Eagles vs. 49ers: What Are Experts Saying About San Francisco?

After two consecutive and mystifying defeats, the San Francisco 49ers face the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles as they look to avoid dropping to 1-3 to start the season.

The Niners have attracted much criticism recently for their inability to hold onto a lead beyond halftime and the ill discipline that has been a pivotal factor in the losses to the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals.

Things are unlikely to get any easier against an Eagles team that has come back from double-digit deficits in each of its three victories.

With the Cardinals now 3-0 and the Seattle Seahawks looking strong following an overtime win over the Denver Broncos, this game already has the feel of a must-win contest for Jim Harbaugh's men.

Victory over Philadelphia would help allay speculation that Harbaugh is losing the locker room, but what is the overriding opinion of the 49ers ahead of their matchup with the Eagles?

Let's have a scout around the Web and see what the experts are saying about the Niners in the lead-up to Philadelphia's visit to Levi's Stadium.

Matt Maiocco: Vernon Davis 'Feeling Great' Ahead of Eagles Clash

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The one thing, aside from penalties, that has hampered the 49ers in the first three games of the season is health.

San Francisco headed into the campaign with a number of key starters on the sidelines and has suffered further blows since, with tight end Vernon Davis being the most high-profile player to pick up an injury.

Davis, along with backup Vance McDonald, missed the loss in Arizona due to a left ankle problem suffered in Week 2. That left third-string tight end Derek Carrier to fill the void.

Carrier caught one deep ball for 23 yards against the Cardinals, and while he has proved to be a serviceable player, the news that Davis is "feeling great," per CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco, should be music to the ears of the San Francisco fans.

The value of Davis, one of the premier tight ends in the game, cannot be understated.

As well as serving as the Niners' best deep threat, Davis is a huge target for quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the red zone and is one of the team's best run-blockers.

McDonald, according to The Associated Press' Rick Eymer via The Sacramento Bee, is in line to return to action this Sunday after a knee injury. However, Davis has the much greater influence on the offense as a whole.

Should Davis be able to go, it will serve as a major confidence boost for a unit that will be under extreme pressure to perform for the full 60 minutes on Sunday.

Paul Gutierrez: Niners Offense in Midst of Identity Crisis

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For the majority of the Harbaugh era, the 49ers' offensive philosophy has been clear.

San Francisco has been a run-first team throughout Harbaugh's tenure; however, it is no longer certain whether that remains the case. 

In the season-opening win over Dallas, the 49ers offense was well-balanced and, for the first-half at least, effective.

That balance seems to have diminished in the last two games and, as ESPN.com's Paul Gutierrez points out, now appears to be tilting in favor of Kaepernick and the passing attack following the setback versus the Cardinals, where the Niners used four and five-wide receiver sets on multiple occasions.

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In building a 1-2 record, Kaepernick is 66-of-94 passing, for 694 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. And the Niners have run the ball 80 times for 336 yards and a 4.1 yards-per-carry average.

Last year, the 49ers attempted 417 passes and ran the ball 505 times. In 2012, the ratio was 436 passes to 492 runs and in 2011 it was 451-498.

Indeed, it would appear as though the Niners are in the midst of an identity crisis, so to speak, or simply searching for an identity.

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It is hard to disagree with Gutierrez on this point; however, San Francisco's apparent failure to define its offense so far this season is somewhat understandable due to the Niners' desire to develop Kaepernick as a pocket passer and the plethora of weapons they now possess as part of their aerial attack.

Yet, as Gutierrez correctly observed, the 49ers have reached three consecutive NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl behind the power running of all-time leading rusher Frank Gore.

Gore now has assistance in the form of rookie Carlos Hyde, who already has two touchdowns to his name after finding the end zone in Arizona.

The Niners' ground game has the potential to be even better than in recent years and open things up for Kaepernick. If San Francisco is to turn this season around, then it needs to resolve its current identity crisis and get back to what has made the team so successful over the past three seasons.

Mike Sando: Key Trio Underperforming

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The 49ers may be missing NaVorro Bowman and Glenn Dorsey through injury and Aldon Smith due to suspension, but what has been blatantly obvious is that a number of San Francisco's other normally dependable players are not performing to their usual standards.

In a detailed analysis of why the Niners could be in trouble following their 1-2 start, Mike Sando of ESPN.com (insider subscription required) highlighted three players who have particularly disappointed so far this campaign:

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Guards Mike Iupati and Alex Boone have struggled to this point in the season, which wouldn't mean as much if the team weren't already playing without [Anthony] Davis at right tackle. On defense, outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks has made little impact, which wouldn't matter as much if Smith were playing. 'Brooks was hot and cold in the past, but he played his butt off, and now he is not playing as well,' a personnel director said.

