49ers Week 2 2016 - Thoughts after rewatching the game...

Originally posted by susweel:
I agree with everything except that Mcdonald's drop was a pretty basic catch, it may have been difficult for him considering his history but most good NFL TE's make that catch with ease.

Thats fair...just saying' it wasn't in the bread basket. It would have been a difficult catch but its a difficult catch he should have been able to make.

The worst part about the way Gabbert has been playing is it seems like his performance is just enough to keep the job.

You are so right Marvin. When I was at the game, I looked over at my dad and told him, Carolina is run blitzing and keying in on specifically Hyde every play, if Gabbert just tucks and goes then there is yards to be had. That was validated when he walked into the end zone. I meant to post that in my recap yesterday and I'm glad somebody else saw this.


When the defense continues to key in on the running back like that, you've got to make them pay for it during the zone read. That would have probably been the difference with Kap yesterday is its questionable if the throws would have been better but Kap probably takes those open runs. If Gabbert continues to play inconsistent like he is, I think we will find out if Kap makes those throws in this offense sooner than later.

Originally posted by bzborow1:
- Marcus Martin starting over Garnett is a huge red flag for the 1st round pick. Is he not strong enough or just stupid?
- It's really interesting to see Buckner on the field as much as he is. Is the team desperate or is he really going to be a good one?
- Gabbert's problem seems to be that the game isn't slowing down for him. He feels rushed in the pocket all the time and it's causing him to make mistakes. Perhaps a few more games behind this offensive line and he might develop some patience back there because he does a lot of good things.
- I really would like to see what Colin can do behind this offensive line because the last few years had him playing behind some of the worst offensive lines I can remember.

I think I can say with certainty that its neither of those. He was premed from Stanford and he was one of the strongest guards in the nation.

Originally posted by Koldo:
Spot on analysis.

Pass protection has been superb. I mean, one sack in two games against two of the most ferocious D-lines?

That's outstanding.

This. One more tough task this weekend at Seattle but when I first saw the schedule, I thought whoever our starting QB was would be killed by the end of week 3 but he has barely been sniffed! OL has been absolutely amazing

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by susweel:
I agree with everything except that Mcdonald's drop was a pretty basic catch, it may have been difficult for him considering his history but most good NFL TE's make that catch with ease.

Didn't' he drop a similar pass vs Carolina a few years ago.

Probably, Nov. 2013 game at Candlestick.. prior to last season, he had major issues with drops. He is improving though, hope to see that continue rest of this year.

Gabbert will be gabbert..end of story..

Re Gabbert and the run game.

There are some things that I think people are really over zealous to throw Gabbert under the bus for already in a very young season but this is not one of them. I saw the same thing time and again in this game. You cannot run the read option if the QB never takes the option. He was getting our backs lit up behind the line because there was zero need to even consider he would keep it. We either have to take it out of the playbook or change to Kap for it to work because if Gab is scared to run it there is no point.

Originally posted by a49erfan77:
The worst part about the way Gabbert has been playing is it seems like his performance is just enough to keep the job.

I have said before, it hasn't been bad enough to test the unknown quantity that is Kap right now. Until the PPG slide below around 28 and/or the team slides a decent amount below .500 we are not going to switch horses midstream.

Good takes as usual. Agree with your thoughts on how Gabbert was average to bad on most some throws save for a couple very nice throws. I think you are a bit harsh on Gabbert and how he messed up the running game with his choices to handoff. You mentioned the two plays to Draughn. Gabbert had no room to run up the middle which is where the QB is supposed to run on these two plays since it's the DT that is being read. On the first Draughn run, Short knocks Kilgore off balance and blows the entire thing up. Gabbert keeping the ball would have made no difference with two LBs waiting for him.

On the second Draughn run, I have no idea why Beadles blocked the defender in front of him because he was not supposed to - that was the read defender. Had Gabbert kept the ball he had an unblocked LB waiting for him in the hole.

Originally posted by Jamespowers:

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by susweel:
I agree with everything except that Mcdonald's drop was a pretty basic catch, it may have been difficult for him considering his history but most good NFL TE's make that catch with ease.

Didn't' he drop a similar pass vs Carolina a few years ago.

Probably, Nov. 2013 game at Candlestick.. prior to last season, he had major issues with drops. He is improving though, hope to see that continue rest of this year.

I recalled that being more of a great coverage play by Kuechly

Good points Marvin

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Well that was predictable.

1) Gabbert: ...................................

Gabbert is hurting them with inaccuracy, rushing through his progressions and not letting plays develop, and what REALLY stood out to me is that he's even killing the run game.

What looked really clear to me though was that Chips scheme was working. The plays were there to be made. Gabbert had time (more on that later) and guys were open. Gabbert simply couldn't deliver the ball.

Totally agree. You touched on Gabbert's decision making on those zone-reads, but it's also his inaccuracy throwing downfield that has ripple effects on the run game. The lack of success on the ground is just a symptom of a passing attack that scares no one. Hyde is a baller and the o-line is very good, but often in the run game it comes down to numbers. If the defense can stack 9 in the box, they have a numbers advantage every time. You have to be able to get them to back off.

