49ers

[1900KiLLa]

kaepernick is talented but with the read option all but dead, he's just another young struggling QB, we need Alex

 

[CurtDawg]

Nah we definitely do not need Alex Smith!
Alex is a scrub & always will be a scrub.

Kaepernick just needs to spend the entire off season in the film room trying to improve his game.
He's just going through a sophomore slump, teams have figured out his weaknesses.
I know he can play better than this, b/c last year he was going through his reads & finding open men.
I'm really not sure what happened this year

The irony is after every single game dudes keep saying "its the playcalling, its the playcalling"
But the coaches have purposely simplified & dumb down the passing offense/routes to help Kap & to mask his flaws.
Yes, Romans playcalling is a problem too but, the O-line & WR's & Kap equally share the blame as well.

We have the worst passing offense in the whole entire NFL.
You can't blame all that shit on just bad playcalling every single game!
Its everyone on offense.
Shit every team will have bad/questionable playcalling in games.... good QB's & WR's are still able to make plays regardless.

Look at Russell Wilson, the Seahawks O-line has been pure crap this entire season.
But guess what, he still manages to scramble, extend drives, make plays, etc

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

Nah we definitely do not need Alex Smith!
Alex is a scrub & always will be a scrub.

Kaepernick just needs to spend the entire off season in the film room trying to improve his game.
He's just going through a sophomore slump, teams have figured out his weaknesses.
I know he can play better than this, b/c last year he was going through his reads & finding open men.
I'm really not sure what happened this year

I know exactly what happened to him he is being over coached.
and what is his weakness? kap follows directions, no more no less. do you put it past jim+greg to tell him what to do and where to go? think about that for a minute. this time last year he was going through progressions and reads and finding the open man, because he was allowed to play loose and be himself. he wasn't reigned in. this year the lanes are wide open to take off plenty of times but he doesn't even budge... doesn't that strike you as odd? or out of his character of what he naturally does?

yes...

The irony is after every single game dudes keep saying "its the playcalling, its the playcalling"
But the coaches have purposely simplified & dumb down the passing offense/routes to help Kap & to mask his flaws.
Yes, Romans playcalling is a problem too but, the O-line & WR's & Kap equally share the blame as well.

that's bullshit curt. the play calls aren't simplified you're just sounding like a tv analyst at this point. the same passing attack that hasn't been higher than 22nd in the nfl at any point is the same thing that's happening now.

We have the worst passing offense in the whole entire NFL.
You can't blame all that shit on just bad playcalling every single game!
Its everyone on offense.
Shit every team will have bad/questionable playcalling in games.... good QB's & WR's are still able to make plays regardless.

yes you can when the running specialist won't even run. the thing he's good at he won't even do. every 1st down was a gadget run or a predictable run to the right side.. giving us a negative play and then we pass. it was so predictable troy aikman was calling it out during the game and we never adjusted now tell me how can players succeed if on first down they load the box and we still run then on second down they play zone and we pass on every single possession?
and every team isn't having multiple series of questionable play calling every single game that they lose... the sole reason. no other team is losing simply because the offense and the coordinator cannot call a complete game or make in game adjustments.

Look at Russell Wilson, the Seahawks O-line has been pure crap this entire season.
But guess what, he still manages to scramble, extend drives, make plays, etc

yes let's look at wilson who has the freedom to do whatever he wants in the offense. multiple routes on every play and isn't told don't do this or don't do that. you can see it..

that 3rd and short to lmj right up the middle (after last weeks hunter right up the middle on a short 3rd down) should tell you everything you need to know. on what planet does that make sense?

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

Yup & people will swear "Kap has no one to throw to, everyone is always covered"
I saw a bunch of plays like that in the Panthers game.
And whats with him taking another sack with less than 2 minutes on the clock, when we are trying to drive down the field for a score?

not always covered but you're going to ignore aikman pointing out nobody open right? just ignore that.

and then on the sack going to ignore the pressure was right there and on the replay nobody was open right? ignore that the defenses KNOW what we're going to do and that's not because of Kap that's because of the play calling.

