Niners Game Pos and Negs

+++

Rodgers was locked in last night. Was nearly perfect most of the night. Whoever had the terrible take about still showing rust? Please. I'll take this rust for another 14 games.

Mason. Never a doubt. Never.

The young guys on the OL. They exceeded my expectations for sure.

Stokes. He's going to continue to be picked on by the refs. It's just how it is for a rookie DB. His play reminds me a lot of rookie Jaire. Not afraid to tackle. Uses his hands which works for a vet CB but the rookie is going to get some flags. He is the anti-King.

Kenny Clark. His best game so far this year. Gotta keep him fresh and healthy. Too many snaps will wear him down.

Campbell. He's pretty good and that's a huge improvement over the usual still at MLB.

Davante. Thought he was done for sure after the shot to the head. The guy continues to amaze.

New punter continues to look like a steal from the Rams. Doing well as a holder, too.

---

The officials. Enough has been said about them already. Just terrible.

Injuries. Nothing critical but they need to get Barnes back.

No depth at MLB. They need to get out there and find an upgrade for Summers.

"Take the points" guys. Stop it. Everyone was saying go for it. Until they didn't make it. Keep going for it on 4th and 1. They are going to convert WAY more than they don't. The poor snap completely threw off the rhythm of that play. 

That's it for negatives. Yes Lancaster is ass but that's nothing new. No sense repeating this narrative.

I'd also like to point out that the 3 and out in the 4th quarter wasn't as dumb as people are making it out to be. Rodgers nailed Adams on that first play. The should have been 15 yards at a minimum, but you know, refs...

On 2nd down MVS came up lame or that's a pretty good kill shot. Then you have 3rd down so you need to come up with something beyond 10 yards. That was the only play of the 3 that was not executed well.

@FLPACKER posted:

Gary seems like a good kid and hard worker but just has no instincts / football IQ.

I feel the same way.  He is able to disrupt things a bit just due to how strong and relentless he is, so he does have value.

But to truly be able to be great, you need to have some moves to beat your guy quickly.  His lateral quickness seems ordinary and he has a hard time disengaging even though he can get pressures due to great strength for his size.

And as you pointed out, his relentlessness can be used against him as he take himself right out of the play too often.

As I say, Gary has some value, but he’s lacking some things at this point to truly be an upper echelon guy.  Maybe he can figure things out someday, but for now we’ll just have to be satisfied that he’s pretty good but not great.

POS:  The coaching was phenomenal this game.  LaFleur had the team ready to go, adjusted to help OL against the pass rush, committed to the run (mostly) throughout the game, defense was pretty good (mostly) against the 49ers varied rushing attack, didn't get gashed too many times.  I don't even fault LaFleur for not taking the points and going for the TD.  Needed to get up early, fast against Shanahan - everyone knows he will adjust and the 49ers O will score points.

NEG:  A bit too much focus by Rodgers on Adams.  I know that is the mismatch, but the offense is so much better when 2nd and 3rd receivers are more involved.  Can't complain about that too much, I guess.

NEG:  Depth at inside linebacker is atrocious.

Mr. Bobby T showing the Niners D that we can be physical too..

https://i.imgur.com/51qUcQJ.gifv

--I only played high school ball, but what I remember being drilled into me about Special teams kickoff coverage was "STAY IN YOUR LANE". Seems to me that the rookie RB Hill was the one responsible for the long return just before the end of the first half. He left his lane and created the gap. Other Kickoffs were covered more in a more disciplined way.

--Warner could NOT cover Tonyan. Surprised Rodgers didn't notice that.

--On the second to last Packer field goal drive I get why Rodgers went for it all with Davante given the single coverage from a sketchy Niner, but to the right there was at least one or two receivers wide open for the first down, possibly Mercedes and Cobb.

I feel sorry for all the folks who swore off the NFL last nite, saying they are turning it off and are done with it for ever.  They will be missing some fun and another possible run by our team.

Oh, who am I kidding they will not miss a minute.

@PackerHawk posted:

"Take the points" guys. Stop it. Everyone was saying go for it. Until they didn't make it. Keep going for it on 4th and 1. They are going to convert WAY more than they don't. The poor snap completely threw off the rhythm of that play.

What he said.

++

MLF is a competitive MFer and also pretty smart and his offensive game plan reflected that. If he can somehow ever get the STs and D to play the same way ...

