Week 14 Matchups to Watch: 49ers at Bengals

By Scooter_McG

The 49ers travel to the jungle in week 14 to take on the 7-5 Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals have been something of a surprise team in the congested AFC North and currently sit second in the division just one game behind the Baltimore Ravens.  

For the 49ers, last week was a microcosm of the strange and mostly frustrating 2021 49ers season. Coming off the back of three straight wins to right what looked to be a sinking ship at the midway point of the season, the team reverted back to early season form with a raft of mistakes and miscues from all three phases to lose to what was a 3 win Seahawks team. 

While the 49ers currently remain in an NFC playoff spot, their hold on that spot is now far more tenuous. They likely need to win 3 of their remaining 5 contests to be confident of booking their spot, but will be facing three teams above .500 over that span, starting with the Bengals. While this isn't a "must win" game, a loss to the Bengals will in all likelihood have the 49ers on the outside looking in for a playoff spot by the end of this week's games.

To make matters more difficult, they came out of that Seahawks game with more injury concerns and now have to travel to Cincinnati missing a number of key players, and nursing others through some nicks. The RB and CB depth in particular is a huge concern, especially given the team's recent reliance on the running game. On a positive note it looks like Deebo Samuel will play, but he will be carrying a groin injury into the game and you have to imagine the 49ers will look to limit his workload.

This looks like it may be a tough challenge for the 49ers, and while I am hopeful for a victory I can't say I am expectant. If the 49ers do pull it off, here are the key areas I think they need to get strong performances.

49ers undermanned secondary stepping up against the Bengals WRs. Even if Jason Verrett, Emmanuel Moseley and Dontae Johnson were available the matchup between the 49ers secondary and Bengals wide receivers would have been a significant mismatch in the Bengals favour. Ja'Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins are one of the most potent receiving trios in the NFL, with each of that trio having over 50 receptions this season for a combined 2,212 yards (almost 70% of the Bengals total receiving yards on the season). 

Unfortunately for the 49ers it is expected to be Josh Norman and either Ambry Thomas or Deommodore Lenoir as the starting left and right CBs in this one. That doesn't bode well for the 49ers. 

If the 49ers are to have any chance in this one they need to limit the damage the Bengals WR trio does. It is probably asking too much for them to shut these players down, but getting some critical pass breakups and (ideally) some turnovers will go a long way to keying a 49ers victory.

Getting to Joe. Joe Burrow has had a fine second season, coming back from a horrendous knee injury as a rookie. He's thrown for over 3,000 yards in 12 games, with 23 TDs and averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. He's helmed the 7th highest scoring offense in the NFL this season. However, if you were to point to the main area of weakness in Burrow's game it would be how he handles pass rush pressure. 

This of course isn't anything ground breaking for a young QB - most QBs perform worse under pressure. But for Burrow, his struggles are quite pronounced. His passer rating under pressure is almost half that when not under pressure. Almost half of his league leading 14 intercepts have come when pressured. And he also struggles to avoid the pressure, currently sitting as the second most sacked QB in the NFL in 2021. 

Given the mismatch in the 49ers secondary outlined above it will therefore be critical that the 49ers pass rush get to Burrow early and often in this one to help create turnovers and defensive stops.

Good Jimmy. The 49ers will be without leading rusher Elijah Mitchell. Mostert is long gone for the season. Trey Sermon is out with an ankle injury. Deebo is expected to play but was limited all week as he is nursing a groin injury that saw him miss the Seahawks game. Wilson has also been limited with knee pain. Hasty is also coming back from injury. The running back cupboard is looking pretty bare, and what is going to be available is banged up. 

That's bad news for a 49ers team that relied on the running game to turn their season around and rattle off three straight wins. Given the injuries it is likely too much to ask for the running game to carry them in this one. Especially given the Bengals will likely be ready and waiting for the 49ers to run the ball, defending with loaded boxes much like the Seahawks and Vikings were in previous weeks. 

The 49ers will likely need Jimmy G to throw more then 30 passes in this one, and historically things have not gone well when that happens. That means the 49ers really need to get a good Jimmy performance. He needs to be efficient and get the ball in the hands of the playmakers and let them make plays. Nothing new there. But he also needs to avoid those 3-5 dangerous throws a game he typically makes when asked to throw a lot. And they may also need him to deliver some big time throws on the money downfield. 

If Jimmy G struggles I fear the 49ers offense will struggle to get much going in this one.