Check the game highlights @ the 2:15 mark
Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions?
Tell me what you see, cause I see Manningham wide open on that route... no one at all was defending him!

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000283766/GameDay-49ers-vs-Saints-highlights
(if the video doesn't work try mozilla firefox)

this is what i mean though. people point to a play that he misses and that's what he supposedly does all game

like we didn't see brees miss on a few big plays or toss a horrible interception..

like gore didn't miss an easy pass that would have probably put him in the end zone

just kap can't do this kap can't do that
look at wilson

yall do realize yall were saying this same shit about alex smith right?

that's the funny part

49er fans are saying the same shit about kap that they were saying about alex smith and it continues to be the qb and not the common denominator in the equation

think on that...


how is it last season he was able to go through progressions?

and no it wasn't read option based look at the highlight film on those td's from last season... regular drop back passes multiple reads and making the right decision

now how has that disappeared along with the other things that made him dynamic like scrambling buying time and taking off?


maybe just maybe he's following precise instructions

just maybe

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

It ever occur to you that Kap made roman look good last year and not the other way around?

we didn't change the offense last season even with the pistol we weren't running it way more than anything last year. the stats show that.

Roman just simply isn't good. and they're not allowing someone to be dynamic and make plays... conservative and arrogant at the same time.

every problem people are naming are the exact same things that they said pre Kap.

I don't see how people don't see this.

Reigned in the entire season.

either let him play loose
or
don't play him that's what it comes down to. that's what's going on.

 

[1900KiLLa]

I get so jealous when I watch other games or the highlights on sports center & I see teams Completing passes.. Scott Tolzien passing for 300+ .. Josh Mccown lighting it up & we can't get 200 yards passing

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

I get so jealous when I watch other games or the highlights on sports center & I see teams Completing passes.. Scott Tolzien passing for 300+ .. Josh Mccown lighting it up & we can't get 200 yards passing

exactly the fucking point.

tolzien throws for 300 yards in green bay

but here he couldn't throw for 30

now what does that tell you?

did he suddenly become good?

or did he go to a team with a good passing scheme?

think about that for a minute

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive coordinator Greg Roman is public enemy No. 1 in San Francisco.

While he had detractors in his first two years, they’re not hiding anymore. People want answers, they want change and that isn’t happening. Zero attempts have been made to modify the approach in a trying time where the 49ers are weapon-deficient on that side of the ball.

They haven’t played to their strengths or revisited their offensive concepts.

They’ve got three talented running backs, the most bruising offensive line in football and no wide receivers, yet the 49ers are trying to challenge teams vertically instead of breaking up 35-40 carries between Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter and LaMichael James. It is a bona fide identity crisis.

The variable change—from injuries to a full season with Kaepernick—have only underlined Roman’s inadequacies as an offensive coordinator. This season more than ever, the 49ers play caller seems inept in one of his main functions as the team’s OC, which involves game planning and orchestrating drives.

Truth be told, for all his talents as a run designer, Roman is not a terrific play caller and appears to have a serious lack of knowhow when it comes to striking up a rhythmic passing attack.

In the team's four losses on the season, Frank Gore finished with carry totals of 9, 11, 16 and 13 (his four lowest of the year).

In their six wins? Well, the 49ers star running back averaged 21.0 attempts, while rushing for 521 yards and seven touchdowns in those games.

Getting one of the league's top rushers carries seems like a simple enough concept, especially when there is such an obvious correlation to wins and losses, yet it is forgotten time and time again.

Even though it costs the 49ers games and the team doesn't have an adequate weapons to survive by passing the ball, they still don't keep Gore on some sort of pitch count. Statistically, he is having his best season since 2006, when he was an eager 23-year-old that rumbled for 2,180 yards from scrimmage.

Now, coach Harbaugh and Co. philosophize their offense on merit and "the hot hand," yet, not giving Frank Gore 20-plus touches each game this season directly opposes that thought process.

