What went wrong on the Packers 37 second scoring drive? Ryans' defensive formation looked normal, with the LB's in run coverage. Why? Dunno. Nobody is running the ball and if they do, shame on them. Those LB's should have been back in a soft zone coverage in front of the DB's. Who cares if they throw short to the flat or in the middle? I guess Ryans did because there's no excuse for that formation in that situation. What do you suppose he was thinking?
Shanny too made his share of mistakes as well confessing to his regretful 4th down punt near midfield. Who would have thought coach Hightower would have out coached both the head coach and the defensive coordinator? Not me.
Off topic, but with the 9ers CB injuries still of interest:
ReplyDeleteNo reunion: CB Richard Sherman to sign with Buccaneers....
The 49ers can cross Richard Sherman off their list of potential reinforcements at cornerback. The 33-year-old is signing a one-year deal with the Buccaneers according to Sherman, who announced the move on his podcast.
https://sports.yahoo.com/no-reunion-cb-richard-sherman-132936156.html
The 49ers made it clear they weren't interested in bringing Sherman back by negotiating with Norman for weeks, and then ultimately signing him. We'll have our answer by seasons end if they chose wisely. Kinda funny they got two headcases in the locker room now.
DeleteReport: 49ers expected to sign former Bears nickel CB Buster Skrine. Skrine would replace K’Waun Williams, who is expected to miss a few weeks
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ninersnation.com/2021/9/28/22699178/report-49ers-expected-to-sign-former-bears-nickel-cb-buster-skrine
Skrine will need to be much better than he was last year or else we're in deep doo doo.
DeleteAfter losing to the Packers, the 9ers have stepped in doo doo.
DeleteSunday, the 9ers play Seattle to determine who's in
last place in the division and just how deep the doo doo really is!
As for Skrine, I agree, I don't view him as offering much help to the 9ers CB problem(s).
In other news, The Colts RB Marlon Mack is available.
What's your opinion on the 9ers trading for him?
Should the 49ers Trade for Colts RB Marlon Mack?
ReplyDeleteThere is one player who could be of intrigue for the 49ers and that is Colts running back Marlon Mack. Mack and the Colts have agreed to seek a trade, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The issue with Mack is that he is coming off an Achilles tear, so that could be a red flag to the 49ers.
https://sports.yahoo.com/m/848b9b52-0a48-332b-b5f6-98ac50bad6e5/should-the-49ers-trade-for.html
I wouldn't trade away anymore draft assets unless a really good cb became available somehow. Especially not for a running back.
DeleteSorry, didn't see you'd already answered by question about Mack.
DeleteAs for trading for a CB: Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore is available, but I don't believe we can afford him.
They should have put 3 downlinemen, and 8 DBs. Don't have 8 DBs, then as many DBs plus Warner, Kittle, Deebo and whomever else can make a play on the ball. This should have been done on the packers first play, drop everyone back, with guys like kittle and deebo playing deepest and lets see if Rodgers could have found someone open with 8 guys in zone coverages.
ReplyDeleteEmjay,
DeleteYou bring up a good point. Putting an extra CB in with 37 sec left seemed like a better way to nullify Rodgers.
I believe that Shanahan was dooped by playing into the Packers strength which was allowing Rodgers to throw. Shanahan had to know that GB was not going to run the ball with no time-outs. Yup, the extra CB could have helped.
Now if we can come up with the right personnel in the right spots, why couldn't Ryans after a week of preparation? Or even Shanny could have told him what to do. I don't get it.
DeleteIts odd. You play deep, you give them the middle of the field (only warner needed at the LB spot) and you have your cbs playing off 10 yards and your safetys playing overtop of them.
DeleteAnd also...LAY ON TOP OF THE GUY WITH THE BALL!!!
Yep, that's football 101 right there.
DeleteYup, in that situation Shanahan could have only used a two pass rushers with 9 players guarding against the pass. Shanahan was school'd.
DeleteIt's funny - if they go ultra conservative, go prevent defense and rush 3 or less and put everyone in coverage, what makes people think that would have worked? We've seen that not work out plenty of times in the past, and whenever it happens fans are angry because they were too conservative. On this occasion Ryans played a bit more aggressive, but Rodgers and Adams made a good play against some defenders that played it poorly, and fans are angry they didn't play prevent defense.
