Well, the new regime got off with a bang yesterday as the 49ers wore down and dismantled the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. Tales of the 49ers demise may just be a little premature. Then again, it was only the Vikings. The 49ers defense does what they usually do to AP, and that’s shut him down. Mangini and company disguised coverages, and blitzed from off angles to confuse and befuddle sophomore QB Teddy Bridgewater.
The offense was nigh unstoppable, except by themselves. The 1st half saw a lot of yards, but a lot of penalties. The opening drive was thwarted by a holding penalty deep, and the rest were done in by various other problems. Carlos Hyde pretty much stamped his entry into the NFL as one of the top backs in the league (for a week anyway) by gaining 168 yards on 26 carries for gaudy 6.5 yards a carry and 2 touchdowns.
Yes, we are a running team. But this run game is vastly different than last year as Greg Foerster, master of the zone blocking scheme ran very well against some stacked lines when we had 3 TEs in there, and also when we had 2 WRs in there. Cutback lanes were wide open, and Hyde took big advantage of that.
The passing game, and Colin Kaepernick especially, looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket this year as compared to last, and made most of the plays he needed to. He read through his progressions very well, and made the correct calls to run when he needed to. As I’ve been saying all offseason, we moved Kappy around in the pocket, and even ran play action (!) on 3rd and 1 for an easy toss to Hyde for a 1st down. Kappy’s numbers weren’t gaudy, but they were efficient. 17/26 for 165, 0 picks, 0 TDs. The difference being the Niners converted some tough 3rd downs (5-12 ain’t great, but it beats 1-9). An issue in previous seasons. Red zone offense was 2-5, but 2 drives were killed by holding penalties.
What can you say about the defense? What I saw as a strength for the team was pretty much dead on. Bethea, Tartt, Bowman, Carradine, and Lynch all had sacks. Tremaine Brock had a pick, and the defensive backfield played a very solid game all around. Even though Bridgewater is very mobile, the Niners contained him well, and the coverage was solid even as Teddy broke contain to buy time.
The problems? Well, Special teams were an early disaster. Blocked FG, muffed punt, and a punt return TD called back by 2 blocks in the back. However, Pinion boomed all his punts, and mashed all his kickoffs deep or out of the end zone. Penalties were a big problem early as well. They had 6 penalties in the first half, but only 1 in the 2nd half. So whatever Tomsula said to ST coach McGaughey and the players seemed to get them in focus.
All in all a solid game by the new coaching staff and team. Certainly you have to think this team at least for now looks pretty good.
Irish Kevin, our intrepid man-on-the-scene, shot this opening ceremonies video. Thanks, Kev!
Forty Niners Forever 
IMHO
brock = carlos rogers
bethea > whitner
reid > goldson
acker > Gulliver , tarrell brown
plus now we have tartt and ward !!!
so back in 2012 I worried about our secondary . since then baalke has completely overhauled AND upgraded it , all while picking near the tail end of the draft every year ! kudos to trent b !!!
Bullit insists this blog is North Korea. His favorite film must be “The Manchurian Candidate.”
Lol.
If this is N. Korea what does that make Skeebs place? Some African despots disheveled shithole!
Post of the day!
romper room
for kids on the short bus
lol
Acker had a strong preseason, leading NFL corners with a 7.8 passer rating when targeted, according to Pro Football Focus (his teammate, Dontae Johnson, was second at 9.8).
The dumb ass North Korean, Bullit (sic), is lying again. I have no problem with 3 TE personnel. The dumb ass North Korean, Bullit (sic), tried to call me out on this a year ago when he was showing me Chip Kelly videos. Did he forget the conversation from then? He will lie at will to get a “like” from his cancer blog buddies. He’s like the kid that lies at Show and Tell so he can fit in. Nobody lies more than the dumb ass North Korean, Bullit (sic).
It isn’t three TE personnel that is the issue, it is how they are used. Harbaugh did a good job with his multiple TE personnel until last year. I have no idea what RoBaugh was trying to accomplish last year. The problem was I don’t think they did either. I think the biggest problem was having 4 coaches call plays for different downs.
We used our multiple TE formations wisely on Monday. Did anybody notice a lot of unbalanced lines. We did not zone block every play, we did mix in some power blocking schemes to keep the defense guessing. I thought the play calling was excellent. Let’s see how we do vs Pittsburgh now that they have some film to dissect what we did. If Chryst can continue to keep them guessing like he did to Minny it will come down to execution.
