Week 17 - 2014: Thoughts after rewatching the game...

OK, last one of these for awhile.

1) Kap: Played well. Made some nice throws, but clear the plan was to run the ball. ALOT. Stepped up nicely on throw to Boldin for long TD. Nice throw for TD that was called back and nice lob on TD to Miller. My favorite throw though was actually the 3rd down throw to Brandon Lloyd late in the game. Just high enough to get over defender and drop in to Lloyd.

He also made some plays with his legs. I dunno, just seems a weight was lifted after the Raider loss. Perhaps the pressure of making a playoff run? Perhaps he finally just let go? That when his press conference attitude changed as well. He just seems much more loose and free to play the game over the past few weeks. He's had his best and 3rd best rushing performances in just these past two weeks. Passing number haven't been stellar, but the game plan here over the past three games has been HEAVY run.

This isn't to say "he's all better, no need for concern". Just sayin he's rebounded a bit here at the end and I look forward to seeing what he can do with a new coach and OC.



2) Frank: PLEASE don't let this be the last game in Red and Gold for Frank. I think Hyde needs to get a lot more carries next year and Hunter will be coming back, but Frank has proved over the last two weeks that he's still got something left. I'd just love to see him finish his career in SF and never wear another Jersey.



3) Anthony Davis: Jeez, 49ers run game is just SOOOOO much better when he plays. Jonathan Martin I think is done in SF. I read this AM that Frank Averaged 8.3 yards per carry yesterday behind Davis. His time out of the lineup this season is one the most under told stories of the year. Yeah...Kap has been sacked a lot, but it's Davis in the RUN GAME that has so sorely been missed.



4) Cowboy: I really hope he reconsiders and doesn't retire, but I'm not counting on it. Right now if looks like they'll have 2 new starting DEs next year than the ones who started the last several years. Justin is a hige presence both on and off the field and if he really does retire today, he'll be sorely missed.



5) Tank: He looked pretty good yesterday. Saw him get some pressure and a sack and saw him diagnose a screen very well. That's very important moving forward because he's probably going to be counted on in a big way next year. I think he'll end up being a better pass rusher than Justin or McDonald ever were, but the pass rush isn't what made those guys so good. It was run D and eating up blockers to let those LBs run free. We'll just have to see.



6) Culliver: I've seen him play most of the year and I still don't really know if he's a guy they should resign moving forward. He played well yesterday, but I'm not sure if that a position they should be looking to improve or if they should give Cully that job. It might really depend on what he wants contract wise.



7) Aldon/Lynch: So I was really looking forward to seeing those guys on the field together, but so far I'm a bit underwhelmed. Lynch has played well, but Aldon seems to have disappeared. Early on it seemed he was playing really well and was opening things up for other players, but lately it just kinda seems like his hearts not in it. Hopefully, he'll stay clean this offseason and get a fresh start next year.



8) Draft: Sucks that I's still December and I'm looking at College Players already. This is what I did when the Niners sucked for a decade. My only hope is that its a reload and not a rebuild.



9) Next years team: One thing is for sure. For better or worse, the 2015 San Francisco 49ers will likely look very different from the 2014 version. Just with players coming back from injury and the number of players who will not have their contracts renewed, it'll be a very different team. Has the window closed for a Championship? Maybe, maybe not...but it really depends on what happens this offseason from both a personal perspective and the new coach. That finally leads me to...



10) Harbaugh/Baalke/York: The In Vogue thing to do right now seems to be referring to Jed York as a petulant child or some other crack on his age and bank account. As the story goes, he's a bad owner now because he's parting with possibly the second best coach in 49ers history because they just didn't get along. How stupid does he have to be?

Now I read the message online from Jims son where of course his dad is an angel in all matter and all of the problems are clearly the crowd at Levis and the Front Office. But of course they are. What else is he going to say.

I want to be careful here because I don't want this to come off as disrespect to Harbaugh. I love the guy and want him to stay. SOMETHING happened though. SOMETHING.

