Wow, this one got ugly in a hurry. Not the offense. The offense actually improved significantly as the game progressed. Not the defense. The defense played a more competitive game than they did perhaps all of last season in any contest. Special teams and yellow laundry can be thanked for this loss.
We could go on analyzing every block on the Ted Ginn returns, and pick apart the performance of the coverage teams, but fans should really spend more time appreciating some of the pleasant surprises and improvements that the ‘Hawks showed in this one.
First of all, the run defense was stellar. Sure the ‘Niners’ offense has a lot of weaknesses, but their run game is not one of them. Frank Gore was silenced today and had virtually no impact whatsoever on this contest, minus a first down or two where he had to get creative and improvise due to large 300+ lbs men standing in his backfield. Red Bryant and Alan Branch both got significant push in combination with Brandon Mebane holding the line. All of them took up multiple blockers, which allowed linebackers and safeties to come up and make plays. And speaking of safeties…
Both Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor can cover a ridiculous amount of real estate very quickly. Chancellor is already a huge upgrade in the run game from Lawyer Milloy, and Earl Thomas knows where to be a whole lot better than last season. Seattle fans should be excited about this tandem of safeties.
The pass rush still wasn’t there. Alex Smith had all kinds of time, but due to really strong coverage down field, he found himself dumping passes off underneath where the aforementioned Thomas and Chancellor were arriving a beat after the ball and wrapping guys up where they stood.
Much better tackling, much better coverage than we’re used to seeing.
The physical nature of Brandon Browner, in combination with Kam Chancellor (heard of him yet?) definitely left a mark. This was evident on a deep fade that Vernon Davis ran just before giving up on a catch-able ball as he felt and heard Chancellor closing in on him.
So on defense, there was a lot to like. Stuffing the run, physical coverage and solid tackling. And not to like – pass pressure. That’s 3 to 1 in favor of “like”. Let’s throw “no turnovers” in the mix as well. So 3-2. Although Smith didn’t go down the field a ton because his receivers were getting chucked off their routes…probably has something to do with why there weren’t any picks for Seattle.
On offense, things went a bit differently. Tarvaris Jackson didn’t want to throw the ball. It was like he thought he was in there to put on a drop back clinic. He was holding the ball way too long and as a result, was pressured to the tune of a couple of first half sacks and a weak scramble or two. Sure…blame it on the O-line. They’re used to it. But Jackson was responsible for a fair amount of his first half troubles.
Not saying this O-line is perfect. Far from it. They’re making a ton of mistakes. They’ve got a combined 17 starts among them though, so that’s to be expected. They actually hung in there and made some adjustments today as time went on, and Jackson was getting more time to throw in the 2nd half. Again, there’s definitely a ton of improvement to be made by these guys, and in fact, I’d say they’re the weakest unit on either side of the ball right now, by far. But again, it’s an experience issue and not a potential or upside issue. They have the pieces to be really good.
Things really began to pick up on offense when Jackson decided to let go of the football and take some shots down field. He steadily improved, as did the offensive performance as a whole, as time progressed and it was clear by the end of this thing that he’s getting more comfortable within this system. Didn’t hurt that Marshawn Lynch started getting more than a half yard per carry, and began to warrant SF’s attention in the second half. This opened up some play action opportunities, a couple of which were fruitful.
Then Special Teams took the field. The block in the back penalties, the roughing the kicker call, and the ridiculous 2-touchdown allowance to Tedd Ginn in the last 4 minutes of the game…all bad. Wasn’t a ton to get excited about here. Penalties and big plays cost the team a win, and pretty much all of it happened on special teams.
Overall, the loss hurts. It’s the season opener, against a conference opponent and you always want to win those. But there’s clearly reason to be encouraged. Remember, this is a rebuild (despite what front office and coaches say). Rebuilds take time and what you look for more than anything else is talent, improvement and competitiveness. All three were displayed by Seattle today.
I was encouraged, and you should be too.
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