***SF 49ERS VS. OAK RAIDERS GAMEDAY THREAD (Preseason Week 2)***

promising, but we still need work...

Just watched that first-down play after DHB caught the long pass yesterday. Kevin Boss was widddde open, TWICE! He was open initially, then Goldson came over. Then Goldson stepped up for the sack leaving him wide open again. Any good QB would have completed that TD.

Got a question, should Goldson be staying with the TE or coming up for the sack? I would think with other's in the area, it would be wise to stay with the TE

Just sayin!

I still don't understand the 3 straight runs in the redzone. i understand that you can't give away your plays during preseason, but how much would it hurt to just let Smith throw a jump ball to Edwards in a goal to go situation?

I know it will be much different in the regular season, but those 2 red zone trips ending with just 3 points reminded me too much of the Sing days

Game will be re aired tonight on NFL Network. at 11pm EST.

I think too many fans become overly enamoured by big-name FA's...while some do as well as they did with their previous teams, many do not. Good scouting is crucial to bringing in good talent...between the guys Baalke drafted and the UDFA's they've signed, I think it's clear he and the scouts have a good eye for talent. FA flash doesn't necessarily equate to success, especially with a whole new coaching staff. Finding guys who can play and do several things well goes a long way toward building a team that can win. Guys like Edwards, Whitner, Williams, Goodwin, Bruce Miller, Kilgore, Hunter, Culliver, etc. are examples. Time will tell how they meld into the team, but I like what I'm seeing so far.

i was pleased. smith hung in, didn't stare down his receivers too much. defense looked beasty. blocking was improved. yiiiiiiiii!

The thing that set last night game apart for me is that I havent seen them control a game like that in years. It was honestly the first time in a long time that I was not worried throughout the whole game.

Alex looked good. Still a little late on the out/curl/stop routes. Would like to see that on better timing to allow the receiver to be affective after the catch.

Originally posted by niner4life21:
I still don't understand the 3 straight runs in the redzone. i understand that you can't give away your plays during preseason, but how much would it hurt to just let Smith throw a jump ball to Edwards in a goal to go situation?

I know it will be much different in the regular season, but those 2 red zone trips ending with just 3 points reminded me too much of the Sing days

Theres a common denominator in this equation.

I said the same thing at the game though. I know they dont want to give away plays....could it be a lack of confidence in the passing game? Maybe, maybe not.

Originally posted by 80sbaby24:

Originally posted by niner4life21:
I still don't understand the 3 straight runs in the redzone. i understand that you can't give away your plays during preseason, but how much would it hurt to just let Smith throw a jump ball to Edwards in a goal to go situation?

I know it will be much different in the regular season, but those 2 red zone trips ending with just 3 points reminded me too much of the Sing days

Theres a common denominator in this equation.

I said the same thing at the game though. I know they dont want to give away plays....could it be a lack of confidence in the passing game? Maybe, maybe not.

I'm not sure....If theres one place I can trust Alex Smith and our passing game, its in the redzone. I doubt it has to do with a lack of trust, but it's either to test the run game and the run blocking in the redzone, or to not give away the plays.

We could've easily scored 28 points yesterday if the coaches had let Alex chuck it to VD or Braylon in the redzone instead of handing it to Dixon..

I have to say the offense as a whole looked completely different. yes it is pre-season, but at the same time harbaugh said he wanted to see improvement. and i think he saw that tremendously.

As far as Smith went, id like to see him vs the Texans to see if he gets even better. A lot that call the INT another Smith moment, i look at it differently. i remember a vet in here when i posted about Alex and his Int's and they responded, i dont care if he throws an INT just as long as he is moving the offense and doenst go into a shell after that.

As a result he didnt, and i thought it was a pretty telling stat that said he had a 118 QB rating in the redzone. Second in the entire NFL only to Romo. So if this was a regular season game, i think he would of scored at least 2td's before the half.

I cant lie, those two drops i was like damn, same old team. But Edwards had the first one i think, then made that terrific grab on the sideline. When throwing to Morgan, i could of swore Smitty was gonna miss him, but nah. Even when he escaped the lineman when the pocket collapsed and stood in there, and connected for a first down I thought, damn maybe a fumble or sacks about to come, but nope.

Overall, I just wanted to see the starting O move the ball up and down the field. I'd take that one INT every game, if it led to us keeping the ball for at least 75% of the time. Knowing now that hopefully Smith doesnt go into hybernation if he does have a bad play. And actually passing for over 120yds all in the first half. In seasons past, he may have had that, just going into the 4th quarter.

While its waay to early to say this will be Alex's normal routine of running the O up and down the field, i have to say Harbaugh is what this team needed. And yeah we have 2 pre-season games left, but i cant wait till our opener, when he really opens up the offense.

Originally posted by niner4life21:

Originally posted by 80sbaby24:

Originally posted by niner4life21:
I still don't understand the 3 straight runs in the redzone. i understand that you can't give away your plays during preseason, but how much would it hurt to just let Smith throw a jump ball to Edwards in a goal to go situation?

