OFFENSIVE LINE PLAY: Most Important

Originally posted by billbird2111:
The line blocking was outstanding on run plays. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, we looked good. But it was still a preseason game. And it was also a preseason game against the Raiders, who aren't very good.

Still -- I did see incremental progress last night. Davis had a false start penalty against him early in the game and that was about the only problem Alice had time to sit back and pick out targets. It was nice to see Alice checkdown to 1st, 2nd and 3rd receiving options. He did this on more than one occasion. And the line was just blowing open holes for our running backs.

Nice to see the progress. But it's still preseason. We've got a long way to go. I still think this is a two or four win team at best.

that's the way man, keep your hopes high and your expectations low.

Ugh Cowboys 20 yr old rookie Tyron Smith is better than our Anthony Davis...

Originally posted by billbird2111:
The line blocking was outstanding on run plays. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, we looked good. But it was still a preseason game. And it was also a preseason game against the Raiders, who aren't very good.

Still -- I did see incremental progress last night. Davis had a false start penalty against him early in the game and that was about the only problem Alice had time to sit back and pick out targets. It was nice to see Alice checkdown to 1st, 2nd and 3rd receiving options. He did this on more than one occasion. And the line was just blowing open holes for our running backs.

Nice to see the progress. But it's still preseason. We've got a long way to go. I still think this is a two or four win team at best.

Shiny lure you're using…but the bobber is too small to keep it out of the weeds.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by billbird2111:
The line blocking was outstanding on run plays. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, we looked good. But it was still a preseason game. And it was also a preseason game against the Raiders, who aren't very good.

Still -- I did see incremental progress last night. Davis had a false start penalty against him early in the game and that was about the only problem Alice had time to sit back and pick out targets. It was nice to see Alice checkdown to 1st, 2nd and 3rd receiving options. He did this on more than one occasion. And the line was just blowing open holes for our running backs.

Nice to see the progress. But it's still preseason. We've got a long way to go. I still think this is a two or four win team at best.

Shiny lure you're using…but the bobber is too small to keep it out of the weeds.

I have noticed much more zone blocking so far.

I dont understand why my thread was locked (I love the 49ers!!!), can anyone explain plz??


Kinda makes me

From ESPN:

3. Right guard Chilo Rachal The 49ers are seeking better consistency from their right guard. They got it during a 16-play drive to open the game. Rachal caught my attention early by peeling off his original man, Richard Seymour, to pick up Tommy Kelly. Rachal's awareness on the third-down play allowed Smith to find Davis for a reception past the first-down marker. Later in the drive, Rachal pulled to the right and impeded Jerome Boyd just long enough for Anthony Dixon to reach the corner for a 12-yard gain on second-and-10. As the drive wound down, Rachal trapped Shaughnessy to free Frank Gore for a 4-yard gain to the 2. On the 49ers' second drive, Rachal strung out Kelly long enough for Dixon to cut back and knife into the secondary for a 9-yard gain. The 49ers ran the ball almost at will and Rachal did his part from what I could tell. His replacement, Tony Wragge, helped spring Kendall Hunter for a 53-yard touchdown run.

Originally posted by PTulini:
From ESPN:

3. Right guard Chilo Rachal The 49ers are seeking better consistency from their right guard. They got it during a 16-play drive to open the game. Rachal caught my attention early by peeling off his original man, Richard Seymour, to pick up Tommy Kelly. Rachal's awareness on the third-down play allowed Smith to find Davis for a reception past the first-down marker. Later in the drive, Rachal pulled to the right and impeded Jerome Boyd just long enough for Anthony Dixon to reach the corner for a 12-yard gain on second-and-10. As the drive wound down, Rachal trapped Shaughnessy to free Frank Gore for a 4-yard gain to the 2. On the 49ers' second drive, Rachal strung out Kelly long enough for Dixon to cut back and knife into the secondary for a 9-yard gain. The 49ers ran the ball almost at will and Rachal did his part from what I could tell. His replacement, Tony Wragge, helped spring Kendall Hunter for a 53-yard touchdown run.

Perhaps the competition is helping all the players sharpen their games? Under Singletary I believe Rachal would have started no matter what. Too much security breeds complacency.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by PTulini:
From ESPN:

3. Right guard Chilo Rachal The 49ers are seeking better consistency from their right guard. They got it during a 16-play drive to open the game. Rachal caught my attention early by peeling off his original man, Richard Seymour, to pick up Tommy Kelly. Rachal's awareness on the third-down play allowed Smith to find Davis for a reception past the first-down marker. Later in the drive, Rachal pulled to the right and impeded Jerome Boyd just long enough for Anthony Dixon to reach the corner for a 12-yard gain on second-and-10. As the drive wound down, Rachal trapped Shaughnessy to free Frank Gore for a 4-yard gain to the 2. On the 49ers' second drive, Rachal strung out Kelly long enough for Dixon to cut back and knife into the secondary for a 9-yard gain. The 49ers ran the ball almost at will and Rachal did his part from what I could tell. His replacement, Tony Wragge, helped spring Kendall Hunter for a 53-yard touchdown run.

