Niner News Thread
- Thread starter Chree
- Start date
Niners are a threat to Seattle....
If there is a common denominator among most of the NFC playoff contenders, it is that each has at least one significant weakness. The New Orleans Saints struggle when playing tough opponents on the road, the Chicago Bears are dead last in the NFL in rush defense, the Carolina Panthers cannot hit the vertical pass and the Dallas Cowboys are going through a December collapse that is epic even by their own recent standards.
The one team that is generally considered an exception to that rule is the Seattle Seahawks, who are the favorite in the NFC right now. But the team that has the fewest weaknesses outside of the Seahawks is the San Francisco 49ers. In fact, the 49ers also have tremendous strengths in every area of the game. If they indeed make the playoffs, they are the team best suited to beat Seattle.
Passing offense
Colin Kaepernick has experienced some negative moments during his second starting season with the 49ers, yet his 67.9 Total QBR -- a mark that ranks seventh in the league -- illustrates just how strong his overall level of play has been this year.
Kaepernick has also shown an improved ability to protect the football. His 1.9 percent bad decision rate (BDR, a measure of how often a quarterback makes a mental error that leads to a turnover opportunity for the opposing team), is three-tenths of a percentage point lower than his solid 2.2 percent BDR last year (a BDR of 2 percent is quite good) that ranked tied for 18th among qualifying quarterbacks. Even more important is that Kaepernick is trending in the right BDR direction, as he has posted a 0.6 percent BDR since Week 11.
Anquan Boldin has been a key contributor to Kaepernick's superb metrics. Boldin has a reputation as a possession receiver, but his route depth numbers this year indicate he is having a very notable impact on the vertical passing game, as well.
Anquan Boldin YPA by Route Depth
Route Depth Comp Att Yds TD Int Pen Pen Yds YPA
Short (up to 10 yards) 45 60 437 3 0 1 5 7.2
Medium (11-19 yards) 20 29 365 2 0 4 27 11.9
Deep (20-29 yards) 5 10 156 0 0 1 5 14.6
Bomb (30+ yards) 0 0 0 0 0 1 31 31.0
Total 70 99 958 5 0 7 68 9.7
Vertical (11+ yards) 25 39 521 2 0 6 63 13.0
Stretch Vertical (20+ yards) 5 10 156 0 0 2 36 16.0
To notch double-digit figures in any of these route depth categories is considered a feather in the proverbial statistical cap, and Boldin has achieved that goal in five categories thus far.
Tight end Vernon Davis can match Boldin in that arena, as he has double-digit YPA marks at the medium (13.1 YPA), bomb (32.1 YPA), total (11.2), vertical (16.0) and stretch vertical (19.6) route depth levels.
Having two targets of this quality is enough to power a passing game, but the 49ers also now have Michael Crabtree, who returned to the lineup three weeks ago after missing most of the season due to an Achilles injury. Crabtree is still getting up to speed, but with four of his past 10 pass targets resulting in a gain of 10 or more yards, it appears he is starting to hit his stride and thus could make this aerial attack even more dangerous.
Rushing offense
The 49ers rank fifth in the league in rush yards per game (137.07) but their most impressive number in this area is their remarkably high 8.9-yard mark in the good blocking yards per attempt (GBYPA) metric. (Note: GBYPA gauges productivity on rush plays with good blocking, which is very roughly defined as when the offense does not allow the defense to disrupt a rush attempt).
To put this number in perspective, consider that in most seasons there are normally about five full-time running backs who will end the year with a GBYPA of 9 or more yards and the Niners are close to that mark for their entire team. It is worth noting this metric does not include scramble yards by quarterbacks, so Kaepernick's 8.5 yards per scramble makes this team even more dangerous on the ground.
Passing defense
[+] EnlargeAaron Rodgers
Jose Luis Villegas/Sacramento Bee/MCT via Getty ImagesAldon Smith has 8.5 sacks in nine games played this season.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, San Francisco ranks second in the league in Total QBR allowed (34.5), fourth in passing yards allowed per game (199.71), third in net yards per pass attempt (5.73), ninth in interception percentage (3.1 percent) and 13th in sacks per pass attempt (7.4 percent).
