So it feels like there's a lot of generalities being made about the state of our team. "Poor playcalling", "It's this player's fault, it's that players fault.", etc etc.
I decided to do a trial and watch the Coach's film that's on NFL.com. (It's very cool, btw). There are a lot of football junkies that see things better than I can, so I'm not going to do a complete X's and O's of every single play... but these are my general drive-by-drive observations in the next couple posts:
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
--- Overall, the SKY IS NOT FALLING. The 49ers have a lot to cleanup, but the core identity of the offense is here. They scored 28 points and are 9th in the league. Are we where we should be? No, but we're not the worst offense in the league like some people act like.
--- Jimmy Garoppolo had more good plays than bad plays. To be honest, his worst plays were that he just wasn't sharp in the first half and we started slow. The INT was forgivable because it was just a great defensive play. His fumble was incredibly ugly, but that play was just poor execution of a screen play.
Across the board, it felt like Jimmy had to make something out of nothing a number of times... like a botched snap that he rushed up the middle for 9... and then other times, he made it worse, like his fumble.
But after watching Jimmy closely this game, I understand him much better. Jimmy's at his best when he can throw to a wide receiver in stride, and our team possibly has the best YAC runners in the NFL. He does well with crossing routes and slants, and he has a good feel for the screen game. Jimmy is also a veteran QB that can read a defense and find an open receiver against Zone, so long as he has an appropriate amount of time. Jimmy's capable of it, but he's just not as good throwing it to the sidelines and over top. As such, Shanahan has played to his QB's strengths and that's why you see the plays being called as such.
--- But across the board, we weren't sharp starting out. I pin that on Shanahan and McDaniel. They need to do a better job of making sure our offense is ready.
--- Trey Sermon, you can tell it was his first start, but when he settled down, you can tell he has talent. There were a couple plays when the defense just blew up a play and he was in no man's land.
--- Alex Mack, particularly, did NOT play well. He had the great block for Trey's TD, but he gave up a lot of penetration by the Defensive Tackles on a number of plays, there was a sequence back-to-back where edge rushers went unblocked, he snapped the ball too early on one play, and botched a snap on another play.
--- As far as Shanahan's playcalling goes, sure, there's questionable decisions and sometimes the defense also just calls a good play. I could tell the Packers are a little better educated about how to play a 49ers/Shanahan offense. I do sense Shanahan is trying to play to Jimmy's strengths as a QB and the fact that we have inexperience at RB, so I have no major qualms with his playcalling.
--- Trey Lance. There's a lot to be excited about. I feel we're using him perfectly. On base downs and 3rd and long, you need Jimmy because Jimmy reads Zone Coverages very well. And on third and short, and redzone plays, Trey is your guy. And it's exciting because Shanahan is drawing up some really creative plays for him.
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Film Review of the 49ers/Packers Game (Offense)
Oct 1, 2021 at 3:10 PM
- Wubbie
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- Posts: 5,867
Oct 1, 2021 at 3:11 PM
- Wubbie
- Veteran
- Posts: 5,867
FIRST QUARTER
Drive 1 (SF: 0, GB: 0), Start: SF25
--- FB Dive, Juszczyk, 4 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Kittle, 8 Yards (First Down)
--- Outside Zone Run, Sermon, -3 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Aiyuk, 7 Yards
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete, Sanu.
--- Punt
Impressions: First drive of the game. Looks like they're trying to get a feel for how the defense is going to play it. I get the sense that the Packers have done their homewrk, because they're playing our receivers very tight. We completed a couple easy short passes.
The big problem with this drive is that Alex Mack got driven back so hard by the defensive tackle, that he almost crashed into Jimmy. It looked like a nice play was developing, but it had no chance because of the DT's penetration and ended up being a loss of 3. We then completed an easy pass to Aiyuk to make-up some of the loss, but failed to convert 3rd and 6. We ran a play that had some short routes, RG Brunskill allowed a little bit of pressure, and the Packers had some good man coverage.
