 ON FURTHER REVIEW: SF #1 ON TAPE, BY RAMMED FOR
LIFE (Oct 14) |
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Finally had time last night
to study the tapes. Guess what--we won! General impressions: 1. We looked GOOD! We were sloppy at times, yes. But the "down" portions of the game in the 2nd and 4th quarter actually looked much more positive on further review than what I remember. More on that later. 2. I don't care about the Whiners anymore! It is amazing. As I studied the tapes, I was effortlessly able to forget that it was the Whiners I was looking at. Well, I did hurl a couple of epithets at Mooch and that unbelievable prig Steve Young looking ever so stylishly intense on the sidelines. And I felt genuine pity for Rice who should have retired 3 years ago when he still had some skills. But overall, the Whiners no longer seem scary or significant as competitors. They are a fading team and I don't give a rip about them. We have bigger fish to fry! The Passing Game Let me say this: the Whiners' CBs and safeties STINK! I mean they are embarrassing. The CBs have no capacity to deal with the WBs at all and the safeties weren't much better. The most ridiculous play of all is Ike's left side TD. He leaves the CB looking for his jock, and the Safety comes over and--FALLS BACK ON HIS BUTT! I mean really--it is too funny! Our WRs can play against any secondary, but this was the proverbial fish in the barrel. All off season, we relished the idea of going against this bunch, and boy were we right. As pass blockers, our OL has really, really gotten better. Looking closely, I am impressed. Throughout that onslaught in the 1st Q, KW gets superb pass blocking, all across the line. Timmerman is a rock. He just negated Young. Seeing that he has done this before with GB, we can relax about Bryant Young. Adam has his number. I am impressed, too, by Nutten and Grutt. That middle held up to the rush very well. Miller is, I think, half-a-step behind the others. He did give up pressure to Haley that one time, but that was it. I think we could eventually upgrade Miller and possibly Nutten, but these guys are not hurting us at all. About Pace. He played very, very well. But there is a strange thing about his effectiveness. He will often look bad on the DE's initial move and seem to lose the guy. But Pace has such rare athleticism, that he will recover his balance in a way that doesn't seem possible for a guy that big, change directions, and get BACK onto the guy and get the stop. In one play, he lost the guy to the inside, chased after him, and put out the back of his forearm. With just that extended forearm, he had enough to ward the guy off of Warner. The color guy said, "Well, that's not exactly a textbook model for how to play tackle in the NFL, but he got the job done!" On the other hand, Pace frequently does play it text-book and just wholly neutralize the pass rusher. Very few DEs are going to get past Pace. Then, on the few plays when the D does get pressure, Warner plays Houdini. Again Sunday he had a Roman Gabriel special: while guys are trying to wrap up his knees, Warner stands like an oak and completes the pass to Proehl for an important 2 yard 1st down that let us keep running out the clock! As for the QB and the WBs (Warner Brothers), what can you say that has not been said? One observation I would make, though, involves the Whiners' relative strengths. Their DBs are really, really weak down field. But, the Whiner front 7 + McDonald, who wants to be a LB, are actually fairly good at defending the area around the LOS. When we threw short on screens and swing patterns and patterns into the flat, we didn't gain too much. Martz started the game that way, remember? A swing pattern that got 2 and Faulk had to bail us out so prettily with that 20+ yarder up the sideline. Then, Martz came back to these throws in the 2nd and 3rd. In an abstract sense, his strategy made sense. But those throws really were not the highest percentage throws against the Whiners. I would be happier alternating the power running with the upfield throws to whipsaw the weaknesses of the Whiner D. The Running Game Speaking of power running, we did something I did not expect. We WHIPPED the Whiners' front 7 in the running game. I would claim it as a decisive victory. And this is supposed to be one of the Whiners' strengths! Think about it: we whipped ATL, too, another team noted for solid front 7 play. We did not run well against BALT and Cincy. BALT has the best DTs I have seen us face, and a superb MLB. My sense is that we can dominate pretty good DTs, but BALT's DTs were very good, good enough to disrupt us some. And the real key was the MLB cleaning up. Cincy, similarly, relies on LBs in their 3/4 front. My sense is that it is the LBs that give us the most problem. After 4 games, I see signs of an emerging power running game. The biggest reason? Robert Holcombe is re-made! In case you didn't notice, he ran beautifully Sunday. A very key moment in the game followed the Whiners' 1st TD. Horne got back only to the 20, and momentum was ready to shift. Martz gave the ball to Holc 4 straight times, then gave it to him again on a shovel pass. Result: 2 1st downs. And Holc ran HARD! On 3rd and 1, he ran into 2 guys. He