Rodgers. The single biggest reason GB wins 10+ games every year showed the nation why once again.

Adams. Sure the 49ers had the equivalents of Ty Summers playing CB but he is still damn good.

Aaron Jones. Ran hard against a physical D. That has not always been the case.

Runyan-Meyers ... we may have the best Ohio St.-Mich. interior OL combo in the league going forward. Very impressive for young guys.

Nijman. Bosa is still coming back from an ACL tear, he got a lot of help (thanks MLF for not being Mac in this regard), but still Yosh was not a complete liability for his first-ever competitive action. That is a positive.

MVS. 2 nice plays, hope he is not hurt, he is the only downfield explosive receiving threat on the roster.

Lazard. Blocking.

Campbell. I dumped on the Pack's latests attempt to go cheap at ILB but he has shown far more than Morrison, Goodson, or Kirksey did through his first 3 games. He can run. The others mentioned could not.

Clark. Very disruptive most of the game. He is paid to be a top DT and list night he earned his $.

P. Smith. Played the run well and provided a consistent pass rush.

Stokes. Needs to watch his downfield contact but what a pleasure it is to see a CB actually competing, and being in position to compete, as opposed to his predecessor.

Crosby game winning kick. He is so consistent now I expected him to make it. (Still would like to see him be able to kick the ball off so no returns given our always terrible STs coverage).

--

Front Office. Believing that #s 94, 95, and 96 are requisite of defensive lineman 2-4 on your team while claiming you are contending for a SB is roster-management malpractice ... and it is going on 4 years running.

#44. Hard to knock a 7th round pick, but for the love of God he offers nothing as ILB number 3. He simply cannot tackle. And watch him on the long kickoff return and a couple of other STs plays. He is not even a mediocre football player.

#8. He looks skittish returning punts. He has no role (yet) in the offense. He does not look explosive in the least. Too early to bury him, but if he turns out to be GB's latest 3rd round bust it would not be a shock.

Lazard. Receiving.

#31. I like Amos. Last night, he did not play very well in coverage or making tackles.

Fun to watch the young offensive lineman, Rodgers, MVS, Adams, Jones, Crosby, Clark, Preston, Jaire (great INT but not his best performance by a longshot), and even Campbell.

Barring even more serious injuries, it should be another 10 win season.

No they weren't.     On the road vs a tough D, you take the points early.   If the situation calls for it later in the game, then you go for it. 

@BrainDed posted:

No they weren't.     On the road vs a tough D, you take the points early.   If the situation calls for it later in the game, then you go for it.

They were moving the ball well and it was early in the game.  It wasn't like the NFCC where they were having trouble getting down into red zone.  Oh, and it wasn't for a trip to the Super Bowl either.

What I'm saying is take the points.

Also, I don't mind being aggressive but pick your battles.

@PackLandVA posted:

POS

--Packers “reached a bit” when they drafted Josh Meyers in the second. Better Centers still on the board the TV experts pined.  Ummm, this kid might be special!!!!

Cool story a buddy of mine told me over the weekend when we were talking about Myers who is local kid.  My friend knows the Myers family and one of the reasons the Packers drafted him was on the recommendation of all people Corey Linsley.  I guess Llinsley lobbied pretty hard for him to go to GB. 

@FLPACKER posted:

In AR's presser he said that when they went back and looked at the 2019 ass-kicking SF gave us they realized that they didn't give our tackles enough help, which was an emphasis last night.

Well NFS!! Ridiculous they even had to "go back and look at the tape" They did the same thing vs. Tampa in January. Leaving the backup LT out on an island.

Which is why I was so negative before the game. They finally learned something. HELP THE FUCKING LT! Not kidding before the game I thought Bosa was going to break Derrick Thomas' single game sack record.

Give the Packers credit, they were TOUGH last night. I don't remember the defense not looking soft as marshmallow creme. It was a welcomed change.

We didn't hear Dee Fords name once last night and we only heard Bosa when he was getting knocked on his ass by Tonyan.

It's only game #3, LONG way to go and the Steelers will be in no mood to lay down after getting beat by the Bengals.

The good- The win of course.
The bad- The officials.
The ugly- I am still working on my recipe for crow. (Hint, garlic only makes it worse)

I saw a lot of heart from the players. Many of them stepped up even when they should have been mismatched.

