oldman9er's analysis of Offense vs Philly

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by Joecool:
Is it just me or VD just doesn't like to run through catches? He loves to jump catch or slow down and catch but he always seems to slow down the burners when he really needs to run through a catch.

Yeah, don't get that at all. Would have been easy... stick out your hands around thigh level... hold left hand thumb pointed up...right hand palm up with thumb facing the line of scrimmage...

Just... don't... understand... why... no effort... there... Vernon...

He is still a work in progress and has become much better catching over his shoulder and with his back to the QB, so he may become more fluid overall. He and Smith still have a lot of work to do and I think Harbaugh will help Smith deliver more on time and VD catch in stride. Watching Edwards should really help VD. They seem to have a good rapport and that is great for the team. If Crabtree continues to improve and be a postive force...wow!

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
He is still a work in progress and has become much better catching over his shoulder and with his back to the QB, so he may become more fluid overall. He and Smith still have a lot of work to do and I think Harbaugh will help Smith deliver more on time and VD catch in stride. Watching Edwards should really help VD. They seem to have a good rapport and that is great for the team. If Crabtree continues to improve and be a postive force...wow!

Yeah, gotta say, I have been very impressed with Crabtree lately. Seems like a "light went on" for him all of the sudden.

Drive #8

1st and 10 at SF 26 Alex Smith pass deep left to J.Morgan to PHI 48 for 26 yards (N.Asomugha). PENALTY on PHI-J.Babin, Roughing the Passer, 15 yards, enforced at PHI 48.
* Alex has FIVE seconds to throw! though extra OL Boone started getting shaky when Babin cut inside of him late in the play. VD stayed in to block. Nice sideline pass to Morgan.

1st and 10 at PHI 33 K.Hunter left tackle to PHI 30 for 3 yards (M.Fokou).
* decent blocks, but the WLB scraped down the line well. I think Staley was supposed to move on to WLB after block contact with the RDT, but didn't.

2nd and 7 at PHI 30 Alex Smith pass short right to D.Walker to PHI 33 for -3 yards (C.Jenkins). PENALTY on SF-[b]A.Davis, Tripping[/b], 10 yards, enforced at PHI 30 - No Play.
* designed 2 step quick throw to Walker... not much to report here

2nd and 17 at PHI 40 Alex Smith pass short left to D.Walker to PHI 29 for 11 yards (J.Page).
* 4 seconds, good pass pro... strong throw... Staley couldn't give more time anyway on the RE spin move

Timeout #1 by PHI at 12:36.
3rd and 6 at PHI 29 (Shotgun) Alex Smith pass short left to M.Crabtree to PHI 27 for 2 yards (N.Allen).
* 3 second throw... probably had 4... only worthwhile alternative route was VD over the middle, may have been the better choice... could be that the safety only made VD look open once he broke on the shorter, Crabtree throw? Commentator said there wasn't anything open down-field.

Drive #9

1st and 10 at SF 20 Alex Smith pass short right to D.Walker to SF 24 for 4 yards (J.Chaney).
* blocking held up well on this 5 step, 3.5 second throw. Deeper routes existed, but were they open? I dunno

2nd and 6 at SF 24 (Shotgun) Alex Smith pass short right to K.Hunter to PHI 32 for 44 yards (D.Rodgers-Cromartie).
* protection held a bit, but Staley was losing the outside, and AD was getting beaten by LE right in front of Alex... so he rolled out and through a nice pass to Hunter, who did a great job in finding the soft spot to be a good receiving option... There's the YAC we've been missing out on!

1st and 10 at PHI 32 K.Hunter right guard to PHI 30 for 2 yards (P.Hunt).
* Goodwin couldn't block well on RDT.. VD ran a pass route, was he hoping the RE followed him? because that left the LE free to tackle RB... very strange. I think VD thought it was a pass play, lol.

2nd and 8 at PHI 30 Alex Smith pass short right to J.Morgan for 30 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
* 3 step drop... slant pass good to Morgan who goes the extra 20 for TD... it was a pleasure to watch! Great burst from Morgan.

