http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2014/10/31/7138917/rams-49ers-preview
Rams-49ers: Q&A with Niners Nation
By
3k
@3k_ on Oct 31 2014
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Getting the inside info from David Fucillo of Niners Nation, the SB Nation community for fans of the San Francisco 49ers.
Well, here we are again. The Niners. The stinkin'
49ers.
To fill me in on what they've been up to since Monday Night Football, I linked up with David Fucillo from
Niners Nation, SB Nation's community for fans of the 49ers.
So it hasn't been that long since we saw each other. You guys picked up a big Monday Night Football win on the road, but then dropped the Broncos game in pretty spectacular fashion. What did you guys get wrong against Denver that you got right against us? Of the things you did wrong, are any of those things that have been present throughout 2014 as a whole and not just in the loss?
The 49ers went into that Sunday Night Football game against Denver dealing with several injuries suffered in or after the
Rams game. LB
Patrick Willis (toe), LG Mike Iupati (concussion), and CB Chris Culliver (hamstring) each suffered an injury that cost them the Broncos game. They brought back cornerback
Tramaine Brock and had to insert him into the starting lineup sooner than expected (the original plan was to only use him in some nickel and dime situations). This resulted in what many viewed as a fairly simplified pass defense. Considering they were facing
Peyton Manning, that was just not going to do well.
Manning & Co. got off to a strong start, but the 49ers actually were hanging around on offense.
Colin Kaepernick had a great first half, and the 49ers had a chance at one point. They trailed 21-10 at the half, and after forcing a punt, had a chance to cut this to a one-score game. Unfortunately, Colin Kaepernick threw an interception and they could never really recover.
The one thing that was present that has been a recurring issue was the lack of a pass rush. The 49ers sacked Peyton Manning twice, but otherwise they were unable to get much of a pass rush against him. They will get back
Aldon Smith in the next week or two, which will improve it, but until then, the 49ers pass rush is scuffling along.
What have you learned about the 2014 49ers? Anything really surprising you about your team through 8 weeks?
The regression of the offensive line has been fairly surprising. This is a group that has been fairly solid for the 49ers during Jim Harbaugh's tenure, but this season it has been wildly inconsistent. Injuries are partially to blame, but even a healthy
Joe Staley has been inconsistent.
The secondary's play, and particularly that of
Perrish Cox has been surprising. Cox was released by two different teams last season, but he currently leads the NFL in pass break-ups, and is tied for third in interceptions. He has been the best cornerback on the team, well, at least prior to the Broncos game.
Colin Kaepernick seemed to be underwhelming a bit until the Rams rode to the rescue and helped him to 300+ yards and 3 TDs. He's on pace for career totals in nearly every traditional passing stat. Any concerns with his play this year or is this just Kap hitting his peak?
I don't know that he is hitting his peak yet, but I think we're seeing progression. He still shows inconsistency at times, but I think we're seeing improvement in some important areas. For example, against the Rams, we saw him stepping up in the pocket when the pass rush was coming around the sides. Previously he would often retreat back and to either his left or right and be forced to throw the ball off his back leg. He has more arm strength than almost anybody in the NFL, so he can make those throws. The problem is they seem to lack accuracy. When stepping up into the pocket, he seems to connect a bit better.
For Kap, it just comes down to doing a lot of things more consistently. He'll have a couple nice drives, but then mix in some bad mistakes. His interception against the Broncos was an example of bad decision-making that can pop up from time to time. He thought he could fit a pass into a hole down the field, when a shorter dump-off would have gotten the first down. These are things that hopefully improve with experience..
Defensively, you guys are on pace to allow the most points since the 2008 season. What's up with the defense?
The secondary injuries are one issue, but not having
NaVorro Bowman, Aldon Smith,
Glenn Dorsey and Tramaine Brock through most or all of the first seven games is nothing to sneeze at. The 49ers defense will improve particularly when Aldon Smith returns because of the pass rush. It has been virtually non-existent for stretches, and adding one of the two or three best pass rushing OLBs can only help that group. I will be intrigued to compare points allowed for the first half of the year and the second half of the year, and particularly points per game over the final month. A lot of people will say a formerly good defense should improve, but with the 49ers, the return of defensive talent should clearly make a difference.
Now that you've had the bye week to give you some time to take perspective, where are the 2014 49ers headed? Are you more or less confident in a deep playoff run?
The return of players off various injured lists makes it a bit easier for 49ers fans to be optimistic heading into the second half of the season. Here is a look at returning players:
Aldon Smith (suspension): Week 10 or Week 11
Glenn Dorsey (biceps - short term IR): Week 11 or Week 12
NaVorro Bowman (knee - PUP): Sometime between Week 12 and 15 probably
Tramaine Brock (toe, missed Weeks 2-6): Back, getting rust off
Patrick Willis (toe, missed Week 7): Week 9 or 10 probably
Even if Bowman and Dorsey are not quite where they would like to be over the final month of the season, adding Aldon Smith ot the mix changes the entire dynamic of the pass rush. On the offensive side of the ball, the tackles and guards are fully healthy for the first time this year. Additionally, while they lost
Daniel Kilgore to a broken ankle in Week 7, new center
Marcus Martin was drafted this past May as a potential center of the future. The future is now for him, and he is arguably more talented than Kilgore.
It really comes down to getting healthy. They will likely have other injuries over the final nine weeks, but getting big names back is huge. If they lose big names again, it certainly impacts that, but moving forward right now, this team has a chance to develop back into what was one of the Super Bowl favorites entering the season.
Bonus: prediction time.
I'll go with a 34-13 win. The 49ers have not had a complete game where they dominated start to finish. If Patrick Willis sits this game, maybe it's closer, but I just think the 49ers take care of business against a really banged up Rams squad. Thanks to Fooch for the time.
