Down in a Hole

Losing my soul. I’d like to fly but my wings have been denied.

Well, this season is taking on an eerily similar tack as the 49ers were toyed with and humiliated by the Seattle Seahawks. As like last year, the 49ers beat a supposed up and coming team. Even more convincingly this year as we shut out the newly LAed Rams.

Also eerily familiar is the lack of doing much of anything in the passing game over 6 yards. He run game was stuffed all day minus one breakaway by Hyde when it didn’t matter at all. My thought was we would gamble a little more and take shots downfield with Torrey Smith. He has to be feeling sick right about now as the one pass he got was off line and good for 11.

The defense was flat not ready to play. 3 snaps, 75 yards, TD, the route was on. 3rd and 14 and we rush 3. Was I the only o e screaming at that scheme? That was it for me. I knew the rest of the game plan. Down by 3 touchdowns in the 3rd quarter? Run up the middle! 3  times in a row! There that gambling  hipster. 4th and 2 down 14-3? Fuck going for it. Let’s miss the FG. It’s like Jimmy T came out of retirement to leave his stink on this game.

Again, check downs by our hapless QB.  Dropped passes. No blitzing. We couldn’t stop the run despite the banged up Seattle line. Our LBs were nonexistent as they were washed out nearly every play. We couldn’t get pressure so a hobbled Wilson had a field day.

At this point the game plan looked like it was called to protect Gabbert from doing more damage than he did anyway. They need to get him out. Ponder? Kaepernick? I don’t give a shit. Gabbert has to go.

About unca_chuck

Lifelong SF 49ers, SF Giants, and Golden State Warriors fan
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81 Responses to Down in a Hole

  1. Winder says:

    I haven’t watched the chipski’s presser yet but I plan to pretty soon. He should be totally embarrassed at what transpired in Seattle. We are stuck with Jed and that is where all this bullshit has to land. He has to get the fuck out of the way, hire a GM that knows what he is doing and wants and leave the HC hiring to him. Once again not holding my breath but I think the flyovers just might start up again.

  2. Irish Kevin says:

    12th man shoot me an email, I will give you my cell.

  3. Nipper says:

    Look on the bright side, at least none us own a high rise building sinking into SF BAY. Okay, we’re still fucked, we’re 49er fans!

  4. unca_chuck says:

    You have to wonder what the fuck is going through Jed’s head.

    His GM hasn’t drafted very much in 6 drafts, the coaching has gone from worse to bad. The run stopping isn’t stopping the run and we are inept at just about everything. Yet Baalke gets enough rope to hogtie 50 cows.

    We look to be heading (mmmmm beheading) to a top 5 pick. If Baalke is the one drafting that guy I will disavow the team. This bullshit has gone on long enough. At some point Eddie needs to tell Jed, hire a competent GM and get the fuck out of the way.

    • Winder says:

      Totally agree. Except I am afraid I can’t disavow the team. i got over 50 years invested with them and can’t stop now. I figure during all that time it’s about 50-50 on losing and winning seasons. This is just another bump in the road.

    • Nipper says:

      Yeah send Jed back to one of his Mom’s shopping malls. Perhaps he could be a Santa for Christmas. He sure isn’t doing anything for the 49ers.

  5. Lurker John says:

    Winder, I’m in the same boat, I couldn’t quit these clowns if I wanted to. Hell yeah I was screaming at the TV, for the entire first half. I’m most disappointed in Kelly and his conservative game plan. How are you going to find out if Gabbert can be a downfield passer if you don’t take shots downfield? I realize Gabbert checks down like it’s going out of style, but none of the play calls appeared to me to be for long passes. Smith has to be stewing. They also ran on first down a lot ing this game, very predictable, very vanilla.

    The team was just unprepared on both sides of the ball. I don’t know who this O’Neill guy is, but the Hawks hammered them with the same running play throughout the first half and I saw no semblance of adjustments being made. Defenders out of position, missed tackles, just a total clusterfuck.

    Hopefully this was a bump in the road, but beating Seattle should be very high on the list of any coach hired to coach the 49ers.

    • Winder says:

      Lurker it’s probably going take a while to dig out of this whole. All I would like to see at this point is some improvement. What we go in Seattle was the same crap we did last year.

