Coaches Film Analysis: 2020 Season

Originally posted by thl408:

Kwon was the worst defender on the field imo. That 20 yard run to give ARI a nice kickstart to their end of half drive was on him. He has to understand where his help is. That was frustrating. How he got beat on the TD even though he had the angle and the 17 yard scramble from Murray - this was a tough play but he got spun for a loop and didn't look good. I'm about ready for Greenlaw to take over that spot. Just have Warner run around yelling "HoT bOyZ!!" to make up for Kwon's absence.

Totally agree with this.
Kwon and Ford (to a lesser extent) are going to limit our defense going forward. Starting next season, those are our two highest paid players behind Jimmy.

Ford, at his best, is a pass rushing machine.
Kwon, at his best, is still a poor tackler who may not be better than Greenlaw.

Originally posted by All22:

Originally posted by thl408:

Kwon was the worst defender on the field imo. That 20 yard run to give ARI a nice kickstart to their end of half drive was on him. He has to understand where his help is. That was frustrating. How he got beat on the TD even though he had the angle and the 17 yard scramble from Murray - this was a tough play but he got spun for a loop and didn't look good. I'm about ready for Greenlaw to take over that spot. Just have Warner run around yelling "HoT bOyZ!!" to make up for Kwon's absence.

Totally agree with this.
Kwon and Ford (to a lesser extent) are going to limit our defense going forward. Starting next season, those are our two highest paid players behind Jimmy.

Ford, at his best, is a pass rushing machine.
Kwon, at his best, is still a poor tackler who may not be better than Greenlaw.

With Greenlaw on the roster making plays, it's hard to justify giving Kwon the majority of snaps in nickel. At this point it might be confirmation bias on my part but I'm starting to key in on Kwon and his misplays. I counted one good play in this game from Kwon, he took away a slant pass on a 3rd down resulting in a punt.

Forgot to mention that the 49ers went back to their 2017 ways and played their CBs as field and boundary. This was the scheme change that Matt Barrows was referring to that he couldn't write about until after week 1 (to not give away secrets from camp). They did this to start 2017, but scrapped it after week 4.

Below is a snippet as to why the 49ers do this (The Athletic article):

https://theathletic.com/2075236/2020/09/17/boundary-issues-robert-saleh-explains-why-the-49ers-changed-cornerback-tactics/
The 49ers shook up their defense this season by having Sherman play on the wider side of the field depending on which hashmarks the ball is placed. In the past, he's solely played left cornerback. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said the 49ers figured that was the best way to utilize all of the cornerbacks' strengths.

"The field cornerback in our scheme plays with a lot more vision," Saleh said during a Zoom call on Thursday. "And when you look at the corners that we have, some guys can play with a lot more vision. For example, Sherm has four of his five interceptions when he's playing the field (side) last year. When he plays with his vision and can go chase things, he's got an unbelievable skill set to be able to do that."
-------------------
With Sherman on IR, let's see if they continue this. I don't think they should. Switching sides back and forth with lesser skilled CBs can lead to more trouble than it's worth.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by jonnydel:

On the underthrown ball to bourne, im kind of more with Kyle on that. You can't expect a perfect throw every time, the receiver needs to fight back to the ball and at least draw PI.
I almost did, but thought it might seem too jimmy homerish, but thought about playing the PI Kelce drew on Moore in the SB in the end zone back to back with the underthrown bourne play.

Mainly, because he's getting hammered for that throw and talk of how he jusy isn't it.

Patrick Mahomes underthrew Kelce but the same Margin in the SB on an easier throw. The difference was Kelce fought back for the ball and drew PI on Moore and KC took the lead the next play.

Ehh, Kyle is protecting his QB with those comments. Jimmy had an open Bourne and had more end zone to work with to place the ball further away from the CB chasing Bourne. No need to play it that safe and underthrow Bourne imo. I dunno, jd, I expect Jimmy to make a better throw considering the separation Bourne had and the clean pocket Jimmy had.

Not saying he shouldn't make the throw, more, if he were gonna missing or short, short was bettee with the defender in a trail position. I see it equally on both. Jimmy should have thrown a better ball, but Bourne totally could've come back to the ball and at least force PI. We get 1st and goal from the 1 there we most certainly score.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by All22:

Originally posted by thl408:

Kwon was the worst defender on the field imo. That 20 yard run to give ARI a nice kickstart to their end of half drive was on him. He has to understand where his help is. That was frustrating. How he got beat on the TD even though he had the angle and the 17 yard scramble from Murray - this was a tough play but he got spun for a loop and didn't look good. I'm about ready for Greenlaw to take over that spot. Just have Warner run around yelling "HoT bOyZ!!" to make up for Kwon's absence.