Drive #10

1st and 10 at SF 23 Alex Smith pass deep left to M.Crabtree to PHI 39 for 38 yards (J.Chaney).
* nearly FOUR seconds! Iupati was about to yield a sack in another second... beaten around outside shoulder, but he did just enough. Great pass in between the Cb and safety coming over. Even got a pump-fake outta Alex on Crabtree's double-move, yay!

1st and 10 at PHI 39 K.Hunter right end to PHI 27 for 12 yards (B.Rolle). PHI-A.Dixon was injured during the play. He is Out.
* decent 2nd level block Goodwin, but let him disengage... great pull block AD, Boone tried to cut someone and just ate grass.. Snyder did his job, but gotta watch those grabby hands, excellent block on LE for Walker, Miller lead block out wide... dove in front of DB but at least kept his attention

1st and 10 at PHI 27 Alex Smith pass short left to B.Miller to PHI 12 for 15 yards (N.Allen).
* 3 step, 3 second throw... quick flat to Miller... gave him time and space to get beyond pursuing LB and get some YAC

1st and 10 at PHI 12 F.Gore up the middle to PHI 9 for 3 yards (J.Chaney).
* Sopoaga up through the hole, but never really finds someone to block... Goodwin, Snyder, AD do their jobs okay... VD let LE disengage for tackle... effective lead block on LB from Miller

2nd and 7 at PHI 9 (Shotgun) Alex Smith pass short right to V.Davis for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
* 2 second throw... VD was THE one and only good option, and VD gets the 5 YAC for TD

Thanks again oldman9er. I hope you give us your summary of the offense when you are done, I enjoy your analysis.

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
Thanks again oldman9er. I hope you give us your summary of the offense when you are done, I enjoy your analysis.

Me too! I will read anyone's analysis after objectively watching the game a couple more times. But given it's oldman9er's analysis too? A must read!

Nice job old man. I compared with my game notes and we saw pretty much the same game, tho you identified a lot of players I didn't, which made it a fun read.

Originally posted by oldman9er:
Yeah, gotta say, I have been very impressed with Crabtree lately. Seems like a "light went on" for him all of the sudden.

And with all the alleged hate from Crabtree towards Smith, it was great to see Crabtree stoked when Morgan scored and pumping up his teammates and praising Smith with the TD passes.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by oldman9er:
Yeah, gotta say, I have been very impressed with Crabtree lately. Seems like a "light went on" for him all of the sudden.

And with all the alleged hate from Crabtree towards Smith, it was great to see Crabtree stoked when Morgan scored and pumping up his teammates and praising Smith with the TD passes.

Winning cures everything.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Nice job old man. I compared with my game notes and we saw pretty much the same game, tho you identified a lot of players I didn't, which made it a fun read.

Oh cool. I am glad to hear that my observations match up well with others. I'd like to believe I view everything as honestly as possible... and am pretty sure I do.

Glad others all around are finding interest in the details as I do.

Originally posted by oldman9er:
I'm gonna add to this drive by drive over the next few days...

Drive #1

1st Quarter

1st and 10 at SF 19 K.Hunter left end to SF 26 for 7 yards (J.Page; N.Asomugha).
* solid blocks by VD, Staley, Iupati, Goodwin, and especially lead blocking Miller

Vernon was in a tough position to make his block too. Great job of getting back and redirecting the end to pop Hunter. This is the first place I noticed; Miller is DAMN fast for a fullback. Anthony Davis cutblocks too much, it's becoming too predictable.

2nd and 3 at SF 26 Alex Smith pass short right to D.Walker to SF 29 for 3 yards (B.Rolle). FUMBLES (B.Rolle), recovered by SF-C.Culliver at SF 26. Penalty on SF-A.Davis, Tripping, declined. San Francisco challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was REVERSED. Alex Smith pass incomplete short right to D.Walker. PENALTY on SF-A.Davis, Tripping, 10 yards, enforced at SF 26 - [b]No Play.[/b]
* pitiful drop by DWalker

Great job of A. Davis and Snyder to get the hands down so Alex could make the throw. Goodwin stopped playing when he saw the ball hit the ground... he needs to play to the whistle.

