Game Recap – Packers/49ers

• Ugly game. Officiating was poor and at times it was atrocious – but I don’t necessarily believe it is why we lost.
• The Packers are not THAT bad and the 49ers are not THAT good. Alex Smith played as well as he could have, Gore was good and had fresh legs (he was far better than he’ll be after about 4 more games), and the Packers just plain didn’t bring it.
• We were outcoached in this one. McCarthy was outcoached, Capers was outcoached. They were just WAY more prepared than we were.
• If I had to pin the difference in this game on one thing – it would be tackling. The 49ers D is incredibly good at tackling. It’s impressive. All of our WRs can make people miss and while we had a few good jukes here and there, for the most part we just didn’t get the YAC we typically do in good part because their defenders were all over our WRs in coverage and then wrapped them up immediately when tackling. Just an impressive defensive display.
• We seemed overly confident. Even though we were losing late in the game, I thought we’d come back and snatch away the win. I think many of the players assumed this as well – but the fact was we were beaten by a quality team that was not only ready to play, but a team that seems ready to play pretty much every time they step on the field. Remember a few years back when Mike Sherman’s teams would come out right away either not pumped up or simply not ready to play? It just seemed to me that we just weren’t ready for the 49ers and their game plan today. We were chasing for much of the game, especially on defense – and we just didn’t seem ready. The 49ers, on the other hand, were absolutely ready.
• Our defense sucks. I’m not sure why I said before the game that defense (positive defense) would be the difference in this game. I didn’t really believe it when I said it and I certainly don’t believe it now. I guess if you think about it, we added virtually nobody on defense except Nick Perry and Jerel Worthy. And our defense was awful last year. So maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that our defense was so bad.
• I’m getting concerned about what we’re seeing from Mike McCarthy when we face defenses that seem to know what we’re up to. Looking at our last 3 losses (Chiefs, Giants, 49ers) – each game had a very similar feel. In each game, it became apparent, obvious even, that our play-calling mix was not working. We were out of rhythm and we weren’t able to get into a rhythm of any kind. While I had hoped that McCarthy’s offense would never become predictable based on stories I’ve read about his how complex and in depth his playbooks are, there are times when he seems to get in a rut and can’t get out – and others teams pretty much know what’s coming. And – even with Rodgers making a few of the playcalls (so it’s not all McCarthy) – the concern is still that defenses aren’t so clueless anymore. Anyway, it’s a concern that maybe the uniqueness of McCarthy’s offensive system is no longer the weapon it was – other teams have had a chance to catch up and now have a better idea of what we’re up to.
• Rodgers didn’t look great to me. His stats weren’t terrible but he threw a terrible interception (2 guys could have made a play on that) and throughout the game, he just didn’t seem as dialed in both physically and mentally as he usually is.
• We missed Bishop today – big time. Those Frank Gore runs killed us. Many of them came at the perfectly worst time – and had Bishop been in there, I don’t think Gore would have hurt us so much.
• The 49ers were smart to pick up Randy Moss. He just knows way too much and still has enough talent to ever be left alone. Incredibly, I believe on 3 of his catches, he was left pretty much alone. Though the worst such offense was when we left Vernon Davis wide open streaking down the middle to set up a score. But again, by adding Moss and Manningham, the 49ers suddenly have a group of receivers that need to be taken seriously.
• We wouldn’t have been close in this game without Randall Cobb. What a player he is. I’m wondering if we should just borrow from the Patriots and make him our Wes Welker. Use him the same way. I was watching him come off the line today and he almost can’t be defended – seriously. He is incredibly quick and nobody can stay with him off his first or second move.
• I did not like how we used Benson today. Clearly our O-Line is not used to having to block for RBs because he had zero holes whatsoever. But I thought we should have worked to get him involved in the passing game a bit too just to get him more involved in the game – and importantly, to make him seem like a threat at least. After about mid-way through the 2nd quarter, the 49ers simply didn’t have to defend against the possibility we’d run the ball. That makes playing defense much easier.
• On to a difficult Bears game. I watched the Bears today and though they started slowly, they got it going. They could be really good this year (I have them and the Pack at 11-5 this year). The key will be getting pressure on Cutler. Outside of some good pressure by Mathews and Woodson – our pressure was not that good today. And it killed us. Cutler with Marshall to throw to, will tear us up if we don’t pressure enough.