  6. 12th man says:

    Anthony Davis retires again

  7. NJ49er says:

    I still think AD was asked to reduce his Contract value when he lost his OT position to TBrown.
    Either way, if your heart isn’t in it, give the roster spot to someone who ‘wants it’.

    • NJ49er says:

      And we might’ve been able to keep a guy like GSmith when it came to final roster cuts.
      AD sure seems conflicted huh?

  8. unca_chuck says:

    He suffered a concussion on the 15th. Whatever.

    We got bigger problems than our backup RG.

    I can’t take any more of Baalke. Chip is working with a short stack but Jesus fucking Christ. This was as messed up as Jimmy T. Flat, risk-averse, vanilla shit on both sides of the ball. Lynch can’t come back fast enough. So glad we brought Skov up. To do nothing.

    If he stays we’ll have a high pick for what. Another underwhelming D lineman?

    Fuck that.

  9. unca_chuck says:

    If they can’t dial up a pass rush or a passing game over 3 fucking yards, we’ll be worse than last year.

  10. NJ49er says:

    Look at what Carolina did with a couple of 1st RD DL Picks.
    I trust Baalke with the Defense.
    What’s missing is an Offense.
    If Chip sticks around, it would look like he’s getting some input with guys like Garnett, maybe Driskel?
    HC/GM need to work together.
    Whether Baalke stays or goes doesn’t change that dynamic.
    It would appear that wasn’t the case with Harbaugh?
    Who’s to know at this point?
    Baalke isn’t calling plays either.
    Chip and Modkins appear to have those duties.
    New system and all, I expect some bumps early on.
    What is amazing is, how do you adjust at halftime and not score ANY points in the 3rd Qtr thru 3 games?

  11. NJ49er says:

    This is good too –
    Greg Hardy certainly won’t be confused with a Rhodes Scholar anytime soon.
    He’s certainly a Leader Jerruh can be proud of down in Big Duh.
    Columbia’s Team is alive and well…
    Coke in his wallet that he said wasn’t his? Brilliant.

    http://tinyurl.com/hmuj5sz

  12. Flavor says:

    I don’t think changing QB’s will do anything but sometimes change just FEELS good. We have receivers who suck and who can’t get any separation. How is a change to Kaep going to help unless he’s super accurate into a tiny window? Inaccuracy is probably the main reason he lost his job in the first place. And Ponder? Come on. That’s be like calling on Gabbert to replace Gabbert…….

  13. unca_chuck says:

    We gave up 84 points in the last 2 games, NJ. The defense is a concern.

    • NJ49er says:

      The DCo, O’Neil is scheming it Chuck.
      Along with DL Coach Jerry Azz.
      We lost Aldon, Patrick and Cowboy without much warning.
      Fine to point at Baalke but, his strength is in D.
      Can’t fix everything in a Draft class or 2 and expect immediate results.
      Guys have to develop. Not something that happens overnight.
      DeBuck got schooled Sunday.
      He’s a Room, it happens.
      All I’m suggesting is, let HC/GM develop some chemistry.
      Didn’t happen with Harbaugh/Baalke to anyone’s benefit.
      Too much Ownership interference IMO.

  14. NJ49er says:

    Golden rule for me.
    Protect the QB/Sack the QB.
    Baalke has improved the OL pretty efficiently.
    DL is younger and taking lumps.
    Bigger concern for me is where the Chip Offense stands.
    Not in sync. Not scaring anyone.
    Have to find some balance.
    Gabbert is rushing everything.
    No composure.

  15. NJ49er says:

    Can’t blame the OL this far.
    He’s just skittish.
    Has to settle down and execute.
    If he’s not improving, he’s simply wasting time, while killing the Defense.
    Chip’s Offense is known for that.
    Growing pains?

    • Lurker John says:

      Yeah, it seemed to me that he had plenty of time to throw, again, on Sunday but kept rushing it anyway. It seems to be in his nature. Too many more of these lackluster performances and Kelly will have to consider a move. Meanwhile, he should take a look in the mirror and reconsider his game-planning.

