GDT: 49ERS VS SAINTS

[Pattersonca65]

I don't get the dislike for Taylor. The dude was a third down conversion machine when he played with Garoppolo. He's small, but he's extremely quick, runs good routes, and would add a key short area target for this offense. Now, he's got major health concerns, and he may never get right. But all reports were that he was absolutely tearing it up in camp, and we already know he can perform in actual games. I was really bummed when he went down before seeing the field in the regular season.

That said, without him out there, I had hoped we'd see more Richie James. That guy just seems to make things happen whenever he touches the ball. I'd love to see more of him as a receiver.

I'm not a fan of Taylor because he's tiny. His catch radius is very small, and his not especially fast to help make up for those limitations. He's rarely going to operate more than 8-10 yards past the LOS, and he doesn't really make much happen after the catch. His hands aren't all that great either. I think Kittle has proven he can thrive in the short game, and Hurd's versatility should help him in that regard as well. I just don't see a need for Taylor.

Yeah, IDK whats up with James. He hasn't been able to carve out a role in that underwhelming WR corps. He rarely even sees the field on offense. We know Shanny can scheme a small speedster like James to have an impact, we saw it with Taylor Gabriel. Honestly, he doesn't do much in the return game either, especially on kickoffs. 9ers have the 6th fewest KO return attempts, and the 5th worst return average, with the league's dead last long of only 27 yards. Now, some of that could be the coaches telling James to not bring it out of the end zone, but you have to believe that there were a few times where the blocking looked to be lining up well and it was worth a shot bringing it out.

Taylor's strengths aren't speed and size, obviously. His strengths are quickness and route-running. He is extremely quick in the short area, and it allows him to get open almost instantly. In this offense, that's a huge asset. I don't envision him ever being an impact player as such, but I sure wouldn't mind him on the field when we're facing an important third-and-middling.

I see Taylor as sort of a poor man's Julian Edelmen. Not the star of the offense but when you need that all important safety valve in short yardage, he is there.

[wco81]

ARen't they mostly counting on Hurd to emerge?

If he does, may not be room for Taylor, though keep him until his cheap rookie deal runs out?

Bourne has been lacking overall but has made some good plays in the red zone. Bodying up Lattimore for one of his TDs was a good play.

Does Taylor have the size to do something like that?

And Taylor could also be a poor man's Cooper Kupp, though he's made some explosive plays in his career.

[CrimsonCrew]

ARen't they mostly counting on Hurd to emerge?

If he does, may not be room for Taylor, though keep him until his cheap rookie deal runs out?

Bourne has been lacking overall but has made some good plays in the red zone. Bodying up Lattimore for one of his TDs was a good play.

Does Taylor have the size to do something like that?

And Taylor could also be a poor man's Cooper Kupp, though he's made some explosive plays in his career.

No, but he might have the quickness to get a half-step of separation in the endzone so he doesn't have to make the contested catch. Though Bourne actually ran a great three-cone. His short shuttle was 0.2 seconds slower than Taylor's, though.

[CrimsonCrew]

If Taylor is healthy, I think he makes the roster. Possibly at the expense of Pettis. He was the talk of training camp, and Welker is basically mentoring him. If he can return, there will be a place on this roster for him IMO.

[Samurai]

The top 5 PFF grades on offense were Sanders, Kittle, Breida, Jimmy G, and Mostert. Interesting that our O-line was at the bottom; the 5 worst PFF grades went to Deebo, Staley, McGlinchey, Tomlinson and Richburg. Deebo's was largely based on a very poor run-blocking score; he also had a drop and a penalty. Improved play from the O-line will be critical going forward, particularly if Richburg is out for a significant amount of time. The Saints pass rush was sacking Jimmy more than ours was getting to Brees; we had zero sacks against a "statue" in the pocket.

[wco81]

I mostly didn't watch the line too much but seems like Staley held up better than he did against Clowney. Cameran Jordan is having a big year and he didn't get off in this game.

[CrimsonCrew]

The top 5 PFF grades on offense were Sanders, Kittle, Breida, Jimmy G, and Mostert. Interesting that our O-line was at the bottom; the 5 worst PFF grades went to Deebo, Staley, McGlinchey, Tomlinson and Richburg. Deebo's was largely based on a very poor run-blocking score; he also had a drop and a penalty. Improved play from the O-line will be critical going forward, particularly if Richburg is out for a significant amount of time. The Saints pass rush was sacking Jimmy more than ours was getting to Brees; we had zero sacks against a "statue" in the pocket.

I don't know that Brees ever held the ball more than three seconds. The sacks Garoppolo took seemed to be plays where he came off his first and/or second read. I don't recall any plays where it was just an outright pass rush win and instant pressure (I do recall Bosa with a couple of those).

