O-Line Notes: 49ers Can Run, But Struggle to Pass Block

Every week we're logging each and every sack to determine who was to blame, how long it took for the sack to happen and how the sack happened. Here are the notes pulled from watching Week Two's sacks.

It's worth throwing in a disclaimer. It's not always easy to determine who was responsible for a sack, especially if there is a line twist or blitz pickup involved. But these are logged as best as can be done without knowing the line protection calls.

• The 49ers' offensive line did manage to block well enough to free up Frank Gore for 207 yards rushing, but they haven't solved their pass blocking problems at right tackle. San Francisco signed ex-Jaguars tackle Tony Pashos to give Adam Snyder some competition. Snyder started against the Seahawks but they split time at right tackle, and both gave up sacks.

MOST SACKS ALLOWED
Sacks allowed by offensive linemen making no account for time the quarterback held the ball
Player	Sacks Allowed
Adam Snyder, San Fran.	5
Anthony Collins, Cincinnati	4
Daryn Colledge, Green Bay	3
Demetrius Bell, Buffalo	3
John St. Clair, Cleveland	3
Floyd Womack, Cleveland	2.5
Max Starks, Pittsburgh	2.5
ADJUSTED SACKS ALLOWED
Sacks allowed by offensive linemen after subtracting sacks that can be blamed on a quarterback holding the ball
Player	Sacks Allowed
Adam Snyder, San Fran.	4
Anthony Collins, Cincinnati	3
John St. Clair, Cleveland	3
Floyd Womack, Cleveland	2.5
Many tied with	2

Pashos gave up one sack when he was beaten by Lawrence Jackson on a speed rush. But that's still better than Snyder. Snyder gave up two more sacks and now has given up an NFL worst five sacks in two games. Four of those sacks came on plays where the quarterback was hit in less than 2.7 seconds.

Expect to see Pashos take more and more of the playing time as he learns the 49ers playbook, Snyder's not that bad in run blocking, but his pass blocking woes are simply too much to take.

• Packers fill-in left tackle Daryn Colledge is a little more famous than he would like to be this week after Antwan Odom picked up five sacks against Green Bay, but Browns right tackle John St. Clair struggled just as much in Cleveland's loss to the Broncos.

St. Clair was beaten for three of Elvis Dumervill's four sacks. On two of them Dumervill ran past St. Clair on the outside. On the third, Dumervill had spooked St. Clair enough with his speed to get leverage for a power rush, even though St. Clair outweighs Dumervill by nearly 60 pounds. Dumervill's fourth sack came on a play where safety Brian Dawkins flushed Brady Quinn and Dumervill picked up the sack that Dawkins forced.

• The Jaguars gave up four sacks against the Cardinals last week, but don't blame their young offensive line too much. Rookie tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton were each beaten for one sack. On the Jaguars' third sack, quarterback David Garrard had four seconds to throw the ball despite a seven-man rush. But because of the Jaguars' inept group of receivers, Garrard couldn't find anyone open and was pulled down for a sack 4.2 seconds after the snap.

Giving a quarterback four seconds to throw against a seven-man blitz is outstanding protection, but it didn't matter. The Jaguars' fourth sack allowed was similar as Garrard couldn't find anyone to throw to so he tucked and took the sack from a six-man blitz 3.2 seconds after the snap.

There was a comment over on the Jaguars.com Ask Vic column questioning whether Garrard holds the ball too long. To give a little more detail to answer that question Garrard has held the ball for 3.2 seconds or longer on three of his six sacks. On one of the other three he was hit just 1.8 seconds after taking the snap, which is barely enough time to get set in the pocket. And the other two sacks came 2.6 and 2.8 seconds after the snap. Considering how rarely Jaguars receivers get open, that seems like a decent performance on Garrard's part.

Monroe has now given up two sacks in two games and Britton has given up one which isn't bad for a team that is starting a pair of rookie tackles.

• Vikings rookie right tackle Phil Loadholt had a very solid NFL debut against the Browns. He struggled a little more in week two to give up a pair of sacks. One of them was clearly his fault when defensive end Jason Hunter ran right past him for a sack. Loadholt's other sack is more accurately charged to Brett Favre. The Vikings quarterback held the ball for more than 3.5 seconds while trying to make something happen on a third down play.