Jed isn't an idiot. Neither is Baalke. They are being fitted for their clown shoes at the moment by the media, but don't you think some thought went into this? Don't you think that those guys knew EXACTLY what fan reaction would be to this?

I HAVE to believe that they took this particular course of action because they didn't think they had another option. Be it that they thought Harbaughs shtick had run its course, or that he had lost the locker room or whatever...it seems clear to me that York/Baalke had become convinced that they could go no further as a team with Jim still at the helm.

We can rip that decision up and down and try and make any sense of it, but that to me is the bottom line. This isn't about money. This isn't about hurt feelings. To me, this is about York and Baalke genuinely thinking it was in the teams best interest to move on.

Time will tell if they are right or wrong.

Great job as usual Marvin . Too bad we won't see these in a while

Great read. Sucks this is gonna be the last one for a while.

Thanks for the great year of analysis Marvin.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

He also made some plays with his legs. I dunno, just seems a weight was lifted after the Raider loss. Perhaps the pressure of making a playoff run? Perhaps he finally just let go? That when his press conference attitude changed as well. He just seems much more loose and free to play the game over the past few weeks. He's had his best and 3rd best rushing performances in just these past two weeks. Passing number haven't been stellar, but the game plan here over the past three games has been HEAVY run.

Yeah, Kaep has certainly been playing looser these past couple of weeks. It's almost like the gloomy, restrained cloud of Harbaugh cleared to a certain degree and the kid got back to using his instincts with his legs and, more importantly, to having fun and playing kinda backyard football.

The hate against Jed and Baalke is so strong from all angles, media and fans, that I am starting to question whether the obvious answer is the wrong answer. Those of us who actually watch the games know how badly the offense regressed, not that it was ever all that good except for stretches during 2012. Harbs had two years to fix the problem and did nothing, instead choosing to ride the coattails of Fangio's D until that too fell apart because of injuries.

I don't know anymore, but I am pretty sure this team was never going to see the top of the mountain with Harb's philosophy on offense. The new hire may be a disaster if our FO is really looking for a yes man like the national media claims, but if championships are the ultimate goal, then I don't think we made a mistake. Like Harbs said, if you aren't getting better you are getting worse. Something had to change. Since Harbs refused to change, he gave us no choice. Should be simple as that. Instead we have all this drama about a power struggle behind the scenes according to anonymous sources.

Originally posted by Marvin49:
OK, last one of these for awhile.

1) Kap: Played well. Made some nice throws, but clear the plan was to run the ball. ALOT. Stepped up nicely on throw to Boldin for long TD. Nice throw for TD that was called back and nice lob on TD to Miller. My favorite throw though was actually the 3rd down throw to Brandon Lloyd late in the game. Just high enough to get over defender and drop in to Lloyd.

He also made some plays with his legs. I dunno, just seems a weight was lifted after the Raider loss. Perhaps the pressure of making a playoff run? Perhaps he finally just let go? That when his press conference attitude changed as well. He just seems much more loose and free to play the game over the past few weeks. He's had his best and 3rd best rushing performances in just these past two weeks. Passing number haven't been stellar, but the game plan here over the past three games has been HEAVY run.

This isn't to say "he's all better, no need for concern". Just sayin he's rebounded a bit here at the end and I look forward to seeing what he can do with a new coach and OC.



2) Frank: PLEASE don't let this be the last game in Red and Gold for Frank. I think Hyde needs to get a lot more carries next year and Hunter will be coming back, but Frank has proved over the last two weeks that he's still got something left. I'd just love to see him finish his career in SF and never wear another Jersey.



3) Anthony Davis: Jeez, 49ers run game is just SOOOOO much better when he plays. Jonathan Martin I think is done in SF. I read this AM that Frank Averaged 8.3 yards per carry yesterday behind Davis. His time out of the lineup this season is one the most under told stories of the year. Yeah...Kap has been sacked a lot, but it's Davis in the RUN GAME that has so sorely been missed.



