49ers vs. Cardinals: Breaking Down San Francisco's Game Plan
The San Francisco 49ers hold a 9-2 regular-season record in games following a loss during the Jim Harbaugh era.
San Francisco will hope this statistic works in its favor as the team takes to the road facing the division rival Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 of the 2014 NFL season.
Bruce Arians' Cardinals sit alone atop the NFC West after having defeated the New York Giants a week ago. The 49ers will look to get back on track after suffering a disastrous defeat to the Chicago Bears in the regular-season debut of Levi's Stadium.
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San Francisco squeaked by Arizona 23-20 the last time these two teams met December 29, 2013. A late fourth-quarter drive capped off by a Phil Dawson field goal sealed the deal and ended any Cardinals hopes for the playoffs.
But each year is different, and Arizona will certainly remember the foul taste left in the team's mouth after suffering that defeat. Additionally, the Cardinals will want to retain their early hold atop the division and thwart any chances for the 49ers to regain momentum in Week 3.
For San Francisco, a number of key issues will have to be addressed leading up to and during the game itself. The 49ers' 28-20 loss to the Bears was ugly in every sense of the word. San Francisco committed 16 penalties for 118 yards. The team blew a 17-point lead and never recovered.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick turned the ball over four times, and the offensive play-calling was questionable at best. San Francisco's offensive line was permeable. The defense also had no answer for Bears wideout Brandon Marshall.
How will the 49ers be able to overcome these setbacks heading into Week 3?
Let's break down San Francisco's approach heading into this vital matchup. The 49ers need to right the ship quickly, as losing ground in the tough NFC West can prove disastrous down the line.
Cleaning Up the Mess
As stated, San Francisco's loss to Chicago on Sunday Night Football was a disaster and an embarrassment.
Even Arians could not grasp the loss via a conference call to Bay Area reporters (h/t Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area):
"It’s very hard for me to even imagine them giving a game away because that’s not something that one of Jim [Harbaugh's] teams ever does. They’re as solid as anybody and when they get a lead, you can pretty much forget about it. That loss, I’m sure, pissed them off pretty good, and we’ll get their best effort.
"
Arians is essentially calling out the 49ers here, and they need to answer.
The first stop will be to halt the penalties. Sure, one could make the argument that NFL officials called the game too tight. But a number of the penalties called against San Francisco were legitimately called. This needs to be shored up in quick fashion.
Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis admitted the penalties were costly.
“Penalties hurt us, big time,” Willis said via Ron Kroichick of SFGate.com. “We had a lot of opportunities to get off the field, and then you turn around and see a flag. It’s like a punch in the gut.”
Another sting to the 49ers' loss last Sunday was the fact that they could not generate any sort of pass rush on quarterback Jay Cutler. Kroichick also argues that San Francisco is dearly missing the pass-rushing prowess of suspended linebacker Aldon Smith right now.
In Smith's stead, San Francisco has trusted second-year pro Corey Lemonier to shoulder much of the pass-rushing duties. Up to now, Lemonier has logged zero quarterback pressures in 50 pass rushes this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
All totaled, the 49ers have just four sacks on the young season—three of them from veteran defensive end Justin Smith.
We don't yet know who will be under center for Arizona in Week 3—Carson Palmer is listed as doubtful, and it is likely Drew Stanton starts—but it is safe to say San Francisco needs drastic improvement in this area.
Perhaps this means an increased workload for rookie outside linebacker Aaron Lynch, who has done a good job in limited action thus far.
Additionally, the 49ers could mix in a combination of second-year pros Tank Carradine and Quinton Dial—both of whom have been limited in action this season.
On top of that, Kaepernick needs to do a much better job of not turning the ball over. Kaepernick threw three interceptions versus Chicago's defense and fumbled once. Each one of those turnovers was costly in its own degree.
Better decision-making, play-calling and execution will be the name of the game here.
But for that to happen, San Francisco needs to get a stronger effort from its O-line—a unit that suffered a large quantity of miscues in Week 2.
"Boone squirts through, blocking nobody, and Jon Martin gets totally controlled. Welp... https://t.co/rAYCmWXU9r
— Tre9er (@Tre9er) September 17, 2014"
Backup right tackle Jonathan Martin, starting in place of Anthony Davis, had a rough game. Fellow tackle Joe Staley committed two penalties, and Mike Iupati had some lackluster moments.
This allowed San Francisco's pass protection to break down, which led to four sacks of Kaepernick.
Again, this is yet another area that needs improvement heading into Week 3.
Getting Back to Basics
Let's assume the 49ers are able to vastly improve the aforementioned areas and shift their focus to imposing their will from an offensive vantage point.
We know that San Francisco is a power-running team whose offense is driven by veteran running back Frank Gore. Gore notched 63 yards on 13 carries in Week 2 before essentially being taken out of the play-calling by offensive coordinator Greg Roman in the fourth quarter.
In all, Gore averaged 4.8 yards per carry—indicating that the 31-year-old back is not quite ready to hang up his cleats.
Let's take a look at Gore's longest run from Week 2—a 19-yard rush that would have been a touchdown run had it not been for a holding penalty against Anquan Boldin (Gore was given 19 yards on the play).
