Honest question, What are the 49rs doing to confuse Dak

[links18]

Giants played man coverage most of the game with an ailing secondary and for torched. They switched into zone only a few times and Dak threw it right to them twice. Why they didn't play more zone was behind Greg Olsen's comprehension.

 

[John813]

1. 49ers had 19 pressures on Dak.
2. 49ers secondary played more man coverage and were able to blanket everyone from CDL to Cooks. Only on breakdown on the lone TD to Turpin got by their man coverage.
3. Their linebackers are great at sniffing out the underneath to middle of the field.
4. IIRC the 49ers played a lot of single high for safety coverage, which would force Dak to go deep to the outsides.

 

[Typhus]

Honest question, not a bash Dak thread or anything at all. I don't mean it that way, he has been playing great.

He struggles against San Fran there is no debating that. What are they doing to us that is different and that he is struggling to handle? I am not a football coach or that knowledgeable in schemes or designs but obviously if there is something they are doing, there should be a way for our coaches to design a scheme around it. They are a good defense against the pass but not great by any means. Mid pack in yards allowed but #1 in ints.

Minnesota and Cinncinatti lit them up. Is that the film to study to figure out how to be successful against them?

I understand your thoughts completely and have wondered the same thing over and over and I have come to the conclusion in my own mind that it's a confidence thing at some point, the monkey on your back syndrome.
As Dak gains personal confidence, he is improving the entire dynamics of this offense, and lately regardless the match up has been improving with the ability to in cooperate some new wrinkles to the offense.
As fans how can we not be happy about an improving team at the right time?

 

[Denim Chicken]

It's really quite simple.

Dak has big trouble against zone defenses. However, zone defenses USUALLY allow for a more effective run game.

The problem is, the Niners are different in that they can shut down a run game completely without having to resort to man-to-man in coverage. They get us into 3rd and long a ton.

Dak prefers man coverage because he doesn't read those zone looks quickly. He plays really hesitant, and he doesn't trust his arm to throw into tight windows.

This. with the addition that the passrush generated is not giving him the time he needs to find the open spots zone.

I've also noticed he struggles with disguised man looks that end up in zone.

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

I think the 49ers are just a bad matchup for Dallas.

In the same way, Dallas and Washington seem to be a bad matchup for Philly (obviously to a lesser extant than the 49ers are to Dallas) even though they clearly have the superior team.

 

[gimmesix]

The 49ers play zone and shade the coverage to CeeDee. The issue the last 3 times we have played the 49ers is their front 4 destroys our offensive line. Better line play you can beat the 49ers defense.

Yes, that's the main problem. Dak is among those quarterbacks that if you give them time, they are going to hurt you. Few can handle consistent pressure, especially when a team uses a lot of zone to try to take away the quick passes.

 

[DuceizBak]

It's really quite simple.

Dak has big trouble against zone defenses. However, zone defenses USUALLY allow for a more effective run game.

The problem is, the Niners are different in that they can shut down a run game completely without having to resort to man-to-man in coverage. They get us into 3rd and long a ton.

Dak prefers man coverage because he doesn't read those zone looks quickly. He plays really hesitant, and he doesn't trust his arm to throw into tight windows.

I don't think Dak has trouble against Zone per se...just that the 49ers have talent.
The Jets have a better defense than the 49ers. I think it's all mental and coaching really.

I ironically think the Cowboys are a bad match-up for 49ers more so than the other way around, they just don't utilize it that way.
We have good corners, they have mediocre corners and a worse d-line than we have.

I think we need to incorporate more of Dak running. The team I think is the worst match up for us honestly is a team like the Ravens.

 

[ChrisL97]

They get to him. The niners are able to generate a pass rush with 4 guys and they drop everyone else into zone coverage. That doesn’t leave much open space. They are really good at taking away the short/intermediate throws.

Except they played man across the board all game last game. The previous two years, it was zone

 

[Tabascocat]

It’s not just Dak but the whole team. SF is real physical which is the Cowboys kryptonite. It has to be mental as well now and they are a nightmare matchup for Dallas.

 

[erod]

I don't think Dak has trouble against Zone per se...just that the 49ers have talent.
The Jets have a better defense than the 49ers. I think it's all mental and coaching really.

I ironically think the Cowboys are a bad match-up for 49ers more so than the other way around, they just don't utilize it that way.
We have good corners, they have mediocre corners and a worse d-line than we have.

I think we need to incorporate more of Dak running. The team I think is the worst match up for us honestly is a team like the Ravens.

Dak struggles mightily against zone coverage. Interceptions abound.

Dak HATES to run. And he's not terribly athletic like true running quarterbacks.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

I think he was afraid to throw picks and we went all underneath and that made things easy to guard and honestly those picks by the los hurt the worst anyway.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

It’s not just Dak but the whole team. SF is real physical which is the Cowboys kryptonite. It has to be mental as well now and they are a nightmare matchup for Dallas.

