Friday, September 16, 2011

San Francisco 49ers Week 1

By Kalen Patrick

TED GINN - 49ERS HERO
The 49ers opened up the Jim Harbaugh era with a 33 - 17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. While the victory was far from pretty, a win is a win at the end of the day and I feel that the 49ers executed their gameplan well. I believe it was Jim Harbaugh's plan to minimize using Alex Smith and to not take risks and put his faith in the defense, special teams and run game. 2 out of 3 of these were very successful. While the defense only had 1 notably bad play (Baldwin 55 yard TD), for the rest of the game they were lights out. I think we all know how amazing the Special Teams and Ted Ginn were.

First things first. Lets focus on the positives and then I will take a look at what the 49ers will need to do to be successful going forward.



POSITIVES
Ted Ginn - Not a shock here at all, returning a kickoff and punt for TD's back to back to me won the 49ers this game. The Seahawks had all the momentum when they scored to make the score 19-17 to the 49ers with plenty of time left. Then comes Ted Ginn and suddenly its a 26-17 game and the pressure is back on Seattle. Then Ted Ginn gets another chance and puts the game away making it 33-17 with only a few minutes left. The 49ers cannot rely on this production throughout the year but Ted Ginn was easily Player of the Game for me.

Ray McDonald - I questioned making McDonald a starter on the D-Line, I thought he was more suited to being a role player. If last Sunday was anything to go by, then I will gladly admit how wrong I was. McDonald was excellent in defending both the pass and run game. Pressuring the QB, stopping the run at or behind the line of scrimmage. Very impressive, he also had a sack and deserved about 3.

49ERS DEFENSE SMOTHERED THE SEATTLE OFFENSE ALL DAY

Justin Smith - You gotta love Justin Smith, always goes 100% whether its the first play of the game or the 4th quarter. He had 2 sacks and similar to McDonald, he was relentless in chasing Tarvaris Jackson, and was excellent against the run. I like this D-Line a lot.

Parys Haralson/Aldon Smith - Haralson looked much much better than I have ever seen him before, he was applying pressure and being disruptive, also Aldon Smith did a great job for his 1st ever game, tipped a ball and always did well against his blocker. Throw in Brooks, and the d-line and I think this defense will pile up the sack numbers.

Vernon Davis - Despite the 49ers shying away from the passing game, Vernon not only led the team in yards but also came up with the big plays when they needed them most. Expect another big year from him, can;t wait until Harbaugh opens up the playbook more and to see what he really plans to do with Vernon.

THINGS TO WORK ON
The 49ers offensive game plan for week 1 was very conservative, I believe they did this knowing they could contain the Seattle offense, however, this Sunday against Dallas is a whole other story. Romo will pile up the yards and they will run the ball better than Seattle. In order for the 49ers to keep up, they will have to put the ball in Alex Smiths hands more. They have some very well respected weapons with Vernon Davis, Braylon Edwards and Michael Crabtree. Gore and Hunter are also good receiver out of the backfield.

CAN JIM HARBAUGH TRUST ALEX SMITH ENOUGH TO PUT THE GAME IN HIS HANDS

Doing this should also allow Gore to have a better day running the ball. I suspect Dallas will stack the box to stop the run, expect some play action early in the game, to catch the weak Dallas secondary off guard. As positive as I can be, I can only expect so much from the 49ers and I think we won't be able to hold up to Dallas quite yet. I expect a score along the lines of 27-17. Unless the defense can have another HUGE day and maybe get lucky with Ted Ginn again. I do expect a loss, but it will be competitive. After the Dallas game I really like the 49ers chances against the Bengals in week 3.

Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

No comments:

Post a Comment