  16. unca_chuck says:

    I don’t think the owner is telling the GM how to draft. And there is a huge disconnect between the GM and the rest of the team. Throw in coaching changes all the time, and you have a mess. But the players on the field aren’t all that good. Short of Bowman, Reid, and a few others. Losing Williams is a big deal, and Dorsey isn’t full strength, but everyone deals with injuries.

    And yeah, I’m extremely disappointed with the offense. But Chip has slowed down the plays even though we lead the lead by far in time used. I just wonder how long they can stall this out. Either put Ponder in and let Kaepernick get healthy, or just put his ass in and then put Ponder in.

    One more game of his abject suckitude, and we will get wasted by Dallas. My point when the season started was we’d at least be more exciting. Well, we are basically the Jimmy T/Jeep offense. The only diff is getting the plays out faster. Same runs. Same 2 yard passes on 3rd and 6.

    If you never go deep the D never has to defend it. I’ve been saying this since fucking Nolan got here. At SOME point . . .

    • Lurker John says:

      I didn’t even notice an up-tempo offense on Sunday. It was like they were playing in mud. Any update on Jimmie Ward? Losing him would suck because he was playing pretty well.

  17. Lurker John says:

    Chuck, if they do end up with a high draft pick due to this year’s suckitude, it’d better be for a fucking QB, and a good one. Carson Wentz will forever be stuck in my craw.

  18. Lurker John says:

    Ponder’s career numbers for anyone interested:

    http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PondCh00.htm

    Nothing to write home about, but are Gabbert’s any better? It seems to me that Ponder has more of a gunslinger mentality, but I could be totally wrong about that.

  19. Lurker John says:

    I saw Matt Ryan complete a 7 yard pass to Mohamed Sanu on third and 6 last night and about shat myself.

  20. Nipper says:

    This blog is a hoot with Lurker John expressing his outrage on a daily basis concerning the Niner’s ineptness. Check your blood pressure now and then Lurker and keep smiling. This to will pass.

    • Lurker John says:

      BP is good and the Niners can be so inept as to inspire daily smiles, though they may not be smiles of joy. 🙂

  21. 12th man says:

    Kelly says a D won’t give you the sticks on 3rd down, you have to throw short and “knife” up the field.
    I have to ask, is he watching when his D is on the field for 3rd down? The opposing QB seems to have very little difficulty throwing past the sticks on 3rd down or 4th for that matter.
    Cut the BS Kelly and just admit your scheme is so limited because you have Blaine Gabbert at QB. Gabbert is so afraid to take a shot he must be wearing Depends.

    Stop making excuses for your chickenshit QB and make the switch.

    Before the season I said 4 games before they yank Gabbert, I gave Gabbert too much credit.

    Knowing the scheme and playback is great and all but what’s the point if you piss your pants everytime you step on the field and can’t execute it?

    Kap ain’t ready, OK, promote Ponder and try to win a game instead of putting in a bunch of running plays in the 4th qtr of a blowout to save a little face. Hint, it didn’t.

    Hyde gets a box score of a 100 yd game, oh goodie, 67 yds of it were in the 4th qtr. Kelly was literally running out the clock on his own team, WTF?

  22. unca_chuck says:

    Flav, the line is doing a decent job blocking we haven’ t thrown one deep pass in 3 games.

    Gabbert may have a big arm, and Kaepernick does, but to what point if we NEVER throw deep? Gabbert is allergic to trying.

    Fucking Torrey Smith is fast. He should get 2 – 3 go routes a goddamn game. He has 1 in 2 fucking seasons.

    We aren’t trying to go downfield. Certainly Chip knows how to do it. I’d Gabbert won’t do it, take his ass out. He’s barely at 50% on the short fuckng passes. He should have 5 more picks than he does due to drops by the defense.

  23. Berger says:

    49ers Report
    Should the 49ers consider a name change. Gold was discovered in ’48 and the Gold Rush was in ’49. Maybe they should be the 47ers because we definitely have not discovered gold yet.

    The one thing you can say about the 49ers is when they are down 37-3 they can score. They outscored Seattle 15-0 from there and only lost by 19 for the 2nd week in a row. Maybe they should change the name to the 19ers!

    The team was consistent. We looked bad on offense, defense and special teams. The DC’s wife was expecting a baby, he should have gone to the hospital. The baby wanted him, we didn’t. To paraphrase John McKay, if anybody asks me about the team’s execution my reply is “I’m all for it”.

