Scottemojo
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Thought I would share a few notes from the all 22.
The first interception Kaepernick threw was not into zone. Hawks had off man cover in an a 3rd and goal play, they dropped to the goalline, and Thurmond read wKaepernick's staredown and throw. He reacted and caused the pick. Chris Collinsworth may have called it zone, but it was not.
Perhaps my favorite play of the night is at 8:17 of the 2nd quarter. Davis lines up left. Williams and Moore line up right slot, one is going deep to try and create space for the other to cross the field in front of the QB. Davis and Williams will cross, with the possibility of a pick play. Boldin is lined up far right, across from Sherman in press. As it turns out, Kaepernick hears footsteps, tries to escape, and is smashed by Avril, who causes a fumble. But the coverage is absolutely perfect. It is a complicated route set and nobody on defense is out of position. Nobody. Best secondary in the league indeed.
A play San Fran loves is the flood right with a deep, middle, and short read. FOr example, at 5:52 of the 2nd quarter, SF lines up in a one back, two tight end formation, with the two tight ends also in the backfield, kind of like a diamond, with Kaepernick in the middle. THis was a formation and pattern set that they used with frequency and success vs New England last year. THe offensive line sells run zone block on this play.
Miller is the short read. Malcom Smith never lets him out of the backfield. Miller wants to chip Smith and release, but Smith just stays on him. On the middle and deep route Davis and Boldin are running a two man game, with Davis running the deep and Boldin going into any empty space Davis creates by absorbing the safety or linebacker. Or, Boldin can free up Davis by taking any help away with a cut to the zone behind the linebackers. The Hawks just slow play it. Kam mans up on Davis, Sherman glues himself to Boldin, and Voila, a San Fran staple play is DOA.
On that play and many others, a detail I have noticed about Kaepernick is confirmed. He throws for a low percentage to moving targets outside the numbers. In fact, on the night, unless I missed something, Kaepernick completes a couple of 6 yard digs and a couple of quick hitters to a WR who moves maybe a yard off the snap. For completions outside the numbers, that is it. Nothing else. This may seem like a minor detail, but the one pass Seattle's scheme gives away is accurate passes to the sidelines vs press corners. And it seems to me to be the pass Kaepernick struggles with the most.
On to another play. 3:44 of the 2nd. Another staple play of the Niner offense. Keep in mind the Niners love 2 man route game. In this play, they bring Boldin in motion and park him beside/slightly behind 19(Moore?). Sherman is in man cover on Boldin and goes in motion with him. This is exactly what the Niners want. This play is another Roman Gabriel staple. If Moore can rub the motion corner in man coverage, Boldin can run free. Seattle does what the Niners don't expect. Sherman drops back a step as the motion man sets, right behind the corner lined up on (Moore?) and just hands coverage of Boldin off to Thurmond. Moore takes off, there isn't anyone to rub, he runs a deep route with Sherman in trail position, and Thurmond proceeds to just destroy anything Boldin had planned by pressing the hell out of him. Boldin never gets 2 yards off the line, and is so pissed gives up on the route and starts trying to push Thurmond around.
I can't overstate how big a deal this is. The drag route is a staple for the Niners. Seattle has the talent to play it more like a basketball defense of a pick and roll than anything else, and it kills the play. Green Bay was destroyed by plays like this.
Kaepernick finally gives up on the play and looks left. He ends up throwing a deep ball to Gore, who is blanketed by Wright. Another innaccurate pass outside the numbers.
Another play where Sherman deserves a game ball, 10:21 of the 4th. San Fran perfectly executes a WR screen to 10 (Williams). there are 5 blockers, and only 4 Hawks. Sherman rolls off a block and destroys Williams. It looks to me like this is a touchdown if Sherman doesn't make this play.
The Kam Chancellor pick? Once again, the 2 man route game San Fran likes to use. This time it looks like Boldin has the job of picking Sherman off his coverage of Moore. The classic accidental rub route. Boldin misses. Sherman slips just by Boldin, stays on the hip of the WR, and Kam collects the errant pass.
I will spend a little more time on the offense now and post what I see.