Drive 2 (SF: 0, GB: 10), Start: SF25
--- WR Outside Run, Samuel, 0 Yards
--- TE Outside Run, Kittle, 9 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Incomplete, Kittle
--- Punt
Impressions: The Packers shutdown the Deebo run by just maintaining a strong edge. We immediately went the other side with Kittle and blocked it well. That probably could've been an even bigger play because the Packers defensive end crashed inside and got in Tomlinson's way to blocking the MLB. The linebacker was able to catch up to Kittle and it was only a 9 yard run. On the third down in completion, as I understand it, it was a pick play to get Kittle a 1 yard completion and maybe a chance for some YAC. Feels like Jimmy threw him a little too far outside.
SECOND QUARTER
Drive 3 (SF: 0, GB: 10), Start SF14
--- Deep Pass Middle, Intercepted, Kittle
Impressions: We took a deep shot off Play Action. It's a good call, solid throw, but ultimately just an amazing play by Jaire Alexander. You can argue that Jimmy put too much air on the ball and maybe a ball with more zip/velocity would've been better... But that's nitpicking. Kittle had a couple steps on the defender and that's not a play you expect the corner to make across the field.
Drive 4 (SF: 0, GB: 10), Start SF4
--- Short Pass Middle, Incomplete, Sermon
--- Short Pass Left Complete, Aiyuk, 6 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Samuel, 4 Yards. 1st Down
--- FB Dive, Juszczyk, 2 Yards.
--- Deep Middle Complete, Aiyuk, 16 Yards. 1st Down
--- Inside Run, Sermon, 2 Yards.
--- Short Pass Left, Juszczyk, 8 Yards. 1st Down
--- Sack, -7 Yards.
--- Short Pass Middle, Kittle, 16 Yards.
--- Inside Run, Sermon, 0 Yards.
--- Penalty and Punt
Impressions: Backed up, we came out throwing against Zone. Jimmy wisely dumps it off to Sermon, probably should've been caught. Packers playing pretty conservatively and allow a couple short throws for a first down. Off play action, Jimmy finds Aiyuk off a nice 16 Yard In Route. Jimmy dumps it off to Juice... I do wonder if he had a small window to hit Kittle by throwing it over the linebacker's zone, but nothing wrong with the dumpoff.
Off Play Action, Alex Mack got beaten BAD. Jimmy would've had a nice Deep In route to Deebo if the protection would've just held up. On the next play, Jimmy/Kittle hook up for a nice pickup in between linebackers' zones. On 3rd and 1, something doesn't go right. If I understood it right, the ball got snapped too early because our linemen stood still for half a second. And then Shanahan misunderstood the spot and elected to Punt.
Drive 5 (SF: 0, GB: 17), Start GB32
--- Short Pass Left, Complete, Kittle, 10 Yards. 1st Down
--- Short Pass Right, Incomplete, Samuel.
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Sanu, 11 Yards. 1st Down
--- Short Pass Left Complete, Juszczyk, 5 Yards.
--- Short Pass Left, Incomplete, Aiyuk.
--- Defensive PI
--- Offsetting Offensive/Defensive Penalties
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete, Aiyuk.
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete.
--- QB Left End, Lance, TOUCHDOWN.
Impressions: We had a good return that got us back into the game. This drive, all passes because we were at about the 1 minute mark. All in all, the Packers were playing Zone and Jimmy was finding his guys. I felt like we looked very good, though when the field was very very short and the windows were tight, Jimmy could've scored if he was just a little bit sharper.
Will say that I'm pretty sure we got away with Intentional Grounding. But oh well. On the next play, great play call and execution, with Trey getting into the endzone.
Drive 1 (SF: 0, GB: 0), Start: SF25
--- FB Dive, Juszczyk, 4 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Kittle, 8 Yards (First Down)
--- Outside Zone Run, Sermon, -3 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Aiyuk, 7 Yards
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete, Sanu.
