push outs of McCoy on sweeps or wheel routes, stayed backside to protect against cutbacks, and what I missed until the second time I watched the game was him knifing in to make the tackle on McCoy on second and goal on the second to last drive. Without that play, I think McCoy scores. He also played well in coverage and had an INT. He's a different kind of player than Whitner was. I'm starting to appreciate his play style.
6) Lynch: Pretty clear the Lynch has surpassed Lemonier on the depth charge. I wasn't counting plays, but I'm not sure if I saw Laemonier once during the game on D and Lynch played quite a bit. While Lemonier was largely invisible for 3 weeks, Lynch seems to get noticed in every game. More often than not, if FOles was running away from someone, it was Lynch. I know what the kids reputation was coming out of college, so my hope is he stays on the right path and continues to work hard. If he does...kid has a bright future.
7) Gore/Hyde: Old man can still do it.
Look, he's not the same guy he was 5 or 6 years ago, but NO RB is. At this point Frank is doing what he's doing more with his eyes and his mind than his body. His vision and patience are something to behold. The long TD reception was just another example of him being alert to the situation. He just sees the field better than any RB I've ever seen. Its gonna be tough to see him go. There is a part of me that hopes they can hang onto him at a low salary next year....but we'll just have to see.Right now, Hyde is the anti-Gore. He's all power, speed and frenetic energy. There is something to be said for that, but he needs to learn a bit of Franks patience. He'll be fine and I anticipate him being a helluva back for us, but I think he needs to slow down a bit and let things develop. Game is probably still moving really fast for him....but he'll get it.
8) O-Line: Some worrisome trends here. Kap was getting pressured and hit all day. What worries me is that I can't just put it all on Jonathan Martin or something. Staley got beat. Boone got beat. Too many protection breakdowns and mistakes. They were able to run the ball even with backup lineman, but they need to shore up that pass protection.
9) Special Teams: This seems to be a year to year thing. In 2011 they kept a number of guys specifically because they were good special teamers. The result was fantastic special teams. The next year they let a number of those guys go to keep some players with value at other positions. The result was the ST suffered. Last year they dedicated players to ST again with Spillman, Osgood, Ventrone, etc. Special teams was better. Now here we are again...Spillman and Ventrone gone in favor of players to play other positions...like having 7 WRs and LJ McCray at safety. LJ specifically may not have been the guy that screwed up, but my point is that this is cyclical. The Niners go back and forth over keeping guys specifically because of their ST value and when they don't, ST suffers...particularly early in the year.
10) Records of teams we've played: Just thought it was interesting to note that if you take out the Niner game the 4 teams the Niners have played are a combined 9-2. The 49ers currently own the 3rd ranked defense in the NFL while down Aldon Smith, Navorro Bowman, Tramaine Brock, and Glenn Dorsey.
[ Edited by Marvin49 on Sep 29, 2014 at 8:41 AM ]
^^^^I concur.
