Preseason 2013 Week 1: Thoughts after rewatching the game...

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by ninergold:
how did ian williams look?

Not good, he was getting pushed back on a double team and ended up next to the Safeties, he looked like a offensive tackle playing DT......wait a minute my mistake that was Lawrence Okoye.

I think your brain confused physical appearance, with football performance. Ian Williams "looks" kind of short and stumpy, but plays extremely well. Okoye looks like The Incredible Hulk, but plays "short and stumpy".

The only position that really let me down was the backup linemen. Holy crap they were bad. When the backup QBs had time to throw they did it with great accuracy imo. Most of the time all of the WRs were looking good, besides a couple times they messed up their routes (but on one of those a catch was still made and that's all that matters to me.) I actually think we're good on WR. We have a lot of guys that will work nicely if they actually get the ball. I wish we could have Kap behind the first string offensive line throwing to them, because I think we would be very happy with the results.

For the most part it seemed like AJ Jenkins was getting open and should have gotten a lot more throws his way, but the QBs just couldn't do it with the pressure they were facing all night. Hopefully it gets better vs Kansas City.

Also, I don't agree with people saying Reid was playing like a rookie. He was directing the defense, he was in on a lot of the hits including that one WOO hit he gave out and no big plays were made on him. He did a good job.

Only thing that i was displeased with was the story of our lives.

First i didnt know that regardless of who was the qb, we only finished 25 out of 32 in 3rd down conversions at the end of the season. Gotta get that number up.

I loved how Kaep and company drove all the way down the field. its pre-season, but great to see. But then the story of our lives reared its ugly head again. penalty here, loss of yardage there, then we find ourselves in an unmanageable 3rd and 16, I think. hard for even some of the greatest qb's to overcome.

So i definitely wanna see this part a little tigther next game, and stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Other than that I think we did pretty good, with the first team offense and defense.

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
Only thing that i was displeased with was the story of our lives.

First i didnt know that regardless of who was the qb, we only finished 25 out of 32 in 3rd down conversions at the end of the season. Gotta get that number up.

I loved how Kaep and company drove all the way down the field. its pre-season, but great to see. But then the story of our lives reared its ugly head again. penalty here, loss of yardage there, then we find ourselves in an unmanageable 3rd and 16, I think. hard for even some of the greatest qb's to overcome.

So i definitely wanna see this part a little tigther next game, and stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Other than that I think we did pretty good, with the first team offense and defense.

this pretty much sums up exactly how I felt about it.

Boring ass game too.

Originally posted by Whomeam:
Also, I don't agree with people saying Reid was playing like a rookie. He was directing the defense, he was in on a lot of the hits including that one WOO hit he gave out and no big plays were made on him. He did a good job.

I thought he played fantastic as well. He is CLEARLY a very bright kid...my favorite play was when he was about to deliver another WOO hit but the WR dropped the ball (heard footsteps) and he had the presence of mind to hold up last second avoiding a 15-yard penalty. We can all appreciate that after the Goldson-era.

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
Only thing that i was displeased with was the story of our lives.

First i didnt know that regardless of who was the qb, we only finished 25 out of 32 in 3rd down conversions at the end of the season. Gotta get that number up.

I loved how Kaep and company drove all the way down the field. its pre-season, but great to see. But then the story of our lives reared its ugly head again. penalty here, loss of yardage there, then we find ourselves in an unmanageable 3rd and 16, I think. hard for even some of the greatest qb's to overcome.

So i definitely wanna see this part a little tigther next game, and stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Other than that I think we did pretty good, with the first team offense and defense.

Agreed, saw the same huge issues with us in this game that caught up to us in the Superbowl:

• Poor penalties at the worst times
• TO's in the worst places
• 3rd downs relying on CK
• Poor RZ offense

Good:

• Plays were all in on time and with enough time for the QB's to read the defense and audible.

Originally posted by dj43:
Fully agree. Having a healthy Haralson back will give more depth to keep the front 7 fresh. Also, Lemonier showed great quickness last night. I was particularly impressed with one play where he went around the OT and had enough speed to get back inside to hit Osweiler. That kind of agility/mobility is something none of the other guys bring. Aldon has deceptive power and straight line speed but has not shown me the kind of agility Lemonier showed last night.

So with Aldon, Brooks, Haralson and Lem rotating on the outside, that should provide a better pass rush into the 4th quarter than we had last season.

Also, I believe Ian Williams will give more push up the middle than Sopoaga did last season. Middle pressure is SO critical to slowing down a passing team, and we will play a bunch of them this year, and Williams appears able to do that better than either Sop or Francois. (RJF was a very solid player last year but didn't bring much heat.)

Also, Dobbs as a backup will bring more heat than any of last season's backups. I recall Ray McDonald and Justin saying several times this pre-season that this year's DL group is better overall than last season. It looked like it last night.

The secondary is always at the mercy of the pass rush.

Good points. It looks like Ian Williams can 1 and 2 gap.

Having a nose tackle that bust up the pocket and harry the passer will be a big plus.
I
t will the defense more flexibility and thus make it harder to scheme against.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Jersey9er:
Only thing that i was displeased with was the story of our lives.

First i didnt know that regardless of who was the qb, we only finished 25 out of 32 in 3rd down conversions at the end of the season. Gotta get that number up.