--- Punt
Impressions: First drive of the game. Looks like they're trying to get a feel for how the defense is going to play it. I get the sense that the Packers have done their homewrk, because they're playing our receivers very tight. We completed a couple easy short passes.
The big problem with this drive is that Alex Mack got driven back so hard by the defensive tackle, that he almost crashed into Jimmy. It looked like a nice play was developing, but it had no chance because of the DT's penetration and ended up being a loss of 3. We then completed an easy pass to Aiyuk to make-up some of the loss, but failed to convert 3rd and 6. We ran a play that had some short routes, RG Brunskill allowed a little bit of pressure, and the Packers had some good man coverage.
Drive 2 (SF: 0, GB: 10), Start: SF25
--- WR Outside Run, Samuel, 0 Yards
--- TE Outside Run, Kittle, 9 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Incomplete, Kittle
--- Punt
Impressions: The Packers shutdown the Deebo run by just maintaining a strong edge. We immediately went the other side with Kittle and blocked it well. That probably could've been an even bigger play because the Packers defensive end crashed inside and got in Tomlinson's way to blocking the MLB. The linebacker was able to catch up to Kittle and it was only a 9 yard run. On the third down in completion, as I understand it, it was a pick play to get Kittle a 1 yard completion and maybe a chance for some YAC. Feels like Jimmy threw him a little too far outside.
SECOND QUARTER
Drive 3 (SF: 0, GB: 10), Start SF14
--- Deep Pass Middle, Intercepted, Kittle
Impressions: We took a deep shot off Play Action. It's a good call, solid throw, but ultimately just an amazing play by Jaire Alexander. You can argue that Jimmy put too much air on the ball and maybe a ball with more zip/velocity would've been better... But that's nitpicking. Kittle had a couple steps on the defender and that's not a play you expect the corner to make across the field.
Drive 4 (SF: 0, GB: 10), Start SF4
--- Short Pass Middle, Incomplete, Sermon
--- Short Pass Left Complete, Aiyuk, 6 Yards
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Samuel, 4 Yards. 1st Down
--- FB Dive, Juszczyk, 2 Yards.
--- Deep Middle Complete, Aiyuk, 16 Yards. 1st Down
--- Inside Run, Sermon, 2 Yards.
--- Short Pass Left, Juszczyk, 8 Yards. 1st Down
--- Sack, -7 Yards.
--- Short Pass Middle, Kittle, 16 Yards.
--- Inside Run, Sermon, 0 Yards.
--- Penalty and Punt
Impressions: Backed up, we came out throwing against Zone. Jimmy wisely dumps it off to Sermon, probably should've been caught. Packers playing pretty conservatively and allow a couple short throws for a first down. Off play action, Jimmy finds Aiyuk off a nice 16 Yard In Route. Jimmy dumps it off to Juice... I do wonder if he had a small window to hit Kittle by throwing it over the linebacker's zone, but nothing wrong with the dumpoff.
Off Play Action, Alex Mack got beaten BAD. Jimmy would've had a nice Deep In route to Deebo if the protection would've just held up. On the next play, Jimmy/Kittle hook up for a nice pickup in between linebackers' zones. On 3rd and 1, something doesn't go right. If I understood it right, the ball got snapped too early because our linemen stood still for half a second. And then Shanahan misunderstood the spot and elected to Punt.
Drive 5 (SF: 0, GB: 17), Start GB32
--- Short Pass Left, Complete, Kittle, 10 Yards. 1st Down
--- Short Pass Right, Incomplete, Samuel.
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Sanu, 11 Yards. 1st Down
--- Short Pass Left Complete, Juszczyk, 5 Yards.
--- Short Pass Left, Incomplete, Aiyuk.
--- Defensive PI
--- Offsetting Offensive/Defensive Penalties
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete, Aiyuk.
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete.
