Game 1 Assessment:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Might be mine as well although the whole draft is looking good...even the guys we lost.

Might as well try him...if Boldin and VD and McDonald (plus Gore/Hunter) stay healthy, there is plenty of time to "try out" several guys at the X (Baldwin, Patton, Moore, etc.) b/c if we can solidify that spot, we KNOW Williams can play the slot to perfection. And oh yeah, Manningham should be back after week 6 as well.

Salivating as we wait!

NC, have you ever thot wth the talent we now have at receivers, WR and TEs, that x,y, and z WRs may slowly start to become a thing of the past...and we just put out the 5 wide with the best 5 we have, positions be damned?

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
NC, have you ever thot wth the talent we now have at receivers, WR and TEs, that x,y, and z WRs may slowly start to become a thing of the past...and we just put out the 5 wide with the best 5 we have, positions be damned?

Excuse me for slipping in here before NC wakes up! I've though a lot about that and last game we had at least a few sets of four wide. Couldn't tell who they were and haven't rewatched the game but with McDonald, VD, Hunter and James they don't have to be WRs that's for sure. Five would be a great change of pace against a team like Seattle in their home noise box. It would allow CK to react rather than having to change the play. When they are in a jumbo package or read option it seems they have difficulties with an all out blitz.

But then, I'm biased in favor of the WCO that spreads the field.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
NC, have you ever thot wth the talent we now have at receivers, WR and TEs, that x,y, and z WRs may slowly start to become a thing of the past...and we just put out the 5 wide with the best 5 we have, positions be damned?

I do! Like I noted in my Team Needs thread, the X "receiver" (i.e. the #2 as referenced here often times, incorrectly) is really insignificant b/c we run a "package offense." For instance, Vernon Davis played every single position last week including running out of the Q formation (that is, he lined up in the backfield next to CK in shotgun on one side while a RB/FB lined up on the other). We don't run a traditional WCO here. There is no Jerry Rice at the X and John Taylor at the Z with Brent Jones in a traditional TE-set. We run packages which means we use all of our receivers at all 5 positions (and we do, even Bruce Miller as a WR).

Here are our "primary" receivers and where they would line up mostly but bare in mind, all will line up at any of these positions based on the play HaRoMan call:
X (left) - Williams/Moore/Baldwin
Y (slot) - Manningham
Z (right) - Boldin/Patton/Osgood
TE1 (left side of the Tackle) - McDonald/Celek
TE2 (right side of the Tackle) - VD/Celek
RB's - Gore/Hunter/Miller

Q-formation: CK in shotgun
1 (left of CK) & 2 (right of CK) - Using any combinations of RB/FB/TE/WR's. The Vikings were famous for lining Percy Harvin, a WR, in the backfield with this formation. GB used it also with Cobb against us last game. We use VD back there often (rarely use a WR though).

We also ran a triangle Q-formation where we had a RB on the left of CK (in shotgun), a TE/FB on the right and a RB behind CK. I call that formation the Bermuda Traingle Formation (BTF) b/c defenders get lost in trying to figure out who and how to cover all of them out of the backfield!

Jumbo Packages:
This package contains extra linemen and last game those linemen were Kilgore and Snyder. It can also include any combination of the three TE's as well with Miller as a lead blocker.

Summary:
While in this anti-WCO we don't "need" an established #2 WR @ the X spot d/t the multiple packages, personnel and play calls, what we DO need there is someone who can block out CB's effectively sealing those edges for off-tackle runs by both the RB's and CK. Kyle Williams was abused in this manner at both the X and Z spots last game and even forced a critical ad lib between CK and Boldin on the 4th down completion late to seal the win. If they didn't connect, we may be talking about a loss here.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Excuse me for slipping in here before NC wakes up! I've though a lot about that and last game we had at least a few sets of four wide. Couldn't tell who they were and haven't rewatched the game but with McDonald, VD, Hunter and James they don't have to be WRs that's for sure. Five would be a great change of pace against a team like Seattle in their home noise box. It would allow CK to react rather than having to change the play. When they are in a jumbo package or read option it seems they have difficulties with an all out blitz.

But then, I'm biased in favor of the WCO that spreads the field.

LMAO! You DID beat me. And thanks for jumping in on this one as well. We have gone to more 4 and 5 WR sets (though if IRC, only 1 or 2 of those receivers were actually WR's...the extras were usually TE's and RB's?)

"Well, we shall see what we shall see" but , man do I ever like : BOLDIN PATTON VANCE VERNON BALDWIN sideline to sideline... then run frank up the middle..or let kap take his choice of whoever is open.

the other set, and I don't know NC if this is the BTF or not, but it was 3 guys set left about 10 yds from Lt Tackle, who went out in a bunch, 2 broke out, and I think it was Boldin breaking in. Nobody was covering him. I loved that formation...is that your BTF? Odd we didn't run it again. It will work against SEA, and more than once. So between the 5 wide, TEs, WRs, maybe miller, we got some packages that are really difficult to defend. And for a change we got a bunch of receiving talent, after taking only one ball catcher in 3rd round. But at end of camp we got both patton and moore...plus Baldwin(minus AJs positive $2.7 cap exchange), to go along with Vance. Man , if that isn't bulking up your receiver (unnhh...ball catcher) corps, nothing is.