Totally agree with this.
Kwon and Ford (to a lesser extent) are going to limit our defense going forward. Starting next season, those are our two highest paid players behind Jimmy.

Ford, at his best, is a pass rushing machine.
Kwon, at his best, is still a poor tackler who may not be better than Greenlaw.

With Greenlaw on the roster making plays, it's hard to justify giving Kwon the majority of snaps in nickel. At this point it might be confirmation bias on my part but I'm starting to key in on Kwon and his misplays. I counted one good play in this game from Kwon, he took away a slant pass on a 3rd down resulting in a punt.

kwon definitely didn't have a good game. However, it's early on. But, if he isn't a big time game changers he doesn't justify his contract with Greenlaw on the roster.

This is the first snap of the game for TMoore (he had 2 total) and he was utilized very well here, as a spy on Murray. 49ers drop Ward down to slot CB and play Dime (6DBs) versus 11 (3 WRs). So this is basically one extra DB than what's needed since 11 is usually countered with Nickel (5 DBs).

3rd & 10: 49ers had been playing lots of Quarters so far and ARI dials up a concept made to beat Quarters. It's a similar route concept to the Pettis overthrow that jd broke down where orange and red pull up the safeties for yellow to attack behind.
49ers show 2 deep safeties but will come with Cover1.


Moore rotates down to help with coverage in the middle, everyone is manned up. AA and Bosa get good push on the edges.


Murray never steps up into the pocket, he only steps out of the pocket. Moore is watching and mirroring him the entire way.


When Murray gets out of the pocket, Moore activates and closes in preventing any thought of a scramble. Using hindsight, perhaps Saleh could have dialed this up more often given that one of ARI's best plays was having Murray scramble. +1 yard run, punt.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
On the underthrown ball to bourne, im kind of more with Kyle on that. You can't expect a perfect throw every time, the receiver needs to fight back to the ball and at least draw PI.

I almost did, but thought it might seem too jimmy homerish, but thought about playing the PI Kelce drew on Moore in the SB in the end zone back to back with the underthrown bourne play.

Mainly, because he's getting hammered for that throw and talk of how he jusy isn't it.

Patrick Mahomes underthrew Kelce but the same Margin in the SB on an easier throw. The difference was Kelce fought back for the ball and drew PI on Moore and KC took the lead the next play.

Yea if Bourne attacked the ball it would have surely been a pass interference. Bourne is an experienced receiver at this point he should have that understanding. But hey it a moot point if Jimmy throws a good ball.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
.be

Finally got it done, don't really have the energy to do a full write-up now as it's almost midnight my time. I got the whole thing done and uploaded to youtube only to have a 30 second clip flagged by the NFL so I had to re-edit that short section and spend another 45 minutes exporting and uploading. So, that being said, I'm headed to bed. Cheers!

I know you didn't cover that final play of the game to Taylor, but that was the 2nd time he did that extra "shake" at the top of his route before making his cut. Kyle commented on this and pointed that to a chemistry thing with him and Jimmy. earlier he did the same thing with what you showed when he needed to slant immediately scraping under (pettis or bourne? cant remember). when Taylor didnt even need to do that shake as if he was isolated in man. i think that is definitely a discrepancy in the lack of chemistry between the 2.

Originally posted by northoakland510:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
On the underthrown ball to bourne, im kind of more with Kyle on that. You can't expect a perfect throw every time, the receiver needs to fight back to the ball and at least draw PI.

I almost did, but thought it might seem too jimmy homerish, but thought about playing the PI Kelce drew on Moore in the SB in the end zone back to back with the underthrown bourne play.

Mainly, because he's getting hammered for that throw and talk of how he jusy isn't it.

Patrick Mahomes underthrew Kelce but the same Margin in the SB on an easier throw. The difference was Kelce fought back for the ball and drew PI on Moore and KC took the lead the next play.

Yea if born attacked the ball it would have surely been a pass interference. Bourne is an experienced receiver at this point he should have that understanding. But hey it a moot point if Jimmy throws a good ball.

couldn't agree moore. he was bourne to play the position so he should know this.

Originally posted by thl408:
This is the first snap of the game for TMoore (he had 2 total) and he was utilized very well here, as a spy on Murray. 49ers drop Ward down to slot CB and play Dime (6DBs) versus 11 (3 WRs). So this is basically one extra DB than what's needed since 11 is usually countered with Nickel (5 DBs).

