Preseason weaknesses, and Harbaugh's report card.

1) No big secret we needed a passrushing DL or a passrushing OLB. With aldon we got both, and unquestionably shored up that hole. Our front 7 truly is a tough bunch.

2)CBs and Ss were decidedly weak and the admonition "if you can't cover then blitz" seems to have been JH's ultimate plan. Actually, it turns out both Carlos and Culliver are turning out to be really good in coverage. Carlos is excellent at reading a qBs eyes. Both guys on the blitz are close to superhuman, after we had Vick shut down in first half but he always seemed to get away. 2nd half Carlos , Culliver and Bowman showed how speed can stop Vick.

3)Coaching adjustments during halftime. Philly was one helluva example. Also pregame, JH has covered up our weaknesses by coaching around them, be it either on the OL, in the D backfield, or with receivers.

4)Most important was the lack of an OL. Basically we already had drafted virtually all our guys, 3 first rounders and several 2nds. Problem was to A) get the OL to, pass block, and B), run block. Well, Bucs were no where near as bad as they looked, but I believe they got badly outcoached. JH coached away from liabilities, (Rachal) and used the speed of his DBs , Ss, and LBs to blitz. Guys that couldn't cover early on were blitzing and guys who could cover, intercepted, or knocked down passes.
Basically we have the same OL guys, they just have been coached up, by an OC who happens to be our QB, RB, WR, TE, Rb, and playcalling coach...our HC.

5)the Confidence factor. Last 8 yrs we were beat virtually every time we stepped on the field. By not chewing guys out as did noln and worse, BM(bigmike), teaching proper ways to play every position on the field, and finally winning, has changed the Confidence factor. Now our guys step out there and expect to win...but do put a superhuman effort into it.

6)Last and most obvious, get a Qb. Tolzien was a fantastic choice. The other choice based on what JH saw, was to make alex into what he had been, a very fine QB. Problem was he never got coached here, not once, and had no HC who could right the ship. We all see what happened with great coaching, great play calling, and smart use of putting the right guy in the right position(esp the OL). Result ? a QB who virtually looks like a different guy from last 5 yrs...but isn't.

If this were a report card the grade for JH would be A+. I still think we lose some games, but i bet we are in all of them...something Tampa can no longer say.

I did forget to add aggressive and clever playcalling but added that in under halftime game plan changes.

Yeah, I agree largely. The challenge for this season will be running into well coached teams late in the season. They will have the benefit of a lot of film on the 49ers to expose the weaknesses JH is coaching around for now. The team has to get better each week so that kind of "cover-up" coaching can stop.

I expect after a season of getting to know the roster, and a true offseason next year where JH can evaluate the roster (and groom a QB that best fits his system), then a draft and FA period to get the right talent, we might see this team jump light years ahead of where it is today.

I'm not saying AS won't be the QB next year, but JH will have a chance to groom all three -- CK, Tolzien, and AS and chose his long term QB project plan.

Actually, nobody expected this game to be of much importance, and if so, looked at it as a probable W. Now, with Detroit's resurgence, it is looking like one of our biggest games...when we just lost Morgan(and Braylon) and Iupati is not practicing. I was so wrong on the Tampa game ( i figured Tampa as 3 pt favorites for home advantage, and gave us a slight edge in coaching). I never realized that 3 pts was all that Tampa would get, and had no idea of a 45 pt azz whoopin'. So, going into Detroit, again a road game where we have won the past two, I have no idea what is going to happen. One thing I do know is that JH will have something planned for the guaranteed 14 pts that stafford and Cal Johnson usually put up. Our OL which is now as different as nite and day from the Saints and Texans massacres (preseason), will have to show us they can beat the best...and the Suh DL is definitely that. Whether alex has his entire OL will be a big deal, but i am counting on Poti being there. That combat, Det DL against SF OL will be the best contest to watch all sunday. On D, I am curious how we do against a top rated QB...something we have not seen yet. (Vick with all his yards is still losing, so I don't consider him top tier). I don't think we can expect 2 INTs from stafford, because he looks like a QB really hitting his prime.

If Carlos, Culliver, Bowman come up big, I think we win. I expect our front 7 to play as they have all yr, and that is top tier front 7. If we don't pressure stafford, I expect him to put up huge numbers on us. What i hope is that we deck their big WR a bunch of times so that he loses interest in playing full out. We should have our advantage in ST, and slightly in coaching. IF JH outcoaches Detroit's coach anywhere near as much he did Tampa's, then we win. That is a big IF.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Actually, nobody expected this game to be of much importance, and if so, looked at it as a probable W. Now, with Detroit's resurgence, it is looking like one of our biggest games...when we just lost Morgan(and Braylon) and Iupati is not practicing. I was so wrong on the Tampa game ( i figured Tampa as 3 pt favorites for home advantage, and gave us a slight edge in coaching). I never realized that 3 pts was all that Tampa would get, and had no idea of a 45 pt azz whoopin'. So, going into Detroit, again a road game where we have won the past two, I have no idea what is going to happen. One thing I do know is that JH will have something planned for the guaranteed 14 pts that stafford and Cal Johnson usually put up. Our OL which is now as different as nite and day from the Saints and Texans massacres (preseason), will have to show us they can beat the best...and the Suh DL is definitely that. Whether alex has his entire OL will be a big deal, but i am counting on Poti being there. That combat, Det DL against SF OL will be the best contest to watch all sunday. On D, I am curious how we do against a top rated QB...something we have not seen yet. (Vick with all his yards is still losing, so I don't consider him top tier). I don't think we can expect 2 INTs from stafford, because he looks like a QB really hitting his prime.

