The significance of Crabtree

I've heard more than a few reporters citing the return of Crabtree as spelling trouble for the Hawks in this game. He's an accomplished receiver and brings a dimension their offense certainly needs, but is he really going to be a significant difference maker against the Seahawks?

I was surprised to see he has 7 career starts against the Hawks. In those starts he has averaged...
11.5 Yards per catch
37.4 Yards per game
0.0 touchdowns

His best game came @Seattle in 2011: 5 catches for 85 yards and no score.

If that's the kind of damage we're talking about from San Francisco's unstoppable weapon, I can live with that.

You're taking a narrow view. Crabtree opens up the rest of their offense.

We just shut down what might be the most dangerous offense in the league, and we're worried about a 1st round near bust and his one read QB?

He had an illegal block and OPI on that first series against the Rams. :lol:

The biggest advantage the Niners are going to get by starting Crabtree is via formations.

They will spread him and Manningham out wide. Boldin goes in the slot where he can probably abuse Jeremy Lane. Sherman plays pretty well against Crabtree, and I can see him shutting Crabs out after he's been out so long with that achilles.

I have confidence that Maxwell can erase Manningham, so that leaves Boldin and Davis which have been Kaepernick's favorite targets. If we can keep Graham in check, then we can manage Davis. At this point if we can keep in check the first 2 to 3 reads, Kap won't be throwing, he'll tuck and run.

I'm more worried about stopping Gore. If we can do that, it hurts their offense more than anything else.

Hawks46":2j9vz6xr said:

The biggest advantage the Niners are going to get by starting Crabtree is via formations.

They will spread him and Manningham out wide. Boldin goes in the slot where he can probably abuse Jeremy Lane. Sherman plays pretty well against Crabtree, and I can see him shutting Crabs out after he's been out so long with that achilles.

I have confidence that Maxwell can erase Manningham, so that leaves Boldin and Davis which have been Kaepernick's favorite targets. If we can keep Graham in check, then we can manage Davis. At this point if we can keep in check the first 2 to 3 reads, Kap won't be throwing, he'll tuck and run.

I'm more worried about stopping Gore. If we can do that, it hurts their offense more than anything else.

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Why? Gore's been trailing off the last several weeks, He's not even close to being a threat. He's been held to under 50 yards the last 3 games. and it's been 6 games since he's hit the 100 yard mark. 82 yards is his high over those 6 weeks.

Crabtree is not the Crabtree he was last year. He is slower in routes and cuts. He still needs time to get back to 100% , so he does not worry me this week

jlwaters1":120exwcu said:

Hawks46":120exwcu said:

The biggest advantage the Niners are going to get by starting Crabtree is via formations.

They will spread him and Manningham out wide. Boldin goes in the slot where he can probably abuse Jeremy Lane. Sherman plays pretty well against Crabtree, and I can see him shutting Crabs out after he's been out so long with that achilles.

I have confidence that Maxwell can erase Manningham, so that leaves Boldin and Davis which have been Kaepernick's favorite targets. If we can keep Graham in check, then we can manage Davis. At this point if we can keep in check the first 2 to 3 reads, Kap won't be throwing, he'll tuck and run.

I'm more worried about stopping Gore. If we can do that, it hurts their offense more than anything else.

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Why? Gore's been trailing off the last several weeks, He's not even close to being a threat. He's been held to under 50 yards the last 3 games. and it's been 6 games since he's hit the 100 yard mark. 82 yards is his high over those 6 weeks.

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Why ? because Kaepernick isn't a drop back, go through his progressions and hit his 3rd and 4th read type of QB. He's already proven that, and in the games he's done well in - without exception- they've established the run first.

Maybe worried wasn't the right word. I'd say focused. Gore has been trailing off because his OL has been hurt. I don't see that changing this week, but if we make Kap beat us, stay in our lanes and don't let him get outside, we're going to curbstomp them. The ONLY chance they have is getting Gore going.

Thomas says it it best but they do not change their defense no matter who they play. We have shut down significantly better offenses before and I have zero concerns about any player on their offense.

The only way they win is if they force multiple turnovers or get some kind of special teams gaffes

Boldin and Crabtree ans Davis are going to try to be physical with us you watch, hit first or be hit first approach I am thinking, in fact I think thats going to be the mentality of the whole team going against us. Romanoski was saying on a S.F. station rebroadcast on KJR that someone should be leaving the field on a stretcher early in the game to set the tone. If anyone knows the Bill Romanoski I'm talking about you know he just doesn't mean play tough, he means take someone out.