I think next week is a HUGE game that they need to win. It’sa home game. After that, 4 of next 5 and 5 of the next 7 are road games. That’s gonna be a tough go. Secure your wins at home and it s road games just a little easier.

@SteveLuke posted:

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Lazard. Receiving.

Huh?

Lizard: 1 target, 1 reception, 42 yards.

3X as many sacks as the mighty 49ers front 7, right?

Found on the internet:

I'll give Rodgers credit--he's on fire.  Especially after a tumultuous off season where he's clearly been more worried about his endorsements with State Farm and Spirit Halloween costumes.

@BrainDed posted:      if not, put Cobb back there.

Speaking of Cobb, where is he? No catches last night. Was he even on the field?

Among all the other +'s my biggest + goes to the coaches.  I thought our O-line was going to get killed. It didn't.  I thought we were not going to get any pressure on JG and we'd get run all over. That turned out not to be the case either.  

Understanding that we needed to get the ball out quick and our LT needed help is what won us this game.

MLF is going to make mistakes, all coaches do.  However, his ability and willingness to deviate from the "we do what we do" thinking makes me happy he is our coach.

@Dave in GA posted:

Speaking of Cobb, where is he? No catches last night. Was he even on the field?

I thought his job was to keep Aaron Rodgers happy, not to play football.

+ we win, 2, 7 are a big help, how bout that punter

+ 12,17 what's to say, there were a handful of plays that is jordan/pippen...just remarkable

+ jones and the OL and the blocking in general

+ 21, campbell, 23, heck the d played quite well, save a few on the line,

+ 97 played with his hair on fire

- ilb is not 42,44; as my kid would say, that is not it.

- i say 52 again, he just doesn't seem to put it together, i even saw 53 get the pressure in 10's face on the INT by JA...they expect big things from this guy, he needs to put it together

- i eat a big pile of crow; i thought it was over after they scored at the end. and i am fine with that. 100%

- there seems to be a numerous amount of rocketballs, not sure if this is by design or what, but seems like they are off-script...they work from time to time, but seem really out of place...

@pkr_north posted:

re-watch the game, maybe someone who knows better than me can explain why 52 constantly blows by the play - is he instructed to do this or is he just not good enough to push inside, he seems to just rush in a straight line; right past the qb; who has to take a step up and go...it doesn't make sense to me and i don't see 91 or anybody else doing this.

I think he’s a little stiff in the hips. He just struggles to Ben around the corner.

@PackerHawk posted:

+++

Rodgers was locked in last night. Was nearly perfect most of the night. Whoever had the terrible take about still showing rust? Please. I'll take this rust for another 14 games.

Mason. Never a doubt. Never.

The young guys on the OL. They exceeded my expectations for sure.

Stokes. He's going to continue to be picked on by the refs. It's just how it is for a rookie DB. His play reminds me a lot of rookie Jaire. Not afraid to tackle. Uses his hands which works for a vet CB but the rookie is going to get some flags. He is the anti-King.

Kenny Clark. His best game so far this year. Gotta keep him fresh and healthy. Too many snaps will wear him down.

Campbell. He's pretty good and that's a huge improvement over the usual still at MLB.

Davante. Thought he was done for sure after the shot to the head. The guy continues to amaze.

New punter continues to look like a steal from the Rams. Doing well as a holder, too.

---

The officials. Enough has been said about them already. Just terrible.

Injuries. Nothing critical but they need to get Barnes back.

No depth at MLB. They need to get out there and find an upgrade for Summers.

"Take the points" guys. Stop it. Everyone was saying go for it. Until they didn't make it. Keep going for it on 4th and 1. They are going to convert WAY more than they don't. The poor snap completely threw off the rhythm of that play.

That's it for negatives. Yes Lancaster is ass but that's nothing new. No sense repeating this narrative.

I'd also like to point out that the 3 and out in the 4th quarter wasn't as dumb as people are making it out to be. Rodgers nailed Adams on that first play. The should have been 15 yards at a minimum, but you know, refs...

On 2nd down MVS came up lame or that's a pretty good kill shot. Then you have 3rd down so you need to come up with something beyond 10 yards. That was the only play of the 3 that was not executed well.

Wait! Someone thought Rodgers looked rusty??😂😂😂😂

I didn't know that PFF gave grades this low?

