NFL.com: Ed Reed: RG3 prepared Ravens for Colin Kaepernick

[MadMonkey]

The pistol offense and the read-option were invented by Chris Ault, the former Nevada coach. Kaepernick learned the offense in college, with Ault as his coach, and is perfect for it, just like Griffin is.

Here's a great article on it:

http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Chris-Ault-and-the-pistol-offense-4241739.php

Along with an interview with Ault talking about RG3 and Shanahan today for those that missed it.

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=65&c=428&f=1039601

[Special K]

Wait, I thought Kaepernick was the first QB in the history of the NFL to use the pistol read option? How could RGIII have helped the Ravens prepare for something the 49ers invented and are the sole users of?

I am sooooo happy we still have a grass field, who cares what the rest of the league thinks.

Well, since the crappy field is potentially a significant facilitator of injuries, I care.

---------- Post added February-1st-2013 at 05:57 PM ----------

I'm glad to see this was the first type of response to that. After RG's knee, Clemons from Seattle etc, people were all kind of agreeing it needed fixed. I dunno, isn't it a good thin for opponents to literally fear our field

Except that our team plays on that same field and sustains injuries as well. :doh:

[Wrong Direction]

The first thing Snyder did as owner was fire the grounds crew. I have a very strong feeling that Shanny decided a bad field worked in our advantage. It makes sense given all the play action and read option stuff we run. The field is bad on purpose.

[Leonard Washington]

I hope they get blown the hell out!

[Chip80]

The SF read option caught GB off guard. Baltimore is ready for it.

SF is just better than Atlanta, but it was still a close game. If Atlanta had kept running, it would be a Atl-Balt SB. Of course, the Atl defense was a bit too small.

I think Baltimore may surprise a lot of people with their preparation. Their defense is bigger than GBs or Atlanta's and smarter too.I think SF has benefited a lot from bad defenses and Colin K. hasn't been hit hard. Baltimore will nail him.

Flacco is going to be next Golden Boy. I think he'll play a terrific game. I'm not a fan of his, BTW, but he is pretty good now.

Of course, I could be wrong on all of this. :ols:

[Boss_Hogg]

Can't wait till the Ravens lose.

Then ill finally have done peace and quiet.

[ArmchairRedskin]

I love how Flacco is all of a sudden getting all of this credit. If not for a horribly timed attempt to defend a desperate deep throw, Flacco would be sitting at home right now. I mean, not to dump on him, cause he played well, but that last ball should have been knocked down at the very least, if not intercepted. It was underthrown and the defender was in much better position.

Btw, I don't think playing the Redskins gives the Ravens much of an advantage. SF doesn't run it identically to the Redskins and I'm sure that they will have added a few wrinkles for Sunday. There is a ton of flexibility within the Pistol formation. SF will likely rush all over the Ravens. I like their crew of Gore, James and Hunter. Even if you take away Kap's runs, they proved they can rely on their backs.

Unless SF self destructs somehow, it's gonna be SF by a comfortable margin.

[MintHillSkinsFan]

If Flacco hits Carlos in the hands a couple of times then the Ravens should win.

[rskin72]

Kap has certainly had a lot of success in the pistol/read option....but as others have already mentioned, he played at the college where this offense originated. So, this season was far from his first go at this offense. Kap's advantage over RGIII is his physical size. As some have noted before.....think RGIII is not as "elusive" (not sure if that is the right word) as others such as Vick or maybe Kap....but RGIII has more straight line speed than Kap has. Both, though, are quicker than the vast majority of defenders. From what I have seen, I think RGIII has a better fake than Kap, keeps the ball hidden better.....but think maybe Kap will get rid of the ball on a pass play quicker so he doesn't get hit and/or lose yardage. Think that was my second biggest problem with RGIII this season....the first was hits he absorbed while running because he did not slide or go out of bounds at first. The second was that he would hang onto the ball too long in the pocket waiting for a play to develop downfield when many times he would have been better served by just throwing the ball away.

I did get a little tired of hearing about how SF has revolutionized the offense with the pistol/read option.....but then I heard several broadcasts mention Kyle Shanahan, RGIII, Wilson, and others in the pistol/read option discussion. Bottom line is that this offense is not going away for a while......unlike the wildcat.