3rd & 10: 49ers had been playing lots of Quarters so far and ARI dials up a concept made to beat Quarters. It's a similar route concept to the Pettis overthrow that jd broke down where orange and red pull up the safeties for yellow to attack behind.
49ers show 2 deep safeties but will come with Cover1.


Moore rotates down to help with coverage in the middle, everyone is manned up. AA and Bosa get good push on the edges.


Murray never steps up into the pocket, he only steps out of the pocket. Moore is watching and mirroring him the entire way.


When Murray gets out of the pocket, Moore activates and closes in preventing any thought of a scramble. Using hindsight, perhaps Saleh could have dialed this up more often given that one of ARI's best plays was having Murray scramble. +1 yard run, punt.

I was yelling after every scramble that they needed to spy Murray.

Jimmy had problems seeing the field, but some plays were worse than others. ARI came with two primary coverages on Sunday, Quarters and Cover1. Versus Cover1 I saw the deficiencies at WR as gaining separation was inconsistent from the WRs. But there were plays versus Quarters that Jimmy failed to identify the route that would work best. Here are three plays where Pettis is running a Curl/Comeback versus a CB playing Quarters.

A CB playing Quarters does not want to get beat deep. So naturally they will play with a cushion while giving the WR a free release off the line.Pettis at top of screen in all three plays.


Hopkins made 6 catches versus Quarters by running some sort of Curl/Comeback/Out route - any route that broke back to the QB after attacking the over-the-top leverage of the Quarters CB.
(2 plays per gif)

---
One of these plays might look like Cover3, but it's only because Moseley came down near the line due to no speed threat to his side.

----

Originally posted by SkyZer0:

Originally posted by jonnydel:
.be

Finally got it done, don't really have the energy to do a full write-up now as it's almost midnight my time. I got the whole thing done and uploaded to youtube only to have a 30 second clip flagged by the NFL so I had to re-edit that short section and spend another 45 minutes exporting and uploading. So, that being said, I'm headed to bed. Cheers!

I know you didn't cover that final play of the game to Taylor, but that was the 2nd time he did that extra "shake" at the top of his route before making his cut. Kyle commented on this and pointed that to a chemistry thing with him and Jimmy. earlier he did the same thing with what you showed when he needed to slant immediately scraping under (pettis or bourne? cant remember). when Taylor didnt even need to do that shake as if he was isolated in man. i think that is definitely a discrepancy in the lack of chemistry between the 2.

The 4th down play was very similar to a 3rd & 5 they failed to convert in the 1Q. jd touched on that 1Q play as ARI playing a trap coverage where the CB pretends to play man, follows the outside WR, only to drop off and rob the flat.


This is the 4th down play. Bourne raises his arm up to sell that he is open so that the CB doesn't drop off to rob the flat. Notice how Taylor runs this route a bit different than the 1Q play. He kinda takes a step sideways, then upfield, then breaks to the outside. Perhaps that's the extra wiggle Kyle was talking about. (I didn't listen to Kyle's presser).

Originally posted by thl408:
Great breakdown as always jd.
I'm really glad you broke down and touched on the following plays because it tells a good story: the trap coverage on the incompletion to Taylor (3rd & 5).
The 49ers went back to the play on the final 4th down (incomplete to Taylor). On that play, they had BOurne do the protection release then raise his hands up as if he was open, just to prevent the CB from squatting on Taylor's quick Out. I think with the 49ers loving to throw to the middle of the field, they wanted to change it up and throw it outside. Too bad the throw was a bit late/behind on the 4th down.

The various DB blitzes from Saleh. Ward and KWilliams blitzed on numerous downs. Not sure if I saw a LB blitzing. This is so that if the blitzer got through (Ward or KWilliams) they won't get their ankles broken from Murray's elusiveness.

How ARI played the mesh concept on that critical 3rd down. They defended this very well. ARI ran this concept on offense - result, 49er blown coverage.

How routes from RBs in the backfield take longer to develop. This is one reason why the pro set is long gone in exchange for the slot WR. One of these days, the 49ers will hit a RB on a wheel route for a big gain. They ran it this game more than I've ever seen it. They only targeted it once to Jet but it was a rushed throw and overthrown. The LB had decent coverage though.

Kwon was the worst defender on the field imo. That 20 yard run to give ARI a nice kickstart to their end of half drive was on him. He has to understand where his help is. That was frustrating. How he got beat on the TD even though he had the angle and the 17 yard scramble from Murray - this was a tough play but he got spun for a loop and didn't look good. I'm about ready for Greenlaw to take over that spot. Just have Warner run around yelling "HoT bOyZ!!" to make up for Kwon's absence.

