The most important lesson from Baltimore

the most important lesson we learned is that the niners are better off with 4 o-linemen than with chilo out there.

Originally posted by jreff22:
1lb+1 pan = hamburger helper

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-hamburger-helper/

Bill Bird recommends this very much. The Cheesy Mac is very good. Replace burger with ground turkey.

Originally posted by IWasWrongRubber:

Originally posted by jreff22:
1lb+1 pan = hamburger helper

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-hamburger-helper/

Bill Bird recommends this very much. The Cheesy Mac is very good. Replace burger with ground turkey.

Damn, Bill. I read the whole thing! Looks pretty good.

An now I'm hungry!

loco49er has has a mere 151 posts, but guys he has this one nailed. Saints and Texans showed us we couldn't handle a) straight ahead, wildman , caveman bullrush., and then showed us b)we couldn't handle cross rushes, SS and CB, blitzes and in a couple cases, all out jailbreak blitzes. Coach H got right on that come season , to my incredible surprise( i had predicted 8-10 games for the OL to cure the Saints and Texans passrushes), we play SEA and Ginn wins game for us. After that OL starts to look like a real professional OL, they block for alex who is virtually untouched, his QB rating goes up, the wins stack up and then we go to Balt....where the exact same things that killed us in Preseason look exactly like what Ravens did to us...AGAIN. Honestly this game looked exactly like the blitz and bullrush games of Texans and Saints, and we had no idea what to do with it. In Ravens game, RG and AD, had no idea how to handle a cross rush, and Balt must have used that every other play...or more. On left side, Staley got beaten around the outside, and Iupati met Ngata. It was another learning experience...or rather, chance to learn after being schooled. And we were.

I was first to post about the stupidity of 49ers even agreeing to a x country Thurs nite game, 3 time zones away. Stupid. Idiotic, and i bet you don't see coach H or jed accept another invitation like that. We had no time(1.5 days) to get ready for the best passrushing and runstopping team in the league and we do it on little sleep and virtually no preparation. Result? We get humiliated, alex gets sacked 9x, hit 11x, hurried 10 x. That is mass stupidity for 9ers to have allowed us...or for that matter anyone else in a similar 3 day 3 time zone situation. Stupid. STOOPID.

Whatever, without this humiliating loss and gutcheck, i don't believe the 9ers would have actually been ready for the Saints and or GB come playoffs, so this game actually ended up a net positive from where i stand. That and the realization that we have but 4 OL out there, and chilo doesn't count....and can't be counted on. Wish it weren't true, but you all saw what happened. Maybe between now and end of yr Coach H can school chilo on footwork, handwork, blitz and rush recognition...and if so, great. If not, he is gone come end of yr. So, we win with 4 OLs or we don't win...simple as that. And, just in case Coach H was dazzled by that 9-1 record against some less than stellar teams, he has been brot back to reality. Hopefully he can fix the OL with the advanced course(blitzes and x rushes), and also I would hope he recognizes that if you have someone back on their heels with a 2 min drill,and nothing else has worked all day....maybe, just maybe, it might be a good idea to go back to no huddle O.

Two other things are if our front 7 plays great and opponents are killing us with 8-12 yd passes, every pass play, we need to play tighter, and/ or we need to blitz with gusto, esp SS and CB blitz, but they better be quick...and fast. Lastly, if our qb is getting killed on every pass play, Coach needs to say, OK, nothing but 1 steppers, and be looking for ball the moment you step off LOS. That would have saved 8 sacks after we saw the first one. Same would go for hits and hurries. Calling for 3, 5 and worse 7 steppers against the ravens, saints, or Texans is foolhardy. Don't you know Coach Harbaugh saw that on the film and has readjusted his thinking on anything but quick slants or outs against teams with the BIG RUSH. Can't wait to play the ravens again. Early Feb would be nice.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
I was first to post about the stupidity of 49ers even agreeing to a x country Thurs nite game, 3 time zones away. Stupid. Idiotic, and i bet you don't see coach H or jed accept another invitation like that. We had no time(1.5 days) to get ready for the best passrushing and runstopping team in the league and we do it on little sleep and virtually no preparation. Result? We get humiliated, alex gets sacked 9x, hit 11x, hurried 10 x. That is mass stupidity for 9ers to have allowed us...or for that matter anyone else in a similar 3 day 3 time zone situation. Stupid. STOOPID.

