Analysis from Seahawks Game coaches film

Originally posted by jonnydel:


Here the niners used play action to suck the linebackers up, the Seachickens were in man cover-1, meaning they were playing man coverage with a single high safety over the top. When Kap turns around he looks toward Crabtree who is running a shallow comeback with Boldin running a Hitch from the slot. Cam Chancellor is playing with outside leverage on Davis. When Kap turns around He see's the man coverage on Crabtree.



Kaep keeps looking Crabs way, looking for him to uncover, Thomas-the high safety, jumps on the inside of Boldin with #40 playing man on the outside of Boldin, essentially double teaming Anquan. Sherman had a flat foot cover on Crabs - meaning he didn't backpeddle much on Crabtree looking to jump the comback.
Kaep has room to step up in the pocket(highlighted with the O) the line did a great job. When he saw the man coverage read he should've automatically moved to Vernon knowing Vernon was running a Deep In(or DIG) route with the safety playing outside. You can see the seperation Vernon gets on Chancellor.



Finally, you see Kaep didn't step up into the pocket, instead, he scrambles out right and throws to Crabs(who did make a spectacular 4 yd catch) It was the play that looked like Crabs may have not gotten his 2nd foot in bounds but Seattle never challenged.) As you can see Vernon is wide open if Kaep moves through his progression and recognizes the outside leverage pre-snap. It was a 4 yd gain but could've been a 12-plus yd gain.

Kaepernick was later intercepted on this drive(which I will show next), He missed a couple plays like this in the game. Could've been a bigger win for us. But still a good win nonetheless and Kaep did play a pretty good game.

good break down but you forget one key element

kap can't thrown a touch pass over the LB's head so Vernon really is not wide open

The MLB is baiting Kap to throw it in the middle of the field
If kap throws his fast ball down the middle all the LB has to do is back up two steps and pick it off or knock it down

The MLB was the kap spy on that play and doesn't move until kap does

^^^ Agreed on that point.

In any case though, GREAT, GREAT thread!

Awesome jonnydel.

Watched the Luke Wilson TD three or four times, but from the broadcast angle, where we couldn't see Reid and it looked like Willis was simply caught peeking in the backfield. Something looked off about that narrative though, and this explained it.

Originally posted by PopeyeJonesing:
^^^ Agreed on that point.

In any case though, GREAT, GREAT thread!

Awesome jonnydel.

Watched the Luke Wilson TD three or four times, but from the broadcast angle, where we couldn't see Reid and it looked like Willis was simply caught peeking in the backfield. Something looked off about that narrative though, and this explained it.

this

great example of how one person in the wrong spot can be huge

Originally posted by jonnydel:

I'm off to bed now, will check this thread in the morning. If there are any games you guys want taken a look at first I'll jump to those. If not I'll probably go back to week 2 against Seattle to see what was different about our defense and offensive gameplans tomorrow.

Whatever u do know u are missing your calling. Also, I would chip in if u need funds to pay for game film next year!!!

Originally posted by SoCold:
good break down but you forget one key element

kap can't thrown a touch pass over the LB's head so Vernon really is not wide open

The MLB is baiting Kap to throw it in the middle of the field
If kap throws his fast ball down the middle all the LB has to do is back up two steps and pick it off or knock it down

The MLB was the kap spy on that play and doesn't move until kap does

I do respectfully dissagree, if Kaep makes the right read, he'll throw the ball when Vernon just makes his break(the optimum time when the defender is trying to adjust) where he has a lane, the LB is too close to the line to react that quickly to a Kaep fastball.

Good Stuff Jonnydel! I have not been impressed with Roman as an offensive coordinator. Your examples show that Kaepernick is doing a good job of late and Roman probably deserves some credit as well. What has made me mad about Roman is they like to run on the first play or second play. If they pass on play 1 then they run on play two or the reverse order which makes things predictable for a defense. Second thing is they do not throw 3 or 4 plays consecutive to get Kaerpnick in a rhythm the way the 49ers in the glory years would do to get the Qb going.

Can you look at film from last years ram games and see how the Rams were able to defend the 49ers offense with great success?

Originally posted by Buchy:

Originally posted by jreff22:
The chicken and egg argument...

