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Clarkfn's Week 2 Review vs Seattle, Kyle Shanahan's Most Defining Moment


clarkfn2284

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Week 2. Pain, sadness, bittersweet etc., let's get to this.

 

QB:  B+

Jimmy did an admirable job of being ready to go in and play when the moment presented itself. All things considered, a lack of reps, lack of time in the new playbook and a game plan not devised for his skill set and he went out and played well enough to get it done. I will not say he played great because that just isn't true. He started 5 of 5 for 80 yards and a TD and then finished off with a pretty pedestrian performance from there. Chalk that up to not being planned around and Seattle making the necessary adjustments. It's Jimmy's team again, let's see how this goes even if we all feel like we know how this plays out. I wasn't overly impressed with his "taking shots down the field" as others were/are. The balls he threw downfield were not good. The balls to Gray and Aiyuk were underthrown and the one to Dwelley should be hit every single time considering nobody was within 10 yards of him. I do hope Jimmy begins to take more shots. I find it interesting that his comments after made it seem as though the handcuffs are on him from Kyle and I wouldn't be shocked by it at all considering how much Kyle despises turnovers. 

RB/FB: A

I loved the mix of usage in this game. Wilson looked very good. He was decisive and physical. TDP flashed which is what you want to see as he develops more consistency in the offense and how he sees the game. He showed the type of runner he could be on his run into the redzone. He got to the second level and looked to make smaller guys pay for being on the tracks. Deebo appeared to be elusive, but still looks a bit slow in the open field. Overall it was a very good performance from the group as a whole. Still want to see Mason get a few looks. DO IT KYLE! 

WR:  B+

Liked the usage of Aiyuk in this game. I think he is a very good chain mover. A guy you can get the ball to on 3rd and mediums with some space and he can get you more than enough to extend the drive. He is sneaky quick as well and can make people pay when they take bad angles. I would like to see them scheme up more opportunities on quick routes to him to let him try to create after the catch. I'm all for getting Deebo the ball around and near the LOS, but we need to see him get looks down the field as well. I really liked that we saw Deebo getting routes out of the backfield. This was something I clamored for. It creates an advantage especially if you get Deebo on a LB or a S. I was happy to see Danny Gray get a couple of looks as well. We need to see more of him and he is another guy that they need to work into the gameplan for 3-5 touches weekly. Get him easy completions and see if he can use his speed to get loose. He has to be more than a go route guy. 

TE: B

Dwelley had a nice game mostly off of the single TD catch, but he showed some ability in sniffing out the end zone after the catch. Kroft needs to be used more. He has always been a good catcher of the ball and he could present another option to Jimmy going forward. TE's blocked well in this game too, they sealed edges and blocked down multiple times. Looking forward to seeing Kittle get back on the field and hopefully for good.

OL: A-

This group was really good. Early they got great push, particularly the IOL. Brendel does a nice job of getting to the second level and getting hands on guys. He had a nice second level block on the TDP run. Kyle asks a lot of the IOL with all of the pulling, blocking down and misdirection. Burford gets lost sometimes when he has to pull. He isn't always there quick enough, but when he gets his hands on guys it's pretty much over. Trent appeared to miss the outside blitz when Jimmy got hit on his first throw. Burford missed a block on a blitzer as well. He was supposed to slide right, but went left instead and when MCG went right it opened up a free lane at the QB. Work still to be done and a real test next week as well.

DL: B

The ends looked good. Ebukam had good speed off the edge and I like the rotational usage of Omenihu. Bosa is Bosa. The DT's just disappear on this team. I have never been overly impressed by Armstead and we all know the story of Kinlaw. Unfortunately, they both seem to be playing the same right now. They are consistently being beat off the snap and pushed back 3 plus yards. This group as a whole has to figure it out. Teams will be able to run in the middle if they are going to be driven back like that regularly. Kinlaw seems to be driven out of his gap assignments as well. Multiple plays early yesterday where he is seen out of his gap and trailing the play at the second level. Kevin Givens had a very strong game tallying 3 TFL's. More of that please!