Not only is he the most deserving player when it comes to getting touches, but he is clearly in a groove this year. San Francisco is not doing itself any favors by not planning around Gore. Every time the he is secondary in the team's game plan, they lose.

hmmmm

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

WTF is Harbaugh doing???
He is rotating these scrub QB's!!!
How can we evaluate our WR's when Mccoy & Tolzein is throwing ducks to them???
Kaepernick still needs more in game practice, he's not a vet like Tom Brady!!!

agreed with you then and now. but we see tolzien stinking it up in our offense right but throwing for 300 yards in the packers... like flynn did too.. like rogers does all the time. is tolzien more talented than kap? lol

can we fucking get b.j. daniels some work if you gone have tolzein in this fucking game

....hmm

*Our backup QB's are still terrible.
*LaMicheal James needs to keep working on his overall game.
*** We still have not gotten a good look at our WR's***

.....

Same problem. Get in the red zone and roman calls the shittiest plays wastes downs and field goal. That has to change

.......

The thing that everyone seems to not talk about is that although we run the read-option. It's the focal point of our offense. We're so much more than the read-option.

So if teams want to focus on stopping the read-option let them. We'll just line up traditionally and score.

and we haven't lined up traditionally since game 1

The Packers signed Scott Tolzien to their practice squad.

cause they saw how good he was right? lol

Here is my 2 cents on the Packers game....
Overall I think we were pretty damn solid on both sides of the ball.
We just need to clean up a few things like, penalties, timeouts/game clock management, missed tackles.
I think the missed tackles were b/c of rust being the 1st game of the season.
Timeouts/Getting the plays in on time will be a problem again next week though.

Back to the Packers....
Mannnn, the Packers spent all offseason game planning on how to stop us & they still lost!!!
These fools even went & asked college coaches how to stop the read option.
They even switched up their defensive coverage.
In the playoffs they used man coverage, but yesterday they mostly used zone coverage.
They got embarrassed in the playoffs.
Their whole game plan was
1. Stop the run (Gore & Hunter)
2. Don't let Kaepernick run/scramble
3. Double Vernon
That just shows how good our team is, b/c the Packers are a strong playoff team & with all that.... we still won!


They had BJ Raji & John Jolly to stop runs up the middle.
Clay Mathews & the other LB protecting the ends so we could not run outside.
And they had a spy watching Kaep most of the game.
The Packers dedicated like 8 men just to try & stop THE THREAT of the run/pistol/read option!
They left the middle of the field wide open & we killed them in the passing game.


Soooo question....
How do teams stop our run game with Gore/Hunter/Kaep & the pistol formation/read option + Boldin & Vernon running wild in the secondary???
Answer.....
THEY CAN'T !!!

Only roman can....and he has effectively done so the entire season

you noticed it too just like i did you called it too just like i did.

so why is it all on kap when given the chance to run a competent offense he's lights out right?

see what i mean guys? this is out of our own mouths

 

[max-dawg]

all this whining...

bottom line: the saints defense won that game bc the offense turned it over 2x. when was the last time they were +2 in turnovers & lost?

kap surprised everyone last yr, but now. the game film is a yr older...coaches know what to do to frustrate him.

that 49er offense was held to under 200 yds, right?

Max's Samsung OG-Note 1

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

all this whining...

bottom line: the saints defense won that game bc the offense turned it over 2x. when was the last time they were +2 in turnovers & lost?

kap surprised everyone last yr, but now. the game film is a yr older...coaches know what to do to frustrate him.

that 49er offense was held to under 200 yds, right?

Max's Samsung OG-Note 1

1st nobody i know im not whining.

2nd completely wrong. the saint defense didn't win this game. the coordinator for the 49ers lost this game.
they were completely predictable. run on 1st with a gadget play and then pass on 2nd.

also
did not use gore with power enough. the 1 wham play we ran he broke it for 16 yards and they never tried it again.

also
it has zero to do with kap surprising people people really need to stop saying that.
its not kap that they have figured out, its the offensive coordinator they have figured out.
teams play us the same way every single game they know what our coordinator is going to run and what he isn't going to do.

so again

its not people figuring out kap because there's nothing to figure out.. its simple run the ball with power play action pass and let him run when the play breaks down.. he doesn't need read option or designed runs to be effective.

we've been watching this guy for 3 years now max and its the same passing problems since he's been here. last year it was a case of kap making the guy look good, not the other way around.

saints defense is improved but let's not act like our offense has been putting up major numbers and then suddenly got shut down...

the saints offense got shut down...
last week we saw what they did compared to this week right?

