Spin Doctor
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- Sep 8, 2009
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Thanksgiving has come and gone, but the tears in Santa Clara are here to stay. The 49ers have been measured, they have been weighed, they have been found absolutely wanting. The win was made extra special by the few jabs thrown in by the network and of course Richard Sherman himself. The post game show is probably keeping drywall contractors in the bay area very busy today. The close up shots of Sherman and Wilson eating the turkey legs on the 49ers logo was classic, followed by the many shots of Sherman's wry smile that stretched cheek to cheek. I savored every moment of it much like a wine aficionado prolongs the experience of drinking a fine wine. The nodes of bitterness with undertones sorrow coming out of Santa Clara make for exceptionally robust tears.
We are back.
On defense the Seahawks have returned to 2013 form in a big way. Maxwell and the humble thug molested the 49ers wide receivers at the line of scrimmage. It did not matter where the 49ers put their playmakers, they all struggled getting off of the line of scrimmage, and conversely getting any separation.
This is one of the best defensive games that Quinn ever called. He took a page out of the Dick LeBeau handbook, we ran a metric ton of stunts, and zone blitzes in classic Pittsburgh Steeler fashion. We used a lot of 3-4 looks, especially when we were doing zone blitzes. The game plan was simple: we kept a spy in the middle of the field (mostly Bennett) so that Kaepernick wouldn't be able to gash us up the middle like he did in the NFC Championship game. We had Irvin and Avril contain Kaepernick in the pocket. Both of them were excellent at playing disciplined football, for the most part Kaepernick could not get outside of the pocket thanks to their efforts. The stunts and zone-blitz's wrecked all kinds of havoc on the 49ers offensive line. Quinn did an excellent job manufacturing pass rush with his schemes.
Dobbs, Bennett, and Hill all had monster games rushing the passer. Hill, and Dobbs especially made Iupati look more like James Carpenter. Over the last three weeks, Hill has looked like an imposing force during passing downs. I keep seeing him get penetration, I like how he is coming along, he finally looks to be getting it. Our best defensive lineman was an unlikely hero: Dobbs the freshly signed D-Lineman from San Francisco. He played a monster game, the 49ers had no answer for him. He seemed to be in on practically every play. The 49ers put two guys on him at one point, and he still made fools of them.
Wagner makes all of the difference in the world. When the defense was out of position, Wagner would direct them to the right position. His speed is a killer, whenever the 49ers tried running a misdirection play, or spread formations Wagner's speed shut them down. With Wagner on the field teams can no longer threaten the Seahawks horizontally.
Kam Chancellor? Do I need to say anything? He is the 49er slayer, the 49er players looked visibly afraid of his presence. He was very active in the rushing defense.
Russell Wilson had his most complete game as a pure passer of his career IMO. He was passing out of traditional formations, and looked like a natural. For the last three weeks he looks like he has been working on his pocket work, it all came together against the 49ers. He was running 3 step timing routes with great ease, he was working the middle of the field more than I have ever seen before. It almost looked like an old Holmgren style offense (with the redzone derps). Wilson made great decisions on when to scramble and when to give up on a play. People were disappointed that he didn't run more, I say WHY? He looked awesome as a pocket passer. Wilson has developed a "no-look pass" this season. He's starting to move safeties with his eyes, a good example is last week. The Chiefs safety inexplicity dropped his coverage on (Kease I think it was????) leaving not a soul being within 10 yards of Kearse. At the last moment Wilson barely turns his head and throws the football Kearse's way. Wilson did the same thing against the 49ers, though it was not as noticeable on that play. By contrast look at Kaepernick who stared down his receivers all day. It made life very easy on Sherman, he could tell where Kaepernick was going better than Kaepernicks actual receivers.
