:::[Official] San Francisco 49ers 2024 Season Thread [NFC CHAMPIONS]:::

[red80]

aldon is this generation's preeminent pass rusher and lynchmobb is our 1st round needle in the 4th round haystack.

baalke reloaded the defense for another 5 years.

i need baalke's face on this gif

DAT ************* PASS RUSH FROM THE GOONS LYNCH AND ALDON

 

 

[nothingtol0se]

i legit can't tell aldon and lynch apart from that gif.


tears of joy*

 

[red80]

 

[ii flash ii]

Carrying Eli like a baby

 

[aNYone]

Man them two pairs of long *** white sleeved arms just hangin is a scary sight

 

[lightweight champion]

i legit can't tell aldon and lynch apart from that gif.


tears of joy*

Doesn't help that they both got 9s on their jerseys.

 

[townbidness]

Lynch potential to be better? [emoji]128566[/emoji]

 

[red80]

hes just getting started 

that's why we were so hyped when we got him. it all depended on him getting his **** together.  it seems like hes matured a lot  since college. he has all the potential in the world to be a special player.

 

[hyper cutter]

Haha Lynch just messing with Eli.

I've noticed he's actualy pretty docile to the QBs. Always patting them or saying something.

Like a gentle thug or something. Someone who will tuck you in after he just forced a fumble in you.

 

[niketalker23]

Haha Lynch just messing with Eli.

I've noticed he's actualy pretty docile to the QBs. Always patting them or saying something.

Like a gentle thug or something. Someone who will tuck you in after he just forced a fumble in you.

I've noticed that too. He congratulated Manning on the record. Tapped Brees and Eli. Unless he's saying something like "You still a *****" along with the pat, he seems like a nice guy lol.

 

[townbidness]

Lynch just goes in

 

[red80]

That's a ******* preposterous statement. Aldon has racked up sacks from the strong side, one on ones, double teams, etc. the film doesn't lie: Aldon is the best at what he does in the NFL. There isn't a 3-4 OLB in the NFL with better hands than Aldon.

 

[davizzy]

Borland

 

[hyper cutter]

That actually says a lot of about both Bethea and Borland, doesn't it?

 

[aNYone]

That actually says a lot of about both Bethea and Borland, doesn't it?

Borland has far less PT than Bethea

Bethea is a top ten to 15 ss so 7.5 tackles per game is expected especially since they been on the field all the time 

Borland racked up 40 something in 3 games alone

Both have played well though

B-REX is just playing at an all pro  level right now

 

[tsamshox]

Bethea has been a ROCK all season tho. Always seems like he makes those crucial 3rd and short tackles to get the D off the field.

 

[dland24]

3-35-1

That is Alex's record when his team's opponent scores 24 points.  3 wins.  In THIRTY NINE GAMES.

I never want to hear another comment from anyone about how our team would be better with Alex Smith. Never again.

 

[red80]

Despite his shortcomings,that last throw made me happy to have Kap. Alex's arm was never strong, but it looks like it has regressed to a Shaun Hill esque noodle arm.

 

[cato312]

There's no way in hell Alex would have helped lead the comeback against the Falcons in the NFCCG...no way. Hell, the divisional game against GB was a semi shootout so I'm not sure he could have kept up the pace either.

For all of Kaep's inconsistencies, the decision between the two remains the correct one. Case closed.

 

[aNYone]

Alex is better at managing games and not doing the dum ish that kaep does some times

But Kaeps natural gifts are just too immense

i rather take the gamble of him putting it all together than check down city

 

[chris82790]

3-35-1

That is Alex's record when his team's opponent scores 24 points.  3 wins.  In THIRTY NINE GAMES.

I never want to hear another comment from anyone about how our team would be better with Alex Smith. Never again.

Just curious, is that including the playoff game against the Saints?

 

[dland24]

 

3-35-1

That is Alex's record when his team's opponent scores 24 points.  3 wins.  In THIRTY NINE GAMES.

I never want to hear another comment from anyone about how our team would be better with Alex Smith. Never again.

Just curious, is that including the playoff game against the Saints?

The record?  Yes it is.

 

[moe200069]

3-35-1

That is Alex's record when his team's opponent scores 24 points.  3 wins.  In THIRTY NINE GAMES.

I never want to hear another comment from anyone about how our team would be better with Alex Smith. Never again.

i don't want to defend him but those 2005-2010 teams were terribly coached and yes, our offense was pathetic with him at the helm. but i'm pretty sure we were consistently giving up 24+ points during those years...i could be wrong.

 

[red80]

 [h1]Analysis Notebook: Week 11[/h1]
Sam Monson  | November 19, 2014

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Without Patrick Willis  and NaVorro  Bowman you would think the San Francisco 49ers would be left struggling at inside linebacker, but the emergence of Chris Borland means they look as strong as ever at the position. Borland has been a tackling machine and looks like a draft steal given he was selected in the third round.

Right now Borland reminds me of Luke Kuechly  – a tackling machine with outstanding instincts and a nose for the football – and though it is early days he is already impressing me more than Kuechly ever has. He might remind me a lot of Kuechly, but I think he may be a better player, and given that Kuechly is currently sitting atop the PFF inside linebacker rankings that is no small praise.

Playing linebacker in the NFL is a tough gig, especially inside. You need to be adept at a multitude of different skills and Borland so far looks to be on top of them all.

