Through the first three games of the season, the 49ers have shuffled the deck quite a bit with Chilo Rachal and Adam Snyder. Rachal seemed to get a vast majority of the playing time in weeks one and two, but struggles in week three led to Adam Snyder getting the start for a sizable portion of the second half. Rachal gave up a pair of sacks and committed a pair of penalties in an all around miserable first half.
Monday is normally the day Jim Harbaugh conducts a press conference in Santa Clara. This week the team is staying in Youngstown, Ohio following their game in Cincinnati and before their game in Philadelphia. Instead of the normal noon press conference, Coach Harbaugh conducted a 2:30 PT conference call.
During the conference call, Coach Harbaugh was asked who would start at right guard against the Eagles. Harbaugh responded that it was to be determined at this point. He also made a point of stating that his critiques of the offensive line would remain in-house so that players weren't reading about what he was telling them.
We aren't hearing the critiques, but it's safe to say we know some of what is being said behind closed doors. The 49ers offensive line had a heck of a day yesterday trying to get on track. Some of the more successful plays required rolling out, mixing in some play action, and generally trying to trick the defense as opposed to just blasting them in the trenches. This wasn't the case every time, but things like the tight end throwback to Vernon Davis and the negated touchdown pass to Crabtree were created by misdirection more than strong offensive line play.
Can moving Adam Snyder into the starting lineup make enough of a difference in week four?