The Jimmy Raye play-by-play. Does he really suck?
by smileyman on Nov 3, 2009 5:00 PM PST
37 comments
After Sunday's game I was pretty disappointed in the play calling. It felt like it was the Jimmy Raye of the run up the middle, run right, pass, punt. Lots of the talk today has been about the same perception. I wondered how much of the griping was based in reality and how much was based off a handful of calls. To find out I went and watched the game again, writing down each formation, the type of play called, and the result.
I was actually very surprised with the results. Here is the play-by-play, with my thoughts at the end.
Drive 1
1st play--2 WR, 1 FB (lined up on right side), 1 RB
Run for six yards
2nd play--Wildcat formation
No gain
3rd play--Shotgun. 2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB
Incomplete (actually a beautiful pass to Davis who didn't get both feet in)
4th play--Punt
Drive 2
1st play--3 wr, 1 TE, 1 RB
Five yard pass to Isaac Bruce
2nd play--2 TE, 2 WR, 1 RB
Run up the middle by Gore for a TD
Drive 3
1st play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB
Smith got his foot stepped on. Went down for a sack
2nd play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB
Draw play to Gore. No gain
3rd play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB
Lots of pressure on Smith. Threw it away before he could get sacked.
4th play--punt
Drive 4
1st play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB (1 TE lined up as receiver)
Gore off right for 3 yards
2nd play--2 WR, 1 TE, 1 FB (lined up on left side as extra blocker), 1 RB
Throw to Isaac Bruce for 13 yards
3rd play--2 TE (one split wide right, one lined up on left side of line), 2 WR, 1 RB
Quick out to Crabtree who dropped it.
4th play--3 WR, 1 TE (Davis started off in the down position), 1 RB
Throw to Crabtree for 12 yards
5th play--2 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB, 1 FB (TE and FB lined up in down position)
Throw to Crabtree, tipped for interception
Drive 5
1st play--2 WR, 1 TE, 1 FB, 1 RB. WR are lined up left. TE is on right in down position. FB is lined up in front of RB
Up the middle for 1 yard
2nd play--2 WR (lined on either side. Right side in motion) 1 TE, 1 FB, 1 RB
Run off tackle to the right for 2 yards
3rd play--3 WR (2 on left side, 1 on right), 1 TE,
1 RB. Alex in shotgun
Pass to Vernon Davis for a couple of yards
4th play--Punt
Drive 6
1st play--2 WR (lined up on left side), 1 TE (in down position), 1 FB, 1 RB.
Short pass to Moran Norris who drops it
2nd play--2 WR (split on either side), 1 TE (in down position on left), 1 FB, 1 RB
Throw to Vernon Davis for 12 yards. Called back for holding
3rd play--2 WR, (split), 2 TE (one on right side, one in down position for blocking) 1 RB
Draw play to Gore up the middle. 2 yards
4th play--3 WR (2 split right), 1 TE, 1 RB
Goes back to throw. Gets pressure and runs for about 5 yards
5th play--punt
Drive 7
1st play--2 WR (split) 2 TE (split in down position), 1 RB
Run off left tackle for 2 yards.
2nd play--2 WR (split on either side), 1 TE (lined up in down position), 1 FB, 1 RB
False start on Vernon Davis
3rd play--2 WR (split), 1 TE (right side in down position), 1 FB, 1 RB
Smith back to pass. Pocket collapses, he scrambles and throws it away
4th play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB
Great pass to Crabree who catches it short of 1st down.
5th play--Punt
Drive 8
1st play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB. 2 WR on left side with TE in down position.
Beautiful pass between two defenders to Crabtree for 26 yards
2nd play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB. 2 WR on left side again. TE on right side in up position. Shotgun
Throw to Bruce for 12 yards.
3rd play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB. 2 WR on left side. TE up on the line. In shotgun
Complete to Vernon Davis for 10 yards
4th play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB. Same formation as the 2nd play. Shotgun
Incomplete to Vernon Davis
5th play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB. Same formation as 3rd play. In shotgun
Blitz came. Quick dump off to Gore plus roughing the passer call.
6th play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB. 2 WR split right. 1 WR (Morgan) line up in FB position. TE lined up on right side in down position. Morgan goes in motion to right side. In shotgun
Pass to Gore for four yards
7th play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB. 2 WR and TE to left, Crabtree to right. In shotgun.