--- QB Left End, Lance, TOUCHDOWN.
Impressions: We had a good return that got us back into the game. This drive, all passes because we were at about the 1 minute mark. All in all, the Packers were playing Zone and Jimmy was finding his guys. I felt like we looked very good, though when the field was very very short and the windows were tight, Jimmy could've scored if he was just a little bit sharper.
Will say that I'm pretty sure we got away with Intentional Grounding. But oh well. On the next play, great play call and execution, with Trey getting into the endzone.
[ Edited by Wubbie on Oct 1, 2021 at 3:12 PM ]
Oct 1, 2021 at 3:12 PM
- Wubbie
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- Posts: 5,867
THIRD QUARTER
Drive 6 (SF: 7, GB: 17), Start SF17
--- Short Pass Middle Complete, Kittle, 7 Yards.
--- Run right tackle, Sermon, 2 Yards.
--- Direct Snap to Juszczyk, 2 yards. 1st Down.
--- Short WR Screen Left to Samuel, 19 Yards. 1st Down.
--- Middle Run to Sermon, 16 Yards. 1st Down.
--- End Around Run to Aiyuk, 8 Yards.
--- Inside Run to Sermon, 4 Yards.
--- Short Pass Middle Complete, Samuel, 1 Yard. 1st Down.
--- Short Pass Left Compelte, Sermon, 0 Yards.
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Aiyuk, 16 Yards. 1st Down.
--- WR Run Off Tackle, Samuel, 0 Yards.
--- Short Pass middle, incomplete.
--- Short Pass right, Complete, Aiyuk. Touchdown.
Impressions: Early in the drive, Alex Mack whiffs against the DT and Sermon makes something out of nothing. We hit a big screen play to Deebo a few plays later. I'm not sure why we didn't work more WR screens, but I will say... we did a couple fakes early in the game and they were looking for it.
Sermon had a great 16 yard run this drive up the middle, which set-up Aiyuk's end-around run. When Shanahan gets going, he shows off why he's such a great playcaller. He calls a good play against the Packers zone coverage and Aiyuk is wide open for Jimmy. A couple plays later, Aiyuk beats his guy in a one-on-one situation for a TD.
Drive 7 (SF: 14, GB: 17), Start SF28
--- Run left tackle, Sermon, 7 yards.
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Kittle, 0 yards.
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete, Sanu.
--- Punt
Impressions: Sermon looks better as this game goes on. The pass to Kittle was a play off of the previous one. It went for no gain, but a broken tackle or Kittle getting to the outside could've been a big gainer. The incomplete pass was due to an error on Trent Williams' part, where he squeezed inside and left a pass-rusher free to pressure and hit Jimmy.
FOURTH QUARTER:
Drive 8 (SF: 14, GB: 24), Start SF19
--- Sack
--- Sack
--- Defensive PI after an incomplete pass Deep Middle to Aiyuk. 1st Down.
--- Pass Short Left, Complete, Sanu. 16 Yards. 1st Down.
--- Botched snap, Garoppolo run, 9 yards.
--- Pass Short Middle, Complete, Juszczyk, 12 yards. 1st Down.
--- Pass Short Right, Sanu, 9 Yards.
--- Run middle, Juszczyk, 5 Yards.
--- Run middle, Juszczyk, 1 Yard.
--- Defensive Holding.
--- Inside Run, Sermon, Touchdown.
Impressions: First sack, there was a pass protection miscommunication where DE was unblocked. Jimmy salvaged that play and got back to LOS. Second sack was a bit of a coverage sack. Jimmy did have outlet dump-offs, but they looked to be the last reads in his progression. On the PI, great work by Jimmy to keep the play alive.
A few plays later, a botched snap leads to Jimmy just taking it and running with it. Good heads-up play by Jimmy. After a couple simple, but prettily disguised runs, they had a nicely disguised bootleg play for Trey. There's a LOT of creativity on Trey's package. This play ended in a penalty against the defense when the Packers practically mug Kittle in the endzone. The drive ends on a TD with a relatively simple dive play.
