a legitimate worry if you're a 49ers fan

[Smelly McUgly]

To concern troll, this thread would have to be on a 49er website. Here, it's just Seahawk fans noting how awful the Niners looked in some areas of the game. And probably enjoying it.

 

[hawker84]

A whole thread for concern trolling? Nice!!

You're not concerend? just a little? Anybody with a halfway decent D line and Secondary is going to give you fits... Boldin is good but you take him away you got VD and that's it... You're secondary minus Reid is very mediocre, and even worse in coverage, yes i know it was Rogers that lit them up, but give any QB a little time ( RW had none ) and that secondary will get abused...

 

[freezefail]

A whole thread for concern trolling? Nice!!

You're not concerend? just a little? Anybody with a halfway decent D line and Secondary is going to give you fits... Boldin is good but you take him away you got VD and that's it... You're secondary minus Reid is very mediocre, and even worse in coverage, yes i know it was Rogers that lit them up, but give any QB a little time ( RW had none ) and that secondary will get abused...

Didn't help with all the 3 and outs too. Our defense was holding you guys back fairly well in the first half to 3 points (2 point safety...terrible), they just got worn out and tired after a while. Our offense wasn't producing OR keeping a drive long enough to rest the defense.

It didn't look like the niners o-line at all. They were getting crashed on ALL NIGHT. It was horrible to watch.

 

[RolandDeschain]

I've watched both 49ers games in their entirety, and I'm not certain Gore is the problem. I mean, when's the last time San Francisco's offensive line got negative grades on ALL FIVE of their players per Pro Football Focus's rankings? The answer is "never", in the Jim Harbaugh 49ers era.

Weeks in 2011, 2012, and 2013 in which a 49er offensive lineman received a negative PFF grade:

Jonathan Goodwin, C - 2011: 1, 2, 11, 13, 14, 15, DP 2012: 6, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, SB 2013: 1, 2
Mike Iupati, LG - 2011: 1, 3, 5, 6, 12, CC 2012: 6, 10, 13, 17, CC, SB, 2013: 2
Alex Boone, RG - 2011: 1, 2, 4, 5, 13, DP 2012: 3, 6, 8, 10, 14, 2013: 2
Anthony Davis, LT - 2011: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 16, 17, DP 2012: 6, 12, 14, 2013: 2
Joe Staley, RT - 2011: 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 16, CC 2012: No negative grade 2013: 1, 2

The Seahawks D-line got some WORK in against these guys. Also in case anybody is curious, most of the negative grades for these guys are minor negative grades. The O-line under Harbaugh has almost never had a game where most (3 or more of the 5 guys) of the line had a bad day, though opening day in 2011 came close.

I started looking at Seattle's by comparison, and it was too painful, so I stopped.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

The Seahawks got pressure with just the front four, too. They only blitzed five times, and Kaepernick did BETTER against the five-man blitz than just the four-man blitz.

 

[5_Golden_Rings]

Here's a more legitimate concern...

We destroyed Dallas' will in week 2 last year. Absolutely smashed them. Just like last night.

And they never recovered.

You also destroyed us in Seattle last year. We won the NFC.

The OP is correct. Our concern should be the running game, but not precisely what he thinks.

The reason we couldn't run against Green Bay is that they schemed contain. Seattle was different. You guys generally play 8 in the box. The only way to run against that is with traps. That's how we killed you in the running game in SF last year. But we have NO ONE who can block in the way necessary, because we lost Delanie Walker. THAT'S what concerns me.

It's going to be interesting to see how other teams defend against them. I think the GB game is a bad example partly because the way the defended but mostly because they never made a single adjustment even when it wasn't working in the slightest and the Niners obviously weren't running RO or pistol formations. GB needs to fire Dom Capers. He has to be the worst DC in the league.

I expect to see teams try and shut down Boldin going forward. That running game doesn't look nearly as potent as recent years. Double Boldin and you slow that offense down significantly.

Except there is one other problem: our offense requires adjustments at the line for nearly every single play. Usually this gives our offense a decent advantage. However, the 12th man makes this a critical weakness, rather than a strength. It hurt us more than most of you Seattle fans will understand. Our adjustments were greatly limited. You saw fewer formations and shifts from us than we normally have, and no doubt the hand signals only went so far in trying to compensate for our normal adjustments.

So in summary, the biggest problem, besides our injuries at WR, was the 12th man. There is no other stadium like that in the NFL, and there are no other secondaries that can do what Seattle's does. No one else will give us those kinds of problems.

The Seahawks got pressure with just the front four, too. They only blitzed five times, and Kaepernick did BETTER against the five-man blitz than just the four-man blitz.

