Game 2 Assessment:

NCommand · 2013-09-17T12:24:34-07:00

Why would I rewatch this game? B/c you can learn just as much about your team in a loss, if not more, than a win...and I'm a masochist! LOL The Good: Brooks - actually had a very good game; big hit on Wilson (we got a few this game also with Aldon/Dorsey), had to defend the QB or RB on just about every play, TFL, had a sack, consistent inside pressures, excellent on setting the edge and containing Wilson in the pocket and playing off blocks and making big tackles on Lynch. Still taking on the double teams just about every snap on the strong side; not always getting the stats but more often than not, making the play. The penalty was a bummer with Wilson diving on the ground head first (head down); obviously Brooks was just trying to touch him down. That may not be called somewhere else but it technically was a penalty by rule book. Too bad they discarded the 5 yard face mask penalty. PFF showed how he was the most consistent OLB, game-in, game-out. He showed that again on this day. Aldon - had a very nice game in both rushing and containing. That said, he may have had the assignment on Lynch on the blown coverage out of the backfield. Justin - also had a nice game where Seattle tried to neutralize he and Aldon by running right at them. Blocked punt - seriously, we blocked a punt. LOL. But the bad is we did nothing with it Reid - another great game; got another INT and it was obvious the second he went out, we were meat back there. Dorsey/Dahl/Dobbs - well played coming off the bench. Push 'em back - defense did a very nice job forcing negative plays in the first half when Seattle got in scoring position. 4th down stop - nice play! We got away with Justin jumping off sides though. Bowman made back-to-back plays on this one. The Bad: Cris Collinsworth - can he hate our team any more? Just wondering... Al Michaels - noted that last year, we blitzed the least amount of any team in the NFL...OHHHH, but Fangio does blitz our backup FS in Dahl inside the RZ on an all-or-nothing blitz and consequently, gave up the easiest TD in NFL history. Brilliant! First down production - I already started a thread on this (spoiler alert...it was horrendous). 2nd and long was the theme all game again. In watching the Hawks, they lined up 8+ up tight at the LOS and never audibled out of it. They have obviously picked up on a tendency with us on 1st downs. http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/174760-first-down-production/ Coverage units - was very poor this game (example, first punt return was to the 50 after the 3-and-out). Still many missed tackled with guys right there! Starting field position was lopsided all game as a result of ST's and missed tackles (coupled with 3 and outs deep in our own territory, plus the safety). Injuries - I said it before the game, you can guarantee at least one major injury and we got it. But don't discount the other three injuries as well as they may have addition game ramifications. Penalties - it's not just the touchy penalties but WHEN we were called for some of these. We do have a tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot on a regular basis. Not a smart, disciplined team even starting year 3. Heck, even Boldin had a false start penalty. CB's - are our CB's getting slower? I saw a play where Rogers was trailing Wilson (a TE) by 5 yards on a simple sideline route! 3rd and long for the opposition? This is when I fear for our secondary the most. Nnamdi had the edge/angle on Wilson and Wilson still ran right around him for a first down. RedZone (RZ) - teams continue to target the simple seam quick pass in the EZ. If Rice had ANY hands at all, he has two more easy TD's on our secondary who STILL can't seem to grasp this concept after getting abused ALL last year (esp. the Superbowl). Miller - poor safety penalty and that ball was right in your hands at the 2 yard line; FB or not, you have to catch that. He has very good hands. Kaepernick - pointed out last game his accuracy was poor (and overlooked) and this game was even worse esp. on the touch passes and deeper balls and quick out routes. Ran when he should have passed and vice versa. Gun shy. Turnovers (last INT was horrendous as was the fumble...his final INT was worse throws than the overthrow to Moss in the Superbowl). Indecisive. Just a very very poor game no matter how one tries to spin it. It happens. The first INT was just a tad too late and Thurmond was able to break off his rute and come over to tip it. Good play on his part. The pass should have been there right as VD broke instead of waiting UNTIL he was open. This is another areaI highlighted in weaknesses in CK's game. He relies too much on his arm strength and doesn't always throw guys open or throw anticipation (trust) balls