The run-run-pass-punt combo was seen far too often yesterday and yielded 8 first downs. This is clearly not even your older brother's Niner offense. As the team has dedicated this season to the memory of the coach that invented the West Coast Offense (WCO), it is mind-boggling that we are one of the few teams that does not run it. In fact, Norv Turner left us with what is the polar opposite of the Walsh WCO: the Air Coryell Offense (ACO). This posting from an apparently literate Raider fan gives a good summary of the system, as Turner used it in Oakland when he was head coach. The fact that the Raiders used this system is reason enough for the Niners to ditch it. The only time that team has had any success in the past two decades was when they were using the WCO under Gruden.
The ACS is predicated on power running and a vertical passing game. There is nothing inherently wrong with that strategy, especially when you have a road-grading O-line and beast of a back like FG. BUT the second half of that strategy is completely missing from the personnel and play calls used in the past two weeks. NFL coaches are a conservative bunch by nature. Defensive minded coaches tend to be even more conservative than average. And then we have Commander Nolan who jumped through hoops to wear a suit on the sideline. To quote OJ's new lawyer, "This does not bode well."
This train is slightly less f**ked than the Niner offenseClearly a large part of the issue is with the leadership's inability or unwillingness to open up the vertical aspect of the offense. As a result, teams are loading up 8 or 9 guys in the box to blast through the line and stuff Gore for a 1-2 yard gain. Hostler then decides to get cute and run on 3rd and 8 to set up the punt. This logic absolutely baffles me. The predictability of this offense is going to smother it. The one gutsy play call yesterday resulted in a 43 yard TD run on 4th and 1. I credit that one to Mama Gore's ghost smacking defenders' hands away from her baby.
Joking aside, these are the things this offense needs to achieve Nolan's dream of becoming mediocre:
1) Get Hostler off the sideline and up into the booth. The guy is too wrapped up in the emotion of the game as evidenced by him almost giving himself a stroke while yelling at David Baas in the 2nd quarter. The one game he spent up in the booth during the preseason was the one where the play-calling was most effective.
2) Become more unpredictable on 1st down. Pass. Naked bootleg. Trick plays since we have at least 2, sometimes 3, QBs on the field at any given time. Hostler needs to pretend it's his first day in prison - hit someone with a chair, throw his feces at the wall, and declare himself Imperator of Catalonia...figuratively speaking of course.
3) Get Lelie or Hill in the game and throw a ball 5o yards downfield. At least let the opposing D know they have to respect that. The vertical half of the ACS is being completely ignored and letting the other D tighten up around the tackle box.
4) Use The Disease. You draft the guy 6th overall and then get him one touch a game. Everyone has seen what he can do. If we are serious about turning into Turner's Chargers, we need to give VD the chance to turn into Antonio Gates before we start declaring him a head case or a bust.
5) Throw on 3rd and long. At least make a gentleman's effort to get the first down.
Clearly most of my suggestions have to do with passing more than 17 times a game. That alone will open up running room for FG and truly allow us to become the ball controlling offense that Nolan wants. Because when you're picking up 8 first downs a game, you are neither controlling the ball nor the game. Hopefully we learn that before the Steelers teach us a nasty lesson on national TV. But for some reason, I doubt we will....
Joking aside, these are the things this offense needs to achieve Nolan's dream of becoming mediocre:
1) Get Hostler off the sideline and up into the booth. The guy is too wrapped up in the emotion of the game as evidenced by him almost giving himself a stroke while yelling at David Baas in the 2nd quarter. The one game he spent up in the booth during the preseason was the one where the play-calling was most effective.
2) Become more unpredictable on 1st down. Pass. Naked bootleg. Trick plays since we have at least 2, sometimes 3, QBs on the field at any given time. Hostler needs to pretend it's his first day in prison - hit someone with a chair, throw his feces at the wall, and declare himself Imperator of Catalonia...figuratively speaking of course.
3) Get Lelie or Hill in the game and throw a ball 5o yards downfield. At least let the opposing D know they have to respect that. The vertical half of the ACS is being completely ignored and letting the other D tighten up around the tackle box.
4) Use The Disease. You draft the guy 6th overall and then get him one touch a game. Everyone has seen what he can do. If we are serious about turning into Turner's Chargers, we need to give VD the chance to turn into Antonio Gates before we start declaring him a head case or a bust.
5) Throw on 3rd and long. At least make a gentleman's effort to get the first down.
Clearly most of my suggestions have to do with passing more than 17 times a game. That alone will open up running room for FG and truly allow us to become the ball controlling offense that Nolan wants. Because when you're picking up 8 first downs a game, you are neither controlling the ball nor the game. Hopefully we learn that before the Steelers teach us a nasty lesson on national TV. But for some reason, I doubt we will....
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