Cover 2 and cover 4 defenses

[RashanGary]

The 49ers mixed man with zone and one high with two high. We won. Rodgers did say that they gave more help to the OL and that was different than 2019 when they lost two stinkers trying to man v man into SFs strength. So they learned.

But how many stinkers have we seen over the years when after the game we hear, “they played 2 over all day?”

From McCarthy to MLF, Rodgers has consistently had a hard time dinking and dunking. We’re going to run into teams that force Rodgers to put down the cape and hero ball mentality and just take short Gaines over and over.

I’m convinced they’ve learned their lesson about playing into strong DLs hands. I’m not convinced they have the patience to dink all day, on days when that’s what is given.

Rodgers plays poorly from behind. Brady will have a 14 play back breaker to get back in it when he’s down and Rodgers will just snow ball a bad thing and keep trying to get back in it with one play.

We’re going to lose some blow out stinkers. Getting behind and losing patience will be a theme if the past has anything to say about the future.

But glad we’re not still trying to go man v man against top dL. That’s a lesson that saved at least one loss so far.

[call_me_ishmael]

Rodgers is the best QB in nfl history when he plays the short passing game. I don’t understand his obsession with hero ball but he could play ten more years if he plays like he did last night and gets rid of the ball in two seconds every playZ

[texaspackerbacker]

As I've said more times than I care to think about, you do what you do based on circumstances - the kind of D they are playing and the score and time left in the game.

This "hero ball" crap is just stupid. Yeah, when the situation calls for it, Rodgers plays west coast/Bill Walsh offense and dinks and dunks it. (Myself, I generally hate that, but that's just my opinion). When you have the chance for a big play, it's smart to go for that - it's not like he is gonna throw a pick. That hardly ever happens.

I get a little sick of hearing this Brady shit, and I go downright ballistic when I hear him referred to as the GOAT. Brady forever has gotten ten times as good pass protection as Rodgers has ever gotten even in relatively good games.

It annoys me when WE play so much cover 2 D. Maybe that's the result of seeing it work for other teams for so many years. But does it work? We have been 13-3 two years in a row with LaFleur, and that after consistent winning seasons under McCarthy even if we couldn't close the deal. They do that because Rodgers is so accurate that he eats up man coverage. And in keeping with the thread title, you of course, can play man coverage WITH the 2 over the top. Why do we see that so often? Why does it so often look like the other team has a shitload of people in pass coverage? Because they can get a lot of pressure against our O Line so damn often with just 3 or 4 people rushing. Contrast that with the Packers D where it seems like we have so many holes especially in the middle of the field. Why? Because if we don't blitz, we get just about zero pass rush. Ditto that for stopping the run without plenty of LB and DB help.

"We’re going to lose some blow out stinkers." Really? How many times has that happened over the years? Very damn few - maybe what you can count on one hand through all the Rodgers years and still have a couple fingers left over. That's why that Saints game was such a shocker. It practically never happens to us.

"Getting behind and losing patience"? That has happened a few times lately, Saints, Buccaneers in the playoffs, etc., but it's NOT about losing patience so much as it's about our D letting the opponent control the ball with runs and short passes. I was a little bit worried the Niners would do that to us too. Thankfully, they're top three RBs were hurt, especially Mostaert, and thankfully the Niners decided to defer, giving the Packers the ball first. Otherwise, we might have seen that shit where we hardly have the ball the whole first half again. That damn near did happen in the second half last night.

It's NOT about losing patience. It's about circumstances, and those circumstances are usually caused by the D not being able to stop the other team.