Coaching blunders 2011-14

Looking back at the Harbaugh era led me to wonder, Just how good was Jim Harbaugh? We really caught lighting in a bottle when Jim arrived. He was smart. He saw the strength of this team, the run game, and it was strategically being underutilized. As far as the passing game and Alex Smith, Harbaugh gets credit for turning him around. In reality Alex's turn around happened before Jim Harbaugh got here. In Alex's last six games under Iron Mike, he threw 8 touchdowns and only turned the ball over once. Transformation complete.

Mike Singletary had a vision. Unfortunately his execution was too simplistic. He didn't know how to manage a game. So in walks Jim Harbaugh. We were so fired up for the Harbaugh era to begin. Only Jim showed us a hint early on. A hint that told "me" that he was good, but he wasn't great.

In just his second game against the Dallas Cowboys, Harbaugh made a very questionable call. In the 4th quarter the Niners were winning 21-14 with 14 minutes left in the game. The 49ers lined up and kicked a field goal from the 36 yard line. Giving the Niners a 24-14 lead. But...... there was a flag. Giving the Niners a potential first down at the Cowboy 26 yard line. A chance to go for the kill with a TD, worst case run more time off the clock and still have a good shot at the field goal. Harbaugh did neither. He chose to keep the points. We all know what happened. Leaving the Cowboys 14 minutes they scored on their next two drives and won in overtime.

Ultimately we won way more than we lost. And Harbaugh had a very good run. But at the end of the day, this game was a snapshot of more to come under Harbaugh with a Roman led offense. Sitting on second half leads and being over reliant on their defense.

2nd example of coaching ineptness. 2012 versus the St. Louis Rams. With 2:00 to go in the 4th quarter game tied 10-10 with 1st and 10 at the St. Louis 14 yard line, all the Niners had to do was run out the clock and kick a field goal. Running the ball would force the Rams to use their 2nd and 3rd timeouts. Instead on first down, Roman inexplicably calls a pass. It was incomplete and stopped the clock. On 2nd down we rushed and St. Louis used their 2nd time out. We kicked the field goal to put us up 13-10. Unfortunately by passing on first down, we allowed St. Louis to keep one of their time outs with 1:35 left in the game. The time out allowed St. Louis to attack the middle of the field without fear on their last play setting up a game tie-ing 53 yard field goal. In a game that they went on to lose.

Wish Jim's ego would have allowed him to take a page out of brother John's book. John had the courage to fire his offensive coordinator halfway through the 2012 season. A necessary move. Had our Harbaugh had the courage to make the same move and release Roman, we probably wouldn't be talking about moving on to a new HC.

his flaw is getting up 10-14 points in the 2nd quarter and trying to kill the clock the rest of the game. we saw it time and time again, sometimes we won those games by the skin of our teeth and sometimes we outright lost.

Originally posted by crabman82:

his flaw is getting up 10-14 points in the 2nd quarter and trying to kill the clock the rest of the game. we saw it time and time again, sometimes we won those games by the skin of our teeth and sometimes we outright lost.

Yep. Blowout wins were always because the defense dominated and forced turnovers. It was never because the offense pounded a defense into submission like, say, our game against Denver this year. Their offense beat us down.

The last 4 offensive plays in the Super Bowl against the Ravens....

Originally posted by SJniner7:
The last 4 offensive plays in the Super Bowl against the Ravens....

True that.... As well as 1st and 10 on the 18 yard line last year in the NFC Championship game. With 38 seconds left and a timeout, never using that timeout and settling for a low percentage fade pass.... Belichick uses that timeout.

Originally posted by bayareafanatic1:

Originally posted by SJniner7:

The last 4 offensive plays in the Super Bowl against the Ravens....

True that.... As well as 1st and 10 on the 18 yard line last year in the NFC Championship game. With 38 seconds left and a timeout, never using that timeout and settling for a low percentage fade pass.... Belichick uses that timeout.

Patton was open by 10 yards and Davis was also open in the left side of the field.

Kaeps dream must be to beat Sherman

Originally posted by blizzuntz:
Patton was open by 10 yards and Davis was also open in the left side of the field.

Kaeps dream must be to beat Sherman

Maybe, but as a coach you slow things down in that situation. In Seattle against the best pass defense in the league. Take your time out. Control the situation. In the critical moments, Harbaugh became a spectator instead of a chess master. It wasn't a one time thing. In the superbowl, when Gore ran the ball down inside the 5, they had a timeout. Instead of slowing things down and devising a play, they played under the pressure of the clock and once again went to a low percentage fade.