Perhaps the competition is helping all the players sharpen their games? Under Singletary I believe Rachal would have started no matter what. Too much security breeds complacency.

this is very true

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by PTulini:
From ESPN:

3. Right guard Chilo Rachal The 49ers are seeking better consistency from their right guard. They got it during a 16-play drive to open the game. Rachal caught my attention early by peeling off his original man, Richard Seymour, to pick up Tommy Kelly. Rachal's awareness on the third-down play allowed Smith to find Davis for a reception past the first-down marker. Later in the drive, Rachal pulled to the right and impeded Jerome Boyd just long enough for Anthony Dixon to reach the corner for a 12-yard gain on second-and-10. As the drive wound down, Rachal trapped Shaughnessy to free Frank Gore for a 4-yard gain to the 2. On the 49ers' second drive, Rachal strung out Kelly long enough for Dixon to cut back and knife into the secondary for a 9-yard gain. The 49ers ran the ball almost at will and Rachal did his part from what I could tell. His replacement, Tony Wragge, helped spring Kendall Hunter for a 53-yard touchdown run.

Perhaps the competition is helping all the players sharpen their games? Under Singletary I believe Rachal would have started no matter what. Too much security breeds complacency.

Chilo played pretty good Saturday, but in film review I suspect he'll hear a lot of praise for Kilgore on just about every play he was in the game. That should keep a fire lit under his ass.

Originally posted by PTulini:
I have noticed much more zone blocking so far.

Yep, you're right.

What we saw Saturday night, particularly in the run game, was very much like Mike Shanahan was using in Denver when he could plug in just about any RB on the roster and they would roll for 100+ yards/game. He used zone blocking in a way that stretched the defense apart and allowed the RB to cut back into space. Instead of the OL being packed into a small space where they had to rely on brute strength, they had enough room to get better angles and leverage to move guys out of the hole. Shanny used much of that his last year in SF and then fully implemented it in Denver.

Zone also makes it a bit easier to pass protect as each guy defends his own space assignment instead of having to chase a certain guy who may be looping around a teammate. I expect we will see not only better play from Rachal as a result, but from Anthony Davis as well.

Sometimes "imposing our will" on an opponent means that we also use our brain to trick them into letting us "impose our will." (Singletary reference intended)

To be fair to Singletary, we might just be seeing the result of 2 years of experience under his belt showing in a good way for Chilo. Shouldn't expect a lineman to develop fully after a year.

Lots of applause to go around for many OL.

Anthony Davis had a few blunders, but only 1 led t a brutal hit on Smith. Overall, he did a much better job.
Rachal had a great game... 1 mistake last week and a great game this week... looking good for him.
Snyder also had a better game, but I remember a few issues... mostly just lacking anchor vs power.
Iupati had 1 negative which allowed Smith to get hit (other side of the same AD screwup play).
Don't remember any real negatives for Staley.

Boone was flawless from my 1 watch-through this a.m.
Kilgore had a couple of screwups (at least 1 of them at LG), but was overall good and occasionally great.
Wragge was a stud... at RG and OC.

Raiders may have lost Aso, but their front 7 is still good... so let's not sell our boys short.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
To be fair to Singletary, we might just be seeing the result of 2 years of experience under his belt showing in a good way for Chilo. Shouldn't expect a lineman to develop fully after a year.

As logical as that sounds, I don't see any evidence of it. Chilo appeared to make NO progress. However, Sing/Raye appeared to make no effort to adjust schemes or play sequencing to help Rachal, and the rest of the OL, to perform better. It was just macho man, in your face football and it failed miserably.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
To be fair to Singletary, we might just be seeing the result of 2 years of experience under his belt showing in a good way for Chilo. Shouldn't expect a lineman to develop fully after a year.

As logical as that sounds, I don't see any evidence of it. Chilo appeared to make NO progress. However, Sing/Raye appeared to make no effort to adjust schemes or play sequencing to help Rachal, and the rest of the OL, to perform better. It was just macho man, in your face football and it failed miserably.

Not sure that the lack of coaching was the major issue for Chilo when he was struggling, especially that first year. Then Singletary brought in Solari early last year so it seems Singletary had the right idea about having good coaches for the offensive line. If you are saying Singletary's football philosophy was a hinderance, then I would agree since I think it hindered our offense as a whole. I think Chilo and the whole offense is in a good place right now coaching wise. Harbaugh as a former qb, I think he would know exactly what he wants out of his offensive line, whether run blocking or pas protection, since he played behind them his whole career. Probably don't get that from Singletary.