[brandymac27]

I guess the Ravens owe us one LOL!

[SkinsGuy]

I guess the Ravens owe us one LOL!

Yep. Though they actually owe to the fact that Kaepernick isn't as good a QB as RG3.

He's good, but he doesn't have any touch on his passes. He just throws it hard.

[Leonard Washington]

Yep. Though they actually owe to the fact that Kaepernick isn't as good a QB as RG3.

He's good, but he doesn't have any touch on his passes. He just throws it hard.

The 49ers version of the pistol was weak. If anything Colin should have scrambled more, had some designed runs to the outside, and been more decisive. The game was his for the taking but he played too much within the system. Those throw-aways on the 2 point conversion and 4th down at the end of the game were head scratchers.

I think touch is overrated. If the receivers get their hands on the ball they have to catch it.

[Son of Gadsden]

The 49ers version of the pistol was weak. If anything Colin should have scrambled more, had some designed runs to the outside, and been more decisive. The game was his for the taking but he played too much within the system. Those throw-aways on the 2 point conversion and 4th down at the end of the game were head scratchers.

I don't think there is any way in hell that RG3 doesn't score on that last drive. Four downs that close to the end zone? No way. Absolutely terrible play calling there too. Calling was great until then.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Yep. Though they actually owe to the fact that Kaepernick isn't as good a QB as RG3.

He's good, but he doesn't have any touch on his passes. He just throws it hard.

The 49ers version of the pistol was weak. If anything Colin should have scrambled more, had some designed runs to the outside, and been more decisive. The game was his for the taking but he played too much within the system. Those throw-aways on the 2 point conversion and 4th down at the end of the game were head scratchers.

I think touch is overrated. If the receivers get their hands on the ball they have to catch it.

I don't know if he's overrated. Guy is pretty damn good for his 10th start. He's not as fast as Robert, though we'll see after Robert returns from injury. He did have one big run around the left side, and there was just one defender there, and I said, "if that was Robert (and healthy), he would have just turned on the burners and been by him for a TD. Instead it was a 19 yard run. Still, very impressive.

He's got a huge arm. And when he winds up to throw, and can see his target, he is MAD accurate. He seems to do best with stationary targets, though he had some beautiful fade-like throws.

HOWEVER. He's consistently late on throws. Especially when rolling to his right. On the second down (I think) play at the end of the game, when they were in pistol, and he ran to the right and then fired the ball to Crabtree incomplete, Crabtree was WIDE OPEN as soon as he made his break. This is exactly the same play that Robert and Moss have run a number of times, and the key is to get the ball out quickly, lead the receiver and let him run to it. Colin waited, the defense recovered, and then he tried to jam it in.

Also, you can see when they go into the pistol, this is not natural to them. They are really copying what Kyle put together, and started doing it late, so it's not as second nature. I noticed a lot of times when the play clock ran down a bit, and they were late getting set up. I also think that Kyle did a much better job mixing things up from the pistol, and the 'Skins had a lot more variety.

I think that's just inexperience. He'll improve on that.

But Robert is further ahead. Good QB though. Seems like a good kid also. There are only about 3 QBs I'd rather have than him right now, and luckily, we have one.

If Robert comes back healthy next year, and they can piece in a few more role players, especially in the defensive secondary and maybe another weapon, there is no team that the 'Skins can't beat. None.

[martytheman]

I don't think there is any way in hell that RG3 doesn't score on that last drive. Four downs that close to the end zone? No way. Absolutely terrible play calling there too. Calling was great until then.

what baffled me is they started going sideways once they got to the 5.. instead of attacking into the endzone (minus that last pass)

[Chew]

Colin wasnt nearly the headache for Baltimore that Griffin was.

when Kaep was contained to the pocket, besides having a rocket arm, he isnt the qb that Griffin is.

[pjfootballer]

Some observations over the playoffs with the Niners pistol:

1) Kaep is late with some of the throws into the flat that need to be quicker

2) He really doesn't read the end as well as Griffin does. He had several opportunities to pull the ball back in, but gave it to Gore for 3 yard gains instead. He could have gashed the Ravens on the outside.

