The BIG RUSH...and what to do about it.

Pasodoc, you speak the truth! Even 3 step drops can beat the blitz but the ball has to come out quickly. I was watching highlights and it was frustrating to see Dalton and Gabbert releasing the ball quickly on 3 step drops and it occurred to me Alex rarely does this. So, the big question is…is Alex not capable of releasing the ball quickly or is Roman not calling those plays? Opposing teams will consistently send 5+ all day long so Roman, Alex and the OL need to fix this problem asap.

Loco, my guess is that a) Roman is not calling those plays, and b) he is calling them damnably slowly. My coach is Jim Harbaugh. Whether by convention or whether he likes it or not, to win in this league, in the big time, he is going to have to call his own plays. Roman is fine for a Rams game. For Saints, Texans, Balt, AZ, Pitts, I want my former qB, former QB coach, former OC, and former collegiate HC to be calling his own plays.

As for opposing teams sending 5+ all day long, any that don't are stupid. These game tapes are available to all, incl us, and it doesn't take a genius to see what the films show. Our OL can't block any kind of x rush, nor any multi blitz. Quick slants and outs stops that. This is a HC issue that impacts a) OL, b) Qb, c)advancing the ball and scoring, and d) the entire team. It is way past time for Coach H to call his own plays. Roman is a C+ and I want my A team playcaller out there.

Same goes with WRs. JH needs to personally get involved with them, because he has coached WRs, and right now they are in dire need of A+ coaching ...which they obviously are not getting.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Loco, my guess is that a) Roman is not calling those plays, and b) he is calling them damnably slowly. My coach is Jim Harbaugh. Whether by convention or whether he likes it or not, to win in this league, in the big time, he is going to have to call his own plays. Roman is fine for a Rams game. For Saints, Texans, Balt, AZ, Pitts, I want my former qB, former QB coach, former OC, and former collegiate HC to be calling his own plays.

As for opposing teams sending 5+ all day long, any that don't are stupid. These game tapes are available to all, incl us, and it doesn't take a genius to see what the films show. Our OL can't block any kind of x rush, nor any multi blitz. Quick slants and outs stops that. This is a HC issue that impacts a) OL, b) Qb, c)advancing the ball and scoring, and d) the entire team. It is way past time for Coach H to call his own plays. Roman is a C+ and I want my A team playcaller out there.

Same goes with WRs. JH needs to personally get involved with them, because he has coached WRs, and right now they are in dire need of A+ coaching ...which they obviously are not getting.

I agree, Harbaugh needs to start taking more control of the plays called because Roman is starting to worry me. I still can't believe he called 2 pass plays at the end of the game when all we needed was 1 yard! Egad!

Egad, indeed.

Originally posted by Loco49er:

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Loco, my guess is that a) Roman is not calling those plays, and b) he is calling them damnably slowly. My coach is Jim Harbaugh. Whether by convention or whether he likes it or not, to win in this league, in the big time, he is going to have to call his own plays. Roman is fine for a Rams game. For Saints, Texans, Balt, AZ, Pitts, I want my former qB, former QB coach, former OC, and former collegiate HC to be calling his own plays.

As for opposing teams sending 5+ all day long, any that don't are stupid. These game tapes are available to all, incl us, and it doesn't take a genius to see what the films show. Our OL can't block any kind of x rush, nor any multi blitz. Quick slants and outs stops that. This is a HC issue that impacts a) OL, b) Qb, c)advancing the ball and scoring, and d) the entire team. It is way past time for Coach H to call his own plays. Roman is a C+ and I want my A team playcaller out there.

Same goes with WRs. JH needs to personally get involved with them, because he has coached WRs, and right now they are in dire need of A+ coaching ...which they obviously are not getting.

I agree, Harbaugh needs to start taking more control of the plays called because Roman is starting to worry me. I still can't believe he called 2 pass plays at the end of the game when all we needed was 1 yard! Egad!

I was thinking the end of the game play call was all Harbaugh. He was looking at the play sheet calling in the play, but we may not know either way

Like I said in another thread instead of Alex killing or rolling with the play and hiking the ball w/ 3 seconds to go and letting the opposing D line tee off on us, we need to use hard counts so we can see where the pressure is coming from and communicate who we are picking up on the rush. We aren't so much sucking on the point of attack as we are picking up and reading the blitzes...

Originally posted by Magzarillious:
Like I said in another thread instead of Alex killing or rolling with the play and hiking the ball w/ 3 seconds to go and letting the opposing D line tee off on us, we need to use hard counts so we can see where the pressure is coming from and communicate who we are picking up on the rush. We aren't so much sucking on the point of attack as we are picking up and reading the blitzes...

