Official Niners @ Pats postgame thread

[Deus Irae]

BTW, I don't recall seeing this addressed, and it needs to be:


For all those who've been crying about Gost, let's remember that he made a clutch FG last night.

 

[ivanvamp]

BTW, I don't recall seeing this addressed, and it needs to be:


For all those who've been crying about Gost, let's remember that he made a clutch FG last night.

Very true. But I was disappointed with his lack of touchbacks on his kickoffs. I don't recall him having one all night long. Obviously after tying the game up at 31, a drive through the end zone would have been really nice.

I wonder just how much the weather conditions played a part, or if the Pats felt like they could contain the 49ers return game and chose to play it that way.

 

[stcjones]

Good point, and one that I completely forgot about. They did this in the second half to relatively good results. But that was one of the big reasons (on top of sloppy turnovers) for drives stalling out in the first half.

#3 was a very good point.....where was some kind of adjustment by McD to free up welker SOMEHOW.....??? Welker didn't even have a catch until when the 3rd quarter? (Of course he WAS getting mugged and INTERFERED with by Rogers the whole game with NO CALLS.....but thats a topic for another post)

 

[NSPF]

The Pats' offense struggled early, but let's remember that a game is 60 minutes long. The Pats ran 92 freaking plays, racked up 520 total yards, and scored 34 points against the league's #1 defense. Their average starting field position was horrible (average starting point: NE's 19.6 yard line), so they always had the length of the field to go.

All that in horrible weather conditions.

If 520 yards, 34 points, and 92 plays against the league's #1 defense under those conditions is an "off" night, holy smokes.

The problem wasn't just that they weren't putting points on the board early, it was that they were repeatedly putting the defense in impossible situations. You can win games where the offense doesn't produce a lot of points, but not if you turn it over and give the opponent 1st and goal every drive.

 

[NSPF]

Very true. But I was disappointed with his lack of touchbacks on his kickoffs. I don't recall him having one all night long. Obviously after tying the game up at 31, a drive through the end zone would have been really nice.

I wonder just how much the weather conditions played a part, or if the Pats felt like they could contain the 49ers return game and chose to play it that way.

He had one that went out of the back of the end zone during the third quarter. I agree though, he wasn't doing a good job of driving it into the end zone.

 

[stcjones]

Cannot get too upset considering they have not lost a game in two months. What was frustrating was non stop turnovers. I did not think they got any help from the refs either. Ed Hochuli is a complete embarrassment to the game. The dude explains calls so much that he is startng to confuse himself.

Anyway while I am not down on the team this could be a back breaking loss because now they have to go to Denver; history shows this team does not bode well in Denver.

You make a good point here.....Brady especially seems to struggle in Denver...not quite sure why. Peyton is always tough and generally makes a late charge to tie it up against us or outright win it. They are firing on all cylinders right now. The NFL (IE Goodell) would love to see Denver in the SB...so if you think the officiating was bad and unfair overall yesterday...wait until you see it in Denver(If we have to play there) Come on Cleveland and Kansas City....someone crush Gomer's brother!!!!!

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

How to almost comeback:

- Pats last 3 TD drives each featured a long play:
a. Bomb to Hoo
b. Bomb to Lloyd (inc., but PI)
c. Bomb to Lloyd

How to dig holes and not comeback:

- 49ers last 3 TD drives were each one play long:
a. Gore TD after turnover
b. TD to Crabtree after turnover
c. TD to Crabtree after long kickoff return after game tied

Regards,
Chris

 

[ivanvamp]

#3 was a very good point.....where was some kind of adjustment by McD to free up welker SOMEHOW.....??? Welker didn't even have a catch until when the 3rd quarter? (Of course he WAS getting mugged and INTERFERED with by Rogers the whole game with NO CALLS.....but thats a topic for another post)

The one that ticked me off was the Brady INT where Rogers mugged Welker all the way down the field. The ref waved PI off because the ball was uncatchable. Ok, well fine. But there was plenty of physical contact well after the 5-yard limit. It was as obvious a case of illegal contact as I've ever seen. No call.

Meanwhile, Talib (or Dennard...think it was Talib) gets a PI penalty because his back was to the ball, but he didn't make any contact whatsoever with the receiver. Is that by rule still PI?

