Giants vs. 49ers: How Can Alex Smith and San Francisco Defeat New York?

In their regular-season meeting, the New York Giants out-gained the San Francisco 49ers 395 to 305, had more first downs (21 to 16), were 50 percent on third down to San Francisco's 27 percent and won the time-of-possession battle 34:37 to 25:23.

All that being said, however, the 49ers still won the game 27-20 and were actually winning 27-13 with less than nine minutes to play until a late Giants TD cut the difference.

Eli Manning threw two interceptions and although the Giants gained almost 100 rushing yards, they failed to score on the ground and were just 1-of-4 in red-zone scoring opportunities.

This time around, don't expect a down performance from Manning or a weak performance when inside the red zone. Plus, New York will run the ball to set up the pass as that is the 49ers' defensive weakness. In addition, the Giants pass rush is only getting healthier as evidenced by all their games since Week 17 against Dallas.

So, how can Alex Smith and San Francisco oust the more confident and healthy Giants at home once again in 2011-12?

Well, here's a quick breakdown/preview of what San Francisco must do against New York's defense.

Feed Frank Gore Early

Now that Smith has become a more threat in the passing game as well as a scrambling quarterback, the Giants will be reluctant to blitz early. They will, however, have a spy on Smith to limit his mobility.

In the Packers game, Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay with 66 rush yards on seven carries. Take him away and Green Bay's two running backs (Ryan Grant and James Starks) combined for just 76 total rushing yards on 14 attempts.

The Wild Card Round was even worse for the opposition, as Atlanta running back Michael Turner gained just 41 yards on 15 attempts. Neither team could get the ball rolling on the ground early, nor did they try, and the Giants pass rush dominated.

In turn, that played into Manning's hands and the Giants shredded both weak pass defenses. Well, San Francisco is a different animal as they have a much better ground game and defense.

Thing is, all will be for naught unless Frank Gore gets going early. For starters, Gore played sparingly in the regular-season meeting due to injury as was limited to no yards on six carries.

Now healthy, Gore ran the rock for 89 yards on 13 carries against the Saints. If San Francisco wants to control the tempo of this game, getting Gore to go beast mode from the start is key. They must keep Manning off the field and limit his possessions.

Being that San Francisco is the best defense Manning has faced and will face all year, you know the Giants aren't scoring 37 like they did against Green Bay. Include less time and fewer opportunities, and New York scores even less.

That said, it all comes down to Gore's first-half production because the Giants won't run the ball against San Francisco defense. And getting that established will set up their improved passing game late.

Alex Smith vs. the Giants Pass Rush

New York has arguably the NFL's best pass rush when healthy, as they are now, and Alex Smith's mobility will be crucial on every snap that he drops back.

New York doesn't need to blitz linebackers consistently because Justin Tuck, Chris Canty, Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul can control any line of scrimmage when facing a pass-oriented offense. And with their weakness being against the run, Gore will take pressure off Smith.

To that end, it doesn't mean Smith will have all day to throw. And because of his Tecmo Super Bowl-esque TD run against the Saints, the Giants will have a spy on him. Fortunately for Smith, he is developing as a quarterback so his effectiveness in the passing game will move the ball on the Giants weak pass defense.

Here, play-action is arguably the 49ers' most dangerous weapon against New York as is the sprint/rollout to give Smith the option of throwing or running. Provided that Gore gets going, it will allow Smith a bit more time to read through his progressions.

New York will want to keep him in the pocket, so there won't be much pressure from the outside. In turn, expect some designed quarterback draws and running back delays in the second half.

What all this will come down to is Smith's ability to sell the run on play-action, sell the pass on a draw and utilize the art of improvisation versus a vulnerable pass defense that solely relies on their front four to take over games.

Manipulating their aggressiveness against them must happen; otherwise we'll see Smith get tossed and knocked around like New York did to Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers.

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