The trick with handling the Niners is sustaining their monstrous pass-rush (easier said than done). If you can contain the two Smiths (Justin and Aldon), their secondary doesn’t scare me that much. If we can keep Brady upright, we can manage their defense (I think the last game against them showed we can pile up points if we get them tired and in soft zone coverage).
On the other side of the ball, I don’t see Kaepernick pulling his antelope tricks on us like he just did on the Packers. We have a better run defense, and the read option gimmicks don’t fly on our front 7 (anyone remembers the Broncos/Tebow last year with their read option stuff? – he kept on running into a wall).
BUT, unlike Tebow, the Skipper from San Fran has a canon for an arm, and can launch these missiles which will expose our secondary (with or without Talib/Dennard).
Again, I believe the ultimate key to sustaining the Niners, is our O-line protecting Brady.
Having said that, I will take the Falcons over the Niners any day. I like our chances against the Falcons much better, and Matt Ryan will choke on the big stage – if he’s even lucky enough to get pass the Niners.
Most and foremost: let’s worry about the Ravens first.
