Passing game - play by play v Dallas | Page 3

dj43 · 2016-10-03T12:00:41-07:00

This was a much more enjoyable task to review this game than last week. Here are the passing plays with my comments at the bottom. Yd line - down/distance - result O41 - 2/6 - 5 yard completion to Burgridge. Nice to see AB getting some run. His size and strength have been lacking. D49 - 2/12 - inc to Patton along right sideline, ball knocked away by DB. Patton's timing was altered somewhat by incidental contact with Dallas DB covering another 49er on crossing route. D36 - 2/10 - 3 yd completion along left sideline to Celek who went down very easily by a one-arm tackle by DB. Had he been able to run through that tackle he would have had another 4-6 yards. Good throw on type of pass Gabbert has struggled on in the past. D33 - 3/7 - 15 yd strike to Kerley RAC the remaining 18 yds for TD. Gabbert waited for Kerley to clear and threw a good ball. Good drive. ____ O25 - 2/9 - inc along left sideline to Patton who was well covered. Ball was high but there was little chance Patton could have made catch due to coverage. 025 - 3/9 - 13 yd completion to Celek. Good route. Good throw. D48 - 1/10 - 8 yd pass with 20 yds RAC by Celek. Deeper routes cleared zone for Celek. Gabbert waited for Celek to clear and hit him in stride. D29 - 2/12 - 17 yd completion to Kerley. GREAT throw into tiny window. Good catch by Kerley. (Hyde ultimately scores TD.) ___ O13 - 2/7? - Brown allows immediate pressure between guard and tackle and Gabbert is sacked for 7 yard loss. No "hot" receiver visible. O14 - 3/13 - 3 yd completion to Draughn in right flat. No other receivers open. ___ O33 - 3/3 - Inc to Kerley short right. Dallas DB gets away with hold on Kerley to prevent him from coming back to the ball. Bigger receiver might have fought free but Kerley is not that guy. ___ D44 - 1/10 - 14 yd throw to Celek with 14 yd RAC. Incredible one-handed catch on ball that could not have been more expertly placed. Aikman raved about it. D18 - 3/4 - Inc. intended for Burbridge. Ball bounced short of Burbridge who was short of LTG. First bad pass of the game for Gabbert. FG. ___ O23 - 3/7- 4 yd completion to Hyde. No open receivers. ___ O22 - 1/10 - 6 yd completion to Kerley on rt sideline. First look. All receivers run short of LTG. O44 - 3/3 - Inc. 18 yd throw to Kerley knocked away on good play be DB. "No separation and no other targets open," Aikman. Just as Gabbert released ball it appeared Smith might have been getting behind DB but was not open earlier. ___ O45 - 1/10 - INT by Claiborne on under thrown ball. Worst pass of an otherwise good day for Gabbert. ___ O25 - 1/10 - 9 yd completion to Celek on rt sideline. Smith was also open on opposite sideline for what might have been a 12 yd completion. O35 - 2/? - 6 yd completion to Kerley who makes a great catch on ball thrown low and away from DB. O41 - 1/10 - 18 yd completion to Kerley who goes to knees to make the catch. A higher throw would have allowed Kerley to stay on his feet for RAC. D40 2/1 5 yd completion to Kerley who came back to make catch. Higher throw might have gained 2-3 more yards however it also might have allowed DB to make play to defend it. Kerley did not have separation laterally. Come back allowed him to make easy catch. D36 - 4/6 - Staley gives up a rare quick hurry forcing Gabbert to roll rt, eventually throwing incomplete to end game. Had Staley been able to force rusher wide Gabbert would have had 10+ plus yards to run up the middle or possibly find an open receiver. SUMMARY: A bitter sweet game. By far Gabbert's best performance as a 49er. Unfortunately it will also be remembered for the under throw pick by Claiborne. Gabbert made some incredible throws and receivers made some great catches. The routes were deeper in this game and receivers were getting more open than in the past, albeit against a weaker secondary than the past two games. OL was giving excellent protection and Gabbert was showing the patience we have all hoped he would show. 3rd down conversions were a very pleasant surprise both in the passing game and Gabbert's running. Gabbert's running results were a mixed bag. Some good runs for good gains, particularly on 3rd down runs. He also was tackled for little or no gain on several plays where he kept the ball instead of handing off. Dallas had obviously scouted the Seattle game and was doing a good job taking away the handoff as well as the keep. Kelly kept forcing the issue in hopes of opening the middle for Hyde runs. It did seem to be working but Dallas was well prepared and held gains to a minimum. Lack of speed did not seem to be the issue with turning the corner as Gabbert has excellent speed. Dallas just had it well defended. All of which only points to the fact that until the defense improves, the margin for error with this team remains razor thin. With Bowman now out, that margin will be even thinner. Hopefully the defense will rally around and improve. We will have to wait and see.

