Ask Niners Nation

Barry sims came in for staley last season and played pretty well. Hopefuly he can do the same now

As mentioned in the comment above, Barry Sims is filling in and did a good job in a similar role last year. Of course, Sims is a year older and has been inactive most of the season. I hope we’ll see a repeat of last year but it’s hard to tell at this point.

And the last time he started for Staley, he played better then Staley. But RT Anthony Davis, the 21 year old rookie is really inconsistent. He’ll look good one game and be beaten like a red-headed stepchild the next.

He’s having a very solid year. He’s fifth in the NFL in rushing yards with 778 yards. Among non-QBs he’s 3rd in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage. All in all I’d say that’s not too shabby. He doesn’t get a ton of rushing touchdowns and the team is struggling so talk is generally limited. As good as he is, I would argue that he remains a somewhat under-rated running back around the league in large part because the 49ers haven’t been too good during his career. If the 49ers were 6-3 and he had these numbers we’d hear a lot more about him.

As for the defense, they run a mix of things depending on the situation (obviously). The corners claim to love press coverage but it seems like we see a lot of softer zone coverage, particularly late in games, which has cost the 49ers two games against New Orleans and Atlanta, and almost cost them against the Rams. The team doesn’t blitz a lot even though they find success when they do. It’s a very inconsistent pass rush.

The Niners run a 3-4, soft-zone Defense that seems to rarely send more then 4 rushers on a play. They’re a good rush defense, but a team can pass all over them, except to TEs who they seem to cover quite well with OLB Manny Lawson leading the charge. They’re also weak against screens.

What I think Bucs’ fans can expect big days from Freeman and the WRs but RBs and TEs being invisible. Unless the RBs and TEs are recieving the screen passes.

He had two really solid games. Some folks at NN are ready to lock him up to a contract extension and call it a day. I think he could be the real deal but two games is just not enough to tell for sure. he definitely shows some skills we didn’t see from Alex Smith. One drawback to Troy is that he seems to hold on to the ball for too long and takes some big sacks. Of course, he also has found ways to maneuver out of sacks quite a bit in his two games. Lot of upside at this point.

The 49ers secondary has been incredibly up and down this season. Nate Clements and Shawntae Spencer are the two starting corners, with Dashon Goldson and Taylor Mays starting at free and strong safety. As to Mays, the team has started utilizing Reggie Smith a lot more and at this point he probably plays a bit more at strong safety than mays during a game. Mays has great speed but his awareness is a work in progress.

The 49ers secondary is capable of hanging with your receivers, but they could blown up quite easily. That’s the matchup that probably scares me most.

As for Winslow, I suspect he’ll be covered a fair amount by OLB Manny Lawson. Lawson is incredibly athletic and often is assigned the opposing tight end.

the Niners are good against Tight Ends (thanks Manny Lawson).

as for the other two, we may be screwed. Our secondary is probably our biggest weakness (gave up 300 yards to Matt Moore), and our pass rush isn’t beastly enough to make up for it.

In fact, feel free to expect a career day from Josh Freeman. You aren’t being overly-optimistic.

I am comfortable with the 49ers rushing defense, not so much the passing defense (mentioned above and below). I think the team can contain Blount, but the secondary needs to step up

The 49er strength is against the run. They do struggle against faster running backs but for the most part they’re very solid against the run. Willis and Spikes are a big reason for that, but CBs Nate Clements and Shawntae Spencer are strong in run coverage on the outside. The secondary has its share of struggles in the passing game and the pass rush is inconsistent.

The 49ers 2 minute defense has been startlingly bad…. Lots of soft zones and playing the “prevent” defense that lets opponents march straight down the field to score for the win.

Most of us at NN take it for granted that the 49ers D will let the opponents score on the last drive.

but firing his OC wasn’t a rash and panicky decision. it was a deciasion that should have been made before the season even started.

It has to zone to stop our TE’s and Crabtree got a couple catches on Asomugah, so i hope Talib is better, to back up that statement. Does Talib play both sides of the field and match up to the best WR on every down? How is your next CB? and what about your safeties, speed wise? In man to man, your LB’s are toast vs our starting TE’s…..

and Delanie Walker isn’t too far behind. I find it hard to believe that there are many LBs that can keep up with them.

both run faster than a lot of WR’s and are too big for a DB to cover. They’re on the field at the same time too. Crabtree is a good route runner and has great hands. He’s not going to burn you if you’re thinking that a speedy Talib just has to take the deep threat away. Plus we use a variety of screens, bubbles, slants, and crossing routes. Troy has been finding whomever is open, or even close to open, so keying on one player wont work.

We have a horrible pass defense which the Bucs will be able to exploit and your rush defense is gonna have a tough time with Frank Gore. I’m gonna give it to my Niners simply because it’s a home game.

has got to be Frank Gore. When he gets it going, everything else works for them. The reason they were so successful scoring in the Saints game was because Frank was able to run so well, letting the 49ers pass better.

Now that Jimmy Raye is gone and Troy Smith seems to be airing it out (albeit vs crappy defenses), we’ll see how that changes.

I’m going to say that Vernon Davis is the best TE in the league. He’s one of the best blockers out there, and when Mike Martz was the OC, Vernon was mainly used as a blocker, and did a damn good job. It turns out he’s also a freak on the receiving side, although his hands used to be a problem (he used to drop some passes… this year he hasn’t been thrown to that much.)

Delanie is also a very good receiving threat, although his blocking is nowhere near VD’s.

way too athletic for that. Split wide (Y-Flex) mostly but they do in-line block (VD is one of the best blockers at TE in the league) and also release from the end of the line in a tradtional sense, though they run more vertical routes than most TE’s

This is a response to Sam Joxer