[Yoshi]

The top 5 PFF grades on offense were Sanders, Kittle, Breida, Jimmy G, and Mostert. Interesting that our O-line was at the bottom; the 5 worst PFF grades went to Deebo, Staley, McGlinchey, Tomlinson and Richburg. Deebo's was largely based on a very poor run-blocking score; he also had a drop and a penalty. Improved play from the O-line will be critical going forward, particularly if Richburg is out for a significant amount of time. The Saints pass rush was sacking Jimmy more than ours was getting to Brees; we had zero sacks against a "statue" in the pocket.

Niners did a lot of zone, and due to great pocket awareness and film study, Brees was able to pick apart the defense at east. Getting the ball out exceptionally quick helped to negate the pass rush, and teams are starting to take a page from Arizona on that Halloween game. Injuries to the front as well as having Harris in for Tartt proved costly. Niners may need to consider sending a 5th blitzer/pass rusher or go to man to man as they still have Moseley and Witherspoon while Sherms is out.

Jimmy, on the otherhand, at times held onto the ball a bit longer but had probably his best game to date.

[CrimsonCrew]

The top 5 PFF grades on offense were Sanders, Kittle, Breida, Jimmy G, and Mostert. Interesting that our O-line was at the bottom; the 5 worst PFF grades went to Deebo, Staley, McGlinchey, Tomlinson and Richburg. Deebo's was largely based on a very poor run-blocking score; he also had a drop and a penalty. Improved play from the O-line will be critical going forward, particularly if Richburg is out for a significant amount of time. The Saints pass rush was sacking Jimmy more than ours was getting to Brees; we had zero sacks against a "statue" in the pocket.

Niners did a lot of zone, and due to great pocket awareness and film study, Brees was able to pick apart the defense at east. Getting the ball out exceptionally quick helped to negate the pass rush, and teams are starting to take a page from Arizona on that Halloween game. Injuries to the front as well as having Harris in for Tartt proved costly. Niners may need to consider sending a 5th blitzer/pass rusher or go to man to man as they still have Moseley and Witherspoon while Sherms is out.

Jimmy, on the otherhand, at times held onto the ball a bit longer but had probably his best game to date.

Yeah, he's been doing that, and taking some sacks where he just looks kind of lost, but if the alternative is throwing awful balls across the middle, I'll take that tradeoff.

[wco81]

Seems like teams have also adjusted to Bosa so he’s not pressuring as much.

[Bald Bull]

Seems like teams have also adjusted to Bosa so he’s not pressuring as much.

Elusive QBs and Brees getting the ball out extremely quick will do that, I think Bosa would have gotten a couple sacks last week agains the average non brees level qb. He still created a good amount of pressure, but what can you do when the ball is out almost as soon as its snapped.

[Samurai]

Seems like teams have also adjusted to Bosa so he’s not pressuring as much.

Bosa is getting "chipped" by a receiver or running back on virtually every passing situation - a curse that all great edge rushers face. Unfortunately we don't have Dee Ford on the other side to take advantage of that since it is difficult to chip both ends or you won't have enough receivers getting into the pass route soon enough. Without Ford, expect teams continue to chip Bosa ad nauseum.

[CrimsonCrew]

Bosa was getting a lot of pressure early in the game, and had the great pass breakup. Seemed like he wasn't as visible later. I'll admit I didn't pay great attention to why that was. I'm guessing they were doubling him more. He also left for a few plays and might have been a bit hobbled. He's been playing well, but we're missing two of our top three edge rushers right now in Ford and Blair, and arguably three of our top four with Moore added in.

[Jikkle]

Actually come to think about it we don't need another Saints loss to clinch the 1st seed by week 17.

We own the tiebreakers against them and the Packers now so all we need is the Panthers or Cardinals to play the spoiler against the Hawks and the 9ers take care of business the next two weeks and it's locked up.

Hahahahahaha. Oh, I'm sorry. Was that serious?

It's unlikely but I wouldn't sleep on either one of those teams being able to beat Seattle.

The Panthers game is at Carolina and it's a 10am game and the Cardinals are capable of giving teams problems as we've seen ourselves.

It's not like Seattle has been dominating teams this season and they've even beaten terrible teams by a razor thing margin.

[CrimsonCrew]

Actually come to think about it we don't need another Saints loss to clinch the 1st seed by week 17.

We own the tiebreakers against them and the Packers now so all we need is the Panthers or Cardinals to play the spoiler against the Hawks and the 9ers take care of business the next two weeks and it's locked up.

Hahahahahaha. Oh, I'm sorry. Was that serious?

It's unlikely but I wouldn't sleep on either one of those teams being able to beat Seattle.

The Panthers game is at Carolina and it's a 10am game and the Cardinals are capable of giving teams problems as we've seen ourselves.

It's not like Seattle has been dominating teams this season and they've even beaten terrible teams by a razor thing margin.

Sure, it's possible, but I'm not counting on it. Carolina just got taken apart by Atlanta. And the Cards haven't beaten a team any better than Atlanta. You can never take a division game for granted, but I would be shocked if they went into Seattle and stole one.