St. Louis Rams week 6 coaches film analysis

Originally posted by Giedi:

Go look up the NY Giants and the stats before Lawrence and after Lawrence.

As for the secondary, they didn't hit their peak until 1984, when the entire backfield were pro-bowlers. Yes they were good DB's in 81. but nothing like in 1984. fred dean came in after the 3rd or 4th week, so if he started with the 49ers he probably could have hand more sacks.

Did you watch a single game that season? Two hall of famers one career cut short by injury. They made instant impact with Dwight Hicks. They were the best defensive backfield in the league that year when you factor in run support. Better than the raiders. So, they had something to do with the improved pass defense. And Fred was key too.

Originally posted by Giedi:
Go look up the NY Giants and the stats before Lawrence and after Lawrence.

As for the secondary, they didn't hit their peak until 1984, when the entire backfield were pro-bowlers. Yes they were good DB's in 81. but nothing like in 1984. fred dean came in after the 3rd or 4th week, so if he started with the 49ers he probably could have hand more sacks.

You're right that they hit their peak in '84, but Lott was a first team all pro in his first year of 81. No question that Fred Dean made a huge difference.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Go look up the NY Giants and the stats before Lawrence and after Lawrence.

As for the secondary, they didn't hit their peak until 1984, when the entire backfield were pro-bowlers. Yes they were good DB's in 81. but nothing like in 1984. fred dean came in after the 3rd or 4th week, so if he started with the 49ers he probably could have hand more sacks.

Did you watch a single game that season? Two hall of famers one career cut short by injury. They made instant impact with Dwight Hicks. They were the best defensive backfield in the league that year when you factor in run support. Better than the raiders. So, they had something to do with the improved pass defense. And Fred was key too.

Lose Fred in '82, guess what happened...

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
I have not heard the term "split zone" before. In my experience, the vast majority of zone plays (excluding zone read) feature some means to seal the backside EMOL. Most teams cut him to create the cutback seam. We rarely cut, but will occasionally slide a TE/FB/HB across the formation to provide a wham-type block to stop the flow of the EMOL and create a seam. For whatever reason, the 49ers are the only team that I have seen make the zone a significant component of their run game with no backside seal on the majority of their zone plays. Staley is really good at that backside cut when he does it, Martin sucks at it, and I can't remember seeing Davis do it on a zone play. Hyde has missed the cutback lane a few times (when they do seal the backside), but Frank almost always hits it for a decent chunk of yards (LOVE Frank). Running zone without the cut phase seems to really limit the RB's options, IMO. There is nothing inherent in the play to punish the defense for over-pursuit. Maybe this is part of the HaRoman chess game (rewarding the defense for over-pursuit) and they are setting up a chunk PA pass rolling away from the zone action, but I haven't seen enough successful chunk plays to think that this is the intended purpose behind implementing the zone in this fashion.

I hate this about our play design, I've seen way too many run plays blown up by the unblocked backside defender. You are probably right that leaving the backside defender unblocked is meant to bait him for some kind of rollout play going the other way. I don't feel like it's worth it when we could be getting more consistent yards on the ground by blocking the backside defender instead.

I went back to look at Borland's play and I was impressed with his first live action. He showed an understanding of what Fangio likes to do as well as good instincts in reading the QB's eyes. He was a bit slow in reacting to some things, but that is expected from a rookie that was thrust into action in the middle of a game. Here are four notable plays that I thought displayed good instincts.

Borland #1

STL runs Outside Zone left. Borland is #50


Wilhoite will blitz the A gap to the Center's left shoulder. The RT (#72) gets his foot tangled with the RG (orange).


Because the RT trips over his teammate's foot, he can't get to the second level to block Borland. Wilhoite has shed the Center's outside shoulder (left shoulder) and goes inside towards the center's right shoulder. The RB now sees daylight between the LG and center. Borland doesn't shoot the gap and stays patient.


Borland tracks the RB as the Center collapses Wilhoite inwards.




+3 yards

Borland #2

STL: Sail concept to get a high-low read along the right sideline. Black clears the area for the red (high) and orange (low) routes. Blue is a TE.


As blue crosses Wilhoite's face, Wilhoite gives the 'Under' call to Borland. The 'Under' call means, "there's a guy crossing my face and I'm not going to follow him. You need to be aware of this and cover him when he gets to you". Wilhoite is seen pointing with his left arm.


Borland is seen reacting to the 'Under' call and will match (man cover) blue.


The pass is a little too far in front and falls incomplete.


To be hyper critical, Borland could have taken a better pursuit angle to blue's crossing route once Borland identified what blue was doing. Still, I see the rookie understanding what he's supposed to do.

#3 Borland

Borland's first Pass Defensed.

Borland is the ILB in front of the TE running the crossing route. Borland has the TE in man coverage. Wilhoite will rush, while Lynch (directly in front of the orange route) drops back into coverage.


