The offensive Whisenhunt offense picks up right where it left off

[moklerman]

Well, I'll take a little BBQ sauce with my crow if that's okay. I really thought the loss of Haley wouldn't have such an impact. Now that all the starters are on the field and considering the horrendous preseason, I'm officially worried about Whis being in charge of the offense.

Grimm has pretty much lost me as well. Talk about reliving the SB. How does an NFL line consistently fail to protect on a hail mary like that? The 49ers had pressure with just the front four all day long. Very weak effort. It's very disturbing to see the o-line completely unprepared and incapable of handling a simple LB cross from the defense.

I realize I'm probably a bit too emotional at this point but a game like this really makes me question the coaching staff's ability to evaluate talent. It seems like every Whis player was awful today. Long dropped his one look and was a non issue the rest of the day. Urban STILL doesn't get his head around and has shaky hands, I don't even remember Doucet out there, the TE's were pretty crappy with two drops and a variety of penalties.

And why in God's name did Whis take Wells out of the game after the TD drive? The one time all day long that the offense actually had a pulse and he immediately takes him out and they immediately fall back to the sputtering mess that they had been up to that point.

I'm sure it's quite unnecessary for me to cover how Warner looked but his body language was not positive at all. He wasn't fired up at all and looked like he hated being out there. I kept waiting for him to blow up about a route or missed block or late play call coming in but he didn't show anything. He was certainly not on his game for whatever reason and I think it's partially due to the Whis playcalling.

No bubble screens, keeping Hightower in way too much, very few WR screens and in general a total lack of setting up mismatches. Receivers were just not open and they all did very little to create spacing. Man, did Hightower look slow. Virtually no play action passes and very predictable...AGAIN. It's so freaking easy to predict run or pass before the play.

And that's not even mentioning the penalties, lopsided officiating and a referee that looked scared spitless to be in charge.

A lot of positive stuff from the defense which should be saved for another thread. I'm pissed at Whis right now for not picking up where Haley left off and even more about not hiring a real OC. He has yet to call a good game and he always sucks against SF. He has an offense built to score points and take leads and a defense that thrives on opposition that's playing from behind and he ALWAYS tries to just keep it close and win it in the end against SF. It's infuriating.

 

[PJ1]

Good post. Couldn't figure out the keeping Wells on the sideline either. Also agree we should have hired an OC.

 

[Paso Fino]

Singletary the motivator.

The experts have been saying that Singletary's style will not make it in the NFL. Well maybe Whiz can learn something from Mike and get his players more fired up than he has thus far.

 

[joeshmo]

I agree about Wiz, but lets not let Warner off the hook either. Passes were continually thrown high even when he was able to step into his throws, and he was continually starring down his receivers. Both coach and player made a horrid combo today.

 

[Zeno]

I realize I'm probably a bit too emotional at this point but a game like this really makes me question the coaching staff's ability to evaluate talent. It seems like every Whis player was awful today. Long dropped his one look and was a non issue the rest of the day. Urban STILL doesn't get his head around and has shaky hands, I don't even remember Doucet out there, the TE's were pretty crappy with two drops and a variety of penalties.

Doucet was inactive but I see your point...people brought in by Whisenhunt didn't produce (except Hightower & Campbell)

And why in God's name did Whis take Wells out of the game after the TD drive? The one time all day long that the offense actually had a pulse and he immediately takes him out and they immediately fall back to the sputtering mess that they had been up to that point.

I question this as well. In his limited time Wells proved he is the more effective ball carrier and he had 1 carry in the first half was a big part of another drive and then was no longer a part of the offense? I don't get it.

I'm sure it's quite unnecessary for me to cover how Warner looked but his body language was not positive at all. He wasn't fired up at all and looked like he hated being out there. I kept waiting for him to blow up about a route or missed block or late play call coming in but he didn't show anything. He was certainly not on his game for whatever reason and I think it's partially due to the Whis playcalling.

No bubble screens, keeping Hightower in way too much, very few WR screens and in general a total lack of setting up mismatches. Receivers were just not open and they all did very little to create spacing. Man, did Hightower look slow. Virtually no play action passes and very predictable...AGAIN. It's so freaking easy to predict run or pass before the play.

And that's not even mentioning the penalties, lopsided officiating and a referee that looked scared spitless to be in charge.

A lot of positive stuff from the defense which should be saved for another thread. I'm pissed at Whis right now for not picking up where Haley left off and even more about not hiring a real OC. He has yet to call a good game and he always sucks against SF. He has an offense built to score points and take leads and a defense that thrives on opposition that's playing from behind and he ALWAYS tries to just keep it close and win it in the end against SF. It's infuriating.

I'm with you Moklerman, I like Whisenhunt and give him a lot of slack because he did get us to teh Super Bowl but his playcalling and decisions have to be called in to question especially after an effort like that.

 

[moklerman]

Yes, there was certainly something wrong with...I was going to say the team, but it was really just the offense. Boldin, Warner, the whole o-line--they all looked like robots...Hightower, Wells and Fitz looked like they were ready to go but the whole offense was emotionless and seemed to be waiting for something to happen or for someone else to make a play.

Losing always sucks but I can deal with getting beat by a better team. Today seemed like a real square peg in a round hole type of feel and worst of all, completely wasted what should have been a truly promising look from the defense.

 

[moklerman]

I agree about Wiz, but lets not let Warner off the hook either.

