San Francisco 49ers vs New Orleans: What Are Experts Saying About San Francisco?

The San Francisco 49ers face a tough challenge this week, traveling down to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to take on the New Orleans Saints.  After a devastating 13-10 loss to the St. Louis Rams, the 49ers face serious questions about their playoff viability. 

The experts are out in force, examining the franchise from every conceivable angle in an attempt to decode whether San Francisco, which has appeared in three consecutive NFC Championship Games, will even return to the postseason in 2014.

This season the 49ers have suffered some of their worst losses since Jim Harbaugh took over as coach.  The losses to the Rams and Chicago Bears have taken their toll on the team, and it finds itself on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.  The 49ers don’t even control their own fate anymore; it’s conceivable, though not very likely, that they could win out and still end up staying home for the postseason.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints have turned their season around with consecutive wins over the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers.  They sit atop the NFC South and look to be rounding into form.  While both teams are 4-4, they’re currently headed in different directions.

Can the 49ers get the season under control and salvage their chances for a postseason run?  Or will the Saints continue to improve and salvage some dignity for the NFC South? 

It’s really anyone’s guess at this point.  There’s still time in the season for the 49ers to right their offensive woes and remain Super Bowl contenders, but that window might well close with a third consecutive loss.  At 4-4 apiece, this is a must-win game for both squads if they want to consider themselves still part of the NFC’s elite.

Let’s take a quick look around the league and see what the experts are saying as the matchup approaches.

ESPN: Marcus Lattimore Intends to Retire

RICHARD SHIRO/Associated Press

In what is one of the sadder stories for the NFL this week, former South Carolina star running back Marcus Lattimore is calling it quits two years after a devastating knee injury ended his college career.

The 49ers took Lattimore with the 131st pick of the 2013 draft, despite knowing that his injury would keep him out of football for at least a year.  It was hoped that, with modern medical science and some time to recover, Lattimore would regain the form that made him a potential first-round pick before his injury.

ESPN.com quoted 49ers general manager Trent Baalke reacting to the news:

"

This was a very difficult decision for Marcus and it was clear after speaking with him that he had put a lot of thought into it.  He is a high-character young man who has done everything asked of him and more during his time with us and we have a great deal of respect for the strength and commitment he showed throughout the rehab process.

It has been a pleasure to have Marcus as a member of our team and our community and we are confident that he will be very successful in whichever path he chooses to take in life. We look forward to supporting Marcus and wish him nothing but the best.

"

This is not so much a 49ers story as it is a Lattimore story—it’s always sad to see a young man’s dreams dashed like Lattimore’s were.  Who knows what sort of player he could have been if not for the last play of his college career?  I’m hoping he continues to be involved with football in some way, shape or form as a coach or mentor of some sort.

As a 49ers story, it does bring a bit into question the success of the 49ers' redshirt strategy.  Lattimore is one of a few players the team has drafted despite being hurt, with the idea of plugging those players into the lineup once they’re healthy. 

Lattimore was one of three players picked like that in 2013—alongside Tank Carradine and Quinton Dial—with three more joining in 2014.  So far, none of the six players has contributed in any significant sense, with only Dial actually getting any regular-season snaps.

It’s too early to call the redshirt strategy a failure; it’s not like a lot of the fourth-round picks from the 2013 draft have taken off, injury or not.  It’s just a disappointing result in general.

Eric Branch: 49ers’ Offensive Line Surprisingly Sievelike

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

It’s no secret that the 49ers’ once-vaunted offensive line has been terrible this year, and it is in a large part responsible for the offensive struggles to this point.  According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the 49ers offensive line has given up 94 quarterback pressures this season, among the worst in the league.

SF Gate’s Eric Branch tries to figure out what is happening and comes up with several theories.  He blames the fact that the 49ers are throwing more, when the offensive line was designed around great run-blocking talents:

"

Meanwhile, the 49ers’ pass-blocking during the Jim Harbaugh era quietly has been rather middling. Consider this: From 2011 to 2013, the 49ers allowed the 11th-most sacks (124) in the NFL despite attempting the fewest passes in the league.

