Week 10: 49ers @ Tampa Bay

[Harry Palmer]

The question is what exactly could the special teams do at this point that would get you fired? Like how much worse could it possibly get? And it’s not like they haven’t used draft capital on STs.

[wco81]

So the fumbled punt was caused by one of the blockers being pushed into the returner. I can't recall if he signaled fair catch but you would think the blockers would be told to get away from the returner in that situation?

In any event the guy who got pushed was #28, Darrell Luter.

Guess whose leg the punt in the Super Bowl hit, setting up the Chiefs' only TD in regulation?

Yeah the same guy.

[wco81]

Btw, I withdraw my questioning of Jennings continuing to run with the ball. I don't think that kick was good from 5 yd further back....

Lol, same.

Jauan was fully aware of the circumstances.

They probably talked about it in the huddle, they had 23 seconds so go as far down as you can and get back to the line quick so they could clock it.

Purdy let about 5 seconds run before he clocked it leaving 3 seconds.

[thesack12]

Moody blamed the wind on 1 of his misses. Ok Jake.

The other one he kind of owned up to it, saying he just pulled it. But he didn't seem particularly upset by it

[arich35]

Moody blamed the wind on 1 of his misses. Ok Jake.

The other one he kind of owned up to it, saying he just pulled it. But he didn't seem particularly upset by it

Well as a kicker you can't really sit there and dwell and be upset about missing kicks.

[clyde21]

The question is what exactly could the special teams do at this point that would get you fired? Like how much worse could it possibly get? And it’s not like they haven’t used draft capital on STs.

STs will be what sends us home in the POs (and I'm not convinced we make the POs at all at this point)...maybe that will be the final wake up call.

[Jikkle]

i am the biggest Kyle defender but this year is by far his worst coaching job. the fact that the special teams unit is still **** after bye is 100% on him.

Not even just STs as this team has routine meltdowns this year in other phases as well.

Rams and Cards were both epic meltdowns and should've been easy wins for this team.

Dallas was a near meltdown and this Bucs game was a meltdown but we barely avoided a loss.

I noticed the stat that the defense is dead last in the league defending 3rd and 7+. I'd be curious as to what the stats are for the defense in the 4th quarter because I've gotta believe it's their worst quarter.

The offensive line struggles mightly against any sort of blitz pickup and it seems like we're struggling to scheme guys open.

[thesack12]

Moody blamed the wind on 1 of his misses. Ok Jake.

The other one he kind of owned up to it, saying he just pulled it. But he didn't seem particularly upset by it

Well as a kicker you can't really sit there and dwell and be upset about missing kicks.

Sure.

However, the "it happens" quote kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Dude can't even give the canned token type of response like, I've got to do better.

I don't know, maybe its just me, but when a dude single handedly takes 9 points off the board and tries to lose the game; the "it happens" attitude just doesn't sit right.

[CrimsonCrew]

The question is what exactly could the special teams do at this point that would get you fired? Like how much worse could it possibly get? And it’s not like they haven’t used draft capital on STs.

STs will be what sends us home in the POs (and I'm not convinced we make the POs at all at this point)...maybe that will be the final wake up call.

It cost us the SB and we didn't do a damn thing about it in the off-season.

[arich35]

Great drive by Purdy and the protection to last just enough.

I'm not sure the protection was better, TB's defense just abandoned their aggressiveness.

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Every play they blitzed

[CharityStripe34]

Always good to get a W on the road but some of the inconsistent play is annoying. Special Teams is a disaster and the third-down defense being so poor is somewhat remarkable.

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[CrimsonCrew]

Always good to get a W on the road but some of the inconsistent play is annoying. Special Teams is a disaster and the third-down defense being so poor is somewhat remarkable.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using RealGM mobile app

What troubles me more is that, at this point, we're consistent in negative areas. The defense did a bit better - against an offense without a WR who would even be top-4 on our team even without Aiyuk - but we still saw the same problems rearing their head. Struggle to stop the run or get off the field on defense. Move the ball but fail to punch it in on offense. No answer whatsoever to the blitz, even when we have blockers for everyone. Purdy started the game looking hesitant and was throwing high much of the first half and part of the second.

STs...I'm running out of words to describe it. Go back to the SB last year, and we've had the following issues:

SB vs. KC: muffed punt when blocker (Luter) let the ball hit him. Gave up a TD - the only TD we would give up until OT. On the ensuing drive, missed an XP. Game goes to OT and we lose.

At Minnesota: 0-0 game, blocked punt sets them up at our 24 and gives them a 3-0 lead which they never relinquished. We lost by 6.

At LA Rams: Up 14-7, we get a stop on third down only to let them run a fake punt. They scored a TD to tie. Up 24-17 with under three minutes to play, we miss a 55-yard FG to salt the game away. They turn the good field position into a three-play TD drive. Tied with under a minute left to play, we allow a 38-yard PR (five-yard net). They start their drive at midfield and kick the game-winning FG. We lost by 3.

