Who on the 49ers covers Seahawks TE John Carlson?

I know that Lawson was in a designated pass rush role last game, but he figures to be back in coverage much of next game. Only one of Carlson’s catches came on 3rd down last game, and that’s typically when Lawson was in as a Nickel DE. When the team is in its base 3-4, Lawson will be covering and Haralson rushing the passer.

like JVG “covered” Alonzo Mourning.

That might be a good one for the upcoming game. The game taggers at Football Outsiders would’ve loved what the Niners did with Hightower last game—yes he got some yards, but only about 40 of the 120 yards he got were actually meaningful for getting first downs. Most of the time when Hightower got a catch, it meant that the Niners were getting off the field.
If the Niners can do something similar in the upcoming game with Carlson, that’ll be a similar kind of victory.

He’s a playmaker and the team designs plays just for him. He’s even being used as a receiver, for god’s sake.

Don’t think so. Willis is typically shadowing the running back on passing downs. The time he dropped deep into coverage was the exception rather than the rule.

Whenever the Niners went nickel, they pulled Lewis for Roman along with putting in Bly. The secondary certainly improved its coverage ability then. I know Roman is none of our fav players but his coverage in nickel D is better than that of Lewis. The question becomes, does Seattle throw to Carlson more on 1st down from their base offense or on third down where we can better match a DB on him.

Which he also does a lot.

He’s probably the best in the league behind Peyton Manning at audibling and adjusting plays at the line of scrimmage.

And while jamming Carlson sounds like a good idea, it’s easier said than done; who on the 49ers can jam a 6’6", 250 lb TE who runs routes like a polished WR?

However, a TE like that is not going to just rack up meaningless yards. With a stat line like 8 for 90 it’s almost impossible for him not to convert a 3rd down, and that’s probably good for a TD as well. And that will probably open things up for the WRs, though I’m fully confident they can get open anyway.

of course, there’s always that Edgerrin James threat to worry about

All are useless sacks of crap.

And last Sunday, the opposite happened. First they went straight to Carlson, and Jones started getting effective and breaking off longer runs after Carlson had his 2 TDs.

I guess we should be flattered that they are using us as their measuring stick. If/when they come up short, what will that say about Seattle?

As opposed to a team like the 49ers filled with the dredges of busts and horrible drafting. How’s Michael Crabtree working out?

Or screen passes to Burleson/Forsett/Jones/Edge/Seneca? Heck, how do you shut down Carlson when he’s on the field with Burleson AND Housh AND Branch and any one of three RBs that can catch out of the backfield or pass block? On any given play you could one of 5 different receivers (including TEs and HBs) or 3 different runners.

The Hawks’ offense is so complex and multifaceted that there’s always going to be a mismatch somewhere (and there’s no way that any one Niners safety will be able to shutdown JC).

He’s got some polish to his routes, he’s tough, he’s got hands and I guarantee he’s going to make you groan at least once this game.

Housh is pretty used to getting banged up at the LOS, I would think. Obviously, Fitzgerrald and Boldin are no push overs either, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed with the way you handled them last week. The reason Seahawks fans are pretty hopeful is Matt just seems totally in sync with four legitimate threats (Housh, Burleson, Butler, and Carlson) and we have a lot of faith in Matt’s ability to make quick reads and good decisions when he’s got weapons he trusts.

Quick tosses aren’t Hasselbeck’s only weapon against the blitz… Knapp has shown a pretty good sense of timing with the screens all (pre)season and Jones and Forsett are capable receivers.

I have no faith in our secondary, but I think the front seven should dominate at the LOS, even with the loss of Hill. One thing we’ve seen this year is our schemes have allowed our linebackers and ends to hang back a little more and read the play as it happens, which has done wonders to improve both our run protection and coverage in the flats, as opposed to last year when we would blitz 7 and give up a huge play when short pass would turn into 20+ YAC.

I don’t expect this to be a cake walk for either team, and I think both fanbases are excited to see if their team is for real. May talent win out and may that team be the Seattle Seahawks.

he came from the Lions or something. They only have one receiving TE.

We have two tho…with Vernon and Walker

The John Carlson is slow" idea started after he was sick during the combine and ran a shitty 40.

know how to spell Hasselbeck. It’s as if we’re playing a team from Alabama.