A View From Down Under

Long time reader and first time poster



And, notably, an Aussie so maybe a fresh perspective (while I obviously don't know the intricacies of gridiron as well as 99% of posters on this site, I am an avid sports fan and believe there are certain intangibles that all sports share and as such give me some right to comment on the current state of my beloved Niners – yes I grew up watching the Montana/Rice/Lott dynasties)



A few observations …



- I don't care what sport you are in, if you are still a relatively inexperienced player like Kaepernick is, it is simply foolhardy to NOT participate in pre-season matches. I understand in the NFL teams don't want to show their cards too early, that is 'plays', but clearly Kap NEVER got his game going all year

- The Niners seem to be a side that are hell bent on developing a pass heavy game. Coach Harbaugh made the big call a few years ago to ditch the conservative arm of Smith in favour of the stronger armed Kap, but it would appear a strong arm is not enough and a quality QB also needs to be a quality football brain. That intangible 'nous' is particularly important in my native game Aussie Rules, a game which is 360 degrees, where you can get tackled and hit from any angle. Kap to me seems to lack natural nous. He struggles with his progressions from 1 read to 2nd read to 3rd read, fails to see receivers in open space (see the diabolical Raiders game).

- The notion of hold-outs is unique to me, we don't have this in the AFL. I can't help but draw parallels between Boone and Davis' poor 2014 form and their holding out in pre-season.

- I might be putting my nuts on the chopping board here, and I'll happily be called WRONG here given my relative lack of knowledge of gridiron, but from the outside looking in it looks to me as if Roman's play calling is flawed. Time and time again I see the go-to-guy used in consecutive plays. If it's not Gore up the middle three times in a row, it is short passes to Crabtree three times in a row. Now I know opposing defenses will think the ball will go to somebody knew, but I have yet to see all three plays to the one man have success. I dare say these three call plays are more predictable than unpredictable. At the end of the day, the defense will have Crabtree in their mind for the third play, as the ball has gone to him twice in a row beforehand. To me this is just daft play calling. Three throws in a row to Crab to win a Superbowl at the death didn't work, history will attest to this forever and ever and ever.

- It would appear time is up for this particular group of players. Three NFC Title Games in a row was a great effort but they ultimately came up short and now we will likely see the departure of some if not many of the following (Harbaugh, Roman, Kaepernick, Gore, Smith, Willis, Bowman), in turn ushering in a new group of players



There you go, a fresh view from down under.

Final words are I don't think Kap has the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB, and we need a new Offensive Play Caller.



Go Niners.

Originally posted by black44:

Long time reader and first time poster



And, notably, an Aussie so maybe a fresh perspective (while I obviously don't know the intricacies of gridiron as well as 99% of posters on this site, I am an avid sports fan and believe there are certain intangibles that all sports share and as such give me some right to comment on the current state of my beloved Niners – yes I grew up watching the Montana/Rice/Lott dynasties)



A few observations …



- I don't care what sport you are in, if you are still a relatively inexperienced player like Kaepernick is, it is simply foolhardy to NOT participate in pre-season matches. I understand in the NFL teams don't want to show their cards too early, that is 'plays', but clearly Kap NEVER got his game going all year

- The Niners seem to be a side that are hell bent on developing a pass heavy game. Coach Harbaugh made the big call a few years ago to ditch the conservative arm of Smith in favour of the stronger armed Kap, but it would appear a strong arm is not enough and a quality QB also needs to be a quality football brain. That intangible 'nous' is particularly important in my native game Aussie Rules, a game which is 360 degrees, where you can get tackled and hit from any angle. Kap to me seems to lack natural nous. He struggles with his progressions from 1 read to 2nd read to 3rd read, fails to see receivers in open space (see the diabolical Raiders game).

- The notion of hold-outs is unique to me, we don't have this in the AFL. I can't help but draw parallels between Boone and Davis' poor 2014 form and their holding out in pre-season.

