49ers at Steelers Pregame Thread - 2023 Season Week 1

Originally posted by riverrunzthruit:
our new DC better live up to being a blitzer, dont need no Wilks Toast

Blitzing more does not equal to better defense - that's poor logic. Blitz QBs that deserve to be blitzed. I stand by my belief that a blitz happy DC needs to get away from thinking that it is an identity - it should always be gameplan specific.

https://stillcurtain.com/2022/12/01/steeler-qb-kenny-pickett-eye-popping-numbers-vs-blitz/
Despite his apparent struggles, Pickett has done one thing very well so far: passed the ball under pressure.
"Kenny Pickett continues to thrive against the blitz: Pickett has a 71.7% completion rate against the blitz, which is the highest among all NFL quarterbacks. In Monday's win over the Colts, Pickett went 7 of 9 for 69 yards with a 98.6 passer rating, playing mistake free football when defenses send an extra rusher to challenge him.Pickett has a 106.9 rating against the blitz without an interception. Not bad for a rookie quarterback with a poor offensive line. The Steelers quarterback has had his struggles, but facing the blitz is not one of them."

Originally posted by thl408:
Blitzing more does not equal to better defense - that's poor logic. Blitz QBs that deserve to be blitzed. I stand by my belief that a blitz happy DC needs to get away from thinking that it is an identity - it should always be gameplan specific.

https://stillcurtain.com/2022/12/01/steeler-qb-kenny-pickett-eye-popping-numbers-vs-blitz/
Despite his apparent struggles, Pickett has done one thing very well so far: passed the ball under pressure.
"Kenny Pickett continues to thrive against the blitz: Pickett has a 71.7% completion rate against the blitz, which is the highest among all NFL quarterbacks. In Monday's win over the Colts, Pickett went 7 of 9 for 69 yards with a 98.6 passer rating, playing mistake free football when defenses send an extra rusher to challenge him.Pickett has a 106.9 rating against the blitz without an interception. Not bad for a rookie quarterback with a poor offensive line. The Steelers quarterback has had his struggles, but facing the blitz is not one of them."

I know he has the blitz rep, I still question, how much of that is his identity, and how much is out of necessity. If he's able to line up Bosa, Drake, AA, Hargrave, you don't have to blitz, to get massive pressure. Huf throws a curveball when he comes up, and he can get in the backfield on runs also, but with his knee acting up, maybe we play it more with the 4 man rush. Wilks he comes across to me as a pretty incredible dude, can't wait to see what he has in store.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by riverrunzthruit:
our new DC better live up to being a blitzer, dont need no Wilks Toast

Blitzing more does not equal to better defense - that's poor logic. Blitz QBs that deserve to be blitzed. I stand by my belief that a blitz happy DC needs to get away from thinking that it is an identity - it should always be gameplan specific.

https://stillcurtain.com/2022/12/01/steeler-qb-kenny-pickett-eye-popping-numbers-vs-blitz/
Despite his apparent struggles, Pickett has done one thing very well so far: passed the ball under pressure.
"Kenny Pickett continues to thrive against the blitz: Pickett has a 71.7% completion rate against the blitz, which is the highest among all NFL quarterbacks. In Monday's win over the Colts, Pickett went 7 of 9 for 69 yards with a 98.6 passer rating, playing mistake free football when defenses send an extra rusher to challenge him.Pickett has a 106.9 rating against the blitz without an interception. Not bad for a rookie quarterback with a poor offensive line. The Steelers quarterback has had his struggles, but facing the blitz is not one of them."

Digging deep. Great info!