hit into them and immediately spun away and up into the hole for several yards. This is exactly the kind of power running he DID NOT show last year! Instead of just running into someone and going down, he set these guys up left and twisted away to the right to get the key yards. Guys, we have our power TB. When we need a power type of running, the kind Faulk is not great at, we have our guy! And he is backed by quality in Watson and the other young guys. Someone on the board today noted that our 3RD STRING RB came in at the end of the half deep in our territory, and ran well! He also ran very well in the 3rd quarter, making nifty slide step moves and running hard. He continued off and on in the 4th, almost scoring on that great second effort draw in the last minute. This is a great development! If we can develop the ability to stuff if down team's throats when we have the lead, we will be almost impossible to beat. As far as the OL, I am a little hesitant about their run-blocking. I watch the plays, and we seem to do a pretty good job in general. Individuals handle their men well. Grutt does a good job of cross-blocking and allowing guards to pull. I thought Nutten handled himself well. Timmerman did a superb job on Young! Pace is Pace. Yet, somehow we seem to permit a lot of backside pursuit. It just seems crowded around the LOS. I think that the schemes are subtle and complex, and people are not always clear. I suspect that this is where good LB play can hurt us (though Norton did little against us!) I have the impression that this part of our O is the part that is gelling more slowly. It could be wishful thinking on my part, but these guys look so good physically that I am inclined to see the sloppiness and inconsistency as something they will grow out of. One last point, not solely about the running game. Some of us--I was a ringleader--complained about conservative play calling in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Well, you know what? It wasn't that bad! We "went conservative" for 3 series. Series 1: TD. Series 2: key 1st downs to permit us to kill the 1st half clock. Series 3: we didn't score, but at the end of the series, there were 7+ minutes left in the quarter. With a lead, one must consider that much time eaten up as a success! No 3 & outs; no futile series. Indeed, if not for silly penalties, we would have scored on most of these drives. Even going conservative, the Whiner D never did stop us. I think my criticism was overdone, and I largely retract it. I would rate our running game very highly! Run D: This area is really reassuring. Everyone--including me--has been worried about this matter. Well, it is hard to be definitive when we still have not faced a premier power back. But, man, things are looking up. S F actually tried to run the ball a lot, considering the score. And they got little for their trouble. They did break a sweep, then half break it on a repeat call. Garner's 20+ yarder was, in my view, due to marginal LB play. Collins strung it out fairly well, though not brilliantly. Fletch pursued on a bad angle and lost the footrace. Fast as his pursuit is, he needs to learn when his speed is not enough and to get some depth in his angle of pursuit. But that is really a quibble, and I expect that experience will teach Fletch better and better judgment. Later, the Whiners tried the sweep again and Collins turned it in all the way in and it went nowhere. Meanwhile, the middle held up magnificently. Agnew is a stud. I didn't count, but on numerous occasions, he stands up the OG and dominates. We keep talking 2-gap--Agnew actually does this very often! Farr is disruptive, and the combination is very effective at setting up the play for a MLB. And Fletch was there! Remember how bad he looked at filling the hole against Balt? When I watched those tapes, I saw a LOS set up for a MLB to make the play--and no MLB. This week, Fletch was great at stepping up and filling. I saw him several times step up and take on the OG and still get a piece of the tackle. When he was filling the hole, he hit the RBs hard. Fletch is developing well. HOWEVER, Fletch does have a weakness. His pinball-shaped body has a way of getting knocked off its pins at times. Sometimes he seems oddly top-heavy to me, and as he zooms along in pursuit he will stumble and fall. On one running play off ORT, he came up and encountered a stray arm or leg, stumbled, and was not in on the tackle. On plays like this, he seems easy to knock off his feet. As for Wistrom, I think the verdict is something like this: tough to block every down! He WILL get pushed around on some plays, especially by a double-team. And they do go after him a lot. But for every time he gets pushed back, there will be one play where he twists and battles and jams things up and one play where he makes a great move, splits the double team, and makes the play. You will get him at times, but not often. And with Collins backing him up, that side has really stabilized. Carter? A monster. He manhandles the tackle so that Jones can make filling and scraping plays easily. All in all, I would grade our run D highly, maybe a B+. The sweeps prevented a grade of A, and I have yet to see us face an elite running back. But we are playing