Do you think the WR primary read "design" is done because Roman cant scheme or because Kap isn't there yet with his pre/post snap reads and progressions?

I have argued its mental with Kap and its done to help him focus on a single target because he cant fully scan yet (on a consistent basis)?

Dude jonnydel has posted multiple examples of Kap making reads and progressions in this thread, as many of us have been saying for Kap to go through progressions we need targets for him to progress through. He's still developing though!

I don't think it is coincidence that with Crabs back in the Rams and Seahawks game there's more examples of read progression because there are more targets to read. Also, the Oline pass blocking has improved though it's still not regularly great.

And excellent thread jonnydel, thanks you very much for your time and effort it's been a pleasure to read.

Understand that every play has a designed "primary" read. If you've ever seen the "america's game" on the 94 super bowl winning 49ers; Steve Young talked about how, before every game Shanahan would sit down at Young's locker and go through the gameplan plays that week. Young would recite the play and what the read was. In the super bowl it was 300 plays with their reads that he recited from memory twice before the super bowl.

For example: I showed a 22 yd gain to Boldin in the Rams game. It was a flood route combo on the left side. A flood route combo has the outside receiver running a streak, a deep out and a short flat route. It's best against cover 3, or cover 2 zone but doesn't work as well against man or quarters coverage. If the defense is in cover 3 or cover 2 zone it's a 3 on 2 advantage for the offense. you're "flooding" an area with receivers and the defense has to pick their poison on who they're going to guard. The streak will pull the corner in a cover 3 or the safety in a cover 2 out, then the remaining defender(usually a LB or slot corner with flat/hook to curl responsibility) is the read. You look at the flat defender - does he drop hi or low. Wherever he doesn't go, that's where the throw is. It makes the read easier for the QB(not necessarily a remedial type of play, all teams do this kind of stuff). I'll show the development of the play again below, but, you can see Vernon Davis is wide open in the flat because the tampa 2 coverage - the hook/curl zone defender follows the deep out leaving Vernon wide open in the flat. Kaep though, does a good job recognizing the backside safety has dropped too far into coverage to jump on the DIG that Boldin runs. He keeps his head down the middle of the field so that it keeps the safeties in the middle of the field backpedaling.

Originally posted by thl408:
Here's the stop on 3rd and 8 in the 4th quarter to keep the game within a FG.
Below:
SEA: 11 personnel vs 49er nickel (cover1 man, zone under)

The 49ers fake a cover2 look, but Whitner will crash down to take away the curl/slant. This allows Brock to play outside leverage with confidence. Bowman is the ILB (red square). Rogers (slot) and Wright are playing over the top, guarding the first down marker. If the two WRs cross each other, the cushion is to allow a switch in assignment. This prevents a pick play on the CB.

Below: It's playaction, done to give Bowman a false step.

Below: RW has completed his dropback and is ready to pull the trigger on the first read, the skinny post. With the CB Rogers playing outside leverage, this route will win as it breaks inside. RW has to place this throw over Bow, in front of Reid. Bowman has not bit hard enough on the play fake and knows what's going on. He quickly recovers to his curl zone while letting RW know that Bow's eyes are watching him. It's important to not turn his head as a QB can throw it over him if he does. Bow gets in the passing lane and defends the skinny post.

Below: RW's view, same moment in time as above pic (sort of). The skinny post is not there. Notice Brooks (usual spot), he displays discipline and stays in control, with his eyes on RW, preventing a scramble right. Justin and RayMac have done a bad thing and are right next to each other. Here, RayMac has recognized it and will rollover to get back in the proper rush lanes for pocket contain. RayMac will switch sides with Justin.

Below: RW's next read is the out. Wright was jumping any short route and had already jumped the fake slant. When the WR came out of the slant to the out route, he slipped. With both reads to the play side covered, Aldon picks a fine time to make an entrance into RW's peripheral. Aldon is being held and grabbed onto the ground, but still forces RW to pull the ball down. Brooks has held pocket contain on the right. RayMac is about to re-organize the middle, this ends up being a big deal as he becomes the guy in RWs face.


Bowman seems to take some super fast steps to recover and take away the passing lane. Brooks, Aldon, RayMac all did well. Then RW finally throws it to the WR that Brock is defending and we saw on the telecast what happens.