This was mostly because of coverage.

 

[Marvin49]

Harbaugh is not going to lose his team. Seattle is just that much more talented, really a schematic nightmare for the Niners, and they don't have a real mechanism for the noise yet.

Kaepernick is going to have some damn good games coming up. That run game will get off the ground soon. The secondary is still vulnerable. Slot WR will tear up the third corner, nnamdi is average at best. No doubt some of the teams they face will be fired up to try some of the stuff they saw Seattle do to the Niners.

What a game, but still, just one game. THe Niners will lick their wounds, get ready for Indy, and punish Indy as Luck returns to the Bay. Last year a lot of people thought the Niners loss in Seattle meant something, and they went to the Bowl anyway.

Wow...

Pretty much agree with everything you just said.

I hate admitting it, but Seattle right now is just a matchup problem for the 49ers...especially in Seattle.

It'll be interesting to see what Harbaugh/Roman come up with for the next meeting. I don't think Crab will be back but even if he is, he won't yet be the same guy.

 

[Popeyejones]

To concern troll, this thread would have to be on a 49er website. Here, it's just Seahawk fans noting how awful the Niners looked in some areas of the game. And probably enjoying it.

You're absolutely correct in terms of proper usage, and I was admittedly reaching for a descriptor that might not exist ("sore winner" doesn't really work either, as that's in relation to gloating after a victory and isn't really what I was trying to describe). In any case, you're right, and not sure what the proper term would be.

 

[Hawks46]

Watching Harbaugh's presser on Monday....he was very reserved. I couldn't tell if he was bummed, or still in shock but at the very least his ego has been knocked down a few pegs, and thus the ego and confidence of the team.

Now, they have most of the season to gain it back. The real question is will they recover ? I think so, but if we spank them in SF again, it's going to hurt them badly.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

It's a good thing they get a mediocre Colts team at home to help them get back on track. They will probably win by twenty this week.

 

[Marvin49]

It's a good thing they get a mediocre Colts team at home to help them get back on track. They will probably win by twenty this week.

Yeah...thats a much easier matchup than Jacksonville.

Sorry...too easy.

 

[razor150]

The 49ers are a tough team, and they've been spanked by us before and bounced back just fine. We are a bit of a match up problem for them, even when they beat us last year at home it was a hard fought game for them even though Wilson still had the training wheels on. Our team may be in their head, but I doubt it affects they way they play against other teams. In fact they may take their frustrations on the Colts, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Colts get blown out just to make a statement.

Week 2 is a bit to early to say Gore is done as a runner, but at his age I doubt he has many miles left. Our D-line at this point in the season seems much more disruptive then it was last year, and the Packers schemed to stop the run. So rumors of Gore's demise may be premature.

What the the 49ers should be concerned about is how easy it was for the Seahawks defense to rattle Kaepernick. Our defense kind of exposed him and his inability to progress through his reads. So I guess the question is if there is any other team out there that can do the same. I think there is.

 

[Marvin49]

The 49ers are a tough team, and they've been spanked by us before and bounced back just fine. We are a bit of a match up problem for them, even when they beat us last year at home it was a hard fought game for them even though Wilson still had the training wheels on. Our team may be in their head, but I doubt it affects they way they play against other teams. In fact they may take their frustrations on the Colts, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Colts get blown out just to make a statement.

Week 2 is a bit to early to say Gore is done as a runner, but at his age I doubt he has many miles left. Our D-line at this point in the season seems much more disruptive then it was last year, and the Packers schemed to stop the run. So rumors of Gore's demise may be premature.

What the the 49ers should be concerned about is how easy it was for the Seahawks defense to rattle Kaepernick. Our defense kind of exposed him and his inability to progress through his reads. So I guess the question is if there is any other team out there that can do the same. I think there is.[/quote]

Only kinda disagree wiht the last part.

The issue wasn't that he couldn't get through his reads. The issue was that he had very little time and most of his reads couldn't even get off the line. LOL.

Thats a compliment to the Seattle D by the way.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

I think you'll find Kaepernick did struggle progressing through his reads.

It's nothing new either.

But keep telling yourself it isn't an issue if it makes you feel better after Sunday.

 

[RichNhansom]

One thing is for sure. All the talk about Harbaugh owning Carroll has been drastically exaggerated. In fact I get the feeling that some of that has ran accross Pete's desk and he decided to show it was not the case. The question is now, is Pete satisfied with demoralizing Harbaugh a couple times? Or will he make a point of making Harbaugh his bitch as long as the two are in the NFL? I kind of think it is the latter. How about you Marvin?

