Impressions of the first team offense against Denver

– The 49ers might be in for an officiating shock in their next game. Walt Coleman’s officiating crew against Denver was lenient. For example, on the long pass to Brandon Lloyd in the first drive, cornerback Aqib Talib impeded Lloyd with his right arm. Then Talib tripped him with a swipe of his left arm, which prevented Lloyd from fully extending for the ball. Back in the pocket, blitzing safety T.J. Ward knocked down quarterback Colin Kaepernick with a blow to the head and, again, no call. Apparently, the Coleman crew failed to get the message about protecting the quarterback and the receiver after 5 yards.

– Fullback Bruce Miller is so valuable. While he did give up a pressure on the aforementioned blitz by Ward, he was also instrumental in the 9-yard and 3-yard runs by Frank Gore. Miller also prevented a loss of yardage after picking up defensive tackle Terrance Knighton when right guard Joe Looney whiffed on him during a 2-yard run by Carlos Hyde.

– Maybe the best play of the day was an innocuous 4-yard reception to Miller. On the play, Kaepernick saw a defensive back jump Brandon’s Lloyd’s route, so he brought the ball back and then dumped the pass to Miller in the flat. Kaepernick displayed courage in the pocket, wisdom in not throwing to Lloyd, and accuracy and quickness in a short pass to Miller, which are all issues he needs to work on.

– The 49ers again had to call timeout in their opening drive. Disappointing. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said he and the coaches are working on getting the play to Kaepernick quicker. I realize it’s only preseason, but Harbaugh has said this before and the play transmission continued to be a struggle. According @49ers_stats, the 49ers were called for 13 delay of game penalties last year, which is over three times the league average.

– Veteran receivers Brandon Lloyd and Anquan Boldin are so good because the beginning of their routes all look the same. That’s why they are frequently open on short comeback routes.

– Kaepernick again went to his third read and found Carlos Hyde with 9-yard check down pass. However, he was not pressured at all. On that same play, Joe Looney flat-backed a pass rusher.

– The 49ers were good at converting short yardage with their first-team offensive line. They had a two 2nd-and-1’s and one 3rd-and-1 and they converted them all with ease despite using three different runners.

– Kaepernick can be frustrating to watch because he is so talented. On a play-action bootleg right, Kaepernick stiff-armed 255-pound Quanterus Smith, sending him to the ground. But then he threw inaccurately on the run when he had Derrick Carrier open short.