LB:  B

Odd game for this group. They were not bad by any means, but they didn't do much either. Warner was oddly quiet and the same goes for Greenlaw and Azeez. It was more of a secondary game I guess. Not a whole lot to be said for this group.

DB: A

I thought this group played physical and set the tone early. Ward is not a shy tackler and he is a perfect pairing with Moseley. From the first play of the game Seattle hit a quick pass and Moseley closed and punished the WR. These guys are sticky and are looking to take the ball away. Ward shows incredibly good instincts. I have been a Moseley truther since they signed him as a UDFA and he continues to get better and better. He showed really good ball skills on the deflection when he got the PI penalty. This may be the strength of the defense.

S: A+

Much better performance from these two overall. Maybe I should say more complete. Huf continues to show how prepared he is week to week. It allows for him to play at a high level due to recognition of tendencies. I like that they didn't give up anything over the top and that they had zero broken plays. Gibson is going to end up being a really nice late pick up for this team. He just plays solid at the position. He is good enough over the top to allow for Huf to roam like he does. When Ward gets back he will provide a very good depth option. If Hufanga continues to play at this level he is going to be an unsung hero. He wont get the national recognition, but he will end up being a huge part of the defensive success.

ST:  B+

Dwelley misses the block on the FG attempt. Flat out has to be better there. Moore did a nice job driving his guy into Lockett to create a muffed punt. Gould was solid as was Wish. I will say that I think the gunners on this team are the best in the league. Punt coverage is really good.

Coaching: B-

Im trying really hard not to let my frustration with Kyle impact this. I thought Demeco did a nice job of limiting the dink and dunk of Seattle's offense. Kyle got extremely vanilla in the 2nd half. He once again didn't use Mason, but he did limit the touches for Deebo as a back. I like Kyle and I hate Kyle all at the same time. 

 

Summary:

I pride myself on being a pretty rational fan. I tend to lean on the coaches side. Being one myself, I understand they know more about their group than any of us ever will. Even the worst of them. All of that being said, yesterday I was furious. Irrationally furious. I wanted Kyle to be fired for deciding to treat his QB like a RB. I slept on it and I'm still extremely irrational about it. I guess that is ok, I don't really know. I know I wont question anyone for feeling that way. Team's are businesses. Kyle/John/Jed etc., risked it all from the get go with Trey imo. You dealt away 3 1sts, sat the kid a year, chose to keep around the guy he was replacing and then decided to use this year as his development year while still chasing victories. No issues with any of that strategy other than the keeping of JG. However, running the future of your business into contact as much as he chose to do is bad business. It is the equivalent of a guy repeatedly going all in and winning and then finally losing. Kyle continued to push the pot into the middle and finally lost it all. And for what? 4 yards on a 2nd and 8 when you have 14 other guys you give carries to. It's reckless and nobody can convince me otherwise. The Trey lance development plan now gets put on hold for another season and we get to go through the circus again next season all because Kyle felt the need to expose the future of the business to contact unnecessarily and for what reason? He didn't feel like he was where he needed to be throwing the ball? Who's fault is that? Why didn't we allow the opportunity to see what he could do? Why did we keep the training wheels on? By no means is Trey developed, but you have to give him the chance to fail in order to allow for development. Worrying more about scheming around Trey's inefficiencies in order to win games is extremely shortsighted and bad for business. So here we are, same as last season, song and dance we have all heard and seen before, waiting to see what we have for another year. It's inexcusable imo. Im mad about it, I'll get over it because they don't pay me to be mad and it will be on to Denver, but I'm over Kyle. He hasn't done enough to warrant a pass from me on this. I mentioned last week that he seems to have a blatant disregard for player health and this only furthers my opinion on it. His post game presser only confirmed his overall arrogance and stubbornness. Rather than take his lumps for his role in destroying the future of the business' ankle, he wanted to fight and be pissy with the media. I like arrogance in elite level competitors and coaches. Unfortunately, Kyle has done zero to deserve the moniker of being elite. Fundamentally inexcusable from him. Im irrational and mad and Im going to be for a minute and it's ok to feel the same. 

