Week 6 Preview

The 49ers are home this Sunday afternoon after last week’s Sunday night game against the New York Giants. The game was much more exciting in the second half but ultimately the 49ers defense couldn’t keep the Giants out of the endzone, as the Giants took the lead late in the 4th quarter. Larry Donnell, the Giants TE, made a spectacular catch in the endzone over Navorro Bowman to seal the win for the Giants and give the 49ers their fourth straight loss. The improvements seen on offense are encouraging but the outcome of the game remains unchanged; another week, another 49er loss where one side of the ball seems completely overmatched. Since Week 1, we haven’t seen a game where both sides of the ball seem to be clicking at the same time. When the defense plays well, the offense struggles. Kap finally gets some confidence and the defense looks totally overmatched. The Ravens come to Levi’s Stadium with an identical 1-4 record, injuries all over the team, and are hurting for a win as badly as these Niners.

Offensively, the 49ers need to continue to build on last week’s promising second half. There is, however, one issue from the second half that ought to be adjusted; Bruce Ellington saw targets back-to-back on the 49ers first drive and then never was targeted again. With his hands on the ball, Ellington was quick, elusive, and added an element to the offense that hasn’t been there for the first weeks of the season. Ellington offers speed across the field and outside in short and intermediate routes. He excels at exploding from defenders and, although often injured, looks productive on the field. This 49ers offense needs to begin to find ways to get the ball in his hands at least five times a game. In addition to his skillset, the quick throws to Ellington are an immediate and effective way to settle down Kap and get him into the rhythm of the game. Matt Barrows, the 49ers beat reporter for the Sacramento Bee, has mentioned more than once that this 49ers offense is more efficient when Bruce Miller is on the field. 49er Faithful will remember that for the last few years, Miller was considered one of the best all-around fullbacks in the league as someone that could create holes for Gore in the running game and had even become a target for Kap out of the backfield. He offers the offense a big, strong, bruising athlete in the backfield that can be shifted around to play H-Back in addition to a typical fullback set in I-formation. With reports of the team being willing to trade Vernon Davis, Bruce Miller should see more time on the field, both as a lead blocker and an option in the passing game. Garrett Celek looks encouraging and, quite frankly, I’d take a young guy with some spark over Vernon Davis right now without question. I appreciate what Davis has done as a 49er, and his Catch against the Saints may be the defining play of his career and that magical playoff run for the 49ers. However, he isn’t producing at the level that we have come to expect and I would rather see those snaps go to a young guy with an opportunity to grow and develop. Terrell Suggs was lost for the season after tearing his achilles in Week 1 against the Broncos. The Ravens defense is in hot water after making Josh McCown look like the best QB in the league, although to be fair McCown has had a pretty impressive three week stretch. Nonetheless, the Ravens defense is looking at this 49ers offense as an opportunity for them to get back on track and make a statement. The 49er offense needs to continue to do the things we saw at the end of last week, including some of the dimes that Kap was dropping when he was playing free. Kap has bought himself at least another few weeks before some hopeless fans clamor for Blaine Gabbert.

On defense, we address the unit that gets to try and clean up it’s act this week after being exposed over the middle of the field routinely last week. I have been calling for Tartt to have an opportunity to play in the box, alongside Bowman, a la Deone Bucannon in Arizona. The second half of the game last week reiterated my thoughts on the matter as both Bowman and Wilhoite looked exposed in pass coverage. The 49ers coaching staff likes to highlight the fact that the men each had double-digit tackle numbers but they could not defend the pass at all against a team that looked to go over the middle often. Against teams with dynamic receivers, these guys are simply overmatched in coverage and teams will continue to exploit that. Steve Smith, the Ravens veteran and boisterous receiver, is still healing from a back injury suffered a few weeks ago which, although he may play, will certainly hinder him. Most players would have been out for more than a couple weeks with a similar injury, proving that Steve Smith is the ultimate beast on the field, whether you like his trash-talking or not. For the last few weeks, zone coverage in Mangini’s system has routinely been exploited. Zone coverage often depends on defensive backs being able to recognize route combinations and trail through those routes when they enter their “zone”. Defensive backs rarely just get to a zone and wait to see if anyone comes in. While effective for most teams, it requires some trust and rapid communication and understanding from the defensive backfield, something that seems to be lacking this year. We saw the miscommunication be exploited early Sunday Night when Odell Beckham Jr. caught an easy pass after what looked like some anticipatory play from Brock that left an intermediate third of the field open for OBJ to sneak behind him and then gain some yards after the catch. In addition to each defender needing to read route concepts, there is an expectation that all the other defensive backs are reading the concept similarly and will expect to play it the same. The 49ers defensive backfield that we have seen this year seems not only physically suited to play man coverage but more advanced technically in man coverage as well. The defense should look to imitate the gameplan used against the Packers, although this Ravens offense is significantly less dynamic. Man coverage concepts that allow for pressure on the quarterback could be just what the doctor ordered to fix this ailing defense. Aaron Lynch is the only player on defense that doesn’t need to change a thing; just keep harassing opposing quarterbacks. If he can, it might be nice to throw some of those pass rush moves and aggression to the interior defensive line. The pressure almost exclusively comes from Lynch as the 3 hogs up front stop the run well but generate almost no push in the pass game. I have a feeling we may be seeing Armstead much sooner than any of us expected. And that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Every game in the NFL is a “winnable” game but this one really feels like an opportunity for the 49ers to get on track and start to put together a few good games in a row. Besides the Atlanta Falcons in a few weeks, the team is out of a stretch of games against top-tier quarterback and receiver tandems which will help in generating some wins. I’m headed to the game against the Seahawks Thursday night and likely won’t have a preview up but I will be sure to give Faithful fans an account of my experience, hopefully ending in a 49ers win. First things first, this is a week where the 49ers can slightly avenge the loss to the Ravens that we all remember so well. Harbaugh is gone and that storyline has passed. Broadcast teams will certainly discuss the relation of John Harbaugh to Jim but even John has admitted that his brother is gone and this team looks different. The NFC West isn’t as competitive as was expected and this could be the week that starts to point the 49ers towards a record closer to recent years rather than the pre-Harbaugh era.