What's Next?

by SSC24 on Oct 11, 2009 7:48 PM PDT

First off, I'd like to mention my thoughts and ideas (in order of importance) on why the Forty Niners failed so miserably on Sunday. Feel free to express your opinions as well.

1) Lack of pass rush (Matt Ryan was never touched, or at least it seemed that way). The falcons O-line is very good, but the Lawson/Haralson/Brooks combination didn't do a thing. Neither did the D-line. They went in front of Ryan, behind Ryan, to the sides of Ryan, but never got close enough to tug his jersey, giving him tons of time to throw. This was the main factor that contributed the the Forty Niners loss.

2) The plays called on offense are terrible. Yes, the plays themselves are destined to fail, namely those stupid screens where a lineman goes in front of the WR and attempts to block. They run up the gut on 1st and 2nd down, and are faced with a 3rd and ~9 and *Whadya know* Hill is in the shotgun, ready to pass. What do the falcons do? Blitz his ass, of course. The lack of creativity in the offensive play-calling sets up the Forty Niners for failure and punts. Jimmy Raye has no clue about the MEANING of offense.

3) Lack of separation between Forty Niner WRs and Falcon CBs. Josh Morgan is the best BLOCKING WR on the team, but definitely not the best receiving one. Isaac Bruce? There is no reason for him to be on the team. He's 36, misses balls often, and comes to play for a paycheck and nothing more. Morgan made one good play in the game, but failed to score the TD...I was thinking, UNBELIEVABLE...And the only reason he got so many yards after the reception is because the CB flat out couldn't tackle. Morgan had no separation. The CB was all over him, but just failed to make the play. Lack of hustle on Morgan's part also, is INEXCUSABLE. What the Forty Niners need to do is start (the only person who had good chemistry with Shaun Hill last season) Jason Hill. He's not the best blocking WR, but is, sure as hell, the fastest guy on the team (4.32 in the 40 yard dash), can get open (Look at his highlights. He has a knack for getting open by putting great moves on CBs and finding holes in zones), and has consistently reliable hands. I blame Jimmy Raye for the lack of use of Hill. Raye is the most terrible talent evaluator on the Forty Niners coaching staff. Once Crabtree starts seeing some action, hopefully he'll know more about the art of GETTING OPEN as well.

4) Did the Forty Niners get intimidated out there, or was it just that they had gotten SO USED TO LOSING due to seasons past that their inner...brain clocks, shall we say, thought it was time to lose (according to the point of the season at which they find themselves)? The defense, after Singletary rounded them up to motivate them and tell them to play THE REAL WAY, gives up a TD to a WIDE OPEN Roddy White. I thought the Forty Niners would give up at most a field goal after a Singletary pep talk, but alas, I was wrong. Goldson looked confused throughout the whole game. And speaking of intimidation, former Forty Niners practice-squader and current starter on the Falcons O-line was SO INTIMIDATING, it seems, that he EVEN DREW SINGLETARY as a target of intimidation. Singletary, after the game, assured the media that it was indeed "poor coaching etiquette" on his part. It's actually kind of funny how he feels like a player out there, but I'm pretty sure it won't happen again.

5) Stupidity. Dre Bly showboating by putting one hand on his helmet and holding the ball with the other while attempting to run toward the end zone after an interception. The result? He gets the ball stripped by Roddy White and the Falcons recover the fumble. Dre, a word of advice: If you want to showboat, do it five yards before you enter the end zone, and make sure there is NO ONE AROUND YOU to knock the ball out.

I cannot imagine how Singletary's halftime speech went...His post-game speech must have been a lot worse. This only means two things: 1) Two weeks of intense practice and 2) If the current Forty Niners don't want to be winners, Singletary will find winners elsewhere and bring them here to create the sort of team he wants. Do not worry my fellow fans, for, as long as Singletary is head coach of the San Francisco Forty Niners, we have hope that AT LEAST SOMEONE wants to win. By the end of the season, the Forty Niners will be atop the NFC West and go to the playoffs. They needed a loss like this one in order to know what it feels like to get blown out. Now that they will have a bye next week, let's see what they change (maybe nothing at all- maybe they'll just execute, although it'll be hard when Jimmy Raye plays are destined to fail).

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.

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so depressed

fml

by mpotter14 on Oct 11, 2009 8:14 PM PDT reply actions

Can't just blame Jimmy Raye

Shaun Hill was terrible.
He threw into tight coverage, was horrifyingly inaccurate on deep passes, and showed no improvement in his pocket presence.

God, Kyle Orton (a guy I’d readily trade for Hill) looks like Tom Brady compared to Shaun Hill…….

What we've got here is a failure to communicate.

by SportsChicken on Oct 11, 2009 8:23 PM PDT reply actions

I wondered who was more to blame

I was at the game and listening on the radio; those guys put some of it on the line’s blocking, on Vernon not recognizing a blitz to cut his route short and everyone for not having better route adjustments to mix up what Atlanta was seeing. Re-watching the game via TV, those guys seem to put it on the receivers not getting open and/or running hard through their routes. Fans in the stadium were mad at Hill. I’m sure it’s a combination of all but we’d have to be in the film room with Raye and crew to know when Hill was missing guys vs receivers running poor or incorrect routes.

You gotta bring ass to get ass.

by SpurredOn on Oct 12, 2009 2:19 AM PDT up reply actions

One play does stand out to me though

Delanie Walker had some separation about 30-40 yards deep

Shaun Hill threw the ball wide right and Walker had no chance (the DB actually had a better chance of making the play).