2) O-Line: Lost in the madness is just how damn good the O-Line played yesterday in Pass Protection. Say what you want about Gabberts performance, but it wasn't because he was under pressure all day. The only tie they game up a sack was when...wait for it....Marcus Martin subbed into the game. This is another reason I'd like to see what Kap can do. If they can protect him, maybe Kap can push the ball down the field like he did in 2012. Dunno if it would work but I'd like to see them try.

Probably the most exciting development from the first 2 games has been the o-line in pass protection. They look fantastic in this regard, Gabbert has had clean pockets to throw from on the vast majority of dropbacks.

7) Defense in General vs Kelly Scheme: So...we've all heard about how Chips scheme puts the D on the field too long because they run fast and don't burn any clock. Well that wasn't an excuse yesterday. Chip was using his scheme for sure but he wasn't running NEARLY as fast as he likes to. He knew the conditions were going to be a problem and ADJUSTED. What killed that D were the conditions and the O being unable to sustain drives. If you burn every second of time off the play clock between plays but can't stay on the field, the D is gonna tire. There are a lot of nice pieces on that side of the ball. Cam Newton was the MVP last year for a reason.

Absolutely. Chip's scheme is working well. There are opportunities in the run and pass game, it's a matter of having the players at skills positions to make plays. It starts with the QB, and when he's 5/16 throwing 10+ yards downfield, even with excellent pass protection, there's a big problem.

8) Run Game: So I've already gone over what IMO is Gabberts role in the poor run game. The other aspect was Those monster DTs and LBs just blowing up the entire middle of the line. Some of that is to be expected as even though they game up some yards vs Denver, thats more of an aberration than the norm. The other guys get paid too and the Niners open the season with a murderers row of front 7s in the Rams, Panthers, and 'hawks. I would though like to see Garnett in there for Beadles. more power up front.

Agree, I'd like to see Garnett in for Beadles eventually. I feel like Beadles is the weak link on the line, and we need more pop in the middle.

Gabby keeping it wouldn't have made a diff, carolina was playing so close to the LOS against our zero threat predictable play calling they would've tackled gabby if he kept it pretty fast.

the real issue is chip's scheme..it's the same nonsense from philadelphia, its been figured out and he's still doing the exact same things, i really thought he'd change something here in act 2 but so far its the same nonsense which leads to an amazing amount of 3 and outs cuz it's diagnosed pre-snap

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Gonna disagree big.

1) They got the ball with a short field twice and that accounts for 10 of those points.
2) The TD to McDonald was nice but was mostly RAC by McDonald.
3) The pass to Torrey was very nice which I acknowledged.

Thats 24 of the 27 points.

Before McDonalds TD I saw a tweet that said all of SFs scoring drives had covered a total of 60 yards or so.

Hyde? I mentioned last week that I thought he needed to hit the hole sometimes and not constantly try to cut it back. It was tough sledding though in the middle of the line. Those Tackles a LBs are crazy good.

1) and that is Gabbert's fault because???
2) and that is Gabbert's fault because ???

I agree that Gabbert has to be more consistent with his accuracy, especially on those quick throws to the sideline, which have been terrible, but I thought he ran the offense pretty well in the first half. As I noted in another post he was hurt by some drops, especially the one by MacDonald which I don't think was a tough catch at all. If MacDonald makes that catch he has a chance to score or at least pick up some good yardage. Instead the drop leads them to another third and long where Gabbert has to try and get it beyond the sticks and ends up being picked.

The second pick didn't bother me either as the game was already lost at the point and Gabbert was just trying to make a play. Not saying he played great by any means but he's helped the team put up 27.5 points a game which is certainly an improvement over last year.

Agree that the pass protection has been outstanding. Running game needs to be more consistent though but they were up against a pretty darn good defense so I will continue to take a wait and see attitude on that. Would have to rewatch the game to see your points about Gabbert missing out on some available yards but I certainly don't think it has to do with a lack of willingness on his part. I seem to recall Kelly saying last week that he didn't want his QB to take so many hits when he was running which may have factored into some of those decisions.

Defense got torched but again, there is a reason Carolina went 15-1 last year, or was it 14-2, I can't remember, and with Kelvin Benjamin back they are going to be even a tougher out. The lack of a pass rush still seems to be the biggest problem for the Niners. I really thought they would be better at it this year. Maybe when Lynch comes back.

Have a tough game against Seattle at the Link but Russell is hobbling and Rawls looks like he's going to be out but they should be competitive against Dallas. If they come out of this stretch at 2-2 I think that would be a pretty good result.

Pretty much full agree. And on point #6, if I could 1000% agree with you, I would. But yes, ABSOLUTELY questioning that move as well. I'm sorry, but Martin needs to stay only a backup at center. Garnett, in my opinion, is better in every facet of blocking than Martin.

Quite frankly, I think Martin should've just been cut outright and let Beadles serve as an emergency center.