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

and also max the game as we have agreed upon since we first started talking football together is won in the trenches.

we won on the defensive side
and let the saints off the hook on the offensive side.

you run gore 13 times
you let the other defense off the hook

right or wrong?

 

[Soul On Ice]

kaepernick is talented but with the read option all but dead, he's just another young struggling QB, we need Alex

stop it

 

[Soul On Ice]

and also max the game as we have agreed upon since we first started talking football together is won in the trenches.

we won on the defensive side
and let the saints off the hook on the offensive side.

you run gore 13 times
you let the other defense off the hook

right or wrong?

oddly Im not even stressing too much.
My attitude is just get us to the Playoffs (barring a major step-back, will happen) We'll just be road warriors and beat NFC East Champ in the 1st rd, get some revenge in NO in 2nd round, and exorcise our demons in Seattle for the Championship game then smash Alex Smith the SB

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

oddly Im not even stressing too much.
My attitude is just get us to the Playoffs (barring a major step-back, will happen) We'll just be road warriors and beat NFC East Champ in the 1st rd, get some revenge in NO in 2nd round, and exorcise our demons in Seattle for the Championship game then smash Alex Smith the SB

if the team was outmatched i wouldn't even be in here saying shit. just aye what are ya gonna do

but we're barely losing to teams with only half of the team showing up

if the offense ever shows up like it could.. then watch the fuck out.

i believe the way for this to happen is to go back to last year's offense which we aren't running now

or fire roman and get in someone who will. 3 years in and still can't get plays called in on time.. lol laughable

 

[AwwSchitt]

if the team was outmatched i wouldn't even be in here saying shit. just aye what are ya gonna do

but we're barely losing to teams with only half of the team showing up

if the offense ever shows up like it could.. then watch the fuck out.

i believe the way for this to happen is to go back to last year's offense which we aren't running now

or fire roman and get in someone who will. 3 years in and still can't get plays called in on time.. lol laughable

Barely losing with ONLY half a team. We're averaging 2 injuries a week. It's freaking insane.

Sunday's game shows you that we don't even need a lot from the offense. With our defense if the offense just shows up a little we're getting a win (the refs have to use their head also).

Roman has hit the 3rd year slump. I just shake my head at what I'm seeing.

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

Barely losing with ONLY half a team. We're averaging 2 injuries a week. It's freaking insane.

Sunday's game shows you that we don't even need a lot from the offense. With our defense if the offense just shows up a little we're getting a win (the refs have to use their head also).

Roman has hit the 3rd year slump. I just shake my head at what I'm seeing.

just being an idiot.

anyone with 2 eyes recognized the system he was running last season with alex and kap was working beautifully.

keep that system and add a little wrinkle here or there but keep the base.

with alex the passing was crisp and good but it wouldn't produce the deep pass.

NOW

just go ahead and put kap in there and we can do the deep pass and it becomes a complete offense right?

 

[CurtDawg]

I'm tired of hearing & talking about this same crap every game
I'm done
Holla at me when we start winning against GOOD teams convincingly
Deuces

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

I'm tired of hearing & talking about this same crap every game
I'm done
Holla at me when we start winning against GOOD teams convincingly
Deuces

the fact that the offense has been as bad as it could possibly be and we still barely lose man

come on

 

[1900KiLLa]

I'm tired of hearing & talking about this same crap every game
I'm done
Holla at me when we start winning against GOOD teams convincingly
Deuces

COSIGN!

Also I hope Greg Roman & coach Harbaugh are watching Cam and the panthers offense to learn what to do with Kaep.. Newton only has 1 legit threat @ WR & No Vernon Davis or Gore & HE IS EATIN'

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

 

[RoadRage]

COSIGN!