On to Denver.

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, clarkfn2284 said:

Week 2. Pain, sadness, bittersweet etc., let's get to this.

 

QB:  B+

Jimmy did an admirable job of being ready to go in and play when the moment presented itself. All things considered, a lack of reps, lack of time in the new playbook and a game plan not devised for his skill set and he went out and played well enough to get it done. I will not say he played great because that just isn't true. He started 5 of 5 for 80 yards and a TD and then finished off with a pretty pedestrian performance from there. Chalk that up to not being planned around and Seattle making the necessary adjustments. It's Jimmy's team again, let's see how this goes even if we all feel like we know how this plays out. I wasn't overly impressed with his "taking shots down the field" as others were/are. The balls he threw downfield were not good. The balls to Gray and Aiyuk were underthrown and the one to Dwelley should be hit every single time considering nobody was within 10 yards of him. I do hope Jimmy begins to take more shots. I find it interesting that his comments after made it seem as though the handcuffs are on him from Kyle and I wouldn't be shocked by it at all considering how much Kyle despises turnovers. 

RB/FB: A

I loved the mix of usage in this game. Wilson looked very good. He was decisive and physical. TDP flashed which is what you want to see as he develops more consistency in the offense and how he sees the game. He showed the type of runner he could be on his run into the redzone. He got to the second level and looked to make smaller guys pay for being on the tracks. Deebo appeared to be elusive, but still looks a bit slow in the open field. Overall it was a very good performance from the group as a whole. Still want to see Mason get a few looks. DO IT KYLE! 

WR:  B+

Liked the usage of Aiyuk in this game. I think he is a very good chain mover. A guy you can get the ball to on 3rd and mediums with some space and he can get you more than enough to extend the drive. He is sneaky quick as well and can make people pay when they take bad angles. I would like to see them scheme up more opportunities on quick routes to him to let him try to create after the catch. I'm all for getting Deebo the ball around and near the LOS, but we need to see him get looks down the field as well. I really liked that we saw Deebo getting routes out of the backfield. This was something I clamored for. It creates an advantage especially if you get Deebo on a LB or a S. I was happy to see Danny Gray get a couple of looks as well. We need to see more of him and he is another guy that they need to work into the gameplan for 3-5 touches weekly. Get him easy completions and see if he can use his speed to get loose. He has to be more than a go route guy. 

TE: B

Dwelley had a nice game mostly off of the single TD catch, but he showed some ability in sniffing out the end zone after the catch. Kroft needs to be used more. He has always been a good catcher of the ball and he could present another option to Jimmy going forward. TE's blocked well in this game too, they sealed edges and blocked down multiple times. Looking forward to seeing Kittle get back on the field and hopefully for good.

OL: A-

This group was really good. Early they got great push, particularly the IOL. Brendel does a nice job of getting to the second level and getting hands on guys. He had a nice second level block on the TDP run. Kyle asks a lot of the IOL with all of the pulling, blocking down and misdirection. Burford gets lost sometimes when he has to pull. He isn't always there quick enough, but when he gets his hands on guys it's pretty much over. Trent appeared to miss the outside blitz when Jimmy got hit on his first throw. Burford missed a block on a blitzer as well. He was supposed to slide right, but went left instead and when MCG went right it opened up a free lane at the QB. Work still to be done and a real test next week as well.

