kingJofNYC
10-12-2012, 12:54 PM
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/10/11/marquee-massacre/
Marcell Dareus is also the second worst interior 4-3 DL in the league according to their stats. 5.7 yards by ball carriers before they're even contacted by a defender, can't shed or hold the point, absolutely pathetic.
Marquee Massacre (https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/10/11/marquee-massacre/)
Ben Stockwell (https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/author/ben/) | 2012/10/11
Entering this week, the matchup between the Buffalo Bills’ defensive line and the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive line was one to really whet the appetite. You had arguably the most talented four-man defensive front in the league going up against the form offensive line of the season so far. Home turf would help the 49ers out, but surely the Bills’ talented defensive front would give them their sternest test of the season so far? A titanic encounter worthy of an in-depth write up in our weekly Marquee Matchups (https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/category/games/matchups/) column?
Well this matchup did prove to be worthy of a closer look and a write up, but for a reason that not even the most hopelessly optimistic of 49er fans could have predicted — the San Francisco offensive line took the Bills’ vaunted defensive line to pieces.
They didn’t just win this matchup, they owned it, consistently and with brutal dominance on pretty much every single one of the 49ers’ 73 offensive snaps. We’re devoting our Marquee Matchups column this week to just how the San Francisco offensive line mauled the Buffalo defensive line.
The 49ers fired a statement of intent with the very first play of the game. They ran off the left hip of LG Mike Iupati and picked up five yards, as the offensive line immediately got the better of the Bills’ defensive line. To the back side of the play Alex Boone comfortably controlled Kyle Williams one-on-one, and with the key block to the front side Iupati got enough of Marcel Dareus with his initial contact to open a crease which Frank Gore was able to drive through for a solid pick up to open the game. This play was simple but effective and the fact that George Wilson had to make the tackle from his strong safety spot was a clear sign that the Bills’ safeties were in for a busy day cleaning up the rushes that got through the first level of the defense.
After that drive stalled, the 49ers got the ball back on their own 20-yard line and reeled off the sort of run play that was symptomatic of the game. The 49ers’ run blockers so comprehensively dominated this play that Gore only collected 4 of his 19 rushing yards after contact. That’s right, his blockers opened up such a yawning chasm that he went untouched for 15 yards. It’s not even as if the Bills got caught with a light front on the field. The 49ers had 22 personnel on the field and the Bills responded with an eight-man box, but they simply got gouged through their left side A-gap. They afforded the 49ers a wide gap between their defensive tackles, and San Francisco’s interior linemen took full advantage. To the left side of the gap Jonathan Goodwin and Iupati got a capable double team on Dareus to seal him from the play. Meanwhile to the right, Boone so conclusively won his first contact that he rocked Williams to his knees before he drove him a yard or two off the line to ensure he couldn’t fight back into the play. From here the Bills’ linebackers needed an exceptional play to limit the yardage, and when Kelvin Sheppard attacked a gap that Nick Barnett had covered and Delanie Walker got up to the second level to seal Arthur Moats the 49ers were gone, and Gore racked up one of the easier 19-yard gains of his career.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL1.jpg
For their next three drives the 49ers got away a little from their power running game, and took the time to set up their passing game and their “gadget” plays with backup QB Colin Kaepernick on the field. Immediately after one of those plays was called back by penalty, the 49ers used a simple running play to pick up a 3rd-and-10 conversion in the shadow of their own goalpost. Here the 49ers used the Bills’ aggressive nature up front to open up a huge hole for Kendall Hunter to get into the open field off right guard. At his best Williams is a destructive, gap-shooting defensive tackle, but on this occasion he was caught out by Boone who used his inside move to drive Williams all the way inside and leave Hunter a gap that must have been more than 5-yards wide. With the seal by Goodwin on Bryan Scott and the 49ers’ own Kyle Williams working to keep SCBL Justin Rogers out of the play, Hunter was able to cut upfield for a conversion that helped swing momentum to the 49ers at the end of the first half. It wasn’t the telling play to end the half — that honor fell to Scott Chandler’s fumble — but how different might things have been with a stop from the Bills and Andy Lee forced to punt from his own end zone?
