Originally posted by dj43:
Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
Gonna be a rough game.. not even in a mood to predict this one. Whatever happens, it will say a lot about our team.. our QB.. our WRs.. our coaching. If we do lose (even if just barely) but win the next one vs AZ, we would still be 5-3 headed into the bye. Not exactly where we want to be... but not too bad and wouldn't mean our division hopes are crushed.
... really want this W badly though.
Well, we got both; a rough game and a W.
It was particularly rough on the wide receivers. It was abundantly clear that the big Seattle secondary was mugging the 49er receivers all night long. I was surprised the refs allowed so much contact but Eric Davis attributed it to the fact that "Seattle always plays that way and the word has gotten around the league so the refs just let them play." Whether that is true or not, the facts were obvious; 49er receivers were not able to break the single coverage all night long. With Manningham unavailable, and no true speed guy on the field, Seattle was able to play tight coverage and effectively took the WRs out of the game. What we saw last night was that the 49er receivers had to hold off an attack by the Seahawk DBs before they could even consider attacking the ball.
It is becoming more and more obvious to anyone who is really paying attention that the lack of a WR with burner speed is restricting this offense. Why AJ Jenkins is never on the field is a question only the coaches can answer but we saw once again last night that none of the 49er receivers scare a decent secondary to use anything more than just single coverage against the current WR group. Vernon Davis is the only real threat and he was effectively taken out of the game by doubling him with a LB and/or a CB or safety. Davis is clearly getting frustrated but it looks like he will just have to get used to it until a true #1 receiver joins the team that will pull a the double coverage off VD.
Good stuff.. Alex could have put a better ball to (I think) Kyle W early in the game in the endzone... but hey, QBs miss those. As for all game long, I don't have the coaches film to say.. but our receivers did get mugged with impunity quite often. I knew the Hawks would do that... knew that Alex would have trouble trusting such disruptions... but we learned that these particular refs were gonna let them play rough. All our weapons claim that they are team-first guys.. I think that's somewhat honest.. but they will get quietly irritated with their lack of attention. Hope the wins will keep them content enough.
I haven't been terribly pleased with Alex the passer... not like I expected our pass game to look at this point. Maybe he turns it up a notch or two.. maybe not. That and our end success will determine what level there will be to a QB competition next year. Or if things get no better, then maybe the F/O will feel that Alex costs too much for what he is bringing. We'll see.
For now, I will hope for improvement and simply enjoy the fact that our record is strong, and we are looking playoff-bound.