For all the good feelings these first 2 weeks in beating the Packers and Lions, the 49ers, to all appearances, seem to be lost in a fog of their own making. The first 2 games, the Niners dominated with a strong run game and a solid passing game. When they travelled to Minnesota, they mysteriously abandoned the run, and sufferend dire consequences as their defense gave up long drive after long drive. The pass rush was nonexistant, and turnovers/pick 6es were dropped and botched.
Queue up the Jet and Bills, and the Niners unveiled their deep passing game to great effect. 1,000 yards in 2 games, with a little Cappy thrown in to boot. The defense creates turnovers with a decebnt pass rush and stout run defense. All is happy in Ninerland.
Then it happened. The New York football Giants came to town and dismantled the Niners from top to bottom, front to back, and every which way but loose. Say what you will about the game, but this was a coaching disaster. Cappy was used at the completely wrong times. The Niners gave up on the run. This kicking game was awful (despite the block). Special teams coverage (31st in the league) was abysmal. And the defense. The defense let the Gaints throw downfield with impunity and score. No pressure on Eli. Rogers and Culliver were toasted with regularity. Funny thing is, for all the shitty field position the offense GAVE the Giants, the Niners kept them out of the end zone in the 2nd half.
So, what are the 49ers? Are we a smashmouth running team like the first couple games? Are we a passing team like the Jets/Bills game showed? Are we moving to Cappy? Are we going to be a gadget team? I seriously don’t get what the strategy was this last game. I also don’t understand what the strategy was for the Minn game. I understood the Jets game and the attempt to go downfield more, and the Bills game to exploit that. But in Minn, we didn’t run at all. The Giants game, after those first 2 possessins, the Niners went away from the run when the game was still only 17-3. And they repeatedly threw Cappy in at various random times.
Harbaugh sometimes seems to think all he does is golden, and no one can figure out his master plan. The problem is, other teams are catching on. The jumbo packages don’t seem to be working any more. The Cappy bootleg was left unblocked because JPP didn’t bite on the fake, and it resulted in an 11 yard loss, and a good drive was killed. There were countless other decisions that were baffling. The complete lack of pressure is a big red flag. Sopoaga might be hurting, and RJF isn’t really holding his own at this point. Justin Smith isn’t dominating like usual, and the pass rush, Aldon Smith especially, was rendered moot. I guess losing Haralson is a bigger deal than I thought.
I had the idea at the beginning of the year that the Niners would move along to being a little bit more vertical in their offense, and remain stout on defense, but still be a running team. All this Cappy shit, and the ease at which NY threw on us has me questioning things. Is Harbaugh pulling a rope-a-dope? Saving the best for the playoffs? Saving the best for Seattle Thursday night, even? I said before the game that it meant a lot more to the Giants than it did to us, so I really don;t know what the hell was going through Harbaugh’s mind on this.
In the end, this could merely be a blip on the radar that is the 2012 season. Or could it be a harbinger of things to come? I’m real curious to see what happens Thursday night. I certainly ain’t as confident as I was before the Giants game.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
Strong running game creates downfield vertical opportunities when the safeties creep up and you have corners singled on your receivers. Offense is always best when you are unpredictable and the speialized defensive packages can’t be utilized by your opponent.
Yep we need to stick with our run game, grind and pound on the D and throw some medium/deeper passes to keep the safeties honest. I like this: “Offense is always best when you are unpredictable”. Nothing unpredictable about the jumbo packages or even Kap at this point now other teams have had a chance to study our O.
The O is still trying to figure out ‘who they are’ = what they do that works consistently. But what to say about the D? Haralson is that big a loss? Injuries worried me from training camp and maybe they are building up to a critical point. Or is it that and coaching? Where’s the pass rush?? I don’t get it…
Special teams? We stink, period. Fix it Seely and don’t let the HC/front office dump the best, cf, Costanza, C Jones
Or Costanzo for that matter, lol
The more I think about it, the more it appears that Harbaugh threw the game.
I can’t come up with any rational thought behind subbing for Alex in the situations that he did.
No way a coach throws 1 of the 16 games away. They are throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks.
JH got sucked into believing the Kappy thing was unstoppable. I got sucked into the same belief but I’m just a dumb ass fan. He should have known better.
And I think he gets it now so I’m not too worried about that bs happening again (except maybe once a game at an appropriate time)
I think he is hard to stop Flav, if they give the kid plays that suit his skillset. Handing off to gore didn’t surprise the Giants D either time.
I’m semi bullshitting, but shit, it made no sense.
This Seattle game is huge. They lose this they have a tough raod game in AZ.
