San Francisco 49ers: Fixing Weaknesses That Were Exposed Against Baltimore

Excuses Don't Answer Glaring Questions

Despite the fact that San Francisco was in the game against Baltimore well into the fourth quarter, there were a lot of issues that the Ravens exposed during the “lopsided” victory. Despite that fact that the referees practically gave the Ravens a 10 point advantage due to ticky tack calls, the San Francisco 49ers didn’t play well enough to win the game. 

Even the most optimistic of San Francisco 49ers fans had to realize that they wouldn’t go through the season without a stinker like this. Rarely do teams go through a 16 game schedule without struggling during an outing. Add the fact that San Francisco had to travel to Baltimore in a short week and you had a recipe for disaster.

Enough, with the excuses and on to the issues that San Francisco had for the duration of their 16-6 loss to Baltimore.

Protection, Protection and Please...Protection.

The right side of San Francisco’s offensive line struggled more than I have seen since this unit has been together. Some of this was due to the fact that Adam Snyder missed a majority of the game and was replaced by the enigma that is Chilo Rachal. Accordingly, Anthony Davis struggled a great deal without the veteran playing beside him. The success of the second year tackle over the last two months has had a direct relationship with Snyder being implanted at the right guard position. Without the mauler, Davis was pretty much lost all game long. His struggles against edge pass rushers has been a major issue over the course of his first two seasons, but this was only magnified against a monstrous Ravens pass rush.

Chilo Rachal doesn’t deserve to see the football field for the rest of the season. That's how bad he was. The former second-round pick missed assignments, took on the wrong defenders most of the time and completely whiffed on multiple blocks. This caused Frank Gore to have to stay in and block and allowed the Ravens to light up Alex Smith more than once. In short, the improved quarterback had absolutely no shot in certain situations because of Rachal’s complete ineptitude.

Continuing with the pass protection theme, I am now going to focus on Moran Norris. I am sure many of you cringed when you learned that Bruce Miller was going to be inactive for the game. The rookie from Central Florida has had a Pro Bowl type season protecting for Alex Smith and blocking for Frank Gore. His replacement, Norris, is just not that good of a football player right now and the difference was marked in the sand of interior pass protection. It got so bad that I even called for the 49ers to implant Justin Peelle or Anthony Dixon in as the lead blocker after it was apparent that Norris just couldn’t get the job done.

There are two easy fixes in regards to these pass protection and run blocking issues. Get Adam Snyder and Bruce Miller healthy. It appears that both will be able to play in the not so distant future, so that is going to help the 49ers' protection a great deal as they are the two best blockers that San Francisco has on their roster.

Schematically, there were major issues in regards to the pass protection. Jim Harbaugh said that he was going to change things up at the half, but that really didn’t help all too much. San Francisco went with eight blockers a few times, but was still beat by four pass rushers. This is just not acceptable. I don’t care that the 49ers were missing two of their key players. If you are on an NFL roster you have a job to do and their replacements just didn’t get it done.

For the first time this season I saw San Francisco’s coaching staff struggle a great deal with in-game adjustments and this was magnified by their inability to protect Alex Smith in the second half.

Bland Defensive Scheme Isn’t Working Right Now

A lack of blitzing against the Arizona Cardinals and their myriad of average talent might work out well. In fact, it completely stifled that struggling offense. The same thing isn’t going to work against a team with the amount of talent that the Baltimore Ravens have. Simply put, Vic Fangio struggled a great deal with his nickel and zone packages, never allowing the likes of Alden Smith, Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman the ability to blitz. Additionally, they played over the top coverage in the secondary rather than give Donte Whitner and Dashon Goldson blitzing opportunities.

Vic Fangio’s defensive scheme is one of confusion and blitzing but for some reason the 49ers have gotten away from that over the course of the last couple games. It could have to do with a lack of confidence in the secondary but this scheme needs to change in short order.

Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman had really solid games once again. They were extremely good in coverage and recognized where the run was going in nearly every situation. Now it is up to Fangio and Co. to put them in better situations to make an impact. Inside blitzing and dropping back outside backers are two things that had confused opposing offenses earlier this season. It is all about getting back to basics and I have no doubt in my mind that Fangio will do that during an extended week of practice.

Get the Ball to Your Playmakers and Forget about Braylon Edwards.

Michael Crabtree has now turned out four great all-around games in a row. His statistics may not show it, but the former first-round pick is playing the best football of his career. I am talking about getting separation at the line, blocking down field, catching everything that comes his way and running extremely crisp routes. San Francisco’s game plan needs to focus on him a lot more than they have over the course of the season. He is the best outside threat that the team has and has given them a reason to trust him.

Braylon Edwards? Not so much! I understand that the veteran receiver is still a little banged up, but that isn’t the point. He seems to lack focus and interest on the football field at times. These are two knocks that many skeptics had on Edwards during his Cleveland Browns days. If he isn’t the primary focus of the offense his contribution will dramatically decrease.

Over the last couple games Edwards has run bad routes, dropped multiple passes and isn’t playing with the passion that I see the other 52 players on the 49ers roster play with. Instead, he allowed the Ravens defender to get inside position on Alex Smith’s interception late in the first half. This was a dramatic shift in the tempo and confidence of the 49ers offense and may have had a major effect on their ability to actually win the game.  In short, it was a major turning point in the game. I don’t blame Alex Smith or the play call for that interception; instead I blame Edwards and his unwillingness to actually make the play.

Right now I would rather see Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams on the field over Edwards with the 49ers playing more two tight end or running back sets. Braylon Edwards isn’t getting it done and needs to ride the pine for the remainder of the season.

Conclusion

Let’s get this out of the way really quick. One loss against a good Baltimore Ravens team on the east coast following a short week isn’t going to make or break a season. You have to look at the whole picture and San Francisco’s ultimate goal which is to capture the NFC West title and gain a first-round bye in the playoffs.

This really didn’t have a dramatic effect on either of those goals. Instead, it gave the 49ers a lot to work on with this extended week of practice coming up. It also gives players like Adam Snyder and Bruce Miller a chance to heal.

This doesn’t mean that some weaknesses weren’t exposed. They were. Pass protection and defensive scheme are two things that the 49ers need to work on before they host the St. Louis Rams next week with a chance to wrap up the NFC West title.

I also want to see the 49ers offense feature Michael Crabtree, Delanie Walker and Vernon Davis much more as the season comes to an end. They are going to have to have these three talented players contribute much more down the stretch and in the playoffs. In order for them to contribute the game plan needs to focus on them more.

San Francisco is currently 9-2, will own at least a four game division lead following Week 12 and have the inside track for a first-round bye in the NFC. So, let’s not fret over one ugly loss. I know that the coaches and players aren’t. Instead, they are focusing on fixing the weaknesses and getting back to the basics. Average teams don't win eight consecutive games during an NFL season—good teams do. Just remember that before you buy into the idea that the world is falling in around 4949 Centennial BLVD.