Borland identifies the crossing route and drives hard towards the TE.


The goal post is kind of blocking the view, but Borland gets his left arm in to knock the pass down.


INC pass

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by Niners816:
Johnny, it's funny you referenced the 1994 squad in your intial post. The 1994 team also had to erase a 14 point hole in its sixth game vs a dome team Hopefully this ram game represents the start of a stretch like steve had post Philly game in 1994 (70% 3200 yards 39 tds 5 ints 124 qb rating in 14 games including playoffs of 1994).

Thinking about it, how crazy are Those's numbers kap had an outstanding game Monday that was a 120 qb rating. Steve did that for a 14 game stretch.

I think The reason for his astoundingly high QB rating is that teams can't do the usual defensive things against a mobile QB. I.e. stunts and dogs, if you don't contain steve he'll run for a 50 yard TD. Go man to man, he'll scramble break contain and gash the defense with his legs.

The potential is there for Colin to do the same thing. I think where Seifert went wrong was simply his inability to draft pass rushers. Fred Dean single handedly made the defense top 3 in the league. The year before, in 1980, they were pretty much dead last. When Seifert got rid of Haley, he effectively lost 3 superbowls with that move.

Not keeping Dion Sanders was pretty big too.... Considering the Cowgirls won the bowl the next year when they got him on their team.

#4 Borland

Game situation: 49ers lead by 10 with 3:30 left in the game.


With only a short checkdown route in front of him, not a big threat at this point in the game, Borland stays in the middle of the field while reading the QB's eyes. The QB is mid windup.


Almost got his first INT.


Pass Defensed #2 of his career.

so this thread has 13 pages, what's the skinny on the replacements? djohnson, bcook, cborland. how did those guys play?

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Not keeping Dion Sanders was pretty big too.... Considering the Cowgirls won the bowl the next year when they got him on their team.

Totally agree, the loss of prime and trestman deciding to take a profile a run and shoot team takes in regards to the run game(pass/ratio was 61/39...I know loville was not Ricky, but we still ave 3.6 ypc vs 3.9 in '94, IMO that's not a big enough falloff to go from 49% run in '94 to 39% in '95) was enough to derail the 1995 squad.

Originally posted by jonnydel:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by Niners816:

Johnny, it's funny you referenced the 1994 squad in your intial post. The 1994 team also had to erase a 14 point hole in its sixth game vs a dome team Hopefully this ram game represents the start of a stretch like steve had post Philly game in 1994 (70% 3200 yards 39 tds 5 ints 124 qb rating in 14 games including playoffs of 1994).

Thinking about it, how crazy are Those's numbers kap had an outstanding game Monday that was a 120 qb rating. Steve did that for a 14 game stretch.

I think The reason for his astoundingly high QB rating is that teams can't do the usual defensive things against a mobile QB. I.e. stunts and dogs, if you don't contain steve he'll run for a 50 yard TD. Go man to man, he'll scramble break contain and gash the defense with his legs.

The potential is there for Colin to do the same thing. I think where Seifert went wrong was simply his inability to draft pass rushers. Fred Dean single handedly made the defense top 3 in the league. The year before, in 1980, they were pretty much dead last. When Seifert got rid of Haley, he effectively lost 3 superbowls with that move.

Not keeping Dion Sanders was pretty big too.... Considering the Cowgirls won the bowl the next year when they got him on their team.

Deion was a big factor on the defensive backfield side. But we had a bunch of aging, but still serviceable pass rushers in 1994 that could put some decent heat on the QB. As much as Deion was a big factor in stopping the pass in '94 - it was still our weakest super bowl defense. Walsh played DE and TE, I think, at College of San mateo. I spoke to a member of the coaching staff there recently, and he mentioned that Walsh's picture was inside the College of San Mateo meeting rooms (or something like that). Point being is that Walsh could pick pass rushers. Seifert never could. He was a DB coach by background.

I think Fangio can get away with lesser talented CB's and DB's because of his unique talent at spotting pass rushers. I'm sure Baalke's defensive background also helps. Point is that between DB and DE, I'll put a premium on a DE 9 times out of 10. Now if you give me the choice between a Ronnie Lott and a Charles Haley, man I'll have a problem deciding. But between a Deion and a Aldon Smith, I'm picking Aldon.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by dj43:
In the OP the idea of offensive leadership is mentioned. (sorry to be so late coming to this thread but this week has been crazy busy) I too see this but I think it is something that is still in the developmental stage. Normally you would expect the QB to be that leader, and CK may in fact turn out to be that leader. So far I don't think he is that leader. QBs carry the biggest burden and have the biggest influence so they naturally tend to be the leader, although that is not always the case.

