Vs.
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| Raymond Jones Stadium |
By Scary Barry Rodriguez December 15, 2013
Raymond Jones stadium , Tampa , FL - The resurgent Tampa Bay Buccaneers were jolted back to reality by the San Francisco 49ers Sunday. The Buccaneers young quarterback Mike Glennon faced a top tier NFL defense and was found wanting. The Buccaneers defense is good but faced a San Francisco offense that has too many weapons to control , especially when Colin Kaepernick elected to run.
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| Mike Glennon |
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| Colin Kaepernick |
In
the first quarter , while the Niner defense shut down Tampa Bay , the offense
went to work. Kaepernick still had problems getting plays off in time. The
Niners used a time out and were assessed a " delay of game " penalty.
Yet along with these miscues Kaepernick managed to elude the pass rush and hit
Michael Crabtree with a 4 yard touchdown pass. The value of Crabtree's return
was highlighted on the play. He shook off his defender as Kaepernick was forced
out of the pocket , caught the ball and played tippy toe on the line marker to
stay in bounds and score.
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| Michael Crabtree |
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| Phil Dawson |
The
second quarter saw Phil Dawson boot a 47 yard field goal for the Niners first
score of the period. After the Niner defense had shut down the Buccaneers again
Kaepernick got working . In this quarter and the rest of the game he displayed
his scrambling ability. The Buccaneer defense put a good pass rush on only to
have Kaepernick avoid a sack almost every time ! In every game including this
one Kaepernick has under thrown or over thrown long passes to Vernon Davis.
This game was no exception . Yet on one special play Kaepernick moved left in
the pocket and heaved a pass that traveled 60 yards in the air and landed in
hands of Vernon Davis for a touchdown ! Running full speed Davis went right
into the wall behind the end zone ! At 14-0 , it appeared the 49ers were on the
verge of running away with the game.
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| Vernon Davis |
Up
until this point the game had featured only a few highlight reel moments. With
only 1:18 left on game clock for the first half the Buccaneers were afforded
one last scoring opportunity, down by the score of 17-0 . Then two things
occurred that opened the door and let Tampa Bay back into the game.Number 1,
that defensive guru, Vic Fangio, put the 49ers into the dreaded " prevent
defense " and 2, the Buccaneers went to the " no huddle "
offense. At this point the Niner defense appeared as if they were on a short
lunch break !
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| Vic Fangio |
Then
the hapless Tampa Bay offense went on a fast scoring drive , going 76 yards for
a touchdown. The Niner defense made Mike Glennon look like an imitation of
Payton Manning ! How did it happen that Vic Fangio was caught unaware of the
vaunted Buccaneer " no huddle " offense ? The Scary one is searching
for the answer to this mystery ! In the first half the Niners were only held
back by themselves not the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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| Payton Manning |
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| LaMichael James |
In
the third quarter the 49er defense returned from an Alien abduction to their
prior form and shut down the Buccaneer offense before they could leave their
pirate ship ! This should have been the quarter that the Niners put away the
game. Instead it was left up to Phil
Dawson to boot another field goal from 43 yards out to put the score at
20-7 in favor of San Francisco. It seemed on offense the Niners were "
adverse to what works " . A perfect example was the second offensive
series in the quarter. A well executed run play had the fleeted footed LaMichael James running around the left
side for 21 yards and a first down . This was a great play ! Then very next
play is to Frank Gore straight up the middle for a three yard loss ! This is
why the Niners only scored three points in the quarter !
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| Frank Gore |
Again
in the fourth quarter the 49er offense consisted of one Phil Dawson field goal
from 21 yards out. Meanwhile the Buccaneers had scored another touchdown when
Glennon hit Tim Wright for a 24 yard strike for a touchdown. This put the score
at 23-14. Even though the Niner offense had totally dominated the game clock
via Frank Gore's many grinding runs , Tampa Bay was a score away from leading
the game !
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| Tim Wright |
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| Kendall Hunter |
On
the kick off after the Dawson field goal , the Buccaneer returner fumbled the
second part of a trick play and the ever vigilant Kendall Hunter scooped up the
ball and ran it in from the 2 yard line for a 49er score ! With the score at 30
to 14 with less than four minutes on the game clock , a Niner win was insured.
Later Phil Dawson booted a 35 yard field goal to cap the game score at 33-14.
Only " divine providence " had prevented the possibility of another
" no huddle " nightmare scenario in the fourth quarter !
So
the San Francisco 49ers put a big W up on the board. The local media portrayed
the victory as a triumph for Kaepernick , the 49er offense and the coaching
staff ! Now lets put this game in perspective ! San Francisco dominated the
time of possession 39:50 minutes to 20:10 for Tampa Bay. The Niners had 187
rushing yards to 39 for the Buccaneers , who were only 1 for 10 on third downs
! This game should have been an out and out blow out ! What happened ?
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| Greg Roman |
In
this game Colin Kaepernick transcended the inept offensive strategy of the
offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Time and again Kaepernick scrambled out of
trouble to make a first down. Yes , Kaepernick missed at least two long passes
to an open Vernon Davis but on whole kept his cool and made no turnovers. As I
have previously stated it seems that Roman is "adverse to what works
". Another hero of the game was Frank Gore , who has suffered from the
Niner offensive strategy. He has racked up over 1,000 yards rushing this season
in spite of facing a stacked 8 man line in the box , every game !
Then
there is the just plain dumb " prevent defense " that Vic Fangio
favors. It is almost guaranteed not to prevent anything ! Surely Fangio is well
aquainted with the " no huddle " offense. It sure didn't look that
way Sunday ! The coaching mistakes made by the San Francisco 49ers are making
the mediocre opposition look like world beaters !
On
the plus side was the play of Colin Kaepernick who had no turnovers , went
19/29 for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Frank Gore gained 86 yards on 22
carries , obtaining the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the seventh season in a row
! Vernon Davis had 79 receiving yards on 5 catches and one touchdown. Michael
Crabtree had one touchdown grab but his real value was as a last resort
receiver for a scrambling Kaepernick. The defense lived up to its reputation !
With
a 10-4 record the San Francisco 49ers have not yet secured a playoff berth. Win
or lose , the Niners have not played good for 60 minutes in any one game. The
offensive play calling seems hap hazard. The defense is good but not good
enough to make up for all the coaching mistakes. Its hard to be positive about
their chances for making it to the Superbowl round of the playoffs !
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| Jim Harbaugh |
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| "Iron " Mike Singletary |
BarryRodriguez (c) 2013. All Rights Reserved.
Layout by Magic Merlin Paul Malolot.
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