Falcons 20 - 49ers 16: My optimism used to know no bounds....not so much anymore

by Fooch on Nov 4, 2007 1:30 PM PST in News Comment 22 comments

(Courtesy of wjackalope)

There are still 2 minutes left as I start this but I'm not quite seeing a similar comeback like Week 1 against the Cardinals. I think the fact that this team showed some good things on offense on two of their drives makes me all the more frustrated with the outcome.

All in all I have several bones to pick after this disappointment. I've got some positives, but I want to unload with the ugly first.

Game Management
Even when things have gone well in the past, the use of timeouts has been HIDEOUS. I'd love to go back and see how many times the 49ers have used up their timeouts with more than 2 minutes left in a half. It has to be a higher percentage than most any team. This pisses me off as much as anything else. If the 49ers had 1 or 2 timeouts left today, maybe they could have more time to make things happen. Doubtful, but at least it would be an option.

Alex Smith
Oh dear lord was he horrible for most of the game today. 3 interceptions and overthrowing/underthrowing receivers left and right. In the past I've been willing to make excuses, but this is the first game where I just feel helpless with him at quarterback. I've already got a post in mind for this week to generate some discussion. I'll get that up tomorrow along with a new poll.

Play Calling
Somebody explain something to me. The first drive the 49ers drive down the field behind solid running and more importantly, Alex Smith bootlegging to his left with a pair of passes to Vernon Davis. They follow that up with 2 quarters of Smith dropping straight back and overthrowing receivers every which way. Then on that last field goal scoring drive they mix in some more Vernon Davis plays. WHY? WHY? WHY? I just don't understand how you abandon what worked so well in the beginning. Somebody please explain this to me.

The Good
Considering we just lost to the Atlanta Falcons I'm going to keep this brief, because moral victories suck. Vernon Davis looked good when he wasn't making stupid penalties. When the team was getting him involved they moved the ball. When they didn't, the offense sputtered. I'm going to guess that was NOT a coincidence.

Andy Lee continues to rule and aside from one quality return, the special teams coverage brought it's A-game. It's sad to say Dashon Goldson's tackle on that penalized fair catch play might have been the highlight of the season.

Patrick Willis continues to be a tackling machine and also got credit for the first sack of his career. As Adrian Peterson literally runs away with Offensive Rookie of the Year, Patrick Willis is doing the same on the defensive side of the ball as he now has 83 tackles and a sack on the season. I think he actually will take over the NFL lead in tackles as Barrett Ruud only had 1 tackle today.

Looking ahead
We're gonna get waxed in Seattle. I'd like to come up with reasons to think otherwise, but this team has sufficiently beaten me down. I think just to try and change things up a little bit, I'll pick Seattle in our prediction game. Maybe THAT will mix things up a little bit. If the 49ers were to win I'd never pick them to win a game again.

[EDITOR'S NOTE 1:45PM] - Feel free to use this as a Colts-Pats thread.

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Hip-Hop

I love that Jim Nantz just used the word hip hop to describe Addai's running style...a hip hop that reminds him of Barry Sanders. Let's get the hyperbole going early.

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by Fooch on Nov 4, 2007 1:45 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

don't forget the drops

according to the announcers we have the most drops of any team in the league. Smith looked bad but all the drops made him look even worse. He probably feels like his passes have to be perfect because if they're even a little bit off they won't get caught. I'd wager that trying to be too fine makes him miss even worse sometimes.

Bring back the classic Uni's!

by wjackalope on Nov 4, 2007 2:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I'm with you, Fooch

Totally depressing game -- as you said, made MORE so by the fact the team actually moved the ball well at times (albeit against the Falcons). But while all the things you mentioned pissed me off royally, my true disappointment lays at the feet of one Alex Smith.

I've been one of Smith's biggest defenders, in this space and others, and while you could still hold on to a few extenuating circumstances working against him -- bad playcalling, line play, penalties, injuries, and even rust -- after today, I don't think he deserves the benefit of the doubt any longer.

The line gave him enough time to make things happen most of the day, and twice he had TDs if he can simply lead a reciever down the field accurately. He not only badly overthrew each of those crucial pass, but several others as well. I've always thought of Alex as a guy -- like a young John Elway -- who could be inaccurate at times, but who was always dangerous when given a chance for a big play (most shown early last season when Antonio Bryant was getting open deep with some regularity -- really the only Niners WR who ever has in the Smith era). If he can't hit big play opporunities, his inconsistency becomes to much of a drag on an already disfunctional offense.

I'm saying he's a lost cause, but in next year's draft the Niners need to at least look to take a flier on a sleeper QB prospect somewhere in the middle rounds -- either as competition for Smith, or just to provide a 2nd-stringer with more upside than Trent Dilfer (that shouldn't be real tough).

"You gotta bring ass, to get ass." --EDDIE DeBARTOLO JR.

by Josh from Hollywood on Nov 4, 2007 2:46 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Typo

Obviously, that last sentence should read, "I'm NOT saying he's a lost cause..."

