PLAYOFF Week 2: Thoughts BEFORE the game....

Marvin49 · 2012-01-12T17:48:58-08:00

So, I haven't been on the 'zone much this week because I've been all over the Saints boards. It's really quite entertaining. I left the smack talk out (as much as I could....altho when someone called Delanie Walker a wuss for not playing with a broken jaw when Rickey Jackson did, I had to remind them that Rickey had to go to a real team to get a ring). I did pick up a number of things and I have to say the level of confidense is ASTOUNDING. I mean, seriously, it's insane. A few of the things I heard... "49ers pass D sucks!!!" "49ers haven't played any good QBs and the OK ones they did play torched them" "Saints will have NO PROBLEM running the ball" "Pierre Thomas looks like Walter Payton" "Reggie beat Willis on that TD pass last year...no way he can stay with Sproles" "Sick of this #1 D talk, they aren't even good" "Texans have a MUCH better D and we beat the crap out of them" "We get no respect!! Media all over the 49ers!!" (Seriously?....Home dogs in the divisional round? Are you on drugs?) "We handled Allen and Mario Williams....Aldon is nothing compared to them" "You have never seen an O like this" (uh...vice versa true as well homey) "We have 3 Pro Bowl Linemen...you won't get pressure and we'll run all day" (So? We have 3 All-Pros and a DROY candidate in the front 7. Next) I could go on for days on this one. Anyway...here are my thoughts should anyone remotely care. Many of these are probably "Duh" points. 1) Pressure: Pressure up the middle and on the edges. Need to get there with 4. Aldon has to graduate in this game and be a big boy. We're counting on him. We need inside push as well from Justin and Ray. They probably won't get many sacks, but if Drew has all day back there, Niners are toast. 2) Stop the Run: Duh. Much more of the Saints O is based on the run than peeps think. They also run ALOT of Draws and Screens. A pair of really fast, disciplined, good-tackling ILBs should be able to shut that down....and thats HUGE. The Saints are one of the biggest screen teams in the NFL. If Willis and Bowman can sniff those out, it'll be HUGE. 3) Pass Yards: Drew is gonna get his yards. No doubt. Yards don't always mean points, especially against our...pardon the old reference.....our scarlet heroes of yore. Those guys really see Drew as unstoppable. He's superman. The question is always "How are the 49ers going to score 30 to keep up"? The idea of a D slowing them down is a completely foreign concept. "What if YOU don't score 30?" I'd say. No response. Niners score 27 at home and allow 10. I guess the guys on the other side of the field don't count....only Breesus counts. 4) Safeties: We need Goldson and Whitner to eat their Wheaties. Thye need to let that front 7 take care of the run and don't get sucked up in play action. If they take one step forward, they are done. They need to hold their positions and give the CBs the suppor they need. They need to force Brees to hold the ball to let the rush get to him. 5) Offense Gameplan: Whatever you got that we haven't seen? Bring it out NOW. Don't save it for GB if we advance. Niners have shut down the creativity since the NFC West was won. They have been very vanilla on O when early on there was somehting new every week. 6) Frank: Frank, PLEASE be healthy. We need ya man. 7) Vernon: Catch.the.ball. Can't stress this enough. Keep.feet.inbounds. He's gonna get some shots down the field against those DBs. He has to take advantage. 8) Crab: Just keep doin' what your doin'. That's what we need. 9) Vic: Stay with what's been working all year. Don't go blitz crazy even if you get carved up early. As soon as you feel the need to get outside your norm, thse big plays are gonna come in bunches. Be patient. 10) Alex: Dude, just play like these are the Rams in October. Ain't nothign to this. If the Niners execute there is no reason they can't light up the scorebaord like they did against Tampa. The slant will return. Expect to see the screen. Expect RB counters with Alex lead blocking. Expect a fake on the fly sweep. Expect play action from the one to a wide open Michael Crabtree. Out. See ya Sat. ;-)

Jan 12, 2012 at 5:53 PM

NinerDieHard
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Posts: 479

jesus dude whats with the long, drawn out, yet very very GOOD posts???

Jan 12, 2012 at 5:58 PM

BYisGod
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Posts: 16,362

Marvin, you are the best poster on the zone. Just sayin'.