 

[Patriot Missile]

I dread having Hochuli ref any game the Patriots are in. He really thinks he is the star of every game he does and comes up with ridiculously contorted rulings in every game he refs. In short, he sucks, can't wait until he retires.

*I don't believe he cost them the game in any way i just think Refs should be as innocuous as possible and he is openly looking for glory.

I thought the refs were ok. Few of the plays really ticked me off though. The timeout being called when clearly the ball was snapped. I dont care that everyone in the world saw them calling for timeout. Bottom line was the Ball was hiked before the whistle. Too bad so sad.

The face guarding pass interference was acceptable. But when Welker got tripped up there was no call. As tick tack as both plays were we got the bottom end on both.

Baffling that there were holds on so many returns. Just wasn't there night I guess.

Despite the reffing which was overall ok in a big game, their defense capitalized when it had to. Scoring on the turnovers they caused While they recovered an amazing 5 or 6 of theirs.

I give them a lot of credit but this game is so reminiscent of that 05 Denver game in a lot of ways. The turnovers they caused were just killer and their average field position had to be at least at the 50 with all the drives combined in the first half. No defense can overcome that. This team almost did and that is a positive i will take from this game. Gronk is waiting to smash and I think He will be the difference maker the rest of the way.

I pray for the rematch game in the Superbowl. Hope this team can play the way we know it can the next 6 games. Would love to see a 4 games to Glory DVD/bluray.

 

[BradyManny]

Pats offense did have an off night. Some of it was caused by the Niners, some of it was caused by the weather, some of it was caused by the coaching. But they never usually have that many turnovers nor do they usually look that ill-prepared.

Take away the turnovers and it's a different story. Brady never should've thrown that pass to Wes, maybe his worst decision of the year - and the other three were ball-handling problems.

Otherwise, they moved the ball on the best D in the league and had an epic second half. The Niners are averaging giving up 14 points a game, nobody had scored over 26 on them, we put 34 on them, and did most of it in one half.

In short, I'm not concerned about the offense. It was the sudden and sharp regression of the defense that weighs heavily on me today...

 

[SVN]

As more time goes by after the game, Iam more and more depressed. Why not run woody on 3rd and short on the last drive. Why missed the throw?Maybe a blowout is easier to digest than this.

 

[robbomango]

I'm not saying the refs cost the pats the game. But, I'm curious as to how that ball didn't touch Ted Ginn. The ball appears to change directions after it hits Ginns foot. So I'm confused as to how it didn't touch him if the ball bounces like.

I didn't see Gin touch the ball on replay but then again my eyesight sucks. What got me was how Gin quickly pulled his hands back towards his chest as if he committed a no-no and touched the ball. his reaction's said he did but there wasn't enough to prove it of course.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Take away the turnovers and it's a different story. Brady never should've thrown that pass to Wes, maybe his worst decision of the year - and the other three were ball-handling problems.

Otherwise, they moved the ball on the best D in the league and had an epic second half. The Niners are averaging giving up 14 points a game, nobody had scored over 26 on them, we put 34 on them, and did most of it in one half.

In short, I'm not concerned about the offense. It was the sudden and sharp regression of the defense that weighs heavily on me today...

They had 7 drives in the 1st half and failed to produce a 1st down on 6 of them. Over the first 11 drives (the NFL avg for a game) the Pats offense generated 17 points, ~17 mins TOP, and 4 TOs... I know from our previous posts back and forth you're more than capable of understanding that there's more to the game than simply points. The offense was fairly inefficient this game and a detriment for over half the game.

The defense didn't have some kind of crazy regression they were placed in crappy situations almost the entire game, and the 49ers were given 18 drives to try to put up points, 5 of those drives starting in NE's territory.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

As more time goes by after the game, Iam more and more depressed. Why not run woody on 3rd and short on the last drive. Why missed the throw?Maybe a blowout is easier to digest than this.

Some of you have to let last night go. SF is one of the most talented if not the most talented team in the league -they are stacked at every position. However, we won't have to deal with them until the SB - and SF has to go through Atlanta, GB, Seattle, etc. to even get there. Patriots have already proven they can beat the best teams in the AFC - that's all we need to worry about right now. Believe me, Denver and Houston don't have the same talent as SF and we match up much better with them.