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL2.jpg
Getting beaten down wasn’t the Bills’ only problem when it came to defending the run in this game. Gore’s 31-yard run at the 10:35 mark in the third quarter was the perfect storm of the Bills’ getting caught in the wrong play at the wrong time against the right offensive play call by the 49er offense. The Bills rolled a blitz to the right side of the San Francisco offensive line as soon as the 49ers ran a slightly delayed carry off the left side of the offensive line. This played right into a spot Mark Anderson had just vacated to drop to the second level, and left the Bills’ defensive end isolated in space and headed backwards. Needless to say that isn’t an ideal recipe to stop the run, and once again left Gore untouched until he was deep downfield. Anderson was easily taken out of the play by LT Joe Staley at the second level and with the Bills’ defensive backs playing pass on a run play, Gore was spoiled for choice with where to go, before he was eventually run down by Marcel Dareus. It doesn’t get much worse for a defense. They’re already playing the run badly and get caught in a perfect storm which no one noticed until their flood defenses had been breached.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL3.jpg
Splitting the defensive tackles is usually a route to success, and once again in this game the 49ers did that. At the 4:40 mark in the third quarter, already sporting a three touchdown lead, they showed just how versatile their running game is by perfectly executing a short handoff to fullback Bruce Miller which he took for a 9-yard scamper. Staley and Goodwin split the tackles on a rush that went off the left hip of Goodwin for a first down. Goodwin continued his dominance over Dareus when he lined up over the nose by sealing the Bills’ second-year tackle to his right while Williams was caught off guard by a cut block from Staley, which, in turn, opened up the point of attack as the defense behind them was caught off guard by the handoff to the fullback. Boone led the run on this occasion, and showed excellent agility for a big man as he executed a short pull around Goodwin — it was crucial that the 49ers’ center didn’t cede any ground to Dareus on this block — to get to the second level and seal MLB Kelvin Sheppard to the inside. Execution of a play like this is really great to see from a well-oiled running game. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but great execution on the ground like this is as pretty as any passing play.
This game wasn’t about pretty, though, so it’s only fitting to take a look at a play on the 49ers’ final drive with the first team offense, one where it proved its dominance once and for all. Actually, for once the 49ers weren’t 100% dominant on this play, as a Bills’ defender got off a block to got a shot at Gore close to the line of scrimmage. The culprit was Goodwin who was beaten at the second level by LLBNigel Bradham. But Gore simply ran through the tackle on his way to another first down pick up, and showed that he wasn’t just picking up free yards from his offensive line. His other offensive linemen again did a fine job, with Williams again controlled to the backside by Boone, and Iupati controlling Dareus as he sealed and turned the, now weary, defensive tackle comfortably to the inside of the rush off left guard. Staley worked to the second level to take Sheppard to the outside of the run (effectively neutralizing Barnett on the play too), while part time FB/DL Will Tukuafa exhibited his power as a lead blocker by burying Anderson with a thunderous block to prevent him collapsing down on the play. After running through Bradham’s tackle, Gore finished the run by dragging George Wilson to the first down marker. It may have been Anthony Dixon who finished the 49ers’ day with a 3-yard touchdown run, but this run on the 49ers’ first play of the fourth quarter was the emphatic exclamation point to their dominance.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL4.jpg
49er Victory by Knockout
This sort of a performance is an absolute rarity in the NFL. You will seldom see this sort of dominance even if you pit the best offensive line in the league against one of the worst defensive lines, let alone what should have been such an even matchup. If you haven’t seen the game then our yards after the contact statistic speaks for itself. Only 93 of the 49ers’ 311 rushing yards came after contact — which means that on average a Buffalo defender didn’t touch the 49ers ball carrier until he had already gained 5.7 yards. By comparison the league average so far this season is around 1.7 yards before contact. The 49ers’ shortest rushes on the day went for 0 yards, a pair of failed goal-line carries stopped by Barnett at the start of the first quarter. From then on in it was persistent and consistent dominance. The Bills’ defensive line never got a sniff in one of the most impressive run blocking displays any of us are likely to see in a long time.
