Week 5 Matchups to Watch: 49ers at Cardinals

By Scooter_McG

The 49ers travel to Arizona in week 5 following two straight home defeats, facing the undefeated Cardinals. Division games are always important, and this one shapes up to be extra important for the 49ers as another loss would put them in an early hole for a playoff run, at 3 games back from the Cardinals and 2 back from the Rams. While I will stop short of calling this a must win game so early in the season, the 49ers don't want to find themselves losing any more ground on the division leaders heading into their bye week. 

Making matters more interesting, Kyle Shanahan today confirmed that 3rd overall pick Trey Lance will make his starting debut at QB against the Cardinals in place of injured starter Jimmy Garoppolo. Going into a big game against an undefeated team with your backup QB would normally be a significant handicap, and that may well prove true in this game. But an optimist may point out that Jimmy G has been less than stellar through 3.5 games this year, while Lance offers an exciting (if somewhat raw) skill set and the Cardinals will have very little film to study on how the 49ers may utilise his skills, which may provide some form of advantage. 

Here are the matchups I will be watching in this one.

Trey Lance/ Kyle Shanahan vs Cardinals defense/ Vance Joseph. This is an obvious one - everyone will be watching how Trey Lance fares. Vance Joseph is an experienced coach in the NFL and will no doubt be wanting to test the 49ers rookie QB by stressing his ability to read coverages and applying plenty of pressure. Kyle Shanahan on the other hand will likely be wanting to utilise the running game as much as possible (including Lance's ability to run) and give Lance as many easy throws as he can. 

In the second half against the Seahawks Shanahan used the pistol formation extensively, providing Lance the opportunity to keep his eyes on the defense and make use of the read option. I expect we will see a lot of that again this week. In preseason when Lance was in the game the 49ers also used a lot of 3 WR sets, which can help open up running lanes. We also saw Shanahan often look to take some big shots early on when Lance came into games in preseason, and I wouldn't be surprised if we that again this week to try and take advantage of an aggressive Cardinals defense. 

The Cardinals on the other hand have one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL, ranking second last in terms of yards per carry, but have been very opportunistic against the pass. If Joseph and the Cardinals defense can force this one into a shoot out you have to imagine that will play right into the Cardinals hands. Lance and the 49ers have to get the run game going to avoid this.

49ers pass rush vs Kyler Murray. The 49ers pass rush was dynamite early on against the Seahawks, forcing multiple 3 and outs. They struggled a bit down the stretch as quick offensive turnovers and STs mistakes, as well as some key defensive penalties, failed to give the 49ers defense much rest. A common theme in the Seahawks scoring drives though was Russell Wilson using his legs to escape the pocket and pick up yards running, which has been an issue for the 49ers defense for years. Kyler Murray is an even more explosive runner than Wilson and it will be crucial for the 49ers defense to not only generate pressure on him, but to also not allow him to repeatedly beat them with his legs. This of course is much easier said than done, as almost all defenses struggle with Murray's elusiveness, but it is a key matchup in this one. 

49ers secondary vs Cardinals receivers. Last week the 49ers banged up secondary did a pretty good job containing the Seahawks excellent receiving group. It doesn't get any easier this week though with DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk, AJ Green and Rondale Moore providing Murray with a dynamic group well suited to Kingsbury's air raid offense that should stress the 49ers secondary. Marrying the coverage with the pass rush will be vital to slowing down the Cardinals number 1 ranked offense and giving the Trey Lance and the 49ers offense a chance to stay in and win the game.   

Trey Lance Era Begins

 After 118 pass attempts, the Jimmy Garoppolo era in San Francisco may be over depending on the performance of their new prototype, Trey Lance. He'll get a game plan designed around his strengths and a week to get comfortable in it. The better he plays, the more likely Jimmy's calf is apt to suffer a "setback". It could end up being a sequel to the Alex Smith/Kaepernick saga that unfolded in 2012. He's not ready to be the pocket passer he'll need to be in the future, but if he can be the best version of himself this Sunday against the Cardinals and lead them to victory; he'll likely get another opportunity to stack an even better performance against the Colts in two weeks on Sunday Night Football. 

 

Happy Gilmore

 Released by the Patriots. Should we pursue, salary cap be damned?

*Update: Those wrascally Patriots! 

Adam Schefter

@AdamSchefter

Patriots traded Stephon Gilmore to the Panthers for a 2023 sixth-round pick.

1:14 PM · Oct 6, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Where's McVay When You Need Him?

 No, not that McVay. I'm talking about his grandfather, John McVay. Currently I believe Paraag Marathe is both the President of 49ers enterprises as well as Executive Vice President of football operations. I'm beginning to feel as though York needs to hire an executive to be another set of football eyes and wisdom that oversees the decisions Lynch and Shanny make. Clearly this is not in Marathe's wheelhouse. Let him focus on what he does best and that's the numbers. I also wouldn't recommend promoting from within on this position either. I'd like to bring in an experienced, football savvy individual that would be a check and balance to hold both coach and gm accountable, while at the same time shaping a pathway forward to healthy players who consistently win. Whether that means firing the current Strength and Conditioning staff, scrutinizing practice habits and procedures, assessing staff productivity, and/or prioritizing the cb position in the draft and/or free agency; the bottom line is we need the next John McVay. Who is he? I have no idea. Maybe our well informed fans out there have one. 