I look at it a little differently Chuck. I have wanted them to throw more and deeper to see what we really have at QB and they have been steadily moving in that direction with mixed results. But something that I think has clearly been seen, Alex does not throw a deep ball with enough velocity. People point to his 55 yd completion to Moss and say he can throw deep. I think if you look at the trajectory of the ball, he needs his receivers to have a large seperation before he throws because of the time the ball is in the air gives defenders time to make a play. Those kinds of throws are ok anytime the defender has his back to the QB, like when they are running flat out chasing VD on the seam route for instance, thats advantage VD. But anytime the defender is facing Smith as he throws, the time to completion is excessive.
Kap is the exact opposite, his velocity is tremendous, in fact his speed of throw has saved him from multiple interceptions. I am ok with spot playing Kap and keep developing his game. My issue with the last game was the timing of inserting him and the playcalling they gave him to work with. I read many guys asking for them to throw to set up the run and now saying we need to run to set up the throw because of a bad loss. I think pass to set up the run is fine if thats working, as long as they do mix in the run.
Seems to me Roman got a little pass happy, and all the trick plays is ok as long as they remember the “trick” part. Giving Kap the run option but in reality asking him to hand off twice is dumb. Play selection was both poor and ill timed.
ST was MIA again, its hard to believe one player had that much impact.
Defense, ok I get the idea that they get pressure with the front 4 which allows the luxury of the LB and safeties to do more than blitzing teams do, but what happens when they don’t get pressure? Where the hell is the in game adjustment? I counted 2 blitzes, 2.
I pin this loss on coaching or more specifically the lack of it.
Coaching fails sometimes and it was apparent with this last game. We should see a better effort against Seattle.
Well, we had better. This is now a huge game. Fall to 4-3 and the internet will burst into flame. It will be the End of Days around here.
Seattle is a good team, but I think we’ll win this one. 24-21.
OK Scoring Challenge Niners vs Seahawks: Perish the thought Carrol walks off with a smirk on his face
Grumpy Guy: 24-21 Niners. This is now a huge game. Fall to 4-3 and the internet will burst into flame. It will be the End of Days around here. Seattle is a good team, but I think we’ll win this one. 24-21.
Phil: 24-20 Niners. The O is still trying to figure out ‘who they are’ = what they do that works consistently. But what to say about the D? Haralson is that big a loss? Or is it that and coaching? Where’s the pass rush?? Special teams? We stink, period. Fix it Seely
Place yer bets now gentlemen it’s a Thursday night game this week
21-14 Niners, Squawks will feel the wrath!
Gottcha Man.
Damn if the internet didn’t respond to da wife’s demands that it actually works for once this week. Fucking Smart Bros = it cannot be easy. NO you must scream and insult their ancestors, mothers and children (those rotten bastids) BEFORE they give a rotten fuck ovah heah. Pricks
Uh, noted Man… 21-14 Ninahs
Yeah, 12th, i pinned this squarely on the coaches. The Cappy plays were asinine in when they were used. The Jets game? Fine. Down near the goal line, a read option works. In the middle of a 10 play drive on 3rd and 4? No. And it wasn’t even a read option. It was a straight handoff to Gore.
Yes, the Niners came out throwing. But they also mixed in 9 runs in those 24 plays on those first 2 effective drives. Too fucking cutesy. Too college. Play the game and use your strengths. Run, play-action, take your shots down field judiciously. It worked against the Packers and it worked against the Lions.
And yeah, this game is suddenly gigantic in determining the NFC West leaders. If Seattle beats the Niners at home, THEY have a big advantage down the stretch. AZ is less of a contender with their QB issues and sieve-like O line, but playing in their house is always a challenge, and their defense is top-notch.
Chuck, I hope they don’t over react and stop playing Kap. When used appropriately he is tough to defend. I agree with your analysis, mix up pass and run but keep it close to balanced, if they go away from the run you don’t wear down the D for the 4th quarter. I also think we should use Hunter more, he is as effective as Gore in the same formations but different plays. Jacobs should get on the field now too.
Huge game, first division game coming off the worst defeat in Harbs tenure shakes the confidence that he is better than the other guy. He still has sneaky Pete’s number for now. I hope we come out fired up for National TV to make up for the egg they laid on Sunday. Squawks will be full of themselves for taking down Brady, ripe for the picking.
I’m worried about this one. I really hope the offense gets untracked. 23-16 Niners.
Yep Chuck I hear ya and it looks like Maybe the coconut internet might actually work tomorrow fer the fuckin’ game.
We’re on sucha short week I’ll compile all these a bit later.
New thread is up . . .