Pass to Vernon Davis for TD.
Drive 9
1st play--2 WR (split), 1 TE (on right side), 1 FB, 1 RB
Run up the middle for 1 yard gain
2nd play--2 WR, 1 TE, 1 FB, 1 RB.
Swing out pass to Gore who breaks a tackle and gets 8 yards.
3rd play--1 WR (split left), 1 RB, 1 TE, one tackle eligible.
Hand off to FB for 2 yards
4th play--2 WR (lined up left), 1 TE (down position on right side), 1 FB, 1 RB
Run was supposed to go to left side. Stopped for 1 yard loss (Rachal was beat badly)
5th play--2 WR (split), 1 TE (down position on right side), 1 FB, 1 RB
Screen pass to Gore who busts a tackle and gets 10 yards
6th play--1 WR (split left), 1 RB, 1 TE, one tackle eligible.
FB ahead for 2 yards
7th play--2 WR (lined left), 1 TE (right in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
Pass to Bruce (slightly behind Bruce but he should've caught that)
8th play--2 WR (lined left), 1 TE (right in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
Quick out to Crabtree who fumbles it. (Best looking drive of the day too.)
Drive 10
1st play--1 WR (split right), 2 TE (either side in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
Frank Gore off left tackle for couple of yards
2nd play--2 WR (both right), 1 TE (left in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
FB to right for 1 yard
3rd play--3 WR (2 right, 1 left), 1 TE, 1 RB
Pressure on Smith. Throws ball away before he could take the sack.
4th play--punt
Drive 11
1st play--2 TE, 2 WR 1 RB
Pass to Bruce who lets it get away (nice 12 yard pick up too)
2nd play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB
Pass to Crabtree for 12
3rd play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB (both TE are down on left side)
Pass to Bruce for 12
4th play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB (TE and WR are split)
Run off left side for 7 yards
5th play--2 WR (lined up left), 1 TE (left side in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
Run off right guard for 7 yards
6th play--3 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB
Screen to Glen Coffee. Incomplete pass
7th play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB (all of the players are lined up as receivers). In shotgun
Pass to Morgan for 5 yards
8th play--3 WR (2 on left side), 1 TE, 1 RB
Delay of Game penalty pushes back to 3 and 1 instead of 3 and 7
9th play--3 WR (2 on left side), 1 TE, 1 RB
Sack
10th play--Punt
Drive 12 (start at own 11)
1st play--2 WR, 2 TE (WR and TE split on either side), 1 RB
Run to right for -2 yards. Offsides on defense.
2nd play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB (Same formation as 1st play)
Throw to Gore out of backfield for 11 yards
3rd play--2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB (again same formation)
Smith back to pass. No protection and runs it out of bounds
4th play--2 WR (both on left side), 1 TE (in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
Pass to Crabtree for 14 yards
5th play--2 WR (on right side), 1 TE (on left in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
Incomplete pass (overthrows Crabtree)
6th play--2 WR (split), 1 TE (on right in down position), 1 RB, 1 FB
Incomplete pas to Isaac Bruce (lots of time, just overthrew him)
7th play--3 WR (2 right, one left), 1 TE (lined up right), 1 RB
Under pressure--sacked.
Some points I'd like to make here.
1. We passed for twice as many plays as we ran.
2. Our running game is confusing. Looking at the number (18 attempts, 113 yards), we did pretty good. However, 64 yards of that were on one play.
3. Jimmy Raye actually mixes it up pretty good. Sure there are some boneheaded plays here (a draw on 2 and 20?), but he uses lots of different formations and runs different plays from the same formations.
4. Our mental mistakes are killing us. Two really good looking drives killed because of that. The first is the Crabtree fumble, and the second (even more costly) was the delay of game penalty. That delay of game penalty happened when we were inside the Colt 30--had we got the pass off we could've at least kicked a field goal, maybe even gotten a TD, instead we're pushed back five yards and then sacked. Morgan's unsportsman like penalty was stupid. Isaac Bruce dropped a couple of crucial catches that were right there.
5. We can actually put together some very good drives. We only had a couple of drives longer than five plays, but we had two very good looking drives that were killed due to stupid mistakes. One was the drive where Crabtree fumbled, and the other was the delay of game penalty that turned a 3rd and 6 into a 3rd and 11 and a sack. Take away either of those two plays and we might have walked away with the win.