• Linebackers need to be able to read the play quickly in order to exploit gaps in the blocking and make plays unblocked.
• Linebackers need to be able to take on and defeat the lead blocks of full backs and tight ends in the run game.
• Linebackers need to be able to take on and defeat the blocks of offensive linemen making it to the second level.
• Linebackers need to be conscious of players coming out of the backfield in coverage and close quickly to limit dump-off yardage.
• Linebackers need to be able to recognise route combinations and cover weapons like Jimmy Graham split out into the slot.
• Linebackers need to be able to read the quarterback and break on the ball across the middle.
• Linebackers need to be able to drop deep down field and play coverage like a defensive back.

So far Borland has earned a tick in the box and shown outstanding skills in all but the final category, and that’s only  because he really hasn’t been tested yet in that area. He has only been targeted once further than 10 yards down field and though he read it well and was in reasonable position he was beaten by Reuben Randle, so we’ll call that particular category an incomplete grade and focus on the others.

Let’s take a look at a play in the most recent game against the Giants. It’s relatively easy for linebackers to make plays unblocked. It still requires good read and react skills, and the speed to make it happen, but the league is full of players that can make those plays. What separates those guys from the really good linebackers is how they play when they have to deal with a blocker along the way. The bigger the blocking obstacle generally speaking the tougher a time linebackers have dealing with them. The biggest of them all are offensive linemen.

One of the biggest criticisms people tend to have about linebackers is that they struggle when linemen get hands on them at the second level. It’s a valid criticism but it applies to almost all linebackers. Even top linebackers have difficulty dealing with untouched offensive linemen getting their hands on them, and it’s only really the very best guys that can consistently make plays despite their attention. That’s why plays like this are so encouraging for Borland, especially given his perceived relative lack of size:



Despite the centre coming cleanly right at him Borland is able to read the run through the big body in his way, quickly shed him and make the tackle. The running back ends up with a half way decent gain, but if Borland wasn’t able to command the block from the centre then Jennings was gone into the secondary and would have been a broken tackle away from taking it the distance.

How about dealing with lead blocks instead?



Here Borland has a large gap and a lead block from FB Erik Lorig  to deal with. He attacks the block with speed and power, but most importantly gets him away from his body in the contact, enabling him to react to the running back and make the tackle. Too many linebackers would have just attacked this block and been satisfied with standing the blocker up in the hole and allowing the running back to adjust behind it, squeezing the hole but not actually affecting the run too badly on a play like this where the hole was so large.

Borland wasn’t intent on just disrupting the play, but actually killing it himself.

The past few games also show numerous other plays of Borland destroying the run through both blockers and unblocked, but let’s turn our attention to coverage.

Coverage is obviously an important part of being an NFL linebacker. The league is a passing league and more than ever linebackers are being asked to cover players that would be touch mismatches for players whose primary responsibility is coverage, let alone players who need to think about the run as well.

Jimmy Graham  is the very definition of these tough matchups. Against the Saints Borland was tasked with covering Graham on multiple occasions. This alone is noteworthy since plenty of teams this season have abandoned covering Graham with linebackers at all and kept a defensive back on him all game long.

Here Borland has the middle of the field but quickly reads the route combination from the Saints and understands that he is going to be left covering Graham on a quick out pattern as the other coverage defenders will be drawn outside. Any kind of hesitation in this reaction gives Graham the ball with a bit of space to work with and room to run into, but Borland fires himself at it like a missile.

He is moving towards the catch point before Graham has even come out of his break, and well before Brees has cocked to throw the ball. He hits Graham as the ball arrives and limits the Saints to a short gain with no yards after the catch.

This might be my favorite aspect of Borland’s play. He doesn’t just react quickly and move early, but it’s where he moves to that is most impressive. His instinct for the correct angles to take is fantastic and a skill that many players don’t have. All too often you’ll see players read the play soon enough, recognise the danger, but take off to the wrong spot. Take this play again against the Saints.



Borland is sitting in a zone in the middle of the field. He sinks to a landmark that will squeeze any throwing window to slot receiver Marques Colston, but then recognises the pivot route from RB Travaris Cadet  out of the backfield. This kind of pivot route is a linebacker killer, routinely leaving them over pursuing in coverage to the outside, and that’s without the added threat of another route to think about. At the point Cadet cuts back inside and Borland reads the play I would actually expect him to be beaten, but the angle he takes to the play is fantastic and enables him to make it. He breaks directly towards Brees, matching almost perfectly the trajectory of the pass once it’s released, meaning he arrives at the catch point and not a spot Cadet used to be.

This play is usually a certain win for the defense but the speed and angle that Borland attacks it with means the reception actually loses yards on third down, forcing the Saints to take a field goal instead of extend the drive into the red zone.

Chris Borland is a tackling machine, but there is so much more to his game.



Right now he sits second in the PFF inside linebacker rankings behind only Luke Kuechly, but having played just 270 snaps to Kuechly’s 734. The two players share a lot in common, including hype, but Borland looks to have a far higher ceiling in my eyes, and makes it a very interesting decision for the 49ers who will have three impressive inside linebackers when everybody gets healthy.

 

[champcruthik]

Bethea has been a ROCK all season tho. Always seems like he makes those crucial 3rd and short tackles to get the D off the field.

Bethea was obviously the best SF offseason acquisition, but I also think he's been team MVP thus far through 10 games.