- I might be putting my nuts on the chopping board here, and I'll happily be called WRONG here given my relative lack of knowledge of gridiron, but from the outside looking in it looks to me as if Roman's play calling is flawed. Time and time again I see the go-to-guy used in consecutive plays. If it's not Gore up the middle three times in a row, it is short passes to Crabtree three times in a row. Now I know opposing defenses will think the ball will go to somebody knew, but I have yet to see all three plays to the one man have success. I dare say these three call plays are more predictable than unpredictable. At the end of the day, the defense will have Crabtree in their mind for the third play, as the ball has gone to him twice in a row beforehand. To me this is just daft play calling. Three throws in a row to Crab to win a Superbowl at the death didn't work, history will attest to this forever and ever and ever.

- It would appear time is up for this particular group of players. Three NFC Title Games in a row was a great effort but they ultimately came up short and now we will likely see the departure of some if not many of the following (Harbaugh, Roman, Kaepernick, Gore, Smith, Willis, Bowman), in turn ushering in a new group of players



There you go, a fresh view from down under.

Final words are I don't think Kap has the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB, and we need a new Offensive Play Caller.



Go Niners.

Nothing here I would disagree with except Willis and Bowman are going nowhere.

Hey mate, maybe one day we'll see an NFL match at the Gabba.

Great first post mate...

Fellow Aussie here mate, I think Kap has the talent but has been mismanaged, lost his identity in the last few years. A new Offensive coordinator and possibly a new head coach might be the best thing for everyone. Willis is the soul of this team, he shouldn't be going anywhere, Bowman is still quite young and once again shouldn't be leaving. Gore has another year in him and it is good to have him while developing Hyde, who IMO, can be great. This team has the foundation, we need to build from it, get a deep threat WR who can take the top off the D, open things up for Kap and we already look better..Add to that a playbook that isn't completely stale also. I am not saying that Kap is going to win us a superbowl but we should at least work to his strengths while we have him. We need to look at this year as a mini transition, not a revolution, we have a team to build on, draft well and we will be back up there. Get a QB to develop, if we need him, he can come in.

But what is/was Kap's identity?

His run is his strength but you've got to admit it is risky having him run so much.

He either goes back to running and this brings the Ds LBs closer to the line of scrimmage meaning he can throw to 1 on 1s else he has to develop as a pocket passer and I'm not sure he has the nous for this I am afraid

Originally posted by English:
Nothing here I would disagree with except Willis and Bowman are going nowhere.

You think Kap lacks the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB ?


He threw for 302 Yards and rushed for 62 Yards with a Passer Rating of 91.7 in his Superbowl appearance.

Alongside Joe Montana he is the only QB in NFL history to Pass for over 300 Yards + Run for over 50 Yards in the Superbowl. Ever.


He has all sorts of issues right now but when your D surrenders 34 Points its kinda hard to win.

Originally posted by black44:
But what is/was Kap's identity?

His run is his strength but you've got to admit it is risky having him run so much.

He either goes back to running and this brings the Ds LBs closer to the line of scrimmage meaning he can throw to 1 on 1s else he has to develop as a pocket passer and I'm not sure he has the nous for this I am afraid

You have to risk the injuries, it is the only way, because playing him like we are now is not helping anyone.

Originally posted by Salvo_26:
You have to risk the injuries, it is the only way, because playing him like we are now is not helping anyone.

I actually agree
That is his strength

Originally posted by DeUh:






You think Kap lacks the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB ?


He threw for 302 Yards and rushed for 62 Yards with a Passer Rating of 91.7 in his Superbowl appearance.

Alongside Joe Montana he is the only QB in NFL history to Pass for over 300 Yards + Run for over 50 Yards in the Superbowl. Ever.


He has all sorts of issues right now but when your D surrenders 34 Points its kinda hard to win.

Yes but that was when he was running, when opposition Ds didn't know how to stop him.
No clubs have figured him out. Keep him in the pocket and drop defenders back to make coverage difficult and he struggles.


The D is not really related. Put the D aside Kap and the O have failed to score in 2014. That is not related to the D.

Originally posted by black44:

Originally posted by DeUh:






You think Kap lacks the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB ?


He threw for 302 Yards and rushed for 62 Yards with a Passer Rating of 91.7 in his Superbowl appearance.