In conclusion, I can't blame this game on Raye--If I had to pick a goat it would be our offensive line for allowing that last sack, Alex Smith for the delay of game, or Michael Crabtree for the drive killing fumble.
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.
9 recs |
37 comments
| Add comment
Email
Print
Comments
Do you see a play-by-play analysis in that thread?
I sure don’t.
by smileyman on Nov 3, 2009 5:13 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
no, but if you had have posted this in the comments of the “Official Jimmy Raye Discussion Post” I would.
by Andrew Davidson on Nov 3, 2009 5:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Dude.
Good fanpost… i enjoyed it. Thanks!!
by ZonaBacks10 on Nov 3, 2009 7:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I agree
this stuff is very helpful and i love to see it, good job
I like seeing it broken down like this so i can actually envision the calls instead of “jimmy raye sucks lets kick his #$#”
by june8thjrat on Nov 3, 2009 7:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Jesus Christ!
It’s a good post. Wish the poll had an all of the above category though, not really any one person’s fault we lost the game.
by Kaizre on Nov 3, 2009 6:00 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I've added another option
If you’ve already voted clear your cookies and you should be able to vote again.
by smileyman on Nov 3, 2009 7:13 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
rec'd
Great post, I appreciate the time and effort.
This really goes to show how unsubstantiated our whining about Jimmy Raye’s playcalling is.
Throughout the whole year, we’ve always called more pass plays than run plays. It’s something like a 58:42 Pass:Run ratio last time I checked.
Yeah, we could try to get fancier with our running plays but I don’t believe our O-Line is capable of that. We could try going spread offense and bombing it down the field but our O-Line can’t provide enough protection.
As it is, our roster is a “work in progress” right now and the play-calling simply plays to our strengths. We need to stop looking for a scapegoat everytime we lose and just accept the fact that the talent on our O-Line isn’t up to snuff yet.
"We Deserve"
by YaHeard on Nov 3, 2009 9:04 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Is Davidson teasing here, or is he just being mean, or is it both. The first to respond to this thread, and all he says is redundant.
Great post, Smiley. Although I would reiterate what a caller said Monday night on knbr with Damon Bruce (with Bruce agreeing), that so far, Jimmy Raye is a “rally killer”. His play-calling gets to be so conservative sometimes.
Personally, I think the guy sucks. So far at least. We have to see how he’ll handle Smith for the long term, and that’s if Smith gets that opportunity. But I find myself screaming at the television set, and at my brother, in almost every single series because of Raye’s questionable play-calling. I critique the game as closely as my brain will allow (and I get much of this ability, or the little I have, from listening to guys like Steve Young and Mike Krukow), and many of his calls don’t make any sense to me. I tend not to pay attention to the run/pass ratio. Instead, I focus my attention on WHEN these run and pass plays are called. I’d elaborate here, but it’d take too long, and Davidson might jump on me if I do.
In my opinion, Raye sucks. And why are we still running the wildcat? The more and more Raye refuses to rid the team of that awful play, the more and more I think he’s a phony. If anyone can, explain to me why Raye continues to use to the wildcat?
by Waiting4JoshMorgan on Nov 4, 2009 1:38 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
I’d elaborate here, but it’d take too long, and Davidson might jump on me if I do.
I was just teasing, of course… :)
by Waiting4JoshMorgan on Nov 4, 2009 1:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Are we still running the wild cat?
I know Gore did it twice in Houston and both plays were successful. And one time vs Indy but like too many run plays this season, it gained no yards. Other than that Raye has stopped using it since week 2. It’s not the worst thing considering that conventional run plays have not been that successful.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
by SpurredOn on Nov 5, 2009 3:24 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yes
and the team, and coach raye, certainly haven’t rule out the wild cat.
It’s not the worst thing considering that conventional run plays have not been that successful.
I would agree with you, but the issue i have with it is that coach raye and singletary both refuse to be creative with the wild cat. Plain and simple. you have a RB in Michael robinson who was a QB at Penn State, and a WR in Arnaz Battle who was a QB at Notre Dame, and yet you absolutely refuse to have either of fake the run and throw the damn ball. What gives?!
