Dean Pees: Ravens Defensive Coordinator Expected Kaepernick To Run

What’s interesting in reading the press conference featuring Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees is that he said he expected San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick to run. That’s also what 49ers fans expected Colin to do down close with just five yards to go to score a touchdown that would have put the Niners ahead, perhaps for good.

Here’s Dean Pees:

RAVENS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR DEAN PEES

(on what he was anticipating from the 49ers on the final drive inside the 10-yard line) “Well, we really thought it was going to be some kind of quarterback run down in there. So basically, we pressured almost every down down there. We changed up the pressures, but we pressured every down.”

(on if it’s more difficult for the offense to score with such a small area of the field to work with) “Well, the problem was going to be, we just weren’t doing a good job in the second half. We had the offense rolling and we had a hard time getting out of our gaps and playing our assignments. We had done a great job in the first half and I think everybody just got a little panicky as far as trying to make a play, and that’s the problem with that offense. When you get out of basic fundamentals, it can hurt you. He (49ers QB Colin Kaepernick) hurt us with his feet, scrambling out of the pocket. For the most part, we were playing very well on the run. But later on, we didn’t do a very good job. The good thing is, down in the red zone—we played well in the red zone again—and to me, that was the key to the game for us on defense.”

(on if he thought the 49ers might run the ball on the final drive) “I always thought they were going to run. I really did. All of those pressures were called for the run, not the pass. The only pressure that was called for a pass was the two-point conversion play, where we made him throw it hot and over his head. That was a pass pressure, but it was also a pressure that came up for when they run the quarterback draw, so we had that covered. All those pressures down on the five-yard line were run pressures that really hurt the pass.”

(on the defensive call on the last play of the game) “The last play was a rollout. It was a double-edged pressure. It was a double-edged pressure, because we didn’t want the quarterback to get out on a run. We had everything jammed inside with a double-edged pressure, and then they motioned him back out, then (Ed) Reed to come over with the coverage.”

(on if he was surprised by the offensive call by the 49ers) “Well, it’s a good play for that defense, I will say that. You never know what play is going to come when you call one (blitz), what play is going to come, but that was one that we thought if they rolled out, we would be in good shape.”

(on what Ed Reed’s job on the final play) “He had the third wide receiver. He had man coverage. They all had man coverage on that, but they switched it off.”

(on if he had any concern about assigning man coverage on that final play) “We’ve got to be one-on-one in that situation. Here’s the thing: we were not going to let them run it in on us, period. We got beat in Washington because we let them run it in on us. We got beat at Philadelphia because I let him run it in on us, the quarterback. They weren’t going to run it in on us again.”

(on if there was a worry in that situation that the quarterback could still take off) “If he would have gotten outside…that was designed to not let him get outside.”

Stay tuned.