Bears vs. 49ers: Breaking Down San Francisco's Game Plan
The 1-0 San Francisco 49ers will officially debut Levi's Stadium when they play host to the visiting 0-1 Chicago Bears on Sunday, September 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday Night Football.
San Francisco is coming off a 28-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys—a game in which almost everything went right for the 49ers. The team needed to make a statement in the wake of various off-field and personnel issues.
That was accomplished.
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Now, San Francisco needs to back up its Week 1 performance with an equally strong showing against Chicago.
The Bears are coming off a 23-20 loss at home to the Buffalo Bills.
According to Odds Shark, the 49ers are listed as seven-point favorites over the Bears. But what will San Francisco need to do in order to live up to those odds?
In this article, we'll break down the 49ers' game plan in preparation for Sunday. We'll take a look at both offensive and defensive units, trying to formulate the specific approach San Francisco will use in order to go 2-0 on the young season.
What will be the biggest challenges? How can the 49ers overcome these?
Let's dive straight into it.
Defense
There are three prominent areas of concern that should draw our focus when evaluating San Francisco's defense in Week 2: the pass rush, defending against the run and injuries.
Prior to Week 1, Bills.com analyst Mark Kelso broke down the Bears offense in his film study.
Generating the Pass Rush
Starting with the pass rush, let's take a brief look back at Week 1 against Dallas. The 49ers generated three sacks on Tony Romo throughout the game—two by veteran Justin Smith. But San Francisco's pass-rushers were almost absent during the first half of the game, allowing Romo to have plenty of time within the pocket.
This prompted defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to state on the 49ers' flagship radio station KNBR 680 that he felt this particular unit was not very good and needed work heading into the matchup with the Bears.
Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler was sacked twice by Bills defenders in Week 1, but let's formulate a couple of scenarios where the 49ers can put pressure on him again.
Smith needs to be a presence along the defensive line once more. This is obvious. In place of the suspended linebacker Aldon Smith, however, San Francisco is utilizing Dan Skuta on base downs and Corey Lemonier on nickel packages.
The former Auburn pass-rusher, Lemonier, struggled a bit versus Dallas, per David Fucillo of Niners Nation.
Later in the game, rookie Aaron Lynch made his presence known—bringing good pressure and swatting down a pass at the line from Romo.
One scenario is having Lynch take the field for a few more snaps against Chicago—as Fucillo writes—in order to generate a bit more pressure on Cutler.
The other is to create a few more blitz packages, allowing other pass-rushers to get in behind Chicago's offensive line. But as we know, Fangio typically likes to rush no more than four. Therefore, we probably won't see too much of this.
Run Defense
Bears running back Matt Forte totaled 82 yards on 17 attempts against the Bills defense in Week 1. Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray totaled 118 yards on 22 attempts and one touchdown versus San Francisco, ending the 17-game streak of the 49ers not allowing a 100-plus-yard rusher.
This is obviously a problem, considering San Francisco's history of stopping the run.
Doug Williams of NBC Bay Area sums this up:
"Was it the absence of inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who’s usually at the point of attack on inside running plays? Or did the combination of absentees Bowman, outside linebacker Aldon Smith and last year’s No. 1 nose tackle, Glenn Dorsey—plus the loss of starting corners Tramaine Brock and Chris Culliver during the game—all combine to soften the San Francisco defense?
"
Dorsey and Bowman are both excellent run defenders and their absences are surely missed. Bottling up Forte, especially up the middle, will be a key element in forcing Chicago to become one-dimensional on offense.
Let's look at how the Bills did this on one particular play.
Forte (highlighted in yellow) is lined up off Cutler's left. He'll receive the handoff and try to exploit a gap in the middle of Buffalo's line.
Excellent interior pressure, combined with a rush from the outside, forces a loss on the carry.
Adding to this will be the likely absences of interior O-linemen Roberto Garza and Matt Slauson for Chicago, who both suffered high ankle sprains in Week 1. Each are expected to miss a couple of weeks, per Brad Biggs and Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune (h/t Chris Towers of CBS Sports).
Simply stated, this means San Francisco will have to utilize the proper combination of interior and exterior pressure to stop Forte. He is capable of moving to the outside as well, so the 49ers will have to respect that.
Injuries
San Francisco's secondary suffered a great deal of attrition in Week 1.
Defensive backs Tramaine Brock, Chris Culliver and Jimmie Ward all left with injuries, which put plenty of pressure on backups Dontae Johnson and Perrish Cox.
Brock, the 49ers' No. 1 cornerback, suffered a sprained toe and is listed as day-to-day, per Joe Soriano of Fansided.com. Culliver left with a concussion, but Fangio relayed, via Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News, that he is doing better.
Ward was also removed with concussion-like symptoms. Since then, Ward has tweeted that he did not have a concussion, per Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee. While the tweet has since been deleted, Ward's agent confirmed the news, per Barrows.
The depleted secondary will have to contend with the likes of wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall.
Jeffery and Marshall were both injured in Week 1 with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively. But Marshall has since insisted he'll be ready for the 49ers, per Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune (subscription required). Jeffery is also listed as probable.
This obviously puts a lot of pressure on San Francisco's secondary.
Brock is the likeliest of players to return, per Williams. He was dressed and available late in the victory over Dallas, so we should expect him to at least be ready if necessary. Culliver and Ward (in spite of his tweet) will have to continue with the NFL's protocol in handling concussions.
