The 49ers have had an up and down season and it has all come down to one game this Sunday against the LA Rams in Los Angeles. Let’s look at the possible playoff scenarios for the 49ers win or lose.
- 49ers win….they’re in as the #6 seed
- 49ers lose, New Orleans lose, Philadelphia lose……49ers are #6 seed
- 49ers lose New Orleans lose, Philadelphia wins……49ers are #7 seed
- 49ers lose, New Orleans wins…..49ers are out of the playoffs.
As of the date of this writing the 49ers are 4½ point underdogs against the Rams and the Atlanta Falcons are 5-point underdogs at home against New Orleans. Per these lines by the oddsmakers, the 49ers are not expected to make the playoffs.
The good thing is all of these teams have something to play for. Atlanta beat the Saints in New Orleans 27-25 on November 7th so the Saints will have revenge on their mind as well as a possible playoff berth. Atlanta Falcons fans hate the New Orleans Saints so this game will mean something to Atlanta. It doesn’t mean they will win but at least they shouldn’t roll over the last week of the season.
The bad thing about all this is…..all of these teams have something to play for ! If the Rams win on Sunday, they’ll be NFC West Champions and stay as the #2 seed. If they lose they can be anywhere from the #3 to #5 seed. Rams win, they will have a home playoff game. Rams lose they could possibly be a 12-5 team on the road in the 1st round of the playoffs.
Let’s look at some positive things heading into this crucial game
- Brandon Aiyuk is better this year than last year and is a very willing blocker. When the ball is in his hands good things usually happen.
- Speaking of when the ball is in his hands good things usually happen….Deebo Samuel is #1 in this category for the 49ers. I would rather have him play a lot less RB and more WR but due to injuries and personnel issues Deebo has done whatever is asked of him and it’s paid off in a major way.
- George Kittle is George Kittle. Whether it’s receiving or blocking Kittle is having another good season. I would really like the 49ers to get a another capable TE next season to take some pressure off Kittle.
- Of course I have to talk about Trey Lance right ? Trey looked not ready and confused in his start against the Arizona Cardinals. He looked much better and more confident against the Texans. Shanahan trusted Lance to drop back and throw downfield and he did that. Lance averaged 10.8 yards per attempt and had 205 air yards on throws 10+ yards. There are some things to clean up in his game like his release, accuracy and being consistent quarter to quarter but it’s easy to see why the 49ers traded 1st round picks to get him and the future of the 49ers passing game, especially downfield passing game looks very bright.
- Credit to Kyle Shanahan for righting the ship the second half of the season because the 49ers were an undisciplined mess at one point and had a couple of bad losses against the Seahawks and Cardinals.
Let’s look at some negative things heading into this crucial game
- I mentioned before the season started the secondary needs to be overhauled and is the weakest unit of the defense. If the 49ers want to beat the Rams it’s best to keep the secondary off the field as much as possible.
- The 49ers aren’t built for shootouts and can only win one way, by running the ball successfully. If the 49ers can’t run they can’t sustain drives which means the secondary will be on the field longer than anyone should want them to be which means eventually Cooper Kupp and/or Odell Beckham will burn them.
- Offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill and Tom Compton are still starting. These players are the obvious weak links on the offensive line and they’re both on the right side. It’s never good to have borderline backup offensive lineman as starters which says a lot about the offensive lineman the 49ers drafted last year, Aaron Banks and Jaylon Moore.
- There isn’t a lot of depth and talent on this roster so the 49ers have to play close to perfect and efficient football. Win time of possession, run the ball, convert 3rd downs, stop the other team from converting 3rd downs and don’t commit any turnovers. When this formula is working against good teams it’s great but when a component of this isn’t on point the results are usually not good.
- Jimmy G’s thumb won’t be fully healed by Sunday and history has shown us when he tries to play hurt the results are never good. I distinctly remember last year’s home game against the Miami Dolphins…..terrible. I believe Kyle wants to sit Lance and not play him this game which means the 49ers will be getting a way less than 100% Jimmy G.
- Kyle admitted he doesn’t know how to call plays yet for Trey Lance which is surprising because Lance has been on the roster all season and I hope no one actually thought Jimmy G would play all 18 games with his injury history. If Lance has to play, hopefully Kyle has figured out the play-calling by then.
I’m objective as a writer but I will be a 49ers and Falcons fan this weekend. The 49ers/Rams and Saints/Falcons will be the only 2 games I watch on Sunday. I think most reasonable people know the 49ers aren’t a Super Bowl roster but this season will seem like a failure if the 49ers don’t make the playoffs.
My 49er content is exclusively for 49erscap.com. Follow me on Twitter @peerless1sports.
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