Capers is NOT the problem

I don't think that capers is the issue. I think its the personnel. Its was mentioned several times during the broadcast that the DC for the 49ers is Vic Fangio. Fangio was the DC for Capers for quite a few seasons. Im pretty sure that Fangio runs either the exact same or close to the same Defense that capers does. This guy was pretty much taught by capers. Being an nasty defender is an attitude/mentality. Those guys are pure nasty, you can tell in there actions. Example, when Jordy caught the 2 pt conversion, the defender still popped him the back after the catch. The guys on our defense are more concerned with being finesse. They seem more concerned with and hang their hats on interceptions. I would much rather have a defense that doesnt depend on interceptions but would knock the snot out of you! Tackle like your life depended on it. The ONLY fire I see on defense is from CM3. We have a bunch of nice guys that can play football. Dare I say it, PACKER PEOPLE! I am in no way saying that the Packers should have a team of buttholes, but the guys that we have on our defense are passive guys that know how to play defense. A guy like Anthony Hargrove is what this defense needed. Take a moment and think about all of the teams that have a good, nasty fiery defense. Baltimore, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, the Jets in the past. Think about there main players, what type of mentality do they have? Think about our guys outside of CM3 and maybe Raji. Thoughts...........

Pretty darn good post. And good points. I agree with what you are saying. The Defense is missing Nick Collins badly, very badly. He used to be that guy you speak of as well. If I was Capers, I'd bench Morgan Burnett until he starts understanding pass coverages. Our rookies need a chance to play more, and with our defense flailing, give em a shot.

Agree entirely. All the defensive scouting, film studying, and schemes equate to nothing if your players can't follow through on football's most fundamental element - wrapping yourself around your oppenent and not letting go until his body is buried into the ground.

Another thing is our defense lacks team speed and that drives me nuts. If you look at the San Fran D they are a fast flowing defense including the line.... and those Lb's can run. We are to slow on defense and i've said this before, how many gang tackles did you guy's see? honestly because i saw maybe two or three.

yes, they are totally lacking in speed. It made me so angry to see the entire D run in the direction of the ball carrier and no one make a damn tackle. 11 frickin guys run to the ball and nobody makes a tackle. I understand reaction, but why does everyone attack the middle during a RB sweep. He is running to the outside!!!! Attack the ball!!

Then again when clay plays nasty, like he always does, he gets flagged for "late hits" on the QB......woodson is the most penalized packer, yet hits like a beast, clay hits like a beast and is getting flagged for it year in and year out. I doubt its our guys not having enough "nasty" in them, it may just be the coaching staff telling them to not do the nasty things that the ravens do. We have some hitters, but when you get punished, like many in this league have been, it's hard let let loose on someone without fear of suspension. Clean hard hitters are rare IMO, they are normally dirty hard hitters. Clay is a clean hard hitter, he is rare.

Well it's hard to get all that when the defense is dominated by rookies outside of our handful of good players.

49ers defense is nothing new. Other than the coordinators and Harbaugh, that defense took years to build if you go back to when Nolan first came there, someone just finally put the missing pieces in place and organized them in a way to utilize their full capabilities.

So is it safe to say that this D wont get any better until the next DC comes in?

Maybe we have become to predictable and our lack of proper text book tackles is the issue. Capers, may not be the issue, it think it is the personnel package we have.

^ Exactly. Agree.

Those two players don't turn a top 5 defense into a last ranked defense. During that year players were playing better than they are now. Hawk, Tramon etc... Losing Cullen Collins and the regression of players has hindered this offense. Also the age factor with Woodson. Technically it is like we lost 4 to 5 solid to good players for below average players. We have 2 ****** safetys (Not including Woodson) Terrible coverage and tackling corners (Still not including woodson) and now average to below average linebackers (Clay Maker and Bishop not included) and a sub par D line As far as im concerned we have 5 players out of 11 who would start on most teams in the NFL. Raji, Matthews, Bishop (hurt) and Woodson and Tramon (Up against 2nd best WR can't cover number 1s).Maybe Pickett . Otherwise every player would be 2nd to third string on most teams

Pickett? No. I think he is a big problem on our D line.

