BeerBaron's Conference Championship Thoughts

[cmarq83]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

I think the better thing to hope for is that Gronk actually comes back stronger from injury, to almost superhuman levels. His ankle will now have the strength of 10 men.

As opposed to now? He's already there.

[J-Mike88]

BeerBaron, I give you a pie-chart, with the 3 choices for BIGGEST GOAT of Sunday, and it's Kyle Williams, Billy Cundiff, and Leah Evans, how do you divvy it up?






The reason I ask is because I, for some reason, am much more mad at Lee Evans than the kicker.

I'd probably go:
Evans 45% -(because if he catches it like a man, they go to the SB, simple)
Williams 45% -(not more because he didn't have the chance to win the game, but just as much because his gafs pretty much DID cost them the game)
Cundiff 10% -I hate kickers, and it was a short one, should make that kick in his sleep. But he choked. Still, it wouldn't have won the game. But it ended their season. I wish I had 35 more % to give him too.

[DraftSavant]

YO SOY FIESTA! sdf

[hockey619]

Originally Posted by scottyboy

i just wanted to point out that on returns the giants played it safer at the end of the 49er game sending the more sure handed, yet much less explosive, Aaron Ross back to field punts, along with sending Rolle back there just in case. Hell, Ross would run forward 5 yards and fall down/dive and I was perfectly content with that

i dont get why teams handle special teams the way they do.

big plays on special teams rarely win you the game. They can help, but critical mistakes on special teams seem far more frequent and are almost always killers and cause huge momentum swings.

im not a fan of being particularly conservative but in the ST game id be extremely conservative. preparing a return is so hard because it basically comes down to everyone blocking someone and the returner getting to space.

Its very hard to practice this and prepare for it, you can either do it and be a good return guy or you just cant. unless i had a special guy, id want them to do just what you were describing, catch, run a ways with two hands on the ball and make sure not to fumble. if youre not sure you can get it, run RUN THE **** AWAY LIKE ITS A ******* BOMB!!! so many guys just hang around by the ball or jog after it or hop after it or whatever and i have absolutely no idea why these dumbasses do that, it can cost you big time and has no real benefit as you never really see a guy pick that up and turn it into something minus hester back in the day. (the punt that took a funny hop and glanced off williams is a perfect example of get the hell away from the ball if it hops)

they teach guy to yell poison if the ball bounces but they need to start kicking peoples' ***es when they dont get away from the ball as fast as possible. huge pet peeve of mine as many guys just hang around it when nothing but bad things can happen if you do.

[Ness]

49ers are not a good TOP team. Not sure where this perception comes from. Maybe because our passing attack isn't that great and we have a couple of decent running backs. Maybe it's the misleading stat on NFL.com. Regardless, we were second to last in third down converting this year. 49ers defense takes the ball, but they (49ers offense) usually doesn't keep it very long. If anything it says more about the 49ers defense getting so many turnovers and stopping offenses over and over again.

[BeerBaron]

Originally Posted by keylime_5

just an observation I had about the games:

If Ted Ginn Jr. was healthy, the Niners wouldn't have lost the way they did. Who would've thought a backup return man would've been the x-factor in that game? The Ravens go to OT if Cundiff makes a chipshot field goal. I think special teams is still a very underrated aspect of the game and when people analyze who will win football games, they often overlook the third, oft forgotten part of football.

They wouldn't have lost the way they did, but I'm not going to guarantee that they would win or anything. Certainly wouldn't have hurt.

Originally Posted by cmarq83

As opposed to now? He's already there.

Well yeah, but maybe he's like a Saiyan. They recover even stronger from serious injury.

Gronk can go all Super Gronk and the Giants won't stand a chance.

Originally Posted by J-Mike88

BeerBaron, I give you a pie-chart, with the 3 choices for BIGGEST GOAT of Sunday, and it's Kyle Williams, Billy Cundiff, and Leah Evans, how do you divvy it up?

Yes, those plays sucked and were certainly the dagger in the back of both of those teams.

However, to place all the blame on any one of them is just false. If the rest of the team plays well, it doesn't come down to those plays.