There was one play where TMoore was in (he had two snaps total) and he played a spy role, not allowing Murray to scramble. Saleh came with a blitz heavy gameplan, by his standards, and got burned on the Murray TD scramble. Overall I thought the defensive gameplan was good. They mixed in man coverage and blitzes to go with a heavy dose of Quarters to prevent big pass plays. Truth be told, ARI's best plays were 'throw it to Hopkins", and "Murray run around like a chicken". Oh, also get timely penalties. The 49ers had 4 defensive penalties, all were for automatic first downs. Three on the same drive when the down and distance was in the defense's favor (drive ends with Murray TD scramble). Those were real killers.

Have to mention Jimmy's biggest miss and that was the underthrown pass to Bourne who was ready to take the lead with just over a minute left. Overall, if the WRs are having trouble getting separation versus man, I think they should have relied on Kittle even with a gimpy knee. They sure loved their trips bunch in this game. While I understand wanting to get natural picks and rubs out of this, I thought that once it was clear Jimmy was struggling to see the field, they should have spread things out. Continue to use the RBs and TEs (21, 12 personnel), but spread them out. They really favored the shotgun in the game anyway so playaction from under center wasn't a big part of the gameplan.

Nice work touching on so many plays. I'll try to show a few I felt were important like the blown coverage that had Hopkins wide open and the play before the play where ARI defended the mesh concept that you broke down - it was a 2nd & 3 where Coleman ran for 0 and it showed why missing Deebo made 22 personnel ineffective. Perhaps also the TMoore play and why he might play a bigger role in their second matchup later this season.

Overall a frustrating loss but I don't think the 49ers got outplayed big time or anything. ARI didn't play a very clean game either, a bunch of penalties for them. I think performing so poorly on 3rd downs, on both sides of the ball, was the biggest reason for the loss.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by All22:

Originally posted by thl408:

Kwon was the worst defender on the field imo. That 20 yard run to give ARI a nice kickstart to their end of half drive was on him. He has to understand where his help is. That was frustrating. How he got beat on the TD even though he had the angle and the 17 yard scramble from Murray - this was a tough play but he got spun for a loop and didn't look good. I'm about ready for Greenlaw to take over that spot. Just have Warner run around yelling "HoT bOyZ!!" to make up for Kwon's absence.

Totally agree with this.
Kwon and Ford (to a lesser extent) are going to limit our defense going forward. Starting next season, those are our two highest paid players behind Jimmy.

Ford, at his best, is a pass rushing machine.
Kwon, at his best, is still a poor tackler who may not be better than Greenlaw.

With Greenlaw on the roster making plays, it's hard to justify giving Kwon the majority of snaps in nickel. At this point it might be confirmation bias on my part but I'm starting to key in on Kwon and his misplays. I counted one good play in this game from Kwon, he took away a slant pass on a 3rd down resulting in a punt.

OMG yes. I wasn't even looking for him and he stood out in the worst way. Greenlaw HAS to be the trusted agent going forward. He's proven consistent. But I know with that contract they are going to keep force feeding him and hope he can get back to good.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by All22:

Originally posted by thl408:
Kwon was the worst defender on the field imo. That 20 yard run to give ARI a nice kickstart to their end of half drive was on him. He has to understand where his help is. That was frustrating. How he got beat on the TD even though he had the angle and the 17 yard scramble from Murray - this was a tough play but he got spun for a loop and didn't look good. I'm about ready for Greenlaw to take over that spot. Just have Warner run around yelling "HoT bOyZ!!" to make up for Kwon's absence.

Totally agree with this.
Kwon and Ford (to a lesser extent) are going to limit our defense going forward. Starting next season, those are our two highest paid players behind Jimmy.

Ford, at his best, is a pass rushing machine.
Kwon, at his best, is still a poor tackler who may not be better than Greenlaw.

With Greenlaw on the roster making plays, it's hard to justify giving Kwon the majority of snaps in nickel. At this point it might be confirmation bias on my part but I'm starting to key in on Kwon and his misplays. I counted one good play in this game from Kwon, he took away a slant pass on a 3rd down resulting in a punt.

OMG yes. I wasn't even looking for him and he stood out in the worst way. Greenlaw HAS to be the trusted agent going forward. He's proven consistent. But I know with that contract they are going to keep force feeding him and hope he can get back to good.

The benefit of Kwon is that he gets to the ball first. He may not make the tackle but he slows the ballcarrier down. That's great when offenses aren't spreading the field too much and we can rally to the ball and gang tackle but against AZ's spread he's a liability.

Greenlaw makes Kwon expendable. Trade him and a pick to CLE for OBJ.