Kaep said when given certain looks, he was coached where to go with the ball. He said he'd do it again.

Why are ALL these noobs creating coaching threadS after threads after threads

STOP THE MADNESS ALREADY!!!!

Play action fakes, Play calling, Scheme, Mentality, Composure, Discipline, Creativity, Evolving…. all on the coaches.

You could see a lack of offensive acumen by these coaches when they put in the pistol and it looked worse than it was ran at Nevada. How many times did you see Kap fake a hand off one way only for Gore to go the opposite side… Even Highschool coaches would force players to run that play over and over again till the fake actually looked like a fake, otherwise all it does is handicap the beginning of the play for 1.5 seconds. But it never seemed to be a point of emphasis… been saying it for awhile now, this offense did well in spite of the coaches not because of them.

Originally posted by bayareafanatic1:

Originally posted by blizzuntz:

Patton was open by 10 yards and Davis was also open in the left side of the field.

Kaeps dream must be to beat Sherman

Maybe, but as a coach you slow things down in that situation. In Seattle against the best pass defense in the league. Take your time out. Control the situation. In the critical moments, Harbaugh became a spectator instead of a chess master. It wasn't a one time thing. In the superbowl, when Gore ran the ball down inside the 5, they had a timeout. Instead of slowing things down and devising a play, they played under the pressure of the clock and once again went to a low percentage fade.

Kaep said when given certain looks, he was coached where to go with the ball. He said he'd do it again.

Not sure if that is a good or bad thing to make your decision where the throw is going before the snap.

Bad / good decision and/or poor execution?

Maybe Crabtree didn't sell the double move, or Kaep should have thrown it inches higher.

But Patton for 7-8 yards on the left would have been great Bc he could have run out of bounds.

Originally posted by TheRatMan13:

Originally posted by crabman82:
his flaw is getting up 10-14 points in the 2nd quarter and trying to kill the clock the rest of the game. we saw it time and time again, sometimes we won those games by the skin of our teeth and sometimes we outright lost.

Yep. Blowout wins were always because the defense dominated and forced turnovers. It was never because the offense pounded a defense into submission like, say, our game against Denver this year. Their offense beat us down.

Were there blowouts? I'm being serious, I don't remember many comfortable games where I knew it was in the bag like in the glory days. Like crabman pointed out, trying to run out the clock before half time was frustrating to watch. Some other ther teams easily put up 40+ points and I'm strutting around like a rooster if the niners got 3 TDs

Out-dated Michigan Wolverine Offense with a Chicago Bears Defensive Philosophy. That's what made Harbaugh a winner as a player...It's incredible I ever believed he'd think or be any different as a coach.

Originally posted by Sourball:
Were there blowouts? I'm being serious, I don't remember many comfortable games where I knew it was in the bag like in the glory days. Like crabman pointed out, trying to run out the clock before half time was frustrating to watch. Some other ther teams easily put up 40+ points and I'm strutting around like a rooster if the niners got 3 TDs

2011 we beat Tampa 48-3

2012 we beat the Jets 34-0 and Buffalo 45-3

2013 we beat Jacksonville 42-10

Originally posted by Sourball:
Were there blowouts? I'm being serious, I don't remember many comfortable games where I knew it was in the bag like in the glory days. Like crabman pointed out, trying to run out the clock before half time was frustrating to watch. Some other ther teams easily put up 40+ points and I'm strutting around like a rooster if the niners got 3 TDs

The ONLY blowout that came during the Harbaugh Era that can be largely credited to the offense is our 45-3 win at home against the soft-ass Buffalo Bills whom at that time were 2-2 and coming off a 52-28 pummelling at the hands of the Patriots the week before.

Originally posted by linkboy:

Originally posted by Sourball:
Were there blowouts? I'm being serious, I don't remember many comfortable games where I knew it was in the bag like in the glory days. Like crabman pointed out, trying to run out the clock before half time was frustrating to watch. Some other ther teams easily put up 40+ points and I'm strutting around like a rooster if the niners got 3 TDs

2011 we beat Tampa 48-3

2012 we beat the Jets 34-0 and Buffalo 45-3

2013 we beat Jacksonville 42-10

combined wins for those 4 teams is 20. so basically the only blowouts he got was vs teams that were 5 win teams on average. 2 of those teams had 4 wins and the other 2 had 6 wins.