San Francisco 49ers vs. Shane Falco’s Team

Monday Night! Monday Night! What a doozy we are going to see on Monday Night Football this week as we get to witness Shane Falco’s Team (Washington Redskins) take on the San Francisco 49ers. I cannot wait for Jon Gruden to grind his teeth and talk about the 49ers blue collar style of football. I can hear it now, “Let me tell ya Mike, These San Francisco 49ers really know how to play smash mouth football. That Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman are some bad men in the middle of that defense.” Anyway, this game couldn’t come at a better time for the 49ers, who are coming off back to back losses by a combined four points. The Niners need to get their playoff plans back on track with a big win in Washington.

The defense for the 49ers has played very well this season and looked even better against Drew Brees and the Saints last Sunday. No matter what people want to think about the penalty, the putrid showing from the 49ers offense was the reason for their loss. The offense has looked nothing like the one I watched last year make a run to a super bowl. I wrote in my recap after the game that the return of Michael Crabtree will be huge for this offense. I still believe that, but I think there are more issues than just the return of one player. I am hoping the worst passing offense in the NFL will solve some of those issues against the 26th worst pass defense. There are a few key match-ups that will lead to a 49ers victory.

The Front Seven of the San Francisco 49ers vs. RGIII and company

If there is one thing that is always true about Mike Shanahan teams, it is that they can run the football. Shane Falco’s team has the number one rushing attack this year, led by second-year man Alfred Morris. Morris has been one of the best running backs of late, averaging 110-plus yards over his last three games. The combination of him and RGIII has been lethal. As RGIII’s knee has continued to feel better he has looked more and more like a running threat, which has opened up holes for both him and Morris. The 49ers front seven is going to have to be very disciplined if they want to slow down Shanahan’s offense.

Anquan Boldin vs. Deangelo Hall

The 49ers need some production from their receiver position and it looks like Boldin is the only player capable of it. The only time I have seen the Niner offense look competent this season is when Anquan is catching the football, preferably for first downs. Shane Falco’s team will continue to load the box with eight men just like the Saints did last week unless Boldin can make some plays.

Quick tangent in Boldin- I have watched a lot of Anquan Boldin over his career and I have noticed that he wants the ball all of the time. All receivers want the ball, but he gets angry when he doesn’t get it. The more you throw the ball to him the better he gets and the more plays he makes. He can wear out defenders with his physical play and the more they have to tackle his big frame the better. Sometimes in the NFL you need to get away from the offensive scheme and just let players make plays. I think in this game and for the rest of the year the 49ers need to take a few chances every game and just throw the ball in Boldins direction and let him go get. I think both the coaches and 49ers fans will be pleasantly surprised.

Colin Kaepernick

There is no match-up for this one. Kaep is in a bad place mentally right now. I could only think of one person who could really explain Kaep’s mental state; the great Shane Falco!

Quicksand. When things are going bad and you keep pushing and trying to make the play and everything you do just makes the situation worse. That’s what’s going on in Kaep’s head right now. He needs to find some sort of success this game for the 49ers sake. He is the key to this team making any noise in the playoffs. If he can put together a solid football game it will be a huge step to getting him and this offense playing at the level it needs to be.

Just to reiterate, the 49ers absolutely need to win this game. The rest of the NFC is nipping at their heels for that 6th and final playoff seed. They need to get to 10 wins if they want to make the playoffs. They have a few easy games down the stretch and this is one of them. They need to take care of business on Monday, so they are one step closer to making the playoffs and so Jon Gruden gushes about them for a good five minutes after the game. God I love Jon Gruden!