Remember that TD to reggie wayne? That’s what I’m referring to. Some trickery. Get it, coach raye? Somebody relay this message to ’em…
by Waiting4JoshMorgan on Nov 8, 2009 4:49 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
1st half of Texans game 0 points (not even a FG)………….2nd half of Colts game 0 points (not even a FG). This cannot all be put on the players. Raye has to take some of that, if not a majority of it.
by Drew K on Nov 4, 2009 1:59 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Absolutely Raye has to take some of it. His offense is pretty bad
However, in the second half of the Colts game we had 4 drives. Two of which were sustained drives that were screwed up by Crabtree and to some extent the delay of game. What do you think the NFL average is for 3 & outs? I bet it’s somewhere around 50%. I’d complain more about the first half of the Colts game where we were anemic except for a 64 yard TD and a 2 minute offense.
Granted, the Colts still had a nice 5 minute drive at the end of the game that would have resulted in a FG or better, but… there’s always blame to go everywhere.
The point is that it has been unfairly leveled at Raye far too heavily. The LOLine sucked to begin with and has only lost two if its better players. The QB was considered “damaged goods” as of two weeks ago, the team’s best WR is a guy who hadn’t even played football in 10 months, let alone that he’d never played in the NFL, and skipped training camp and the first 5 games. Let’s just say the WR situation was terrible and that we’re relying on a rookie at a position that is notoriously hard for rookies to pick up quickly. Our star RB went down for 3 weeks and is just getting back into the swing of things.
Everything is messed up with our offense. Raye’s had completely different personnel available for every game, so he’s had to change things a lot. Let’s get some continuity. Anybody expecting our offense NOT to look like a work in progress is fooling themselves. Hopefully our offense is pretty well set now (though the LOLine still needs some time) and they can start work the mastering the basics and learning the nuances instead of learning the basics and ignoring the nuances.
At least our D didn’t suck this week.
You have been DFiBrillated.
by Dubs fan in Boston on Nov 4, 2009 11:19 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Good analysis.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
by SpurredOn on Nov 5, 2009 3:25 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Btw
Great break down… wouldn’t mind seeing this post every week
by Drew K on Nov 4, 2009 2:02 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Weird, I thought this recommended post was suppose to be a comment?
This must of taken you forever. Appreciate the effort. If I could re-watch the game(preferably somewhere for free online) I’ll try to expand upon it with what down it was, how many yards to go, and how far passes were thrown passed the LOS.
by supraman on Nov 4, 2009 2:07 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Game Rewind is only $24.99
for the rest of the season. Totally worth it I think.
by smileyman on Nov 8, 2009 12:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I voted Bruce for his alligator arms.
He drops balls that are catchable to not take hits. He simply doesn’t belong on the team and is not being released because it’s a “respect” issue. He just doesn’t belong on the field. His playing time should be going to Jason Hill.
But Jimmy Raye came a close 2nd. His wasting of first downs killed the Forty Niners. His formations are extremely easy to recognize and his plays are therefore extremely predictable. The colts expected run on first down and he gave it to them…stubborn mentality, which fails. Alex Smith is faced with numerous 3rd and longs (probably his first pass of the drive) in the shotgun and he fails…Jimmy doesn’t put Alex in a position to make plays because the colts expect pass whenever he does.
Natural hater of all NY, Pittsburgh, Oakland, LA, and Dallas teams
by SSC24 on Nov 4, 2009 4:17 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
If you add it up
it was like 9-15 run-pass on first down + that one play where Smith got stepped on that I’m not sure what it was supposed to be. This count is off by a couple since they gained 16 first downs plus the 12 to start each drive so I’m off by 3, but I just quickly went through that break down so I must have gotten messed up on a play or two. But either way that seems like a more pass heavy first down play selection. If someone has the game recorded and could get the exact numbers on the play selection on first down, that would be an interesting thing to see.
by Sebaz49 on Nov 5, 2009 7:38 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Highly rec'd
Thanks for compiling this together.
Realistically, the problem is with Raye for not forcing our wide receivers to fake more injuries.
7
by Rishi on Nov 5, 2009 6:42 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Heck
We have enough to rotate through so each one only has to fake it every 8 plays…
I know, I know not all of them are on the active roster…
by Sebaz49 on Nov 5, 2009 7:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Thank God we don’t play the Dolphins. Imagine how many injuries we’d have to fake to slow down their no-huddle, high-tempo, wildcat offense.
7
by Rishi on Nov 5, 2009 7:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Good post but
Crabtree’s fumble isn’t a mental mistake:
Our mental mistakes are killing us. Two really good looking drives killed because of that. The first is the Crabtree fumble, and the second (even more costly) was the delay of game penalty.