Week 4 Post Match Review: Seahawks at 49ers

 
By Scooter_McG

Home field "advantage" seems to mean very little for the 49ers, with their home woes continuing against the Seahawks, making it 2 straight home losses this season and 9 losses from their last 10 home games. Admittedly, a few of those "home" games were played in Arizona last season, and there were no crowds all last year, but still it is a worrying trend. 

Dropping a division game at home is doubly painful, and sees the 49ers drop two games behind the undefeated Carindals, who the 49ers will travel to play next weekend in what is now looking like an important game for the 49ers season.

The injury bug also cotinues to rear its ugly head. This time Jimmy G left the game to give 49ers fans a glimpse of the future in Lance. More on Lance later. 

Here is what stood out to me.

49ers got off to a hot start on defense. The Seahawks first three drives were three and outs as the 49ers played aggressively with a number of tackles for loss or minimal gain to set up 3rd and shorts where the 49ers pass rush just ate, with two sacks (drives 2 and 3, to Ford and Bosa) as well as an almost sack to Kinlaw on the first drive that caused an errant pass. On the fourth drive Maurice Hurst blew up a run play for a huge TFL and then Ford and Kinlaw combined for another sack on 3rd and long. The defense held strong again on the Seahawks fifth drive. The play by the defense early in this one set the team up to build a strong lead. 

But the offense couldn't take advantage. It all looked to be going so well after the 49ers easily moved down the field through the air during their opening drive, taking advantage of some soft coverage to open the scoring. But after that, the offense let the defense down. On the second drive Jimmy G did Jimmy G things, not seeing a defender and throwing an INT that could easily have been a momentum swing. After the defense stood tall to get the ball back, the 49ers drove down the field by attacking the Seahawks defense with crosser after crosser, but right from the start of the 2nd quarter the offense went completely off the boil, first with Tomlinson blowing his assignment on a sack which set up a 41 yard FG attempt for fill in kicker Wishnowsky, which he was unable to convert. The next drive would end on a blown opportunity for a big play, but really was just strange play call with new RB Patrick lobbing a ball way across field back to Jimmy G that took so much time to get to him that Jamal Adams was able to catch up to Kittle who had been wide open (and meant Kittle had to stop at the extent of Jimmy G's arm strength). On the 5th drive, again after a swift defensive stop, the 49ers offense would go 3 and out with a 2nd down loss on a run and then a pass behind Kittle on a whip route that gave the defender an opportunity to break it up. Despite the defensive dominance and seeming in control of the game, the 49ers found themselves just 7-0 up with a few minutes left in the first half. 

Mistakes then cost the 49ers. The problem with not scoring when you are dominating a game is that it doesn't take much for the opposition to get back in the game... and get on top. It happened fast in this one. First, after that 3 and out on the 49ers fifth drive, Trenton Cannon forgot the rules and took the punt over the goal line after what looked a great opportunity to pin the Seahawks on their goal line. The Seahawks would take that break to easily march down the field for their first score, making the scores level at the half despite the 49ers easily being the better team to that point. In the third quarter, the offense got nowhere (more on that shortly), handing the ball back to the Seahawks all too easily. The defense started to let Wilson make plays with his legs, allowing easy escape routes (Armstead in particular was guilty of this). The go ahead TD happened on such a play. Trenton Cannon doubled down on his STs clanger in the first half by muffing the ensuing kickoff, then fumbling after he recovered by trying to make something out of nothing. In a blink it was 21-7. Then, after a lifeline via a Seahawks defensive lapse for a long Deebo TD, Dee Ford lined up offsides on what would otherwise have been a defensive stop, and Kirkpatrick gave away a DPI on the next 3rd down which looked unnecessary. The 49ers gave this one to the Seahawks in the end. 

Lance looked very shaky. It is always tough coming into a game unexpectedly. But after Jimmy G was unable to go in the second half, Lance had to step in and lead the offense. It is understandable that he was nervy, and it showed with some very errant throws early on. But it then seemed Lance made the cardinal sin of letting those early miscues get in his head - aside from a 76 yard TD to Deebo on a busted coverage, Lance looked wild and was not seeing the field for most of the second half. He looked like the ol' deer in the headlights that sometimes happens to rookie QBs. Even on plays he should have been in his element, he was hurried and making mental errors - an example of this was on a play where he scrambled in the 4th quarter, down 28-13 at this time, and had the first down if he kept his feet, but inexplicably decided to go down 1-2 yards shy of the marker. It would lead to a 4th down stuff of Deebo on a jet sweep. 

Thankfully for Lance and 49er fans, he seemed to calm down on what would end up being the 49ers final offensive drive, doing a nice job of using his legs to create space, avoid pressure and pick up some important yards, while also hitting on some nice passes. There were still some errant and some late throws on the drive, but it was definitely a marked improvement. However, the context also needs to be considered - it came as the Seahawks were playing some very soft coverages while looking to protect their lead.   