3) He changes the play too much, at least he did in this game. Looked like he audibled WAY too much and second guessed himself and the play.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

I don't think there is any way in hell that RG3 doesn't score on that last drive. Four downs that close to the end zone? No way. Absolutely terrible play calling there too. Calling was great until then.

True but we did the same thing against Carolina including the suspect playcalling as well. Must be something about getting down in that area that coaches get brain freezes and offenses don't execute as well in the tighter space.

---------- Post added February-4th-2013 at 09:35 AM ----------

Some observations over the playoffs with the Niners pistol:

1) Kaep is late with some of the throws into the flat that need to be quicker

2) He really doesn't read the end as well as Griffin does. He had several opportunities to pull the ball back in, but gave it to Gore for 3 yard gains instead. He could have gashed the Ravens on the outside.

I didn't really pay attention or notice point 3 but your first 2 points are spot on. Kaep definitely left some throws on the field last night and waits until the WR is open often, rather than hitting spots where the WR will be.

Also, his fakes aren't nearly as effective which we all know. Griffin is a magician with the ball on the read option too and that contributes greatly to out success running it. I thought for sure though Kaep would keep it more when it clearly looked like he had lanes on the outside too.

[CrypticVillain]

Another thing about the Niners offense is that Frank Gore aint no Alfred Morris.

I would see plays develop and I would say "Uh-oh" thinking Gore is about to get a big gain, but he would only get like 5 yards. I guess I was so used to Alfred Morris tearing stuff up that I thought that a Pro Bowl running back would surely get more yards than him given the same holes.

Let's face it, the 49ers Pistol offense looks like a cap gun compared to our fully-automatic. Especially on that last drive. No way are you going to hold RG3, Alfred Morris, and Kyle Shanahan out the end-zone with goal-to-go, with the Super Bowl on the line.

The only team that has even come close to running the pistol like us is the Seahawks, but they still aren't as powerful with it as us.

[blueskin]

If all goes well, and RGIII remains healthy, I think we win the super bowl in Mara's house next year.

We run the read option significantly better than SF, and if RGIII hadn't have gotten injured by Ngata, we'd have had a deep run THIS year. Plus, as earlier stated, RGIII is better in the pocket, and has greater awareness. Our downfall was our defense. If we had a defense approximating SF's or Seattle's, it would've been us hoisting the Lombardi.

I really think we are one or two good players away. A decent safety, more depth on LB, and a decent RT. We get Helu back, and if Sleepy heals well and comes back, we'll be a very, very dangerous team.

Yeah, I know. A lot of 'if's'. But that's all anyone has in the offseason.

[Hooper]

KAP is a beast. He's just scratching the surface. Going to be a stud for a very long time.

And this idea that the Ravens stopped the read option is a stretch at best. The 49ers were in and out of it all game -- and there were plenty of times when they were gashing the Ravens because of it.

[Prototype]

Hats of to Kaepernick for a great season, and he played very well for his first postseason.

However, I noticed when they ran the pistol and the read-option, it's NOWHERE close to how well RGIII runs the read-option. Robert sells the fake so well, the camera can't even follow the ball, but Me and the Raven's D had no problem figuring out where Kap was going with the ball. We truly have a once-a-generation type QB, and I'm looking forward to seeing Robert back and better than ever!

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I don't think there is any way in hell that RG3 doesn't score on that last drive. Four downs that close to the end zone? No way. Absolutely terrible play calling there too. Calling was great until then.

What killed the 49ers there was that they had to call TO on the QB draw play that was going to result in the go-ahead TD. I was screaming for them to run the QB draw...then I saw that they were doing it, just not in time!

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

It didn't work.

[bobbi3stix]

KAP is a beast. He's just scratching the surface. Going to be a stud for a very long time.

And this idea that the Ravens stopped the read option is a stretch at best. The 49ers were in and out of it all game -- and there were plenty of times when they were gashing the Ravens because of it.

Kap is nothing but a watered- down RGIII. It's nothing but disrespectful to compare the two like the media had done.

Ravens defense, considering their age... Did what they had to do, and did it when it mattered the most.

RGIII makes and executes so much faster and with better decision making than Kap, and he's (quite often) making several reads at once. Where Kap is merely doing a play-action.

Watching the 49ers offense, made me appreciate ours even more.