With 15 games to go in the regular season you don’t want to draw too many definite conclusions about a team this season because a lot can still happen. The link below is a brief summary of my Week 2 observations of every team in the NFL.
https://peerless1sports.com/regular-season-week2-nfl-092221/
My observations of the 49ers after 2 games…
1) QB carousel – I believe as long as Jimmy G and Trey Lance are healthy, the possibility of rotating each QB in every game is very high. Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch want to win and at this point they don’t care about hurt feelings in regards to which QB plays and how long that QB is in the game. I believe Kyle when he said which QB plays depends on his feeling at that point in time in the game. Bottom line: the 49ers QB’s have to make plays and whoever can do it at that point in time will play.
Kyle Shanahan did the right thing by not playing Trey Lance against the Philadelphia Eagles defensive front 7. They’re as good as any defensive front in the NFL. You don’t want a rookie QB facing that defense in his second game ever.
Interesting note: Adam Schefter said the 49ers traded up in the 1st round of the NFL draft specifically to get Mac Jones because Bill Belichick wanted Mac Jones so Kyle figured this is the guy. It took a lot of other people in the 49ers organization 2 months to talk Kyle out of taking Mac Jones and select Trey Lance.
2) Injuries at RB – The expectancy of a 49ers running back lasting from training camp to Week 3 of the regular season is very low.
Jeff Wilson (knee)
Raheem Mostert (ankle)
Elijah Mitchell (shoulder)
Trey Sermon (concussion)
JaMycal Hasty (ankle)
49ers running back coach Bobby Turner always seems to make it work no matter who the running backs are but the problem is finding a back that “fits” into the running scheme and passing game. This season is a marathon not a sprint so I’d rather the backs healthy from the middle to the end of the season for a playoff run.
3) CB issues – The CB position could be the achilles heel of this team.
Relying on Jason Verrett to last another season relatively healthy was a shaky proposition to begin with, now he’s out for the season. His injury history over the last few years suggests an injury and missed games was bound to happen.
Emmanuel Moseley is recovering from a knee injury.
Rookie Ambry Thomas doesn’t play.
Rookie Deommodore Lenoir plays and gets targeted a lot. Jalen Hurts targeted him 11 times last week. If he starts against Green Bay I expect Aaron Rodgers to target him early and often.
Josh Norman and Dre Kirkpatrick both just arrived to the team and are strong possibilities to start against Green Bay.
Bottom line: The 49ers CB position isn’t steady and if this position isn’t steady on any team it can pose problems for a defense. The only way to neutralize this is for the defensive line to generate consistent pressure on the QB so the CB’s don’t have to cover for a long period of time.
4) Defensive coordinator – I predicted in an earlier article the 49ers defense would be in good hands with DeMeco Ryans and there hasn’t been a drop off on the defensive side of the ball. The Detroit Lions made an almost miraculous comeback Week 1 but this happened only after 49ers defensive starters were pulled from the game.
5) NFC West – After 2 weeks the NFC West is 7-1. The next game against the Green Bay Packers is very important. The 49ers need to win every game outside of the division because divisional games will be a physical dogfight and it seems like the defense still has issues slowing down mobile QB’s. Not only are the Packers a good test for the 49ers defense but the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals will be their next 2 games after. The NFC is very competitive and therefore playoff spots will be hard to attain. Starting this season possibly 2-2 or 2-3 will create an early hole that will be hard to get out of especially if injuries keep happening.
It’s still early in the season but if injuries, especially major injuries to starters continue to be a theme this season the 49ers will have to take a long serious look in the off-season as to how to fix this issue. It will need to be priority #1.
My 49er content is exclusively for 49erscap.com. Follow me on Twitter @peerless1sports.
Thank you for reading and feel free to leave a comment or question.
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