Breaking Down San Francisco Early

by SSreporters on Sep 7, 2008 5:24 PM PDT

First off, I'm sorry I was quite the imbecile in the game thread today, I'm not a troll, but I am a bit of a pessimist and I say stupid things when I'm POed. However, I wasn't the only one who called this game over at 14-0 and the fact that I was the only one that got called out for it is a little harsh. I'll promise to behave better...especially when San Francisco falls flat in the first quarter.

Now from an early glimpse of highlights and game action, JT O'Sullivan had some nice moments, but he turned the ball over 3 times, and basically the 49ers are headed for Wrecksville, USA. O'Sullivan threw an interception, he can't run (sacked 4 times) so Seattle's pressure will be a problem for him, and he lost 2 fumbles.

The lone bright spots were Frank Gore, who looks like his old self again. Breaking tackles, powering his way through holes even though that offensive line is like swiss cheese, and Parys Haralson, the OLB who recorded 2.5 sacks.

San Fran turned it over 5 times overall, they barely had the ball for the most part (22:55 total).

Defense wasn't painfully bad, but it was less than stellar.

Seattle shouldn't be overconfident, but from the live action and the highlights I caught, San Francisco is the same team but with a new offensive coordinator.

0 recs | Comment 5 comments

Read Related

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

well

buried in the wreckage of today is that Marshawn Lynch, surprisingly, only had about ~70 yards, and the Bills managed about 100 yards rushing.

considering Frank Gore has powered them the last couple years, this is good news. With Rocky Bernard coming back, it’s even better.

by Will Kier on Sep 7, 2008 5:58 PM PDT 0 recs

Agreed

The Bills OL definitely won the battle pass blocking…although they didn’t HAVE to throw the ball which certainly helps. But our run defense really stepped up before and after the TD. And the TD itself was more a great playcall against the wrong defense than bad run defense.

I was encouraged by the defenses play, the Bills didn’t have to force anything and just took what we gave us. We lost the game on special teams, and our offense didn’t do anything as we all saw. A full week of practice for Hasselbeck, and Branch probably being back should make a difference. Also, we should be able to have an easier time running on the 49ers, and if we get Locklear back SHOULD pass block better.

Punting I am actually concerned about. Reggie Hodges was surprisingly good for us before Plack came back. I’m not all about the quick hook, and Plack shouldn’t be cut just off of this game…but he really hurt the team on more than half of his punts. He had a great punt that dropped on the 15 and rolled to the 11 or 10ish…and another one that landed on the 3 and was downed in the 1.5 yard area. But outkicked the coverage at least three times, giving a very good PR room(resulting in one TD and tons of PR yards/great field position) and shanked a few more. Against a team with mediocre special teams play it wouldn’t have looked as bad, but really hurts this good defense.

Both TDs scored were on short fields(about 50 and 30 yards) because of a bad punt and a KR fumble. And the field goals were off of short fields too if I remember right. We could have allowed 10 or 13 points or less TOTAL with good special teams play in this game.

by cashless on Sep 7, 2008 6:13 PM PDT up 0 recs

Gore did look good

I watched the whole game — the D looks alright, they were getting a good amount of pressure on Warner. The pass D didn’t look great (especially on 3rd down, Warner kept finding someone).

The main reason they lost was that the Cards had the ball for the whole 3rd quarter after a long opening TD drive and then a fumbled kickoff return (by Takeo Spikes on a short kickoff).

Vernon Davis had a couple decent plays and JTO had a lot of dumpoff plays and, at first, was dodging the pressure almost like Romo… Obviously that didn’t last.

I would think that the ’hawks will be looking to deliver some punishment next week, especially at the home opener after this dog of a game.

by Strang on Sep 7, 2008 6:01 PM PDT 0 recs