Great game...

You defense was everything I feared. We couldn't establish the run and that throws our whole offense out of wack. Your front four played a great game. And Dansby was his usual disruptive self. I thought Sherman called a great game until he had to go primarily pass later in the game to move the changes. Excellent call on those 3rd down draw plays....we rarely see those and it shows. And he called some timely screens, which we can never seem to defend properly. I thought he mixed it up extremely well and did a good job early of getting the ball out of Tannehill's hands quickly with some shorter drops. All Tanny needs is some speed on the outside and a athletic pass-catching TE and you guys will be insanely tough to defend. And get Jake back healthy as well. I know any loss sucks but coming half-way across the country, I thought you guys gave us tons of problems and it was close late. One less muff punt and this is a totally different game. Hopefully we can beat the Pats for you next week. You'll see me around....good luck the rest of the way.

 

Yeah, Sherman kept us off-balance. That's not easy to do. Alot ppl start out trying to run on us but then when they get behind, the become one dimensional which plays into our hands because were better against pass. But Sherman kept at it, even down by 10 and that commitment to the run led to alot of 3rd down conversions, which in turn, led to some scores. We couldn't stop the run with only 7 in the box and that was the key early on. When our safeties are coming down, making tackles in the box, that mean the run has our attention. And that makes the play-action and mis-direction plays much more difficult to defend. I thought your O-Line was solid.

 

Trust me, until we put Baalke in charge and he landed Harbaugh, I was right there with you. We were always doing just enough to lose, game after game, year after year. I dont know enough about Philbin to know if he's the answer you all have been looking for but you guys look alot better as a whole, from last year. Not sure if Ireland is the answer but you found a QB and that's half the battle. Just surrounded him with talent and your going to win more than you lose.

 

Wa

Yeah Baalke hit it big in that 2011 draft. Cully, Aldon, Kendall Hunter, CK, Kilgore who will be the future at center and Bruce Miller. All from that class and all have performed above and beyond expectations thus far.

As far as Goldson, I wish I could say 'no way' we let it go that far but I think its a numbers thing. Baalke does a great job of knowing player's worth, around the league and when it comes time to re-sign them, not budging from the value he has already assigned them. He's played hard ball with Goldson for 2 years now....and its worked. At first I thought he wanted to see if he could string along consecutive stellar seasons. Well he's done that but yet, he made it a priority to extend Bowman 2 weeks ago and not Goldson. Bowman wasn't due to be a FA until 2014. I don't get it because Goldson is proabably having a better year this year, than last year. His ints are down but his overall play has been much more consistent. The thing is Goldson wants Weddle money. I think he deserves it. A lot of the fanbase feels he deserves it. The question is does Baalke?

 

I didnt like it. Smith had been playing pretty solid ball and I don't think players should lose their job to a concussion....sets a bad precedent IMO. But give CK credit for seizing the opportunity.

The thing is a lot of our fanbase is mad because they expected us to be this explosive offense now with CK and it hasn't happened. They just don't realize that's Harbaugh. He's a ball-control type of coach. He was the same way at Stanford when he had Luck. Doesn't matter how talented the QB is, he will run the ball and do it consistently unless the game dictates otherwise. He wants balance offensively so it doesn't really matter who the QB, were going to still run. It's a big part of what we do. We're last in the league in pass attempts for a reason.

In all honesty from a passing perspective, there isn't much difference from CK and Alex Smith. CK has a better arm and better escapability. He has the improvisational skills to make something out of nothing. Alex doesn't and that's why he's the starter. But if you look at the numbers, its not much different in terms of pass attempts, passing yards per game from when Alex was the starter. So from that perspective, makes sense to go with the younger, more rawer player in hopes that some experience will lead to a bigger upside down the road, then to stick with the the status quo of a 7 year vet and know pretty much what your going to get.

 

That might have been true two years ago but Goldson has improved in that respect, the more time he's spent on the field. All safeties take a bad angle or make a wrong read here and there. These guys aren't robots. But if your sound in your technique and discipline in your assignments 95% of the time, than you will make more plays than you give up. Goldson is best tackling FS for my money. He hits like a mack truck and has excellent ball skills. He may not poses the range of a Ed Reed or have the speed to cover the slot like a Earl Thomas but he's one of the best centerfielders playing. And he just turned 27 in September, so he's still improving. Baalke would be crazy not to lock him up. It's a passing league. Guys who perform well on the back-end are severely hard to find. Maybe Baalke wants more man cover skills out of the position, idk but good luck finding it. Only two FS I'd rate over him is Thomas and Reed. Weddle is great against the pass but he isn't nearly the presence Goldson is against the run and as a blitzer. I think the Jerry Jones is going to throw a ton of money Goldson's way if he hits the market and I'm going to be extremely upset if he becomes a Cowboy.

 

Your short-changing yourself I think. Your defense is solid. Add another pass-rusher and shore up your depth in the secondary and that'll be a great unit going forward. Surround Tammy with some talent and your there. Only team you have to worry about in your division is NE, which is getting older and seems to be drafting worst and worst as each year passes, so they're constantly dipping into free agency to fill voids. Starts with your division first. Jets are meh. Buffalo is meh. I always said Green Bay and Pittsburgh was the model each franchise should strive for. Develop your scouting department, keep your staff and scheme on both sides of the ball intact for as long as possible and then draft to fit your scheme, not on who the pundits think you should draft. You know how many draft experts thought we drafted Chris Culliver 2 rounds too early? How many said Aldon Smith wasn't a fit in the 3-4? Made fun of Baalke because he drafted a conference defensive player of the year to play FB? Your trust your scouting, trust your coaching, and you do your homework. No was laughing at him when he won Executive of the Year last year. You build through the draft and you get to spend your money re-signing your own talent instead investing in expensive FAs every year, which are hit or miss depending on scheme. You guys are not that far off really. You may have to use free agency to fill some voids offensively, until you can string together a couple of good drafts and infuse some young talent to backtrack your depth. But its not like your that far off. Like I said earlier, you found your QB and seemed to have your HC....that's half the battle

 

Fair enough. I think he's improved to point where it isn't the issue it was early on in his career. I mean he took a bad angle yesterday I believe on a screen and I think a pass across the middle to Bess . But it was a glaring weakness before. I would argue that its a minor weakness at this point.

And your correct about Weddle, the Bolts use him differently but I think it has more to do with his strengths and weakness and I don't think his skills in the box are playing him to his strengths. And this is coming from a guy who was a huge Weddle fan when he was a senior at Utah and really wanted the Niners to draft him. His physicality in and around the box is lacking in comparison to Goldson's from my perspective. Now some might argue that's just because Goldson is really a SS with enough range that allows him to also to play FS, so that's why he's more adept in the box to Weddle, a true FS. Guess it just depends on which side of the fence you stand.