Drive 9 (SF: 21, GB: 24), Start SF26
--- Run right, Sermon, 3 yards.
--- Pass short left, Sermon, 3 yards. Penalty for Roughing the Passer.
--- Run right, Sermon, -1 yards.
--- Tripping Penalty.
--- Pass short right, incomplete, Samuel.
--- Sack/fumble lost by Garoppolo.
Impressions: Nothing too interesting here on this drive, but I will say that there didn't seem to be that much disguise on this particular drive. I think the clock is starting to play a factor.
The Jimmy Fumble is absolutely ugly to watch, but it's as Shanahan had said in the post-game: They let a rusher go too early and when Jimmy turned around, there was a guy in his face. It looked like it was supposed to be a slower developing screen. He tried to throw it into the dirt, but the play was just blown up.
Drive 10 (SF: 21, GB: 27), Start SF25
--- Pass deep left, incomplete, to Samuel.
--- Pass short middle, complete, Kittle, 39 yards. 1st down.
--- Pass short middle, incomplete, Samuel.
--- Pass short right, incomplete, Sanu.
--- Pass short right, complete, Samuel, 12 yards.
--- Pass short left, complete, Kittle, 12 yards.
--- Pass short middle, complete, Juszczyk, Touchdown.
Impressions: Jimmy hit some very key throws to Kittle and Samuel, and particularly, the 39 yarder to Kittle was huge.
Not too much to say about the Juice TD that hasn't been discussed already. It's clear the thought process was for Juice/Sanu to get a receiption at the 5, we get to about 30 seconds, and have 4 plays to score a TD with 3 timeouts.
Drive 6 (SF: 7, GB: 17), Start SF17
--- Short Pass Middle Complete, Kittle, 7 Yards.
--- Run right tackle, Sermon, 2 Yards.
--- Direct Snap to Juszczyk, 2 yards. 1st Down.
--- Short WR Screen Left to Samuel, 19 Yards. 1st Down.
--- Middle Run to Sermon, 16 Yards. 1st Down.
--- End Around Run to Aiyuk, 8 Yards.
--- Inside Run to Sermon, 4 Yards.
--- Short Pass Middle Complete, Samuel, 1 Yard. 1st Down.
--- Short Pass Left Compelte, Sermon, 0 Yards.
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Aiyuk, 16 Yards. 1st Down.
--- WR Run Off Tackle, Samuel, 0 Yards.
--- Short Pass middle, incomplete.
--- Short Pass right, Complete, Aiyuk. Touchdown.
Impressions: Early in the drive, Alex Mack whiffs against the DT and Sermon makes something out of nothing. We hit a big screen play to Deebo a few plays later. I'm not sure why we didn't work more WR screens, but I will say... we did a couple fakes early in the game and they were looking for it.
Sermon had a great 16 yard run this drive up the middle, which set-up Aiyuk's end-around run. When Shanahan gets going, he shows off why he's such a great playcaller. He calls a good play against the Packers zone coverage and Aiyuk is wide open for Jimmy. A couple plays later, Aiyuk beats his guy in a one-on-one situation for a TD.
Drive 7 (SF: 14, GB: 17), Start SF28
--- Run left tackle, Sermon, 7 yards.
--- Short Pass Right Complete, Kittle, 0 yards.
--- Short Pass Middle Incomplete, Sanu.
--- Punt
Impressions: Sermon looks better as this game goes on. The pass to Kittle was a play off of the previous one. It went for no gain, but a broken tackle or Kittle getting to the outside could've been a big gainer. The incomplete pass was due to an error on Trent Williams' part, where he squeezed inside and left a pass-rusher free to pressure and hit Jimmy.
FOURTH QUARTER:
Drive 8 (SF: 14, GB: 24), Start SF19
--- Sack
--- Sack
--- Defensive PI after an incomplete pass Deep Middle to Aiyuk. 1st Down.
