2022 Season Thread

[wco81]

Has Hufanga sustained his play from early in the season?

Not noticing him that much the last couple of months.

[Jikkle]

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The eye test certainly backs up this data.

As great as this defense can be, it can be pretty frustrating on 3rd down. They seem to especially be susceptible in 3rd and Long situations, which reflects the low rating on 3rd down passing plays.

Gotta clean that up to get to where we wanna go.

That's why I hate watching this team on 3rd down and what sucks is that's probably the most important stat you want to be really good in. Who cares if you stuff them on 1st and 2nd down if you give up a conversion on 3rd down.

What's baffling is how can we be so good on 1st and 2nd down but be terrible or 3rd down? Seems like you either keep doing what you're doing on 1st and 2nd down or figure out what offenses are doing against you on 3rd down and make that adjustment.

I mean how do you have the talent to be excellent on pretty much everything except defending the pass on 3rd down?

[CrimsonCrew]

Has Hufanga sustained his play from early in the season?

Not noticing him that much the last couple of months.

He was making some real splash plays early in the year, and that has certainly quieted. Later in the year, he had a couple games where he was exploited a little bit in coverage, giving up some big plays and TDs. Recently, he's quieted down in general. At the safety position, quiet usually is not a bad thing. Sure, we'd like to see more of the big hits, plays on the ball, but as long as he's not blowing his coverages, I'll take the tradeoff.

[Samurai]

Has Hufanga sustained his play from early in the season?

Not noticing him that much the last couple of months.

He was making some real splash plays early in the year, and that has certainly quieted. Later in the year, he had a couple games where he was exploited a little bit in coverage, giving up some big plays and TDs. Recently, he's quieted down in general. At the safety position, quiet usually is not a bad thing. Sure, we'd like to see more of the big hits, plays on the ball, but as long as he's not blowing his coverages, I'll take the tradeoff.

It seemed like he was in a hybrid-linebacker/safety position to make spectacular plays earlier in the season (blitzing, shooting the gap to stuff a run, his pick-6 against the Rams, etc.) whereas later in the season he was playing more like a "traditional" safety deep in coverage. Coverage isn't his strong suit as he still takes some bad angles and lacks make-up speed. His reputation was built-up by making those early spectacular plays that get featured on ESPN highlights and sparked the comparisons with Troy Polamalu. But Polamalu ran a 4.33 40 compared to 4.6 for Hufanga - big difference. He's not Polamalu and I think those comparisons hurt his performance. My guess is that the coaching staff is still trying to find the best way to maximize Hufanga's strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Who he gets paired with next season could make a difference; if it is a safety with superior deep coverage skills it may free up Hufanga to play that hybrid role from earlier in the season more often.

[CrimsonCrew]

Has Hufanga sustained his play from early in the season?

Not noticing him that much the last couple of months.

He was making some real splash plays early in the year, and that has certainly quieted. Later in the year, he had a couple games where he was exploited a little bit in coverage, giving up some big plays and TDs. Recently, he's quieted down in general. At the safety position, quiet usually is not a bad thing. Sure, we'd like to see more of the big hits, plays on the ball, but as long as he's not blowing his coverages, I'll take the tradeoff.

It seemed like he was in a hybrid-linebacker/safety position to make spectacular plays earlier in the season (blitzing, shooting the gap to stuff a run, his pick-6 against the Rams, etc.) whereas later in the season he was playing more like a "traditional" safety deep in coverage. Coverage isn't his strong suit as he still takes some bad angles and lacks make-up speed. His reputation was built-up by making those early spectacular plays that get featured on ESPN highlights and sparked the comparisons with Troy Polamalu. But Polamalu ran a 4.33 40 compared to 4.6 for Hufanga - big difference. He's not Polamalu and I think those comparisons hurt his performance. My guess is that the coaching staff is still trying to find the best way to maximize Hufanga's strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Who he gets paired with next season could make a difference; if it is a safety with superior deep coverage skills it may free up Hufanga to play that hybrid role from earlier in the season more often.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked he made the pro bowl. He's got nice instincts and recognition, but he guesses a lot, and he's wrong sometimes. Because of his lack of speed, he's basically got to be right about what he's seeing. Fortunately, he seems to be right more often than not, but he plays a position where one or two lapses in a game can be huge.

[wco81]

If Purdy’s Cinderella story is going to continue, he’s going to really be tested. Dallas is #5 defense and if he gets past that test, Philly had 70 sacks! 4 guys with double digit sacks too.

[Jikkle]

Season isn't over yet but looking back at the trade for #3 overall pick a couple of years ago and looking at just the trade of picks itself and not the actual player taken we did end up winning that gamble.

I mean if you offered a team a 12, 29, 29, and a 3rd-round comp pick for 3rd overall pick you'd probably get hung up on.

Now we can still lose in the end if Lance doesn't amount to anything but the trade wasn't backbreaking like the Broncos trade for Wilson or Rams trade for Stafford where you lost out on extremely valuable picks.

On that note the CMC trade is a win as well because that 2nd rounder is going to be at the bottom of the round now.

[CharityStripe34]

Regardless of what happens Sunday, it's always awesome to knock out Dallas in B2B playoffs. A bit of revenge for the 93 and 94 NFC title games.

This year's NFC title game should be epic. It's probably the two most talented teams in the league clashing. Gotta run the ball earlier and more often. I'd opt to use Mitchell more often in the first half in between the tackles instead of McCaffrey.