DL: B

The ends looked good. Ebukam had good speed off the edge and I like the rotational usage of Omenihu. Bosa is Bosa. The DT's just disappear on this team. I have never been overly impressed by Armstead and we all know the story of Kinlaw. Unfortunately, they both seem to be playing the same right now. They are consistently being beat off the snap and pushed back 3 plus yards. This group as a whole has to figure it out. Teams will be able to run in the middle if they are going to be driven back like that regularly. Kinlaw seems to be driven out of his gap assignments as well. Multiple plays early yesterday where he is seen out of his gap and trailing the play at the second level. Kevin Givens had a very strong game tallying 3 TFL's. More of that please!

LB:  B

Odd game for this group. They were not bad by any means, but they didn't do much either. Warner was oddly quiet and the same goes for Greenlaw and Azeez. It was more of a secondary game I guess. Not a whole lot to be said for this group.

DB: A

I thought this group played physical and set the tone early. Ward is not a shy tackler and he is a perfect pairing with Moseley. From the first play of the game Seattle hit a quick pass and Moseley closed and punished the WR. These guys are sticky and are looking to take the ball away. Ward shows incredibly good instincts. I have been a Moseley truther since they signed him as a UDFA and he continues to get better and better. He showed really good ball skills on the deflection when he got the PI penalty. This may be the strength of the defense.

S: A+

Much better performance from these two overall. Maybe I should say more complete. Huf continues to show how prepared he is week to week. It allows for him to play at a high level due to recognition of tendencies. I like that they didn't give up anything over the top and that they had zero broken plays. Gibson is going to end up being a really nice late pick up for this team. He just plays solid at the position. He is good enough over the top to allow for Huf to roam like he does. When Ward gets back he will provide a very good depth option. If Hufanga continues to play at this level he is going to be an unsung hero. He wont get the national recognition, but he will end up being a huge part of the defensive success.

ST:  B+

Dwelley misses the block on the FG attempt. Flat out has to be better there. Moore did a nice job driving his guy into Lockett to create a muffed punt. Gould was solid as was Wish. I will say that I think the gunners on this team are the best in the league. Punt coverage is really good.

Coaching: B-

Im trying really hard not to let my frustration with Kyle impact this. I thought Demeco did a nice job of limiting the dink and dunk of Seattle's offense. Kyle got extremely vanilla in the 2nd half. He once again didn't use Mason, but he did limit the touches for Deebo as a back. I like Kyle and I hate Kyle all at the same time. 

 

Summary:

I pride myself on being a pretty rational fan. I tend to lean on the coaches side. Being one myself, I understand they know more about their group than any of us ever will. Even the worst of them. All of that being said, yesterday I was furious. Irrationally furious. I wanted Kyle to be fired for deciding to treat his QB like a RB. I slept on it and I'm still extremely irrational about it. I guess that is ok, I don't really know. I know I wont question anyone for feeling that way. Team's are businesses. Kyle/John/Jed etc., risked it all from the get go with Trey imo. You dealt away 3 1sts, sat the kid a year, chose to keep around the guy he was replacing and then decided to use this year as his development year while still chasing victories. No issues with any of that strategy other than the keeping of JG. However, running the future of your business into contact as much as he chose to do is bad business. It is the equivalent of a guy repeatedly going all in and winning and then finally losing. Kyle continued to push the pot into the middle and finally lost it all. And for what? 4 yards on a 2nd and 8 when you have 14 other guys you give carries to. It's reckless and nobody can convince me otherwise. The Trey lance development plan now gets put on hold for another season and we get to go through the circus again next season all because Kyle felt the need to expose the future of the business to contact unnecessarily and for what reason? He didn't feel like he was where he needed to be throwing the ball? Who's fault is that? Why didn't we allow the opportunity to see what he could do? Why did we keep the training wheels on? By no means is Trey developed, but you have to give him the chance to fail in order to allow for development. Worrying more about scheming around Trey's inefficiencies in order to win games is extremely shortsighted and bad for business. So here we are, same as last season, song and dance we have all heard and seen before, waiting to see what we have for another year. It's inexcusable imo. Im mad about it, I'll get over it because they don't pay me to be mad and it will be on to Denver, but I'm over Kyle. He hasn't done enough to warrant a pass from me on this. I mentioned last week that he seems to have a blatant disregard for player health and this only furthers my opinion on it. His post game presser only confirmed his overall arrogance and stubbornness. Rather than take his lumps for his role in destroying the future of the business' ankle, he wanted to fight and be pissy with the media. I like arrogance in elite level competitors and coaches. Unfortunately, Kyle has done zero to deserve the moniker of being elite. Fundamentally inexcusable from him. Im irrational and mad and Im going to be for a minute and it's ok to feel the same. 

