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Three issues for 49ers to amend before Week 5 against Browns

Sep 27, 2019 | 10:33 PM

© Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers are 3-0. They have a bye week, then they play the Cleveland Browns, who have a wretched offensive line. Things are trending in the right direction. The issue, however, is that they’ve made myriad errors which they’ve been able to get away with due to tremendous defensive effort (and some brilliant offensive scheming, though not always executed) against subpar teams.

That is not intended to say the 49ers have not earned their wins, they have. All that matters is the result; but to continue to check down W’s each week, there are some areas which need improvement.

Poor snaps and offensive miscommunications

The 49ers likely would have needed a new long snapper if Jon Condo hadn’t made the team’s decision for them by retiring this past week. After beginning the year with Collin Holba, moving to Condo and now going with Garrsion Sanborne (with Kyle Nelson suspended for another three games), there’s a need for improvement, and hopefully, some stability at a position that you only notice when it’s going wrong.

Thanks to punter and holder Mitch Wishnowsky, Condo’s errors weren’t turnover-inducing or resulting in missed tries, but they were close. Here are two examples from last week.

But it wasn’t just on special teams that the 49ers struggled with their snaps. Weston Richburg, who had an otherwise impressive day blocking, had a pair of miscues (the first could debatably be on Jimmy Garoppolo, but it appeared a dual effort) which resulted in a pair of turnovers for the 49ers.

Here’s the first one, which doesn’t ever end up in the sweet spot between Garoppolo’s hands.

https://twitter.com/grantcohn/status/1177300513890504704?s=20

The second came when Richie James Jr. motioned and the ball hit him in the chest in front of Garoppolo. That one is pretty clearly on Richburg.

When a team turns the ball over five times, it’s a massive concern. Choose to view the two turnovers above how you’d like, but at the very least, they’re correctable mistakes. Snap timing and execution is a far easier correction than interceptions from a quarterback who misreads defenses (not accusing Garoppolo of doing that, at least not frequently).

Pass blocking

This isn’t as easy a correction. Mike McGlinchey had a horror show of a day and was bested by T.J. Watt and Stephon Tuitt. It seems unlikely that McGlinchey would follow up with another disaster, but that could be in store for Justin Skule, who will face Myles Garrett, one of the most imposing defensive ends in the NFL.

Both of Garoppolo’s interceptions came with pressure on him, though the first, a screen to Matt Breida, was designed to be that way. The second, however, was the result of one of Breida or Mike Person (it looked like Person) missing an assignment. Person tripped, but looked like he was never intending to block linebacker Bud Dupree, who hit Garoppolo hard just after he released the ball.

Garoppolo was sacked just the once last week, though he escaped, impressively on at least three other occasions, looking very much like Brett Favre; wriggling out from sure tackles or slinging the ball quickly or from different arm angles. He showed it on this play below, but if the 49ers want their franchise quarterback to remain as impressive as he was in the 24-20 win against the Steelers, they cannot continue to allow him to be hit so hard and so frequently.

Corner and free safety play

This is the biggest unknown, and as for the bye week, it really only provides an opportunity for reps. With Ahkello Witherspoon’s foot sprain set to sideline him for more than a month, the 49ers will rely first on Emmanuel Moseley (he’s currently the projected starter per Kyle Shanahan, with D.J. Reed and the suddenly on-the-outs Jason Verrett also in the mix; though Verrett was apparently “a little nicked up,” according to general manager John Lynch on KNBR).

Tarvarius Moore is effectively a rookie free safety and his flaws have shone through. Without Witherspoon playing at arguably an All-Pro level, that could spell trouble in the secondary. Here are the two plays that Verrett defended (the first, a defensive pass interference call, he was expecting and needed help from Moore). The second one saw Verrett benched and replaced by Moseley who held his own.

While Moseley performed well, there’s little chance he performs as well as Witherspoon did, and there’s a symbiosis that’s required between the free safety and corner; especially in Robert Saleh’s Cover 3 defense, where the free safety has a massive responsibility. Thus far, Moore has shone glimpses of potential, but he and Moseley (or Reed or Verrett) could be targeted frequently by Baker Mayfield and Jarvis Landry (with Odell Beckham Jr. likely covered by Richard Sherman.

That’s assuming, of course, that Mayfield has a chance to take a shot downfield, which, with the abysmal performance of the Browns’ offensive line and the stellar performance of the 49ers’ defensive line, is not something that should be assumed. But Mayfield may not need time in the pocket, as was evidenced when Moore took a horrible angle that allowed a first-down gain turn into a 76-yard touchdown from Juju Smith-Schuster. If there’s not a notable improvement, Jimmie Ward may well take back his starting free safety spot.
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