Gore is lined up off Kaepernick's left. Notice the additional blocker on the right side of the line, which forces Chicago to respect a run to that side.
Instead, Gore exploits a gap between Iupati and Staley and is able to break into the Bears' backfield. Unfortunately, Boldin's holding penalty negated this would-be touchdown run.
Granted, the Cardinals' run defense is much stronger than that of the Bears. Arizona ranked No. 1 in rush yards allowed in 2013 (1,351), and it currently sits at No. 3 this season with 133 yards allowed. Chicago comes nowhere close to those statistics.
But as Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com implies, the Cardinals' primary defensive weakness is up the middle. Run-stuffer Darnell Dockett is out for the season with a knee injury, and Arizona's middle linebackers—so critical in stopping the run at the point of attack—are also a liability.
Gore and rookie Carlos Hyde excel running between the tackles. If the primary weakness in Arizona's defense is up the middle, the 49ers' best interest would be to exploit this using a heavy combination of Gore and Hyde right up the gut.
In turn, this will help set up play action from Kaepernick and the 49ers' receiving corps. The reinforced crop of widouts—Boldin, Michael Crabtree, Brandon Lloyd, Stevie Johnson and Bruce Ellington—will at least force the Cardinals to recognize the plethora of threats San Francisco has at its disposal.
On top of that, the 49ers will likely be able to have tight end Vernon Davis on the field, per Maiocco. Davis came out of the game Sunday with an ankle injury.
Simply put, the game plan should be a heavy dose of run plays that help set up play action. It would also be nice to see Roman sprinkle in a handful of screens and slant-pattern passes to force the Cardinals defense to be honest.
This isn't the time to get cute for Roman and the 49ers offense. Utilizing San Francisco's strengths is something that needs to be applied here after what happened a week ago.
Regaining Defensive Prowess
On the positive side of things, the 49ers defense improved against the run from Weeks 1 to 2. While Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray notched a 100-plus yard game in the season opener, San Francisco held Bears running back Matt Forte to just 21 yards on the ground, an average of 1.8 yards per attempt.
San Francisco's run defense will need to keep that up against Cardinals back Andre Ellington, who is averaging 5.1 yards per carry on the season.
If the run defense can do its job and force Arizona to become one dimensional, the 49ers' pass defense will then need to do its share.
We've covered the necessity of San Francisco establishing some sort of pass rush against Arizona.
The Cardinals' O-line was revamped during the offseason, further described by Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com, but this unit has already given up six sacks on the young season.
This unit is still vulnerable, but then again so is the 49ers' pass-rushing unit right now.
Challenge accepted?
With the 49ers lacking in getting pressure on the quarterback, we could feasibly see defensive coordinator Vic Fangio draw up some blitzes a bit more frequently. Fangio typically likes to rush no more than four up front, leaving the remainder in coverage, but the incumbent group of pass-rushers isn't getting the job done.
But perhaps a few stunt moves along the front seven will confuse this newly formed cast of Cardinals O-linemen. A well-timed blitz can also pay huge dividends.
None of this will matter though if Arizona is able to find its top receiving targets—Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald—often enough.
Look for this matchup to be one that impacts Week 3: Fitzgerald versus rookie defensive back Jimmie Ward.
Ward was victimized by Marshall in Week 2 for three touchdowns. It was not necessarily the case of Ward making mistakes; rather the size differential (Ward is 5'11", and Marshall is 6'4") was the primary factor.
The Cardinals will look to match Fitzgerald up against Ward frequently, reports Maiocco:
"It does not get any easier for Ward on Sunday. The Arizona Cardinals often will line up 6'3" Larry Fitzgerald in the slot, where he’ll look across the line at Ward in an early season matchup of NFC West contenders.
"
Perhaps the 49ers will look to give Ward some added help in this case. Keeping a safety over the top will assist Ward against Fitzgerald, although it is feasible that San Francisco looks to match the 31-year-old veteran against one of its taller cornerbacks—Chris Cook or Dontae Johnson—when possible.
"Dontae RT @KevinMolina85: @Gavan_Mac @Tre9er Johnson has experience in the slot from his time at NCST so it wouldn't be foreign to him
— Tre9er (@Tre9er) September 15, 2014"
Worthy of note is the fact that No. 1 corner Tramaine Brock is likely going to miss Sunday's game with a toe injury.
Wrapping It Up
On top of everything, a 49ers victory will come down to three essential elements: smart play-calling, in-game adjustments and proper execution.
All three of these factors thwarted San Francisco's chances for victory in Week 2. The 49ers outcoached themselves versus Chicago from late in the second quarter and onward. Their defense could not adjust to the resurgent Bears offense in the second half.
Proper execution simply did not happen either.
All of this led to the monumental breakdown suffered by San Francisco during the game. This absolutely cannot happen against Arizona.
Divisional games are always key, especially in the hard-fought NFC West where each game has tremendous implications at the end of the season.
The 49ers can ill afford to suffer back-to-back losses at this point in the season, especially when the division may very well be determined so early.
It is up to the cast of coaches, players and playmakers to do what they do best—imposing their will and focusing on the strengths that propelled San Francisco to the upper echelon of NFL teams.
The 49ers have lost some of this credo at the start of the season.
That does not mean they cannot get it back.
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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