Excellent point!

Screens.........Screens..........SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I do like the idea of the 9ers spreading the defense down by the goal line. It's not WCO... but I think it really hurts teams ability to stack up the box and it could/should allow blockers to have more one on ones... rather than dealing with the sea of humanity that is what they have been facing of late. It also would allow Allex the ability to get out of the pocket on some bootlegs and get an option going (with the 9ers TEs this should be a no brainer). I'm disappointed with the loss.... certainly a game that they could have won, even with some of the poor play up front. I'm not too sure that I would suggest that this 49ers team is great... they are still very young, and by all accounts still one of the top teams in the conference... with no offseason and a new coaching staff.

The 9ers over the past several seasons were statistically terrible all over the field except for the redzone (where they have been remarkably efficient in recent years). Now they are flat out dominant all over the field, except for the redzone (where they suck). If you look at it very, very simplistically you might come to the conclusion that the 9ers are actually about 80% there in terms of being NFL top dog. How many people would have guessed that was possible in July?

Magzars point is indeed a good one, and I hold the coaches accountable here. Surprisingly, the maddening habit of getting plays called in late seems to have followed us from noln to BM, to present coaching...and frankly that is unacceptable. Keep roman as OC, and keep him up in the box, calling in things he notices. But for heaven's sakes, have the plays called by the best guy on the team to call them...our qB, OC, HC, and every other type of coach Harbaugh has been. HE should be calling plays, not a lackey. Ok for rams games, but not for big games. Get the best guy on the team calling plays, like Sean Payton, Bill bellicheat, to name 2. JH should be calling our plays period.

The fuster cluck on the TO followed by a 5 yd penalty for a second incredible TO was a great example of why plays should be called on the ground, by our best guy JH. Let roman carry the clipboard. These games don't look like JH at stanford. The lack of imagination and frankly, just bad choices, are in stark contrast to JH at stanford. His play calling there was sensational, as was everything else he did. But grab those reins, Coach, and show us your stuff. Also getting plays called in late sucks, and makes us look like amateur hour. On a more practical basis, as noted by MAGz above, the D tees off on the clock count. I guarantee a JH team will not have that continue too long. It is way past time to change Playcaller and move it down to sideline. Also to get the plays in ASAP, so alex has time to go on some other stroke than the damned clock. That is stupid, and yes, many teams can and DO tee off on us exactly for that reason. It just puts our entire OL at a distinct disadvantage.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
Can only do this 1 stepper a few times a game before the defense jumps on the route for a quick pick. The rest of the time it still comes down to protection, open receivers, and qb blitz recognition. It sucks because I'v seen even the best of offense in the 90's struggled with this. And that's with good sets of all 3 area. We are just not a good passing offense to overcome that right now. But it can be improved.

yeah but it opens up the pump fake double moves. the moment they start jumping quick routes it opens up everything behind them.

The lack of screen passes is baffling especially with all the pressure we're seeing.

I don't think its so much as teams having adjusted to the 49ers schemes on defense but the fact that this team has little depth along the defensive line. McDonald hasn't looked the same since the injury and the rest of the line isn't getting the same push they were earlier in the season. Guys are looking worn down and adding DL depth to rotate guys in and out to keep them fresh should be a huge priority in the offseason.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:

THANK YOU FOR THIS POST!

This is the most level-headed post I've read about the AZ game. Pitsburg will use the same blitz packages and often.

Agree. We better get it together this week.

Jim Harbaugh is not blameless and Roman should not be held accountable for everything. JH does interject a lot on the headphones, I believe you have until 15 seconds (on the 24 sec. clock) then it is cut off. If JH is talking too much and Alex is waiting and trying to get last minute instructions, this is why we've had so many delay of games and needless timeouts called. They called a timeout becuase of this and then still get hit with a penalty afterwards. At Stanford JH acutally had 2 coaches calling plays, did you guys know that? It was written one was responsible for chosing/calling a pass plays while the other was responsible for runs. How they decided to run or pass play I am not sure.

However, Alex has got to know or see the blitz coming and be able to throw to the weak side of that blitz. At least make line adjustment. The wr also need s to see it and find the hot route in those cases also.

These are the games I worry about. where call don't go your way. Since they should have known the replay equipment busted why stop the game. Refs costed the niners a TD. However, there were lots of other mistakes that if the niners executed it would have reulted in a vicotry, Ginn missing a TD, delay of game. Line adjustments not made by Goodwin and Alex. Alex hanging on to the ball too long.