2013 - Week 13: Thoughts after rewatching the game

1) Kap: Incremental improvement. I saw him check down several times. I saw him move to his third receiver. I saw him successfully throw to a player not named Boldin or Davis. Not much to add other than that I think he's still a work in progress and he is progressing.


2) Crab: DAMN it was nice to see him out there again. He's clearly not himself yet, but I think whats missing right now is more mental than physical. He got hit. He got pushed around. He made a move and beat a defender. It takes time for his confidense to come back after an injury like that. He played better yesterday than I had anticipated he would.


3) Boone: Wow. That was impressive. He is a natural Tackle, but still...switched sides and positions and we barely noticed. In fact, I noticed his absense at guard more than I noticed his play at Tackle. That could all change with a team getting time to prepare for him, but I was pretty damned impressed with him yesterday.


4) Vernon: Wear a cup...especially if you plan to continue hurdling people.


5) Aldon: Perhaps not all the way back or maybe just playing a very good LT. He was constantly pushed beyond the pocket and knocked down a few times. There were a few double teams and he got some pressure a few times, but not like we've seen in the past. Perhaps I just need to score this one to Long being a good LT and let it go at that. Aldon did play very well in run support though.


6) Looney: First ever game action and I thought he played well considering. He missed some blocks and they were never able to get anything going inside (the Rams made sure of that), but not to shabby for his first NFL game action. He moves very well when he pulls.


7) Frank: He's lost it. He's done. Lets activate Lattimore. If anyone is familiar with my history on evaluating Gore, you'll get that one.


8) Anquan: He's slow. He doesn't separate....and he's a godsend. Just imagine this team right now WITHOUT Boldin. Wow. Cudos to Baalke for making that trade even if the role he's filling right now isn't the one they thought he'd be filling. I always invisioned him as a guy they let walk away next year just like all of the other 1 year rental WRs they've had. Now I'm thinking they at least attempt to keep him around, but his price might just be too high.


9) James: LaMichael will be fine. I saw that he tweeted out after the game that he had food poinsoning any played anyway. He made a few of those returns interesting and I can do without that, but it is what it is. Kyle wasn't alot better and he wasn't getting any return yardage either. LaMichael will be fine.


10) Seattle: It's Seattle week. Its strange though. Perhaps it's because the division crown would require a miracle of sorts, but I am not all that amped up for this one. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the 49ers shut those 'hawk fans up...but I'm not all that worried about it. If they win, cool. If not, all well, Niners still probably make the playoffs and it doesn't make a huge difference who won this game. Beyond this game sit the Bucs, Falcons, and Cards. If the 49ers have proved anything this year it's that they can beat inferior teams soundly. Yes, I'm counting the Cards as an inferior team. With a loss this weekend the Niners are still likely to finish 11-5 and I just don't see another team in the NFC getting to that mark for the 6th seed.

From there it's a tough road....probably in Detroit for round 1. Probably in NO for round 2. Should they advance through those 2 rounds, probably in Seattle in round 3. All noisy places to play so if they get to Seattle they'll have alot of experience on the road in the noise.

As I said last week...should be fun.

regarding vernon wearing a cup, i remember gary plummer years ago as the radio announcer saying in his whole career he never seen anyone wear a cup. they'll wear a jock strap to contain the goodies but nobody wears an actual cup.

Originally posted by crabman82:
regarding vernon wearing a cup, i remember gary plummer years ago as the radio announcer saying in his whole career he never seen anyone wear a cup. they'll wear a jock strap to contain the goodies but nobody wears an actual cup.

yeah last week on MNF RGIII got hit in the goodies and it was pretty clear he wasn't wearing one

our defense makes me smile like its 2011, that special feeling when every time the QB puts it up, their receiver is in clear and present danger. Except for Carlos. too up and down. Doesn't sell out, maybe avoiding injury?

Wearing a cup slows you down, and its very uncomfortable too.

Nice review as always. I am excited to think of how we can keep improving as a team hitting there stride at the right time for the playoffs.

Aldon didn't look like himself. Yes he played against a good LT, but Long went out with a head injury and never returned, so then Aldon went against their backup LT and still didn't do crap!

Good Review. I find it hard to believe you are not excited for the Seahawks game. I am crawling out of my skin excited. We have to beat them in the Stick, they have only managed to beat us in their house. We NEED to return the favor, a win over Seattle will be the spark that will set this team on fire as they make their run through the playoffs.

Originally posted by 808niner4lyphe:
Aldon didn't look like himself. Yes he played against a good LT, but Long went out with a head injury and never returned, so then Aldon went against their backup LT and still didn't do crap!

