San Francisco 49ers Preseason: 'Back To the Lab' After Beating Vikings
For whatever it might be worth, the San Francisco 49ers are now 2-0 on the 2010 preseason. They defeated the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night on national television by a score of 15-10.
In the end, a win is a win as far as head coach Mike Singletary is concerned, and this now makes two down with 21 to go.
However, Sunday’s victory was far from easy and became anything but certain late in the final quarter. A late touchdown run by fourth-string Viking quarterback Joe Webb pulled the game within three points, until a sack of the same QB resulted in a game-clinching safety as time expired. Judging from the veiled banter of commentator Al Michaels, the score must have pushed the 49ers into a position of covering the spread.
Other than that safety and a 60-yard completion from QB Nate Davis to wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., the second half was largely devoid of highlights for the 49ers.
As rookie running back Anthony Dixon said in a post-game interview, they will take the win and go "back to the lab" to get the rest of the details worked out for their final two exhibition games.
Here are some of the things the boys in white coats might be working on over the next week:
Mixing Up Offensive Line Chemistry and Execution:
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Again the starting five offensive linemen played deep into the game on Sunday, facing a variety of levels of defensive substitutes. They made strides from last weekend's win over Indianapolis, but they still have plenty of work ahead.
Both rookies—Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati—were called for infractions, including holding and false starts. Coach Sing was also seen on the sidelines imploring both of them to get lower and gain better leverage and position on their opponents.
The execution will gain polish in time, the question is: How polished can they be in three weeks' time when they face the Seattle Seahawks to open the regular season?
The line as a whole seemed to have smoother communication, but they did miss a few blitzes. Alex Smith showed great poise in avoiding sacks and often standing in the face of the rush and taking a hit to complete a key pass. Consistent punishment will wear on any QB though, and Smith does not have a track record of durability.
Running lanes were tougher to come by, but that may have been exaggerated by Anthony Dixon making the start and failing to always choose the best path to daylight.
All in all, a good performance against a tough defensive front—one of the best in the league—but they need to improve for the regular season.
Finding a Consistent Formula for Alex Smith and Fixes for Key Weapons:
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Alex Smith played the entire first half of action before giving way to back-up hopeful Nate Davis, but Smith was missing nearly all of his biggest offensive weapons. Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and Michael Crabtree all sat the game out, and newcomer Brian Westbrook dressed but did not see game action.
That made Smith's performance more significant than the numbers would suggest.
Overall, Smith was 9 for 13 passing for 88 yard with no touchdowns or interceptions, going 5 for 6 for 56 yards on the game's opening drive—where he led the 49ers to an Anthony Dixon touchdown rush against a defense that ranked sixth in total defense and second against the run in the league last season. His production on subsequent drives was largely curtailed by the gameplan's focus on getting Dixon more meaningful carries.
Smith's 88.0 passer rating was a marked improvement over the paltry 7.4 he posted in limited action last week. He also played a safe brand of football, managing the offense and not surrendering a single sack or interception.
With better weapons and a few less drops, Smith is trending in the right direction. As for those weapons, none were injured severely enough to keep them out of regular season play, and they will continue to practice.
Cooking Up Some Polish for Nate Davis and Anthony Dixon:
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Both QB Nate Davis and RB Anthony Dixon saw significant playing time in meaningful situations on Sunday.
They both proved that they may be ahead of initial projections as to when they might be making regular season contributions in the league, but they also proved that they are not ready to do so just yet.
Dixon started and played the entire first half behind Alex Smith with most of the first-team offense (depleted as it was). Facing a first-team defensive unit, his productivity dropped off somewhat from his Week One break out performance. He carried the ball 20 times Sunday, the same amount of touches he saw the week before, but his yardage fell by nearly half—from 100 yards to 51.
Dixon again found the end zone, stretching a misdirection pitch to the far corner on the opening drive and diving in for the score. It was the only offensive touchdown of the night for the 49ers.
Still, Dixon showed his youth and inexperience in consistently missing the chance to gain the most yardage available against a premier defensive unit—often doubling back in search of more yardage only to surrender ground. His pass-blocking is improving, but it still is not up to snuff to face regular-season pass rushes in the NFL. The fact that the team was comfortable putting him in there with the first-team unit speaks well to his development, but if the season started tomorrow, he would be a situational back at best. He just needs more time to mature.
People are sure to get excited about Nate Davis’s performance, going 7 for 16 passing for 114 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He certainly had the offensive highlight of the night—when he evaded a pass rusher to launch a 60-yard completion to Ted Ginn Jr. and escape the shadow of his own goal line. Some will likely even raise the volume and fervor of their pleas for Davis to replace Alex Smith as the starter before the season starts.
