49ers DEAD LAST in NFL in Receptions by Tail Backs (by a wide margin)

oh my god who gives a s**t

12-4 3rd straight nfcc appearance...

That would require atouch pass......

I think we need our qb to spread the ball around a lot more to beat Seattle. Intermediate passes, play actions and screens keep them honest and on the field. While Kaeps 50 yard runs are sexy they don't wear down a D.

I would rather our D has three and outs and stays off the field than our O having three and outs and staying off the field... Dumpoffs to rbs move the chains. That 4 the and 2 was a great play and it seemed like frank was the first option on that play too

Originally posted by maxsmart:
49ers had a TOTAL of 23 passes completed to the running backs the entire year (2013)! Dead LAST in the entire NFL!!!! Gore had 16 catches, Hunter had 2 and LMJ had 2 all year! WTF? Roger Craig averaged ~80 catches for 5 years in a row. Several RB's had over 70 catches in 2013. Not throwing to the RB's is bizarre since it's one of the easiest completions, gives the QB and RB's confidence, keeps the defense honest, was the mainstay of Walsh's offense (which supposedly Harbaugh studied intensely), yet the 49ers were DEAD LAST in the NFL in pass completions to RB's!!!! That is insane, because these passes are easy, safe, keep the chains moving, pulls in the safety and opens up deeper passes. Also a little flare to Hunter or LMJ has a very high completion rate and the potential for a big play, yet they only had 2 catches all year!

Is the problem Harbaugh, Roman, or Kap?

no use in crying about it man, what are you going to do about it? obviously anyone would agree its something to improve, and watch, it will. im just saying, not a topic for interesting conversation n debate. how can you know the source of the problem without being on the inside? i dont think anyone thinks this was a reason we failed to beat the seahawks, and we woulda beat the broncos even if colt mccoy played all game .besides, kaep excels at downfield throws which benefit from rb's left in to block, but any rational person would agree this area should improve. out of curiosity which team was the 2nd worst & how many did they have? im not gonna google it

Stop focusing on stats and your brain might not explode.

Originally posted by 9ers:

Now if you want to have a discussion regarding the lack of screen plays, then we have something to talk about.

Yes I'm referring to the lack of almost any passes to the RBs = no screens, no flares, check-down dump-offs, etc

Originally posted by maxsmart:

Originally posted by 9ers:
Now if you want to have a discussion regarding the lack of screen plays, then we have something to talk about.

Yes I'm referring to the lack of almost any passes to the RBs = no screens, no flares, check-down dump-offs, etc

checkdown dumpoffs could be explained by Kaep's running ability, why check it down to a rb when I can probably run for more..he might be thinking that, as i would

Originally posted by BayAreaNinersFan:

no use in crying about it man, what are you going to do about it? obviously anyone would agree its something to improve, and watch, it will. im just saying, not a topic for interesting conversation n debate.

I'm sorry you don't find it interesting, but the reason good teams win is because they debate how to maximize their talent. Walsh won because he out-thought the other coaches

Originally posted by est1985:

Stop focusing on stats and your brain might not explode.

Probably good advice, just sit back and stop thinking, so with that I bid you adieu

Originally posted by DonnieDarko:
oh my god who gives a s**t

12-4 3rd straight nfcc appearance...

That's all about to change w lattimore. Great hands..

Originally posted by joshuatree:

Originally posted by matthewabbit:
That would require a touch pass......

When you have a guy who does one read, stares at Crabtree and never looks for a checkdown that is bound to happen.

Seems like a topic that could be analysed.
The problem is that, towards the end of the year, our running game got stuffed.

Opposing defenses (are there any other kind?) overloaded the line keying on Gore (only hb's get the ball in our offense).

If we ran, they smothered him; if we passed we often called a long developing (7-step or multi step roll out) pass, so they had a good chance of disrupting that too.

Would more passing out of the backfield help get those defenders off the line? Why not set up Frank 1v1 on a linebacker, where he excels?

Seems like a part of our playbook we should consider.

The problem is our QB doesn't go through reads and progressions yet. Hopefully he develops that ability. It also wouldn't hurt if we were a better screen team but we are the worst in the league at running screens as well. Not only are these easy completions and help move the chains but they have the potential to be big plays with our RB's who can make people miss.

The ability to throw to RB's would be big for us. Especially when we are having a tough time running the ball like when we play Seattle.

How many passes did Bruce Miller catch before he got hurt? He had typically been the receiving threat out of the backfield.

This is a product of the offensive system. We've been dead last in RB receptions the last 3 years.

33 in 2011
40 in 2012
23 in 2013

This offense does not involve the RBs in the passing game for some odd reason.