SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS vs BALTIMORE RAVENS - Week 13 PREGAME

Normally the early start time and my natural pessimism would lead me to believe this game is an L. However this is no normal season and this team is special. Not just on the field but watching the defense interact with the offense in the lockeroom during the postgame speeches. The way that every single player deflects attention to teammates consistently. It's a nice change of pace during the build my brand era we currently live in.

They laid the foundation for two years and it all came together this year. Whether they win this weekend or not this team is going a long way this year (health permitting). It will be a tough game but they'll be ready to go. They have a tough schedule the rest of the way but they they will be battle tested come playoff time. Iron sharpens iron. Time to get some. They're gonna be physical and run the rock. They're gonna punch us in the face but we'll punch harder. Let's get it boys. Can you feel it??? It's in the weather and I can smell it. Love this time of year. Playoffs are coming!!! I don't care if it's at home or on the road this team is coming to put a foot in yo ass.

Originally posted by Hysterikal:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by Hysterikal:
Going off our performance in the rain vs a worst redskins defense.

But Baltimore will be just fine? FWIW Baltimore actually has drainage on their field.

Well they are a power run team while we rely on speed and 1 cut running. So yeah I'd say in the rain they will be far better off than us.

That would be my guess too, although it also depends on the quality if the field, it's irrigation system, and how heavy or light will be the rain/wind. etc..

But yeah, the 49er team is built to go side to side, and that purple bird team is built to go straight ahead, and I think it's partly weather related too. That area of the world has a lot of snow and sleet. So it's winter there, and I think that's an advantage to them. But if Kyle can execute some inside zones and convert 3rd downs and get some chunk straight ahead run plays, that also becomes our advantage if we get an early lead. That defense is their weakness - in my opinion. The rams did a piss poor job of dealing with Baltimore's blitz.

Originally posted by evil:

Originally posted by Rascal:
I hate to say it, are we about to not just lose but to get blown out by the Ravens?

The Ravens have now blown out just about everyone including:

Seahawks - 16-30
Patriots - 20-37
Texans - 7-41
Rams - 6-45

Then, you add to the fact that we can't defend against mobile QBs? Doesn't exactly bode well, does it?

Going into the 4th quarter, the Pats were down by 4 and the Seahawks were down by 7.

Originally posted by Rascal:
Not yet. But, say the 9ers smoke everyone else, we get to the Super Bowl, I seriously think we could face them again.

I watched both the Texans and Rams games, let's just say I don't have much doubt the Ravens will win the AFC.

I would not crown their asses just yet. Never say never when the road to the SB in the AFC means going through Belichick and Brady. That is no automatic win despite the result of the game they played earlier in the season.

Let's just hope so. But, if you have watched the game last night, they have improved substantially from earlier on in the season.

And the most worrying part is Saleh still doesn't have a clue how to defend against mobile QBs. May be is indefensible. How many DCs have they smoked now? Belichick and Wade Philips are probably top of the bunch. Think of it this way, in 2012 when we had Kap and Greg Roman, we also ran the read option via the pistol formation, we smoked Belichick and Brady too.

Get this, they scored in every single one of their 6 drives last night!! Aaron Donald was reduced to a scrub by double-teaming him. It was a case of total domination.

I admit the Ravens offense looks unstoppable but don't forget that earlier this season it was the Chiefs and Mahommes that were unstoppable. My point is all teams can be stopped by good defense. I have no idea how this game will end up but I won't be surprised if it starts with the Ravens moving the ball on the ground since we've had several games where our run defense struggled on the first drive or two. Then we adjusted and things slowed down a little.

We haven't seen an offense as dynamic as theirs is but they haven't faced a defensive front like ours. Our offense isn't any pushover so if we can control the ball and keep it out of Lamar's hands we can hold the score down. It's a classic matchup and could end up being a SB preview. I would rather lose this game and win the rest since it's an AFC team. Then in the SB rematch Saleh figures out how to slow these guys down and we win.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by Hysterikal:
Well they are a power run team while we rely on speed and 1 cut running. So yeah I'd say in the rain they will be far better off than us.

It's still the same wet sloppy mess for both teams. They run power, but they run zone stuff/try to get Jackson out on the edges just as well. All the option stuff isn't as affective in the rain imo.

They still have to make blocks in s**tty conditions.

AGree, and Wade's 3-4 defense was caught in a bind against Lamar Jackson. They had Clay an the other outside linebackers read and react instead of attacking the way Jeff Fisher attacked the RPO when Kaepernick was QB here. I think you just have to guess and run blitz/run stunt occasionally Lamar to jar them out of that RPO play - it's basically a college option play and I think you have to have a college alignment to play that offense well.

I'm thinking you have to play the big heavies on base defense and move Dee Ford and Bosa to the linebacker alignment and go Warner and four DB's to defend the pass in man coverage. If they can run against that formation. (Day and DJ Jones at the two DT positions, and Armstead and Buckner at the DE positions and Bosa/Ford playing Strong side LB and Weakside LB and Warner as MLB) they have a better run game than I thought they did.

Originally posted by LVJay:

Originally posted by Joecool:
BAL double teamed Donald which forces rams to blitz and play man.

I would like to see BAL double team one of our DL and see what happens with the other three.

We won't be playing man. It will be 4 man rush zone and man coverage on Lamar.

I like that kinda party

We already faced elusive / mobile QBs 4 times in a row...our D will do enough. Lamar may be the better runner of them all, but I do believe the D will tighten it up and make life more difficult than he's use to.

