Well, my position in this deal simly has to do with coaching.
I just think we went better prepared against Dallas and San Francisco. Specially against SF, the first half, the gameplan and playcall on both sides of the ball was the most perfect I've seen a gameplan be in a while. It helped that the OL and DL played so well, too.
But on the second half, the gameplan changed. The offense became more conservative, which IMHO was the right thing to do, given that we were 20+ points ahead of them. We started running more (except for the beginning of the 4th quarter, were unnexplicably MM called a 5 wide set, and Rodgers got sacked), and controlling more the clock.
The Defense, however, went more conservative. We were starting to give them more field, and starting to not be able to stop them.
Then Kampman went out, and Capers went full with the nickel defense, and rushing allways the same 4, as the 49ers were in the shotgun the whole time. They allowed 1 touchdown in the end of the 3rd quarter, still, and where still in control of the game.
But in the 4th quarter, after the Collins INT and our Touchdown, our ST gave a big play and due to Matthews covering Vernon Davis, they got another touchdown. That, if I'm not mistaken, is when Harris got hurt also.
Then we mantained the vanilla D, and Gore got another TD, puting the game close again.
But with a little more than 5 minutes remaining, the Offense got serious and closed the game.
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At the time, I just got pissed about the Vanilla D. But I'm willing to put together the Vanilla D, the injuries and just the more relaxed position the team were in, as well as the 49ers change on offense (almost every single snap at the 2nd half was made in the shotgun) as causes for their reaction.
I also got a upset that we didn't completely overblown them, but looking now, they got the job done. I can't stabilish a corelation of the 49ers reaction with an eventual loss next game. We completely dominated the Browns and then lost a crucial game against the Vikings.
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And about the running game, this is the 3rd season that Grant got better late in the season. The first, he only played late. The second, he was injuried in the first half of the season. But now there's no evident explanation to it. I just think he gets better as the season goes on.
The OL, for the first tme this season, Both Tauscher and Clifton were healthy. Tauscher left in the 4th quarter, but he's not 100% yet. They do make a world of difference. It's incredible how much Barbre hurted this OL. Not that they're good right now, but with the more West Coast playcall, and with both Tackles in there, I think we can be a better team.