The only stupidity here is the fact that you think we had to approve this game in order to play it. The NFL makes the schedule they dont need the HC or owner to approve this game. The NFL scheduled it we had to play it thats it

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
loco49er has has a mere 151 posts, but guys he has this one nailed. Saints and Texans showed us we couldn't handle a) straight ahead, wildman , caveman bullrush., and then showed us b)we couldn't handle cross rushes, SS and CB, blitzes and in a couple cases, all out jailbreak blitzes. Coach H got right on that come season , to my incredible surprise( i had predicted 8-10 games for the OL to cure the Saints and Texans passrushes), we play SEA and Ginn wins game for us. After that OL starts to look like a real professional OL, they block for alex who is virtually untouched, his QB rating goes up, the wins stack up and then we go to Balt....where the exact same things that killed us in Preseason look exactly like what Ravens did to us...AGAIN. Honestly this game looked exactly like the blitz and bullrush games of Texans and Saints, and we had no idea what to do with it. In Ravens game, RG and AD, had no idea how to handle a cross rush, and Balt must have used that every other play...or more. On left side, Staley got beaten around the outside, and Iupati met Ngata. It was another learning experience...or rather, chance to learn after being schooled. And we were.

I was first to post about the stupidity of 49ers even agreeing to a x country Thurs nite game, 3 time zones away. Stupid. Idiotic, and i bet you don't see coach H or jed accept another invitation like that. We had no time(1.5 days) to get ready for the best passrushing and runstopping team in the league and we do it on little sleep and virtually no preparation. Result? We get humiliated, alex gets sacked 9x, hit 11x, hurried 10 x. That is mass stupidity for 9ers to have allowed us...or for that matter anyone else in a similar 3 day 3 time zone situation. Stupid. STOOPID.

Whatever, without this humiliating loss and gutcheck, i don't believe the 9ers would have actually been ready for the Saints and or GB come playoffs, so this game actually ended up a net positive from where i stand. That and the realization that we have but 4 OL out there, and chilo doesn't count....and can't be counted on. Wish it weren't true, but you all saw what happened. Maybe between now and end of yr Coach H can school chilo on footwork, handwork, blitz and rush recognition...and if so, great. If not, he is gone come end of yr. So, we win with 4 OLs or we don't win...simple as that. And, just in case Coach H was dazzled by that 9-1 record against some less than stellar teams, he has been brot back to reality. Hopefully he can fix the OL with the advanced course(blitzes and x rushes), and also I would hope he recognizes that if you have someone back on their heels with a 2 min drill,and nothing else has worked all day....maybe, just maybe, it might be a good idea to go back to no huddle O.

Two other things are if our front 7 plays great and opponents are killing us with 8-12 yd passes, every pass play, we need to play tighter, and/ or we need to blitz with gusto, esp SS and CB blitz, but they better be quick...and fast. Lastly, if our qb is getting killed on every pass play, Coach needs to say, OK, nothing but 1 steppers, and be looking for ball the moment you step off LOS. That would have saved 8 sacks after we saw the first one. Same would go for hits and hurries. Calling for 3, 5 and worse 7 steppers against the ravens, saints, or Texans is foolhardy. Don't you know Coach Harbaugh saw that on the film and has readjusted his thinking on anything but quick slants or outs against teams with the BIG RUSH. Can't wait to play the ravens again. Early Feb would be nice.

