Last week we introduced the all-new Jimmy Raye Approval Rating. In spite of the team's early success there were plenty of rumblings about the performance of the 49ers offense. The first three weeks saw a team that was trying to rush the ball into brick walls and not getting all that creative. Folks were begging for even some screens and sweeps on occasion. Nothing crazy, just a little this and that.
Well, a week later, we saw some changes. My view of the offense last week versus St. Louis was that the play-calling was fine, it was the execution that was severely lagging. The offense used outside runs, screen passes, and even threw to Josh Morgan quite a bit more. The problem in execution came down in large part to the offensive line. Shaun Hill was not getting nearly enough time to make plays against a St. Louis Rams defense that should inspire fear in nobody. In his Monday press conference, Singletary specifically called out the play of the two offensive guards as major culprits.
Going forward, the offense will remain a major area of interest for me. Obviously there's the Michael Crabtree addition. We'll deal with that more later. For now, with Atlanta coming to town on Sunday, it's a matter of what will we see on Sunday from the play-calling. Is the development and creativity of the offensive game plan going to continue to increase each week? How much more of this Shaun Hill-Vernon Davis connection will we see? The Atlanta defense isn't all that great, but we said the same thing about the Rams. What will we see this week, and do you approve of where Jimmy Raye is going with things after four weeks?