Schoon gonna win us the game

 

[erod]

Except they played man across the board all game last game. The previous two years, it was zone

No they didn't. They played a mix of man/zone coverage, and Dak didn't recognize it in the limited time he had against their pass rush.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

We are going to need to use our front 4 more against them. Use Parsons more as a LB. Hit the gaps and stop the run but also cover these quick close passes. That’s all purdy does is make high % short throws to players that get YAC. We need to play the same way they do early on Offense. Or use Dowdle early in the run game to pound the front 4 and make them come up on the line.

I don't disagree. not sure why but against AZ and SF our defense seemed confused at times and gave up big plays. we have to pressure Purdy and force him to throw earlier than he likes. On offense, Solari seems to be using more of a zone scheme, which is finesse as opposed get to the man you are assigned in front of you and destroy him, which is what Tyron, Tyler, Martin and steele are good at (although steele has lost some mobility, he is still better in being physical with his hands on the defender). instead their front 4 takes it to our OL. if we have to get bigger, more blocking up front and punch a few times, then so be it. we just can't be on our heels the whole time.

 

[CowboyoWales]

Honest question, not a bash Dak thread or anything at all. I don't mean it that way, he has been playing great.

He struggles against San Fran there is no debating that. What are they doing to us that is different and that he is struggling to handle? I am not a football coach or that knowledgeable in schemes or designs but obviously if there is something they are doing, there should be a way for our coaches to design a scheme around it. They are a good defense against the pass but not great by any means. Mid pack in yards allowed but #1 in ints.

Minnesota and Cinncinatti lit them up. Is that the film to study to figure out how to be successful against them?

Jimmie Ward bragged that: "We went in there and did what we needed to do: Stop the run and force them to be one-dimensional. See if Prescott could win the game for them,”

 

[VaqueroTD]

And they key to that is the pressure. Even Tom Brady in his prime looked bad when his offensive line broke down. They have good linebackers too that eat up the middle of the field both in run support and confusing Dak more. But yeah, I agree with others and think there’s obviously some mind tricks at work too. Whole freaking team fell apart in the loss. Just gave up almost. I’m sure they go into a SF game much more tense than say, our red-headed stepchild, the Giants. Like Aikman says, 49ers are most physical team in league. If you come in with a smaller speed unit, you can get dominated.

The 49ers play zone slightly more than man, but enough that it's hard to know what they are going to do. Disguise well.

Dak is best against the blitz and against man. Dak likes to throw to WRs who are either clearly open or he can anticipate coming open because they have beat their coverage. He is less sure of his reads against zone because it requires him to throw WRs into windows (obv Ferguson's emergency is helping this because deploying a TE against zone into windows is good). Note - this is not to say Dak is BAD against zone - he's just better against man.

So the 49ers strengths play into his weaknesses. They generate pressure with only 4 (and Bosa typically lines up against the RT so strength against weakness) and play zone and it's just harder. Add to that the LACK of a real run game is really making it harder.

Now

 

[charron]

I don't think it's a Dak being confused issue. When healthy they had a DL dominating the Dallas OL, now might be worse if Chase stays healthy. Their DB's maintain tight coverage, Dak prefers to see clear seperation unless its a sideline play where he has a semi safe place to throw where the DB can't get it. Also for this year Mikes play calling was terrible and kept everything close which favored the defense. mike called a very limited offense, won't take shots down field, can't run the ball worth a darn, everything is underneath or crossing routes with basically the whole defense playing tight to the line of scrimmage as they can.

 

[NumOneQB]

49ers are a tough matchup for Dallas and most teams because they have one of the best LB corps in the NFL. Lots of speed there that allow them to sit on those soft intermediate routes aka the Kellen Moore bread and butter play. Magic Mike did a lot of that Kelmo BS early in the year but appears to be stretching the field and using lots of motion since the SF debacle. The other side of that, the defense getting punched in the mouth by the SF ground game. They have to put that in check and get to Purdy. Film is out on the 49ers….

 

[john van brocklin]

Honest question, not a bash Dak thread or anything at all. I don't mean it that way, he has been playing great.

He struggles against San Fran there is no debating that. What are they doing to us that is different and that he is struggling to handle? I am not a football coach or that knowledgeable in schemes or designs but obviously if there is something they are doing, there should be a way for our coaches to design a scheme around it. They are a good defense against the pass but not great by any means. Mid pack in yards allowed but #1 in ints.

Minnesota and Cinncinatti lit them up. Is that the film to study to figure out how to be successful against them?

I think Dak is color blind, lol

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

Honestly our offense is also vastly improved since week 5. Not only do the 9'ers have a great physical defense, we weren't far along enough schematically at that point.