SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS VS. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS OFFICIAL GAMEDAY THREAD

Originally posted by kunged:

Originally posted by amir_tn80:
If the 49ers went into the game not knowing a Greg Williams led defense is going to blitz then the coaching staff was completely unprepared. Saints are using preseason to utilize their blitz packages coming off a short offseason. The coaching staff should have been ready for it.

Agree with you to an extent. Though maybe they were getting up to speed with the NFL, we should give Harbaugh similar leeway to players. In the end the best coaches will learn and adjust, and while the Singletarys will be found out. I have faith (or just hope?!) that Harbaugh will adjust and learn from this experience

You adjust during the game, not next week. If blitzing ALL the time was a great strategy, wouldn't everyone do it? The QB has to make the defense pay but the Saints don't respect Alex or a rookie and why should they?

Totally agree - rather lose every preseason game IF we improve from it and are injury free for the start of the season. Let's face it, if a team that had won the SBowl, played the same offense and defense for the last 3-4 years didn't kick ass an everything new team they failed

Originally posted by NorthNiner:

Originally posted by kunged:

Originally posted by amir_tn80:
If the 49ers went into the game not knowing a Greg Williams led defense is going to blitz then the coaching staff was completely unprepared. Saints are using preseason to utilize their blitz packages coming off a short offseason. The coaching staff should have been ready for it.

Agree with you to an extent. Though maybe they were getting up to speed with the NFL, we should give Harbaugh similar leeway to players. In the end the best coaches will learn and adjust, and while the Singletarys will be found out. I have faith (or just hope?!) that Harbaugh will adjust and learn from this experience

You adjust during the game, not next week. If blitzing ALL the time was a great strategy, wouldn't everyone do it? The QB has to make the defense pay but the Saints don't respect Alex or a rookie and why should they?

Not if the adjustments haven't been put in yet, or the receivers and QBs hven't had enough time together to have the same reads. Remember D-Love running lost while Alex but a 30 yrd pass into open space. If they had the same read, that would have been a huge play. That's just a matter of repetition. Tere is a lot of good film to study. I agree with other posters who say it was a dick move, but since no one (that we know of) got hurt it is a good learning opportunity.

IF there's another reason for the blitzes, besides just playing football, i would go with the feud part. It was preseason, so I doubt Franklin (being the Vet that he is) cares too much about what happens in preseason. However, I could see this as Payton trying to welcome his "buddy" Jim into the NFL.

Do you really think a new DC would pay attention or listen to a recently added NT Franklin who would have absolutely no knowledge about the new system that Harbaugh has installed. It was a shortened year that inspired the Saints to practice their blitzes this early probably. IMVHO

Originally posted by 49ERwhiner:
Do you really think a new DC would pay attention or listen to a recently added NT Franklin who would have absolutely no knowledge about the new system that Harbaugh has installed. It was a shortened year that inspired the Saints to practice their blitzes this early probably. IMVHO

Williams is not a new DC. Not overall, and not in NO. He was there when they beat the hell out of Favre two years ago.

He know the personell on the field is what I am saying. He knows what they can and cannot do. I am saying it was some conspiracy. It happens all the time teams bringing in guys from other teams they are going to play and asking their opinions on certain players etc.

i imagine the Saints were blitzing to practice their blitzing

Williams didn't need Franklin to tell him that an o-line would have trouble picking up blitzes after less than two weeks of preparation.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by 49ERwhiner:
Do you really think a new DC would pay attention or listen to a recently added NT Franklin who would have absolutely no knowledge about the new system that Harbaugh has installed. It was a shortened year that inspired the Saints to practice their blitzes this early probably. IMVHO

Williams is not a new DC. Not overall, and not in NO. He was there when they beat the hell out of Favre two years ago.

OOPS ....... I stand corrected.

Preseason, especially the first game, is about evaluating player talent, not about player knowledge of schemes.Blitzing and picking up blitzs are about understanding, knowledge, and execution. One on one blocking, and tackling is about player skill. Ten years ago one blitz in a preseason game was considered bush league and petty. As an old guy I (45) this makes Payton and the Saint's defensive staff look like punks, it was in my mind pure bush league b******t. What did we learn, that we haven't installed our blitz pick up packages yet? Great I'm sure Harbaugh knew he had not completed his blitz pick up, and he had certainly not studided up on the Saints blitz scheme and installed pick ups and reads.

All that blitzing did was slow down player evaluation, and set us back, it helped no one not us, not the Saints, a waste of a practice game, pure b******t. I don't care about winning or losing a preseason game, I wanted to see one on one isolation of particular players, to evaluate their skills, I saw a team that was not prepared by the coaching staff for a complex blitz package that no one expected. I for one would never schedule a preseason game with the Saints agin.

I have been a coach, and hope to coach again, I have scrimmaged against guys like Payton before, and the guys I coached with took great exception to blitzing, and trick plays in practice games, it is understood you play straight up vanilla, to allow coaches to observe their players, Payton is an a*****e, by any coaching standard.

Originally posted by HessianDud:
i imagine the Saints were blitzing to practice their blitzing

My thoughts as well.

Jeesh.

How many threads are we gonna start on "Blitzgate"?


Here we go. Harbaugh conspired with Gregg Williams to have the Saints blitz the team to make Alex look real bad, so he has an excuse to start a QB competition.

Or Gregg Williams called Harbaugh and said "Hey Jim, just to let you know, we'll throw some blitz packages at you early in the game - I know it's the first game of the preseason and everything but we really need to practice our blitz plays under game conditions so jes' lettin' you know, okay?" Harbaugh ignored it.

I think people are looking into this way too much. The saints were just playing football. I am sure they will do the same thing in the next preseason game. It was good they did do what they did so Harbaugh and company can correct the issues and improve. Thus one of the meanings of preseason.

Originally posted by AKfanster:
I think it's obvious that everyone forgot how bad the O-line was.

Staley is better off at RT. Iupati is young, needs time. Snyder has been a career back-up for a reason. Rachal is just horrible and how he manages to hang on to his starting job is beyond me. Davis is just as bad as Rachal.

Why didn't the team address the O-line other than Godwin? Last I checked, both starters on the right side are HORRIBLE.

Actually, most of the pressure problems occurred on the left side. Saints were clearly overloading the left on the first three series. RT ADavis did allow one sack by letting the end get underneath and then around him.