DeleteBasically, if it doesn’t work, it was awful coaching.
Its 37 seconds left with no timeouts, thats why it works. Let him sit in the pocket for 8 seconds trying to find someone to throw to, best he would have had was a dumpoff that gets 10 yards and kills 20 seconds.
DeleteUnless it didn't work, and then Ryans would be the idiot playing soft prevent defense.
DeleteThe defensive call was fine. The execution between Lenoir and Hufanga was awful. Sometimes a great QB and great WR beat two rookie 5th rounders. The biggest mistake was having the two rookies covering Adams.
Scooter, accepting your premise, riddle me this; why didn't Ryans tell Warner to back up via helmet communique?
DeletePoor execution and situational awareness. By all parties. The call itself wasn't awful (wasn't good either) - it could have been fine if played a little differently based on the situation. But poor execution and situational awareness made it a very easy throw and catch. Lenoir has to do a better job sticking with Adams on that route. Hufanga has to recognise earlier that Adams is breaking it off early.
DeleteSure, a different coverage may have worked better in that situation. It may also have just left the sideline more exposed for an easy completion and time stoppage. I've seen prevent defense get shredded too many times very late in games to believe it would have been the cure all.
Jimmy G for Gilmore who"s in lol
ReplyDeleteShanny just said that was the coverage they wanted, 2 man. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteRazor, if you're not taking everything Kyle says publicly with a grain of salt, you're not paying attention to his tenure as Head Coach!
DeleteI'm not going to rail on Kyle today because frankly, it's too easy right now, but I am going to repeat something I posting on this blog during the offseason ... Kyle is a tactical genius when it comes of NFL football, what he lacks is common sense.
DeleteThe 49ers tried to have their cake, and eat it too, this off-season. Unfortunately, the margins in the NFL are too thin to take this approach. If they really thought they were contenders THIS season, they should have had different team-building priorities during the off-season, IMO.
DeleteI still don't understand why they are running it back with Garoppolo. Like Steve Young has said, ShanaLynch could not have spoken louder about how they feel about Jimmy, by the actions they took this off-season. It's as if they figured none of the actions or words they spoke this off-season would matter once the regular season kicked off. Not only does NFL FOOTBALL definitely not work that way, LIFE itself doesn't work that way. Why would an NFL team trade away much of anything for Jimmy Garoppolo, and his 25+M contract, knowing that the one HC who most people feel runs the most QB friendly system in the entire league, doesn't even believe in him, especially when he is certain to become a free agent at season's end?
DeleteThis was a massive miscalculation on behalf of ShanaLynch, IMO, and now I can only hope the repercussions don't carry over into 2022.
How did we go from playing man to man with two deep safeties with 37 seconds to go against Rodgers and feeling good about it to Jimmy Garoppolo? The plan was and remains a red shirt year for Lance, sprinkled with red zone multi boujee sauce.
DeleteSo many Niners fans are down on Aaron Banks and Trey Sermon. Guess what ... both of these players were drafted to compliment Trey Lance, and the Trey Lance offense, NOT Jimmy G! This 49ers offense is an entirely new system for him, and it shows! If you want to see Sermon at his best, go back and watch last year's Big 10 Championship game! His rushing performance gave me goosebumps! Watching him and Justin running Z/R and RPO concepts out of SHOTGUN formation, was poetry in motion! Guess what formation Trey Lance was in most of the time in 2019? SHOTGUN! What concepts was he running out of the gun? Mostly RPO heavy and Z/R concepts. And when he was under center, it was mostly play action passing with power rushing concepts - and isn't Aaron Banks a much better fit for more of a power rushing scheme?
DeleteSo let me reiterate my point:
the 49ers thought they were so much better than the rest of the NFC, that they could waste their entire top half of the draft (as well as multiple 1st round pick) on players who apparently weren't expected to contribute until 2022. Wow!
It's rare to hit the ground running for a rookie, and all you have to do is look across the league. In this offense, and within the constructure of the team; it's a smart way to go about your business if your team is loaded.
