2023 NFL Week 7

[Don Wassall]

I don’t watch many games like I used to due to family commitments and general distaste for the odious number of blacks, but I do catch San Fransisco any chance I get due to McCaffrey.

Winning teams control the line of scrimmage. San Fran is my pick for the Super Bowl due to CMC, Kittle, Juice and Purdy all being top tier players, and possible the best at their positions in some cases. Having that many white superstars at key (and visible) positions is huge for the caste narrative cracks to widen.

But football games are won in the trenches and San Fran’s management not addressing in the off-season could come back to bite them. I can admit Williams to be an elite run blocker and the line suffers greatly when he is out. Would I prefer they have an elite white tackle? Absolutely! But my primary focus is McCaffrey’s success as that is what helps break barriers of the caste system down, not the linemen. Most DWFs assume whites are better linemen while nearly all assume a white man incapable of playing running back at an elite level. So in short, the state of the 49ers run blocking is of concern to me.

I can certainly post less but prefer to post my observations as they happen, similar to how we all might converse if watching a game together in person.

I just find it interesting to find complaint after complaint about the second best offense in the league, and not just their o-line. And as I expected, you didn't reply to the meat of what I wrote, which is this:

"Consider: Minnesota blitzes significantly more than any other NFL team and did so again last night in a game in which the Vikings played very well on both sides of the ball, yet Purdy was sacked only once and threw for 272 yards. Compare that to the sack-a-thon the likes of Daniel Jones and Sam Howell have to go through seemingly every game. Howell is on pace to break David Carr's record of most sacks taken in a season.

"San Francisco is the second highest scoring team in the league through seven weeks. Christian McCaffrey leads the league in rushing and total yards. The line has helped spring him for a large number of big plays running and receiving. Brock Purdy has played very well, especially so for how few games he's started."

None of that would happen with an "atrocious" line or one that is "one of the absolute worst in the league." Now you're merely concerned about "the state of the 49ers run blocking." Big difference. I'd like to see improvement too, but the SF o-line is middle of the pack at worst given how successful the league's second highest scoring offense has been. If you believe they're that awful then back it up with something other than diversionary boilerplate language like "football games are won in the trenches." Last I looked San Francisco has been winning most of their games. And if you think they're so awful maybe you should take a look at how much worse a lot of other o-lines are.

 

[Warhawk_46]

Even before the season, the offensive line was viewed as the team’s weakness. They lost McGlinchy, a very good white tackle, and didn’t really find an adequate replacement. I stand by that their run blocking the last few games has been atrocious… unless you think it is McCaffrey not playing up to par? I will posit he makes more out of nothing than any back in the league.

If the blocking is so great, or even average as you allude to, then why is McCaffrey averaging under 4 yards per carry the last three weeks? It wasn’t a one week aberration, it is now a trend.

At this juncture, probably best to agree to disagree. I’m not going to change your mind and you won’t change mine. I guess the best we can hope for is their line performs to its best ability to enable McCaffrey to have a monster season on the ground. Whether that is a huge improvement or a smaller one depends on where one sees their current performance level at.