There is a lot more to a good defense than just talent and scheme. You should listen to what Charles Woodson's comments were after the game. In some packages you have up to 5 new faces. The chemistry has to improve; part of it is knowing what to do; part of it is knowing what the other guys are going to do.

I thought Perry did o.k. and there was some push up the middle with Raji. Matthews looked great because they weren't double and triple teaming him. We had more QB pressure yesterday than all of last year. The secondary didn't seem to know what the hell they were supposed to be doing. Leaving Moss wide open was an embarrassment--I predict he won't be on the 9ers by mid season. There's a lot of season left. But I think beating the Bears now is almost a must. I think the team will see the urgency as well; or they better.

I blame the position coaches more than I blame Capers. It is their responsibility to develop/transition the players. If a player does not succeed, it lies with the player, or his coach. TT drafted DL that did not fit the 34, but still had potential, but Trgovac is responsible for Wynn, Wilson, Neal, Guy, and any other DL that made the team for a season since 2009. I saw how the Packers practice "tackling" Whitt (CB coach) stands a pad about 3ft tall on the ground and players dive at it. The pictures/videos are on Packers.com. Moss, Greene, and Perry all have been held in high regard around the league. The only thing I actually blame Capers for is the defensive play calling. Why was Perry even called into coverage? You design your defense and call your plays based on the ability and strengths of your players.

I also could've swore we played a little man coverage in 2010 (you know, when we were a top 5 defense), which I saw little, if any, of yesterday or any game in 2011. I was literally foaming in the mouth yelling at the screen watching the game at how many times I saw our DBs playing that crappy zone defense, and being spaced 10 yards from their receivers. Come on, grow a pair and play man-to-man coverage for once, then maybe our d-line and LBs will actually have time to get to the QB because he won't be able to get his passes off so quickly and efficiently (somebody forgot to tell Capers that, if you leave receivers wide open like that, they'll usually scorch your secondary), making our whole defense better as a result.

I'll get off Capers back if he actually starts playing man coverage (come on, we have Woodson, Tramon and Shields, all PROVEN cover DBs), because that's how you get off the field on 3rd down, not leaving opposing receivers spaced out (read: wide open). As long as we continue to play that crappy zone coverage 90% of the time, our defense will continue to reek.

I think that Capers is in charge and therefore responsible. He is paid much more money than you all and I make and his job is to make the defense good. I am in sales. If I don't produce I end up on the unemployment line. He must produce. At our local high school the defensive coach took a bunch of losers, reassembled them, took a couple of underclassmen and made one of the best defenses in the league. Every year he was there they had a good defense. Capers is supposed to do that. Do the players have responsibility? Absolutely! But I believe it is Dom Capers who is supposed to put the right people in the right places and make them work his system. If his system is good then it will work. That high school coach didn't always have the best players year after year. He just knew how to get most out of what he had. Capers needs to learn how to do that.

Maaaan, if we had the offense we have had for the past 3 seasons combined with a defense resembling something like what we see from the 49ers or Ravens on a regular basis, we would really be unstoppable.

I completely agree with your post though. I prefer tenacious D where guys are scared to catch the ball over the middle as opposed to Russian Roulette D where they need to bargain for a turnover on every play.

I will say this: The defense will get better as the season progresses. Guys like Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy, Davon House, MD Jennings and McMillon need time to learn their positions and become familiar with the speed of the game. And I HATE to say it, but Mike Neal is healthy this year. Maybe this is the year he justifies his second round draft status once the suspension is up.

I will agree with one thing, this defense has no "nasty". I haven't seen a big hit by anybody not name Clay Matthews in a long time. The offense and defense are both too finese.

He did show some potential in preseason, seems like he's eager to erase some of the past.