"You gotta bring ass, to get ass." --EDDIE DeBARTOLO JR.

by Josh from Hollywood on Nov 4, 2007 2:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The drops

Good point by wjackalope. The drops have to hurt his confidence and make him try and overcompensate by trying to make the perfect passes. It's just a pain in the ass trying to figure him out because it seems like there's always a built-in excuse. It used to be that he had no receivers. Then the offensive line and the play-calling. Then last week it was getting over the shoulder-injury. Now it's the drops. Good/great quarterbacks overcome the excuses and make things happen.

Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!

by Fooch on Nov 4, 2007 2:55 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I've run out of patience with Smith. And Nolan

He overthrows on deep balls and holds onto the ball too long on shorter passes. He'll throw high and leave receivers hung out to dry. I used to think that all the receivers were busts, but I think the lack of YAC is the key stat. Nobody gets a pass in stride, no one is sprinting when the ball arrives.

I think that the Niners had a problem in that there wasn't value for the number one pick the year when Smith was chosen, but that didn't force them to take him. And now that he's been a failure for three years, that doesn't mean that they have to play him.

I suggest that since the season is pretty much unsalvageable, at a certain point in the next couple of games Nolan should make some excuse about Smith needing to recover from something and put Hill in, just to see if he can do anything, if he has game time poise, and if the Niners can win with him.

Unless Hill turns out to be good, and I doubt it, then whoever is coach of the Niners in the off-season should be scanning free agents, college QBs and the Arena League to find someone who can be an NFL quarterback for the Niners.

+++

Nolan's clock management is atrocious, the game-day coaching sucks. I think that Nolan's head coaching has proven that he's a good assistant coach. I don't see anything that a couple of more players on the roster will change. There are personnel problems (no pass rush, no game-breaking receiver et al) but that is ultimately McNolan's responsibility too. This is a much worse team than last year.

I suspect Nolan will be around for another couple of years. Either the Niners will win a few games at the end of the year again, which will give people false hope, or Dr. York won't pull the plug early on Nolan. So there won't be a good team in SF for another three or four years.

Good coaching can make a difference in football where it won't in, say, baseball. Bad coaching can kill a team. Stick a fork in them.

by Bob In Pacifica on Nov 4, 2007 2:58 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Losing steam

Hi, I'm new here. Welcome, me!

I'd been a staunch supporter of Alex Smith for some time now. I figure it's really hard to judge a quarterback when the play calling stinks, the line isn't blocking, and the receivers don't catch the ball. But when you lose AND look bad to a team like the Falcons, then there's a problem. I recall a few plays where Smith should have completed some passes while the line had him well protected, but he didn't get it done. This, of course, right after looking really good on some drives. That makes me mad.

Meanwhile, I've been supporting Nolan too, because we HAVE seen improvements to this team the past couple seasons, and he's done a great job of bringing in players that don't suck. The drafts, particularly, have been great, or at least very good. But inappropriately used time outs and not designing your offensive or defensive schemes to best take advantage of your player's strengths is frustrating.

I agree with what someone else had said earlier, that the Niners should take a flier on a mid-round quarterback. But they definitely need to find someone who can actually change the course of the game. Smith doesn't seem to be it. They also need to get a new offensive play caller.

I needed the Niners to be good to make up for the fact that the Giants just sucked!

by Drunken Miller on Nov 5, 2007 9:14 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Guh

I didn't get to watch today's game, but I taped it. Don't know if my stomach can handle it though, based on the comments here. In Patrick Willis news, he played basically the whole game with a broken hand according to Maiocco. Adding to the legend.

We are not who I thought we were.

by marcello on Nov 4, 2007 3:01 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Club

The wrapped hand reminded me of the club he had on the same hand last year, chasing people down and tackling with one arm/hand.

by sfgfan on Nov 5, 2007 8:24 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Seattle-Cleveland

The Seahawks are on the verge of blowing it against Cleveland. The Browns down 5 are on the Seattle 1 with 2:27 to go. The West is so weak.

Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!

by Fooch on Nov 4, 2007 4:05 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

well

my predictions are all in the can. great job by me picking the raiders, jaguars, and niners. I got the pats right but had way too high a score. Hopefully the steelers and cowboys can bail me out. ouch.

Bring back the classic Uni's!

by wjackalope on Nov 4, 2007 4:26 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Thank God for XBox360

I give up on football. I hate the Patriots and I hate the Niners even more, now.

See you guys next season. Halo 3, anyone?

by LA49er on Nov 4, 2007 4:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

H3

I am addicted to Halo 3.

Add: jtoj

Merton Hanks, 'nuff said.

by jtoj on Nov 4, 2007 8:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

2 and a half years into

the Nolan era and still no improvements in personell or coaching. As far as I am concerned Alex Smith should have to compete for his position next year.

by IM4Niners on Nov 4, 2007 10:57 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Alex Smith is officially a bust

I hope he's made some good investments with all that money, because I don't see a reason for the Niners or anyone else to sign him after this contract is up. What was his quarterback rating yesterday? 22.6?

