Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:
Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:Ghost,
Another question is, do we really want that traditional 3-4 NT-type of guy? As fans, we keep wishing for that 330+ pound, 2-gap type of guy, but that's not necessarily the type of NT that this staff seems to look for. They seem perfectly happy with 300 pounders with strength and movement skills.
Your opinion as usual is well considered. But consider this. The Niners have two kinds of opponents, Seattle and the rest of the NFL. Stopping the Seahawks is a fundamental issue now. That means first stopping Lynch. We may not need a top flight NT through most of the season, but against Seattle, we do.
There's always a danger of overreaction. Lynch didn't fare all that well against us in the regular season...in the first game, though he had 98 yards, it took 28 carries (3.5 yards per carry). I can live with that.
In the second game, he only rushed for 72 yards...again, that's more than acceptable to me.
Yes, in the NFCCG he did rush for 109 yards, but that 40 yard TD run accounted for a large chunk and even that was a perfect storm of trouble for us. Specifically in that situation, our d-line slanted down to the left where the run started, but Lynch cut back to his left through Justin Smith's vacated hole. Dorsey actually holds the point fairly well, shedding a block and in position to make a stop right at the line of scrimmage if Lynch would've run it up the middle.
In fact, because the middle was clogged, Lynch bounced it to the left...Bowman got caught up in the wash leaving only Eric Reid to make a play. Reid actually had a perfect angle to tackle him for just a 7 yard gain, but Lynch (to his good fortune and our ruin) ran into the butt of his lineman and that bounced him back to his right causing Reid to overrun him. The rest is history.
Though I hear what you're saying, I don't think it's wise to change things up once you take a deeper look at our overall performance against Lynch.