And therein lies my one as of yet disappointment with Kap. Last yr it was all Crbs all the time, with occ toss to Vernon. This yr it is mostly Anquan, 6-8 passés and 2 TDs to Vernon(plus a really long one), an occasional pass to frank, kyle(3), and Vance caught one(maybe got 2-3 chances). That leaves Patton with no tosses, and maybe moore got thrown to once. I fully understand when you have the cream of the crop looking for your head, it gets a bit exciting back there at qB. But, Kap HAS to use at least 5 receivers and if he could throw to 8 or 9 guys each and every game, so much the better. Roman and Coach are responsible for this, and it has greater implications than just getting everyone into the game....thus confusing the D. It also is good football, in that if one guy gets hurt, we don't even miss a step, because we got 6 or 7 others who have been targets all season. When Kap gets to that point, he , and we, will become certifiably lethal.

NC, what is the triangle set left, called. I loved that.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
"Well, we shall see what we shall see" but , man do I ever like : BOLDIN PATTON VANCE VERNON BALDWIN sideline to sideline... then run frank up the middle..or let kap take his choice of whoever is open.

the other set, and I don't know NC if this is the BTF or not, but it was 3 guys set left about 10 yds from Lt Tackle, who went out in a bunch, 2 broke out, and I think it was Boldin breaking in. Nobody was covering him. I loved that formation...is that your BTF? Odd we didn't run it again. It will work against SEA, and more than once. So between the 5 wide, TEs, WRs, maybe miller, we got some packages that are really difficult to defend. And for a change we got a bunch of receiving talent, after taking only one ball catcher in 3rd round. But at end of camp we got both patton and moore...plus Baldwin(minus AJs positive $2.7 cap exchange), to go along with Vance. Man , if that isn't bulking up your receiver (unnhh...ball catcher) corps, nothing is.

And therein lies my one as of yet disappointment with Kap. Last yr it was all Crbs all the time, with occ toss to Vernon. This yr it is mostly Anquan, 6-8 passés and 2 TDs to Vernon(plus a really long one), an occasional pass to frank, kyle(3), and Vance caught one(maybe got 2-3 chances). That leaves Patton with no tosses, and maybe moore got thrown to once. I fully understand when you have the cream of the crop looking for your head, it gets a bit exciting back there at qB. But, Kap HAS to use at least 5 receivers and if he could throw to 8 or 9 guys each and every game, so much the better. Roman and Coach are responsible for this, and it has greater implications than just getting everyone into the game....thus confusing the D. It also is good football, in that if one guy gets hurt, we don't even miss a step, because we got 6 or 7 others who have been targets all season. When Kap gets to that point, he , and we, will become certifiably lethal.

NC, what is the triangle set left, called. I loved that.

Good post and observation. I have only known that one as the "bunch" formation. You can do that in a variety of ways...with TE's, WR's and/or RB/FB's. I love that one as well as it makes it difficult to defend off the LOS...one guy can run a route and by default, pick off an incoming CB/S freeing up one of our WR's. It was very successful for us. Then, you can do it and run behind it with the bunch formation of blockers in front. It's a quality set. The key like you said is to spread around the formation b/c if we'reconstantly running bunch formations, jumbo packages and the BTF from the Q formation, the defenders will continue to crowd the LOS and attack down hill between the tackles, EVEN is a guy like Boldin is tearing you up outside! Balance...

I'm glad that this year the officials didn't call Matthews for his flops. There was this one and then the one late in the 4th where he realized Kap was going to pick up yards and then he just flopped to draw a flag. The one where VD blocked him and then he got up and just jumped away from the runner. It is a disgrace to the game, but I somewhat understand why he tried it so much this game because he pulled it off for a flag last year in the playoffs.

Oh by the way, Boldin got fined for the block at the end of the play. Kind of bogus if you ask me since the Packer was still in bounds and there is no way that he could see Kap was already out of bounds when he had his eyes on the guy he was going to level. Also, stuff like this just makes me so happy that Boldin is a 49er. He always aggravated me when he was a Cardinal because he'd always have big games like he did against us in the SB. It is just great to have him on our side now!

As a USC fan, I am disgusted and appalled by Matthews' antics.

1. The NFL's fine on Matthews is a pathetic mockery of what happened.
2. The tit for tat fines on Brooks and Boldin are there to make it seem to GB fan that the NFL was being even handed.

The crying and whining that has commenced from Cheeseland is hilarious though. I hope they lose a lot this season. How sweet their bitter tears will be.

^^ LOL at Matthews flopping. What a douche. I bet he pulled that all the time. He's put it on film, and I'm sure coaches have made league officials aware. Refs are not going to fall for that crap.