Compliments
1. Russell Wilson is in the zone, what Carroll refers to as a physical and mental state of peak performance. He has been near flawless in his decision making going into Year Three, and Darrell Bevell has done an excellent job deploying his play makers in a way that had made the first team offense look versatile, unpredictable, and dynamic.
2. J.R. Sweezy was a BEAST on that first series. He has improved so dramatically in his technique as a pass blocker. Besides a holding call, Okung bounced back nicely while taking some extended reps to get him ready for prime time. Britt played a decent game overall. He's going to get beaten a lot in pass pro, but I think Wilson will handle it just fine as long as Okung does his job. Garry Gilliam impressed me as the 6th linemen in the jumbo package, essentially returning to the TE position he played in college. Gilliam outplayed Schilling and Hauptmann, as well as Jeanpierre for that matter. Unfortunately, none of our backup interior linemen looked solid in this game. Kiero Small was excellent as a blocker, and he had a nice catch in the flat before leveling a corner for the first down. Small also excelled on special teams with two hard tackles.
3. B.J. Daniels has the "it" factor, great instincts, escapability in the pocket, and touch on his throws. I really hope he makes it to the PS, but I kind of doubt it. His QB intelligence makes him twice the QB Terrelle Pryor will ever be. The Niners will claim B.J. about half a second after he is waived.
4. Nice play by reserve guys Walters and Bronson. Walters' returns and TD catch were impressive. He just needs to learn how to hold the ball high and tight. Until he does that, he's a fumble waiting to happen. Bronson was fighting for extra yards every time he touched the football, including knocking guys over and falling forward for the first down. He's much better at breaking tackles than Turbin, though I would have liked to have seen him play more third downs to test his blocking. Bronson on the PS would be ideal as an emergency option in case someone gets hurt.
Complaints
1. Some of our backup defensive linemen looked kind of pitiful today, namely Jordan Hill and Benson Mayowa. Neither has any acumen for stopping the run. Hill at least flashed as a pass rusher, but his run stopping ability left so much to be desired. Wow, that was ugly. Hill is strictly a third and long kind of player. Scruggs was at least committed to his assignments, but still looked pretty bad. On the other end of the spectrum, Schofield was great as usual at generating pressure.
2. Who is our nickel corner if Lane is hurt? Phillip Adams' cover skills are atrocious. He does not look like an NFL player. Auguste was also beat a lot. A team strength suddenly appears to be a weak spot with Simon/Lane out and Terrell Thomas released.