What is good about using TEs is they can block and catch. It is the norm these days. If we are in a known passing situation I would rather have WRs on the field than TEs. In base and a close game or the 4 minute offense, I like using multiple TEs. But not always. Mixing it up is a good thing in my book. The other thing that can be accomplished with multiple TEs is going hurry up if you can catch the defense in a perceived personnel mismatch. You can call more different plays with TEs so if there is a run heavy personnel package you go hurry up so they can’t substitute and then throw. Of course the TEs need to be decent receivers for this strategy to work optimally.
One more thing. Many of our formations looked like the Sardine Can Offense. It was SCO formations we used but it wasn’t the SCO offense. Big difference is we did not line up in the SCO and try to power block through a loaded box. Our play calling spread the defense so to not allow them to overload a gap without paying for it. Very smart.
The three-tight end set not only gives the 49ers extra blocking power at the line of scrimmage, but it also makes use of Davis, McDonald and Celek as receivers. In Game 1, Davis had three catches for 47 yards, Celek had three for 40 and McDonald had one for 5. That’s seven receptions for 92 yards, a nice 13.1-yard average.
That’s seven receptions for 92 yards, a nice 13.1-yard average.
a little different than running up the middle against 8 or even 9 guys like we did last year !
we’re 4th in total defense and 6th in total offense after week one !
I hope we can keep it going . btw harbaugh’s rankings on offense 2014 – 20th 2013 – 24th
Lol. rob- your optimism and attitude is contagious and I totally appreciate that. WTF we might even be better than any of us imagined. A game at a time.
this game will go a long way to telling us where we are . I think it will be a close one . the steelers are ranked #8 by CBS sports and are trying to rebound at home and make a statement after looking bad vs. NE.
we’re on a short week and they’ve had extra time to prepare.
I hope we can pull it off !!!
tough sledding and we have a brutal schedule but it looks like both of us weren’t so dumb after all with our predictions that we’d finish above .500 this year !!!
we were in quite the minority there especially on the “other” blog !
rob- I agree with Winder. I think I am optimistic but you are more than me by far. It is refreshing! I think I am too pragmatic to be as optimistic. But then I read the cancer blog and start to feel like rob, until I read a rob comment and get put back in my seat! Go rob!
would it be too optimistic of me to point out that the 5 sacks we had vs. minny soda was the most we’ve had in a game since 2009
love to be leader of the optimist club there guys but my final and official preseason prediction for 2015 was 9-7
IIRC, I think I had 9-7 too.
I’m not really sure how good Pittsburgh is. My hope is they stack things up expecting us to run, and we pass. Their secondary is mediocre at best. We need to hurt them through the air.
Quick passes early. Then throw in some double moves to get deep. Yes, they will run, but they need to get some big chunks of yards.
I doubt that their secondary is nearly as bad as it looked vs the Pats. They have a new DC and there was probably some confusion that will be cleaned up by this week.
I have 11-5, but I’d like to think it isn;t just optimism. This team has talent.
damn strait CHUCK
The talent level on this team is something the naysayers didn’t take into account. Not only did we go into 2014 with one of the top 3 rosters in football but THE deepest thanks in no small part to Baalke
I like being called the North Korean blog since we are being called that by a North Korean. It shows his endearment for his homeland as it relates to this site. He most likely wishes he could be here but I trust Unca would deport his ass fast. I get a warm feeling every time we get called that. Then I read his comment and feel like Einstein. Education in North Korea is not so good. He can’t even spell his own name.
Lol
Bullit ……a man for NO seasons. Even the cannibals would reject him as being too sour.
Can someone post the link to this Skeeber clowns site. I need a good laugh today. Thanks
It’s 49ers Outsiders. A perfect name.
its 49ersoutsider.com
I’m unable to get in for some reason. Somehow I don;t feel like I’m missing much.
The entire site will pull a NoFear and disappear as the wins pile up.
Bullit thinks this blog is “amusing theater.” So lets give this guy some good entertainment!
What do they do in North Korea for entertainment? Can anybody do a Kim Jung Un impersonation?
Bullit labels this blog “Pyongyang N.K. chapter, Fairyland Blog” for those who can’t get on the “other” blog.
