Don\u2019t be fooled by win \/ loss records.\u00a0 \u00a0The reigning NFC champs, the San Francisco 49ers, were within 7 minutes of a Super Bowl Championship with a 10-point lead.\u00a0 Some may say they are suffering from the Super Bowl hangover many teams who have lost the Super Bowl suffer the next season.\u00a0 I would say it has more to do with injuries than anything else.<\/p>\n
Injuries have been a big problem with the 49ers.\u00a0 Let’s start with Jimmy Garropolo himself, who is out with a high ankle sprain that I don\u2019t think he is fully recovered from yet.\u00a0 George Kittle, their all-world tight end, has been out but will be back for the team’s match-up against the Pats on Sunday.\u00a0 He presents a huge problem for them.\u00a0 Raheem Mostert, their starting RB, LB Kwon Alexander, S Jimmie Ward and S Jaquiski Tartt are all out for Sunday.\u00a0 Tevin Coleman has been out all season so far.\u00a0 LT Trent Williams is banged up and is questionable, as is RB Jeff Wilson.\u00a0 WR Deebo Samuel is back but has missed significant time.<\/p>\n
Garoppolo is an excellent passer.\u00a0 He outperformed MVP Patrick Mahomes through three quarters of the Super Bowl, completing 65% of his passes against the #6 pass defense.\u00a0 Garoppolo completed 59% of his passes more than 15 yards down the field and SF led the league in explosive pass rate and averaged 16.7 ypc.<\/p>\n
The 49ers run more pre-snap motion than any team in the league, some 70% of the time.\u00a0 They love to run out of the 21 personnel formation.\u00a0 They use that formation 33% of the time where the league average is 11%. \u00a0\u00a0In a Kyle Shanahan offense, it’s not necessarily run first. \u00a0\u00a0They used the 4th<\/sup> most play action passes on early downs.<\/p>\n They had a lot of turnover during the off-season.\u00a0 Joe Staley retired and was replaced by a trade for Trent Williams (inj).\u00a0 WR Emmanuel Sanders left via Free Agency to New Orleans.\u00a0 RB Matt Breida was traded to the Dolphins.\u00a0 DT Deforest Bruckner left via free Agency to the Colts.\u00a0 Number 1 pick, Javon Kinlaw, has replaced him nicely.\u00a0 Their number 2 selection, Brandon Ayiuk, has played well while replacing Samuel.\u00a0 Jedrick McKinnon, who was supposed to be the #1 back last year until injury derailed his season, has filled in for both Coleman and Mostert.<\/p>\n San Fran is coming in at 3-3 with losses to Dolphins and Eagles. They have wins against both New York teams.\u00a0 Last week they had a big win against the LA Rams.\u00a0 What team will show up this week?\u00a0 Jimmy G can still be dangerous and they have Kittle, Samuel, Ayiuk and McKinnon.<\/p>\n I usually don\u2019t talk about the Patriots but it is significant that the Patriots got several players back this week.\u00a0 David Andrews helps solidify the OL while he swaps places with Jermaine Eluemunor on the IR.\u00a0 Shaq Mason is also back.\u00a0 Beau Allen is ready to come off the IR as well and Byron Cowart should be returning from the COVID list.\u00a0 This Is a significant boost in personnel.\u00a0 I think they will have their top O-Line combination available for the game with Wynn at LT, Thuney LG, Andrews C, Mason RG, Owenu RT.\u00a0 \u00a0This should help the pass protection and run game.<\/p>\n Cam Newton\u2019s play, especially his decision making, anticipation and fundamentals need to improve.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0With three straight days of practice, Newton should have the rust knocked off. \u00a0\u00a0I expect Newton to bounce back and it could make for a long day for the 49ers.<\/p>\n The Patriots defense has been playing very well this season.\u00a0 Last week they held Denver without a touchdown and under 20 points.\u00a0 That\u2019s the 4th<\/sup> time this season they have held an opponent to 20 or under.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I usually don\u2019t talk about the Patriots but it is significant that the Patriots got several players back this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":13977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22204,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2020-patriots-season","category-patriots-news"],"yoast_head":"\n