What we've got here is a failure to communicate.

by SportsChicken on Oct 12, 2009 10:19 AM PDT up reply actions

He threw into tight coverage, was horrifyingly inaccurate on deep passes…

Boy, were his medium-deep passes ever inaccurate. The receiver and the ball were never even in the same zip code on those passes.

by sfgfan on Oct 12, 2009 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions

I just watched the

Bly video.
What an idiot. The guy was RIGHT THERE. And he wasn’t even at the 50 yet. I hope for fans and players everywhere Singletary bitch slapped him in the locker room after the game.

by LantermanC on Oct 11, 2009 9:54 PM PDT reply actions

You know

you’re not telling us anything we don’t already know. Thanks for letting me relive it again. And furthermore, what is it with everybody thinking that they could run a football organization better than the people paid big bucks to do it? We get it, they played poorly today. But it doesn’t matter what plays are being called, it was poor execution on both sides of the ball.

by Kaizre on Oct 11, 2009 10:07 PM PDT reply actions

Poor execution?

How well can you execute plays that are destined to fail before they are even executed?

Natural hater of all NY, Pittsburgh, Oakland, LA, and Dallas teams

by SSC24 on Oct 11, 2009 11:33 PM PDT up reply actions

Destined to fail?

What proof of that do you have? Oh wait you’re an ex-OC masquerading as a blogger? Hell naw, just another pessimistic opinion kicking coaches and players down when they lose. Can you at least analyze a play Lil’ Madden? Give us something more, so we’re not thinking you’re talking out the lump two feet below your head!!

"Optimist Prime"
Come along and ride the muthaship!

by rlott#42 on Oct 12, 2009 12:39 AM PDT up reply actions

When I say "destined to fail," I mean

1) The plays themselves required too many things to go right in order for the result to be somewhat good (3-4 yards), for example, those stupid screens to Morgan and only a single type of rushing play, which the falcons found terribly easy to stop. Not once did Raye, at the start of the game, attempt a pass of 15-20+ yards. Watching those other 3-yard stupid screens pissed me off as well (especially when the receiver wasn’t looking). What can you accomplish with those plays? Is three yards/play good for you? I call it failure. You can call it whatever you like.

2) When the plays were called: As I mentioned above, the Forty Niners mostly ran on 2st and second down. And these were not tosses, sweeps, etc. They were only simple runs up the gut. Where, tell me where, is the creativity? After two failures on 1st and 2nd down, we’re faced with 3rd and long and Hill is in the shotgun, ready to pass. What happens next? A falcons sack, or the Forty Niners simply don’t convert on 3rd down. Raye fed the falcons whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. And if those plays aren’t destined to fail, I don’t know what they are.

Natural hater of all NY, Pittsburgh, Oakland, LA, and Dallas teams

by SSC24 on Oct 12, 2009 9:20 AM PDT up reply actions

How about actually reading the post before commenting?

Natural hater of all NY, Pittsburgh, Oakland, LA, and Dallas teams

by SSC24 on Oct 12, 2009 9:24 AM PDT up reply actions

I replied to a comment and that's why it's not a post in regards to the Fan Post.

If it were in response to the Fan Post it wouldn’t be a reply it would be a post. You can take in to consideration that when Hill makes these passes, I could almost guarantee every route isn’t 3 yards. Maybe some guys aren’t getting open. We have a QB with Passing limitations and an O-line that isn’t great at execution, hence the plays we are able to run. Why run plays that we can’t execute. You need time in the pocket to throw a 10- 20 yard route.

"Optimist Prime"
Come along and ride the muthaship!

by rlott#42 on Oct 12, 2009 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions

I agree about the limitations of the offense and the O-line's bad play.

But Hill has shown that he can throw streaks that are at least 15-20 yards long with decent accuracy. Why not threaten the D with some long attempts? As far as the WRs not getting open, I blame Jimmy Raye, because he’s a poor talent evaluator IMO and doesn’t put the best WRs on the field. As far as blocking goes, Josh Morgan is the best they have. But tell him to get some separation, and he cannot do it. I believe the best receiving WR we have is Jason Hill but Jimmy Raye refuses to play him. I can’t stand the fact that guys like Battle and Bruce (both gone after this season) are stealing reps from the Forty Niners future.

Natural hater of all NY, Pittsburgh, Oakland, LA, and Dallas teams

by SSC24 on Oct 12, 2009 4:23 PM PDT up reply actions

There has to be something we're not seeing in practice.

They don’t want to use a guy that can’t block. I meant to say the 15-20 yard routes don’t work because there isn’t time. That is not Rayes fault if Hill doesn’t fit the bill. Hill throws one of the ugliest balls in the league.

"Optimist Prime"
Come along and ride the muthaship!

by rlott#42 on Oct 12, 2009 6:03 PM PDT up reply actions

It's not Hill.

It’s the O-line’s poor pass protection. It doesn’t matter how a ball travels as long as it reaches its destination with accuracy, which Hill has in the 15-20 yard range. Hill’s “goose egg” balls, believe it or not, are easier to catch than balls thrown with tight spirals. If Hill is given time, I believe he can deliver with accuracy. Besides, he’s the best option at QB we have right now.

Natural hater of all NY, Pittsburgh, Oakland, LA, and Dallas teams

by SSC24 on Oct 12, 2009 9:35 PM PDT up reply actions

You can't prove that (goose eggs easier to catch than spirals)

We talked about this in another thread.
It’s unprovable unless you are an NFL WR.

Besides, Shaun Hill shouldn’t need more than 2 seconds to throw 10 yards down the field.

What we've got here is a failure to communicate.

by SportsChicken on Oct 12, 2009 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Goose eggs

It MAY be true that “goose eggs” are easier to catch, if the WR were in a vacuum. However, WRs are never in a vacuum, meaning there are other players around them. The “goose eggs” allow the defenders to get better positioning on the ball.

by sfgfan on Oct 13, 2009 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions