Saturday, August 11, 2012

49ers Notes from Preseason Week 1

By Kalen Patrick

The 49ers opened the Preseason with a 17-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Ultimately it was a very solid performance all around for the team. You know the defense did a great job when you only give up 6 points, Preseason or not. Let's now take a look at some of the positives and negatives from Fridays game.
49ERS PROBOWL DB'S - DASHON GOLDSON AND CARLOS ROGERS

Negatives

  1. In the 1st quarter the defense did struggle in wrapping up Toby Gerhart on multiple occasions, the Vikings were able to move the ball down the field and into FG position somewhat easy. Of course we do have to factor in some on the starters not being on the field at all including the 49ers best defensive player Justin Smith. Yes, I just said that, Justin Smith. Ultimately you know there are not too many negatives for the starters when you are nitpicking like I am. We did only give up a FG after all.
  2. Colin Kaepernick's passing ability is definitely one of the bigger question marks surrounding the backup QB. He has the arm strength no doubt, but he still looks uncomfortable when in the pocket and going through his reads and progression. Again he did only have 9 pass attempts so we don't have much of a barometer of how far he really has come along. I look to see Kaepernick get a much bigger role in the next 3 games.
  3. 49ERS WR'S -  CRABTREE AND MOSS
  4. Holdout Rust? It looked like on the big pass play from Ponder, that Carlos Rogers was expecting coverage over the top from Dashon Goldson as he very clearly went to Dashon afterwards and gave him a "Where were you?" look. It's possible that Dashon is still fighting off some rust from not being around the team until recently. You know for a fact that Vic Fangio and Ed Donatell are working on this in practice this week. 
Positives

  1. The Running Game looks to be very strong for the 49ers, as they piled up 260 yards on the ground, take away Kaepernick's long run and you still have 182 yards rushing. You have a list of quality RB's with Frank Gore leading the way followed by Kendall Hunter, Brandon Jacobs, LaMichael James and Anthony Dixon. Not only did the 49ers pile up the yards, but some positive signs for the short yardage situations with Brandon Jacobs converting on 2nd and 1 and 4th and 1. An area where the 49ers certainly struggled last year. Prolonging drives and keeping the ball is key in the NFL, and to allow the 49ers vaunted defense to rest.
  2. WR depth, it looks to me as if this years 49ers WR corp is gonna be the best and deepest that we have seen in a very long time. Lead by Michael Crabtree who will finally be partaking in preseason games and getting a mostly full offseason of practice in, add in Randy Moss who is a great deep threat and redzone threat (another area where the 49ers struggled last year) and veteran Mario Manningham. Behind them you got a mix batch of WR's like Ted Ginn, Kyle Williams and rookie AJ Jenkins. I can imagine Chris Owusu making the Practice Squad. Let's keep in mind that players like Brett Swain, Ted Ginn were seeing significant playing time last year and in the NFC Championship Game the 49ers trotted out Joe Hastings. This years group is so much more talented and deep.
  3. The defense only allowed 6 points and the Vikings barely surpassed 200 total yards, I think this years defense is very talented and very deep. You know the defense is good when players are going to be fighting fiercely just to make the team, never mind seeing notable playing time.

I think in summary we can see that so far the 49ers have done a solid job in the offseason closing up and eliminating as many weaknesses as possible. The biggest goal for the 49ers offense is gonna be converting more 3rd/4th downs and improving the red zone offense. When you play teams like the Packers, Lions, Saints, Patriots and Giants you can't afford to keep settling for 3 points instead of 7. Can't wait for the next game against the Texans in Houston on Saturday.

I will be going to the 49ers FanFest tomorrow so keep an eye out for lots of cool pictures and stories.

Over and Out.

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