Also I hope Greg Roman & coach Harbaugh are watching Cam and the panthers offense to learn what to do with Kaep.. Newton only has 1 legit threat @ WR & No Vernon Davis or Gore & HE IS EATIN'

Kap is going through the same thing Cam when through last year, an over controlling coach that is restricting him rather then let him play in the flow.. Shit they did the same thing during the fist half of the falcon game as well as the the super-bowl.. You'd think after last year alone, they would know better than to tightening up the offense..

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

Kap is going through the same thing Cam when through last year, an over controlling coach that is restricting him rather then let him play in the flow.. Shit they did the same thing during the fist half of the falcon game as well as the the super-bowl.. You'd think after last year alone, they would know better than to tightening up the offense..

exactly

let him loose and let him be him. its really that simple

kap is not the same as last year because the coaches are not allowing him to be the same as last year and i know its frustrating the hell out of him

 

[blackman80]

Of course people will blame the refs & playcalling once again, but bottom line is......
We should not have even been in that position to begin with!
The offense didn't do shit yet again.
We only scored TD's b/c of turnovers & a short field!


We are not ready, this is not a playoff team!
Kap goes 17/31 for only 127 yards against a Saints defense that's not even that good.
Saints were stacking the box with 8-9 men & playing the run the entire game.... and you still only throw for 127 yards?
Scrambling 15 yards BACK INTO the endzone for an "almost safety"
Last possession last play running out of bounds on 3rd down, short of the marker.


I said this shit during preseason... OUR WR'S ARE JUST NOT GOING TO CUT IT!
49ers fans on here talking about "don't worry someone will step up"
Ninjas on here saying Boldin is a #1 WR & AJ Jenkins was not a bust
We have no speed, no one to stretch the field besides Vernon.
Coaches were probably trying to play hard ball & negotiate with the Browns for a lower draft pick for Josh Gordon.
I will say this again, we should have immediately traded a 2nd rd pick, for that dude.
On top of that dude was still in his rookie deal, so it would not have been a big cap hit


At this point we are in jeopardy of not even making the playoffs.
We are in the fight of our lives just for a wildcard spot!

yeah, that's what i'm worry about now!!...we have to win out now and hope others teams will lose as well!!....i knew that indy and carolina games that we lost was going to hunt us!!!..


we have to get it together!!!..

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

its simple

go back to the real offense
and let colin loose stop holding him back.

 

[AwwSchitt]

Ray Lewis sounded off on Monday Night Football regarding the Brooks penalty.

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

Ray Lewis sounded off on Monday Night Football regarding the Brooks penalty.

basically

you play good defense then you get penalized there was literally nothing he could do.

the only alternative would be to try and dive but then he might have hit brees in the knees and then everyone would say it was a dirty hit

the rule should simply be where you make initial contact and where you make initial contact.

if the 1st thing you touch is the head area then flag

if the first thing you touch is the head area with the helmet then its a flag

but if you hit someone in the fucking chest and then they slide down that is not a damn flag. in no way shape or form. you did everything right before contact and on initial contact.

he came around hit drew brees right in the damn chest CLEANLY and as a result of the clean hit drew brees slid down and it went to his neck area and at no point to his head

that was a sack and a fumble our ball up 3 with 3 minutes left in the game.

TAKEN

there's just no way to get around that


meanwhile kap gets face masked during the fucking game and not 1 single flag is thrown

vd held in the end zone not 1 single flag thrown

on the play dude broke his leg he was holding and tugged the jersey not 1 single flag thrown

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

perfect coverage. got all the db's back rushing just a few and the olb are only rushing if the backs/te are in. when they go out, they're assigned to them.

brees didn't know it. look at brooks. he starts on the line then drops back and as long as graham is in he's in once graham goes outside to go for the check down brooks doesn't go to brees he just goes over to where graham is and picks it off.

if you look on the other side just smith did the same thing lined up to pass rush and then when the back broke off he followed him up the field

damn on that play we essentially only rushed 2 people and had 9 in coverage

 

[1900KiLLa]

perfect coverage. got all the db's back rushing just a few and the olb are only rushing if the backs/te are in. when they go out, they're assigned to them.

brees didn't know it. look at brooks. he starts on the line then drops back and as long as graham is in he's in once graham goes outside to go for the check down brooks doesn't go to brees he just goes over to where graham is and picks it off.

if you look on the other side just smith did the same thing lined up to pass rush and then when the back broke off he followed him up the field

damn on that play we essentially only rushed 2 people and had 9 in coverage

Brooks is a terrific player man, breaks my heart that he got penalized for that bullshit.. Scary thing for us in this fucked up season is how long are we gonna be able to keep all our big guns together , we gotta win NOW

 

[AwwSchitt]

but if you hit someone in the fucking chest and then they slide down that is not a damn flag. in no way shape or form. you did everything right before contact and on initial contact.