4) Cowboy: I really hope he reconsiders and doesn't retire, but I'm not counting on it. Right now if looks like they'll have 2 new starting DEs next year than the ones who started the last several years. Justin is a hige presence both on and off the field and if he really does retire today, he'll be sorely missed.



5) Tank: He looked pretty good yesterday. Saw him get some pressure and a sack and saw him diagnose a screen very well. That's very important moving forward because he's probably going to be counted on in a big way next year. I think he'll end up being a better pass rusher than Justin or McDonald ever were, but the pass rush isn't what made those guys so good. It was run D and eating up blockers to let those LBs run free. We'll just have to see.



6) Culliver: I've seen him play most of the year and I still don't really know if he's a guy they should resign moving forward. He played well yesterday, but I'm not sure if that a position they should be looking to improve or if they should give Cully that job. It might really depend on what he wants contract wise.



7) Aldon/Lynch: So I was really looking forward to seeing those guys on the field together, but so far I'm a bit underwhelmed. Lynch has played well, but Aldon seems to have disappeared. Early on it seemed he was playing really well and was opening things up for other players, but lately it just kinda seems like his hearts not in it. Hopefully, he'll stay clean this offseason and get a fresh start next year.



8) Draft: Sucks that I's still December and I'm looking at College Players already. This is what I did when the Niners sucked for a decade. My only hope is that its a reload and not a rebuild.



9) Next years team: One thing is for sure. For better or worse, the 2015 San Francisco 49ers will likely look very different from the 2014 version. Just with players coming back from injury and the number of players who will not have their contracts renewed, it'll be a very different team. Has the window closed for a Championship? Maybe, maybe not...but it really depends on what happens this offseason from both a personal perspective and the new coach. That finally leads me to...



10) Harbaugh/Baalke/York: The In Vogue thing to do right now seems to be referring to Jed York as a petulant child or some other crack on his age and bank account. As the story goes, he's a bad owner now because he's parting with possibly the second best coach in 49ers history because they just didn't get along. How stupid does he have to be?

Now I read the message online from Jims son where of course his dad is an angel in all matter and all of the problems are clearly the crowd at Levis and the Front Office. But of course they are. What else is he going to say.

I want to be careful here because I don't want this to come off as disrespect to Harbaugh. I love the guy and want him to stay. SOMETHING happened though. SOMETHING.

Jed isn't an idiot. Neither is Baalke. They are being fitted for their clown shoes at the moment by the media, but don't you think some thought went into this? Don't you think that those guys knew EXACTLY what fan reaction would be to this?

I HAVE to believe that they took this particular course of action because they didn't think they had another option. Be it that they thought Harbaughs shtick had run its course, or that he had lost the locker room or whatever...it seems clear to me that York/Baalke had become convinced that they could go no further as a team with Jim still at the helm.

We can rip that decision up and down and try and make any sense of it, but that to me is the bottom line. This isn't about money. This isn't about hurt feelings. To me, this is about York and Baalke genuinely thinking it was in the teams best interest to move on.

Time will tell if they are right or wrong.

You are right and time will tell on the Harbaugh decision. Right now, though, all the pressure has been shifted onto Baalke and York as they have clearly decided to part ways with one of the most successful coaches in 49ers history due to personality clashes. They better find the right guy or those clowns shoes may be permanent in the eyes of many experts and fans alike.

Originally posted by znk916:
The hate against Jed and Baalke is so strong from all angles, media and fans, that I am starting to question whether the obvious answer is the wrong answer. Those of us who actually watch the games know how badly the offense regressed, not that it was ever all that good except for stretches during 2012. Harbs had two years to fix the problem and did nothing, instead choosing to ride the coattails of Fangio's D until that too fell apart because of injuries.

I don't know anymore, but I am pretty sure this team was never going to see the top of the mountain with Harb's philosophy on offense. The new hire may be a disaster if our FO is really looking for a yes man like the national media claims, but if championships are the ultimate goal, then I don't think we made a mistake. Like Harbs said, if you aren't getting better you are getting worse. Something had to change. Since Harbs refused to change, he gave us no choice. Should be simple as that. Instead we have all this drama about a power struggle behind the scenes according to anonymous sources.