Unlike the delay-of-game penalty, it’s a physical mistake.
Fumbles (like INT’s) happen, like it or not.
by GeoMak on Nov 7, 2009 10:41 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
It is a mental mistake
because of the way he was holding the ball. Every football player is taught from their very first camp to not hold the ball with one hand. Had he protected the ball properly there would have been no fumble and that drive would have stayed alive.
In my book that’s a mental mistake.
by smileyman on Nov 7, 2009 11:01 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Alex Smith for the delay of game, or Michael Crabtree for the drive killing fumble.
….or Vernon Davis for not even trying to get both feet in.
If Bochy coached the Warriors Bengie Molina would start every game at PG.
by cybermaldonado on Nov 7, 2009 2:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Right
And guys hold the ball with one hand all the time. Walter Payton did it a million times.
It’s easy to sit and home in your living room and criticize a guy who is running with the ball, being chased by a bunch of guys trying to tackle him.
It’s a physical mistake. He was ‘physically’ careless with the football.
Mental mistakes are just what they sound like: Guys jumping offsides, not knowing the snap count, false start penalties, delay of game penalties, 12 men on the field, etc.
Essentially, they are mistakes BEFORE the ball is put into play.
Quoting Randy Shannon of the Miami Hurricanes:
“When you have offsides, that’s mental,” coach Randy Shannon said. "Illegal formations, mental. Those are things you can’t have. They’re drive killers. Pass interference or blocking somebody behind the back when you’re running full speed, those are the ones you can take.
“But the mental mistakes, those are the ones that get you upset.”
by GeoMak on Nov 7, 2009 7:47 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I think the difference between Crabtree and a veteran on that play was after he shook off the initial tackle attempt a veteran would have realized that play was going nowhere and would have just taken a dive for his two yards. Rookies tend to fight the play to the bitter end and leaves themselves susceptible to a strip. Technically a mental error, but if there was a scale I’d rank that kind of play at the very least offensive of mental errors . . . almost a play all rookies experience and quickly learn from.
I’m really not going to argue the way he held the ball on the play, I thought he had good grip but overall he was off balance. I’d say Walter Payton would have just gone down and made the defense pay on the next play . . . that should explain my argument on the paragraph above.
by bignerd on Nov 7, 2009 8:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I would respectfully disagree here
smileyman made this comment:
Every football player is taught from their very first camp to not hold the ball with one hand.
Go to nfl.com right now. On their homepage they have three stories. Story #2 in titled ‘Feeling Upset?’ which is accompanied by a picture of Deangelo Williams carrying the ball one-handed.
If I had a dollar for everytime a ball carrier carried the ball one-handed, I wouldn’t have to work for a living. It happens ALL the time. All the time. Essentiall, guys almost always carry the ball one-handed, until they feel them selves about to be tackled. Easier said than done sometimes.
Beyond that:
A) Walter Payton never went down easy. He fought for every yard.
B) I’ve seen veterans make the same ‘mistake’ you are talking about. It’s not confined to rookies.
Yes. I agree. There are times when it’s better to just go down instead of fighting for more yardage because the risk of a fumble is worse than the reward of some extra yardage. But that’s real easy to say from home. Out on the field, these guys are trying to break tackles and make plays.
It’s hard to criticize them for that.
by GeoMak on Nov 7, 2009 8:59 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah the instinct is to fight for more yards
and that’s a good thing. I still think the way he was carrying that ball was just stupid. Once he felt that pressure come in he needed to get that ball tucked in and protected and that I think is a mental thing.
I won’t disagree too much with someone who wants to say it’s a physical thing though (like teaching offensive linemen to block a defensive lineman with both hands and body position).
by smileyman on Nov 7, 2009 10:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Crabtree's fumble
an example of one of things that could have been corrected/practiced if he was in camp day 1.
Go 49ers
by iaalexeeff on Nov 8, 2009 12:22 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, I agree
Although he’s never been a fumbler, he does hold the ball one handed away from his body. Not such a bad thing in college, but in the pros it will cause fumbles.
Something that has been addressed, I’m sure, but needs more work.
Yes rlott#42, Crabtree...needs to hold onto the ball
by 10forTech on Nov 8, 2009 10:10 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Join the community and dive in!
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