On to Denver.

 

 

 

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I have a theory about Kyle Shanahan's coaching mind.

Kyle values plays that go nowhere nearly as much as plays that go the distance. The plays that have less value to him are those that go 4 yards. They don't move the needle nearly as much as a play that goes nowhere. What matters is the hand that he's showing. If a play works and goes for 36 yards, he has shown his hand, and the defense might just overplay it next time he shows that same hand. A play that goes nowhere, the defense might also just overplay it, but in the other direction, because they think they have a handle on it. Because of that, he doesn't mind what to us look like bad play calls. It's a set-up for later. So a running play that goes for half a yard in the first quarter can lead to a TD in the third quarter. So I believe that's something he also wanted to do with Trey. He didn't mind these poor little plays that go nowhere. That same look could be a 55 yard TD pass to Deebo in the 3rd quarter. I think that's where Kyle's mind is at. Agree or not, I think that has merit, and that's something very few coaches have the brain power to accomplish.

Where Kyle is wrong, though, is in being oblivious to the injury risks. On one hand, he'll say that you can't call a game in fear of players getting injured. But he definitely underplays his role in players getting those injuries. We get so many RB injuries, and TE injuries, but that comes with the workload these guys get. It's also one thing to play one on one football, but it's a whole other thing to run zones and have multiple combo blocks. Lots of moving parts with possibilities for legs to get tangled up. He believes in his system, I'm sure, and won't move away from it, but the system is not players-health-friendly. But I doubt that's going to change. Just, please, don't do it with the starting QB, perhaps?

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1 hour ago, rudyZ said:

I have a theory about Kyle Shanahan's coaching mind.

Kyle values plays that go nowhere nearly as much as plays that go the distance. The plays that have less value to him are those that go 4 yards. They don't move the needle nearly as much as a play that goes nowhere. What matters is the hand that he's showing. If a play works and goes for 36 yards, he has shown his hand, and the defense might just overplay it next time he shows that same hand. A play that goes nowhere, the defense might also just overplay it, but in the other direction, because they think they have a handle on it. Because of that, he doesn't mind what to us look like bad play calls. It's a set-up for later. So a running play that goes for half a yard in the first quarter can lead to a TD in the third quarter. So I believe that's something he also wanted to do with Trey. He didn't mind these poor little plays that go nowhere. That same look could be a 55 yard TD pass to Deebo in the 3rd quarter. I think that's where Kyle's mind is at. Agree or not, I think that has merit, and that's something very few coaches have the brain power to accomplish.

Where Kyle is wrong, though, is in being oblivious to the injury risks. On one hand, he'll say that you can't call a game in fear of players getting injured. But he definitely underplays his role in players getting those injuries. We get so many RB injuries, and TE injuries, but that comes with the workload these guys get. It's also one thing to play one on one football, but it's a whole other thing to run zones and have multiple combo blocks. Lots of moving parts with possibilities for legs to get tangled up. He believes in his system, I'm sure, and won't move away from it, but the system is not players-health-friendly. But I doubt that's going to change. Just, please, don't do it with the starting QB, perhaps?

The star of any organization that Kyle is a part of is Kyle's system, no doubt in my mind. He couldn't care less who is operating it imo. I think there is a bit of an issue with Kyle having full autonomy here. Nobody is there to check it. Jed doesn't want another Harbaugh situation on his hands. Kyle does as Kyle pleases and at times we all need someone to check us.

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