Originally posted by thl408:
Blitzing more does not equal to better defense - that's poor logic. Blitz QBs that deserve to be blitzed. I stand by my belief that a blitz happy DC needs to get away from thinking that it is an identity - it should always be gameplan specific.

https://stillcurtain.com/2022/12/01/steeler-qb-kenny-pickett-eye-popping-numbers-vs-blitz/
Despite his apparent struggles, Pickett has done one thing very well so far: passed the ball under pressure.
"Kenny Pickett continues to thrive against the blitz: Pickett has a 71.7% completion rate against the blitz, which is the highest among all NFL quarterbacks. In Monday's win over the Colts, Pickett went 7 of 9 for 69 yards with a 98.6 passer rating, playing mistake free football when defenses send an extra rusher to challenge him.Pickett has a 106.9 rating against the blitz without an interception. Not bad for a rookie quarterback with a poor offensive line. The Steelers quarterback has had his struggles, but facing the blitz is not one of them."

Awesome find.

Originally posted by Patton:

Originally posted by thl408:
Blitzing more does not equal to better defense - that's poor logic. Blitz QBs that deserve to be blitzed. I stand by my belief that a blitz happy DC needs to get away from thinking that it is an identity - it should always be gameplan specific.

https://stillcurtain.com/2022/12/01/steeler-qb-kenny-pickett-eye-popping-numbers-vs-blitz/
Despite his apparent struggles, Pickett has done one thing very well so far: passed the ball under pressure.
"Kenny Pickett continues to thrive against the blitz: Pickett has a 71.7% completion rate against the blitz, which is the highest among all NFL quarterbacks. In Monday's win over the Colts, Pickett went 7 of 9 for 69 yards with a 98.6 passer rating, playing mistake free football when defenses send an extra rusher to challenge him.Pickett has a 106.9 rating against the blitz without an interception. Not bad for a rookie quarterback with a poor offensive line. The Steelers quarterback has had his struggles, but facing the blitz is not one of them."

Awesome find.

Hopefully wilks is strategic about this and doesn't just blitz because he thinks it's part of his identity. I think he's a smarter coach than that but I haven't really looked into his historical play calling. I've just heard good things about him but blitzing too much stresses me out, we don't really need to either with our front four

Originally posted by 49erFaithful6:

Originally posted by thl408:
Blitzing more does not equal to better defense - that's poor logic. Blitz QBs that deserve to be blitzed. I stand by my belief that a blitz happy DC needs to get away from thinking that it is an identity - it should always be gameplan specific.

https://stillcurtain.com/2022/12/01/steeler-qb-kenny-pickett-eye-popping-numbers-vs-blitz/
Despite his apparent struggles, Pickett has done one thing very well so far: passed the ball under pressure.
"Kenny Pickett continues to thrive against the blitz: Pickett has a 71.7% completion rate against the blitz, which is the highest among all NFL quarterbacks. In Monday's win over the Colts, Pickett went 7 of 9 for 69 yards with a 98.6 passer rating, playing mistake free football when defenses send an extra rusher to challenge him.Pickett has a 106.9 rating against the blitz without an interception. Not bad for a rookie quarterback with a poor offensive line. The Steelers quarterback has had his struggles, but facing the blitz is not one of them."

I know he has the blitz rep, I still question, how much of that is his identity, and how much is out of necessity. If he's able to line up Bosa, Drake, AA, Hargrave, you don't have to blitz, to get massive pressure. Huf throws a curveball when he comes up, and he can get in the backfield on runs also, but with his knee acting up, maybe we play it more with the 4 man rush. Wilks he comes across to me as a pretty incredible dude, can't wait to see what he has in store.

Its a bit of both he does like to blitz a lot but I don't think we will see much cover 0 blitzes from him
https://theathletic.com/4373694/2023/04/05/49ers-defense-steve-wilks-film/

Wilks will likely put his stamp on the 49ers' defense with how much pressure he'll call. According to TruMedia, the Panthers blitzed on 33.5 percent of dropbacks last season, the sixth-highest rate in the league, while Ryans only blitzed on 23.2 percent of dropbacks, which ranked 19th. Wilks will likely dial back a bit given how much talent the 49ers have upfront, but I'd expect the 49ers to still experience an uptick in blitzing because Wilks has historically been an aggressive play caller. Blitzing also helps create one-on-ones for rushers, which will create more advantageous situations for Bosa. The caveat is you have to be sound on the back end, and as a former defensive backs coach, it'll be on Wilks to make sure that's the case if he wants to bring more pressure.

