Week 3 GDT - Pittsburgh Steelers at San Francisco 49ers

[J-ALL-DAY]

So far so good with two double digit wins on the road. We have seen what our team could be when the defense and offense are at its best. Now we come home against the undermanned yet desperate Steelers squad. Some things I will be looking for:

-How Skule does at LT and how much help he gets throughout the game. There is no way around it, Staley was a huge loss. With him, we had arguably THE best bookend duo in the game, but now there are huge question marks on the left side of the OL. 

-Will we able to block Tuitt and Hayward? Steelers have some top talent on the DL and it starts with these two. If Skule is going to need help with Watt, then these two still need to be accounted for. 

-The Steelers may be 0-2, but they have a very good OL. Can our pass rush break through against them with a hobbled Ford and not quite 100% Bosa? This will be a true test.

-Can Spoon and the rest of the secondary play another disciplined game? Rudolph will have no problem testing these guys deep, so they have to be on their game. Interested in seeing how we deal with JuJu as well.

-Can Jimmy G build on his performance from last week and avoid the weekly INT that he tends to always throw? 

-Will Kittle finally be featured and have a monster game? Steelers allowed Dissly to do some damage last week.

-Finally, will our run game be more like week 1 or week 2? And back to Skule, how does he hold up in the run game? The run game is what sets up our PA which Jimmy G is deadly at.

I know a lot of people are saying this is the classic trap game and it is true that the Steelers badly need this win, but I just think we are flat out the better team that is rolling. I will go with a 30-13 win with a score or two in the 4th quarter that blows this one open.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

Home homer. Team confidence is high. Steelers already look busted after 2 weeks. No Roethlisberger. Even if he was playing, this should be a win for the 49ers. It will be very disappointing if they don't impose their will on Pittsburgh, and win by at least 10 points. I agree with @J-ALL-DAY on the score prediction. 30-13 sounds fitting, even without Staley. 

[y2lamanaki]

4 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

-Finally, will our run game be more like week 1 or week 2? And back to Skule, how does he hold up in the run game? The run game is what sets up our PA which Jimmy G is deadly at.

To me, here are the most important questions because of Staley's injury. Skule is a better run blocker than pass blocker. So if he can be only a minor drop-off from Staley in that regard, we should still be able to run well to both sides which can allow Shanahan to scheme protection through playaction and bootlegs (watch the Goodwin TD, and the only real important block is the one Juice makes to give Jimmy enough time to get the ball to a wide open Goodwin).

So if that happens and Skule can handle the run blocks, I think we can weather the storm this week. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

Just now, y2lamanaki said:

To me, here are the most important questions because of Staley's injury. Skule is a better run blocker than pass blocker. So if he can be only a minor drop-off from Staley in that regard, we should still be able to run well to both sides which can allow Shanahan to scheme protection through playaction and bootlegs (watch the Goodwin TD, and the only real important block is the one Juice makes to give Jimmy enough time to get the ball to a wide open Goodwin).

So if that happens and Skule can handle the run blocks, I think we can weather the storm this week. 

Is he really a better run blocker than pass blocker? I thought he was terrible in the run game in the preseason. I remember early on that we would get pushed back easily that led to some TFLs for the opposing defense. I sure the hell hope he is at least competent in that area. It would be a pretty big plus if he could do solid in the run game. 

[y2lamanaki]

5 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Is he really a better run blocker than pass blocker? I thought he was terrible in the run game in the preseason. I remember early on that we would get pushed back easily that led to some TFLs for the opposing defense. I sure the hell hope he is at least competent in that area. It would be a pretty big plus if he could do solid in the run game. 

He is definitely known for being a better run blocker than a pass blocker. Whether or not that is true in the NFL is hard to answer as we only have garbage time snaps from him in his career and preseason football, which Staley proved is pretty meaningless in evaluating how a talent will play in an actual game. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

4 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

He is definitely known for being a better run blocker than a pass blocker. Whether or not that is true in the NFL is hard to answer as we only have garbage time snaps from him in his career and preseason football, which Staley proved is pretty meaningless in evaluating how a talent will play in an actual game. 

I thought what he was known for when he got drafted was how he only allowed one sack his senior year? The knock on him was he lacked physicality in the run game but had solid technique as a pass blocker? 

Edit:

Quote

As a senior, Skule allowed only one sack in 473 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

But if he is a better run blocker, then that is solid.

[y2lamanaki]

15 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

I thought what he was known for when he got drafted was how he only allowed one sack his senior year? The knock on him was he lacked physicality in the run game but had solid technique as a pass blocker? 

Edit:

But if he is a better run blocker, then that is solid.

I mean, PFF is the Wikipedia of sports evaluations, so if that is what you see fit to trust then go ahead. Everything I have read from the beat writers since May has indicated the opposite.

[J-ALL-DAY]

19 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

I mean, PFF is the Wikipedia of sports evaluations, so if that is what you see fit to trust then go ahead. Everything I have read from the beat writers since May has indicated the opposite.

I'm just going off of what was said about him pre-draft. I do know his run blocking was utterly garbage to start preseason........Granted, that is usually the case for most teams so no big deal there. But the word coming out on him was that he lacked physicality in the run game and had solid technique in pass protection. So if he could be decent in pass protection and even better in run blocking as you say, then we should be able to make it out just fine without Staley. Won't be easy, but could be manageable. 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

EDIT: Nevermind

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by PapaShogun

[Forge]

That means Bud Dupree is likely against Skule. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

4 minutes ago, Forge said:

That means Bud Dupree is likely against Skule. 

Is that due to particular match ups or he just rushes from that side? Because I bet they try to get him against Skule quite a bit this week. 

But seems like he was rushing on the right side last season as well. That's better at least for us.

Edited September 18, 2019 by J-ALL-DAY

[Forge]

Just now, J-ALL-DAY said:

Is that due to particular match ups or he just rushes from that side? Because I bet they try to get him against Skule quite a bit this week. 

I'm assuming that he just rushes from that side based on context of the tweet. I would agree though - in their best interest to line him up on Skule. 

[clarkfn2284]

Watt is almost always rushing against the RT. I was going to make mention of this, but then saw the Lombardi tweet.

 

This game is simple. Control the LOS, play a clean game and win.

Look for more runs to the rights side this week. If the Niners can match the desperation of the Steelers they should handle this game with ease. I expect the run game to lean in the Niners favor. A big difference maker may be the Niners pass rush and their ability to collapse the pocket. Pittsburgh's offensive line is very good and could provide an issue for the Niners defense. The secondary is going to have to cover longer this week.

I still don't think that there is enough there to make the game a trap game. Niners play a  clean game and wait for the rookie to make a couple of mistakes. THis is Jimmy's game imo. Niners win 31-10 and head into the bye with a ton of attention.

[rudyZ]

4 hours ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

The run game is what sets up our PA which Jimmy G is deadly at.

Maybe we should come out throwing a ton, just to set up the PA in the other direction. You throw 4-5 times, then PA a couple of times, and then when we actually do run the ball, the D will have to respect the pass option, giving our OL less aggressive counterparts, LBs in zones rather than shooting gaps, etc.

[NcFinest9erFan]