That last number is fairly good at face value, but is even better when noting it has been achieved despite the absence of pass-rushing ace Aldon Smith for five games. His four sacks over the past four games are key to San Francisco leading the league with a 12.2 percent sacks per pass attempt rate since Week 12, a mark that indicates this portion of their pass defense is on the rise.
Rushing defense
The Niners rank sixth in the league in rush yards allowed per game (99.36) and tied for first in yards after contact per rush (1.20). They also rank ninth in rushing yards allowed to opposing running backs, and haven't allowed an opposing team's running backs to gain a total of 100 yards since Week 6.
San Francisco also gives up the fewest yards per rush on rushing plays that gain 10 or more yards (14.30), so even when a team is able to put up a solid ground gain against this group, the 49ers defense limits the upside of those gains.
Special teams
According to ESPN Stats & Information, San Francisco's special-teams platoon has racked up a 31.69-point showing in the special teams expected points added (StEPA) metric that gauges how productive each special-teams group is when taking into account facets such as field position, time of possession, game score, etc. This means that the 49ers' special teams have added just more than two points per game to the team's bottom line, a mark that places them third in the league. One of the key contributors to this showing is kicker Phil Dawson, who has hit a team-record 24 straight field goals.
A major benefit of having across-the-board strength of this caliber is that the 49ers are capable of playing any type of game. It is why San Francisco is the only team in the league to post seven games with 30 or more points scored and seven games with 14 or fewer points allowed. The 49ers can formulate and implement whatever strategy is necessary to win, and that makes them the most dangerous team in the NFC playoffs.
If there is a common denominator among most of the NFC playoff contenders, it is that each has at least one significant weakness. The New Orleans Saints struggle when playing tough opponents on the road, the Chicago Bears are dead last in the NFL in rush defense, the Carolina Panthers cannot hit the vertical pass and the Dallas Cowboys are going through a December collapse that is epic even by their own recent standards.
The one team that is generally considered an exception to that rule is the Seattle Seahawks, who are the favorite in the NFC right now. But the team that has the fewest weaknesses outside of the Seahawks is the San Francisco 49ers. In fact, the 49ers also have tremendous strengths in every area of the game. If they indeed make the playoffs, they are the team best suited to beat Seattle.
Passing offense
Colin Kaepernick has experienced some negative moments during his second starting season with the 49ers, yet his 67.9 Total QBR -- a mark that ranks seventh in the league -- illustrates just how strong his overall level of play has been this year.
Kaepernick has also shown an improved ability to protect the football. His 1.9 percent bad decision rate (BDR, a measure of how often a quarterback makes a mental error that leads to a turnover opportunity for the opposing team), is three-tenths of a percentage point lower than his solid 2.2 percent BDR last year (a BDR of 2 percent is quite good) that ranked tied for 18th among qualifying quarterbacks. Even more important is that Kaepernick is trending in the right BDR direction, as he has posted a 0.6 percent BDR since Week 11.
Anquan Boldin has been a key contributor to Kaepernick's superb metrics. Boldin has a reputation as a possession receiver, but his route depth numbers this year indicate he is having a very notable impact on the vertical passing game, as well.
Anquan Boldin YPA by Route Depth
Route Depth Comp Att Yds TD Int Pen Pen Yds YPA
Short (up to 10 yards) 45 60 437 3 0 1 5 7.2
Medium (11-19 yards) 20 29 365 2 0 4 27 11.9
Deep (20-29 yards) 5 10 156 0 0 1 5 14.6
Bomb (30+ yards) 0 0 0 0 0 1 31 31.0
Total 70 99 958 5 0 7 68 9.7
Vertical (11+ yards) 25 39 521 2 0 6 63 13.0
Stretch Vertical (20+ yards) 5 10 156 0 0 2 36 16.0
To notch double-digit figures in any of these route depth categories is considered a feather in the proverbial statistical cap, and Boldin has achieved that goal in five categories thus far.
Tight end Vernon Davis can match Boldin in that arena, as he has double-digit YPA marks at the medium (13.1 YPA), bomb (32.1 YPA), total (11.2), vertical (16.0) and stretch vertical (19.6) route depth levels.
