It was never going to be as easy as people made out. You see the 49ers, for all their flaws on offense, have got one heck of a talented defense. The Lions offense? Patchy. And so it proved as the 49ers picked up a big win, even if the talking point after the game was two coaches getting very caught up in the moment.
But it shouldn’t have been. This was a huge win for San Francisco, and a reminder that Detroit has plenty of work to do before they can be considered realistic challengers to the throne of Green Bay in the NFC North. Indeed the more you see of Detroit, the more you realize that if you take away the big play, they’re extremely beatable.
They are still an extremely good team, and in remembering that we should give Jim Harbaugh’s boys’ plenty of credit. They consistently pressured Matthew Stafford, and executed enough of their game plan on offense (pulling linemen like it was going out of fashion) to help them put points on the board. Are they for real? It’s too soon to tell, but right now they’re head and shoulders above the rest in the NFC West, and that’s success in and of itself. Let’s delve deeper with our performances of note.
San Francisco – Three Performances of Note
Just Superb
What else is there to say about Justin Smith (+8.5). He started off the game like he wanted to make amends for a couple of so-so performances, picking up a QB pressure on the first drive, and never turned his motor off as he picked up two sacks, a hit and six more hurries. Incredibly that wasn’t even his best work. No, if you want to know why the Lions found it so tough to run the ball, look at what Smith was able to do to the left side of the offensive line (including the center). His drive off the snap was too much, constantly standing the linemen up, and had very little problem shedding their blocks, making five tackles for short gains. His performance was simply a joy to behold.
Gore-ius
For however long I can remember (so that’s about two years) I’ve never bought into Frank Gore (+2.8 rushing). The 49ers never took him off the field, and very rarely gave carries to anyone else. The end result was he often looked more of a plodding running back rather than someone who could make something happen out of nothing. Now, whether it be by luck or design, San Fran seem to have realized that by taking him off the field (he played 74.3% of snaps), and giving some carries to the impressive Kendall Hunter (+1.1 rushing), Gore is a more dangerous runner. It only took 15 carries to help him pick up 141 yards, with some sharp cuts and good bursts turning decent holes into big gains. Take 10:51 left in the third. Gore avoids Ndamukong Suh, somehow maintains his balance while cutting to avoid Eric Wright before turning on the jets to pick up 55 yards. Now if only he could have eliminated those drops as a receiver out of the backfield …
Damned If They Do …
Last year, I liked Chilo Rachal (-1.2) so much, I listed him my secret superstar for the 49ers. He responded with a series of average displays, and a frankly terrible game against the Bengals that saw him lose his starting spot. Now he wasn’t great in this one, with Corey Williams a little too much for him, but he may get his starting spot back regardless given the play of Adam Snyder (-4.3). Snyder had a decent enough day in pass protection (three pressures allowed and a holding penalty) considering he spent a large chunk of it against Ndamukong Suh, but had a poor day in the run game. He may not have been consistently beaten, but offers so little as a run blocker, and has such little upside you question how he’s still a 49er. No offensive lineman had a good day in this game, but Snyder was the worst wearing red and gold.
Detroit – Three Performances of Note
Defensive Star
Let’s start with the good. While praise is often thrown around to members of the Lions defensive line (and rightly so), it doesn’t always fall at the feet of Corey Williams (+4.1). The defensive right tackle spent 52 snaps on the field and added three defensive stops, to the four quarterback pressures he got. Williams had the beating of the 49ers interior all day, and particularly had some fun against Mike Iupati, against whom he picked up two pressures. With 10:56 left in the first watch how quickly he beats Iupati to apply pressure to Alex Smith. For those not keeping score, that’s pressure in about 1.8 seconds.
Bad Company
There’s no point denying it. The Lions just couldn’t get their run game going. Their plan to run out of shotgun looks even more foolish now, but the 49ers defensive line and linebackers were simply too wise to what was going on, so the attempt at misdirection yielded very little. It wasn’t all down to relying on draw plays, and owed plenty to some poor performances. Every member of the offensive line graded negatively for their run blocking, with Dominic Raiola (-4.9) and Rob Sims (-4.3) the biggest offenders. Sims never got a handle on Justin Smith, while Raiola did his best to relate to that problem. Things weren’t much better in the passing game, where Jeff Backus (-4.5) surrendered three sacks, a hit and seven more pressures. It may not have been instantaneous pressure, but it was consistent, with Smith (again) and rookie Aldon Smith (+3.6 pass rush) causing him plenty of problems.
A Trend Developing
Are we about ready to start dissecting Matthew Stafford (+1.4)? The Lions, it’s fair to say, are not winning because of him. In fact, there’s an argument to be made Shaun Hill was playing better football for them down the stretch. Stafford is turning into a tease. He will make you go wow with some sublime throws. With 11.16 left in the game, he threw a strike to split coverage and allow Calvin Johnson to rumble on for 41 yards. If that’s the good, you have to understand the bad. Aldon Smith may have dropped it, but with 1:34 left in the first half Stafford simply cannot make a throw that should have been intercepted. It wasn’t the only bad throw he made, as he consistently overthrew his receivers, and almost as worringly, never looked like leading the Lions back into the game on either of the Lions two final drives. Perhaps it had to do with being pressured on 35.7% of plays, or perhaps he just couldn’t handle the blitz (three completions with a -2.0 rating on the eight occasions San Fran sent five or more rushers). Either way it wasn’t impressive, and if the Lions are to fulfil their obvious potential he needs to step up. Long bombs to Calvin Johnson (of which there was only one in this game, which was overthrown), will only get you so far.
Game Notes
– An eventful day for Patrick Willis (+5.0) in coverage. He may have given up a touchdown, but broke up three passes, closed on plays quickly, and was narrowing windows for Stafford all day.
– After a strip sack on the first defensive play of the game for the Lions, Kyle Vanden Bosch went on pick up just one further QB pressure (a hit) on Alex Smith. He was only on the field for 34 snaps, with Lawrence Jackson (36 snaps) seeing more playing time.
– Same old problems? Alex Smith completed just three passes on the 16 times he was pressured.
PFF Game Ball
It’s really a toss-up between two 49er defenders, but as good as Patrick Willis was (and he was very good), Justin Smith managed to take apart the Detroit offense with alarming regularity.
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