Alongside Joe Montana he is the only QB in NFL history to Pass for over 300 Yards + Run for over 50 Yards in the Superbowl. Ever.


He has all sorts of issues right now but when your D surrenders 34 Points its kinda hard to win.

Yes but that was when he was running, when opposition Ds didn't know how to stop him.
No clubs have figured him out. Keep him in the pocket and drop defenders back to make coverage difficult and he struggles.


The D is not really related. Put the D aside Kap and the O have failed to score in 2014. That is not related to the D.

Please read again. I said that our D is the main reason we lost in the Superbowl, 31 - 34. Our D played lights out this year.

Originally posted by DeUh:

Originally posted by black44:

Originally posted by DeUh:






You think Kap lacks the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB ?


He threw for 302 Yards and rushed for 62 Yards with a Passer Rating of 91.7 in his Superbowl appearance.

Alongside Joe Montana he is the only QB in NFL history to Pass for over 300 Yards + Run for over 50 Yards in the Superbowl. Ever.


He has all sorts of issues right now but when your D surrenders 34 Points its kinda hard to win.

Yes but that was when he was running, when opposition Ds didn't know how to stop him.
No clubs have figured him out. Keep him in the pocket and drop defenders back to make coverage difficult and he struggles.


The D is not really related. Put the D aside Kap and the O have failed to score in 2014. That is not related to the D.

Please read again. I said that our D is the main reason we lost in the Superbowl, 31 - 34. Our D played lights out this year.

the D is the only reason we even make the playoffs the last 3 years. For some reason the brakes have been put on Kap & the O playing not to get hurt.

Coaching is the reason we lost the Superbowl. The lost their minds in the crunch like they repeatedly have done throughout this season.

Originally posted by AUniner:

Originally posted by DeUh:

Originally posted by black44:

Originally posted by DeUh:






You think Kap lacks the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB ?


He threw for 302 Yards and rushed for 62 Yards with a Passer Rating of 91.7 in his Superbowl appearance.

Alongside Joe Montana he is the only QB in NFL history to Pass for over 300 Yards + Run for over 50 Yards in the Superbowl. Ever.


He has all sorts of issues right now but when your D surrenders 34 Points its kinda hard to win.

Yes but that was when he was running, when opposition Ds didn't know how to stop him.
No clubs have figured him out. Keep him in the pocket and drop defenders back to make coverage difficult and he struggles.


The D is not really related. Put the D aside Kap and the O have failed to score in 2014. That is not related to the D.

Please read again. I said that our D is the main reason we lost in the Superbowl, 31 - 34. Our D played lights out this year.

the D is the only reason we even make the playoffs the last 3 years. For some reason the brakes have been put on Kap & the O playing not to get hurt.

Coaching is the reason we lost the Superbowl. The lost their minds in the crunch like they repeatedly have done throughout this season.

Not gonna have another freakin discussion about the 2012 Superbowl. Just know that:


1. There is only 1 other team in nfl history that lost the superbowl with 30+ points (1979 Cowboys, also 31 points).

2. What our coaches did during those last four plays is still beyond pathetic. Including a four year college career Ive never witnessed such a train wreck.

3. Aside from a few poster on here Im the biggest supporter of our D (Im biased when it comes to defenses, Im a db).

Originally posted by English:
Nothing here I would disagree with except Willis and Bowman are going nowhere.

We are a storied franchise and Willis has 0 Rings. He will be 31 by the time we are contenders again. We need to improve the Defensive Line & Secondary. He should be shopped to see what we can get in return.

Originally posted by DeUh:






You think Kap lacks the nous to be a Superbowl winning QB ?


He threw for 302 Yards and rushed for 62 Yards with a Passer Rating of 91.7 in his Superbowl appearance.

Alongside Joe Montana he is the only QB in NFL history to Pass for over 300 Yards + Run for over 50 Yards in the Superbowl. Ever.


He has all sorts of issues right now but when your D surrenders 34 Points its kinda hard to win.

1st Down. No pressure in the Pocket. Who is he throwing to?