Based on this second half performance there is certainly still a long way to go for Lance before he is ready to be a consistently good QB. But on a positive note, we also got to see some of the exciting potential he possesses.   

Kittle is super-human. He didn't have a great game, but some context is needed here. Jimmy G once again threw a high pass to Kittle which ended with Kittle getting tangled up coming down and looked like he had done a serious knee injury. Somehow he managed to play through it. Quite frankly, I would be shocked if he didn't do some serious damage to his knee on that play. The pain tolerance of the man is incredible. 

Injuries are still a bugbear. Gould was lost in warmups. It would lead to a missed FG and a missed XP attempt, as well as meaning the backup kicker was needed for the onside kick. Jimmy G was lost at half time. Trent Williams was lost with a shoulder injury. As mentioned above, it looked like Kittle hurt his knee and we will wait and see if he misses any time as a result. Alex Mack also hurt his hand. This team can't keep using injuries as an excuse, but they are a problem. 

FInal Verdict

The main takeaway from this one is the 49ers don't really look like a Super Bowl calibre team right now. The defense looked great for most of the first half, but looked gassed in the second. Understandably so, as the offense failed to take advantage and put the pressure on the Seahawks, keeping them in the game and not scoring points. Special teams was a massive issue in this one, partly due to losing Gould, but mostly because Trenton Cannon made three bone headed blunders. When you aren't playing great football, games are often won and lost on the margins, and it was the 49ers that made more mistakes when it mattered in this one. 

The 49ers could find themselves in quite the hole after next week if they don't find a way to upset the undefeated Cardinals. 

Gameday Live 49ers vs. Seahawks

49ers Inactives: RB Elijah Mitchell, CB K’Waun Williams, CB Josh Norman, OL Aaron Banks, and DL Zach Kerr.

Seahawks Inactives: Dee Eskridge, Benson Mayowa, Brandon Shell, John Reid, Jamarco Jones and LJ Collier.

Might this be the game we see a little more Lance? Maybe spice up the running game some and give him some short screen passes to Deebo and friends.

Defensively, does Kocurek breakout his "chip beaters"?

Week 4 Matchups to Watch: Seahawks at 49ers

By Scooter_McG

Week 4 sees 4th placed (in the NFC West) Seattle come to Levi's Stadium off the back of consecutive losses, facing a 3rd place 49ers team looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season against the Packers. This rivalry always brings a lot of emotion and with both teams looking to keep in touch with the currently undefeated Rams and Cardinals this game will likely have some extra spice.  

In some ways these two teams have been polar opposites through three weeks. The Seahawks have been fast starters in games but failed to close out the past two games in the second half. The 49ers on the other hand have gotten off to slow starts and in the past two games have failed to score in the first half until the dying minutes, but have been better in the second stanza. 

In this one, I suspect if the 49ers get off to another slow start it could be a tough ask for them to bring it back for a win. At worst I feel like they need to keep it close through the first half, if not go into half time with the lead. 

Here are the matchups I see as being key in this one.

49ers secondary vs Seahawks receivers. This is probably the biggest mismatch in the contest. The Seahawks receivers, led by Lockett and Metcalf, look far too good on paper not to dominate a 49ers secondary missing Verrett and likely Norman. And given Russell Wilson's penchant for making the 49ers pass rush look foolish and keeping plays alive the 49ers secondary will likely be in for a torrid afternoon. But if the 49ers secondary can play above expectations, and make some key stops in critical moments, it could go a long way to giving the 49ers a chance to win this one. 

49ers pass rush vs Russell Wilson. Against the Packers the 49ers pass rush really failed to make much of an impact. A large part of that was how quickly Rodgers got the ball out, but also some a nice game plan by LaFleur that involved chipping Bosa and Ford at every opportunity to derail the pass rush plan and give Rodgers some extra breathing space. Wilson poses a different kind of threat, in that he is often at his best when holding the ball and extending plays. The 49ers need to do a better job than last week in beating offensive scheme designed to slow down the pass rush, but also make sure they don't fall into the trap of attacking inside and allowing Wilson easy opportunities to break contain and extend plays. This will be a big challenge for the pass rush this week, and a matchup they really need to win to give themselves a good chance of victory. 

49ers 1st down offense vs Seahawks 1st down defense. A big reason the 49ers have had slow starts the past two weeks has been an ineffective ground game that has led to a lot of 3rd and longs in the early going. The 49ers absolutely must find a way to reverse this trend in the first half against the Seahawks, whether it be through the running game or passing game, to keep the offense ahead of schedule and not allow the Seahawks to tee of against Jimmy G on 3rd and long situations. 

Potentially helping matters, the Seahawks defense has so far struggled to contain opposing offenses, giving up the most yards in the NFL through three games, including the third most yards on the ground, while struggling to get to the QB. The damage RBs have been doing against the Seahawks goes beyond the running game - the Seahawks have also given up the most yards to RBs in the passing game as well through three weeks, including many screens. This could be a great opportunity to get the 49ers offense rolling through a diverse assortment of running and short passing game, using the plethora of dynamic athletes the 49ers boast on offense.  

Of course, the same was said about the Packers defense last week.