Marcell Dareus is also the second worst interior 4-3 DL in the league according to their stats. 5.7 yards by ball carriers before they're even contacted by a defender, can't shed or hold the point, absolutely pathetic.
Marquee Massacre (https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/10/11/marquee-massacre/)
Ben Stockwell (https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/author/ben/) | 2012/10/11
Entering this week, the matchup between the Buffalo Bills’ defensive line and the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive line was one to really whet the appetite. You had arguably the most talented four-man defensive front in the league going up against the form offensive line of the season so far. Home turf would help the 49ers out, but surely the Bills’ talented defensive front would give them their sternest test of the season so far? A titanic encounter worthy of an in-depth write up in our weekly Marquee Matchups (https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/category/games/matchups/) column?
Well this matchup did prove to be worthy of a closer look and a write up, but for a reason that not even the most hopelessly optimistic of 49er fans could have predicted — the San Francisco offensive line took the Bills’ vaunted defensive line to pieces.
They didn’t just win this matchup, they owned it, consistently and with brutal dominance on pretty much every single one of the 49ers’ 73 offensive snaps. We’re devoting our Marquee Matchups column this week to just how the San Francisco offensive line mauled the Buffalo defensive line.
The 49ers fired a statement of intent with the very first play of the game. They ran off the left hip of LG Mike Iupati and picked up five yards, as the offensive line immediately got the better of the Bills’ defensive line. To the back side of the play Alex Boone comfortably controlled Kyle Williams one-on-one, and with the key block to the front side Iupati got enough of Marcel Dareus with his initial contact to open a crease which Frank Gore was able to drive through for a solid pick up to open the game. This play was simple but effective and the fact that George Wilson had to make the tackle from his strong safety spot was a clear sign that the Bills’ safeties were in for a busy day cleaning up the rushes that got through the first level of the defense.
After that drive stalled, the 49ers got the ball back on their own 20-yard line and reeled off the sort of run play that was symptomatic of the game. The 49ers’ run blockers so comprehensively dominated this play that Gore only collected 4 of his 19 rushing yards after contact. That’s right, his blockers opened up such a yawning chasm that he went untouched for 15 yards. It’s not even as if the Bills got caught with a light front on the field. The 49ers had 22 personnel on the field and the Bills responded with an eight-man box, but they simply got gouged through their left side A-gap. They afforded the 49ers a wide gap between their defensive tackles, and San Francisco’s interior linemen took full advantage. To the left side of the gap Jonathan Goodwin and Iupati got a capable double team on Dareus to seal him from the play. Meanwhile to the right, Boone so conclusively won his first contact that he rocked Williams to his knees before he drove him a yard or two off the line to ensure he couldn’t fight back into the play. From here the Bills’ linebackers needed an exceptional play to limit the yardage, and when Kelvin Sheppard attacked a gap that Nick Barnett had covered and Delanie Walker got up to the second level to seal Arthur Moats the 49ers were gone, and Gore racked up one of the easier 19-yard gains of his career.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL1.jpg
For their next three drives the 49ers got away a little from their power running game, and took the time to set up their passing game and their “gadget” plays with backup QB Colin Kaepernick on the field. Immediately after one of those plays was called back by penalty, the 49ers used a simple running play to pick up a 3rd-and-10 conversion in the shadow of their own goalpost. Here the 49ers used the Bills’ aggressive nature up front to open up a huge hole for Kendall Hunter to get into the open field off right guard. At his best Williams is a destructive, gap-shooting defensive tackle, but on this occasion he was caught out by Boone who used his inside move to drive Williams all the way inside and leave Hunter a gap that must have been more than 5-yards wide. With the seal by Goodwin on Bryan Scott and the 49ers’ own Kyle Williams working to keep SCBL Justin Rogers out of the play, Hunter was able to cut upfield for a conversion that helped swing momentum to the 49ers at the end of the first half. It wasn’t the telling play to end the half — that honor fell to Scott Chandler’s fumble — but how different might things have been with a stop from the Bills and Andy Lee forced to punt from his own end zone?