 

[Popeyejones]

One thing is for sure. All the talk about Harbaugh owning Carroll has been drastically exaggerated. In fact I get the feeling that some of that has ran accross Pete's desk and he decided to show it was not the case. The question is now, is Pete satisfied with demoralizing Harbaugh a couple times? Or will he make a point of making Harbaugh his bitch as long as the two are in the NFL? I kind of think it is the latter. How about you Marvin?

From what I've seen all the talk of Harbaugh owning Carroll was in the build up to the second game last year. This year that wasn't much of a narrative because Pete had gotten the monkey off his back and really spanked Harbaugh's team.

As for Pete making a point of making Harbaugh his bitch, I think this is kinda misguided. They're both very, very good coaches. One being the other one's "bitch" was silly and misguided when Harbaugh had beat Pete four times in a row, and it's equally silly and misguided now that Pete has beat Harbaugh two times in a row. Who knows how the trends will play out over time, but expecting these guys to not both get the best of each other on some Sundays is as wrong as it has ever been, IMO.

 

[Popeyejones]

^^^ To be fair they did greatly compensate for it (they cut out the adjustments, frequently didn't come to the line with two plays, and relied on hand signals), that compensation just didn't even remotely work.

 

[hawker84]

The 49ers are a tough team, and they've been spanked by us before and bounced back just fine. We are a bit of a match up problem for them, even when they beat us last year at home it was a hard fought game for them even though Wilson still had the training wheels on. Our team may be in their head, but I doubt it affects they way they play against other teams. In fact they may take their frustrations on the Colts, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Colts get blown out just to make a statement.

i wouldn't go as far as to say they bounced back, they played a very poor Cardinals team to close out the season, then played a GB team at home that clearly has no answer as to how to stop Kap, went on to struggle (but win) against a very good offensive team in ATL, only to lose to mediocre team in BAL. I give them credit in the ATL game to pull that one out, but they were clearly the better team in all the other matchups, how they lost to BAL is beyond me, even with their below average secondary.

 

[Popeyejones]

^^^ To be fair they did greatly compensate for it (they cut out the adjustments, frequently didn't come to the line with two plays, and relied on hand signals), that compensation just didn't even remotely work.

Then stop bringing up to line adjustments thing when trying to explain away this loss. You can't have it both ways. Either the coaching staff didn't compensate and your team were terrible on offense due to not making that adjustment, or your coaches DID make the adjustment, and the line adjustments had nothing to do with the reason you lost - which is that your team was soundly beaten in all facets of the game by a vastly superior team.

Maybe you've confused me with someone else, but I never brought up the line adjustments. You were talking about them and I only brought them up to clarify that it wasn't that the coaches didn't make adjustments (they did!), it's just that those adjustments were very unsuccessful (they were!).

There's no "either way" about it. They tried to compensate for an obvious problem and the compensation for that problem obviously failed. Not trying to be a smartass, but I truly don't understand what's confusing about that.

As for the line adjustments (and calling plays at the line) being a large part of their offense that is rendered unusable in an impressively hostile environment like the CLink, that's nothing if not an obvious statement. So too for Marvin's statement that 1) they won't have that problem on their home field but 2) we don't if that means they'll be able to beat the Hawks, which is also a statement so obvious that it's bordering on being banal. That it's being misininterpreted to be some type of affront or excuse when he has gone out of his way to make it quite clear that it's neither is unfortunate, but there is of course nothing he or I can do about it beyond repeatedly stating that's not the point or argument being made.

I'll state the totality of the argument clearly in brief: To have a chance of beating the Hawks at the CLink the 9ers need to come up with something on offense that isn't reliant on shifting, line calls, and other tactics that an impressively loud and hostile environment take away. At home the 9ers will not have this problem for obvious reasons, but they very well may still lose the game (due to inferior coaching, being an inferior team, chance, etc.).

That's it. That's everything. Again, I don't see what's offensive or non-obvious about that.

 

[loafoftatupu]

The Niners are going to win a bunch of football games. They have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball and Douchebaugh is an effective coach.

However.... For you Niner fans that think "it didn't matter last year, we went to the Super Bowl" I have to point out the obvious.

Last year, the Niners got manhandled by a team that wasn't truly dangerous until the second half of the season. After your team was humiliated, you only had to win a single home game against the Cards and had a bye.

The difference is that now the Niners have the entire season to deal with the Hawks. As the offense smooths out, that task may be far more difficult. The Hawks are going to lose football games, but are they going to lose more than the Niners? When the Hawks come back to SF? They will likely have Harvin and Okung back, with a very loose team.