DeleteRazor, you do realize that one of the big advantages of having a young QB is his rookie contract, right? Lance is likely going to need consistent playing time, in order to develop into a playoff caliber QB, so the 49ers could potentially be wasting 2 years of his rookie contract, on the developmental stage. It's hard enough to look 1 year ahead, in the NFL, but 2 seasons?
DeleteMy point is that, if they really thought they were a Super Bowl caliber team this season, they had no business using the entire top half of the draft in players who weren't even expected to contribute much this season. They would have been far better off trading back in round 1, and drafting players who could help put them over the top THIS SEASON.
Take a look at the team's that are winning right now.
Carolina, Dallas, Denver, LAC, Arizona, Baltimore, GB, Buffalo, TB. Every single team used the top half of the draft to supplement their roster for THIS season. They didn't go into the draft looking at next season. It's hard enough to win now. Imagine if SF had drafted a couple top CB's, and interior OL who actually fits their current scheme? If Garoppolo was good enough to win now, why are looking past him? It makes ZERO sense for THIS SEASON, which is why they are now hurting at CB and OL, right now, and grasping at straws.
And guess what? Do you know how many of these guys are FA's after this season? They are going to be replacing even more players come next season. It's the height of arrogance to think that you can wins Super Bowl now, while stocking up for 2022, or perhaps even 2023!
Sure, you have to plan ahead. But you can't spend entire top half of the draft looking past the current season, if you really want to win the current season.
They have dug themselves a hole for this season, and the worry is that it could easily carry over into at least the first half of 2022.
It's all related, Razor.
DeleteYou don't think they should have prioritized CB this offseason? You don't think a big part of the problem VS the Packers was about their CB, and interior OL positions?
The problem is that CB is an expensive, premium position, so you either use top draft picks, or spend top dollar in FA. The Niners did neither!
We all knew was a problem! We all knew that counting on Jason Verrett to stay healthy was a shaky proposition, right?
Same goes for RB! Mostert is ALWAYS hurt, same with Wilson! Hasty has also had an injury history.
DeleteAnd like I said, Sermon isn't used to playing in this system, he's a shotgun RPO and Z/R RB!
What I am saying here isn't exactly rocket science! This is fundamental NFL roster-building!
DeleteBTW, I don't want it to seem like I am saying they should have drafted a RB earlier. To the contrary at RB. Certainly don't draft a RB in the 3rd round, who doesn't fit your current system!
DeleteAnd you can't count on injury prone players!
If ShanaLynch should have learned anything by now, it's that lesson, don't you think?
And I haven't found a single Niner's Faithful who can explain to me how the best plan to cover for Garoppolo's injury history, is to go into the season with a rookie QB behind him!
DeleteThat also makes ZERO sense!
So we have Super Bowl aspirations, which is why we are running it back this season with Jimmy, but we are planning on replacing him with a rookie QB who hasn't hardly played in a year and a half, if Jimmy does get injured?
Are you F'n kidding me? You think that makes sense, Razor?
It's obvious that the ShanaLynch originally had different plans for THIS season, prior to the draft.
DeleteSomething clearly changed after the draft.
Dude, one reply...youre literally spamming.
DeleteThere were too many 9er mistakes made against the Packers to
ReplyDeletepoint to any one of them as the reason the 9ers lost, but this is one I can't wrap my head around...
* What went wrong on the Packers 37 second scoring drive? Ryans' defensive formation looked normal, with the LB's in run coverage. Why RUN COVERAGE?" Dunno. Nobody is running the ball and if they do, shame on them. Those LB's should have been back in a soft zone coverage in front of the DB's. Who cares if they throw short to the flat or in the middle? I guess Ryans did because there's no excuse for that formation in that situation. * What do you suppose he was thinking?
THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS...HE WASN'T THINKING!
FACT: GB coach Hightower out coached both HC KS and DC DeMeco Ryans!
"Aaron Banks and Trey Sermon. Guess what ... both of these players were drafted to compliment Trey Lance, and the Trey Lance offense, NOT Jimmy G!"
