Barrister
Member
- Messages
- 61
- Reaction score
- 9
Basically, I have no idea how good (or bad) this team is. We have at times looked as good as a 10-6 team, and at times as bad the 6-10 team we were last year. We beat a playoff team we weren't supposed to in week one, we lost to a team that we should have put away in week two, and barely beat a team that could easily have put us away in week three.
To complicate things, our players have been inconsistent. Bledsoe has been the perfect bus driver the first two weeks, but today showed glimpses of mistakes that have haunted him in the past (e.g., stood in the pocket too long and taking a sack, forced pass into the endzone to Witten w/ 3 defenders around him, threw INT to Parrish etc.). Anthony Henry has been universally lauded as our best CB, if not player, during the first 2 weeks, only to turn in against SF possibly the worst performance by any of our defensive players.
Still, the next two games should and will define our progress as a team. The first game against Oakland will pit our achilles heel (the deep pass) against the best deep threat in the game, Randy Moss, who has never lost to us. The second game against Philly will put us against the team our defense was built to eventually beat. I don't expect us to go 2-0, but how competitive we are in both games will go a long way towards determining how much we have improved, if any, over last year.
More thoughts:
1. Get off Zimmer's back. This guy is a coach learning a new system with new players, many of whom are rookies trying to also learn how to play in this league. To give up on him now, 3 games into his learning curve, doesn't make sense. I think he's done an admirable job. We've shut down two of the league's premiere RBs so far, and save for two desperate but perfectly thrown heaves by Brunell, we'd be 3-0.
2. I like Crayton, but am I the only one who holds his breath whenever he starts running with the ball? He still looks like he's about to lose ball any second. Everyone raves about his great hands--and he sure can catch the ball--but he needs to learn about protecting after the fact.
3. Al Johnson's feet have given us more problems than any center I in recent memory. He planted his foot way back today, causing Bledsoe to step on it and stumble to the ground, and I believe he also caused Julius to trip on a running play up the middle. He's a smallish C, and probably was trying to get as much leverage as possible on the DTs he was facing. Maybe it was just a fluke today, but with the margin of error in our games so small right now, it's a problem that has to be fixed.
4. What happened to Roy Williams today? After getting burnt deep twice during the MNF game, I figured one of two things would happen: one, he would overcompensate by staying further back, allowing the 49ers to run more easily; or two, he would stay close to the line of scrimmage, and continue to dare teams to go deep. However, the 49ers were able to both run well and throw the ball deep today. Perhaps the MNF led to a lot of indecision and second-guessing on #31's part, and he was caught out of position. Regardless, the way things are going now, this year may be one in which we see Roy endure a season like the one Newman had last year. Newman lost his confidence early last year, and never recovered. He's doing better this year, but hopefully it won't take Roy as long.
5. We need to establish a vertical game. Glenn is again establishing himself as our deep threat, but we need even more of it, and earlier in the game, when it can force defenses to make adjustments. Most of our WRs run routes parallel to the line of scrimmage it seems, or simply just find a spot in the zone and sit there. The result is very few YAC and a lot of completions falling short of first down markers. Hopefully Bledsoe will get more and more comfortable throwing to Glenn (and Price), because not only will that reduce all the traffic Crayton, Witten and Keyshawn have to fight through on those underneath routes, it should also keep teams from stacking so many men in the box to stop Julius.
Just my two cents.
To complicate things, our players have been inconsistent. Bledsoe has been the perfect bus driver the first two weeks, but today showed glimpses of mistakes that have haunted him in the past (e.g., stood in the pocket too long and taking a sack, forced pass into the endzone to Witten w/ 3 defenders around him, threw INT to Parrish etc.). Anthony Henry has been universally lauded as our best CB, if not player, during the first 2 weeks, only to turn in against SF possibly the worst performance by any of our defensive players.
Still, the next two games should and will define our progress as a team. The first game against Oakland will pit our achilles heel (the deep pass) against the best deep threat in the game, Randy Moss, who has never lost to us. The second game against Philly will put us against the team our defense was built to eventually beat. I don't expect us to go 2-0, but how competitive we are in both games will go a long way towards determining how much we have improved, if any, over last year.
More thoughts:
1. Get off Zimmer's back. This guy is a coach learning a new system with new players, many of whom are rookies trying to also learn how to play in this league. To give up on him now, 3 games into his learning curve, doesn't make sense. I think he's done an admirable job. We've shut down two of the league's premiere RBs so far, and save for two desperate but perfectly thrown heaves by Brunell, we'd be 3-0.
2. I like Crayton, but am I the only one who holds his breath whenever he starts running with the ball? He still looks like he's about to lose ball any second. Everyone raves about his great hands--and he sure can catch the ball--but he needs to learn about protecting after the fact.
3. Al Johnson's feet have given us more problems than any center I in recent memory. He planted his foot way back today, causing Bledsoe to step on it and stumble to the ground, and I believe he also caused Julius to trip on a running play up the middle. He's a smallish C, and probably was trying to get as much leverage as possible on the DTs he was facing. Maybe it was just a fluke today, but with the margin of error in our games so small right now, it's a problem that has to be fixed.
4. What happened to Roy Williams today? After getting burnt deep twice during the MNF game, I figured one of two things would happen: one, he would overcompensate by staying further back, allowing the 49ers to run more easily; or two, he would stay close to the line of scrimmage, and continue to dare teams to go deep. However, the 49ers were able to both run well and throw the ball deep today. Perhaps the MNF led to a lot of indecision and second-guessing on #31's part, and he was caught out of position. Regardless, the way things are going now, this year may be one in which we see Roy endure a season like the one Newman had last year. Newman lost his confidence early last year, and never recovered. He's doing better this year, but hopefully it won't take Roy as long.
5. We need to establish a vertical game. Glenn is again establishing himself as our deep threat, but we need even more of it, and earlier in the game, when it can force defenses to make adjustments. Most of our WRs run routes parallel to the line of scrimmage it seems, or simply just find a spot in the zone and sit there. The result is very few YAC and a lot of completions falling short of first down markers. Hopefully Bledsoe will get more and more comfortable throwing to Glenn (and Price), because not only will that reduce all the traffic Crayton, Witten and Keyshawn have to fight through on those underneath routes, it should also keep teams from stacking so many men in the box to stop Julius.
Just my two cents.