On the other hand, I don't think their D can handle all the different s**t Shanny is going to throw at them, plus we got more weapons

This is true but we haven't played an offense yet where nearly every single play is a well-designed run for the QB or shot play. We all know how Roman designs them and it is all based on where the leverage gain is. That spot is identified and it is used to either force the Defense to overcommit for a misdirection pass or for the blocker to seal for a solid run.

I'm sure Roman will come with a lot of trap blocks like he did with us against DET wide 9 type of defense in the JH days.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Sorry I didn't notice with the 45 to 6 ass whooping they gave. lol

How did the other Center hold up though?

Just fine lol the Rams suck though. All teams do is double Donald our DL is miles better than there's overall.

Who the hell are you gonna double on the 9ers D-line. lol

But I think the key will be to stop Mark Ingram more than Lamar Jackson. If you can stop their running game and stop your LB's and DE's from biting on the Read Option (which is easier said than done) you should take away 75% their offense. Also noticed in the Rams game that Jackson goes thru one to two reads at the most, then again their #1 option was open a lot on crossing routes.

As for the offense, just get back to running the ball effectively like they been doing through weeks one thru five and keep their damn offense OFF the field.

Originally posted by Rascal:

I hate to say it, are we about to not just lose but to get blown out by the Ravens?

The Ravens have now blown out just about everyone including:

Seahawks - 16-30
Patriots - 20-37
Texans - 7-41
Rams - 6-45

Then, you add to the fact that we can't defend against mobile QBs? Doesn't exactly bode well, does it?

Which mobile QB have we not been able to defend? I think you're exaggerating

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
I admit the Ravens offense looks unstoppable but don't forget that earlier this season it was the Chiefs and Mahommes that were unstoppable. My point is all teams can be stopped by good defense. I have no idea how this game will end up but I won't be surprised if it starts with the Ravens moving the ball on the ground since we've had several games where our run defense struggled on the first drive or two. Then we adjusted and things slowed down a little.

We haven't seen an offense as dynamic as theirs is but they haven't faced a defensive front like ours. Our offense isn't any pushover so if we can control the ball and keep it out of Lamar's hands we can hold the score down. It's a classic matchup and could end up being a SB preview. I would rather lose this game and win the rest since it's an AFC team. Then in the SB rematch Saleh figures out how to slow these guys down and we win.

Just personally, if this is a preview of the super bowl, I wan to win this game, from a mental standpoint. I want them at a mental disadvantage when we face them in the playoffs. I want every edge I can against any of the playoff teams.

Originally posted by IHATELOWELLCOHN:

Normally the early start time and my natural pessimism would lead me to believe this game is an L. However this is no normal season and this team is special. Not just on the field but watching the defense interact with the offense in the lockeroom during the postgame speeches. The way that every single player deflects attention to teammates consistently. It's a nice change of pace during the build my brand era we currently live in.

They laid the foundation for two years and it all came together this year. Whether they win this weekend or not this team is going a long way this year (health permitting). It will be a tough game but they'll be ready to go. They have a tough schedule the rest of the way but they they will be battle tested come playoff time. Iron sharpens iron. Time to get some. They're gonna be physical and run the rock. They're gonna punch us in the face but we'll punch harder. Let's get it boys. Can you feel it??? It's in the weather and I can smell it. Love this time of year. Playoffs are coming!!! I don't care if it's at home or on the road this team is coming to put a foot in yo ass.

Nice.

We win this game and the team clinches the AFC North.

Originally posted by Stanley:

Originally posted by Rascal:
I hate to say it, are we about to not just lose but to get blown out by the Ravens?

The Ravens have now blown out just about everyone including:

Seahawks - 16-30
Patriots - 20-37
Texans - 7-41
Rams - 6-45

Then, you add to the fact that we can't defend against mobile QBs? Doesn't exactly bode well, does it?

Which mobile QB have we not been able to defend? I think you're exaggerating

I agree, I think Midget Wilson barely beat us in overtime when we lost a bunch of offensive starters, so I also think they are beatable and that we can control and corral mobile QB's a lot better than the teams they beat. Murray, Wilson, and Lamar are very very mobile QB's that most teams (outside of the NFC West) don't usually deal with, in my opinion. I think that's a big advantage to Baltimore. I think because we've dealt with mobile QB's in our division we should have a handle conceptually on how to defend them. Actually doing it in a game is another subject entirely though.

As for the Rams, I think Goff's constant 3 and out's really hurt them and once Baltimore got 14+ point on them, it was Baltimore blitzing and pressuring Goff and he just couldn't deal with it.

Originally posted by Rascal:
I hate to say it, are we about to not just lose but to get blown out by the Ravens?

The Ravens have now blown out just about everyone including:

Seahawks - 16-30
Patriots - 20-37
Texans - 7-41
Rams - 6-45

Then, you add to the fact that we can't defend against mobile QBs? Doesn't exactly bode well, does it?

Never trust a guy who posts the lowest score first when listing the score of a game.

Everyone thought that the Patriots were unstoppable in their undefeated season. Then the Giants defense happened.

Good defenses find a way.

Originally posted by Giedi:
Just personally, if this is a preview of the super bowl, I wan to win this game, from a mental standpoint. I want them at a mental disadvantage when we face them in the playoffs. I want every edge I can against any of the playoff teams.

I can see that but you can also look at it from the losing teams' view. They might learn a few things in a loss and go into a rematch with a revenge motive. The Ravens might be overconfident. We have to get there first. Even the ravens aren't a sure thing since they will have to get past the Patriots. I never under estimate Belichick in the playoffs.