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The numbers back up Sando's assertions. Iupati and Boone have are ranked at No. 28 and No. 31, respectively, among all guards in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). They haven't looked like the mainstays that have formed part of what has been one of the better offensive line units in football in recent years.

Despite those struggles, there is good news for that duo. Their performances do not appear to have had too much of an adverse effect on Kaepernick, who tops PFF's ratings of quarterbacks when under pressure, which he has faced on 31.5 percent of his dropbacks.

The return of starting right tackle Anthony Davis may help negate the poor form of Boone and Iupati and bring up the overall play of the offensive line. However, more concerning is outside linebacker Brooks' rapid downturn from All-Pro to a player whose disappointing showings have been magnified by Smith's absence.

Brooks—per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle—put on extra weight in the offseason and has been dreadful the first three weeks, conceding damaging penalties while failing to really excel as a pass-rusher.

Sophomore Corey Lemonier is experiencing similar difficulties on the other side of the 3-4 defense, leaving coordinator Vic Fangio with a challenge on his hands to reignite the pass rush.

With Eagles center Jason Kelce unavailable due to a hernia, it would be the perfect time for Brooks to get back to his best and help San Francisco put sustained pressure on Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles.

Steve Corkran: 49ers Gearing Up for Hurry-Up Offense

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Many would argue that the Niners defense has played well enough to win in each of the last two games; however, the unit will face a different type of challenge this Sunday.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly is renowned for running a fast-paced, hurry-up offense that keeps defenses on their toes.

This is the first time the 49ers will go up against Kelly's attack, which—according to Steve Corkran of the San Jose Mercury News—has run 71 offensive plays per game through the first three weeks despite holding the ball for just 26 minutes, 34 seconds.

Yet, per Corkran, Niners linebacker Michael Wilhoite insists the defense is undaunted by the prospect of taking on the Eagles' high-octane offense: "You just do it [adjust]. I say it's easy because it's something that we must do. There is no way around it. They're going to speed up, so we got to speed up, too. Period. If they speed up, and we slow down, then we lose. It's easy. Right now, we got to conform to what they're doing."

Wilhoite may be confident that the San Francisco defense will adapt to the speed of Kelly's offense, but with a young secondary suffering growing pains and a front led by the 34-year-old Justin Smith, the prospects of the Niners being able to keep the Eagles in check do not look good.

Rotation on the defensive line will be key, which means Niners fans could get to see more of the likes of Tank Carradine and Quinton Dial as San Francisco aims to try and keep the aging Smith and Ray McDonald fresh.

But the greater pressure may well be on the defensive backs, who were hampered by blown coverages in the loss to Arizona, to stay calm and organized versus a receiving corps that appears to be improving week by week. 

Eric Branch: 49ers Changed Tactics to Generate Pressure

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One of the most glaring statistics to come out of the 49ers' loss to the Cardinals was that the defense did not record a sack.

Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton was allowed a clean pocket for the majority of the game despite the Niners, per Branch, dialing up more blitzes in search of a consistent pass rush in the absence of Aldon Smith.

As Branch points out using PFF's numbers, the decision of Fangio to call more blitzes is not in keeping with the 49ers' defensive strategy of recent years. Indeed, last Sunday saw them blitz on 35 percent of passing downs after doing the same just 19.4 percent of the time in the 2013 season.

Branch also makes the astute observation that the 49ers have faced stiffer competition in the first three weeks than they did in their 5-0 run when Smith was out of action last season, a streak in which San Francisco ran over teams led by mediocre quarterbacks such as Matt Schaub and Chad Henne.

But perhaps the 49ers' pass-rush failings are more linked to personnel rather than opposition.

As I alluded to earlier, both Brooks and Lemonier have endured difficult starts to the season, with the latter looking far from threatening in pursuit of opposing signal-callers, especially in comparison to rookie fifth-round pick Aaron Lynch, who has already displayed flashes of great promise early in his NFL career.

Lynch had a quarterback hit against Dallas and a hurry versus Chicago. He has a positive pass-rush grade of 1.2 from PFF through the opening three weeks; however, he only featured on 12 snaps last weekend.

With the Eagles offensive line banged up, the Niners may be best served by maintaining their aggressive defensive game plan, which could be made more effective with the regular addition of the exciting Lynch into the lineup.

Nicholas McGee is a San Francisco 49ers Featured Columnist based in Leeds, England. Follow him on Twitter @nicholasmcgee24.