It seems Bevell has been reading our boards... He's finally ditched the bush league offense and went to a more traditional WCO approach. We used a lot more timing routes, and slant passes. Wilson spent a good amount of time under center which was surprising, we even utilized the passing game out of the i-formation which was a first in the Wilson era. I for one liked it. The two tight end sets really helped out our pass blockers with chips and checkdown options, it especially made Britt's life easy. We need to keep getting our tight ends involved in the passing game, as of right now they look like our biggest, and most competent playmakers on offense. Helfet, Willson, and Moeaki all have shown more flashes than any of our receivers this season.
We are back.
On defense the Seahawks have returned to 2013 form in a big way. Maxwell and the humble thug molested the 49ers wide receivers at the line of scrimmage. It did not matter where the 49ers put their playmakers, they all struggled getting off of the line of scrimmage, and conversely getting any separation.
This is one of the best defensive games that Quinn ever called. He took a page out of the Dick LeBeau handbook, we ran a metric ton of stunts, and zone blitzes in classic Pittsburgh Steeler fashion. We used a lot of 3-4 looks, especially when we were doing zone blitzes. The game plan was simple: we kept a spy in the middle of the field (mostly Bennett) so that Kaepernick wouldn't be able to gash us up the middle like he did in the NFC Championship game. We had Irvin and Avril contain Kaepernick in the pocket. Both of them were excellent at playing disciplined football, for the most part Kaepernick could not get outside of the pocket thanks to their efforts. The stunts and zone-blitz's wrecked all kinds of havoc on the 49ers offensive line. Quinn did an excellent job manufacturing pass rush with his schemes.
Dobbs, Bennett, and Hill all had monster games rushing the passer. Hill, and Dobbs especially made Iupati look more like James Carpenter. Over the last three weeks, Hill has looked like an imposing force during passing downs. I keep seeing him get penetration, I like how he is coming along, he finally looks to be getting it. Our best defensive lineman was an unlikely hero: Dobbs the freshly signed D-Lineman from San Francisco. He played a monster game, the 49ers had no answer for him. He seemed to be in on practically every play. The 49ers put two guys on him at one point, and he still made fools of them.
Wagner makes all of the difference in the world. When the defense was out of position, Wagner would direct them to the right position. His speed is a killer, whenever the 49ers tried running a misdirection play, or spread formations Wagner's speed shut them down. With Wagner on the field teams can no longer threaten the Seahawks horizontally.
Kam Chancellor? Do I need to say anything? He is the 49er slayer, the 49er players looked visibly afraid of his presence. He was very active in the rushing defense.
Russell Wilson had his most complete game as a pure passer of his career IMO. He was passing out of traditional formations, and looked like a natural. For the last three weeks he looks like he has been working on his pocket work, it all came together against the 49ers. He was running 3 step timing routes with great ease, he was working the middle of the field more than I have ever seen before. It almost looked like an old Holmgren style offense (with the redzone derps). Wilson made great decisions on when to scramble and when to give up on a play. People were disappointed that he didn't run more, I say WHY? He looked awesome as a pocket passer. Wilson has developed a "no-look pass" this season. He's starting to move safeties with his eyes, a good example is last week. The Chiefs safety inexplicity dropped his coverage on (Kease I think it was????) leaving not a soul being within 10 yards of Kearse. At the last moment Wilson barely turns his head and throws the football Kearse's way. Wilson did the same thing against the 49ers, though it was not as noticeable on that play. By contrast look at Kaepernick who stared down his receivers all day. It made life very easy on Sherman, he could tell where Kaepernick was going better than Kaepernicks actual receivers.
It seems Bevell has been reading our boards... He's finally ditched the bush league offense and went to a more traditional WCO approach. We used a lot more timing routes, and slant passes. Wilson spent a good amount of time under center which was surprising, we even utilized the passing game out of the i-formation which was a first in the Wilson era. I for one liked it. The two tight end sets really helped out our pass blockers with chips and checkdown options, it especially made Britt's life easy. We need to keep getting our tight ends involved in the passing game, as of right now they look like our biggest, and most competent playmakers on offense. Helfet, Willson, and Moeaki all have shown more flashes than any of our receivers this season.