on routes. He waits until they are open and then slings it in there at 100mph. The past two games, his feet are not getting set either (wild stances). He is more on his toes getting ready to run vs. standing tall, planting and stepping up through the throw. This is esp. salient on deep balls. Pass protection - was pretty pathetic this game to say the least Run blocking - Staley and Davis blew this game and we STILL can't seal an edge to save our lives (no off-T runs = makes you one-dimensional). Gore - I hate to say this about my boy but he looks slow and lethargic. He used to hit ANY hole up the gut with great quickness and burst. I don't see that anymore...at all. Laterally he's even more slow now. He still finishes off his runs well but they are 2-3 yards shorter than they used to be with no big hitters. His hands continue to be getting worse but makes up for it in pass protection and blocking for CK. Play clock - well, better hand signals this game and less penalties BUT even with a "hurry up" offense at times we were barely getting the play off under 5 seconds; completed plays negated. This continues to be a thorn in our side. Pass interferance - you're going to get at least two big ones up in Seattle, fair or not (today was Rogers and Nnamdi) Lee - back-to-back not very good games. Blown coverages - talked about this last game. We have trouble keeping our eye on the RB out of the backfield and on swing passes, we're typically late getting there for some reason. Even on correct assignments, it seems we are always in trail mode. Lynch (35 yarder) and Baldwin (51 yarder) killed us here. Run Defense - the DL is getting moved back on many runs a good 3-5 yards and had many missed tackles as well. I stated this may have been a game we needed a 2-gap NT or consider a 4 man DL. Lynch had 98 yards and Turbin had 31 more. Both had several big runs called back d/t holding penalties. The Coaching: Good and Bad Bermuda Traingle - 8 man box was the clear theme here; well, sometimes the Hawks even brought in 9. But what they esp. were doing was using their inside and outside LB's off the LOS (about 5 yards deep) WAY out on the edge to contain an off-tackle run or QB run (CK got a few yards with designed runs with Gore lead blocking). These LBers were in spy-mode. BUT, what stood out to me and what I noted in the pre game thread was that there was a Bermuda Triangle right behind the DL that McDonald, VD, Gore, Hunter, Miller and any slot WR (ala Boldin) could have literally, exploited all game long. When Gore would take a fake hand off or CK would step up, they would too leaving an even BIGGER hole. If a casual fan can see this, what good is Mangini? HaRoMan - sad sad day. Wildly unprepared and I wonder if they even scouted this game? LOL. Zero adjustments until minutes left in the 4Q. In the first half, I saw THREE guys covering Boldin. Pete the Cheat even alluded to that game plan in the press. But neither Roman or Mangini could "see" that? Fangio - hey Fangio, when a pro bowler like Okung gets hurt, you may want to consider overloading that side and blitz. This is called a "weakness." Sometimes coaches attack these. Just say'n. Philosophy - been talking about this one for years. We run a college offense with a one-receiver option a lot where the other ten guys play a role in getting that receiving option the ball. When it fails, we have NO outlets built in like a true WCO. And as a result, we saw CK running for his life when his target was covered and lots of throws OB. There were times Boldin was down field blocking, not even a receiving option while the play broke down (target was covered or blown up). Fail. If you want an example of what I mean, watch the play at the 5:27 mark of 1Q (watch the replay too...looks like Boldin didn't even bother to block out Sherman). Williams is to get the ball underneath, beat Sherman (laughable) while both Boldin and VD (ahead of him) are down field already blocking. The theory is, if Williams can beat Sherman (or is blocked out effectively), he'll have two blockers out in front of him. This is a college offense. Period. 3rd and long? - quick, guess the route! Yup, typically a run or quick safe out route well shot of the 1st down marker. Play after delay - after the rain delay (Gore up the gut for 0, 10 yard sack and short, safe quick pass for minimal gain = punt) and half time as well, we went 3 and out. Hawks? FG & TD. Game over! Execution & Physicality - we lost both these battles. We had several chances to take the lead early and how often will Wilson only throw for 142 yards against us (basically on 2 plays)? We got outmuscled and didn't execute (and were STUPID in several occassions from players to game plan to in-game calls). Coaches - get your #$%^& straight (and your players right) for Indy!