2nd and 13 at SF 16 Alex Smith pass short middle to K.Hunter to SF 34 for 18 yards (B.Rolle).
* clever middle-screen... key decent blocks from Goodwin, AD, and Snyder

Clever indeed. Most middle screens are, well, in the middle. This one played off Justin Babin's aggressiveness and was run to the right side of the formation. Nice design. Great block by Goodwin in space. Anthony Davis looked absolutely lost.

1st and 10 at SF 34 F.Gore up the middle to PHI 26 for 40 yards (N.Asomugha).
* nice key blocks from AD, Snyder, and Goodwin again!

Classic power trap. A.Davis actually looks solid on this play, letting the tackle in, who's blindsided by Iupati on the trap, then executing a beautiful turn block at the second level to create a seal for Gore. The wide-nine tech by the Eagles defense leaves a lot of space for linemen to get to the second level. This play really took great advantage of that.

1st and 10 at PHI 26 Alex Smith pass incomplete short middle to K.Hunter.
* AD quickly gives up too much ground and Alex evades nicely... low and inconsequential throw for Hunter (would have gained a yard)

Great coverage downfield. D.Walker had a chance in the endzone, covered one-on-one by a safety. Alex does the right thing and throws it into the ground, as Hunter would have been killed if he'd caught it.

** announcer saying we should be running till they prove they can stop us... and he's right.

2nd and 10 at PHI 26 Alex Smith pass incomplete short right to K.Hunter.
* AD is far too slow to get out in front of a screen set up for Hunter. Hunter takes eyes off the ball for a second and drops good pass. If caught, he could have cut back left and AD could have made his block for a big gain..

This one's tough to call. Several other offensive linemen start to get out for the screen a lot later. I tend to think this one's Hunter's fault, as he screws up his assignment on a screen call later in the game as well. I think Hunter was supposed to chip the guy coming off of Davis to get a slower release, but he just ran a swing route and Alex had to adjust on the fly.

3rd and 10 at PHI 26 (Shotgun) Alex Smith pass incomplete short left to M.Crabtree (B.Rolle). (11:30)
* OL holds well enough... Alex takes short and rather useless shot at underneath Crabtree route... I can't tell if the other 2 deeper routes are well covered or not. Ball was accurate but dropped.

Well played cover 4, nobody else was open. Vernon Davis runs a seam route right at a safety, Walker runs a comeback and he's bracketed. Morgan's running a smash route that develops after Alex has thrown to Crabtree.

Originally posted by adembroski:
Editing

wut?

Originally posted by oldman9er:
wut?

Edited.

2nd and 13 at SF 16 Alex Smith pass short middle to K.Hunter to SF 34 for 18 yards (B.Rolle).

* clever middle-screen... key decent blocks from Goodwin, AD, and Snyder

v .. why do you think AD looked lost? He went 2nd level and kept the LB busy long enough for Hunter to get beyond him.

Clever indeed. Most middle screens are, well, in the middle. This one played off Justin Babin's aggressiveness and was run to the right side of the formation. Nice design. Great block by Goodwin in space. Anthony Davis looked absolutely lost.

If that's the play i'm thinking of, doesn't he just stop blocking and stand there, then Hunter runs into him a little while pushing him out of the way? Might be thinking of something else.

Originally posted by Whomeam:
If that's the play i'm thinking of, doesn't he just stop blocking and stand there, then Hunter runs into him a little while pushing him out of the way? Might be thinking of something else.

AD goes 2nd level and blocks the LB for a bit... then the LB pushes off to disengage but Hunter's already beyond him. Meanwhile and after the push-off, Ad turns around to try and locate where the RB was, and nearly collides with Hunter... so I guess that's what adembroski meant by "AD was lost".