One reason i think we have a shot at Pittsburgh is that Leveon(sp) is still out. the key will be if Kappy can make some throws and our defense can do it again like last week. Pittsburgh is notoriously tough at home. Rob I think you’re right about Baalke and the way the players have been shuffled. Baring any serious injuries to our starters we should be able to compete with anyone. I really don’t know how deep we are with our backups.
Naw WINDER
Not real deep right now, and understandably so. Just give it time tho. With tons of cap space and picks in 2016 and Trent and Jediin the house the ssky’s the limit imo
Defensively we are thin in LBs and DBs. The line has depth. In the 2nd half they rotated out most of the guys starting in the 1st half. At leas I saw a lot of different linemen in there in the 3rd.
We will be susceptible to a fall-off due to injuries all year.
Offensively? Gaine Blabbert seems to have made some improvements, but I’d hate to go there.
O line is painfully thin. WRs? We’ve stashed a couple guys on the PS and White looks ready to step in. RB is decent with Mike Davis and Hunter hiding on IR. And we have TEs.
The Steelers still have a very good front 7 and an aggresive Lebeau blitzing D. Their secondary has deteriorated since losing Mr. Shampoo (easier to spell), but saying they have no secondary is a bit overboard. They gave up 28 to Brady in Foxboro, but’s that’s pretty normal in good weather. The fact that they forgot Gronk was on the field must distress them, however. Kap has to be able to hit the quick throws to take the pressure off the run, then he needs to hit one or two long ones. Can he beat the blitz for the big gainer?
If Kappy running can hit the second level, he could break one. And behind it all, a consistently good run game can help everything else.
It might be a good game to dust off VD’s old post pattern. He’s lost a step and teams are on to the play but it’s still a threat.
After I read all that, I thought, “What if they just go Ground Chuck all game?” After Monday’s game, that wouldn’t surprise me either.
Alex Smith vs Peyton Manning? Shit this has Dennis losing everything he owns written all over it…..
No coincidence Del hasn’t commented since the opening day win. He’ll be here quickly if we lose this week.
Hey, for those of you who know Twinfan here, his home got hit in the Valley Fire. Burnt to ground. Devastated for him and his wife
I’m sorry to hear that. Give him my regards. He’s a good guy. Dennis was giving us shit last week-end on a computer TF most likely sent him.
that sounds about like how Dennis rolls.
He won it in a contest on your blog.
Sorry for Twin.
you’ve always been one of his main soldiers. I hope you mean that.
Terrible news, very sorry to hear that.
What immediate help does twinfan need? Family safe and have a place to stay?
Twinnie and I had our differences, especially about Alex, but I would never wish personal harm to him. It’s not like he doesn’t have enough going on with his Hodgkin’s. All my best, Twinnie!!!
Shit,Flav. That’s terrible. Anything I can do?
Broncs steal one, literally, in KC. Kansas City? No, Choke City. End of the 2nd and end of the 4th. Choke-o.
28 of the Broncs 31 pts. in 3:06 total at the end of the 2nd and 4th.
My bad. 3:16. I can’t count. Flippin’ amazing.
Another religious reference there?
Yeah, I was going to mention that here, but… Not till I thought of the “sign from God that Peyton should retire” line did I mention John on Skeebs.
Fugly loss there, rtf. 2 TDs with less than 45 seconds left. Lac is snakebit vs Manning.
Just logged on, sorry to hear the news about Twin, hope the best for him and his family.
Let me be totally serious, honest and heartfelt to begin here…I am so sorry to hear that unfortunate news regarding TF. I knew he lived he in Middleton because of the return addresses of the not one, but TWO computers I was lucky enough to win on the contests he so generously held over on Flavor’s blog.
I also knew TF has a house there because of the two times I called him on the phone to thank him “personally” for his generosity. I also spoke with Michael when he was in the hospital after he was recovering from brain surgery.
Like the rest rest of you guys, he and I have our differences here on the blogs. And they’re a mouthful. But when it comes to these situations, I’d like to think that we all tug on the rope in the same direction.
TF, as a degenerate gambler, the best that I can do for you, for anyone, is to wish you a sincere and heartfelt best of luck…
TF,
Best of luck in these trying times. I’m rooting for ya,
Dennis