Post Game update: Geno Smith did not play in this game because of a game-time decision on a groin injury sustained in practice the very day after I wrote this. Therefore, while it’s stupid to presume to know for a fact how Geno would have changed the outcome of this game, what we DO know is that Drew Lock started and often threw the ball wildly into multiple coverages with very low percentage passes, and probably should have been intercepted, not just twice, but 4-5 times. We lost the game 28-16.
(Wow, it’s been a LONG time since i wrote a post for this blog! Lol!!)
Why I think we’ll win against the 49ers this Sunday.
I’m not sure the Cowboys’ loss was really an indicator of this team NOW, and it will be used as a research facility, full of information to help better prepare for the Niners. It seems on paper that we scorched the planet on offense and got toasted on defense, and that’s true, however, it’s always strange to me how, given the STATICS of the game, that being the size of the field, the time granted on the clock for each game and quarter, AND the fact that both teams always have an 11 man platoon on each side of the ball on every down, that, unfortunately, far too many people don’t understand how much any team’s offensive play and defensive play in any game actually play off of each other.
That is to say, how a team’s offense can affect how that same team’s defense plays, and vice versa, in any game AS MUCH AS, if not more, as either of those phases of the game are affected by the OTHER TEAM’S phases of the game (to say nothing about Spec Teams’ play).
The fact that our offense seemed to score with relative ease against Dallas then meant that our defense had less time to rest and, most importantly, to THINK, LEARN and EVOLE the game plan to adapt to how the other team is adapting to us DURING THE GAME….does that make sense?
Therefore, it’s not a FACT that if our offense plays well and our defense plays bad that that AUTOMATICALLY makes our DEFENSE a bad defense, and vice versa.
By and large, in the NFL, if you can’t CONTROL the important factors of Time and Space (the field) with the Run Game on offense, then your Pass Game will also GENERALLY be bad (or just not enough to win the game), but ALSO your Defense will generally be bad. The same can be said about your defense, that if they can’t stop the other team’s Run Game, then it’s awfully hard to stop the passing game and ultimately win the game.
So I honestly think our coaches were literally SURPRISED that our Offense would be so good (finally) that they didn’t have a game plan set up for how it would affect our DEFENSE! LOL
Those are the lessons from the Dallas loss.
Now, how they might play into a 49er win.
Why we are going to win against the 49ers:
- Abe Lucas – he might have been the single factor we needed to not look like a bunch of keystone cops in the offense like we’ve done all season, and he’s back in full force now.
- Kenny McIntosh – it’s looking like he’ll finally get some playing time this game and as much of an exciting runner he could be, that will also mean more time for rest of our other guys, especially somewhat hurting KW3 and ZC (IF they end up playing at all).
- The 49ers are a Divisional team – despite all of our other losses (or wins) this season, our team is really built, or BEING built, to compete with the 49ers, who IS the competition in the NFC West. Teams tend to know, but also build, their teams over time to compete within their division as a first priority, and as the 49ers are the Bull of the division over the last couple of season, that makes them the prime target for us. Unfortunately, that also means being LESS built for the Rams over the years as well, and we’ve all seen what’s become of that over time as Seahawk fans. With the embryonic stage sort of behind us now, I think our team, at this moment, has possibly reached the actual birth of its proving ground with the 49ers, and so it signals that it will probably determine the fate of the team, not just this season, but possibly for seasons to come (assuming this 49er team doesn’t come apart at the seams at the end of this season). Even if we lose but are still COMPETITIVE, then that is still a good sign for us going forward, so that’s what I expect them to be and do.
- For all the complaining I do about DK in that offense, it either seems like HE’S working on his bugaboos himself for whatever reason, OR that Waldren FINALLY figured out what his real strengths are and how to best exploit them…after the last couple of weeks, it seems to be a little of both and that’s all I’ll say on THAT as of now.
- The defense is developing constantly and while there were a bunch of mistakes last game, I think the Roman saying “ex malo bonum” applies here…”out of bad, comes good”….and that generally seems to be the truth in life, so I expect there was a lot of learning in the aftermath of the last game and given the 10 days spread, plus the time for just relaxing, meditating, or learning to speak Sign, it might have done much to the brain cogs to harmonize the parts to work together better…we’ll see.
Anything else???
– CK