San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals
Well this whole rebuilding thing is painful, amiright?
The San Francisco 49ers are now 0-4 after an overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The Niners have lost their last three games by a total of eight points, so they’re in it, they just can’t finish it.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Indianapolis Colts
Next up on the agenda are the 1-3 Indianapolis Colts who are currently out of Luck with problems of their own. Let’s take a look.
- Brian Hoyer is not great. He was 24-of-49 on Sunday with an interception, was sacked three times and has a QBR of 18.6. He’s like Jekyll and Hyde between the play action and everything else, going 9-14, 111 yards, and an 88.7 passer rating on the former and 15-35, 123 yards, and 40.5 rating on the latter last week, according to Jeff Deeney at Pro Football Focus. This has been a season-long issue.
- Meanwhile, the Colts’ offense isn’t exactly going on all cylinders either. With Andrew Luck still out for Sunday, QB Jacoby Brissett will start. Brissett has played admirably but his offensive line is awful. He was sacked three times and hit 11 against Seattle. The 49ers sacked Carson Palmer six times and hit him 16 times Sunday. The bodes well for the San Francisco pass rush that is starting to come together.
- DeForest Buckner had a sack, six pressures and two run stops, while Solomon Thomas had the best game of his young career that included his first sack. These are good things.
- The Niner run defense will be facing former teammate Frank Gore, who will need four yards to pass Eric Dickerson’s as #7 on the all-time rushing list. I miss Frank Gore. So. Much.
- San Francisco is going to have to clean up the penalties. 13 for 113 yards is not going to win anything for anybody. You hear that Rashard Robinson? Jimmie Ward? Brandon Fusco? Daniel Kilgore?
- And speaking of Rashard Robinson. Sigh. He is not a #1 corner but he is the Niners’ #1 corner, so I imagine Brissett will do what every other QB has done, and look in his direction every time he wants to throw. Luckily, he doesn’t have a great receiving corps.
Game Prediction
The two best things the 49ers have going for them are: 1) The Colts may just be worse than they are & 2) They have come so close to winning the last three weeks that something has to go their way. They are going to need to score touchdowns and not just field goals. They are going to need to clean up the mess in the secondary. They are going to need to do a lot of things, but I’m picking them to win, because after Indy, the schedule gets tougher, so they need this. I need this. We need this Faithful. Go Niners!
[NFL-49ers-footer] [NFL-Crucial-Catch]Photo Credits:
- 49ers on wikimedia commons by Sports Logos.Net
- Brian Hoyer photographed by Tracy Sandler
- Kyle Shanahan on Wikipedia by Thomson200
- Andrew Luck on flickr by Jeffrey Beall
- Carson Palmer on flickr by FF Swami
- DeForest Buckner on Wikimedia Commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Solomon Thomas photographed by Tracy Sandler
- Rashard Robinson on Wikimedia Commons by Jeffrey Beall