It's like they said. Brooks did everything right. It's not hit fault Brees is a midget.

It pains to me to see a dude that is ballin' get hit with a fucked up penalty.

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

Brooks is a terrific player man, breaks my heart that he got penalized for that bullshit.. Scary thing for us in this fucked up season is how long are we gonna be able to keep all our big guns together , we gotta win NOW

we'll be ok man

i just have the feeling like in the end we're going to be a ok kap will be unleashed and the defense will stay stellar
can't say enough


that defensive set right there though?
that's a set of legend right there

apparently we had been getting pressure on brees and it was an obvious passing down so the saints kept 7 people in and around the line of scrimmage

so with those 7 blocking and brees that's 8 people at the line of scrimmage

leaving only 3 wr's to go out on routes.

and we made it seem like we had a 4 man front when we only had a 2 man front.

2 man front. 2 people assigned to cover the rb and te for both flats..

and 7 in coverage

so we had 7 people covering 3 people lol

that's a nothing you can do defense right there. there's nothing you can do

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

It's like they said. Brooks did everything right. It's not hit fault Brees is a midget.

It pains to me to see a dude that is ballin' get hit with a fucked up penalty.

changed the game. it's all good he's been lighting it up since aldon came back

oh and we had a sequence in the game with corey, aldon, ahmad and justin smith in

it's coming man. now we just need to get tank in there. it should be relentless

 

[AwwSchitt]

changed the game. it's all good he's been lighting it up since aldon came back

oh and we had a sequence in the game with corey, aldon, ahmad and justin smith in

it's coming man. now we just need to get tank in there. it should be relentless

I peeped this also. Shit made me stand up. Those 4 on the field rushing at the same time is a problem. If they can work them in on 3rd and longs it's going to be fun to watch.

 

[AwwSchitt]

Report: Rib injury kept Tarell Brown in New Orleans overnight
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...y-kept-tarell-brown-in-new-orleans-overnight/

The 49ers left New Orleans without a victory and reportedly without cornerback Tarell Brown as well.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Brown spent Sunday night in New Orleans as a precautionary measure after suffering a rib injury during the game. Brown, was injured near the end of the first half and did not return, flew back to San Francisco on Monday.

Brown is believed to have cracked ribs, but a specific diagnosis of the injury isn’t known. Per Rapoport, Brown’s likely to miss time as a result of the injury. It’s bad timing for a player who can become a free agent after the season and who lost out on $2 million during the offseason because of the bad advice of his former agent.

The 49ers will turn to Tramaine Brock and Eric Wright alongside Carlos Rogers if Brown does end up out of the lineup. Brock has played well as the third cornerback this season, but Wright has only recently started playing after a long spell on the non-football injury list.

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

The San Francisco 49ers routinely waste two or three timeouts in virtually every game. In some cases, Harbaugh challenges officials' calls that ultimately are not reversed.

The more concerning issue deals with Roman and the time it takes for Kaepernick to get the plays called.

Kaepernick is no longer a rookie and has worked with Roman long enough to still have the problems they have with the clock running down. This is especially noticeable when Kaepernick changes the play at the line-of-scrimmage.

The 49ers often barely get the play off before a delay of game penalty is called. Frequently, they are forced to call a timeout to avoid the five-yard penalty.

This problem is something that should not be as prevalent this late in the season. Roman needs to get the plays to Kaepernick faster, enabling him to make the audible and adjust when he needs to.

The lack of urgency in getting the plays called quickly results in the 49ers wasting timeouts, and there is no excuse for that.