In Wilks' first stint as Panthers defensive coordinator, in 2017, Carolina led the league in blitz rate. In 2019, when Wilks was the defensive coordinator for the Browns, Cleveland ranked fourth in blitz rate. It's part of his DNA. He's good at designing blitzes and is comfortable bringing pressure from anywhere, including sending outside corners at the quarterback.

Originally posted by tankle104:
Hopefully wilks is strategic about this and doesn't just blitz because he thinks it's part of his identity. I think he's a smarter coach than that but I haven't really looked into his historical play calling. I've just heard good things about him but blitzing too much stresses me out, we don't really need to either with our front four

it will be a risk/reward thing

I do think we will blitz more and we will see an increase in int and TO but we may give up a few more quick passes as well

The first 3 games will tell us a lot. Until we see them play together with Bosa it will be very hard to predict how we will do this year, we also tend to start very slow. I am concerned about to things. Our defense that is rated top dog and our o line. Run d and corners are scary… we all know the issues with o line. This team seems vulnerable but we won't really know till we see ''em play.

Originally posted by Bringbackedjr:
The first 3 games will tell us a lot. Until we see them play together with Bosa it will be very hard to predict how we will do this year, we also tend to start very slow. I am concerned about to things. Our defense that is rated top dog and our o line. Run d and corners are scary… we all know the issues with o line. This team seems vulnerable but we won't really know till we see ''em play.

i dont think the first 3 games will tell us much tbh- in terms of scheme yes but I'm sure adjustments will be made based on real game film so he could tailor the D to better benefit our players. I would be really surprised if our defense in the beginning of the year is better than the end of year (assuming no major injuries)

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by riverrunzthruit:
our new DC better live up to being a blitzer, dont need no Wilks Toast

Blitzing more does not equal to better defense - that's poor logic. Blitz QBs that deserve to be blitzed. I stand by my belief that a blitz happy DC needs to get away from thinking that it is an identity - it should always be gameplan specific.

https://stillcurtain.com/2022/12/01/steeler-qb-kenny-pickett-eye-popping-numbers-vs-blitz/
Despite his apparent struggles, Pickett has done one thing very well so far: passed the ball under pressure.
"Kenny Pickett continues to thrive against the blitz: Pickett has a 71.7% completion rate against the blitz, which is the highest among all NFL quarterbacks. In Monday's win over the Colts, Pickett went 7 of 9 for 69 yards with a 98.6 passer rating, playing mistake free football when defenses send an extra rusher to challenge him.Pickett has a 106.9 rating against the blitz without an interception. Not bad for a rookie quarterback with a poor offensive line. The Steelers quarterback has had his struggles, but facing the blitz is not one of them."

its really team/game dependent, and about the individual matchups... Jenny Picket has not yet seen Steve Wilks 9er pressure yet, and he has a lot on his plate to manage all of this, and disguising the blitz is just as important as the execution of the rush... pass blitz vs run blitz? delay blitz vs at the snap? straight blitz vs stunt? biitzer individual matchup vs blocker? DC ability to know the pass pro rules of the opponent and find the imbalance? DC understanding the alert system of their opponent? so as a 2nd year QB, I think Jenny has a lot to handle with a Steve Wilks pressure defense and could easily get overwhelmed, going to fun to watch

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by tankle104:
Hopefully wilks is strategic about this and doesn't just blitz because he thinks it's part of his identity. I think he's a smarter coach than that but I haven't really looked into his historical play calling. I've just heard good things about him but blitzing too much stresses me out, we don't really need to either with our front four

it will be a risk/reward thing

I do think we will blitz more and we will see an increase in int and TO but we may give up a few more quick passes as well

Well since we lead the league in INT last year, it'll be interesting to see what kind of balance it is. I kinda view it as a few more potential turnovers Vs less 3 and outs but we will have to see what it looks like.

as long as it works and keeps our D in the top 5.