Sep 17, 2013 at 12:38 PM

ace52
Veteran
Posts: 339

Great read. Thanks!
Regarding the pass protection, is it just me, or did you also notice that A. Davis was really slow to react to the outside rush move in this game?
Do HaRoMan need to give extra help to the pass-pro on that side?

Sep 17, 2013 at 12:39 PM

951NINER
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Posts: 2,906

Gore - I hate to say this about my boy but he looks slow and lethargic. He used to hit ANY hole up the gut with great quickness and burst. I don't see that anymore...at all. Laterally he's even more slow now. He still finishes off his runs well but they are 2-3 yards shorter than they used to be with no big hitters. His hands continue to be getting worse but makes up for it in pass protection and blocking for CK.

I said this yesterday under the change RB thread. I'm not saying to change RB's. We will ride out Frank of course and he will have his better games but we need to slowly ease off him and give Hunter more touches IMO. In a close game I would rather have Gore in there but we need to mix up the runs. He's steadily declining and sad to see. Like I said he is one of the greatest 49ers IMO

Sep 17, 2013 at 12:40 PM

pd24
Veteran
Posts: 9,407

Originally posted by ace52:
Great read. Thanks!
Regarding the pass protection, is it just me, or did you also notice that A. Davis was really slow to react to the outside rush move in this game?
Do HaRoMan need to give extra help to the pass-pro on that side?

That was the advantage of the 12th man. The oline can't hear the snap count and have to watch for the snap. They have no advantage on the D linemen.

Sep 17, 2013 at 12:44 PM

NinerDayz85
Member
Posts: 4

I'm embarrassed to be a 49er fan after that game. Bill Walsh rolled over in his grave...That's for sure. Just flat out embarrassing. We have NO running game and NO Receivers. Please stop saying that Davis is elite...He NEVER does anything. Is Gore done? Because he hasn't had a run past 5 yards.

If I don't see improvement I will cancel my season tickets for next season...

Maybe Kaepernick needs to spend more time studying film, rather than filming commercials. Same goes for Harbaurgh.

Sep 17, 2013 at 12:51 PM

951NINER
Veteran
Posts: 2,906

Originally posted by NinerDayz85:
I'm embarrassed to be a 49er fan after that game. Bill Walsh rolled over in his grave...That's for sure. Just flat out embarrassing. We have NO running game and NO Receivers. Please stop saying that Davis is elite...He NEVER does anything. Is Gore done? Because he hasn't had a run past 5 yards. If I don't see improvement I will cancel my season tickets for next season...

Maybe Kaepernick needs to spend more time studying film, rather than filming commercials. Same goes for Harbaurgh.

You must have forgotten the divisional playoff game vs NO 2 years ago or the Conference championship game last year in ATL. Or better yet 2 weeks ago vs GB where he caught 2 TDs? I hope the 85 on your name is for the year you were born.

Sep 17, 2013 at 1:09 PM

pasodoc9er
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Posts: 21,040

NC, I thot I was reading a post I wrote of "SEA opens up a can of whoop azz on 9ers.....and what to do about it. It must have gotten put in another thread, but I swear we say exactly the same things, and wrote pretty much the same....the question, if you and I see it, or think about it, why isn't Coach H , Roman and Fangio. Nice post bro.
ps, if you find the post you will laugh at how closely we came on our evaluations.

Sep 17, 2013 at 1:22 PM

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
NC, I thot I was reading a post I wrote of "SEA opens up a can of whoop azz on 9ers.....and what to do about it. It must have gotten put in another thread, but I swear we say exactly the same things, and wrote pretty much the same....the question, if you and I see it, or think about it, why isn't Coach H , Roman and Fangio. Nice post bro.
ps, if you find the post you will laugh at how closely we came on our evaluations.

I didn't get a chance to review it but will certainly review (and laugh)!

Sep 17, 2013 at 1:31 PM

pasodoc9er
Veteran
Posts: 21,040

NC, found it under 49ers vs NFC West(Rams, SEA, etc) pg 41

I still am dumbfounded how a guy can come here from the college ranks, blow the socks off the league in his first two yrs, and then not be able to see the obvious on our O. I think maybe part of this which i alluded to, is the deal with Kap's big cannon. Like a shiny new red car. You got it, you might as well use it. And that seems to be a hang up for Coach and Roman. I think it would work out better if they pretended that was alex back there, and called plays accordingly. But this stupidity of throwing long IN SEA, on first and 2nd downs , and letting frank run against an 8 man ( or a 3 yrd completion) is just incomprehensible.

My question? Why the "H" can't our coaches see that? As for Fangio, and his goal line blitz, man that was fantastic. Where in the world was that in any other location on the field? Good grief, great team and coaches ate up with the dumb azz. What the heck happened to them?

[ Edited by pasodoc9er on Sep 17, 2013 at 1:38 PM ]

Sep 17, 2013 at 1:40 PM

paulk205
Veteran
Posts: 980

Nice post. I'm hijacking your thread to put my own thoughts based in what I saw from the stadium (mercifully a covered part, and with some very gracious Seattle fans around me - all the hype about this being a dangerous venue for visiting fans was nonsense as far as I was concerned).