LB Ty Summers, 26.7

Stokes is taking his lumps, but he gave as good as he got. I was happy with him. All things considered I was mostly pleased with the defense, I thought the depth on the DL showed up big time and I don’t think the LB depth embarrassed themselves. Summers isn’t the answer for anything but STs, but generally I think where he struggled was with savvy veterans like Kittle, Sanu, and Jimmy G adjusting to his depth and finding holes. He tackled well I thought, which is the most you should expect from a guy like that. Campbell looked really good, super impressed with him defending the edges and in coverage. Pair him with a Des Bishop and we’re solid.

Barry needs to have more confidence in his guys and not go into a shell, when Jimmy was pressured he made huge mistakes. When they rushed 4 (who you would hope could pressure) he had more time, but being aggressive they disrupted timing.

Props to Nijman who got whipped didn’t give up. They gave him help, as they should, but I was impressed with the young man. Stenavich is elite.

I would like to see Rodgers spread it out more, but honestly if we’re choosing how to distribute targets it’s difficult to keep the ball out of the hands of Rodgers, Adams, Jones in that order. If the play is there take it, but I think there were opportunities to involve the whole stable.

Yosh Nijman. After a shaky start to the game he really settled down. It was a tough match up and he had a lot of help, but Bosa got no opportunity to wreck our offense.

I would like to see Rodgers spread it out more, but honestly if we’re choosing how to distribute targets it’s difficult to keep the ball out of the hands of Rodgers, Adams, Jones in that order. If the play is there take it, but I think there were opportunities to involve the whole stable.

I think as the season progresses they will see some opps for the supporting cast  based off of how D's are trying to take away 17.    There are some wide open homeruns coming our way to guys like Lizard in the next few weeks.   MLF can scheme and counter scheme with the best of them.

@Goalline posted:

Wait! Someone thought Rodgers looked rusty??😂😂😂😂

@Music City posted:

Rodgers still showing rust, but he was clutch tonight when they needed it.

Well, he did complete less than 70%. Of course, two incompletions were him “clocking it”, but let’s not nitpick

@FLPACKER posted:

I didn't know that PFF gave grades this low?

LB Ty Summers, 26.7

They were favorable in their grading. No shocker that the defense took such a drop in performance with Barnes exiting the game.

@PackerHawk posted:

Oh, you would point them out, wouldn’t you? 😂

@PackLandVA posted:

Well, he did complete less than 70%. Of course, two incompletions were him “clocking it”, but let’s not nitpick

Let’s not make excuses. Good QBs complete their clocked balls🙃

@Goalline posted:

Let’s not make excuses. Good QBs complete their clocked balls🙃

Well, AR had his balls clocked against the Saints and threw a pick.  Almost a pick 6.

"You take the points early"

No, no you don't. In fact the earlier in the game it is the less it makes sense to just 'take the points'. Later in the game the score has more of a correlation with the outcome, and giving up an expected point average from going for a touchdown for a more closely guaranteed 3 points tends to make more sense.

I saw people in the game thread making the overly simplistic argument that if they had merely taken the points then there wouldn't have been as close an ending. I mean, it's absurd on the face of it that you'd expect the game to play out the exact same way from the point of the field goal decision.

Nobody is arguing that having those 3 points isn't a good thing. Just that on average going for it there would yield better than 3 points, and thus is a better thing. Sure once you fail on the conversion it would be kind of nice to have those three points but that's just hindsight bias.

But, the simplistic 'take the 3' position doesn't even hold that well in hindsight.

After the turnover on downs the 49ers went 47 yards (then took an intentional 5 yard penalty) and punted. If they hadn't started from their own 4, and instead started from their average field position after a kickoff (ya know the thing that happens after you successfully kick a field goal) of about their own 30, they would have had a ~40 yard field goal attempt and more than likely would have neutralized the 'just take the points' we got. Except instead of being 4th and 1 at midfield they probably just go for it themselves, since strategically that's the thing that makes sense. The hypothetical 4th and 1 inside our 25 is worth more than the 3 points we would have gotten.

Now back to reality rather than hypotheticals. They punted. We drove down the field and scored a touchdown. So if you view the battle of field position and eventual score result (field goal, touchdown, safety, end of half/game) for that continuing action which starts at the previous kickoff. We won. We scored the 7. They scored the 0. The only real difference is that it took time off the clock. That's pure hindsight but the 'bad' result we got in the actual game was better than the result you'd get from kicking the field goal.

