Sorry, Gates Not over the hill

[GreenBayCharger]

5 Touchdowns in 2 games to start the season, what a pro. Yes he's up in years but 2nd all time touchdowns for tight ends. 90 to 110 for Tony Gonzales. Here's to staying healthy

[Steve]

He's just not going to be the Gates of old. But he is still a damn useful player.

[KNSD]

Seattle got burned putting a LB on Gates the entire day just about as much as SD got burned by leaving Seattle RBs uncovered. Good game and well played by SD.

[RTPbolt]

Gatesy still has it....not fast but great routes and his hands today were ridiculous to make up for last week.

Didnt see Green much on pass routes....thought i saw him blocking

[TABF]

Gates... What a day. Loved that we attacked Sherman w/KA as well.... I think I count 4 balls caught on him...
...

[Steve]

Seattle got burned putting a LB on Gates the entire day just about as much as SD got burned by leaving Seattle RBs uncovered. Good game and well played by SD.

Gates is still a matchup problem for teams. Teams really don't want to double Gates any more, but he just proved in the last 2 games, that even single coverage by a S is not a good idea, and it is impossible by a LB.

[BoltBacker]

I have been down on him as much as any. He can make the incredible play which is why he will be a Hall of Famer but I am still a believer in the better a year to soon than a year too late. We still need to get LG more involved going forward IMO. Gates will not do this every week.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

I've had some issues with his play over the last couple of years. But there's no denying he's still got skills. It seemed like last year he started off hot and then kind of had some injuries and hit a wall. Hope he can keep it up all year. Would really make this offense hum. Even so, I'm a little dismayed that we are not pushing more Green. There's no reason he can't be more involved.

[Beerman]

I've had some issues with his play over the last couple of years. But there's no denying he's still got skills. It seemed like last year he started off hot and then kind of had some injuries and hit a wall. Hope he can keep it up all year. Would really make this offense hum. Even so, I'm a little dismayed that we are not pushing more Green. There's no reason he can't be more involved.

He's not going to be involved if they keep pushing 3 WR sets as the base set. Clearly it's by design vs. The teams we've faced. For whatever reason they haven't even really attempted to run 2 TE sets.

My main gripe though, is his usage in the red zone. I get having Royal on the field between the 20's. He doesn't bring anything to the field in the red zone though. Red zone is all about being able to go up and bring the ball down. Green is the biggest physical mismatch on the team. Particularly curious because they were really emphasizing him in training camp and he was crushing it getting TDs.

Maybe they just don't want to show everything early. After today though, teams will have to start bracketing gates again. He still is proving to be unguardable 1 on 1. I mean he made the all pro supposed best safety look like a chump today.

It may just take an injury from one of the WRs for green to get on the field.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Ageless Gates subdues Legion of Boom
 
By Eric D. Williams | September 14, 2014 11:00:45 PM PDT

SAN DIEGO -- Don't print those retirement party invitations for Antonio Gates just yet.

Contrary to popular opinion, Gates isn't ready to be put out to pasture. Just ask young linebackers on the Seattle Seahawks' defense like K.J. Wright, Malcolm Smith and Bobby Wagner.

Matched up in single coverage against Gates most of the day, the 34-year-old tight end constantly shook loose from defenders a decade younger than him, tying a career-high for touchdowns in a game with three.

“I'm 24,” joked Gates, when asked about his age. “One thing that I have learned from being around is outsiders tend to have their own perspective about players, but it never bothered me one time. If I could make this team, which is a very good football team, I feel like I have something left in the gas tank.

“The coaches always believed in me, and I never really once thought about what others had to say, because I'm really not sure what critics or the professional experts are going off of, because last year I was No. 3 in the NFL at the tight end position. My main focus is to just try to help us win football games every single Sunday.”

The Seahawks finished with the No. 1 pass defense in the NFL last season. Three of the four members of the team's Legion of Boom -- cornerback Richard Sherman and safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas -- went to the Pro Bowl. Yet Gates appeared to get open whenever he wanted, exposing what could be the Achilles' heel of the best defense in the NFL: Seattle's inability to blanket tight ends.

“Those two guys were just phenomenal today when they needed it,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said about Gates and San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers. “That was really a big, big element in this game, just the chemistry between those two guys. We couldn't figure out how to stop it.”

Added Chancellor: “They have that bond -- that quarterback-tight end bond. And he is very crafty. He is a crafty tight end.”

Gates was targeted seven times by Rivers. He finished with seven catches for 96 yards and three TDs. Rivers and Gates have now combined for 65 touchdowns, the most by a quarterback-tight end combo in NFL

[MakoShark]

Gates is still a matchup problem for teams. Teams really don't want to double Gates any more, but he just proved in the last 2 games, that even single coverage by a S is not a good idea, and it is impossible by a LB.

That is defensive suicide. Mr. Gates still demands a certain amount of respect. If you play him like an over the hill has-been, you're gonna get burned.

[thelightningwill]

A few of our myths were at least dented yesterday.

Antonio Gates has lost it
Eddie Royal totally blows ass.
We miss Ken Whisenhunt because Frank Reich sucks.
Our defense always folds in the crunch.
Runningback is a super important position.
We can't overcome injuries.
Philip Rivers sucks when under heavy pass rush. (Well, okay, the last two or three are not one of our myths. But I hear it at the bar quite a bit. Or at least I hear it from the invisible bag of weed that talks to me.)