Why I'm not worried :

Even the best teams lay an egg or two every season. I remember the 40–8 bashing by the Eagles in 1994, Charlie Garner running roughshod over our revamped D. At home. Also the pasting we got from the Giants last season. At home. Guess what happened in both those years? We got creamed by effing Christian Ponder last year! These things happen. The important thing is that they don't happen too often, and not in the playoffs.

The D was just fine. Everyone focuses on Nnamdi getting picked upon, and some of the runs Lynch was able to break. But that was all they could muster. We got good pressure consistently, covered well most of the time, and got our sacks and turnovers.

People complain about the O-Line. We did give up some pressure, particularly on Davis' side, but Kaepernick had time to throw more often than not. I watched the Chiefs vs the Cowpats earlier that day: what Smith had to deal with is what "having no time in the pocket" looks like.

We're getting the two receivers back later in the year. We need them.

The game was close until late.

Why needs to be fixed ASAP :

Penalties: we're not the Raiders or the Lions. This is unacceptable and it's down to the coaches.

Playcalling: bizarre to say the least. Why didn't we keep running? Where was Hunter? It's not just the run blocking that didn't work. We just abandoned the run too soon. Both teams had no offense most of the game (Wilson had negative pass yards most of the first half) , but Seattle kept with the run, until it began to pay off. We just got too cute.

While I'm at it : enough with all the crazy shifts already! We're having trouble getting plays off in time at home and we'll do better in that madhouse? At a time when the NFL seems to be moving to a fast paced offense , we look like the slowest in the league. It wouldn't matter if we ran the ball and had long drives, or if we had the lead. But we had none of that Sunday.

More worrying : Our receivers could not get separation. That was obvious to me at Candlestick as well, but it got obscured by Boldin gaining all those yards. Seattle jammed him mercilessly and dared the others to beat them. They can't. We really need to get those WRs back from injury.

Speaking of which : are we known as the San Francisco Arsenals by any chance? Arsenal are my soccer team in England, and we habitually top the injury table (the only table we're topping these last few years, sadly). I'm not saying that anything other than bad luck is responsible, but jeez! Give us a break! BTW you could see how big a drop-off the D had after Reid got hurt. The kid's the real deal.

The obvious stuff: Kaepernick got frustrated and forced too many throws. We obviously couldn't get any rhythm going, had too many turnovers, couldn't get off the field in third down in the second half, often on third and very long.

The bottom line: all the silly Seattle crowing aside (this was their Superbowl), this only counts as one loss. Sure, it's a division loss, which is bad, but it won't be the end of the world if we go on a tear in the next few weeks. As we should. None of the games up to the bye should be anything other than wins if we get our act together. I'm not saying they're easy, but they're not daunting either. Houston are a good side, but they are lucky they're not 0–2; St Louis is always "improved", but we're a terrible match up for them. We should get down to it, do what we're supposed to do well (run, long drives, win rather than give up turnovers, coach cleverly), and play like the champions we are.

Sep 17, 2013 at 1:43 PM

#10

DontSitOnTheHood
Member
Posts: 2,671

Yeah, I'm not reading this stuff. I'll just say that this is the first time I've ever seen Colin Kaepernick look scurred. That is all.

Sep 17, 2013 at 1:58 PM

#11

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Nice perspective from the seats! I've asked if anyone had the coaches film on this to see if CK was scared or our WRs just weren't getting open. Seems like we ran a lot of deep routes though.

Originally posted by paulk205:
Nice post. I'm hijacking your thread to put my own thoughts based in what I saw from the stadium (mercifully a covered part, and with some very gracious Seattle fans around me - all the hype about this being a dangerous venue for visiting fans was nonsense as far as I was concerned).

Why I'm not worried :

Even the best teams lay an egg or two every season. I remember the 408 bashing by the Eagles in 1994, Charlie Garner running roughshod over our revamped D. At home. Also the pasting we got from the Giants last season. At home. Guess what happened in both those years? We got creamed by effing Christian Ponder last year! These things happen. The important thing is that they don't happen too often, and not in the playoffs.

The D was just fine. Everyone focuses on Nnamdi getting picked upon, and some of the runs Lynch was able to break. But that was all they could muster. We got good pressure consistently, covered well most of the time, and got our sacks and turnovers.

People complain about the O-Line. We did give up some pressure, particularly on Davis' side, but Kaepernick had time to throw more often than not. I watched the Chiefs vs the Cowpats earlier that day: what Smith had to deal with is what "having no time in the pocket" looks like.

We're getting the two receivers back later in the year. We need them.

The game was close until late.