I know it will be much different in the regular season, but those 2 red zone trips ending with just 3 points reminded me too much of the Sing days

Theres a common denominator in this equation.

I said the same thing at the game though. I know they dont want to give away plays....could it be a lack of confidence in the passing game? Maybe, maybe not.

I'm not sure....If theres one place I can trust Alex Smith and our passing game, its in the redzone. I doubt it has to do with a lack of trust, but it's either to test the run game and the run blocking in the redzone, or to not give away the plays.

Does anyone have a statistic of the % of pass plays we actually have run in the redzone. I know ALex has some ridiculous redzone numbers, but I am curious about this.

Originally posted by SonocoNinerFan:
I'm posted this in the game day thread . . .

This is what I saw . .

1st Drive
1st pass: 5 yard Come back on target, Walker looses his footing so the pass looked high, bounced off Walkers hands. (Dropped) (0-1)
2nd pass: Perfectly spotted 10 yard out to Vernon, 14 yard gain - 1st down. (1-2)
3rd pass: Five yard hitch to Ginn - on target, 6 yard gain (2-3)
4th pass: Ten yard in to Edwards, slightly high but Edwards was bringing it in before the DB knocked the ball loose.(Dropped) (2-4)
5th pass: Ten yard hitch to Edwards, on target, 14 yard gain - 1st down (3-5)

Ended the drive 3-5 / 34 yards Should have been 5-5 / 50+ yards


2nd Drive
1st pass: Roll right, nothing open, short out to Morgan, on target, (Dropped) (3-6)
2nd pass:Under pressure, delivered to Morgan between the numbers on a crossing route, 33 yards (4-7)
3rd pass: Short out to Davis, on target, 5 yards (5-8)
4th pass: Pick to Shaughnessy (5-9) Didn't see the DE drop into the flat.

5-9 - 73 yards.


3rd Drive
1st pass: Checks down to the 3rd read, moves in the pocket, on target to Morgan for 8 yards (6-10)
2nd pass: 15 yard out to Reuland, on target (7-11)
3rd pass: Sideline go route to Edwards, 32 yards, on target, nicely located (8-12)
4th pass: Nothing open, throws it away. (8-13)

Smith finished 8 -13 - 126 yards


But for three drops he could have easily been 11-13 - 140+ yards.

Hopefully next week Harbaugh opens things up in the red zone a little.

But for the pick he had a very solid game. He needs to back it up with another one against the Texans.

The QB rating for 11 completions of 13 attempts for approx 150 yards and one interception is 82.7. Not bad for second pre-season game

Originally posted by njniner499:
i also left out Dobbs the Undrafted de from georgia... he has been a beast our first 2 preseason games.. also if alex can just manage the game ithink we can contend and win the west with a offense with weapons like vernon davis crabtree edwards and morgan.. not to mention walker and gore.. comon alex.. this is your golden oppourtunity.. IF the OLINE can do its part!

Thanks again guys have a great day

Haven't been able to watch the games here, but I always like to hear that a fellow Dawg is getting the job done. Really sounds like he's stepped his game up since he finished here.

Originally posted by niner4life21:
We could've easily scored 28 points yesterday if the coaches had let Alex chuck it to VD or Braylon in the redzone instead of handing it to Dixon..

I think part of that is Coach not opening the playbook too much. I'd expect to see Davis, Edwards, and Walker all to get a lot of looks down there. Maybe even Miller, from what I've been reading. A FB that can catch is a dangerous weapon in the RZ. Now, if we can just get Rathman to teach him how to do that old monster spike from back in the day....

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
I have to say the offense as a whole looked completely different. yes it is pre-season, but at the same time harbaugh said he wanted to see improvement. and i think he saw that tremendously.

As far as Smith went, id like to see him vs the Texans to see if he gets even better. A lot that call the INT another Smith moment, i look at it differently. i remember a vet in here when i posted about Alex and his Int's and they responded, i dont care if he throws an INT just as long as he is moving the offense and doenst go into a shell after that.

As a result he didnt, and i thought it was a pretty telling stat that said he had a 118 QB rating in the redzone. Second in the entire NFL only to Romo. So if this was a regular season game, i think he would of scored at least 2td's before the half.

I cant lie, those two drops i was like damn, same old team. But Edwards had the first one i think, then made that terrific grab on the sideline. When throwing to Morgan, i could of swore Smitty was gonna miss him, but nah. Even when he escaped the lineman when the pocket collapsed and stood in there, and connected for a first down I thought, damn maybe a fumble or sacks about to come, but nope.

Overall, I just wanted to see the starting O move the ball up and down the field. I'd take that one INT every game, if it led to us keeping the ball for at least 75% of the time. Knowing now that hopefully Smith doesnt go into hybernation if he does have a bad play. And actually passing for over 120yds all in the first half. In seasons past, he may have had that, just going into the 4th quarter.

While its waay to early to say this will be Alex's normal routine of running the O up and down the field, i have to say Harbaugh is what this team needed. And yeah we have 2 pre-season games left, but i cant wait till our opener, when he really opens up the offense.

I didn't mind that INT at all either. He made a blind throw and trusted his read which was something he would have never done before.