Poor play-calling cost the 49ers a victory in the Super Bowl last season. The Ravens' defense was clearly exhausted, and the 49ers had the ball inside the 10-yard line.

Frank Gore was punishing the Ravens' defense, yet with the 49ers poised to score, Roman decided to call multiple pass plays. There was no way the Ravens were going to be able to stop Gore, so by getting cute, Roman cost the 49ers a golden opportunity.

Roman has a tendency to go away from the running game far too often. This was a major reason behind the loss to the Indianapolis Colts earlier in the 2013 season. Gore was having a big day, but the 49ers moved away from what could have led to a successful game.

For some reason, there is also a complete disdain for the screen pass. When an offensive line is having trouble with a defensive front, the screen is a way to keep that pass rush at bay.

The 49ers rarely employ the flare pass to the backs or a checkdown, which can get positive yardage when the alternative is trying to force the ball into coverage.

With Kendall Hunter and LaMichael James, a simple flare pass can turn into a big gainer, as Hunter and James have the elusiveness to make big plays in the open field. Combined, Hunter and James have only three catches on the year.

Against the Saints, the 49ers rarely tried to throw the ball down the field. The offense consisted of short passes and a largely ineffective running game. There were even times when the Saints dared the 49ers to throw a deeper route with nine defenders in the box.

Even the use of the read-option just a few times per game will give the defense another thing they must prepare and be ready for.

Play-calling is an art, and Roman has lost it far too often. The 49ers' offense has become far too predictable this year.

The 49ers are sixth in the league in scoring touchdowns once in the red zone, at 61.29 percent. Although relatively high in terms of league ranking, the 49ers can still be much better. The league leader in this category is Denver, at more than 79 percent efficiency.

These stats are courtesy of teamrankings.com.

When the 49ers get into the red zone, the field shrinks and this makes it tougher for the receivers to get open. The 49ers' receivers already have trouble getting open, and the tighter coverage makes it even more difficult.

The lack of roll-outs and run-pass option plays for Kaepernick in the red zone is a glaring weakness that goes back to play calling.

These types of plays put enormous pressure on the defense and are very difficult to stop. Steve Young and Joe Montana excelled at the quick roll-out and flag-pattern pass to the likes of Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Brent Jones and Terrell Owens.

If the defense took that pass away, the quarterback could frequently waltz into the end zone for the touchdown.

The San Francisco 49ers have the worst passing offense in the league. They average only 168 yards-per-game, the lowest in the league. Their completion rate of 56.3 percent ranks 30th out of 32 teams. Stats are courtesy of NFL.com.

Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh are to blame for this. Since Harbaugh is not likely to be fired any time soon, it's Roman's butt on the hot seat.

Colin Kaepernick has regressed this season, and the main reason is because Roman and Harbaugh are so afraid of him getting hurt that they have taken away what he does best.

Kaepernick's biggest asset as a quarterback is his legs and his running ability; however, Roman and Harbaugh have drilled it into his head to stay in the pocket and avoid running unless there is no other alternative.

In reality, Kaepernick has just as much of a chance of getting hurt standing in the pocket as he does on the run. Defensive linemen know where he'll be, and he can get blind-sided or have someone roll-up on his knee when he's planted throwing the football.

When Kaepernick is out of the pocket on the run, he can dictate if and how he takes a hit. Defenders rarely get good hits on Kaepernick because of his speed and his ability to take a glancing blow, slide down, or run out of bounds.

By taking away Kaepernick's running, Roman and Harbaugh are not utilizing his skills optimally. They are putting shackles on him, which has caused Kaepernick to lose his confidence and the swagger he played with last year.

With a record of 6-4, the 49ers are in a precarious position to even make the playoffs. With such an outstanding defense, this is a travesty. There is only one reason for this, and it's because they have self-imposed a limit on Kaepernick's skill set.

It's time Roman and Harbaugh unleash Kaepernick and let him utilize his running ability. Playing afraid will get you beat, and the tentativeness we see in Kaepernick is the result.

If Roman has any chance of revitalizing the 49ers' offense, it's absolutely critical that they take the handcuffs off and let Kaepernick be Kaepernick.

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