Originally posted by ChazBoner:
this.. Also, in addition, 2+2=4.

2+2=4 only in math, in economics and accounting it is different. A good accountant knows how to make 2+2 = 3 to the IRS, and =5 to investors!

Originally posted by valrod33:
I wonder how much Anthony Davis ankle injury hurt him against the Ravens? Im not making excuses for him because he was awful but I wonder if his ankle was a factor

I think Anthony Davis's ankle was more of an issue that the 49ers care to reveal. In prior games, on his kick-out step, his technique as much improved over last year. He stayed low, bent at the knees and ankles to absorb the rusher. In this game, it was obvious on several plays that his back leg was more locked-out -- lacked bend at the knee and ankle. So to me, it looked like he was favoring that ankle and not nearly as mobile as before. Compound that with a short week where his legs could be pretty fatigued and it makes him vulnerable.

On the flip side, he allowed a lot of pressure back into the pocket, but IMHO he wasn't the glaring weakness in the line play. The pressure was coming right through the RG spot, and occassionally through Staley. Once Snyder was hurt they started attacking the RG gap whether Snyder or Rachel were in the game. But that is just my opinion.

Valrod, you may be right, but i bet a bundle that this doesn't happen again. I also would wonder what exactly would have happened if early on the ridiculousness of this scheduling had been presented to NFL network and NFL if we wouldn't have had a sympathetic ear. You don't think from now on teams will check to see that they aren't going across 3 time zones with 1.5 days prep , and if so, ask for a ruling/ change to Sunday? Hey, they screwed up,, pure and simple and i bet you don't see this type of scheduling again. I could be wrong., but...

Bull crap, stop with the excuses. A great team would of won that game. Play the fiddle, we had to travel 3 time zones, so frigin what. Some blame this player and others blame someone else. Oh some blame the coach some blame the o line and others blame the d line. Some are even blaming the refs. We arnt a great team - yet. The niners are a good team getting better all the time. Stop with the excuses we got beat period - and you know what we are going to lose again. I was proud to watch this game on turkey day and I hope we get to do it again. Stop with the whinning already - geez.

I still think it's a veteran team that fully knows the system + 2.5 days to prep >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A team that is still learning a system + 2.5 days to prep

Originally posted by Joecool:
Not against other Superbowl teams.

The Saints overcame their mistakes to beat the Colts a couple of SBs ago. You cannot say that the Colts weren't a SB team.

NCommand's suggestions are all excellent...everyone of them... to which I would add that if after one series with a Balt, Saints, Texans, maybe GB game, if we can't stop the rush, switch to 2 min drill, and with the no huddle,make them play us straight up, man for man. As i noted above, when we did that at end of 1st half, they were back on their heels, and we had them. if you noticed they were gassed as several were standing with hands on their knees in between snaps . I tried to count, but i believe the balt front 7 never played more than 1 or 2 snaps during each 3 and out. That's why they were always so fresh, so explosive. Take that away from them and they looked like a team that got tired easily. Why we didn't go no huddle in second half is probably just an oversight by Coach, but i bet he doesn't overlook that again, esp the teams with the BIG RUSH. Their rotation on D was amazing, in that they are deep and could give their front 7 a blow. Which reminds me, guys like that don't like to run all over the field, and maybe we should also have called some rollouts to tire them out...at least get them winded. If they killed alex, well then, it was a bad idea, but there were lots of things(see NCOMMANDs post 3 pages back), we could have done. Overall, this would have been a lot closer game if Coach had had more time and the guys were rested. Be interesting to get a second shot in Feb, but a lot of water has to pass under bridge befoe that.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
NCommand's suggestions are all excellent...everyone of them... to which I would add that if after one series with a Balt, Saints, Texans, maybe GB game, if we can't stop the rush, switch to 2 min drill, and with the no huddle,make them play us straight up, man for man. As i noted above, when we did that at end of 1st half, they were back on their heels, and we had them. if you noticed they were gassed as several were standing with hands on their knees in between snaps . I tried to count, but i believe the balt front 7 never played more than 1 or 2 snaps during each 3 and out. That's why they were always so fresh, so explosive. Take that away from them and they looked like a team that got tired easily. Why we didn't go no huddle in second half is probably just an oversight by Coach, but i bet he doesn't overlook that again, esp the teams with the BIG RUSH. Their rotation on D was amazing, in that they are deep and could give their front 7 a blow. Which reminds me, guys like that don't like to run all over the field, and maybe we should also have called some rollouts to tire them out...at least get them winded. If they killed alex, well then, it was a bad idea, but there were lots of things(see NCOMMANDs post 3 pages back), we could have done. Overall, this would have been a lot closer game if Coach had had more time and the guys were rested. Be interesting to get a second shot in Feb, but a lot of water has to pass under bridge befoe that.

