O-Line play vs. the 49ers was pretty good

[AgentDib]

I'm not a big fan of PFF but was curious when I saw their revised grades for 49ers/Hawks. Four of our OL received good grades and were among the top six on offense (#1 Iupati #3 Fant #5 Hunt #6 Fluker) while Ifedi received an average grade.

Prior to the final drive there were five plays on offense that significantly caused a drive to stall out.

#1 1Q 14:47 2nd-10 Run: Homer cuts back inside when there was room to the outside. Led to 3rd and long (#2).
#2 1Q 14:03 3rd-9 Pass: Missed connection between Russ and Brown. Punt.
#3 1Q 05:08 3rd-3 Pass: Missed connection between Russ and Metcalf. Punt.
#4 2Q 12:15 3rd-2 Pass: Russ sacked for 10 yards. Ifedi gets beat after 2 seconds so mostly on him, but receivers were covered well. Punt.
#5 2Q 0:49 4th-1 Run: Lynch for no gain because Swoopes gets blown up by Bosa at the point of attack. Drawback of having your 5th string TE in the game, turnover on downs.

The next three drives all resulted in touchdowns and we all know how the final drive ended.

Really the difference between our first and second half offenses were just these five first half plays, none of which were more difficult then third downs we converted in the second half. Ifedi had one bad play that killed a drive and other than that our line played well.

 

[PaVloVa!8]

I don't know the plan with Duane ... but let say he play, it would be nice to see Fant in place of Ifedi at RT. Fant showed how versatile he is .. Pretty sure he could do a better job.

 

[94Smith]

O-Line did play much better and offense in general was much better in the second half. 49ers do not have a lot of rotational players and I believe they were getting tired chasing Russ around . Wilson is just amazing unless the pocket is completely smothering. The offensive play selection was a lot of short quick passes and a clock control offense. Also there were much more explosive runs in the second half. If (when) we meet again in Santa Clara, the addition of Dee Ford should help our pass rush more as long as he can stay healthy. 49ers pass rush has really dropped off over the last 6 weeks and the sack numbers reflect that.

 

[olyfan63]

O-Line did play much better and offense in general was much better in the second half. 49ers do not have a lot of rotational players and I believe they were getting tired chasing Russ around . Wilson is just amazing unless the pocket is completely smothering.
-snip-

To me it seemed like Russell stepped UP in the pocket this time, with 49er pass rushers trying to come around the edge, where last time he waited too long before stepping up (or there wasn't room to step up) and went into a fetal position and got sacked by the edge rushers + friends. I'm sure there were more factors than that, but it looked like Russell played smarter, so it probably also means our line protected a little better.

Armchair QB here, not risking life and limb like Russell, but it does seem he and/or OL are improving where Russell is avoiding avoidable sacks better, the last few weeks. Except against Arizona and the Rams of course. Ouch, that's only half the last four games, the SF game, and I guess the Carolina game, which all I remember is that he had good protection on the last 3rd and 11 he converted to close out the game. OK, so all I can really say with authority Russell was much better in the Week 17 Niners game on not taking avoidable sacks.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

Sure hope Fant's healthy if Brown can't go. Night and day difference between he and Jones.

 

[Jville]

(On if that was one of Russell Wilson’s better games) “I think the pass protection, as well as the way Russ maneuvered with it was really good. Really good in this game. The one time they got us, they got us. Russ was able to steer clear. He wasn’t getting banged much. He got hit, but he was always able to find space. He worked with the pass protection well. We were real pleased with that, and that’s a real good sign moving forward. We’re happy about that because there was enough opportunities particularly down the stretch where they had to have us. We were able to keep him free and clean. He had some great opportunities and some great looks........... -- Pete Carroll

 

[John63]

The 2nd half was better than the first and a large part of that was the play design, call and most importantly as it always is with this team the tempo changes that took place.

We are at our best when we change tempo, sometimes hike with no time, sometimes, with 10 left, sometimes right away etc. IT helps the oline, it helps the Wr and the RBs as the defense just never knows.

 

[Jville]

(On what Fant has done for the team) “He played really well. I think it was the Ravens game when he played a lot. He did a nice job in that game, too. So, this is a carry over. He looked good again. Played very solid, very confident. Played physical football and got out on the perimeter and did some nice blocks and did some things that we like doing with Duane. That’s a really good sign for us. We’re really happy because we need him to come through and he came in and did a nice job going against one of the best pass rushing groups in the NFL. He handled what he needed to handle pretty well for the most part. It just gives us some confidence moving forward. We’re a little uncertain how that was going to look, particularly this past week. These guys coming up are good, too. They rush like crazy, so we’re going to need him.” --------- Pete Carroll

 

[Largent80]

Fant is a blessing. A definate re-sign.

 

[xray]

Fant is a blessing. A definate re-sign.

And he has really long arms too.

 

[OrangeGravy]

O-Line did play much better and offense in general was much better in the second half. 49ers do not have a lot of rotational players and I believe they were getting tired chasing Russ around . Wilson is just amazing unless the pocket is completely smothering.
-snip-

To me it seemed like Russell stepped UP in the pocket this time, with 49er pass rushers trying to come around the edge, where last time he waited too long before stepping up (or there wasn't room to step up) and went into a fetal position and got sacked by the edge rushers + friends. I'm sure there were more factors than that, but it looked like Russell played smarter, so it probably also means our line protected a little better.

Armchair QB here, not risking life and limb like Russell, but it does seem he and/or OL are improving where Russell is avoiding avoidable sacks better, the last few weeks. Except against Arizona and the Rams of course. Ouch, that's only half the last four games, the SF game, and I guess the Carolina game, which all I remember is that he had good protection on the last 3rd and 11 he converted to close out the game. OK, so all I can really say with authority Russell was much better in the Week 17 Niners game on not taking avoidable sacks.

It's really difficult to tell whether there are lane up the middle or not from the typical TV sideline camera view when a QB drops back. Russell has stepped up in the pocket much more this year than prior years though. Often times you can see the pressure coming from up the middle when he doesn't and I would guess that some of the times it "looks" like he could step up, aren't actually there if you were looking at it from a goal post cam view. You just get zero spacial perspective in regards to how far apart the linemen are from each other on TV.

It's one of the reasons I love watching games from the skycam view on the ESPN app. That and there's only game sound. NO annoying broadcasters ruining the experience. You can actually hear play calls in the huddle and stuff often times