49ers-Saints And The NFL Lockout

Did it seem really uncool to anyone else that the Saints blitzed as much as they did in game 1 of a preseason after a shortened training camp against a team with a new coach and new playbook? I felt that the Saints were kind of jerks for doing that. They could have just straight up played their regular Defense (and thereby let Harbaugh see how his team is doing)… Our O-Line looked horrendous, but the blitzing was a bit over the top I thought…. Clearly there were missed assignments and pickups…

Harbaugh definitely got his butt handed to him as well here. Was this maybe a Welcome to the NFL from Sean Peyton? Harbuagh had no answers for the blitzing, or at least no fast response… 4 sacks of Alex Smith and 2 of 7. Really? Smith may be bad, but Brees was not all that much better in the limited action I saw. And we did not do the blitz packages incessantly…

…is how well they will adjust next week. I think it’s plausible the team hadn’t yet done a lot of work on blitz pickup, and I doubt they’ll go into the Raiders game as unprepared. The coaching staff is going to need a functioning offensive line to get a proper evaluation on players; I bet this was a Monday morning priority.

…with a team with new coaches accross the board, and a bunch of new / very young players.

i’d rather them come out sloppy in the pre-season and have a lot to figure out and get coached up on, rather then come out 4-0 in the pre-season and gain a ton of false confidence along the way.

thank goodness for that :)

… when I see some of the “good teams” get man-handled in week one of pre-season as well. Colts, Pittsburgh, etc.

I hope there is a sharp learning curve and the team improves. Harbaugh should sequester the entire O-line for 3-4 days. Book them in a hotel suite and they have to eat, sleep, breathe in the same environment.. Stick Alex Smith and Kaepernick with them. Make them learn each other better. Their habits, their tendencies. I would think they would bond pretty well after that experiment…. Throw in Gore and VD for good measure…

Some of the ‘niners key players had SIX practices before the game – and they’re running an entirely new system. It would be a miracle if a team were to be given that amount of information to learn that quickly and be competent that soon. and it’s not intellectual learning alone – it’s muscle memory. you run routes, and blocking schemes/techniques, etc. over and over again so it becomes something you do without thinking. If you have to think before you do it, in the NFL with the speed of the game, that split second of thought means you lose – a DE blows by you, a corner closes, forget about it. And that’s just the basics – if you’re being blitzed, EVERY player on the offensive side of the ball has to recognize the blitz and make adjustments – the O-line has to know who is covering what, the QB has to know his hot read, and he has to know/believe the WR has seen the same thing and made the correct route adjustment. This is not excuse making, people – or if it is, it’s for Harbaugh and staff, not the playerss – it’s how football actually works. The Saints knew full well the ‘niners would be running a basic package, and not very competently at that, and chose to bitch slap them and rub their faces in it. As has been said, that was totally within the rules – but a dick move just the same. The single best thing the ’niners could do to respond is to get better, get good, meet the Saints again and, if they’re able, beat the living s*** out of them and humiliate them. And you better know that our players are proud guys, and they will be motivated for that rematch.

Is anyone else out there suspicious of the Saints lock out “Player Organized” work outs. It is said they had upwards of 40 players involved PLUS trainers. I don’t know but to me it sure smells of illegal organization involvement.
I know it’s a team that is bringing back core players and coaches. But to me it sure seems very suspicious.

Center is responsible for calling blocking/blitzing assignments. Adam Snyder is brand new to this and is clearly not ready for this role yet. Eager to see the OL with our new center. Should improve.

I think the offense was going to struggle no matter what. This is the Saints we’re talking about – one of the most successful teams of the past couple years. Then, we have our 49ers, who have a lot of talent but I think most people can agree, aren’t really on that level yet. If we don’t make progress each week, then I’ll be concerned. But right now, not so much.

As I watched the game I couldn’t help but think about how much this team looks like last years team. It was disgusting…Good starting deffence and a horrible unorganized offence. That was Mike Singletarys team and thats what we saw Friday. It’s easy to see that this still is last years team. The leauge is basicaly picking up from week 17 last season, minus the playoffs and a few added players. 2 short WEEKS is not nearly enough time to turn a team around. Even when everyone loved when Singletary took over it still took a few weeks for the team to respond different. Jim needs time for this job…BTW Kaepernick looked as good as Alex Smith ever has lol