[RIPskaterdude]

Ugh

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[Samurai]

Onenihu getting arrested is a foolish self-inflicted mistake. If he is unavailable for Sunday, looks like Drake Jackson should be active and hopefully very hungry to make a good impression to show DeMeco and Shanahan that they made a mistake in making him a healthy scratch for several games down the stretch. At least Drake is the only defensive lineman that we have who has a 40 time (4.5) that can run with Jalen Hurts (4.59).

[arich35]

Onenihu getting arrested is a foolish self-inflicted mistake. If he is unavailable for Sunday, looks like Drake Jackson should be active and hopefully very hungry to make a good impression to show DeMeco and Shanahan that they made a mistake in making him a healthy scratch for several games down the stretch. At least Drake is the only defensive lineman that we have who has a 40 time (4.5) that can run with Jalen Hurts (4.59).

I am not sure if due process will be done properly by that time and I really hope it ends up being a misunderstanding and something small but not a good look at all. I have actually been a big Jackson fan throughout the year and think he can still do some damage

[CrimsonCrew]

Onenihu getting arrested is a foolish self-inflicted mistake. If he is unavailable for Sunday, looks like Drake Jackson should be active and hopefully very hungry to make a good impression to show DeMeco and Shanahan that they made a mistake in making him a healthy scratch for several games down the stretch. At least Drake is the only defensive lineman that we have who has a 40 time (4.5) that can run with Jalen Hurts (4.59).

I am not sure if due process will be done properly by that time and I really hope it ends up being a misunderstanding and something small but not a good look at all. I have actually been a big Jackson fan throughout the year and think he can still do some damage

It'll depend on the nature of the charges. If it's a felony, good chance he won't be able to play - and frankly, good chance the team will cut him. If it's a misdemeanor without injury, it's fairly likely he'll get a court date and be released. It would be helpful to know if he was arrested at the scene of a DV incident, or arrested after the fact. The latter would almost certainly be worse for his prospects as a Niner.

Just actually glanced at an article, and it looks like it's a misdemeanor arrest and he's already been released. Now it should come down to the team. If they're okay with whatever the allegations are, and presumably they're fairly minor (misdo DV often doesn't involve visible injury), this should just be a blip.

[CrimsonCrew]

Police reportedly were called to Omenihu's residence in San Jose at 4:39 p.m. on Monday. His girlfriend alleges that Omenihu pushed her to the ground during an argument. Police officers could not see any visible injuries on her, and she declined medical assistance. Nonetheless, the police officers arrested Omenihu after he provided a statement and served him with a restraining order.

Pretty good chance charges aren't even filed, and I would be shocked if they're filed before Sunday. He should be good to go unless the FO decides to basically make an example out of him.

[Samurai]

Police reportedly were called to Omenihu's residence in San Jose at 4:39 p.m. on Monday. His girlfriend alleges that Omenihu pushed her to the ground during an argument. Police officers could not see any visible injuries on her, and she declined medical assistance. Nonetheless, the police officers arrested Omenihu after he provided a statement and served him with a restraining order.

Pretty good chance charges aren't even filed, and I would be shocked if they're filed before Sunday. He should be good to go unless the FO decides to basically make an example out of him.

The team will have to weigh (at least) two different issues: the value of having Omenihu's talents on the field Sunday versus how the team perceives itself/wants to be perceived by the public from a PR standpoint. Not a clear-cut situation and some segments of the fanbase will be unhappy whatever the team chooses.

[wco81]

Is he even going to be able to practice or did his arrest disrupt his practice schedule?

[Samurai]

Is he even going to be able to practice or did his arrest disrupt his practice schedule?

Since he posted bail, I am not aware of any legal reason that he would not be able to practice since he is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Aside from that, it would be a team decision as to whether they want him to practice or not. And also remember that he is dealing with an oblique injury so his ability to practice and play (at a high level) would be questionable even without the off-the-field issues.

[CrimsonCrew]

I was just looking over some of the Eagles' numbers. Their pass D has been really good this year. First in YPA (5.5), total yards (3057, despite teams having to play catchup regularly), first in sacks by a country mile (70), tied for fourth in INTs. The good news is that they've been somewhat vulnerable to RBs in the passing game (Pollard and the Packers' RBs did well against them), and although they haven't faced many good TEs this year, they've arguably struggled there when facing somewhat more talented players, too. We will need McCaffrey and Kittle to really get going in this one.

[thesack12]

I was just looking over some of the Eagles' numbers. Their pass D has been really good this year. First in YPA (5.5), total yards (3057, despite teams having to play catchup regularly), first in sacks by a country mile (70), tied for fourth in INTs. The good news is that they've been somewhat vulnerable to RBs in the passing game (Pollard and the Packers' RBs did well against them), and although they haven't faced many good TEs this year, they've arguably struggled there when facing somewhat more talented players, too. We will need McCaffrey and Kittle to really get going in this one.

To piggyback on this a bit, I came across these relevant nuggets:

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Seems like 9ers could make some hay utilizing Jennings and perhaps even McCloud, and of course CMC's elite receiving prowess plays favorably into this

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You can get some traction in the running game against the Eagles. That said, Niners have got to get the ground game on track early. They have struggled to establish a decent running attack in the 1st half of games far too frequently this season, including both playoffs games.

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Something most definitely sticks out here, 9ers need to try and exploit that left side.

[thesack12]

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Seems like Omenihu will be available this Sunday

[thesack12]

Current forecast at kickoff: Mostly cloudy, 52 degrees, Winds 10-15 MPH

Can't ask for much better than that for late January weather on the East coast. Weather doesn't appear it will be a factor at all.