Having two targets of this quality is enough to power a passing game, but the 49ers also now have Michael Crabtree, who returned to the lineup three weeks ago after missing most of the season due to an Achilles injury. Crabtree is still getting up to speed, but with four of his past 10 pass targets resulting in a gain of 10 or more yards, it appears he is starting to hit his stride and thus could make this aerial attack even more dangerous.
Rushing offense
The 49ers rank fifth in the league in rush yards per game (137.07) but their most impressive number in this area is their remarkably high 8.9-yard mark in the good blocking yards per attempt (GBYPA) metric. (Note: GBYPA gauges productivity on rush plays with good blocking, which is very roughly defined as when the offense does not allow the defense to disrupt a rush attempt).
To put this number in perspective, consider that in most seasons there are normally about five full-time running backs who will end the year with a GBYPA of 9 or more yards and the Niners are close to that mark for their entire team. It is worth noting this metric does not include scramble yards by quarterbacks, so Kaepernick's 8.5 yards per scramble makes this team even more dangerous on the ground.
Passing defense
[+] EnlargeAaron Rodgers
Jose Luis Villegas/Sacramento Bee/MCT via Getty ImagesAldon Smith has 8.5 sacks in nine games played this season.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, San Francisco ranks second in the league in Total QBR allowed (34.5), fourth in passing yards allowed per game (199.71), third in net yards per pass attempt (5.73), ninth in interception percentage (3.1 percent) and 13th in sacks per pass attempt (7.4 percent).
That last number is fairly good at face value, but is even better when noting it has been achieved despite the absence of pass-rushing ace Aldon Smith for five games. His four sacks over the past four games are key to San Francisco leading the league with a 12.2 percent sacks per pass attempt rate since Week 12, a mark that indicates this portion of their pass defense is on the rise.
Rushing defense
The Niners rank sixth in the league in rush yards allowed per game (99.36) and tied for first in yards after contact per rush (1.20). They also rank ninth in rushing yards allowed to opposing running backs, and haven't allowed an opposing team's running backs to gain a total of 100 yards since Week 6.
San Francisco also gives up the fewest yards per rush on rushing plays that gain 10 or more yards (14.30), so even when a team is able to put up a solid ground gain against this group, the 49ers defense limits the upside of those gains.
Special teams
According to ESPN Stats & Information, San Francisco's special-teams platoon has racked up a 31.69-point showing in the special teams expected points added (StEPA) metric that gauges how productive each special-teams group is when taking into account facets such as field position, time of possession, game score, etc. This means that the 49ers' special teams have added just more than two points per game to the team's bottom line, a mark that places them third in the league. One of the key contributors to this showing is kicker Phil Dawson, who has hit a team-record 24 straight field goals.
A major benefit of having across-the-board strength of this caliber is that the 49ers are capable of playing any type of game. It is why San Francisco is the only team in the league to post seven games with 30 or more points scored and seven games with 14 or fewer points allowed. The 49ers can formulate and implement whatever strategy is necessary to win, and that makes them the most dangerous team in the NFC playoffs.
49ers GM Trent Baalke says free agent FB Owen Marecic isn't interested in playing in the NFL.
After losing FB Bruce Miller (shoulder) to injured reserve last week, the 49ers approached Marecic. The 25-year-old declined their offer and seems content with life away from the gridiron. The 49ers signed DL/FB Will Tukuafu.
After losing FB Bruce Miller (shoulder) to injured reserve last week, the 49ers approached Marecic. The 25-year-old declined their offer and seems content with life away from the gridiron. The 49ers signed DL/FB Will Tukuafu.
HOW THE FUCK IS THAT A PERSONAL FOUL
THAT WAS ALL FUCKING SHOULDER!!!!!!!!!!
THE NFL IS SO FUCKING GAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!
THAT WAS ALL FUCKING SHOULDER!!!!!!!!!!
THE NFL IS SO FUCKING GAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!
Props:
RM211 and RM211
Shit like this kills momentum. Could've limited this to a FG, instead we're down 4.
Props:
DubbC415 and DubbC415
i just cant fucking believe it. that hit was so sick, and perfect. and they tacked the unsportsmanlike conduct on top of it, making it even closer to the goal line
Props:
TLALOC and TLALOC