Jan 12, 2012 at 5:59 PM

mod
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Posts: 42,498

Originally posted by NinerDieHard:
jesus dude whats with the long, drawn out, yet very very GOOD posts???

its what he does

very anti ninertalk

Jan 12, 2012 at 6:03 PM

Marvin49
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Originally posted by Byisgod:
Marvin, you are the best poster on the zone. Just sayin'.

Jan 12, 2012 at 6:07 PM

Sinsation
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Posts: 803

1) i generally agree, but i think we should expect them to know that is what we're trying to do. I wouldnt be surprised to see some bootleg/waggle type plays to just shift the pocket and thus the "middle" too, but if we can get pressure off the edge too, we'd be right where the pocket would have been.

2) P52 and N53 will have the run game on lock. Willis is getting to be a great film study and I trust he knows his keys to sniff out the draws and screens.

3) The 49ers D has been best exactly when they needed to be, in the RZ. i think we can frustrate them. I know people hate this bend dont break stuff, but when it works, it works.

4) Nothing to add here.

5) I agree, this is the game to unleash anything we have up our sleeves. Its likely that a game in lambeau wont be finesse so we can go back to being a run heavy/conservative team then. Who knows how it'll play out though, i've always thought that this O could open it up if they wanted to. I think JH knows it and if we need to do it we will.

6) I can see both Gore and Hunter ripping off some big ones. Roman Harper is pretty aggressive, but Franks vision is awesome and he's often one cut away from breaking into that 3rd level.

7) I've thought this for a while...an article this week kind of confirmed it, but VD had some trouble learning the offense. Remember how much JH was praising Walker? he picked it up much quicker which is why, i think, Walker was doing much more of the motioning. VD is finally getting comfortable and its come at a great time.

8) YES, Crabs will perform.

9) Vic has done a great job this year. He's got some great tools and knows how to use them.

10) I've been waiting to see it from Alex this year, and he has started to show it a bit. I'm talking about that swagger...the I belong here attitude. I really want to see him be decisive with the ball throwing and running. I expect a big game from him.

Cant wait til Saturday! I havent watched a 9ers game with my brothers since week 1.

Jan 12, 2012 at 6:10 PM

kidash98
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Posts: 26,660

Love the post....

BTW, it's week 2 in the playoffs... justsayin.

- 98

Jan 12, 2012 at 6:10 PM

Marvin49
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Posts: 16,506

Originally posted by kidash98:
Love the post....

BTW, it's week 2 in the playoffs... justsayin.

- 98

Good point......EDIT!!!!

Jan 12, 2012 at 6:16 PM

tohara3
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Posts: 31,175

Great job Marvin!

Jan 12, 2012 at 6:24 PM

jcashen87
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Posts: 6,743

Good job, i cant disagree with really anything you said.

I will say we need to jam Graham and some of the other receivers.

I want to see us use fly sweeps/end arounds, screens, etc and get hunter, ginn, and kyle williams involved. use our speed just like they do on offense to get drives in 5th gear.

And like you said totally agree with Alex just getting in the zone, this is not as stout of a Defense as Pitt or even Seattle or Arizone for that matter(IMO) and he has done well against pressure this year. I would like some plays that find the end zone before we even get to the red zone and not even have to worry about RZ struggles, although we have gotten a lot better.

Should be a great one, end zones back painted red. This is our time, the Saints had their fun setting the yardage records they did. Now its time for the big boys who dont play arena style football to shine.

LETS GO 9ERS!!!

Jan 12, 2012 at 6:41 PM

#10

Super5
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Posts: 1,513

Got to play press cov & jam their recievers at the line,that will help the pass rush

"Dare to Dream" -nice vid Marvin

gO niners!!

Jan 12, 2012 at 7:06 PM

#11

BrianGO
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Posts: 10,300

Getting McDonald healthy is huge. He is a big part of how we collapse the pocket. The extra week was a big bonus.

Jan 12, 2012 at 7:24 PM

#12

overthemiddle
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Posts: 653

Niners can win this game if we play Niner ball. Drew is going to get his yards and is going to move the ball. Time of possesion against a team that can score in seconds is basically meaningless. We have to stop them from putting big points on the board and we have to make the most out of our red zone chances.

Jan 12, 2012 at 7:25 PM

#13

TexasNiner915
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Posts: 151

Damn saint fans be talking alot of ish!

Jan 12, 2012 at 7:26 PM

#14

FAiTHFULTXNiNER
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Posts: 2

Originally posted by TexasNiner915:
Damn saint fans be talking alot of ish!

THIS