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by Bringbackedjr:
The first 3 games will tell us a lot. Until we see them play together with Bosa it will be very hard to predict how we will do this year, we also tend to start very slow. I am concerned about to things. Our defense that is rated top dog and our o line. Run d and corners are scary… we all know the issues with o line. This team seems vulnerable but we won't really know till we see ''em play.

i dont think the first 3 games will tell us much tbh- in terms of scheme yes but I'm sure adjustments will be made based on real game film so he could tailor the D to better benefit our players. I would be really surprised if our defense in the beginning of the year is better than the end of year (assuming no major injuries)

I also disagree. Look at our first three games last season: @CHI, SEA, and @DEN. We had no offensive identity, our defense was playing well. Hufanga was our best player.

My point is Shanahan hasn't demonstrated an ability to start quickly. He seems to work into play calling shape as the season progresses. But if we want the #1 seed, we'll need to win these games, even if it's a bit ugly.

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by Bringbackedjr:
The first 3 games will tell us a lot. Until we see them play together with Bosa it will be very hard to predict how we will do this year, we also tend to start very slow. I am concerned about to things. Our defense that is rated top dog and our o line. Run d and corners are scary… we all know the issues with o line. This team seems vulnerable but we won't really know till we see ''em play.

i dont think the first 3 games will tell us much tbh- in terms of scheme yes but I'm sure adjustments will be made based on real game film so he could tailor the D to better benefit our players. I would be really surprised if our defense in the beginning of the year is better than the end of year (assuming no major injuries)

I also disagree. Look at our first three games last season: @CHI, SEA, and @DEN. We had no offensive identity, our defense was playing well. Hufanga was our best player.

My point is Shanahan hasn't demonstrated an ability to start quickly. He seems to work into play calling shape as the season progresses. But if we want the #1 seed, we'll need to win these games, even if it's a bit ugly.

I wouldn't take much from last season. The first game was on the road in terrible weather. Trey was starting and we know he wasn't ready. Then they play Seattle who was much better than people expected and Trey got hurt. In comes JG who was coming off an injury of his own.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by Bringbackedjr:
The first 3 games will tell us a lot. Until we see them play together with Bosa it will be very hard to predict how we will do this year, we also tend to start very slow. I am concerned about to things. Our defense that is rated top dog and our o line. Run d and corners are scary… we all know the issues with o line. This team seems vulnerable but we won't really know till we see ''em play.

i dont think the first 3 games will tell us much tbh- in terms of scheme yes but I'm sure adjustments will be made based on real game film so he could tailor the D to better benefit our players. I would be really surprised if our defense in the beginning of the year is better than the end of year (assuming no major injuries)

I also disagree. Look at our first three games last season: @CHI, SEA, and @DEN. We had no offensive identity, our defense was playing well. Hufanga was our best player.

My point is Shanahan hasn't demonstrated an ability to start quickly. He seems to work into play calling shape as the season progresses. But if we want the #1 seed, we'll need to win these games, even if it's a bit ugly.

I wouldn't take much from last season. The first game was on the road in terrible weather. Trey was starting and we know he wasn't ready. Then they play Seattle who was much better than people expected and Trey got hurt. In comes JG who was coming off an injury of his own.

Yeah, last year wasn't at all characteristic of Kyle's teams. He ran that crap offense with Trey, then Jimmy took a couple games to get back in rhythm. I also don't believe this season will be like any of his previous seasons with Purdy at the helm. Just watching that 1st series vs Denver I was floored that he came out so pass heavy. I think we'll be seeing a lot more aggressive play calling, and unless Bosa misses time the defense is gonna be ferocious. 😈

NFC West Predictions: Will Brock Purdy lead San Francisco 49ers to another great year? | Nerd Sesh