We need to go into the game laying wood, were accomplished at playing physical, the 49ers want to try to bring our own game to us I would guess and hope that since it's in their house they can get away with it.

chris98251":197ychje said:

Boldin and Crabtree ans Davis are going to try to be physical with us you watch, hit first or be hit first approach I am thinking, in fact I think thats going to be the mentality of the whole team going against us. Romanoski was saying on a S.F. station rebroadcast on KJR that someone should be leaving the field on a stretcher early in the game to set the tone. If anyone knows the Bill Romanoski I'm talking about you know he just doesn't mean play tough, he means take someone out.

We need to go into the game laying wood, were accomplished at playing physical, the 49ers want to try to bring our own game to us I would guess and hope that since it's in their house they can get away with it.

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My buddy was talking about the same thing. Look at what they were doing in the Rams game. We need to be ready to amp up the woodshed for them. This game probably will get very chippy very early on. Lets hope no one gets really hurt, but I want to see up knock the snot out of them.

There is no significance of Michael Crabtree. He's not even close to the best receiver we've faced all year. We've gone against Steve Smith, Andre Johnson, Marques Colston, Larry Fitzgerald, and we've beaten all of them. Do you really think Michael Crabtree has Quinn second-guessing his game plan?

Given what I've seen the last few weeks, I think the only way the Seahawks lose this game is if they beat themselves (penalties, dropped passes, ST mistakes, etc.).

Michael Crabtree. Lol.

Having Crabtree come back is clearly helping the Niners. That said, I think this Sunday it's going to be a lot less important than most in the national media believe. Why? Remember last year (admittedly in the Clink) when Kaep and Wilson faced each other. Crabtree was part of the Niners in that game and the legion of boom (down two corners I might add for that game) had no trouble shutting him down, and our pass rush then was no where near as good as it is now.

I say trust the Legion of Boom. They can neutralize the Crabtree effect.

New Orleans has a better QB and a better group of receivers then the 49ers and how many yards did Brees have passing, it was under 200. Sure this is in 49er country but I think our assignments are easier to cover since there are less quality guys. Theyc an still hurt you if your not on your game but I don't think we will have a lack of focus down there. With all the talk about wanting to hurt somebody and take people off on a stretcher I am sure our guys are fully aware of the 49ers teams intent to try to lay people out. Crabtree and Boldins antics of smacking and hitting people last week are also a good indicator of their intent.

Crabtree is not 100% and needs time to get back in his groove before he would be considered a threat. Boldin is slow and easily handled by our physical defense. VD is the only receiver that needs special attention. And like I have been saying all year, Gore just does not have it when it comes to yards after contact. Most of Gore's yards are on big runs and the rest are usually stopped near the line of scrimmage.

If our boys play mistake free football, no stupid penalties, missed assignments, over-pursuing, they will hold SF down. I have no doubt that ET and Co will be dropping timber on these fools. ET says after the Saints game "let somebody say something to motivate him," or words to that effect. So Davis says "we don't like them, they don't like us," Keap says their O is going to make "them, the LOB, earn it," Gore says this is a statement game. Fuel to the fire! :snack:

Polaris":2icwlj9u said:

Having Crabtree come back is clearly helping the Niners. That said, I think this Sunday it's going to be a lot less important than most in the national media believe. Why? Remember last year (admittedly in the Clink) when Kaep and Wilson faced each other. Crabtree was part of the Niners in that game and the legion of boom (down two corners I might add for that game) had no trouble shutting him down, and our pass rush then was no where near as good as it is now.

I say trust the Legion of Boom. They can neutralize the Crabtree effect.

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We'll Manningham and Boldin weren't playing in that game I would say that is an upgrade from an old Randy Moss and Kyle Williams. That being said Crabtree isn't 100% but with him and Manningham is does give the defenses something to think about other then Davis and Boldin in the pass game. I just wish the 49ers still had Delanie Walker losing him has really hurt this season.

It certainly helps to get a good player back, but I don't think Crabtree suddenly tilts the field in favor of SF. He still needs to show he is healthy and 100% and in game shape. Even at 100%, its not like you would just expect him to torch the Hawks. They have dealt with plenty of good WRs.

Crabtree on the field last December = his team having 29 points less than Seattle!
Crabtree missing vs Seattle week 2 = his team having 26 points less than Seattle!

So it's -3 points!

I don't buy Crabtree at the moment. He can't out route any of our guys. He got a big gain last week on a double move which is about all he's capable of right now. Sherman got beat on that a couple of weeks ago, it won't happen again.