ReplyDeleteJimmy brought the team back from a 17 point deficit to take the lead with 37 seconds left in the game. This loss was on Shanahan. As I said on Sunday, hopefully it was a lesson learned for Shanahan. He needs to break the habit of losing leads in the 4th QTR.
I was at the game and when seeing Warner up high, I assumed he was going to blitz......err. And sadly, it wasn't even a good pass- Adams made a nice play on the ball. Another issue is WHY was Adams getting a free release.....
ReplyDelete"This loss was on Shanahan. As I said on Sunday, hopefully it was a lesson learned for Shanahan. He needs to break the habit of losing leads in the 4th QTR".
ReplyDeleteAES, I'm not blaming Jimmy G. I respect Jimmy. I think Jimmy plays hard, and I think he's a team player. If I am giving the impression that I am blaming Jimmy for being who he is, then let me clear that up. I don't blame Jimmy. But I also think Jimmy is a limited NFL QB, and those limitations are holding the 49ers back.
I blame Kyle. He's the Head Coach, and other than Jed York, Kyle's ultimately in charge of this team. And that goes for the decision to hire a defensive coordinator who has zero DC experience. It seem like common sense that, if you have championship asperations, you ought not hire a rookie defensive coordinator.
DeleteI am also tired of Kyle's BS. When reporters ask him questions, they are ultimately asking those questions for the fans, so I take Kyle's lack of candor personally.
DeleteAnd, BTW, I used to be one of Kyle biggest supporters, constantly defending him as a HC. And so I want to make this one point clear: I think Kyle is one of the very best, if not the best offensive play callers/play designers in the NFL, bar none. I just don't think he's a good Head Coach, or player talent evaluator, nor have I seen any evidence that knows how to develop QB's.
DeleteAlso, I have a problem with the fact that they wouldn't bring uncle Sherm back. He's exactly what they need in the secondary right now, and instead, he's bring those services to an NFC rival - Tampa Bay.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand their personnel decisions this season, at all. I don't think any of their important personnel decisions have made much sense, at all! In fact, they have mostly been counterintuitive, IMO!
ReplyDeleteFYI, the Lions and Eagles are a combined 1-5. The 49ers have faced one good team this season, and it's a team that simply couldn't compete with the 49ers just 2 seasons ago! And they lost, and in some ways, it was an embarrassing loss at that.
ReplyDeleteLast year's beat down from Miami was an embarrassing loss.
ReplyDeleteThe loss to the Packers last Sunday didn't fall under the embarrassing category for me. I rate it as a frustrating loss because we could have won the game with better coaching down the stretch. Our defensive scheme with 37 seconds left and no time outs for the Packers should have been squalched.
Fair enough, AES. I did use the qualifier "in some ways".
DeleteGreen Bay is a good team, but the 49ers made things way too easy for Green Bay, on both sides of the ball. Remember, Green Bay was simply no match for this team 2 years ago. It's one game, but I've seen the All 22 game film, and it sure looks like the 49ers have regressed as a team.
Defensively, this team is struggling, but I am more frustrated with the offense because I've seen so much more from Kyle. Jimmy is actually playing better than he has at times, but the league is catching up to Kyle, IMO, which is why he needed to evolve his offense this offseason, and by all accounts, it seemed like that was the plan. Apparently, something changed post draft.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAnd Jimmy, as much as I like the guy, I can only see his flaws now, because I know his limitations.
ReplyDeleteI mean, how can I really blame Jimmy? He's the same QB he was in 2019, and there were times during the 2019 season where Kyle did everything he could to scheme ways to protect his QB. Jimmy just isn't a QB who stresses opposing defenses, at all. He can't stretch the field, and he's not mobile enough to keep them honest.
Eh, the loss sucked, they didn't play well. They also weren't awful. If they keep playing like that they won't be a threat in the playoffs, and might not even make the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteThey also did just come off a two week road trip, and the team has been notoriously bad after such trips in the past. Nothing new. Playing poorly against the Falcons after a two week road trip didn't stop them making the Super Bowl in 2019.
RELAX. We don't know what this team is just yet. Maybe they aren't good. Maybe they're great. Maybe they're somewhere in the middle. Let's see before we all lose our minds.
OK Scooter, I'm good with that.
