The 800 pound elephant in the room

I see a lot of threads on Kap, Harbaugh, Roman, receivers dropping balls, etc....

But where is the one thread that might be more important than all?

OUR RUNNING GAME

And maybe just maybe all this talk about "we gotta run the damn ball" like it's our only offense would be 2009 stuck on repeat -- the last year IMHO that Gore was a "sick" runner. I celebrated my 30th birthday on 9/20/09 in Sicily, and found out later that night that Gore had two 78 yard TDs against Seattle....was awesome!

Whatever it is, we're not a real run threat team anymore. We ran the ball pretty well in 2011 and 2012, but then our OL run blocking dipped a bit last year and then took another plunge this year. Gore can still do well on occasion but it's been awhile since he could be counted on getting the ground game going consistently against ALL teams in ALL scenarios.

It just kills me that whenever I see Lynch playing he always gets his yards, and it opens up so much for Seattle. If our running game did even 80% of what theirs can do, we wouldn't be having anywhere near this many problems on offense.

Sure, Kap could be a better QB. HaRoman could have a better offense. For sure, I agree with that.

But this offense's identity has revolved around a legitimate run game threat. I have seen "non run teams" run against Seattle better than us -- Saints, Cowboys. The Chiefs looked outright dominant in the run game like it was Gore 2006-2009.

I really think we could fix all of our problems a lot sooner than later if we found a way to get a strong run game. At this point I'm talking next year as I don't believe the answer is on our current roster/scheme. Maybe it could be OL, but I don't recall those old Cowboy lines from the '90s getting figured out/regressing. They could play better but I have to believe at some point, RBs ought to play a role in this (along with some creative use of them in the passing game).

I didn't have off on Friday (which was when the game was on).....so I went to work and decided to check out the game on TV around 5 minutes to go in the 1st half. I see Gore get the hand off and stuffed in the backfield so damn fast, it was disheartening. The damn epitome of the last season or two.

It wasn't even that long ago that we had some sick running plays.....the Wham block from Delanie Walker in two consecutive Lions' games (speaking of which, I miss Delanie).

Am I the only one acknowledging the inconvenient truth about the inconvenient truth?

I love the guy but he's not the same.....at least as a starter.

I say we make a real play for Adrian Peterson next year. It appears he can run the ball just fine without everything being just right around him.....I'd imagine he has a lot to prove and would be pissed off.

Keep Hyde and Kendall Hunter.

I think you make some good points here. Whats hard for me to understand is the fact that everybody has said all year that we need to run we need to run. And there have been games where you could tell they came out and wanted to run (Saints game for example). And it was working. And for whatever reason they decide to stop running after they build a lead and then what happens? The opposing team comes back in the 2nd half and either beats us or almost beats us and the offense continues to just stagnate. There are other times where you can tell the run game is just not there like last night's game so it forces them to try to pass every down which as we all know isn't working. Especially when the other team knows you aren't gonna (or can't) run. And everything snowballs from there and it becomes nearly impossible to watch without gauging your own eyes and ripping your hair out. It's funny though that some fans will keep saying we need to run we need to run, but then what happens when they try to run too much? They run themselves into 3rd and long every time then they end up punting. Those same ppl will complain and say theyre running too much. I don't know the cause of these problems, or the solution but I do know its sad and hard to watch. And I love Frank Gore I would like to see him be a career Niner but I don't know how much he has left as a starter. Some games he still looks very capable, and others not so much. And its hard for me to pin point whether that's all on him, or on the line or both.

If they got AP I guess nobody would be surprised and it would add to their list of law-breaking players that are in the media for the wrong reasons in the offseason. He would be good though

On many teams, Hyde would have already been installed as the lead back. Look around the league, where it's RB roulette. Our coaches are being loyal to Gore, but many would have already moved on to Hyde. Like to see him get 20 touches, just to see.

we take our selves out of the run game by trying to balance the run game with the 35 yard passing game. how stupid is that. gore still has a little gas left in the tank. and hide can be used well on the field. we're just trying to hammer nails with a screwdriver that's a problem nothing is going to fix that until we get a hammer.

The real problem is this oline is not intact.It's either contract or injury related.The Martin twins are struggling.Jonathan Martin makes Kwame Harris look like Derrick Deese in pass protection. Iupati is on a knee kneeling(hurt every other play it seems like) on the field more than Tebow and Staley's wrestling moves are not working this year.

No defense in the league is scared of our passing game so we are always running into a box that has 8 or 9 defenders in it.

Originally posted by TexasGuero49:

No defense in the league is scared of our passing game so we are always running into a box that has 8 or 9 defenders in it.

This. Still Kap.

JT , you are overlooking the obvious. We , nor anyone else, can run against a stacked box. And SEA had 8, 9 or 10 guys at or near the LOS, virtually all game. That is exactly when you throw the 5-6 yarders that SEA and everyone else has given us all year....yet HaRo had specifically avoided using that philosophy. In fact, there is a problem...we have NO philosophy on O. But Kap throwing into double coverage all nite left us in 2nd and 10 and 3rd and 15 all nite long. The elephant in the room, JT, is NOT throwing the 5-6 yard pass that they and everyone else has given us all year...instead going for running into a stacked box or throwing deep into double or triple coverage. Kap did throw two perfect passes to Richard Sherman. Other than that, he stunk it up. And he looked like he either didn't want to be out there or he looked lost.

Originally posted by TexasGuero49:
No defense in the league is scared of our passing game so we are always running into a box that has 8 or 9 defenders in it.

Exactly, you need to back those extra players up off the line and you do that by throwing pass that have a higher percentage of being completed. Like those two misdirection plays we ran were Colin rolled to the right and threw it across the field. We need to do more stuff like that, that's creative playcalling.

Not lining up and trying to play catch 25 yards down the field.

Short passes are no good either because our receivers and quick separation don't belong in the same sentence. Kind of like joe Staley and edge rushers. The entire offensive scheme is a joke and the league has figured it out.

Originally posted by Murphys1:
On many teams, Hyde would have already been installed as the lead back. Look around the league, where it's RB roulette. Our coaches are being loyal to Gore, but many would have already moved on to Hyde. Like to see him get 20 touches, just to see.

true

Originally posted by NinerG94:
Short passes are no good either because our receivers and quick separation don't belong in the same sentence. Kind of like joe Staley and edge rushers. The entire offensive scheme is a joke and the league has figured it out.

Which is why you need to use scheme them open. How about a bunch formation or some misdirection plays (which worked pretty good the two times we ran them). Instead, it was we're going to send our guys down the field and dare you to beat us.

Originally posted by linkboy:
Which is why you need to use scheme them open. How about a bunch formation or some misdirection plays (which worked pretty good the two times we ran them). Instead, it was we're going to send our guys down the field and dare you to beat us.

And beat us they did

That's a damn small elephant.

Originally posted by niners_guy:

That's a damn small elephant.