There is a big thing people are not taking into consideration. This offense is designed to be precision, crisp routes, separation, timing, etc. With the replacement refs the defenders have been significantly more physical every play and that is preventing solid route running and separation as last season afforded. Get ready for a vast difference now that the regular officials are back and the rules will come back in play. Our guys will get open more often and make bigger plays. Jennings being out a lot has not helped matchup wise either...
Just saying...
I agree with the nub of that post...I've observed the same on several occasions here.
The SF and SEA secondaries don't know the meaning of the 5 yard rule. They push beyond the envelope. A lot of it is ticky-tacky shoving and pushing downfield...but enough to throw off timing. Our receivers got beat physically in those games by not getting off those guys and getting some separation.
Aikman reported that Bennett had a heart-to-heart with the receiving corp this past week about getting off defenders. The way Aikman reported it, Bennett's message was delivered with the volume turned up. As it should be.
However, I would not be so sure it's a function of the replacement refs. With the regular refs SEA held Bradford to 16 of 30 and Sanchez was even more dreadful than his usual iffy self against SF.
The 5-yard chuck rule was instituted in 1978, but has has been enforced differently over time. In 2004, the league decided to enforce the rule more strictly, one of the key measures in recent years to increase scoring. After last season's flag football displays across the league, one wonders if the refs (replacement or otherwise) have been counseled to give more leeway to defenders. If so, teams like SEA and SF benefit; teams like the Packers (without the big physical DBs or WRs, excepting Nelson) are at a disadvantage in the sense they can't do what they're accustomed to doing.
If this is the new normal, our guys will need to start scrapping.