Marvin49":2560miae said:
I don't think the offense is the issue. Kap had a rough game vs the Bears. No doubt. He made mistakes on all of those throws...but they also required some insanely good plays by the defender to pick them off. The superman dive by Conte (tho Kap never looked the guy off), essentially a strip by Fuller from Crab, and a great vet play by the rook to drop off his receiver and drift back to cover the TE. No absolving Kap of those INTs because they were all mistakes...but DAMN good plays by the defense as well. In the other two games? Hes had a QB rating of 125 and 103 respectively. VS the Cards he was doing something people said he couldn't do...throw short passes. He completed like 11 of his first 12 passes.
Yeah, one of Fuller's INTs was a bad pass, but Fuller's other int and Conte's int and one of the two could-have-been ints against the Cardinals all have the same root cause IMO. Conte's and Fuller's were both amazing defensive plays, but on all three of these it's the defender jumping routes because they know what Kap is thinking and where he's going because he relies so mechanically on his pre-snap reads. The other could-have-been int against the cards was basically the same thing too, as it was just him making a mistake in his pre-snap read.
We ABSOLUTELY agree that Kap looks much better so far in several areas (and overall is playing better), but I really do think that this is the thing he has always struggled the most with, and the thing that will ultimately hold him back the most in his development if he doesn't develop.
Unlike the bugaboo about getting through progressions and the fallacious argument that it's is hard to develop (it isn't), his problem is something that is VERY hard to fix. It has much more to do with innate ability than those other things (footwork, getting through reads, they're both about practice and can be developed).
Marvin49":2560miae said:
3) This year...all that frustration I had watching the offense last year I now feel watching the defense collapse with no pass rush and horribly timed penalties.In the first halfs of games, Fangio is on display. He's a great coordinator. He's scheming defense because they don't have the horses back.
In the second half, they get that critical stop on 3rd....and a penalty gives a 1st. They get it again....another penalty. Then they get no pressure...busted coverage....Touchdown.
In terms of yards, the Niners are currently 6th in the NFL. They aren't giving up yards in bunches. What they are doing is making stops but the drive continues because of a bonehead or incorrect call. These drives just keep going on, eating up more and more time and eventually the lack of pressure catches up to them and they get scored on.
Agreed, which is why for a lot of this stuff I'm not too worried about the defense. Given all the factors at play (missing players, a whole new secondary) the defense is actually playing better than I thought they would.
Marvin49":2560miae said:
Fangio is doing some damn good coordinating....but at some point a guy simply has to beat the guy across from him and that isn't happening in the second half. I saw Justin Smith TRIPLE teamed vs the Cards. SOMEBODY has to make a play when three guys are all on Justin. Lemonier has been invisible. That's one of the bigger disappointments of the season. I like Aaron Lynch and Tank Carradine. BOTH need more playing time.
Yep. This is the part of the defense to really be concerned about IMO. The inopportune blown assignments, bonehead penalties and very questionable penalties at very unfortunate times will work themselves out, they're fluky. The lack of pass rush is a very real problem.
Marvin49":2560miae said:
I think it's a very good line especially when they are doing what they are good at...mauling.
Agreed. I just don't think a mauling offensive line as as effective in today's NFL as it was when Harbaugh first came into the league. Not that it's useless, but it's not the strategic advantage that it once was.
Marvin49":2560miae said:
Being down Anthony Davis is huge though. Jonathan Martin blows. For the life of me I can't figure out why they don't push Boone out to tackle and play Looney at guard till Davis comes back.
Seriously, this times a million! Really frustrating.
Marvin49":2560miae said:
6) Offensive Philosophy: Agree for the most part. They are adapting. Gore isn't the sma eguy he was and won't always be the guy they can lean on. They need to adapt to the players they have and I think they are in the middle of that transition. Kap will never be a throw 50 times a game QB, but I think they will throw the ball more and more and open up space for Carols Hyde and maybe Marcus Lattimore. That's the future as I see it. We'll see if it works.
Agreed. As you might recall over the off season I was the heretic who was suggesting that the 9ers might have moved on from Gore before this season. It's true that he's still a good player and that his role in pass blocking can't be understated, but I also think people lean on the pass blocking thing too much: that's something that can be taught. Gore learned it. Heck, even LaMichael James learned it. Pass blocking isn't the reason to lean on Gore.
You and I have always been on the same page about Lattimore, as I recall: if he ever contributes it's just a bonus.
Hyde has been a ton of fun to watch, though. Like Gore in fast forward, as my buddy said.