  24. Berger says:

    Went to my father’s funeral yesterday. It was fine military service with rifle salute. I did not know my father had a Bronze Star but there it was on display.

  25. Berger says:

    Watching the 49ers in zone coverage is like watching the Titanic. Everybody knows the outcome, the boat sinks.

  26. 12th man says:

    Niners signed a cast off WR, ex Patriot Keyshawn Martin. Now if they can just get someone to throw to him…

  27. rtfirefly says:

    The Niners lead the league in two dubious categories:
    1) Fastest (pre-snap through completed play) average offensive play.
    2) # of 3 and outs

    #1 is debatable and consistent with Chip’s system. #2 ain’t good. The talking heads are complaining that the D gets exhausted from always being on the field. They point to the Eagles, without Chip, leading the league in Time of Possession. But what? How does that explain the quick two Seahawk TDs?

    Meh. i had real hopes of an upset based on Seattle’s first two games. It’s the same Seahawks, though. Lose to the Rams, crush the Niners… Just one thing to remember: the Niners last two opponents, both at home, account for the last 3 NFC Super Bowl appearances. We’re not that terrible.

    The Cowboys are playing great; Prescott, early on, looks like the Cowboys found themselves a gem of a QB. After that, though, there’s a string of winnable games – three very winnable, two against a Cards team that is a real question mark at the moment. There are still a lot of very winnable games on the schedule.

    • Berger says:

      The defense must have started the game tired since Seattle scored two TDs in the first quarter, including the first drive before the 49ers offense even touched the ball.

  28. rtfirefly says:

    As an example of games to come that the Niners could/should win, the AFC East doesn’t look like much. Anybody will tell you that on balance the Jets are the best of a sad lot of also-rans. Fitzpatrick threw 6 INTs Sunday. 6. No one will confuse our D with KC’s, but some of Fitzie’s passes were just laughable, like throwing directly to the wrong shirt with two more wrong shirts right behind him. I saw the highlights; they are very entertaining. That’s three winnable games right there, then we have the lower class of the NFC South yet to play…

  29. unca_chuck says:

    So far we are repeating the horrible road decent home game scenario. We will have a better idea come Sunday…

  30. unca_chuck says:

    This may be Gabberts last stand.

  31. NJ49er says:

    Chuck it’s not that the Owner is dictating Draft selections to Baalke.
    It’s the fact that they put Paraag into that mix that annoys the sh!t out of me.
    It’s unnecessary for Ownership to influence what the ‘football guys’ are paid to do.
    Whether Baalke stays or goes, it still comes down to the HC/GM making decisions on what the roster should look like.
    You wouldn’t select 4-3 guys to play a 3-4 etc.
    Someone has to design the roster and build with relevant pieces.
    Decisions on personnel should fall collectively on the guys Selecting/Coaching them.
    Paraag’s involvement does what exactly? IMO, it was about ‘Moneyball’, or, simply finding bargains.

    Belichick hasn’t had a sniff of success with WRs either.
    Difference being, he found a franchise QB that we’ve yet to uncover.
    Would Montana have been as successful without the addition of Rice? One piece improves the next if the QB makes it go.
    Jed and Co need to stay out of the day-to-day business of what goes on in the Locker Room.
    Be it Baalke, Gamble or anyone else wearing the GM title.
    Chip will have to find the guy to run his Offense just as Bill found Joe to run his.
    Baalke can handle the Defensive selections IMO. He’s got to work with Chip to locate the right pieces on Offense.
    Chip dismantled the Philly roster but couldn’t replace those pieces as a Personnel Mgr/GM.
    IOW, it’s a team effort.
    And, Jed, or his surrogate Paraag, doesn’t fit into that mix.
    That’s my beef, Stop micro-managing things you’re not qualified to handle.
    It simply stifles the progress.

  32. unca_chuck says:

    Only in the playpen is the kneeling thing still an issue. The team may suck, but it has nothing to do with Kaepernick. 5 shitty drafts and a talent gap because of our GM. Throw in Jimmy T and the latest batch of revolving door coaches and there you go. Bubble land in the playpen.