Four turnovers, probably as many overthrows. But when he holds onto the ball and leaves his receivers hung out to dry that's what kills me. Can anyone remember the last time that Smith hit a receiver in stride for a long gain?

Granted, DJax is a total bust. But at a certain point you realize that the Niners suck because of a confluence of bad things: bad players, bad coaching.

by Bob In Pacifica on Nov 5, 2007 6:45 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

23 yr old bust

He may very well be a bust but he is the youngest starting quarterback in the league and he's still only as old as your typical rookie. So who knows.

by methodrampage on Nov 5, 2007 10:56 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Matt Barrows calls it

Matt Barrows of the Sac Bee pointed out that the stuff of Robinson at the one yard line was a replay of the stuff of Robinson last year in St. Louis:

"Remember last year in St. Louis when Mike Nolan chose not to go for it on fourth and one? Of course you do - I still get e-mails about it. For a lot of 49ers fans, that was the point they started to lose faith in the head coach. My problem with that sequence wasn't so much Nolan's decision to kick a short field goal on fourth down but his decision to call a timeout before the just-as-critical third-and-one play. The 49ers had marched down the field with ease, they had the Rams defense on the ropes, it was a standing TKO. But the timeout gave the defense a chance to catch its breath and regroup. The result - the Rams stuffed Michael Robinson for no gain.

"Which, of course, explains the massive case of déjà vu I experienced today in Atlanta. It was almost the exact situation: 49ers driving down the field, stealing momentum, putting the Falcons' defenders on their backsides. They drive all the way to the one-yard line and what do the 49ers do? They call timeout, thus enabling the Falcons to gather themselves and then stuff - who? - Michael Robinson for a three-yard loss on third down. Freaky. And frustrating."

by Bob In Pacifica on Nov 5, 2007 6:51 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Horrible decision not to go for it

I can't believe there's not more criticism of the coaching staff for kicking a field goal on fourth and goal. It's an absolutely atrocious decision and the very definition of playing to lose.

Statistically, it's an awful choice, but even leaving that aside, when you're playing badly and in the midst of a huge skid, you must take every opportunity to win so you show the players you have faith in their ability to succeed, but also to stop the downward momentum. Just TERRIBLE.

I have some more commentary here.

by bblue on Nov 5, 2007 1:44 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Time

I think that if you ask a lot of people in and out of the NFL circle, you will get a majority that would agree with Nolan's decision. The defense has played well all day, and there was still almost seven minutes left on the clock. A field goal puts you within one with almost a guarantee that your offense gets the ball back. The offense rolled down the field to get into field goal position easily, so you have to believe that they could do it again.

Nolan's decision should have instilled faith in the defense as well as the offense. The decision he made (to me) tells the defense, "I know you guys can stop them" while telling the offense, "I know you guys can bring home the W."

There was so much time left on the clock, if he had gone for it and failed, the team would have been put in a position where they HAD to score a TD. By kicking the field goal, it gave them options (and more flexibility). I think there's little question what most (if not all) NFL coaches (not named Bill Belichick) would have done in the same situation.

by sfgfan on Nov 5, 2007 1:50 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

By the way..

... it's kind of cheesy to plug your site in your first comment/diary/post. This may just be my opinion though.

by sfgfan on Nov 5, 2007 1:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

not really...

I agree that most in the football community would agree with Nolan's decision, but that says more about the NFL's conventional wisdom that it does about it being the correct decision.

Nolan's opting to kick does show a degree of trust in the defense--but is that trust warranted? They just spent the afternoon making a 100 yard rusher out of Warrick Dunn. At that point, if you even allow Atlanta kick a field goal, you've just wasted a bunch of time and now still have to score a TD.

Additionally, there's been a lot of research outside the football establishment about the efficacy of kicking in certain situation that bears consideration, even if it's ignored by most coaches.

I tried to delve into that math a lot more deeply than is possible in a comment thread, which is why I linked my post--not to be cheesy. Hard to have a conversation with yourself in any event. It's not like there's ads on the site or anything.

Cheers.

by bblue on Nov 5, 2007 3:17 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Game management

I have a few issues with the way the game was managed.

On the offensive side of the ball:

The Niners got away from what was working.
Poor clock management. We had time to score

before going into the half but we did not. It
seemed as if the Niners were in hurry mode
when they should not have been and vice versa.

On the defensive side of the ball:
1. Clements was sent on a blitz twice, once on a
3rd and 18, result, first down Falcons by the
WR that Clements would have covered.

2. Virtually no pressure on Harrington, besides
Willis'first sack of the season.

If we can not stop a team on 3rd and 18 then we are hopeless.

The defense finally gave us another short field via an interception but if we can not get 6 points out of it we are hopeless.

jfainsf49

by jfainsf49 on Nov 6, 2007 8:15 AM PST reply actions 0 recs