Let's go back to 2011 and review why exactly we went from 6-10 under Sing to 13-3 under Harbs.
Offense:
Harbs and Roman got a ton of credit for turning around our offense and Alex Smith's career in 2011. Except Alex had already turned his career around the previous season when he decided to play ball his way, all Harbs did was give Alex his support.
"Toward the end of that season, obviously, it wasn't looking good," Smith said. "It was the last year of my contract. I was determined - it was kind of like 'Screw this.' I'm going to just go out there and play good football. I had nothing left to worry about. I'd hit the low and I had nothing else to worry about at that point. I was going to ... let the chips fall where they may."
After the chips fell, Smith's stats rose.
In the first five games of 2010, he threw nine interceptions in 190 attempts and compiled a 71.6 rating. In his final six games, a scattered stretch interrupted by a shoulder injury and two benchings, he threw one interception in 152 attempts and posted a 95.5 rating.
http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Having-nothing-to-lose-liberated-Smith-3834156.php
After hitting bottom – the nationally televised loss to the Eagles when Mike Singletary berated him and a vicious crowed pleaded for David Carr to replace him – Smith says he gave up trying to please his coaches.
"Go make a play," he says he was often told. In his effort to do so, Smith often pressed and made mistakes instead.
He decided to play differently. To take what the defense offered. A dump off to a running back on 3rd-and-10? Sometimes that was the right play, if not what many viewed as making "a play."
The results were striking: After tossing nine interceptions in his first 190 attempts, he threw one pick in his final 152 passes.
After 2010, Harbaugh arrived and gave Smith's style a seal of approval.
http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2012/09/01/alex-smith-qa-just-play-quarterback-the-right-way/
How did this translate on offense? Well we actually got worse in yardage from 24th to 26th, but we jumped from 24th to 11th in pts scored. Why?
Defense:
While the offense was basically the same from 2010 to 2011, the defense made a HUGE jump from middle of the pack (16th yds, 13th pts) to legit top 5 status (4th yds, 2nd pts), where it has stayed every year since. What changed? ALMOST EVERYTHING
- Fangio replaced Manusky
- Bo replaced Spikes
- We drafted Aldon and Ahmad became a full time starter, combining for 21 sacks. They replaced the anemic pass rush duo of Manny Lawson and Parys Haralson who combined for 6.5 sacks in 2010.
- Ray McDonald became a full time starter because we let Aubrayo Franklin walk and moved Sopoaga to NT.
- Nate Clements got cut and we got a career year out of Carlos Rogers
- We signed Donte Whitner to replace Reggie Smith.
- Shawntae Spencer was hurt so Tarell Brown became a starter
- We drafted Culliver, who had a very good season as the nickel corner.
In one offseason, we basically got 6.5 new starters on defense with Willis, Cowboy, Goldson, Sopoaga and Haralson (half the time) the only holdovers.
Special Teams:
This one I can't really explain except we were inexplicably good on special teams in 2011 (until the last game, unfortunately). Call it a fluke because we haven't come anywhere near close to repeating that performance in any season since.
For reference, our starting lineups from 2010 and 2011:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sfo/lineups.htm
So, what exactly does Harbs bring to the table again? Funny quotes and gifs?
[ Edited by znk916 on Nov 28, 2014 at 1:56 PM ]