 

[Kontradiction]

They had 7 drives in the 1st half and failed to produce a 1st down on 6 of them. Over the first 11 drives (the NFL avg for a game) the Pats offense generated 17 points, ~17 mins TOP, and 4 TOs... I know from our previous posts back and forth you're more than capable of understanding that there's more to the game than simply points. The offense was fairly inefficient this game and a detriment for over half the game.

The defense didn't have some kind of crazy regression they were placed in crappy situations almost the entire game, and the 49ers were given 18 drives to try to put up points, 5 of those drives starting in NE's territory.

Let's not try to excuse the defense. The offense was bad in the first half, but the defense, particularly when they were lining up and playing mostly zone early on, was bad as well. It wasn't until they went into press and began forcing Kaepernick to make more accurate throws into more hotly contested coverage that they began forcing three and outs.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Let's not try to excuse the defense. The offense was bad in the first half, but the defense, particularly when they were lining up and playing mostly zone early on, was bad as well. It wasn't until they went into press and began forcing Kaepernick to make more accurate throws into more hotly contested coverage that they began forcing three and outs.

Yeah, sorry I'm probably going a bit far with the defense apologist thing. Just seeing that post on the heals of the Bedard makes me wonder what the eff people saw on the other side of the ball. Sure the offense put up some points, but they also turned the ball over 4 times and had like 7 3 and outs. That's an average game worth of drives where they were more of an hindrance than a help. It's crazy to just ignore that and point to the score.

 

[MrNathanDrake]

Hernendez is NOT a #1 TE option.

I wouldve like to have seen what he would get in Free Agency. Someone wouldve overpaid for him. He's a complimentary #2 TE. Dropped wayyyy too many balls last night for someone who doesn't block. He had the opportunity to be "the man" last night, and he wasn't.


Hightower is coming on strong now. Nobody has talked about this kid, but he's really picking it up late in the season.

 

[Ninerfan]

Knowing that the 49ers don't substitute much, why didn't the Patriots come out firing to start the game? It would have slowed down the pass rush and gotten that defense gassed from the beginning. That's the sort of thing that gets people talking about an "off night".

Also, with regards to penalties, your team holds a lot, and that blatant hold by Justin Smith on Mankins is a prime example. By letting that go early, the refs set a tone for the game.

The Pats did try to come out firing in the first half. They ran their uptempo scheme right from the beginning. But when you can't convert on 3rd down and half to punt, that kind of kills it doesn't it?

 

[Finnishfan]

The Pats did try to come out firing in the first half. They ran their uptempo scheme right from the beginning. But when you can't convert on 3rd down and half to punt, that kind of kills it doesn't it?

Well thats not entirely so.

Patriots had only 3 snaps without a huddle in the first quarter. When we play uptempo, we don't huddle, but we line up real fast and Tom spends a good time reading the defense (or does a quick count if the defense doesn't get organized fast enought).

But the reason why we didn't do that wasn't about us starting "soft". Brady/McDaniels go to no huddle immidiately when they feel like the matchup favors us. 49ers didn't give us favourable matchups. You went nickle and dime and your coaching staff did an excellent job to counter all our personnel packges.

Brady didn't find matchups that pleased him, because Harbaugh didn't give them to him. That is why we didn't go up tempo and no huddle.

Then in the 2nd quarter Brady started to force that no huddle, but again, 49ers were well prepared. Without favourable matchups, and with the defense getting calls in fast, the no huddle can be worse than playing with a huddle, because as it confuses defense it also confuses the offense itself (wrong routes, wrong blocking schemes, poorly read coverages/pressure packages, missed OL protection assignments etc..).

 

[Deus Irae]

The Pats did try to come out firing in the first half. They ran their uptempo scheme right from the beginning. But when you can't convert on 3rd down and half to punt, that kind of kills it doesn't it?

They came out and ran the ball with Ridley twice in the first drive (3-and-out).

They completed a 23 yard pass to start the second drive, and then proceeded with 2 plays to Ridley.

Neither is a drive where the Patriots are firing. Both were poorly conceived drives for that point in the game, given the circumstances.*





*For the record, as many people here can tell you, I'm generally a staunch defender of the Patriots coaching/coordinating and game planning.