Here are some of the coaching decisions made in the first half of the 49ers-Panthers game:
- The 49ers, up 6-0, played press coverage on Steve Smith, with no safety help. The Panthers saw this and called a fly pattern to Smith, who caught a touchdown pass because, as usual in this defense, the defensive back was chasing from the start and was unable to pay the ball even though he was on Smith. Defenders continue to get burned by doing this, but keep playing this defense. If a DB isn’t going to bump the receiver off the line, why put themselves in this position?
- Carolina could have had a nice early lead, but from the 1 yardline, kept running up the middle unsuccessfully. The 49ers have a very good defense, so if you’re going to run up the middle, you want to have 4 receivers in the game to spread out the defense and keep them from having all 11 guys over the center. On these plays, the Panthers had no receivers in the game (or split wide), and had everyone in tight, allowing the defense to have everyone over the middle. All 4 plays failed as a result.
- At the end of the half, the Panthers played press coverage on 3rd-and-9 from their 9, and since the DB could not play the ball as a result, he committed pass interference, giving the 49ers first-and-goal from the 1, where they scored a TD. Instead of possibly being up 10-9 at half after holding the 49ers to a FG, they were down 13-10 because of this.