So that game wasn't very fun, was it? The San Francisco 49ers showed every sign they were going to collapse -- the same signs they showed in Week 2 and Week 3. But they didn't, and held on to win. I didn't catch the second half of the game, as I had to take care of some other things and by the time I came back, the 49ers were playing well and I didn't want to curse it.
Yes, I'm superstitious.
But I did get a chance to go back and take a look at some offensive line play. I actually thought this unit played better against the Arizona Cardinals and maybe even than against the Chicago Bears. In a word: it was all bad. Just incredibly awful in almost every way. Frank Gore picked up some quality yards, and I maintain he did so on the back of a monstrous individual effort.
We're just going to talk about the sacks allowed today, however. The 49ers officially gave up four sacks, but there were two others that were negated by penalty (one of which was holding on the guy that eventually gave up the sack). I'm going to talk about all of them. Let's just get right to it.
13:06, 1st Quarter: On 3rd and 12 at SF 2, Kaepernick sacked for -13 yards
This is an ugly play that led to a blocked punt and a touchdown for the Eagles. It was possibly the worst way the game could have started, but what actually happened? Well first off, it's obvious that Boone is expecting Gore to chip that guy, but it's also kind of obvious that Gore ... expects Boone to get him. We'll never know the exact blocking assignments but I have to think that Boone should be expected to get that guy. Is he expecting to double-team the outside guy? There's not really anybody that could be surprise blitzing.
Here's another angle:
I'm honestly not sure what Boone is expecting to happen. It just seems like a weird play where nobody was quite sure what they were supposed to do. Let's move on.
7:46, 1st Quarter: On 1st and 10 at PHI 23, Kaepernick sacked for -4 yards
Let's ignore the clipping at the end of this play. There's a lot that goes wrong along the offensive line, but it's kind of hard to pay attention to that kind of thing when Kaepernick calmly walks out of bounds well short of the line of scrimmage, giving the Eagles a sack. Joe Staley blocks his guy really well, Mike Iupati struggles with his guy, Daniel Kilgore struggles with his. Only Anthony Davis and Alex Boone do any good, but Davis does eventually lose his guy, which is hardly his fault.
Just throw it away.
4:58, 1st Quarter: On 2nd and 8 at PHI 13, Kaepernick sacked for -3 yards -- penalty on Boone, holding, no play
Sure, the other guys eventually lose containment, but it's Boone struggling which collapses the pocket. He also got called on a holding penalty on the play. There's really not a whole lot to this one. Just another bad play by Alex Boone.
:14, 1st Quarter: On 1st and 10 at PHI 48, Kaepernick sacked for -7 yards
Do I even need to say anything here? Staley is too good to get beat by a play like this. That's what you do to school the rookie on his first day of camp. Just brutal.
12:15, 3rd Quarter: On 1st and 10 at PHI 23, Kaepernick sacked for -5 yards
This one is rough, and a little frustrating because Kaepernick has some receivers open underneath. But the pressure does get to him relatively quickly so he hardly has time to set his feet. There's a lot going on in this play, but the gist of it is that Gore struggles to chip his man and Jonathan Martin gets soundly beat without providing much push-back at all. Martin, replacing Anthony Davis, who left the game with an injury, barely gets a hand on his guy, while Gore goes for his usual chip move and can't get it.
11:27, 3rd Quarter: On 3rd and 15 at PHI 28, Kaepernick sacked for -5 yards -- penalty on PHI, defensive holding, no play
This play was called back due to defensive holding, but it was still a pretty rotten play. Gore does a solid job getting his guy to the ground, but Boone can't contain his guy (and I feel like Boone sort of gave up on that play before Kaepernick was actually sacked, looking at him). This makes Kaepernick scramble, and Gore's guy is already up by that point. The unofficial sixth sack of the game.
Ugly, ugly game.