Scratching the Surface

Like many 49ers fans, I am really pleased with the way this season has turned around for the team, considering the futility of the past 8 seasons. Given everything that Coach Harbaugh and his staff have done with a shortened offseason, I believe they have only scratched the surface of the potential of the 49ers. It is quite apparent that the strength of this team is the defense. Coach Fangio has done a superb job of instilling the discipline in those guys to play within his scheme, and that is yielding quite spectacular results. I believe by resigning some key players (Rogers in particular), bringing a few free agents to add some depth, and drafting for future stability will keep this defense on top for a long time.

The offense is coming along, albeit rather slowly. At times, the offense has resembled that of past regimes, and many of us fans have vented our frustration about it. However, yesterday's game against the Rams showed what I believe is Harbaugh's philosophy: the 49ers plodded along in the first half by trying to work the power running game, then they opened up the offense along with their bag of tricks in the second half. Seeing Alex Smith connect with Crabtree and Kyle Williams on long TD passes was extremely exciting. Then Harbaugh pulled out his college playbook and hit the Rams with the Jet Sweep and a few other WR runs. However, those WR sweeps reminded me of the good ol' days when Jerry Rice and the 49ers ran the reverse to perfection. The offense has shown flashes throughout the season, and as the team really absorbs the playbook, they will bet even better.

The defense looks as if their key players will be in place for a while, and Aldon Smith is only going to get better (which is REALLY scary for opposing quarterbacks). I believe Harbaugh and Greg Roman will be able to fine tune the offense during the offseason to be even better. Now, there are areas of concern on the offensive side, specifically the offensive line. I think the Ravens really showed the o-line is still the Achilles Heel of the offense, but Trent Baalke and Harbaugh will address those this offseason and hopefully fix that issue. I see great thing ahead for our beloved 49ers, and I'm really excited for their future.

Dan
49ers Fan in NC

I thought that William's TD was effort and speed on his part. It is also a function of the WCO - get the ball to playmakers and let them make plays. The TD was not a scheme issue it simply was Williams turning an 8 yard pass into a 50 yard TD. Crabs TD was a function of scheme and finally Crabs and Smith connecting on something that they have been trying to do all year. Now if Davis would catch the ball more percentage wise we would have had three long TDs and possibly a fourth. This is the development of the offense and in the remaining games of this year I hope we see more and more of this. I would have liked to see the score being 28-0 in the first half and then let the offensive backups get some time. In any case Cap did get some time and hopefully we will see more offensive efficiency in the remaining game. We are just starting to scratch the surface. I think Williams will be a key part of that scratching as well.