  33. unca_chuck says:

    NJ, Paraag may be in the mix but he’s not making the picks. Draft day falls on the GM.

    • NJ49er says:

      Paraag had been involved. To what extent is my question. A title change doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t influencing things behind the scenes as Dr Daddy obviously is.
      It’s a meddling thing.
      It’s interference that isn’t needed.
      It’s a dynamic best served between the HC/GM. That’s all I’m lobbying for.
      If you listened to the Podcast link between Maiocco and Clayton, it was discussed pretty openly about the need for guys to develop in the system.
      All is new now, thanks to yet another Coaching change.
      Dr Daddy had issues with Mooch. Then came issues between Paraag/Jed and Harbaugh.
      Ownership sucks.Plain and simple.
      Just get the eff out of the way is all I’m asking.
      Changing pieces so frequently does nothing but reset everything to zero.
      Can’t start any continuity when they keep resetting the pieces.

      • NJ49er says:

        Baalke added players for Harbaughs’ system.
        They can him, lose several others to early retirement etc.
        Now players are being sought to fit Chip’s system.
        It doesn’t happen quickly unfortunately.

  34. rtfirefly says:

    Seattle Post Mortem (a chess term): these guys are a lot smarter than I (from the WebZone).

    Originally posted by jonnydel:

    Originally posted by thl408:

    Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
    On offense its hard to fault the gameplan considering the talent on the roster, particularly at QB. I think you can complain about some individual playcalls but you don’t beat Seattle by attacking them down the field, you attack them horizontally, the way the Patriots did in the SB.

    “They’d allowed the fewest big plays of any team all season, and you saw pretty early why you don’t want to go into the Super Bowl throwing up a bunch of posts, a bunch of ‘nine’ routes. [‘Go’ routes.] Richard Sherman picks off the go route every time you throw it.”

    “The plan was to exploit other parts of the field—but short parts of the field. Michael Bennett rushes from everywhere. Cliff Avril kills people. They believe in what they do. We countered that by saying, ‘Okay, here’s what we’re pretty good at: Space the field, find the soft spots, be satisfied with the four-yard gain, be happy with the four-yard gain. We were gonna be happy with a two-yard gain.”-Tom Brady
    http://www.givemesport.com/544999-tom-brady-reveals-how-new-england-patriots-beat-seattle-seahawks

    The key is that you have to be able to execute at a high level, you’re dinking and dunking down the field and depending on YAC. That means there is more pressure on everyone to do everything quickly and with precision. The precision part was definitely lacking. Missed blocks, circled off routes, bad ball placement by the QB, it was just all over the place and everyone gets a share of the blame. There are definitely things that the coaching staff could have done better but at some point, you’re going to be limited by who you are putting on the field. If the guys you have out there aren’t executing, aren’t playing with precision, it can wreck a gameplan in a hurry.

    Against better defenses this team is going to struggle mightily. Outside of Torrey they don’t have anyone who is an exceptional threat and you have a quarterback that is gun-shy and even when he is completing passes, the ball placement isn’t very good. It will be up and down all season and if Gabbert can’t get it together against a flimsy Cowboys defense, he needs to go ride the bench ASAP.
    Thanks for posting this. I don’t think attacking underneath is a bad gameplan at all. Remember the Thanksgiving day game when the 49ers kept trying to attack deep? That’s the wrong area to attack SEA with EThomas lurking, Sherman excelling at defending the deep throw, shutting down Torrey, and losing Vance midway through the game. Gabbert’s stats on throws of 10+ yards are weak. Don’t play into the hands of SEA by attacking them where they are very strong with something the QB can’t do. Establish the short passing game first, then take deep shots later.

