Do we have a plan B ready?
 

Generally speaking, if Harper's "significant ankle injury" turns out to be more than the Saints camp is letting on, who takes over as SS for him if he's ineffective?

Or is there a history of the team overstating injuries in order to force the opposing O Coordinators to game plan the options that GW has?

This bugs the hell out of me, because I'm getting Lynch flashbacks and I see Gore giving us issues with the run as well as Vernon Davis over the top.

Your thoughts.

It'll be Amaya. Which isn't horrible since we'll likely play 1 deep safety most of the game.

It'll hurt because Harper's great as that rover, but with San Fran being so one-dimensional (albeit a damn good dimension), we can survive without being exploited.

We may see Jenkins play some more SS and Quddus get some reps at FS.

I'm 100% positive that GW has Plan B, C, D and E ready.

We shut down Peterson and Turner...

We have not had a back gain 97 yards against us since week 9. The run is no longer a problem....

The pass is now our new weakest link.

Amaya or Quddus can play both spots, I hope he does play though because it's underrated what he can do to our Run D when he plays at the line of scrimmage

I'd be willing to venture a guess that Coach P has it all worked out to Plan Z.

I'm more worried about Vernon Davis this game, than Frank Gore...

I agree, stopping the pass has become an issue.

Which is very fitting for the way he's played.

I look forward to watching Amaya. The kid's gonna be really good, but Harper already said there is no way he won't be playing against the 9ers. Hope he isn't lying!

Did Harper say he wasn't playing???

It's a RUSE...

A TRICK...

A PLOY.

Alaska

I think our secondary will be fine. Quaddas has come along nice. I still hope Harper can play, although if his injury becomes a liability, PLAN B.

You don't need a PhD in football to know that the Frisco game plan is going to look like this:

First play from scrimmage - run Gore right at Vilma, to test Vilma's knee
Second play from scrimmage - lob a fly ball pass, picking on Harper like Seattle did
Third play from scrimmage - run Gore right at Vilma, to test his knee
Fourth play from scrimmage - lob a fly ball pass, picking on Harper like Seattle did

etc

Whether that will really work all day for the Niners or not, in terms of sustaining long drives, is hard to say. Dunbar can spot for Vilma as needed, and nobody really knows if Harper will be 100% or not. Harper did do some individual drills, which I assume means a bit of running and cutting and stuff like that, so it's not like he's visibly hobbling around in a polyurethane boot or doing the post-practice interview on crutches or anything like that. I like the idea of rotating these two hurt guys with their backups, situationally, based on down/distance and what's happening in the game, so that Vilma or Harper is in there on crucial plays or situations but not letting them get worn out as the game goes on. Jenkins at strong safety is not exactly what I would like to see, in a perfect world, but if you put a proven playmaker in that position, especially one that SF doesn't really know much about, that is an unfamiliar look to show Smith, that part of it I kinda really like a lot.

First off, I think the 4th play will be Sproles returning a punt for a touch...
Second, in the nickel or dime the 3rd CB needs to be on Davis, not Harper, so finding Harper to pick on him might be a problem

Fixed that one for you :)

I would rather put him in if it becomes obvious we need him badly. I would rather him have time to heal for Green Bay (or most likely the Giants Imo).

Really