OL seemed to play better yesterday

I think they run block pretty decent but their pass blocking is what needs work. The pass blocking however seemed much improved yesterday. I think the Niners D or lack thereof had something to do with it but I'll take it to get their confidence up.

We've faced two of the best D-lines in our first games and this one was against an average D-line so it's natural they looked better. If they can keep it up against the Jets' monster D-line then I'll be impressed.

Opponent.

It will be right back to where it was next week against the Jets.

Now if they play like this against the Jets, then it's real, but right now I would chalk it up to the opponent.

Ifedi will get back and we'll be alright. Watched Webb get run over more than once yesterday.

Ifedi doesn't play tackle and to be honest that's where we have huge problems.

[youtube]-eKuSEBNcfo[/youtube]

I'd like to see the OL run block that well against the Jets. Then we'll know we're for real.

Pass protection hasn't been an issue for me. Can it get better ? Sure, but they're miles ahead of where I estimated they'd be in pass pro at this point of the year with all the new guys. I thought they'd start out run blocking better, but the ZBS that Cable runs can be complicated in the run game. With all the combo blocks and pulling, it's not Holmgren's "line up and beat the guy in front of you" power/man scheme.

No OL in the league keeps their QB clean. A lot of that is on the QB to get the ball out quickly. You start to wear the pass rush out when you're constantly getting that ball out in 3 seconds and they're going balls out every play and never getting home. As long as Russ likes to hold the ball, a good 1/3 of his hits and pressures are on him. This year it might be as high as half.

Color me not worried about our OL as long as we can sustain a decent level of run blocking to keep our offense balanced.

@TesslerSports
Indianapolis Colts are signing Kristjan Sokoli to psquad to play D-line. Was drafted in the 6th last yr by Seattle Seahawks & switched to OL

Arik Armstead,Quinton Dial, Glen Dorsey and DeForest Buckner are no slouches.

Their LBs are pretty good too. Bowman, Armstrong, Skav, Ahmad Brooks, Aaron Lynch to name a few.

I thought they played really well, but the real test will be next week. They don't have Aaron Donald, but they have some elite DTs none the less.

seabowl":3rh4rrmn said:

I think they run block pretty decent but their pass blocking is what needs work. The pass blocking however seemed much improved yesterday. I think the Niners D or lack thereof had something to do with it but I'll take it to get their confidence up.

Click to expand...

I thought the left side showed marked improvement. The right side of the line, not so much. IMO Gilliam was up and down and Web still can't run block - amazing for a guy his size. All the good runs happened to the left side of the line. Ifedi can't get back fast enough, but even then there will be some rookie growing pains. I was never panicked about the state of the line, because I can see potential there, but I think we are still a month away from seeing consistency from the group.

Edit: to be fair to Webb, his pass blocking exceeds my (very low) expectations. Overall, I would say we are better than I expected by game 3 on pass blocking, but worse on run blocking. Ifedi will go a long way to correcting that eventually.

ivotuk":1lnvdj8o said:

Arik Armstead,Quinton Dial, Glen Dorsey and DeForest Buckner are no slouches.

Their LBs are pretty good too. Bowman, Armstrong, Skav, Ahmad Brooks, Aaron Lynch to name a few.

I thought they played really well, but the real test will be next week. They don't have Aaron Donald, but they have some elite DTs none the less.

Click to expand...

Lynch was suspended for the game.

canfan":3q1829km said:

seabowl":3q1829km said:

I think they run block pretty decent but their pass blocking is what needs work. The pass blocking however seemed much improved yesterday. I think the Niners D or lack thereof had something to do with it but I'll take it to get their confidence up.

Click to expand...

I thought the left side showed marked improvement. The right side of the line, not so much. IMO Gilliam was up and down and Web still can't run block - amazing for a guy his size. All the good runs happened to the left side of the line. Ifedi can't get back fast enough, but even then there will be some rookie growing pains. I was never panicked about the state of the line, because I can see potential there, but I think we are still a month away from seeing consistency from the group.

Edit: to be fair to Webb, his pass blocking exceeds my (very low) expectations. Overall, I would say we are better than I expected by game 3 on pass blocking, but worse on run blocking. Ifedi will go a long way to correcting that eventually.

Click to expand...

Webb did a much better job of keeping his pads low this time, and if you watch just him, his overall play improved because of that.

IMO, our OL's pass blocking has consistently been better than the run blocking so far this season, although it's nothing to write home about.

They did. Although Gilliam had a few whiffs plus a couple penalties that negated good gains. In all, it was a better showing.

The OL had penalties early in the (otherwise-stellar highlight reel) first half, was it 5 for 50?, but were penalty-free in the second.

Re-Watched a little snap-to-snap, concentrating on the right side, and while Ifedi is the obvious answer at RG he may have some catching up to do; the runs to the left gained more YPC but that entire OL combo yesterday was in a groove.

The OL played better because the Hawks finally went back to the spread. Just as the OL magically improved last season. What is nice is they figured it out early and didn't wait until week 9.

Not worried about the OL as long as the OC doesn't forget what works.