Alex Smith had a ****** day for the 49ers, completing less than 50% of his passes. If he has a better day, it might not have gone down to OT. If the 49ers defense keeps Victor Cruz from having so many catches, it might not have got down to OT.

Same for the Ravens. They failed several times in the 4th quarter even before that final drive. If Flacco doesn't throw a pick to Spikes, maybe the Ravens come away with at least a FG on that drive.

So while those plays were the final nail in the coffin of the losing teams, the entire blame should not go there.

Originally Posted by hockey619

i dont get why teams handle special teams the way they do.

big plays on special teams rarely win you the game. They can help, but critical mistakes on special teams seem far more frequent and are almost always killers and cause huge momentum swings.

im not a fan of being particularly conservative but in the ST game id be extremely conservative. preparing a return is so hard because it basically comes down to everyone blocking someone and the returner getting to space.

Its very hard to practice this and prepare for it, you can either do it and be a good return guy or you just cant. unless i had a special guy, id want them to do just what you were describing, catch, run a ways with two hands on the ball and make sure not to fumble. if youre not sure you can get it, run RUN THE **** AWAY LIKE ITS A ******* BOMB!!! so many guys just hang around by the ball or jog after it or hop after it or whatever and i have absolutely no idea why these dumbasses do that, it can cost you big time and has no real benefit as you never really see a guy pick that up and turn it into something minus hester back in the day. (the punt that took a funny hop and glanced off williams is a perfect example of get the hell away from the ball if it hops)

they teach guy to yell poison if the ball bounces but they need to start kicking peoples' ***es when they dont get away from the ball as fast as possible. huge pet peeve of mine as many guys just hang around it when nothing but bad things can happen if you do.

Since my team has Hester, I want him to return the punt in all but the most extreme of circumstances, because he can be a game changer with one return.

However, 99% of other returners in the league except for maybe Peterson and Cribbs should not. Unless you've got at least a clean 10 yard radius, just fair catch the ball.

Your average return man is far more likely to hurt than the team than help.

Also, another thing that pisses me off, are guys who field punts inside the 10. What ever happened to the old rule you always heard about punter returners putting their heels on the 10 yard line and letting it go if it goes over them? Are coaches too afraid of the other team downing it and pinning them deep? I'd MUCH rather my return man just gtfo of the way and start at the 2 than risk him pulling a Jacoby Jones from a few weeks back and setting the other team up with a free "and goal" situation.

[abaddon41_80]

Originally Posted by scottyboy

i just wanted to point out that on returns the giants played it safer at the end of the 49er game sending the more sure handed, yet much less explosive, Aaron Ross back to field punts, along with sending Rolle back there just in case. Hell, Ross would run forward 5 yards and fall down/dive and I was perfectly content with that

The 49ers thought they were playing it safe with Williams back there. He was a great returner in college and had more experience returning punts than anyone else on the roster.

[BeerBaron]

Originally Posted by abaddon41_80

The 49ers thought they were playing it safe with Williams back there. He was a great returner in college and had more experience returning punts than anyone else on the roster.

Muffed punts will happen but kids on the playground know better than to carry the ball so loosely away from his body like he did in overtime.

That was the real killer.

[abaddon41_80]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

Muffed punts will happen but kids on the playground know better than to carry the ball so loosely away from his body like he did in overtime.

That was the real killer.

I can almost forgive the one in OT as fumbles do happen. But for him to forget the first rule of punt returning; get out of the way if you aren't going to catch it; was just stupid. I blame him more for the first than the second, especially considering the game probably never even gets to OT without the first one.

[BeerBaron]

He was asking for a fumble with the way he was carrying the ball. As a coach, I'd go to Tiki Barber levels when teaching ball handling to my players. I don't care if you look like a ****** carrying a loaf of bread, you hang onto the damn ball.

[abaddon41_80]

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

He was asking for a fumble with the way he was carrying the ball. As a coach, I'd go to Tiki Barber levels when teaching ball handling to my players. I don't care if you look like a ****** carrying a loaf of bread, you hang onto the damn ball.

I agree but he is a young player, only his second season and he was injured for most of his first. He probably was able to get away with holding the ball like that a lot in college because of his speed. But he has been returning punts since probably pee-wee football and they always tell you to get the hell out of the way if you aren't going to catch it.