I'm not letting him off, I just didn't want to bother with the detailed breakdown that I'm sure will be well covered by many others. He certainly played poorly but I would feel better if I thought he was the one who was just off. My fear is that Whis is forcing him to run an offense that he just doesn't fit into.

I think it's pretty obvious that Warner's a bit of a specialist when it comes to what type of offense he can excel in. By no means do I think he's going to be at his best no matter the offense. If Whis wants to run a Pittsburgh offense then he really made a huge blunder in keeping Warner.

I'm with you Moklerman, I like Whisenhunt and give him a lot of slack because he did get us to teh Super Bowl but his playcalling and decisions have to be called in to question especially after an effort like that.

I feel pretty much the same way but unfortunately the dynamic of the staff isn't what it was for that SB run. Whis has always been terrible as the play caller for the Cardinals. He gets no credit in that regard.

 

[Unsterblich856]

Not Whisenhunt's fault Warner couldn't hit anything past five yards.

 

[SuperSpck]

The defense did a great job of stopping the obvious, but that was some sad offensive playcalling by the 9ers. Don't expect the Cardinals to duplicate that against a team that's good offensively.

Having a HC call plays is a bad idea. He can make final decisions, but not make every call.
I wish I knew more about how the dual-OCing goes, because so far, it looked like two different gameplans and they were both crap.

Where were the adjustments? Levi got abused and never got any help from a TE.

 

[joeshmo]

Warner Stunk, Playcalling stunk.

But I will say this, the penalties didn't exactly make it able for Warner to get into a rhythm or for the play calling to not be at a continually disadvantage.

It was a perfect storm of suckidtude, Warner, Plays, Levi, Penalties. Which came first or which caused which, I don't know I just know they all stunk.

 

[SuperSpck]

Not Whisenhunt's fault Warner couldn't hit anything past five yards.

It is on Whis to see that Warner's playing like crap.
He needed more protection and more shorter throws to WR's, not Hightower.
Bubble screens, middle screens, backdoor stuff.

If you're QB can't do certain things, you figure out what they can do and tailor it to them.

 

[nashman]

I would put the game squarely on Whiz since the playcalling was terrible and some of the decisions were terrible, like Wells not playing more, TH playing to much, no quick hitting stuff.

 

[lauraw]

Why didn't they go to the no-huddle, that's what I want to know! They should have let beanie stay in there longer, also..

 

[Buckybird]

It is on Whis to see that Warner's playing like crap.
He needed more protection and more shorter throws to WR's, not Hightower.
Bubble screens, middle screens, backdoor stuff.

If you're QB can't do certain things, you figure out what they can do and tailor it to them.

The Niners took those short throws away from our WR's by playing alot of press coverage.

 

[moklerman]

I would say that there weren't any adjustments on offense but they took the lead by making a couple of changes. Sadly, I think Whis has Martz-disease and simply refuses to believe that "his" offense won't work and they reverted back to what wasn't working.

This team needs to start fast until Whis decides to use Wells as the feature back. But I could see his offense working if Wells continues to look good and gain 3+ yards on first down.

I had the same thought about the defense looking good in large part because Hill is pretty lousy. Didn't want to rain on that parade though.

 

[lauraw]

But I'm not ready to give up on this offense yet.. the 9ers just beat us today, The Defenses won, but Penalties lost it for us..

 

[SuperSpck]

The Niners took those short throws away from our WR's by playing alot of press coverage.

Which can throw off a lot of routes that take time to develop, but there are ways around that.
I know Boldin's a stud in YAC, but I expect that physicality to translate into being able to shove off press coverage too, but that's an assumption. More motion can also beat press.

 

[Buckybird]

Which can throw off a lot of routes that take time to develop, but there are ways around that.
I know Boldin's a stud in YAC, but I expect that physicality to translate into being able to shove off press coverage too, but that's an assumption. More motion can also beat press.

Boldin's hurt and wasn't moved much.

 

[SuperSpck]

Boldin's hurt and wasn't moved much.

True, after a career of being Superman, he's warped my expectations. Much like seeing the human Fitzgerald after his insane postseason.
I also assume Boldin's continual audition for a new contract would keep him at the superhuman level, hurt or otherwise.

I feel guilty because it's unrealistic as get-out, but it's what we've grown to expect. I apologize to them both and will continue to root for them on Sundays.

 

[Mitch]

Warner Stunk, Playcalling stunk.

But I will say this, the penalties didn't exactly make it able for Warner to get into a rhythm or for the play calling to not be at a continually disadvantage.

It was a perfect storm of suckidtude, Warner, Plays, Levi, Penalties. Which came first or which caused which, I don't know I just know they all stunk.

I would give some credit to Whiz for adjusting to getting whipped by Parys Haralson, by throwing the quick screens to his side. The Niners even dropped Haralson off into coverage a couple of time to counter, which took him out of the pass rush.

The things that bothers me, Joe, and I imagine it bothers you, is you HAVE to know, if you are Whiz, that Levi is going to have his hands full with Haralson, and yet the game plan didn't account for this at all...until it has cost the team valuable scoring opportunities.

Furthermore, the times haralson got to Warner were times when the Cardinals motioned into 5 wides and no backs (with LSH, no less...not sure still what that ploy was all about)...But, if you do that, the ball HAS to come out quickly. That's a no brainer. Yet, Warner held onto the ball far too long in all those cases. Poor planning. Poor execution.

 

[lauraw]

Agree with you Mitch--Does anyone have the Huevos on the staff to tell Whizz that?