In the current case, I believe there are multiple factors for the lack of leadership, beginning with what I will call the "Steve Young Effect." Young was following the very successful and popular Joe Montana and the team did not accept him fully although they gave him lip service. Kaepernick is following a popular guy in Alex Smith. All the team recognized how much Smith had overcome in order to succeed and they appreciated and recognized it. Smith clearly did have that mantle when he was concussed. Then along come Kaepernick who has clearly been a work in progress - making some great plays and some great WTFs, often in equal numbers. As a result, it is natural that he would not have that leadership role. Others, like Vernon and Gore led by example but were not the real leaders that set the tone.

This Ram game, though admittedly against a relatively weak team, may have been the beginning of CK setting that tone. The Rams chose to take away the run game and challenged Kaepernick to beat them with his arm. That was a legitimate decision on the part of the Rams as Kaepernick had not had any consistent glowing success in throwing the ball. In this game, he did have that success and the Rams were toast. Yes, the final result was not as clear cut as it should have been but that was not Kaepernick's fault. He did some things very well that he had not being doing so well in the past. If he can perform at a similar level against the Broncos he just may assume that offensive leader role this team needs.

Leadership is critical in any team or organization. You can have a fine group of soldiers but you have to have a good general to survive the tough times. It is natural to have the QB earn that role. Guys like Staley can be great lieutenants in support but if Kaepernick can earn that title, this offense can finally begin to run at a consistent high level.

Just my thoughts...

I agree. The Offense has a good number of high ranking veterans that can control the locker room or regulate the locker room but they don't have a general to guide them and make the calls.

Gore isn't one who will give orders.
Staley and Boone will lash out but will not take on 100% of the responsibility.
Boldin is about the closest we have to being on the highest rung.

They have very good soldiers but need that general.

Or, it could be that we don't know s**t and everyone already is looking to Kap.

NO! That could NEVER be!

On the serious side, I believe the offense WANTS him to be that leader, and he may be getting close. However, I think there is a maturity component that he has not yet hit. I recall Kevin Lynch (Chronicle reporter who follows the team closely) recalling standing next to Joe Staley watching Colin being interviewed after a loss. CK was wearing designer dark glasses and his ever-present Beats and looking cool while giving short, not-very-responsive answers to the reporters who were trying to do their job getting info for the fans. As Kaepernick continued on in this vein, Staley turned to Lynch and said, "If I didn't know Colin as well as I do I would think he is a real a**hole."

So for the sake of discussion, let's assume that Lynch accurately reported the comment. If that is the case, Staley is saying that Kaepernick needs a bit of schooling about how to be "that guy."

A guy can be a very good player but not yet ready to assume the full mantle of both representing and leading the team. I believe that is where Kaepernick is now and it was reflected in jonnydel's comments in the OP. There is still that certain "something" that is missing. Perhaps it is that unflappable Montana cool where he can look up in the stands at a critical moment and point out a celebrity. CK has lost track of the play clock on too many occasions to suggest he is close to that level yet. When those kinds of things happen, teammates naturally are let down. Overthrow an open receiver? Frustrating but it happens to the best on occasion. Take a sack when you might have been able to throw it away? That too happens. Losing track of the play clock? No. That should not happen to the leader of the offense.

This upcoming Denver game will show us a lot about this team and the offense. I hope it is a breakthrough game for Kaepernick. It will be the biggest stage he has been on since the Super Bowl, perhaps even bigger if he envisions himself taking the mantle from Manning.

Originally posted by thl408:

thl408

Very nice rendition. If the 49ers can get ahead and force Denver into being one dimensional, I think Borland *will* get his first interception. Key is if Lynch and Co. can get heat on Old Man Manning. I think they can. They don't have to pocket contain like when they face Russell Midget. So I think Fangio can unleash some overloads, stunts, and dogs to pressure the Old Man. I'm just really surprised that despite Borland's lack of speed, he's such an effective pass defender. I think He'll be even better if the D line brings the heat.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by thl408:

thl408

Very nice rendition. If the 49ers can get ahead and force Denver into being one dimensional, I think Borland *will* get his first interception. Key is if Lynch and Co. can get heat on Old Man Manning. I think they can. They don't have to pocket contain like when they face Russell Midget. So I think Fangio can unleash some overloads, stunts, and dogs to pressure the Old Man. I'm just really surprised that despite Borland's lack of speed, he's such an effective pass defender. I think He'll be even better if the D line brings the heat.

Borland is a football player. He just knows how to play the game. He knows what to expect and that makes up for a lack of Bowman speed. When a guy has that kind of feel for the game, he goes to where the play is going rather than having to chase the play down. It isn't that he is slow. He just doesn't have Bowman/Willis speed.

It doesn't matter what level you play at, if you have made 450 tackles in four years of playing football, you can play the game. I expect him to have a good game against Denver.