IMO, the way to beat the 49ers is to make them quarterback reliant. They don't play well when Brock Purdy is asked to keep making plays. He'll make one or two big plays, but if asked to keep making them.... he'll struggle or toss an opponent a friendly gift.
Evidence is in the Ravens, Vikings, and Bengals game. Vs the Vikings, Kirk Cousins was in the zone. Minnesota is a receivers friendly system....... and it seems like Niners don't play well when their secondary is forced to stay with multiple receivers all game long. That makes their linebackers have to worry about receivers, and when they have to worry about multiple things, it leaves a second for Cousins to dot a streaking receiver across the middle of the field. I saw that continuously. Conversely, the Cowboys do seem to have success against the Vikings, but I generally don't see the Cowboys dominated by the pass or multiple receivers having a huge game against us. When's the last time more than 1 receiver had a big day against us? Maybe that explains our domination against the Vikings.
When we lose, it's always excessive penalties initially (Niners, Bills), we lose the line of scrimmage (Bills, Niners), or some weird game where someone random like James Cooks or James Connor or Joshua Dobbs having 8.0 yards per rush against us. (Bills, Cardinals)
Not sure if the Cowboys have the kind of receivers the Vikings have to force the Niners' linebackers away from anticipating the quarterback, but I think that's how you beat them...... make their linebackers go away from their call of duty and you take away possibly their greatest strength.
Cousins kept the Niner's offense off the field with key 3rd down conversions, so the Niners' offensive opportunities were limited. And the plays that the Niners offense did make were the characteristic huge plays by McCaffrey, didn't eat enough clock to prevent Cousins from coming back onto the field. And I think this game we found out Charvarious Ward's weakness..... Jordan Addison. The last time we saw Ward covering Gallup, he had no issues. Gallup was a Doritos bag against Ward. But.....just like Metcalf is Bland's sore spot... I think Addison is the Metcalf to Ward's Bland.
Against the Bengals.... the Bengals were able to keep the game close until Purdy tossed back to back interceptions. It seems Niners don't play well from behind, nor when tied. Cowboys play bad from behind, but in a relatively tie game Cowboys don't usually have the game go South. But in close tie games the Niners played against the Ravens, the Vikings, and Bengals........ there came a point where the game just precipitated South.
I think this is because when Niners have to pass.... it requires the QB to make multiple plays per drive and that's when they struggle. They're excellent with a lead, there's no doubt about it. But the game has to be in their control and played the way they want it.
Watching them vs the Ravens, the Ravens were leading only 16-12 at break, and that's after the Niners tossed 3 INTs. So while the turnovers were the huge story of the game, they were still in the game even after Purdy tossed 3 INTs. It was not a flukey game despite what Niners fans try to say. Ravens' defense was the difference in the game because they took away the short slants and outs and Purdy's passes met Ravens' hands before Niners' hands much of the times. Niners had a chance to create a new game after half, but their offense kept going 3 and out, so it was more than just the turnovers.
I think Cowboys and Niners have similar things you can say about. Both teams can go night or day. Cowboys had the Bills and Niners. Niners had the Vikings and Ravens and Browns. I also think the Cowboys play bad from behind. But they do too.
But I think there's a commonality with the Niners losses. It's when they don't get to do what they wanna do. I honestly think the Ravens were on top of the Niners film from the start, their defensive backs seemed to know where Purdy liked to go with the ball. So many passes barely made it past the line of scrimmage. But..... I think the Vikings beat them by clearly demonstrating their receivers were superior to the Niners' secondary. But then again, Cousins made some key plays and perhaps overplayed his usual norm.
I think the team has a definite weaknesses and I think McCarthy needs to figure out a way to get the offense moving faster against them and force them into a hole. The Eagles were able to do it. They just couldn't finish the first 2 drives, but they had them right where they wanted them. But Hurts tripped, and instead of starting the game 14-0, they kick 2 field goals. If you force them to 10-0 or 14-3 I think that's when you make them QB reliant and they start playing into our strengths. So I guess... if the Eagles were able to come out firing against them (just started spiraling after kicking 2 field goals)..... we can too! Figure it out McCarthy!
GL with that one................Can't remember one of those games in a long time a longgggggg time......