Vs. NE: Starting the second half, Guerendo runs into his own player during the return and fumbles. Pats recover and score a TD to cut the lead in half. I feel like I'm forgetting something in this one, but can't rememer/find it right now.

Vs. Arizona: Beal ran into the punter on a 4th and 10, but they declined it. In this one, we actually got a positive play with a blocked FG returned for a TD. But immediately after that, we allowed a 39-yard return culminating in a Jake Moody tackle and injury. Unable to kick FGs late in the game while leading by 10, we try to convert a 4th and 23 instead of kicking a 44-yarder. Defense can't get a stop, offense fumbles on first-and-goal, and we lose by one point.

At Seattle: Another good play! We force a fumble on their KO return and then kick a FG. But, but, but.... In the second half, up 23-3, we allow a TD return on the KO. Later, up a comfortable 36-24, we again allow the KO returner to get through the line and get a kicker injured for the second time in two weeks.

Vs. KC: Trailing 7-3, Wishnowsky punts to the KC 15 and we allow a return of 55 yards. They score a TD to go ahead 14-3 and never look back. When they punt, still leading 14-3, a holding penalty pushes us back to our 10 yard line. We settle for a FG, but only after we couldn't convert a 2nd and 1 in the deep red zone. We lose badly, particularly as we got a garbage-time TD.

Vs. Dallas: Leading 10-6, on a muffed punt, we allow Dallas a 23-yard PR. Fortunately it doesn't hurt us. Up 27-10, we boot the KO out of bounds and give them the ball at the 40. We win comfortably in this one as they were even worse on all sides of the ball.

At TB: We miss a 44-yard FG and stay in a one-score game at half, up 10-3. We give them life after getting a stop on the opening drive of the first half, as Luter runs into Cowing and we lose the ball. They score a TD to tie it. After we hit a 33-yard FG, we proceed to miss FGs from 50 and 44. Fortunately, we squeak in the 44-yarder as time expires (and if it didn't hit the goalpost, it came as close as humanly possible without doing so).

Pretty bleak. Going back to last year's SB, I would say that STs played a decisive role in losses to KC (last year), LAR, and ARI. You could argue Minnesota as the blocked punt gave them momentum they never gave up, but that happened early enough to recover. There is little doubt that, with even borderline competent STs play, we would be 7-2 and right in the mix for the #1 seed right now (granted same can be said for offensive and defensive play in the 4th quarter in two losses this year). Very frustrating.

[49er4life1979]

I thought Jennings just had great awareness of the time that final drive. Jennings is a beast no doubt. I would like to see Mason and Guerendo get more than 1 carry each that they had. That was ridiculous. Is Kyle going to run CMC into the ground now? All about keeping guys fresh and reducing injuries.

[thesack12]

I thought Jennings just had great awareness of the time that final drive. Jennings is a beast no doubt. I would like to see Mason and Guerendo get more than 1 carry each that they had. That was ridiculous. Is Kyle going to run CMC into the ground now? All about keeping guys fresh and reducing injuries.

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Things like this are why we aren't likely to see CMC come off the field much.

Hopefully Mason and Guerendo can improve with their understanding and execution of their assignments when they aren't getting the ball, and their pass protection in general. However, that aspect of their games just isn't where it needs to be yet.

Also, can't get in the habit of only putting Mason/Guerendo on the field when they will be taking handoffs, because opposing defenses will pick sniff out that tendency real quick.

Still your point stands, that they need to find a way to spell CMC more often. My guess is, that when CMC does come off the field, Kyle is going to dial up mostly Deebo in the backfield type of sets. Which isn't great.

[thesack12]

Great drive by Purdy and the protection to last just enough.

I'm not sure the protection was better, TB's defense just abandoned their aggressiveness.

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Every play they blitzed

Right on, thanks for the clip.

Watching it live, during that last possession Purdy actually had some time. Unlike the vast majority of the game, they didn't allow any free rushers on that last drive. That being the case, I figured Tampa was less aggressive.

Props to the O-line for actually hitting their assignments and picking everybody up in crunch time. They still have got to get better with that overall though. Its been a recurring problem this season.

[arich35]

I'm not sure the protection was better, TB's defense just abandoned their aggressiveness.

Read on Twitter

Every play they blitzed

Right on, thanks for the clip.

Watching it live, during that last possession Purdy actually had some time. Unlike the vast majority of the game, they didn't allow any free rushers on that last drive. That being the case, I figured Tampa was less aggressive.

Props to the O-line for actually hitting their assignments and picking everybody up in crunch time. They still have got to get better with that overall though. Its been a recurring problem this season.

For sure, there is an underlying problem there and they need to figure it out