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL2.jpg
Getting beaten down wasn’t the Bills’ only problem when it came to defending the run in this game. Gore’s 31-yard run at the 10:35 mark in the third quarter was the perfect storm of the Bills’ getting caught in the wrong play at the wrong time against the right offensive play call by the 49er offense. The Bills rolled a blitz to the right side of the San Francisco offensive line as soon as the 49ers ran a slightly delayed carry off the left side of the offensive line. This played right into a spot Mark Anderson had just vacated to drop to the second level, and left the Bills’ defensive end isolated in space and headed backwards. Needless to say that isn’t an ideal recipe to stop the run, and once again left Gore untouched until he was deep downfield. Anderson was easily taken out of the play by LT Joe Staley at the second level and with the Bills’ defensive backs playing pass on a run play, Gore was spoiled for choice with where to go, before he was eventually run down by Marcel Dareus. It doesn’t get much worse for a defense. They’re already playing the run badly and get caught in a perfect storm which no one noticed until their flood defenses had been breached.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL3.jpg
Splitting the defensive tackles is usually a route to success, and once again in this game the 49ers did that. At the 4:40 mark in the third quarter, already sporting a three touchdown lead, they showed just how versatile their running game is by perfectly executing a short handoff to fullback Bruce Miller which he took for a 9-yard scamper. Staley and Goodwin split the tackles on a rush that went off the left hip of Goodwin for a first down. Goodwin continued his dominance over Dareus when he lined up over the nose by sealing the Bills’ second-year tackle to his right while Williams was caught off guard by a cut block from Staley, which, in turn, opened up the point of attack as the defense behind them was caught off guard by the handoff to the fullback. Boone led the run on this occasion, and showed excellent agility for a big man as he executed a short pull around Goodwin — it was crucial that the 49ers’ center didn’t cede any ground to Dareus on this block — to get to the second level and seal MLB Kelvin Sheppard to the inside. Execution of a play like this is really great to see from a well-oiled running game. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but great execution on the ground like this is as pretty as any passing play.
This game wasn’t about pretty, though, so it’s only fitting to take a look at a play on the 49ers’ final drive with the first team offense, one where it proved its dominance once and for all. Actually, for once the 49ers weren’t 100% dominant on this play, as a Bills’ defender got off a block to got a shot at Gore close to the line of scrimmage. The culprit was Goodwin who was beaten at the second level by LLBNigel Bradham. But Gore simply ran through the tackle on his way to another first down pick up, and showed that he wasn’t just picking up free yards from his offensive line. His other offensive linemen again did a fine job, with Williams again controlled to the backside by Boone, and Iupati controlling Dareus as he sealed and turned the, now weary, defensive tackle comfortably to the inside of the rush off left guard. Staley worked to the second level to take Sheppard to the outside of the run (effectively neutralizing Barnett on the play too), while part time FB/DL Will Tukuafa exhibited his power as a lead blocker by burying Anderson with a thunderous block to prevent him collapsing down on the play. After running through Bradham’s tackle, Gore finished the run by dragging George Wilson to the first down marker. It may have been Anthony Dixon who finished the 49ers’ day with a 3-yard touchdown run, but this run on the 49ers’ first play of the fourth quarter was the emphatic exclamation point to their dominance.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-WK05-SF-OL4.jpg
49er Victory by Knockout
This sort of a performance is an absolute rarity in the NFL. You will seldom see this sort of dominance even if you pit the best offensive line in the league against one of the worst defensive lines, let alone what should have been such an even matchup. If you haven’t seen the game then our yards after the contact statistic speaks for itself. Only 93 of the 49ers’ 311 rushing yards came after contact — which means that on average a Buffalo defender didn’t touch the 49ers ball carrier until he had already gained 5.7 yards. By comparison the league average so far this season is around 1.7 yards before contact. The 49ers’ shortest rushes on the day went for 0 yards, a pair of failed goal-line carries stopped by Barnett at the start of the first quarter. From then on in it was persistent and consistent dominance. The Bills’ defensive line never got a sniff in one of the most impressive run blocking displays any of us are likely to see in a long time.