    This is all whiteboard football, but Cover3’s weakness is the four underneath zone defenders assigned to cover six zones. SEA knows this, went out and drafted some of the quickest LBs in the league. So while SEA has fast LBs to cover up for the scheme deficiency, the 49ers were simply outmatched that even though the concepts work on the whiteboard, they couldn’t be executed on the field.Well, I agree that on the whiteboard a lot of our stuff should’ve worked. But the problem I had was that we didn’t have the right pieces in the right place to take advantage. Twice we tried to run a rub play to block chancellor from getting to his flat coverage and throw a quick out to the TE. On the whiteboard it looks great, but in execution, chancellor read it all the way aND we got a 3 yard gain the first time and a 1 yard gain with an injured Celek on 3rd down the 2nd time. We tried running a curl/flat which is great against cover 3 zone, but we first ran PA and it actually helped seatthe recover and shut the play down faster. There was the hank concept you showed aND the shallow cross I showed, but other than that I wasn’t seeing open lanes or space for our guys in the horizontal game. Seattle was ready for a lot of the stuff we did. We also ran that sweep I showed 3 times and it was stuffed for -3 one of those times. The only times we were able to have any semblance of movement from our passing game was when we vertically stretched their defense.

    I’m not saying we should’ve taken shots deep at Sherman or thomas, that’s a fools errand. I’m thinking more of some of the speedo concepts with deep crosses off PA and flood concepts. ARI lit up Seattle last year with floods. While the Seattle defense can be exposed for the 4 underneath defenders, you have to guys who can gain yards after catch from those plays, we couldn’t do it.

    Again, though our defense deserves just as much blame in this. You can’t expect your offense to keep pace against that defense. They have to keep you in the game. It’s how LA beat Seattle and how Miami had a shot. The defense kept the offemse in the game. Ours gave up 3 TD’s in 1 1/2 quarters.Saw those plays by Chancellor. He keeps everything in front of him and reads plays so well. Besides the obvious, I think Chip’s offense needs a scatback type to make the passing game improved. One that can threaten the wheel route and be an open space mismatch versus a LB. It’s true about how Chip needs to gain + yards on each play to get his offense in a groove. Passing to the RB is the easiest pass and would ‘keep the offense on schedule’.

    I read an article somewhere about Cover3 being the big scheme in the NFL with SEA and their assts coaches spreading. Same thing happened with Tampa2 and that great Bucs D. Same story will play out as offenses work to defeat it.

  35. rtfirefly says:

    “Hank” is a scheme of related plays Niners circa1994. Sorry, the playbook is over there not here.

  36. rtfirefly says:

    In other words, blame Chip for whatever you want, but if you don’t have the horses you can’t run.

  37. rtfirefly says:

    I meant to post this yesterday. This is what I’ve wanted to with the Niners FO for a long, long, time, starting with Paraag and ending with Baalke.

  38. rtfirefly says:

    To get to this – look at the Raiders offense for clues:

  39. Lurker John says:

    RT with a couple of gems to kick off Wednesday morning. Cheers.

  40. Nipper says:

    Suggested Flyover banners: Jed You Suck. Take a hike out of town. 49ers Suck. Change the players. KAP for President!

  41. unca_chuck says:

    Never seen that Rush video before. talking Heads one is awesome. One of my favorite bands.

  42. Nipper says:

    Examples of ineptness: The Millennium Tower in SF (sinking) and the 49ers (sinking).

  43. Nipper says:

    Clueless in Santa Clara: 49ers FO. Jed sucking his thumb in his office while his team sinks.

  44. Winder says:

    RT- Thanks for the 4:41 post and the Rush. The only thing I can say about that is fine it’s hard to go downfield against the seahawks. But after failing to move the ball with the short scheme and continually going 3 and out one has to figure they know what you are doing and have adjusted to our game plan. I totally agree we don’t have the players who are good enough to make it work, but at some point you have to gamble and try to make something work. We just kept running into a wall. I don’t necessarily blame Chipski for that but he is where the buck stops. I would definitely like to see Baalky hit the road long before the Chipster.

  45. unca_chuck says:

    Torrey Smith was brought here to go deep. Has he? Ginn had one deep catch in 3 years here. He had 6-7 with Carolina his first year there.

    I’m not saying go all Daryle Lamonica, but shit you have to try it once in a while. A couple times a game anyway. Not once every 2 years.

  46. rtfirefly says:

    Blame it on chronic imsomnia, guys. Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.

    Dez has a hairline fracture of his knee. I just listened to an orthopedic surgeon explain why that kind of hf is more like a bone bruise than a break. OK. That and 30,000,000 other reasons are why I’m not a doctor. In any case, he is physically able to play. The Cowboys would be nuts to do so but that’s another story.

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