I know some people like PFF, while others hate it, but here’s some of there takes/grades:

Top 5 D

1. LB Krys Barnes, 81.4
2. DL Tyler Lancaster, 79.3
3. CB Jaire Alexander, 78.7
4. LB Oren Burks, 78.0
5. LB De’Vondre Campbell, 70.0

Lancaster played his best game of the season, delivering one pressure and one run stop over 17 snaps.

Burks had two pressures and shared a sack over 25 snaps, of which 20 came in coverage.

Campbell played 70 snaps and had two stops. He was once again effective in coverage, especially tackling against the short passing game

Bottom 5 D

1. OLB Chauncey Rivers, 47.9
2. DL Dean Lowry, 44.1
3. S Henry Black, 36.3
4. CB Chandon Sullivan, 29.2
5. LB Ty Summers, 26.7

Rivers played 13 snaps, including seven as a pass-rusher, but managed only one tackle. Not gonna lie. Didn’t know there was a Chauncey Rivers on the team.  Who knew?

—

Sullivan missed two tackles, gave up five catches for 87 yards from the slot (including three to George Kittle) and was penalized once.

Boy O Boy, good thing King wasn’t playing. Whew!

Here was another little nugget from PFF:

The Packers pressured Garoppolo on 36.7 percent of drop backs. He was 4 of 12 passing for 30 yards under pressure.

I mean, the Niners have a really talented line. There are FOUR 1st Rounders across the front.  This tells you just how good the Packers front 4/7 played!

@PackLandVA posted:

I know some people like PFF, while others hate it, but here’s some of there takes/grades:

Top 5 D

1. LB Krys Barnes, 81.4
2. DL Tyler Lancaster, 79.3
3. CB Jaire Alexander, 78.7
4. LB Oren Burks, 78.0
5. LB De’Vondre Campbell, 70.0

Lancaster played his best game of the season, delivering one pressure and one run stop over 17 snaps.

Burks had two pressures and shared a sack over 25 snaps, of which 20 came in coverage.

Campbell played 70 snaps and had two stops. He was once again effective in coverage, especially tackling against the short passing game

And this is why PFF sucks. Campbell had a good game and impacted the game more than friggin' Burks and Lancaster.  It's when Matt Foley started applying pressure that Lancaster "shined".  Same thing with Burks.  They sent a bunch of guys and he actually tallied some stats.  Put them out on their proverbial islands and they aren't worth shit and doubly aren't worth shit in the playoffs.

@4 Favre posted:

"You take the points early"

No, no you don't. In fact the earlier in the game it is the less it makes sense to just 'take the points'. Later in the game the score has more of a correlation with the outcome, and giving up an expected point average from going for a touchdown for a more closely guaranteed 3 points tends to make more sense.

I saw people in the game thread making the overly simplistic argument that if they had merely taken the points then there wouldn't have been as close an ending. I mean, it's absurd on the face of it that you'd expect the game to play out the exact same way from the point of the field goal decision.

Nobody is arguing that having those 3 points isn't a good thing. Just that on average going for it there would yield better than 3 points, and thus is a better thing. Sure once you fail on the conversion it would be kind of nice to have those three points but that's just hindsight bias.

But, the simplistic 'take the 3' position doesn't even hold that well in hindsight.

After the turnover on downs the 49ers went 47 yards (then took an intentional 5 yard penalty) and punted. If they hadn't started from their own 4, and instead started from their average field position after a kickoff (ya know the thing that happens after you successfully kick a field goal) of about their own 30, they would have had a ~40 yard field goal attempt and more than likely would have neutralized the 'just take the points' we got. Except instead of being 4th and 1 at midfield they probably just go for it themselves, since strategically that's the thing that makes sense. The hypothetical 4th and 1 inside our 25 is worth more than the 3 points we would have gotten.

Now back to reality rather than hypotheticals. They punted. We drove down the field and scored a touchdown. So if you view the battle of field position and eventual score result (field goal, touchdown, safety, end of half/game) for that continuing action which starts at the previous kickoff. We won. We scored the 7. They scored the 0. The only real difference is that it took time off the clock. That's pure hindsight but the 'bad' result we got in the actual game was better than the result you'd get from kicking the field goal.

6 paragraphs of "ifs and buts" wrong.

burks didn't pass my eyeball test, either does 94/95/96, i did see 93 out there some, so that's good.