I loved how Kaep and company drove all the way down the field. its pre-season, but great to see. But then the story of our lives reared its ugly head again. penalty here, loss of yardage there, then we find ourselves in an unmanageable 3rd and 16, I think. hard for even some of the greatest qb's to overcome.

So i definitely wanna see this part a little tigther next game, and stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Other than that I think we did pretty good, with the first team offense and defense.

Agreed, saw the same huge issues with us in this game that caught up to us in the Superbowl:

• Poor penalties at the worst times
• TO's in the worst places
• 3rd downs relying on CK
• Poor RZ offense

Good:

• Plays were all in on time and with enough time for the QB's to read the defense and audible.

At some point the coaching staff has to accept some responsibility for 3rd down failures. As good as Harbaugh and company have been in many areas, the continued failure on 3rd down is troubling.

Coaching players away from penalties is a big one for me. The 49ers were 7th highest in the league last year in penalties (6th in 2011). 2nd in the league in defensive holding and led in unnecessary roughness for the 2nd year in a row (thank you Dashon Goldson). Also 2nd in the league in delay of game. (the last full year of Nolan they were 14th) I put a lot of the blame here on coaches, and a part of it, IMO, is Harbaugh's overly emotional demeanor on the sidelines. Bill Walsh PREACHED that a coach had to be calm in the midst of the storm if the team was to play well and under control. In this, Harbaugh is not following the advice of his mentor. Cleaning up the penalties is a goal that needs to be achieved.

3rd down efficiency and red zone efficiency are scheme issues for me. Harbaugh/Roman are too frenetic, IMO. One play will show some real creative genius, if you will, and the next will be so predictable that a HS defense could stop it. That needs to change if this team is to reach the goal.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by valrod33:
Best part of NinerTalk is back

Agreed. It's almost as if you're in my head. As always, a great objective analysis, Marvin.

Originally posted by matt49er:

Originally posted by J49er:
First let me say Trent Baalke is a excellent talent evaluator from rounds 1-3 (minus aj jenkins). What worries me is Baalke's drafting of late round picks that deplete the depth on the team, which reared its ugly head last night. I'm not here to say he is a bad GM which would be ludicrous, but his weakness (if i may) is his use of mid-late draft picks.

It seems most of his picks past round 4 are complete reaches that have very little chance of making a long term replacements of existing players on the roster. Since he picks from a point of strength (One of the most talented rosters inherited)..contrary to popular belief 4-6th round picks are pretty valuable. (ie Boldin) (colt mccoy) etc..thus hitting on these picks are the backbone for long term success in the NFL. here's a look at what we have yielded.


Jason Slowey (6) Nick Moody 6 Nate Byhnam (6) Ronald Johnson (6) Colin Jones (6) Mike Pearson (7) Joe Looney (4) Trent Robinson

ummmm, Alex Boone was either a 7th round pick or UDFA, Kendall Hunter was a 4th round pick, Bruce Miller a 7th round guy that played DE in college and Baalke had the foresight to draft as a FB, Daniel Kilgore was a late round pick (whom will be our starting C by next year), Ian Williams was a late round pick and is now looking like our starting NT that will be an improvement over the Soap/RJF combo we had last year. Just with that body of work you have 3 current starters and another 2 that could be starters in the near future. Add in the fact that we just got Marcus Lattimore in the 4th round this year and I think Baalke has done a fantastic job in the later rounds of the draft.

you have to remember that not every player is going to be a star. teams need role players, ST players, backups, a 53 man roster cannot be made up soley of Frank Gore's and Patrick Willis' it just doesn't work that way. Aside from those I named plenty of guys on this roster that we cannot judge yet, even those you mock like Colin Jones is a great ST player that the 49ers missed last season when they traded him away (the fact a team wanted to trade for him shows he is a good player), Joe Looney could compete with Kilgore down the road to unseat Goodwin as the starting center, Trenton Robinson is a decent ST players with potential at the S position.

Sorry to pounce on you man but how can you be a fan of this team and make a statement like that about the GM after he built this team up the way he has (along with Harbaugh)? It's obvious by your statement that you A) Have no clue how NFL teams are built and B) Have zero clue what a great GM looks like. Or maybe you're just a noob.

Both Alex Boone AND Ian Williams were UDFAs brought in by Baalke.

Originally posted by BrianGO:

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by ninergold:
how did ian williams look?

Not good, he was getting pushed back on a double team and ended up next to the Safeties, he looked like a offensive tackle playing DT......wait a minute my mistake that was Lawrence Okoye.

I think your brain confused physical appearance, with football performance. Ian Williams "looks" kind of short and stumpy, but plays extremely well. Okoye looks like The Incredible Hulk, but plays "short and stumpy".

I like what Boldin did on Vernon's catch. Even though it's the first preseason game and Vernon was almost out of bounds....he put on a little love "tap" on a persuing linebacker #95). It wasn't cheap and the play was not technically dead. Check it out. That's what our young group needs to see!

Originally posted by 1biggi:
I like what Boldin did on Vernon's catch. Even though it's the first preseason game and Vernon was almost out of bounds....he put on a little love "tap" on a persuing linebacker #95). It wasn't cheap and the play was not technically dead. Check it out. That's what our young group needs to see!

I've been watching Boldin put those kinds of "taps" on Niner defensive players for years when he was with the Cardinals. He's always been a complete badass on the field. I think he's the steal of the off season.

thanks marvin, always a pleasure to read your posts. you bring order to my chaotic thoughts about our team ;)