FanPost

NFCCG recap: a spaghetti western perspective...

Officiating:

The Good; They actually called PI on Sherman's grab of Crabs, and generally didn't allow muggings of our WRs.

The Bad; Missing the "Roughing the Kicker" call on Lee (and not extending that drive).

The Ugly; How an entire crew of officials could be so wrong on the Bowman strip and recovery at our goal line boggles the mind.

Overall; The officiating seemed to miss more calls against us, as was typical for the entire season, but cannot be blamed for handing the win to Seattle.

Special Teams:

The Good; Dawson, Lee, Osgood, and even Morris.

The Bad; LMJ's muff, and overall weak return performance.

The Ugly; Coverage units allowed far too many yards and put our D in poor field position.

Overall; They did not play championship football.

Defense:

The Good; The play of the LBs (QB pressure, forcing turnovers, generally stout)

The Bad; The DB play, especially the Safties, with both big plays (Baldwin's reception, and Lynch's TD run) were on them.

The Ugly; Bowman's injury (I had to cover my eyes).

Overall; Despite the couple of breakdowns, this unit played well enough to win the game. They played like champions (as usual).

Offense:

The Good; Play calling (thanks for going for it on 4th and goal), and Kap's designed runs were great too. They generally did well with clock management (only one delay of game, and had the full compliment of timeouts for the final drive), especially for the hostile environment.

The Bad; Run blocking for RBs (Gore had nary a crease).

The Ugly; Ball security (but I'll get to that shortly).

Overall; Despite putting up 17 points, this unit did not play championship football.

QB (extra breakout analysis):

The Good; Kap's running, (both designed and scramble).

The Bad; Kap's inability to run "hurry up" (still doing myriad presnap reads when precious seconds are ticking off during the final drive - I found myself yelling, "Snap the ball!!!"), decision making (he had time and timeouts enough to make another play or 2 before going to the endzone on the final drive), and an apparent lack of how to sense pressure well (either in the pocket, or when scrambling), and thus being susceptible to FFs.

The Ugly; Ball security, both FF (some recovered, some lost), and INTs (especially those from poor decisions/throws).

Overall; His poor play is the single most important factor in the loss, and why we are not going to the Super Bowl. He has MANY aspects of his game that need work. He is NOT currently playing like a $100 MM QB. The question becomes, "Do we hold off on a contract extension this off-season to see if he shows improvement in those areas of need?"

The Game:

The Good; We were in it to the final seconds and could have won the game with slightly better execution on the final drive. So it was a close loss that we should not be embarrassed about.

The Bad; Officiating, Kap's play, ST play, and especially having Sherman beat you with an excellent play.

The Ugly; Bowman's injury (best wishes to you on a speedy recovery).

Overall; The best thing about losing an NFCCG? Not having to listen to Aikman and Buck for many months! Those guys really get under my skin.

Now can we talk about the draft?

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