Not so fast.
Davis is a promising prospect and may pan out to be the QB of the future for the 49ers. But he is not a better option for them going into this regular season. He faced better competition this week, but was still facing a second-and-third-string unit while playing behind a largely first-string offensive line. He also had more experienced pass protection surrounding him in RB Michael Robinson than Smith had in Anthony Dixon.
Despite those advantages, Davis’s efficiency was not as good as Smith’s—a 68.2 passer rating versus 88.0 for Smith—and were it not for one big play (which was gritty, but not elegant) he would only have had 54 yards through the air.
Davis lacks the poise, decision-making instincts, and polish to effectively lead an NFL team at this point in his young career. Alex Smith may not be Pro Bowl caliber, but he is a better option, for now.
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Building a Better Tackler:
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The 49ers’ website may posted a story this week about Coach Sing and the coaching staff ingraining fundamentals into the team in practice after the opener against Indianapolis.
Ball security apparently took, as the team played error-free football in that respect, not surrendering a single turnover. Tackling was another story.
While there may have been metered improvements over the almost dismal performance the defense posted in the tackling category last week, tackling in this game was still far from perfect—particularly on special teams.
The Vikings averaged 25.3 yards on kickoff returns, with a long a 35 yards on the second half opening kickoff that wound up at mid-field and missed a touchdown by margin of a Shane Andrus tackle (that would be the 49ers’ kicker for those keeping score at home). It would be called back on a holding infraction, but several 49ers had a chance to bring the ball carrier down despite the penalty.
The defense struggled at times as well, particularly on their first play, where Adrian Peterson slipped linebacker Parys Haralson and broke away for a 13-yard gain before LBs Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes hauled him in.
There was better tackling on display too—bracketed by the Patrick Willis sack of Brett Favre for a 10-yard loss on the first Viking drive and the Derek Walker sack of Joe Webb for a safety to close out the game. The defense held the Vikings to under 200 yards (193) and had it not been for a lapse by the mop-up crew, they would have held the Vikings without a touchdown.
They failed to create any takeaways, but the defense controlled the opposition effectively. The starting unit looked strongest, which is a good sign, and rookies like NaVorro Bowman and Phillip Adams had strong performances even if they did not make a splash on the box score. Travis LaBoy also had a nice debut, recording a sack.
With a little focus on tackling, they should be in good shape for the regular season.
Brewing Up a Better Return Man Than Bobby Guillory:
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Remember when the 49ers traded for Ted Ginn Jr. and then signed LeRoy Vann as an undrafted free-agent and everyone thought the team was on the fast track to a formidable return game?
How quickly things change.
Vann became an unfortunate casualty of injuries at other positions, forcing the team to cut the specialist to make room for reinforcements.
Ginn has failed to dazzle as hoped in training camp and two games of the preseason (two total returns, both coming against Indianapolis for 28 total yards). It is unclear whether the 49ers decided to forego Ginn in the return game against the Vikings because they think they already know what they have in him, they feared him getting injured, or both, but Ginn took part in Sunday’s game only as a receiver.
The 49ers’ best return option—WR Kyle Williams—suffered a sprained toe against Indianapolis and will likely miss most or all of the remaining preseason.
Kick and punt return duties fell solely to rookie WR Bobby Guillory in Week Two. Despite a public “pep talk” by Coach Sign prior to the game—in which the coach told him he was going to catch and secure every kick and every punt and asked if he was ready to do so—he again muffed a punt on a return attempt (though he recovered it this time) and fair-caught another at the three-yardline.
It is clear that Guillory can only get as far as his blocking will let him, and even then may not always (or even often) get the most yardage that may be available. I would be much more interested in seeing Phillip Adams, Patrick Stoudamire, or another roster hopeful get some chances, because Guillory’s limitations seem clear.
Get well soon, Kyle Williams.
Getting Ready for the Raiders:
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The annual preseason Battle of the Bay against the arch-rival Oakland Raiders shifts to the east bay this year, though a Week Six regular season rematch will be held at Candlestick in mid-October.
Having next Saturday’s game held in Oakland means local fans will have to wait until about an hour after the game is over to watch the action, due to an already-announced local television black-out.
Sort of takes the teeth out of what is bound to be an over-hyped “Battle of Unbeatens,” huh?
So the options for 49ers fans for getting a real-time taste of most-important preseason game are: a) risk personal injury and go to the Coliseum, b) listen to the dreadful Ted Robinson pretend to be half the announcer Joe Starkey was, or c) travel out of the black-out zone and watch the game live on TV (if you can find it).
The 49er Faithful should get a good sense of what the team will really look like come September after next week’s tilt against the Raiders. The only question is how long after.
Keep the Faith!
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