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ReplyDeleteTo be fair its a small miracle SF was in this game.
ReplyDeleteWhen the other team has the better qb, secondary, rb and wr... and they win in the trenches on both sides of the ball how often do you expect your team to be in a position to win?
I don't want to overreact to this and my biggest concern for this team so far has been their line play. I expected SF to struggle in the secondary and some up and down play from from Jimmy. However, I had hoped our Lines would be much better than they have been so far. I expect this to change and it better or this team is in major hot water.
The worst part being, throwing in a rookie qb, when you have no running game and an oline that is struggling hold up in pass protection is not a good way to develop him. More often than not it develops bad habits.
Lets hope this is a blip and the running game gets fixed at least with the return of Wilson.
Makes it even more head scratching when you've clawed your way back into a game to win only to piss it away with a ridiculous defensive alignment given the situation.
DeleteVery true.
DeleteThat's why it's so hard to grade this game or know what to read into it.
Imagine if I told you before the game GB would control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, have more rushing yards and win the turnover margin by 2. I don't think anyone would have SF in that game... let alone winning it with 37 seconds left.
That's true, but football is played thru 4 QTRS, so you have to look at the entire game as a whole, and let's be honest, the Niners were an offensive train wreck for the entire first half. In fact it was so bad, they almost couldn't even punch it at the goal line, right before the half, it took a brilliant Trey Lance mis-direction, end-around run to get it done. In fact, if it weren't for special teams - i.e. Trent Cannon, bailing Kyle out at the end of the half, they probably don't get back into that game, because the Niners apparently have very few explosive plays in their arsenal right now. At least, that's the way it looks. Their offense is as stale as could be. Even when they do complete a pass, a defender is usually draped all over the receiver. If Deebo didn't have such incredibly strong hands at the catch, they aren't scoring much of anything in this game. And the thing is - Jimmy is actually playing some of his best ball right now (and not making many of his usual WTF plays) but the offense as a whole has rarely been as uninspired or stale as it has been for the last 10 QTRS! GB has clearly solved them schematically, and the book is going out to the rest of the league, because that's how NFL football works. That's why it was so important to get Trey Lance up speed, at least enough to use him more frequently, going into this season. When you spend half of your training camp running plays for Lance, you can't then completely abandon that scheme once the season starts, and go back to the same old scheme that you drafted Trey Lance to fix in the first place, and expect good results.
DeleteYou guys know as well as I do that the 49ers basically have 2 offensive schemes, and one of those schemes is mostly wasting away on the bench right now, even though the other scheme has been uninspired, and extremely ineffective!
DeleteThis weeks game is close to be a must win for the 49ERS, and Kyle should now have a very good idea of what is coming for him, in terms of the Seahawks' offensive and defensive schemes. It's always the same with Seattle offensively - contain Russell Wilson behind the LOS, and prevent the big, explosive downfield plays to Metcalf and Lockette. And I suspect we'll see Seattle doing a lot of the same stuff the Packers were doing last week defensively.
DeleteThe most important thing is to be playing your best football in the back end of the season. Until then you just need to do enough to keep you in the hunt for the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteThe 49ers season won't be won or lost week 4.
What they absolutely, positively, cannot do, is afford to lose the next 2 games, and go into the bye at 2-3, and 0-2 in the division.
DeleteThis is shocking, but at the same time, somewhat believable, IMO:
DeleteShortly after the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Brady called his former teammate Wes Welker, according to a new book about the New England Patriots dynasty, “It’s Better To Be Feared,” by ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham. Brady informed Welker, San Francisco’s wide receivers coach, if the 49ers were interested, he would finish his career in the Bay Area after 20 seasons and six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots. According to the book, Brady wrote down 20 or so elements he desired from his new team. His contract demand was considered reasonable: Two years, $50 million. Brady informed Welker that if the 49ers wanted him, there would be “no free-agency tour, no bidding war, full stop; he would end his career where his love of football began, in scarlet and gold, allowing his parents to drive to (his) games for the first time since the 1990s,” according to the book.
Brady grew up in San Mateo as a fan of the 49ers, and his parents still live on the peninsula.
