I've been becoming less and less enamored with MM's offensive scheme.
I'm tired of the lip service that MM provides on running the ball. No, I don't want our offense to be primarily a running game, not with the way the rules favor the passing game. But at the same time, we can't afford to go one-dimensional, allow the defensive backs to concentrate solely on covering their man and allow the DL to tee off on the QB. We need to make the safeties, etc at least think twice (or even once, dammit) about having to honor that fake handoff and give our receivers some help in getting separation.
I thought our offensive performance in the 49ers game was night and day from the first half to the second (and similarly, but in reverse, I thought the same about the Seahawks game earlier in the season).
a) Too many plays from the shotgun, not enough under center. Running from a regular formation helps your play action passing game. However, you have to run plays from under center to get this benefit—shotgun formation diminishes your running game's ability to help your passing game, reducing it to a draw play.
First half of the 49ers game we had a much better split than the second half: 22 plays the first half, 12 were shotgun and 10 were under center. 38 plays the second half, 33 shotgun, 5 under center.
b) Too many of our running plays are draw plays out of the shotgun formation. 8 of the 13 runs during the game were run from the shotgun. There IS a difference—Dujuan Harris' 18 yd TD run in the first half was NOT from the shotgun.
c) And there are just too many times where MM abandons the run and our offense struggles. 1st half of the Seahawks game, 27 out of 30 plays were passing plays and we scored 0 pts. 2nd half of the 49ers game—4 running plays and over 30 passes—we scored 3 pts until a score in the last minute during garbage time with the game out of reach.
Frankly, I was worried during our first possession when MM called 3 passing plays and we went 3 and out. The only one of the 3 we completed was the first play, which was the only one of the 3 not from the shotgun. But I thought MM called a good first half after that: Dujuan Harris ran the ball 9 times in the first half, gained 47 yds (over 5 yards per carry). Run/pass ratio was pretty good (9 runs, 13 passes), though 4 of the 9 runs were from the shotgun.
The offense moved the ball pretty well the first half, scoring TDs two of the four times we had the ball (the punt after our first 3 and out and an interception ended the other two). If it weren't for a muffed punt we'd have been winning at half time.
In the second half, Harris carried the ball on the first two plays and gained 3 yards each carry. His final stats at the end of the game were 11 carries for 53 yards (4.8 yds/carry).
That's right—the last time Harris ran the ball were those first two plays of the second half. (note: both were from the shotgun)
Next series, Randall Cobb gained 26 yards on two carries, both from the shotgun. Those two carries were our last running plays of the game.
For those who would argue that we were behind and needed to pass to catch up in the 49ers game: the series where Cobb carried the ball was the one where we kicked a field goal to tie the game after having driven down to the 49ers 15 yard line.
49ers went down the field the next series and took a 31-24 lead.
There was over 7 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, we're down by 1 score, and never run the ball again.
First series we ran 6 plays out of the shotgun formation, all passes. First two were incomplete. We got a first down on a 17 yard scramble by AR on 3rd and 10. The next 3 plays netted all of 4 yards.
The defense continued their collapse, and the next series we gave up another TD. With the score now 38-24 had no choice but to pass the rest of the way.
Yes, the defense deserved a lot of blame for the loss. But MM didn't help them out at all offensively in the second half.