The first interception Kaepernick threw was not into zone. Hawks had off man cover in an a 3rd and goal play, they dropped to the goalline, and Thurmond read wKaepernick's staredown and throw. He reacted and caused the pick. Chris Collinsworth may have called it zone, but it was not.
Perhaps my favorite play of the night is at 8:17 of the 2nd quarter. Davis lines up left. Williams and Moore line up right slot, one is going deep to try and create space for the other to cross the field in front of the QB. Davis and Williams will cross, with the possibility of a pick play. Boldin is lined up far right, across from Sherman in press. As it turns out, Kaepernick hears footsteps, tries to escape, and is smashed by Avril, who causes a fumble. But the coverage is absolutely perfect. It is a complicated route set and nobody on defense is out of position. Nobody. Best secondary in the league indeed.
A play San Fran loves is the flood right with a deep, middle, and short read. FOr example, at 5:52 of the 2nd quarter, SF lines up in a one back, two tight end formation, with the two tight ends also in the backfield, kind of like a diamond, with Kaepernick in the middle. THis was a formation and pattern set that they used with frequency and success vs New England last year. THe offensive line sells run zone block on this play.
Miller is the short read. Malcom Smith never lets him out of the backfield. Miller wants to chip Smith and release, but Smith just stays on him. On the middle and deep route Davis and Boldin are running a two man game, with Davis running the deep and Boldin going into any empty space Davis creates by absorbing the safety or linebacker. Or, Boldin can free up Davis by taking any help away with a cut to the zone behind the linebackers. The Hawks just slow play it. Kam mans up on Davis, Sherman glues himself to Boldin, and Voila, a San Fran staple play is DOA.
On that play and many others, a detail I have noticed about Kaepernick is confirmed. He throws for a low percentage to moving targets outside the numbers. In fact, on the night, unless I missed something, Kaepernick completes a couple of 6 yard digs and a couple of quick hitters to a WR who moves maybe a yard off the snap. For completions outside the numbers, that is it. Nothing else. This may seem like a minor detail, but the one pass Seattle's scheme gives away is accurate passes to the sidelines vs press corners. And it seems to me to be the pass Kaepernick struggles with the most.
On to another play. 3:44 of the 2nd. Another staple play of the Niner offense. Keep in mind the Niners love 2 man route game. In this play, they bring Boldin in motion and park him beside/slightly behind 19(Moore?). Sherman is in man cover on Boldin and goes in motion with him. This is exactly what the Niners want. This play is another Roman Gabriel staple. If Moore can rub the motion corner in man coverage, Boldin can run free. Seattle does what the Niners don't expect. Sherman drops back a step as the motion man sets, right behind the corner lined up on (Moore?) and just hands coverage of Boldin off to Thurmond. Moore takes off, there isn't anyone to rub, he runs a deep route with Sherman in trail position, and Thurmond proceeds to just destroy anything Boldin had planned by pressing the hell out of him. Boldin never gets 2 yards off the line, and is so pissed gives up on the route and starts trying to push Thurmond around.
I can't overstate how big a deal this is. The drag route is a staple for the Niners. Seattle has the talent to play it more like a basketball defense of a pick and roll than anything else, and it kills the play. Green Bay was destroyed by plays like this.
Kaepernick finally gives up on the play and looks left. He ends up throwing a deep ball to Gore, who is blanketed by Wright. Another innaccurate pass outside the numbers.
Another play where Sherman deserves a game ball, 10:21 of the 4th. San Fran perfectly executes a WR screen to 10 (Williams). there are 5 blockers, and only 4 Hawks. Sherman rolls off a block and destroys Williams. It looks to me like this is a touchdown if Sherman doesn't make this play.
The Kam Chancellor pick? Once again, the 2 man route game San Fran likes to use. This time it looks like Boldin has the job of picking Sherman off his coverage of Moore. The classic accidental rub route. Boldin misses. Sherman slips just by Boldin, stays on the hip of the WR, and Kam collects the errant pass.
I will spend a little more time on the offense now and post what I see.
- but because looking at it real-time it was like - O crap they ran that perfectly, receiver has the ball behind a wall of players how the heck will this not become a touchdown and then suddenly out of nowhere Sherman just blows it up. He just really came off that perfect, found the right gap and just BOOOOOM