A source confirms to NBC Sports Bay Area that the 49ers were made aware of Brady’s preference and, as is reported in the book, the organization was initially skeptical. But Shanahan asked each of his offensive assistant coaches to watch all of Brady’s pass attempts from the 2019 season and provide their evaluations, Wickersham reports. Shanahan did the same while on vacation with his family in Cabo San Lucas. According to the book, the 49ers coaches (including Kyle) merely liked Brady’s film and concluded that Brady was only marginally better than Garoppolo at that stage of both men’s careers.
Holy Moly!
Right. It's better to figure out the issues early and work on them through September getting ready for the meat of the season over the next two months.
DeleteThe back end (Dec and Jan) features 4 relatively weak teams book-ended between two division heavyweights (Hawks and Rams).
The Niners game will continue to be a little iffy till Hasty and Wilson return in a month.
I hope you're right, Mood.
DeleteI can't bare the idea of them losing to the Hawks right now, so they better come out fighting on Sunday and leave it all out there on the field!
Scooter,
ReplyDeleteI hear you, and if the 49ers were playing in any other division you're point would carry more leverage. But our division could be the most toughest in football. In this division it's imparative not to lose any ground.
But that said, I still believe that we are a good team that will improve with each game.
Sure, we can't afford to lose too much ground in the early going. But in all likelihood at least two teams from the NFC West will be going to the playoffs, and the team that wins the division is probably a good bet to win the #1 seed.
DeleteIf the 49ers lose this week they will at worst be 1 game behind second spot in the division. Not great, but with 13 more games to go that is not a death knell.
If they lose both of the next two would be a bigger concern - losing two straight division games and falling to 2-3 would start to be a problem.
But so long as they stay in the race, the key will be finishing strong.
See, I'm not sure I agree. I think the Packers probably now have the easiest path to the #1 seed, based on their division, and the surprisingly-sound-defensively-Dallas Cowboys might be right there as well. I think the Rams are playing the best football of any team right now, but it seems like the NFC West is the division most likely to beat up on one another.
DeleteMaybe. I think the best team in the NFC is either the Bucs or in the NFC West. And the Rams just beat the Bucs.
DeleteScooter
DeleteNot to nit pick, but you seem to have overlooked Arizona? If Arizona wins week 4 and the 9ers lose to
the Seahawks, the 9ers are 2 games behind both the Rams and Arizona!
The good news is they'll play them both twice. The bad news is they'll play them both twice.
Rams play Cards this week. One team is losing.
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ReplyDelete@Scooter: Not sure I buy that our division winner will be the #1 seed. I believe our division winner will be the best team in the NFC, but will have losses due to how tough our division is that will prevent the division winner from being the #1 seed.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see if you are right on that statement (I don't mean that it is a big deal whether you are or not, just that I would expect that the dogfights in our division will keep that from happening).
I don't think any team in the NFC is winning more than 14 games in the regular season. Packers have to play the NFC West, the Chiefs and the Browns. The Bucs probably have the easiest path but would still expect them to drop at least 2 more games.
DeleteI think whichever team wins the West will be around that mark.
13 to 14 wins mark is what I meant, for NFC West champ. Which will put them right in the mix for NFC champ imo.
DeleteIs anyone here having comments not going through?
ReplyDeleteI have this experience at least 3 out of 10 times. Not sure how to remedy this.
Haven't had it happen to me yet. I have no clue what could be causing it.
DeleteThanks Razor. I have no clue either.
ReplyDeleteI clear my cache daily (which is the message I receive) but still having this frustrating issue.
I have a few times. Just thought it was my personality. Seriously, though, it happened today. I had written something about today's story about Brady offering himself to us at a hometown discount and "the coaches" turning him down. Just think, if true they would have been able to have Brady mentor Lance, and Tom would have possibly gone into the Hall a 49er. This franchise under the Yorks has been such a disappointment. Under different regimes, they shunned Rogers, Mahomes and Brady, if today's story is true.
ReplyDeleteRodgers, sorry. But returning to my post above, this is so screwy you can't make this up.
DeleteI see this has already been brought up by 49Reasons. Apologies, 49R.
ReplyDelete