Someone mentioned to me that he was on the injury report with a shoulder injury. He sure didn't look like the normal Aldon, so I'm chalking it up to him dealing with an injury.

Good post man.

here's my 2 cents.

Miller blocked very well and the pass he caught - I think it went 20 yards was just what I wanted to see. Someone other than VD & Boldin catching the ball all alone. Hopefully, Seattle will also ignore other players like Manningham.

Rogers had a solid game.

Tavon was a zero-factor thanks to excellent special teams coverage and fine D-backs play.

Wright still seems a bit uncomfortable BUT played better than the week before.

TJE played very well, great hussle on the fake punt. Rams got us twice last year w/that. He keeps showing up on plays.

We still need LOTS of improvement in the Red Zone. 2 for 4.

Our 3rd down conversion sucks big time. 37% in the last 2 games against mediocre teams; 4-14 in Skins and 4 - 12 in Rams game. That isn't going to cut it against the Seahawks, and other playoff teams.

Nice post as usual.

One side note, I found it funny that A.Dixon was complaining about PT then got his chance in the game and did nada, too much east/west running versus just going downhill. He was beast on ST though!

Nice review. I thought Kap also did a really nice job stepping up into the pocket to avoid pressure. A couple of early sacks were on him, but he settled down and his footwork was much better.

Crab may not be 100%, but he's close enough to be a really big factor. Just his presence on the field needs to be respected, and he appears to have enough quickness to gain separation and pick up that YAC. Loved what I saw in his first game back. He'll be even better going forward.

What can you say about Boone. Probably one of our best UDFA finds ever. Dude is a top-flight guard, and would probably be a top Tackle if given the opportunity. Love his smarts and professionalism. Very talented player.

Excited to see even more big plays from Vernon going forward now that we have a full compliment of receivers. He has to stop jumping though. The first time was sweet, but one of these games he's going to get hit mid air and take a nasty spill.

Not one of Aldon's better games pass-rushing. I noticed him bull-rushing a lot and it wasn't that effective. Maybe he felt he had a better shot at beating Long with power rather than speed. Or maybe he wanted to have contain on the inside gap in case they handed it off to Stacy. Like you, I just chalk it up to going up against a darn good LT.

I thought Looney played well for the most part. Got beat a few times early, but like the rest of the o-line, he settled down after the initial shuffle. Looked good in pass pro for the most part.

Frank is fine. We never got the run game going, but that had more to do with the Rams hell-bent on stopping the running game. We gashed them last time, and they didn't want that happening again. Even as we were passing effectively, they wouldn't back off their 8-9 man box. They won with sheer numbers. Once we prove we can throw consistently, teams will back off and that will re-open running lanes.

Anquan is the man. Any time he is singled covered just throw the ball in his area code and he'll snatch it.

James scares me as the punt returner. He offers better returns than KW, but he has severe fumbleitis dating back to last pre-season. I can't help but feel sooner or later it's going to cost us dearly.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:

Good post man.

here's my 2 cents.

Miller blocked very well and the pass he caught - I think it went 20 yards was just what I wanted to see. Someone other than VD & Boldin catching the ball all alone. Hopefully, Seattle will also ignore other players like Manningham.

Rogers had a solid game.

Tavon was a zero-factor thanks to excellent special teams coverage and fine D-backs play.

Wright still seems a bit uncomfortable BUT played better than the week before.

TJE played very well, great hussle on the fake punt. Rams got us twice last year w/that. He keeps showing up on plays.

We still need LOTS of improvement in the Red Zone. 2 for 4.

Our 3rd down conversion sucks big time. 37% in the last 2 games against mediocre teams; 4-14 in Skins and 4 - 12 in Rams game. That isn't going to cut it against the Seahawks, and other playoff teams.

I still can't understand why we run on 3rd and 8-12 almost every single time. Not only do we telegraph that call to begin with, if we're really wanting to play it safe, it's not that hard to throw a 3 yard pass or a little slip screen that has a WAY better chance of picking up the first down than a run straight into rushing/blitzing defenders.

Love watching Anquan with those amazing catches. I didn't know he was a trash talker though. I always thought he was a quiet, humble player. it was funny to see him get up and talk smack in the defenders face!

Originally posted by Chico:
Love watching Anquan with those amazing catches. I didn't know he was a trash talker though. I always thought he was a quiet, humble player. it was funny to see him get up and talk smack in the defenders face!

He usually is a quiet player. In the post game presser he said the Rams corners were very "chatty", so he gave them a dose of their own medicine. lol

Anquan is a MAN amongst these boys.