Larry Grant did OK, but we would have beat Arizona, if P. Willis was in the game | Page 3

Wewillwin · 2011-12-14T14:38:40-08:00

I am only posting this because I am upset that people are not talking about this. The only thing I have read about Larry Grant's job as a backup (from all the writers) was that he did phenomenal and Patrick Willis was not missed. While watching the game though, I realized we would have won if P Willy was in the game. Althtough Grant had a great game in run support, his lapses on a couple of the big passing plays in this game helped the Cards win the game, which Willis would not have had. My thinking is this. We lost the game due to the 3 big plays, two to Larry Fitzgerald and the first one to Early Doucet. From my point of view, Grant was a big part in allowing two out of those three plays. On the Doucet touchdown, Grant did not get enough depth on his drop , getting duped by the play-action, and Doucet is off to the races. Then, on Fitz's 53 yard catch in the 4th quarter, Grant made an awful tackle attempt on what should have been a 20 yard catch by Fitz. Instead, Grant's horrible tackle attempt left Fitzgerald with a clear alley to another 30 yards, getting them into the redzone where they would score their third and final touchdown. The other big play was just an outstanding play by Fitz, that outshined Goldson's great effort to get his hands on the ball, reminiscent of Fitz's touchdown in the first game that went straight through Rogers' hands. We should have held them to <10 points IMHO, and while the plays weren't necessarily Grant's fault completely, they would not have happened if Willis was in the game

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:20 PM

#31

SnakePlissken
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Posts: 15,028

If Patrick Willis was there Larry wouldn't have taken in that huge TD. -If Nate Clements was still on the roster, there'd be none of those huge curl routes/slants up the middle period.

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:21 PM

#32

Lott49ersFan
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Posts: 2,442

I'm pretty sure Patrick Willis doesn't play offense. So... No?

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:24 PM

#33

Lott49ersFan
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Posts: 2,442

Originally posted by islam:
The truth about Patrick Willis is that he is a very good player but his impact in games in minimal especially in a 3-4 defense in a passing league like the NFL has become. If the 49ers were truly trying to stop great offensive teams, they would consider trading Wills for Revis in the offseason, but that would NEVER happen due to the silly notion that players like Gore, Davis, and Willis cant be traded..IF Montana was traded Willis can and should be traded for the best cornerback since deion sanders.

Revis is no Deion, and We don't have Steve Young backing up Willis. It's very hard to overrated the best ILB in the NFL. Please don't post again until after you've fully thought it through.

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:26 PM

#34

NickV
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Posts: 13,574

We would have won this game easily if our offense could have done anything in the redzone.

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:27 PM

#35

susweel
Hall of Nepal
Posts: 122,009

Originally posted by islam:
The 49er fanbase has truly overrated Willis true value to this team. He is a very good player but his impact on games is very little. The 49ers could sure use another OLB on the other side of Aldon Smith like jason pierre paul or Mario Williams... who is a free agent next year. Then, the secondary which is horrible needs a true shutdown corner. We need as a fanbase to stop overrating and overvaluing players just because they play for the 49ers.

You truly don't understand the game. Next to Aaron Rodgers Willis is the best player at his position in the entire league.

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:30 PM

#36

49ersMan420
Veteran
Posts: 3,215

Originally posted by Stevec9932:
Although he was missed. if our rec's stop dropping passes we are 13-0

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by islam:
The truth about Patrick Willis is that he is a very good player but his impact in games in minimal especially in a 3-4 defense in a passing league like the NFL has become. If the 49ers were truly trying to stop great offensive they would consider trading Wills for Revis in the offseason, but that would NEVER happen due to the silly notion that players like Gore, Davis, and Willis cant be traded..IF Montana was traded Willis can and should be traded for the best cornerback since deion sanders

Even if we were to trade Willis do you think the Jets would really give up Revis? Child Please

no way in hell would i trade Willis for Revis and i wouldnt even think it for Luck...

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:54 PM

#37

Wewillwin
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Posts: 368

Originally posted by Baugh_Area:

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by valrod33:
Patrick Willis doesnt help Ginn find the ball for an easy TD, Patrick Willis doesnt catch the ball for Delanie WAlker or Kendall Hunter

This

I'm sorry, but this is a bizarre and inaccurate topic. Grant had another solid game, and even Willis can be seen failing on a coverage.