--- Pass Short Left, Complete, Sanu. 16 Yards. 1st Down.
--- Botched snap, Garoppolo run, 9 yards.
--- Pass Short Middle, Complete, Juszczyk, 12 yards. 1st Down.
--- Pass Short Right, Sanu, 9 Yards.
--- Run middle, Juszczyk, 5 Yards.
--- Run middle, Juszczyk, 1 Yard.
--- Defensive Holding.
--- Inside Run, Sermon, Touchdown.
Impressions: First sack, there was a pass protection miscommunication where DE was unblocked. Jimmy salvaged that play and got back to LOS. Second sack was a bit of a coverage sack. Jimmy did have outlet dump-offs, but they looked to be the last reads in his progression. On the PI, great work by Jimmy to keep the play alive.
A few plays later, a botched snap leads to Jimmy just taking it and running with it. Good heads-up play by Jimmy. After a couple simple, but prettily disguised runs, they had a nicely disguised bootleg play for Trey. There's a LOT of creativity on Trey's package. This play ended in a penalty against the defense when the Packers practically mug Kittle in the endzone. The drive ends on a TD with a relatively simple dive play.
Drive 9 (SF: 21, GB: 24), Start SF26
--- Run right, Sermon, 3 yards.
--- Pass short left, Sermon, 3 yards. Penalty for Roughing the Passer.
--- Run right, Sermon, -1 yards.
--- Tripping Penalty.
--- Pass short right, incomplete, Samuel.
--- Sack/fumble lost by Garoppolo.
Impressions: Nothing too interesting here on this drive, but I will say that there didn't seem to be that much disguise on this particular drive. I think the clock is starting to play a factor.
The Jimmy Fumble is absolutely ugly to watch, but it's as Shanahan had said in the post-game: They let a rusher go too early and when Jimmy turned around, there was a guy in his face. It looked like it was supposed to be a slower developing screen. He tried to throw it into the dirt, but the play was just blown up.
Drive 10 (SF: 21, GB: 27), Start SF25
--- Pass deep left, incomplete, to Samuel.
--- Pass short middle, complete, Kittle, 39 yards. 1st down.
--- Pass short middle, incomplete, Samuel.
--- Pass short right, incomplete, Sanu.
--- Pass short right, complete, Samuel, 12 yards.
--- Pass short left, complete, Kittle, 12 yards.
--- Pass short middle, complete, Juszczyk, Touchdown.
Impressions: Jimmy hit some very key throws to Kittle and Samuel, and particularly, the 39 yarder to Kittle was huge.
Not too much to say about the Juice TD that hasn't been discussed already. It's clear the thought process was for Juice/Sanu to get a receiption at the 5, we get to about 30 seconds, and have 4 plays to score a TD with 3 timeouts.
[ Edited by Wubbie on Oct 1, 2021 at 3:13 PM ]
Oct 1, 2021 at 3:18 PM
- Sanfran_chrisco
- Veteran
- Posts: 33,428
Oct 1, 2021 at 3:19 PM
- jonnydel
- Veteran
- Posts: 9,344
Look at the play before the Sermon run you mention - the sermon run was set up by the bubble screen. The LB - a big guy with Dreadlocks, wasn't able to get out on the bubble screen quickly and it went for a nice gain, thr next play he bails out on that bubble screen hard and that's what opens Sermons cut back lane.
Oct 1, 2021 at 3:27 PM
- Wubbie
- Veteran
- Posts: 5,867
Originally posted by jonnydel:
Look at the play before the Sermon run you mention - the sermon run was set up by the bubble screen. The LB - a big guy with Dreadlocks, wasn't able to get out on the bubble screen quickly and it went for a nice gain, thr next play he bails out on that bubble screen hard and that's what opens Sermons cut back lane.
Yeah, when Shanahan can really get going, he knows how to attack a defense.