I agree. There has to be a lot more going on behind closed doors between Baalke/Harbaugh/York, and I have a feeling it has a lot more to do with Harbaugh than the front office. A team just doesn't let go of a winning coach with a year left on his contract unless there are massive problems behind closed doors. The trade/releases rumors with him have been swirling since last offseason, when we were coming off our third straight NFCCG appearance. We've all seen how difficult of a person Harbaugh is to deal with, and I really doubt the explanation is that York and Baalke want some chump "yes man".

Of all the reports we have read this season, one thing I didn't see was the players quitting on the team. Whether their motivation was 'win it for Gore', 'win it for Justin', or 'win it for coach', I thought the players played hard yesterday in a meaningless game.

Originally posted by thl408:
Of all the reports we have read this season, one thing I didn't see was the players quitting on the team. Whether their motivation was 'win it for Gore', 'win it for Justin', or 'win it for coach', I thought the players played hard yesterday in a meaningless game.

Yep, it definitely felt like they were motivated to win yesterday. I do think a couple players did more or less quit this season though (Crabtree, Davis). Whether that was because they were phased out of the offense, or just frustrated, they ran lazy routes and Davis especially gave a s**t effort nearly the entire season.

.. and this is why I really think that Brooks should be more appreciated than what he gets.. Most of the fans here are quiet and wont accept the fact that our great Aldon Smith had done nothing thus far.. Brooks however, even with the poor decision and selfish act that he showed this year, continued to produce..

.. the eyes never lies, Brooks and Lynch woulda been a wiser decision than Aldon and Lynch..

Originally posted by thl408:
Of all the reports we have read this season, one thing I didn't see was the players quitting on the team. Whether their motivation was 'win it for Gore', 'win it for Justin', or 'win it for coach', I thought the players played hard yesterday in a meaningless game.

they have played hard every game this season. when they had a reason to and when they didn't have a reason to. i respect these players because they dealt with way more than they should have and remained professional to the very end!

Thl when you do your chop up this week we've got ourselves an improvement. Last week on the roll out Kap got pressured and patton was open on the other side of the field.. me and you didn't judge it harshly other said he should have thrown it to Patton even if it was an ultra aggressive throw.
Well yesterday the same play happened, he extended the play and what do you know? he found patton on the other side of the field for a huge gain.
I clapped.
He's coming along. Just get him in and out of the huddle, let him make his reads and run some routes that make sense. above all give him some good protection and he's unstoppable.

The players did (at times) come close to outright questioning the scheme and quitting on the run game. Definitely frustration on the scheme and Davis spoke on it recently. Too much talent to be at or near the bottom of the league in scoring. The defense got worn down and that can't keep happening. For two years the offense has been poor. You have to score points in the the NFC and have strong defense. There is a gap and it is on offense.

Originally posted by thl408:
Of all the reports we have read this season, one thing I didn't see was the players quitting on the team. Whether their motivation was 'win it for Gore', 'win it for Justin', or 'win it for coach', I thought the players played hard yesterday in a meaningless game.

Just know anything Deion Sanders says is complete BS.

Originally posted by 9moon:
.. and this is why I really think that Brooks should be more appreciated than what he gets.. Most of the fans here are quiet and wont accept the fact that our great Aldon Smith had done nothing thus far.. Brooks however, even with the poor decision and selfish act that he showed this year, continued to produce..

.. the eyes never lies, Brooks and Lynch woulda been a wiser decision than Aldon and Lynch..

Silly. Aldon is double and triple teamed every snap without exception.
Lynch should have been feasting.
Yesterday Aldon was in coverage a whole lot so im not worried about his pass rush yesterday he was playing outside linebacker.

Any input on Vernon? Just a head scratcher for me. I don't think his name was even mentioned during the game yesterday.