Oct 3, 2016 at 11:09 PM

#31

dj43
Moderator
Posts: 38,336

Originally posted by bzborow1:
I actually thought Gabbert was playing well for a majority of the game. There were a few times where he made the correct reads and found the guy but he was completely covered by the defender. He also made one throw to Celek that had me going there that maybe he's turning a corner. But then there was the Torrey Smith thing.......

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000714054/Blaine-Gabbert-threads-it-to-Garrett-Celek-for-29-yards

I don't know. Blaine is frustrating because he's just
not consistent enough for my liking and he doesn't have the big play capability where he can get away with some head scratchers.

We all know that the 49ers need to utilize Torrey Smith more. Even if it is just a choice to toss one long and hope Smith can catch up to it, it needs to be done to open up the under neath stuff. (Of course, Gabbert needs to make sure that it is too long rather than too short.)

Players can practice things but until they get game reps, those things do not become a part of their repertoire. So if the Gabbert/Smith connection is to EVER become effective, it has to get some use. Kelly needs to tell Gabbert to just chuck one down there and let Smith try to catch up with it. Gabbert has the arm. He just needs to use it. Game reps are the only thing that will build consistency and consistency builds confidence.

Oct 4, 2016 at 7:20 AM

#32

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by bzborow1:
I actually thought Gabbert was playing well for a majority of the game. There were a few times where he made the correct reads and found the guy but he was completely covered by the defender. He also made one throw to Celek that had me going there that maybe he's turning a corner. But then there was the Torrey Smith thing.......

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000714054/Blaine-Gabbert-threads-it-to-Garrett-Celek-for-29-yards

I don't know. Blaine is frustrating because he's just
not consistent enough for my liking and he doesn't have the big play capability where he can get away with some head scratchers.

This is pretty much how I feel. I could care less about Gabbert's or Kaepernick's past; all we can evaluate are these individual games with whomever is the QB. I thought Blaine had a nice game especially in context. But like you said, he's got the tools but just isn't consistent; really nice first half followed by a sub-par second, dime throws and then dirt throws, perfect mechanics followed by high school mechanics, etc. Blaine is who Kelly is riding with though. I think as of this moment, we ALL know Blaine isn't the FQB. LOL. But he AND Kelly may be here and starting through next year in a bridge effort for the #1 QB we pick next off season. So fans may want to get used to it.

Oct 4, 2016 at 8:52 AM

#33

Joecool
Veteran
Posts: 70,984

This is how low we have gotten. Norv Turner showed in yesterday's MNF game how important the ability to call plays off of the feel of the game. Dude has been calling awesome games for MIN. He was very good on gamedays here as well. Very good at setting plays up and getting the right call at the right time instead of being in tunnel vision.

Oct 4, 2016 at 10:05 AM

#34

dj43
Moderator
Posts: 38,336

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by bzborow1:
I actually thought Gabbert was playing well for a majority of the game. There were a few times where he made the correct reads and found the guy but he was completely covered by the defender. He also made one throw to Celek that had me going there that maybe he's turning a corner. But then there was the Torrey Smith thing.......

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000714054/Blaine-Gabbert-threads-it-to-Garrett-Celek-for-29-yards

I don't know. Blaine is frustrating because he's just
not consistent enough for my liking and he doesn't have the big play capability where he can get away with some head scratchers.

This is pretty much how I feel. I could care less about Gabbert's or Kaepernick's past; all we can evaluate are these individual games with whomever is the QB. I thought Blaine had a nice game especially in context. But like you said, he's got the tools but just isn't consistent; really nice first half followed by a sub-par second, dime throws and then dirt throws, perfect mechanics followed by high school mechanics, etc. Blaine is who Kelly is riding with though. I think as of this moment, we ALL know Blaine isn't the FQB. LOL. But he AND Kelly may be here and starting through next year in a bridge effort for the #1 QB we pick next off season. So fans may want to get used to it.

That is the reality. The fact that Baalke brought in only Driskel to groom, and then let him go, means that we will have to live with another "transition" season next year unless he can catch another "lightning in a bottle" wonder as Philly and Dallas have done. Even for those guys, the glow may dim as the league sees more of them and learns to defend them. In any case, it is not realistic to think a raw rookie can come in and effectively run the team for an entire season.

My hope is that Gabbert will begin to duplicate the first half of Sunday's game and not the second half.