If Ginn catches a perfectly thrown fade pass in the endzone?
If Ginn catches an accurate deep post pass down the field?
If Goldson plays with better discipline on 2 huge pass plays for TDs?
If Kendall Hunter makes that last minute desperate yet accurate throw to move the chains?
If Goodwin and Snyder play a lil better on a few pass plays?

All of these things, I'd buy... No, not buying the Willis/Grant aspect a bit.

Dude, I agree with all of those points, but that doesn't mean the OP doesn't have a point also.

You think it's a coincidence that two of the big passing plays were thrown right over the MLB? I'm not saying Grant is bad or played a bad game, I'm just saying the middle of the field has been LOCKED DOWN this year and obviously P Willy being in coverage has been a big part of that.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. I understand that there are a million reasons we lost this game besides this point. My reason for making this thread is that I felt the attention wasn't there as to why there were these HUGE breakdowns in our "secondary," and everybody (beat writers, analysts) was giving Grant credit for playing just as well as Willis.

We could have won this game if a million things happened (Ted Ginn locates the damn ball for example), but I just wanted to point out that Willis' absence really was felt, and we would have won this game if he was in, regardless of all the other crazy things that have been happening on our offense all year. No team has posted >20 points against us since week 4, and after beating my head about how these Skelton-led Cardinals were able to post 21, I was able to see just how much we missed Willis

Dec 14, 2011 at 4:58 PM

#38

niners94
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Posts: 12,647

I agree. People seem to be underestimating how good Patrick is. He has a huge impact on the defense. Just go back to thier earlier matchup and see the passes he defended.

Dec 14, 2011 at 7:10 PM

#39

caliman4life
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Posts: 928

Our inability to score in da redzone cost us dat game.

Dec 14, 2011 at 7:39 PM

#40

sfninerfanMax
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Posts: 1,725

i went to a parallel universe where Willis did play--the Niners won 24-17

Dec 14, 2011 at 7:41 PM

#41

TheSixthRing
Beer Gut
Posts: 81,673

Originally posted by calinig4life:
Our inability to score in da redzone cost us dat game.

You, and everyone else criticizing the offense in this thread, are clearly missing the point of the OP.

Dec 14, 2011 at 8:24 PM

#42

JerryRice1848
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Posts: 12,224

If we had Willis we win 41-10

Dec 14, 2011 at 8:54 PM

#43

49ercrusher
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Posts: 195

Originally posted by whatawegot:
realy? REALLY? Really? and you wonder why threads get locked. Nice analysis. Did you pull this out of a hat. WRONG. we lost the game because we kicked field goals instead of touchdowns. We deserve to lose when were at the 5 yard line 1st and 10 and dont score. We lose becaue we miss the field goal and have the touchdown called back. Excuses are like a*****es and we all have them. I cant believe all the piehole thought process that comes out of the heads of the so called zoner nation. keep on reaching dude or dudette.. Im guessing the cold weather monday night will be the reason for the niners next loss.

finally a zoner that see out of the box,we are looking forward to face green bay when we CAN`T beat a team with a back up QB,

Dec 14, 2011 at 8:55 PM

#44

49ercrusher
Veteran
Posts: 195

Originally posted by whatawegot:
realy? REALLY? Really? and you wonder why threads get locked. Nice analysis. Did you pull this out of a hat. WRONG. we lost the game because we kicked field goals instead of touchdowns. We deserve to lose when were at the 5 yard line 1st and 10 and dont score. We lose becaue we miss the field goal and have the touchdown called back. Excuses are like a*****es and we all have them. I cant believe all the piehole thought process that comes out of the heads of the so called zoner nation. keep on reaching dude or dudette.. Im guessing the cold weather monday night will be the reason for the niners next loss.

finally a zoner that see out of the box,we are looking forward to face green bay when we CAN`T beat a team with a back up QB,

Dec 14, 2011 at 9:43 PM

#45

49erJim
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Posts: 21,524

i posted about this on Monday and it was moved or taken off by some ego mod. Anyway yes we would have won this game with P Willy in the game. Larry Grant missed a tackle a few times and took the wrong angle on a few big plays as well. P Willy would have made those plays. Thats how good he is. His injury alone could cost us big time into the playoffs.......