If Carlos, Culliver, Bowman come up big, I think we win. I expect our front 7 to play as they have all yr, and that is top tier front 7. If we don't pressure stafford, I expect him to put up huge numbers on us. What i hope is that we deck their big WR a bunch of times so that he loses interest in playing full out. We should have our advantage in ST, and slightly in coaching. IF JH outcoaches Detroit's coach anywhere near as much he did Tampa's, then we win. That is a big IF.

didn't read, lol.. Too long.

I hope culliver becomes a massive defensive force, better than namdi and all those other dbags on the eagles.

I have no idea why culliver was let go, maybe $$, but he sure as heck has come out of nowhere and been a huge factor. Have to hand it to JH and Baalke for the pickup. He filled a hole we have had for last 5 yrs, and basically has no name recognition, unless you are a 9er fan. He and Carlos are the two biggest surprises out of many good ones this yr. I figured we blew our wad on aldon and Kap, and anything else was just gravy. But those guys and the addition of culliver have been our most notable improvements, on a team in need of many, all listed in OP.

Too many things wrong with your amateurish analysis, it would take too long to point everything out

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
I have no idea why culliver was let go, maybe $$, but he sure as heck has come out of nowhere and been a huge factor. Have to hand it to JH and Baalke for the pickup. He filled a hole we have had for last 5 yrs, and basically has no name recognition, unless you are a 9er fan. He and Carlos are the two biggest surprises out of many good ones this yr. I figured we blew our wad on aldon and Kap, and anything else was just gravy. But those guys and the addition of culliver have been our most notable improvements, on a team in need of many, all listed in OP.

No one let Culliver go. He was drafted.

Reportcard was the topic. "A" is the grade - You hit the points.

Primarily JH's grade is on coaching. Half time adjustments and game plan have been exceptional. He is also improving every week, just think how much better he'll be by the end of the season. Not sticking w/ a player who isn't performing, Rachel, and replacing him after a fair chance. Neither Nolin and especially Sing had a handle on that.


His colabboration w/ Baalke is an A+

f*gency - "A+" Rogers is playing excellent - not perfect, which nobody does. Whitner - is solid, Braylon will be a difference maker down the line. There's more but I'm spaced out.

Originally posted by MSteitz468:
Too many things wrong with your amateurish analysis, it would take too long to point everything out

Says the guy that misuses punctuation. The irony.

msteitz, i would refer you to StOnEy.

As for LasVegasWally, we are in agreement hombre. A+ when you add in collaboration with Baalke.

Harbaugh completely confuses a D-line. When they race up field, it's a hand-off. When the guard pulls and they maintain their gap, its a passing play. The Bucs D-line was constantly second guessing what they were doing. Part of that is scheme (Harbaugh) and part of that is the timing of the play calling (Roman).

They looked like they were experimenting early on in the season. In the Bucs game, everything fell into place. They had the perfect scheme, with the perfect play calling. The Bucs have a good D-line, but they looked completely lost and even silly against what Harbaugh/Roman was doing to them. Even a player like Suh has to know what is happening before he can try to stop it.

So Brian are you telling me you won't lose sleep over our OL vs their DL on Sat nite? I am really uncomfortable with the fact that after Saints and Texans, we never really met a great DL. I thot the Bucs had one, but either they were overhyped, or our OL is a heckuva lot better than I had thot. The improvement has been exponential, OR the Bucs DL was really weak...personally, I agree with you that our coach outcoached Reid, and the Bucs coach. But a DL with Suh on one side and the other side no pushover, whew, that could make for a long day especially if OL can't hear signals...which they won't . It will be fascinating how JH goes about coaching this game, but my guess is silent signals, (hand signals), some no huddles, and 1 step drops to protect the qb and also , slow the passrush.

On D, we'll see how good we really are. Stafford/ cal johnson are good for 2 TDs minimum, and how jH attacks that will also be fascinating. My worry: we have played weaker teams than we thot this yr, and we are running into the cream of the crop Sunday. We'll find out.

and here i thought i would read a thread from you without the mention of BM

i was wrong

Personally I give Harbaugh a B cause I dont think we havent seen anything yet and I want to have that A for that. Problem with A s then when it gets better what do you give em - uh hey dont answer that.