Heading into this week, I'd imagine disapproval of Jimmy was fast closing in on rock bottom. After a week 10 approval rating of 35%, the loss in Green Bay and a variety of questionable calling issues dropped his approval rating to 13%. People were fed up with the play-calling, predicated in part upon seeing the offense not going to the shotgun/spread until they were already well behind. And then, when it seemed like the team might be coming back, they'd go back to conservative play-calling.
Suddenly we hear about the players "taking ownership" of the offense and going to Jimmy Raye with what they wanted to see more of in the offense. How often do you hear of this happening? Even more interesting is the fact that the team switched course against a decent Jaguars team and took care of business. Of course, even though the Jaguars entered the game at 6-4, their pass rush was sufficiently abysmal that they were the type of team that was pretty perfect for what ailed the 49ers. Throw in a missing Rashean Mathis, and the advantages were definitely in the 49ers favor.
The question thus becomes what will we see from the offense this Sunday at Seattle? The Seahawks have struggled in pass defense, whether you're looking at traditional counting stats (#25 against the pass prior to the Rams game), or advanced stats over at Football Outsiders (#26 against the pass, also prior to the Rams game). So, do we see more of the same game plan? Or given that they're missing Lofa Tatupu, does the offensive game plan mix in more of the pounding rush? I know folks are all about the spread offense, but given Frank Gore's ability to break big runs against Seattle, what ever do the 49ers do?