RayMac bothers RW enough that he can't set and plant to throw to the skinny post WR who is now open along the back of the endzone.

thanks for the breakdown!

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by SoCold:
good break down but you forget one key element

kap can't thrown a touch pass over the LB's head so Vernon really is not wide open

The MLB is baiting Kap to throw it in the middle of the field
If kap throws his fast ball down the middle all the LB has to do is back up two steps and pick it off or knock it down

The MLB was the kap spy on that play and doesn't move until kap does

I do respectfully dissagree, if Kaep makes the right read, he'll throw the ball when Vernon just makes his break(the optimum time when the defender is trying to adjust) where he has a lane, the LB is too close to the line to react that quickly to a Kaep fastball.

i was more poking fun at kaps lack of touch pass

do you know if that play is one of the pics on the first page of this thread? I'd like to know if Davis was supposed to run a cross or comeback on that play

looks like a comeback that he turns into a cross cause kap starts rolling

if it was a comeback kap should have had the ball out and it would have been a nice gain

Originally posted by GORO:
Good Stuff Jonnydel! I have not been impressed with Roman as an offensive coordinator. Your examples show that Kaepernick is doing a good job of late and Roman probably deserves some credit as well. What has made me mad about Roman is they like to run on the first play or second play. If they pass on play 1 then they run on play two or the reverse order which makes things predictable for a defense. Second thing is they do not throw 3 or 4 plays consecutive to get Kaerpnick in a rhythm the way the 49ers in the glory years would do to get the Qb going.

Can you look at film from last years ram games and see how the Rams were able to defend the 49ers offense with great success?

I'll give it a gander.

I know it can seem predictable that they run a lot of first down but remember, the defense is going to be in base coverage 90% of the time on 1st down. Meaning they're going to have 7 men in coverage an almost every 1st down. That makes it much more difficult to throw the ball, if you have an incomplete pass or even a sack on first down you're looking at the very real possibility of a 3 and out with the clock stopping. 2nd and 10, you're running options are almost gone and 3rd and long you have to pass. We probably run the ball on first down 70% of the time(I'd have to do some painstaking analysis to get the exact numbers, i'm sure you can find it online somehwere) but it keeps the defense honest. We are a run-first team. We throw it on first down sometimes, only to back the defense off a little, and really the only way to back teh defense off a little is to complete the pass. Just calling a pass play doesn't soften up the defense. If the pass is incomplete the defense knows they played well and they aren't going to adjust. Kaep is getting better and going through his progressions but, I have highlighted some of his better plays. There's quite a few plays where his mechanics and decision making are still off leading to incompletions. I'll work on showing some of those.

Originally posted by SoCold:

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by SoCold:
good break down but you forget one key element

kap can't thrown a touch pass over the LB's head so Vernon really is not wide open

The MLB is baiting Kap to throw it in the middle of the field
If kap throws his fast ball down the middle all the LB has to do is back up two steps and pick it off or knock it down

The MLB was the kap spy on that play and doesn't move until kap does

I do respectfully dissagree, if Kaep makes the right read, he'll throw the ball when Vernon just makes his break(the optimum time when the defender is trying to adjust) where he has a lane, the LB is too close to the line to react that quickly to a Kaep fastball.

i was more poking fun at kaps lack of touch pass

do you know if that play is one of the pics on the first page of this thread? I'd like to know if Davis was supposed to run a cross or comeback on that play

looks like a comeback that he turns into a cross cause kap starts rolling

if it was a comeback kap should have had the ball out and it would have been a nice gain

It is on the first page. It was a medium in route(in my high school system we called it a 5 route) it's 12 yards out and cut in back to 11 yds, straight across the field.

Originally posted by birdie2bogey:

Originally posted by thl408:
Here's the stop on 3rd and 8 in the 4th quarter to keep the game within a FG.
Below:
SEA: 11 personnel vs 49er nickel (cover1 man, zone under)

The 49ers fake a cover2 look, but Whitner will crash down to take away the curl/slant. This allows Brock to play outside leverage with confidence. Bowman is the ILB (red square). Rogers (slot) and Wright are playing over the top, guarding the first down marker. If the two WRs cross each other, the cushion is to allow a switch in assignment. This prevents a pick play on the CB.

Below: It's playaction, done to give Bowman a false step.