with FAR more discipline than we were. We are staying at home, swarming to the ball, and making tackles. The Whiners DID NOT get what they wanted from the running game! If this IS our weakness, it is a small weakness. I think there is a chance that we will eventually be able to say it is not a weakness, but a strength. Of course, we won't be able to do that until we face an elite running attack. Pass D I am so proud of these guys! Here we are elite! Fact: we got 0 sacks Sunday. False conclusion: the DL didn't get to Garcia. Explanation: Garcia was AMAZING at getting rid of the ball! Really amazing. If I were a Whiner fan, I would be encouraged by this. Time after time, we got pressure all over Garcia, but he ALWAYS had the knack of leaping up and throwing it away. Once, he avoided a sack by an unbelievably quick throw that our LBs almost caught. Other times he threw to no one. A few times he converted under relentless pressure. But there WAS pressure! A lot of pressure. Wistrom has really come on as a pass rusher. He is penetrating and developing moves. Carter is in the QB's face almost constantly. Farr is the quickest penetrating DT in the league. Agnew gets pressure upfield. In the 10/13 Vermiel conference call someone posts below, DV says we knocked Garcia down 15 times! With most QBs, there would have been 5-6 sacks. And many of these knockdowns resulted in balls thrown away. Another point: the Whiners HELD us like crazy! One time, Farr is through and stepping toward the QB and some Olman literally grabs him from behind and pulls him down! No call, of course. People are holding us like crazy--Wistrom and Carter are held all the time--and eventually we will earn enough clout so the refs will start throwing the flag. I honestly believe it is that simple--win games and you get the flags. The key to true pressure D is getting it without the blitz. We have got to be among the top 5 in the league at that. Maybe better--you don't hear much about great DLs these days. Something tells me ours is not great, but it is near-great! Result: a rushed QB. This was frequently a factor. Our DBs? I love them! I really do. McCleon had a great day defending, especially in the red zone. He handled Stokes and Owens beautifully. You see such a difference between our CBs and the Whiners'. When the WR goes into his break, McCleon breaks right with him, hanging step for step and in position to make the play. Then, he makes it! On that early throw to Stokes (?) in the end zone, McCleon was there, but so was the ball and many CBs would not have had the presence to prevent the TD. Mac got right into Stokes' hands and knocked the ball away. No INT either! (Stokes looked really foolish sitting on his butt out of bounds waving his arms pleading for the call!) They seldom tested Lyght or Lyle. Bly played the slant perfectly on the pick. Allen had a well-played pick. We contained Stokes very well and Owens pretty well. Rice is just sad out there. Just before the Bly pick (I think) Rice tried to run a route into the end zone and McCleon (I think) covered him. Like a glove. And with little effort. He is a shadow of the guy who used to terrorize the league. Why doesn't someone tell him he is embarrassing his legend? Look, S F's pass O is sophisticated and capable. Owens is pretty good. But we were ALWAYS in control of them. Thy made a couple of plays and managed 3 scoring drives for 13 points. But almost all they accomplished was in the middle and underneath, the stuff that you can contain. The stuff that won't add up to more than 14-17 points if you don't give up the big play. Speaking of the big play, have you noticed how few we have given up this year? Last year we gave up numerous long strikes. This year, I can only think of one--the BALT TD in the 2nd half. It is part scheme--Giunta says they simplified reads to reduce errors and blown coverages. It is also part growth in the system. Did you notice Lyle a week or so back saying that he felt they were getting to the point where they knew the D so well that now they could begin to "mess with it"? This is a talented group, but also a group that is mature in its system and locked in on its task. I felt that our DBs were in control the whole way. And then you toss in Jones making a world-class INT? This D can AT LEAST contain any pass O! It will dominate and shut down the others. These guys are very hard to beat. I don't know all the other teams well enough to be certain about this, but I suspect this is the best secondary in the league! Guys, we have 4 LEGITIMATE CBS! Special teams: The kick return blocking is superb. Study the tapes of Horne's two big returns: the 50+ yarder and the TD. Both are blocked superbly, exactly like a coach draws it up. On the TD, you see two Ram lineman types kicking out the Whiners' outside containment guys. Really textbook! Horne runs up into a perfectly blocked seam. It is gorgeous! But our kick coverage, especially on kickoffs, is pretty sketchy. It might have something to do with short kicks, but we are not swarming around the ball. Gansz confuses me. If we can block returns so well, why can't we learn to cover? Overall report? Not bad! This group deserves the cover of SI! |
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