my only gripe with our coaching staff has been playcalling, especially over the past 7 games we've played, postseason included. getting frustrated that they're not putting pressure on opposing defenses. hoping this week is the beginning.


http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/20384486/after-further-review-49ers-passing-game-just-doesnt-scare-despite-efforts-to-improve

After Further Review: 49ers' passing game just doesn't scare, despite efforts to improve

The New York Jets will play the San Francisco 49ers this week without star corner Darrelle Revis, who will miss his first game after tearing an ACL last week.

If there is any opponent in the league where not having Revis can be handled best, it might be the 49ers.

They just don't scare down the field.

What's worse, they rarely try to do so.

After studying their tape from their loss to the Minnesota Vikings last week, it was obvious that all the talk about improving the passing game, getting deep balls down the field, challenging vertically, from this offseason was just a bunch of talk.

49ers quarterback Alex Smith threw 34 passes against the Vikings and his longest completion was 22 yards -- and that came on the final drive when the Niners were scrambling to get back into the game.

Starting receivers Michael Crabtree and Randy Moss combined to catch nine passes for 67 yards, which is 7.4 per catch. That won't challenge any team down the field.

The 49ers offense is designed with a lot of action off the running game. At times, it can be so creative, getting receivers running across the formation to free Smith up for easy throws -- even short ones.

But against Minnesota, there seemed to be little imagination, and little action in terms of trying to make the Vikings respect any sort of deep ball.

There were three pass plays all day where I could count a deep receiver being able to challenge the Minnesota secondary.

Too often, the 49ers ran short routes that seemed to play right into the coverage for the Vikings. Minnesota used a lot of man-under, two-deep concepts, although at times the Vikings showed that and rotated to a three-deep look.

It's not like the Vikings have this top-level secondary or anything. It's just that the 49ers made it so easy to defend.

Here's a look at one of the 49ers pass plays. As you can see, the Vikings are playing two-deep and there is no real challenge down the field. All the receivers are covered and tight end Vernon Davis, who is in the red circle, becomes the target. Too often, that seems to be the case with Smith. But in fairness to him, his receivers don't win or get deep.

Here's another example of the 49ers not challenging down the field. Yes, the Vikings are in two-deep coverage. But at some point, you have to run deeper routes. As you can see in this picture, the four yellow-circled 49ers are not getting depth on their routes, making for an easy cover.

For the season, Smith is averaging 6.97 yards per attempt. That is the lowest of any of the top 11 rated passers -- he is seventh. The top player in that category from the top 20 passes is Cincinnati's Andy Dalton at 9.13. Some other top ones are Eli Manning at 8.57 and Joe Flacco at 8.30.

Crabtree is tied for ninth in the league in receptions with 19, but he's the only player in the top-10 under 10 yards per catch at 9.6. Manningham is at 9.7 and Moss is at 11, but he has just eight catches. Those three combined have three catches of 20 yards or more -- and Manningham's came on that last drive against the Vikings.

At some point, the 49ers have to challenge down the field. If not, there is no way they can win a Super Bowl.