Why needs to be fixed ASAP :

Penalties: we're not the Raiders or the Lions. This is unacceptable and it's down to the coaches.

Playcalling: bizarre to say the least. Why didn't we keep running? Where was Hunter? It's not just the run blocking that didn't work. We just abandoned the run too soon. Both teams had no offense most of the game (Wilson had negative pass yards most of the first half) , but Seattle kept with the run, until it began to pay off. We just got too cute.

While I'm at it : enough with all the crazy shifts already! We're having trouble getting plays off in time at home and we'll do better in that madhouse? At a time when the NFL seems to be moving to a fast paced offense , we look like the slowest in the league. It wouldn't matter if we ran the ball and had long drives, or if we had the lead. But we had none of that Sunday.

More worrying : Our receivers could not get separation. That was obvious to me at Candlestick as well, but it got obscured by Boldin gaining all those yards. Seattle jammed him mercilessly and dared the others to beat them. They can't. We really need to get those WRs back from injury.

Speaking of which : are we known as the San Francisco Arsenals by any chance? Arsenal are my soccer team in England, and we habitually top the injury table (the only table we're topping these last few years, sadly). I'm not saying that anything other than bad luck is responsible, but jeez! Give us a break! BTW you could see how big a drop-off the D had after Reid got hurt. The kid's the real deal.

The obvious stuff: Kaepernick got frustrated and forced too many throws. We obviously couldn't get any rhythm going, had too many turnovers, couldn't get off the field in third down in the second half, often on third and very long.

The bottom line: all the silly Seattle crowing aside (this was their Superbowl), this only counts as one loss. Sure, it's a division loss, which is bad, but it won't be the end of the world if we go on a tear in the next few weeks. As we should. None of the games up to the bye should be anything other than wins if we get our act together. I'm not saying they're easy, but they're not daunting either. Houston are a good side, but they are lucky they're not 02; St Louis is always "improved", but we're a terrible match up for them. We should get down to it, do what we're supposed to do well (run, long drives, win rather than give up turnovers, coach cleverly), and play like the champions we are.

Sep 17, 2013 at 2:17 PM

#12

outside4949
Veteran
Posts: 1,180

I rewatched the game this morning. My one big take away, and I saw it during the game but its even more obvious with the re-watch. is they were really trying to bait kap. He didn't trust what he was seeing and that made him gun shy. Against the packers he was hitting his back foot and letting it fly. After his first pick he stopped trusting what he was seeing. They have a very good secondary and its almost impossible to call audibles at the line in that s**thole. He can usually verify with a shift or a motion what he is looking at. that's almost impossible there. I think that game would turnout very different at the stick.

Sep 17, 2013 at 2:19 PM

#13

RishikeshA
Veteran
Posts: 12,720

The crowd in Seattle gives the home team the edge of beating you to the punch. The 49ers could not make adjustments at the line of scrimmage due to the noise. I'm starting to get apprehensive every time we get a first and goal outside the five yard line, must be a Super Bowl hangover. If you analyze this game you'll go nuts because the breakdown after the second quarter was complete. The Colt game can't come soon enough.

Sep 17, 2013 at 2:24 PM

#14

JTsBiggestFan
Veteran
Posts: 7,758

My coworker who is a football guru said it best:

"Difference in game plans between 49er D and Seattle D was SF was two deep safety whereas Seattle was man coverage with 8 in the box. Shoulda killed them with McDonald and Davis and/or screens and quick out passes."

Here's the deal. We are no longer in an era of the '85 Bears who had the physical talent to run a very aggressive 46 defense and get away with it for the most part (Montana struggled quite a bit with this, and Young did too when Buddy Ryan went to Houston in '93).

So the point is, no defense is that good that an offense can get shut down that badly. Even our 2011 defense hardly destroyed good offenses that badly. We slapped teams around and make it hard, but holding them to 3 points.....nah.

Gotta change those formations. The irony is that Roman is the running game guru, and we saw none of that so far this season.

This game was like the last two Giants' games.......except the Seahawks allowed the underneath stuff instead of taking it away. Aaron Rodgers couldn't beat the Seahawks (they beat them!) without resorting to the short game.....so what makes the 49ers think they can do better?

Atlanta is probably the only team that could play the game we wanted to play but even they would probably struggle to do very well in C-link.

I'm not so worried actually. Just about our running game and Gore. If that reverts to usual form, bring on these Seahawks all day.....not scared one bit.

If however, this is a real problem that can't be corrected then this is a big deal. Maybe even a bigger deal than Alex Smith's limitations....