Below: RW has completed his dropback and is ready to pull the trigger on the first read, the skinny post. With the CB Rogers playing outside leverage, this route will win as it breaks inside. RW has to place this throw over Bow, in front of Reid. Bowman has not bit hard enough on the play fake and knows what's going on. He quickly recovers to his curl zone while letting RW know that Bow's eyes are watching him. It's important to not turn his head as a QB can throw it over him if he does. Bow gets in the passing lane and defends the skinny post.

Below: RW's view, same moment in time as above pic (sort of). The skinny post is not there. Notice Brooks (usual spot), he displays discipline and stays in control, with his eyes on RW, preventing a scramble right. Justin and RayMac have done a bad thing and are right next to each other. Here, RayMac has recognized it and will rollover to get back in the proper rush lanes for pocket contain. RayMac will switch sides with Justin.

Below: RW's next read is the out. Wright was jumping any short route and had already jumped the fake slant. When the WR came out of the slant to the out route, he slipped. With both reads to the play side covered, Aldon picks a fine time to make an entrance into RW's peripheral. Aldon is being held and grabbed onto the ground, but still forces RW to pull the ball down. Brooks has held pocket contain on the right. RayMac is about to re-organize the middle, this ends up being a big deal as he becomes the guy in RWs face.


Bowman seems to take some super fast steps to recover and take away the passing lane. Brooks, Aldon, RayMac all did well. Then RW finally throws it to the WR that Brock is defending and we saw on the telecast what happens.


RayMac bothers RW enough that he can't set and plant to throw to the skinny post WR who is now open along the back of the endzone.

thanks for the breakdown!

good breakdown. The niners defense gave this pre-snap look all day. It's actually closer to a quarters(cover 4) look. With the corners backed off it gives them every option available from a coverage standpoint. They can stay in cover 4, they can go cover 3, they can go cover 2(soft, short or tampa) or cover 1 man to man with a lurk. They're actually going cover 3 here and they play it very well. Bowman keeps his head on a swivel looking for a receiver in his area, Whitner drops down but stays close to the action instead of just bailing out to the flat cause that's the design. Brock does an excellent job in his technique, knowing he has inside help and keeps his hips in position. The biggest thing they do is what makes them such a good defense; they keep everything in front of them.

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by SoCold:

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by SoCold:
good break down but you forget one key element

kap can't thrown a touch pass over the LB's head so Vernon really is not wide open

The MLB is baiting Kap to throw it in the middle of the field
If kap throws his fast ball down the middle all the LB has to do is back up two steps and pick it off or knock it down

The MLB was the kap spy on that play and doesn't move until kap does

I do respectfully dissagree, if Kaep makes the right read, he'll throw the ball when Vernon just makes his break(the optimum time when the defender is trying to adjust) where he has a lane, the LB is too close to the line to react that quickly to a Kaep fastball.

i was more poking fun at kaps lack of touch pass

do you know if that play is one of the pics on the first page of this thread? I'd like to know if Davis was supposed to run a cross or comeback on that play

looks like a comeback that he turns into a cross cause kap starts rolling

if it was a comeback kap should have had the ball out and it would have been a nice gain

It is on the first page. It was a medium in route(in my high school system we called it a 5 route) it's 12 yards out and cut in back to 11 yds, straight across the field.

the little pics with the patterns
what number is it?

Originally posted by SoCold:

Originally posted by PopeyeJonesing:
^^^ Agreed on that point.

In any case though, GREAT, GREAT thread!

Awesome jonnydel.

Watched the Luke Wilson TD three or four times, but from the broadcast angle, where we couldn't see Reid and it looked like Willis was simply caught peeking in the backfield. Something looked off about that narrative though, and this explained it.

this

great example of how one person in the wrong spot can be huge

It was so frustrating with the broadcast view of this play - when I rewatched the game (DVR), I kept trying to spot the safeties to see what they were doing. I thought Willis had gotten burned, but it sure seemed like one of the safeties should have been somewhere near the play. I kinda bugged me that I couldn't tell what they were doing, so I really appreciate this analysis.

Like everyone else, I thank you very much. Great stuff.

Thanks for the analysis! I too thought Willis was the culprit on that play. Good news is that this is stuff that's correctable. We're not known for giving up too many big plays.