News of their returns may not be announced until later in the week.
The 49ers might also want to consider activating four-year veteran Chris Cook for Week 2. The former Minnesota Vikings corner was inactive in Week 1, but he does have plenty of experience against his former division rival.
Also, we shouldn't count out the contributions of Johnson and Cox, both of whom had favorable moments against the Cowboys.
On top of this, San Francisco relied heavily on forcing turnovers in Week 1. Romo committed three turnovers alone. Cutler committed two.
Perhaps we see the 49ers try to take advantage of such mistakes on Sunday.
Offense
Any concerns as to whether or not San Francisco's first-team offense would struggle coming into the regular season were largely put to rest when the 49ers punished a weak Cowboys defense in Week 1.
Sure, the Bears defense is not exactly elite, but they are a surefire step above the lowly defensive rankings Dallas will likely achieve this season.
So, how can the 49ers continue showcasing offensive momentum?
Establish the Running Game
Week 1 was the "coming-out" party for rookie running back Carlos Hyde. Hyde totaled 50 yards on seven attempts and notched his first career NFL touchdown against Dallas.
But the offensive story for San Francisco was not the running game early on. The 49ers' first offensive drive lasted just 1:18 and utilized four passing plays en route to their second touchdown of the game.
In spite of this, we shouldn't simply expect offensive coordinator Greg Roman to unleash this "new-look" offense right out of the gate.
We know the 49ers are a run-first team that likes to impose its will with physical, downhill backs like Hyde and veteran Frank Gore. This approach tires out opposing defenses, works down the clock and helps set up play action.
More on the passing game in a second, but let's take a look at how the combination of Gore and Hyde can dominate the Bears defense.
For starters, we should point out that Chicago's run defense allowed 193 rushing yards on 33 attempts versus Buffalo in Week 1.
"When you give up that many rushing yards, it's embarrassing. What can I say?" Bears defensive end Jared Allen said via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago. "It all starts with the run game. I know this league is about sacks and rushing the quarterback, but you do not win unless you stop the run. You don't get chances to rush the quarterback unless you stop the run."
For the 49ers, the name of the game will be kicking a team when it is already down.
We can continue to remain excited about Hyde, but let's look at Gore's longest run of the day in Week 1—a 20-yard rush early in the second quarter.
Following a Patrick Willis interception, San Francisco's offense utilizes motion and determines that Dallas' defense is in a zone formation, stacked on the left of the 49ers O-line. Gore is highlighted in yellow.
Gore is able to exploit a hole in the defense's front seven—motion having shifted some of the pressure away from Dallas' interior.
This is the same sort of approach we should expect out of Gore and Hyde against Chicago.
Of course, the 49ers will have to approach this knowing they are now without LaMichael James after he requested release from the team following Week 1. But the seldom-used back probably did not fit into San Francisco's plans much entering Week 2 either way, so his would-be contributions are discounted.
Not to be discounted is the running prowess of Colin Kaepernick. Fans will recall how Kaepernick destroyed Chicago the last time these two teams met in 2012.
If enough of these weaknesses are exploited, San Francisco's pass offense could be set up for a big day.
Passing Attack Fueled By the Run Game
Play action will be the name of the game here.
While one poor week against Buffalo cannot entirely summarize Chicago's run defense, it does allow us to speculate the 49ers will be able to take advantage against a weak crop of interior run stoppers.
If San Francisco is able to establish some prowess in the running game, the Bears defense will be forced to cheat a bit against the run. This opens up play action from Kaepernick and his upgraded receiving corps.
As described by Tyler Emerick of 49ers.com, Kaepernick was able to do this very thing against Dallas in Week 1 for San Francisco's second offensive touchdown of the day.
After a fake to Gore (highlighted in blue), who lines up as an extra blocker, Kaepernick rolls out to the right to find tight end Vernon Davis (highlighted in yellow) in the end zone for an easy score.
The Cowboys bit on this play action, and it cost them. We should hope for the same out of the Bears.
Chicago cornerbacks Tim Jennings and the veteran Charles Tillman will likely match up against San Francisco's Nos. 1 and 2 wideouts in Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin. Jennings is 5'8" and 185 pounds, so the size advantage clearly goes to the 49ers here.
Perhaps the 49ers also try to take advantage of rookie corner Kyle Fuller by matching him up against a combination of Stevie Johnson or excellent route-runner Brandon Lloyd.
If this is the case, Kaepernick will have the tools to "distribute the wealth" through the air on Sunday.
Summing It Up
Much of the focus will surround the official debut of Levi's Stadium on this nationally televised broadcast. Why wouldn't it be?
But the 49ers are looking to put a big stamp on their home opener against a Bears team that was embarrassed by Buffalo during its respective opener in Week 1.
Sure, San Francisco still has its fair share of questions and challenges—injuries being a prime example. But Chicago is also dealing with significant injuries, as described above. Look for the 49ers to take full advantage of this.
In the end, the name of the game will come down to proper play-calling, execution and playmakers making plays—the essential fundamentals of football. Judging by the outset, and on paper, the 49ers are in a much better position to do this against a vulnerable Bears team in Week 2.
But games aren't won on paper, and San Francisco will have to do what is necessary to put this game in the books on the correct side of the win-loss column.
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.
Peter Panacy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Be sure to check out his entire archive on 49ers news, insight and analysis.
Follow him @PeterMcShots on Twitter.
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