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it should've been 21-17 at the half
against Denver if Boldin doesn’t drop a sure TD and Dawson doesn’t miss his field goal. Kap’s first half was stellar, perhaps the best first half we’ve seen from him in his career. He put the team on his back when the running game was no where to be found, where lots of receivers were killing us with drops- Crabtree and VD had bad ones as well- and notwithstanding some pretty good pressure from the Broncos and registered a few sacks.
The inconsistency reared its ugly head with that pick that no question, hurt a lot in that game, but citing that as the reason we lost when the defense’s only stops were coming from penalties (and even then) is not accurate. The Broncos were waltzing past our defense like it wasn’t there. You can’t win like that.
On the injury front, I notice Fooch neglected to mention Ward being out and Cook sustaining what sounds like a 3rd degree hamstring strain. And Brock shouldn’t have been playing, as evidenced by the fact that it’s not clear he’s going to play this week. So our whole defense was hobbled, not that we wouldn’t have struggled otherwise, but it was a real stretch under the circumstances.
Going forward, we are likely to get healthier and find out whether this team can be what it once was. The greatest concerns are actually the defensive and offensive lines, the latter which will feature a 20 year old rookie center and three guys that haven’t lived up to their former selves this year, and the former of which are full of aging vets that have been overplayed due to the pitiful performance of the reserves. It’s a concern, and hope for optimism is with two young lineman in Carradine and Dial that are just not being given an opportunity to prove themselves.
The key this week will be stopping a tough Rams running game, possibly without Willis. Borland didn’t look great filling in against Denver, but it was his first start, so we’ll see. If we don’t play the run well, it’s anyone’s game. If we do, given all the injuries on the Rams, it’s tough to see us dropping this one at home.
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Denver dominated our ILB position, which is, in my estimation, where the game was lost.
Borland can’t hold ground well, and Hillman’s speed mixed with the play action, etc, they just ran right at him.
With Willis, Whilhoite can make tackles, because Willis will hold the point of attack at least. Which sucks, because a free ranging WIllis would be much more valuable if we had anotherILB who could hold the point instead of him.
I don’t think Bowman will have a great impact until maybe late in the postseason. So our D will have to figure out a compensation in the meantime, hopefully Aldon steadies the ship. Because if we can’t stop their run, it’ll be just as good if they can’t get a pass off.
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Without Bowman, this teams run defense is a shell of its former self...
Without Aldon Smith, the pass defense sucks too, we just can’t take advantage with our present QB….
And I don’t know what the hell is wrong with our pass defense….Hopefully Mark Barron is the answer…should have a better read on these no-name TE’s…..and the overrated ones (Davis)….That new one ( 2nd year) is pretty good…Wilson, or is that the other one that’s in Seattle….
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Doesn't help that our OLB Brooks is having one of his worst years as a niner
in years past he’s done a great job setting the edge. This year he came into camp overweight and out of shape and said that losing in the NFCCG really took a lot out of him. If he were to bounce back to past performance I think our run d would be a lot better.
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Brooks had
2 sacks in the last game against the Rams. If he repeats that or betters it, will attitudes change for him?
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Don't forget Dorsey.
He’s a former top ten pick himself. He is our #3 -#4 D-lineman on a team that rotates a lot. TJE and Dobbs are replacement level players, they are not going to get after the QB.
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I'm a staunch 49ers supporter -
But I’m not buying into the injuries excuse. Injuries are a fact of life in the NFL and with the exception of Willis none of them came as any kind of surprise -Dorsey, Smith, and Brock were known quantities.. So far as I’m concerned the 49ers loss to the Broncos was either a failure on the part of the coaches to devise a workable game-plan or the simple fact that the better team won. All in all it’s probably a combination of the two with inferior coaching shading inferior personnel. No matter – To a true 49ers fan the Rams will always be THE ENEMY
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Beating Seattle was so freakin’ awesome though. Definitely going to be the highlight of the Rams season.
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Above average injuries matter a lot - like the Rams losing 6 starters during the KC game
Rams beat the seahawks and then get crushed by KC. Injuries is the reason. It’s not an excuse. It objectively explains what happened.
The injuries against Denver really hurt and they were compounded by multiple drops. WRs had a bad day and our D was too thin to pick them up.
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If the Rams beat the Niners on Sunday it would be like the USA in the Miracle on Ice. Sad times in Ram Nation.
Even the Niner fans can’t bust on us. We are that banged up and pathetic.
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Eh, it's been a rough season for the Niners too
I’m conflicted with what I hate the most, the refs this year or the injuries. Why can’t the refs start getting injuries??? Oh and f Goodell.
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Answers to Kaepernick hitting his peak and the defense struggling.
First Kap. Most QBs hit their prime around 29-30, so Kap is still at least two year from his peak. He has grown every game he has played. He went from a running QB in college to the above average pocket QB you see now. His 4th year stats are near identical to Aaron Rodgers 4th year stats. You guys have played both Kap and Wilson this season. Wouldn’t you agree that Kap was more effective as a real, traditional QB than Wilson, who still relies on broken plays for most of his yardage?
Kaepernick threw TDs to only 3 people in 2013, and 13 of 21 went to Vernon Davis. In 2014 Kap has thrown 11 TDs in 7 games, to 7 different people, and nobody more than 3. That is a microcosm of his growth. I know you don’t want to see him get better, but we’re only scratching the surface with him.
The 49er defense has actually played well given the guys we are without, but will get back soon. The reason for the points IMO is the tough schedule. In the first seven games, the 49ers faced top offenses of Dallas, Bears, Broncos, Eagles. In the second half, only the Saints and Chargers have good offenses. Expect our PPG surrendered to steadily decline throughout the season.
This week please don’t play well. After this week you will be my second favorite team for the rest of the season