Thanks pas...I rewatched the first half last night and I'm SO glad you brought this up. A fast tempo is monumentally successful against, bigger teams such as the Ravens and Giants. The Saints exploited the Giants with this strategy and just wore them down. The Ravens were utterly confused and gassed when we ran the two-minute drill at the end of the first half and moved the ball with ease. But when teams such as the Ravens have time to get set and play down hill, we play right into their strengths esp. if we don't hit them with the TE's and screens and are relying on WR's who are NOT getting open at all.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
NCommand's suggestions are all excellent...everyone of them... to which I would add that if after one series with a Balt, Saints, Texans, maybe GB game, if we can't stop the rush, switch to 2 min drill, and with the no huddle,make them play us straight up, man for man. As i noted above, when we did that at end of 1st half, they were back on their heels, and we had them. if you noticed they were gassed as several were standing with hands on their knees in between snaps . I tried to count, but i believe the balt front 7 never played more than 1 or 2 snaps during each 3 and out. That's why they were always so fresh, so explosive. Take that away from them and they looked like a team that got tired easily. Why we didn't go no huddle in second half is probably just an oversight by Coach, but i bet he doesn't overlook that again, esp the teams with the BIG RUSH. Their rotation on D was amazing, in that they are deep and could give their front 7 a blow. Which reminds me, guys like that don't like to run all over the field, and maybe we should also have called some rollouts to tire them out...at least get them winded. If they killed alex, well then, it was a bad idea, but there were lots of things(see NCOMMANDs post 3 pages back), we could have done. Overall, this would have been a lot closer game if Coach had had more time and the guys were rested. Be interesting to get a second shot in Feb, but a lot of water has to pass under bridge befoe that.

Thanks pas...I rewatched the first half last night and I'm SO glad you brought this up. A fast tempo is monumentally successful against, bigger teams such as the Ravens and Giants. The Saints exploited the Giants with this strategy and just wore them down. The Ravens were utterly confused and gassed when we ran the two-minute drill at the end of the first half and moved the ball with ease. But when teams such as the Ravens have time to get set and play down hill, we play right into their strengths esp. if we don't hit them with the TE's and screens and are relying on WR's who are NOT getting open at all.

This was a strategy Walsh used against the Bears 46 blitz packages. Of course Walsh also had receivers that were adept at getting open in the short zones vacated by blitzers. I am not convinced any of the current 49er receivers have that ability yet. It appears it is going to take time to get receivers to that level as it isn't happening now. Perhaps that is because of the limited practice time of Crabtree and Edwards but that still leaves Walker and Davis who have had plenty of time to learn to read it.

Of course the counter to that is the zone blitz which Baltimore used successfully. However, you can't just give up. You will beat the zone blitz often enough to take them out of it if you stick with it. Montana said the hardest part was recognizing he was going to take some hits but the payoff was worth it when receivers read it correctly.

I'm sure Harbaugh knows all this stuff. The fact it hasn't been employed effectively yet puzzles me.