Quote:
Originally Posted by ChoppedWood
Happy holidays to you as well Kray! Hope you have been able to spend time with those you cherish.
I just choose to look at the very large picture and to me that picture isn't very pretty. Regardless of injuries other teams have suffered their teams have persevered, and in the case of the 9ers, THRIVED. What they have done, basically without both their 1 and 1A receivers from a year ago, - both of which are starters on ANY OTHER TEAM in the NFL, Kittle being in and out, Warner out, etc... to see them do this, to see them put up 42 last night basically using a RB and a "meh" WR as their only weapons, is ludicrous.
Comparatively the Colts have just completely collapsed. Shane does not seem to have been able to make ANY meaningful adjustments. Instead, his singular solution seems to have been to call an old man that knows his plays- which to me, says he isn't doing very good in developing his roster. Fair to compare Shane to Shanahan, fair to expect two teams to do what the 49ers are doing in the same year, probably not. But I think it only fair to look at them and conclude your team DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY HAVE TO SUCK due to injuries.
So I have a real problem with the coach not being able to get more out of what he has. Then I look at Anarumo- definitely a SS directed hire. Dude essentially both caused Joe Burrow to have an MVP level season last year because his D was that shitty, while also COSTING Joe an MVP because the league won't give the MVP to a member of team that is THAT FUCKING bad! So we bring him in, and essentially we play the same kind of defense that we played last year- just laying back, letting completions happen in front of us over and over and over again. Yeah, Ward basically was injured but in the games he wasn't, he certainly wasn't playing this hyper aggressive sticky press we were all hearing about. We so seldom blitzed that when we did you almost jumped out of your chair at just the foreign nature of it. WHY did we hire Lou- the DC with the league's worst D last year?
Then you get to Ballard, and we have a guy on one edge that I am not sure I have ever seen a blocking sled more skilled at eating blocks than this dude! There were plays yesterday, I swear to God he has to hear voices in his head telling him to try to climb inside the OL's jersey vs trying to get away from him. He is AWFUL! So the guy that we drafted in the 2nd round, that you would think could easily move such a stiff out of the way---- he was a healthy scratch about half the year and probably averaged what, 6 snaps a game on total? Seriously----- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT?
Linebackers- are you kidding me? Franklin, man that is what we went into the season being okay with? I KNOW I could fucking beat him on a slant or a 10 yard crosser! Fucking EJ Speed is playing special teams for fucks sake! Pratt, okay, decent, but that's as far as you can go in assessment and he really has nothing to do with Ballard and is here because of the worst DC in the NFL last year- that's real encouraging. After that, it's a ghost town! How in the fuck can a GM have this little in the cupboard at perhaps the easiest position to fill in the NFL?
Secondary. Well, at least Ballard went for it, I will give him that. However, he swung and missed. Yes, injuries were brutal in the backfield, but still, those were players acquired by Ballard that got hurt. And as far as the talent of the backup backfield---- holy shit! I watch football 24/7, I see no other team as bereft of talent as we are, not even close. Week after week it's just a completion fest against these guys.
Ballard is NOT a good talent evaluator! He isn't! And I am tired of the fucking same press conference we are going to see again next Monday afternoon. I am tired of the "I SUCK but I'll be better this year" bullshit. He is right, he sucks, and he isn't going to be better! The mantra that when someone tells you who they are, believe them, is applicable, he has told us he sucks, and I fucking firmly believe him!
|
Shanahan’s 49’ers faced the easiest schedule in the league, this year, facing only 4 playoff teams from last season. In games vs teams over .500, they rolled to a 3-3 record.
Now, I know that the schedule is out of your control, and you play the guys they put in front of you, and Mac Jones was able to carry them. But, I wonder if they would have sniffed even one win had their third stringer, Adrian Martinez, been called to start or if they had tried to call Trent Dilfer out of retirement.
Unfortunately for the Colts, the schedule maker backloaded their season, and after Jones got hurt, they faced a string of 7 consecutive games with teams with a cumulative record of 77-35.
As far as Anarumo is concerned, injuries to the back end have really impacted what he can do, schematically. It’s tough to assess Ward because he’s been in and out of the lineup so much.But, in his last game, vs Jacksonville, PFF gave him a grade of 87.6. Sauce left the game vs Jacksonville early, but he had a grade of 79.8. When Lawrence threw in his direction, Lawrence had an NFL grade of 39.6.
I think that, early in the game, you got a glimpse of what might be when Anarumo stacked the box and had 7 guys blitz. After Sauce went down, we no longer had the personnel to pull that off. But, If you have two shutdown Corners, it frees you up to run some really exotic schemes.
As far as Latu is concerned, you can’t call him a bust. PFF credits him with 11 sacks and 54 pressures. As far as Tuimoloau is concerned, I’m intrigued. Against the Chargers, he was in on 20 snaps and deivered 3 pressures. Vs Pittsburgh, he had 1 pressure on 6 snaps. Against Atlanta, 2 on 12. 2 on 13 vs Houston, 2 on 10 vs Jacksonville, and 3 on 16 vs Seattle.
Zaire Franklin has been a disappointment, but there aren't many people who expected him to go from a pro bowler to pedestrian in a single season. At the other spot, I expect the plan was for Jaylon Carlies to step in and play. In 250 snaps in 2024, he earned a PFF grade of 90.3, which was 3rd highest in the league. You might add that to the litany of injuries that turned what was shaping up to be a three hour cruise into an evening on the Titanic. I suspect that, somewhere in the wreckage of this season, you’ll find Leonardo DiCaprio clinging to a dining room table.
As far as the Secondary is concerned, come on. Nobody expects to find much more than dross when you dig down to 4th and 5th place on your depth chart. The Texans have a great secondary, but they’re not doing it with Tremon Smith or Alijah Huzzie.
To me, Ballard’s scouting acumen is the most impressive part of his resume. I am hard pressed to find more than a couple of weaknesses. The roster screams for a pass rusher opposite Latu. If Carlies doesn’t step it up, Ballard has to find someone there. Beyond that, the roster’s solid at:
Quarterback
Running Back
Offensive Line
Wide Receiver
Tight End
One Defensive End
Defensive Tackle
Cornerback
And Safety