"

There is certainly a kernel of truth in that.  However, before this season, the 49ers were a slightly below-average pass-blocking unit, not one of the worst in football.  You can also chalk up some of San Francisco’s failures this season to injuries and rust—it's already used five different combinations of offensive linemen this season, which is far from ideal.

I don’t know what the solution is for 2014, but San Francisco has to figure something out and soon.  New Orleans only has an average pass rush, but that might destroy a notably below-average team like the 49ers if they can’t get things sorted out and fast.

Steve Corkran: Breaking Down the New Orleans Saints

David Richard/Associated Press

Corkran provides a breakdown in the San Jose Mercury News of the upcoming 49ers-Saints clash, highlighting players to fear from New Orleans.

He also points out the fact that the Saints have 11 consecutive wins at home and are averaging five yards per carry on the ground.  While he calls their record “pedestrian,” he also points out that the team has won back-to-back games and seems to be finding its footing.

He does spend a lot of time worrying about the Saints' potent passing attack, which makes sense when you consider Drew Brees is on pace for his fifth 5,000-yard season.  Corkran highlights Jimmy Graham and Brandin Cooks as players to watch out for on offense.

Brees and Graham make sense, but Brandin Cooks?  Really?  Cooks has yet to really wow me in any game so far this season. He does lead rookie receivers with 43 receptions, but his 9.5 yards per reception are pedestrian at best.

On a team as loaded with offensive weapons as the Saints are, I’d be perfectly fine with New Orleans having to lean on Cooks to win the game.  None of the individual Saints receivers have looked like world-beaters this season; Cooks, Marques Colston and Kenny Stills have been average.  They just have the advantage of having Drew Brees throwing them passes.

Frank Gore: 49ers Are Going to the Playoffs

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Normally, when you’re rounding up expert opinions, you’re talking about columnists and reporters.  But who is a greater expert on the state of a team than one of the players himself?

With a 4-4 start, lack of control over its own fate and a string of poor performances, there is some justified pessimism about the team’s chances.  Frank Gore, on the other hand, not only dismisses the pessimism, but comes close to guaranteeing a playoff berth for the franchise. Via CSNBayArea.com's Matt Maiocco:

"

We’re going to the playoffs.  We’re going to do it.  We have great coaches. We have great guys. The last three years, we’ve been spoiled. That’s where we want to go, to get to the postseason. Once everybody takes care of their jobs, we have a great shot.

"

Honestly, what else is Gore going to say?  “Oh, we’re doomed, everyone stop watching?”  With that sort of attitude, you could write the 49ers off right now.

But is Gore being realistic, or is he just trying to increase morale?  I’ve been fiddling with 49ers playoff scenarios the past couple days, and this is the most realistic I’ve found:

• The 49ers go 7-1 or better from here on out, dropping only the Week 15 matchup in Seattle.  That gets them to at least 11-5.
• One of the two NFC North teams drop off.  This is probably the Detroit Lions—they could lose in Week 12 at New England and Week 17 at Green Bay to drop to 12-4 at best.

That scenario gives the 49ers a 100 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to the calculator at NFL Forecast.  An 11-5 or a 12-4 49ers team would only have to deal with the Lions/Packers loser in the NFC North, the Philadelphia Eagles/Dallas Cowboys loser in the NFC East and the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West. 

Because those teams still have to play each other multiple times, there isn’t a combination of wins or ties that knock the 49ers out with the scenario listed above.  As long as one of those three division losers drops down, the 49ers will make the playoffs and might just take the division outright.

So, is that realistic?  If the 49ers can get past this two-game road trip at 2-0, then yes; that seems doable.  It’s hard to imagine San Francisco pulling off the double, though, with the way it's played the last few weeks. But if it manages to do that, it has to be considered the favorite to go through.  We’ll know more in two weeks whether Gore’s optimism was justified or overblown.

Matt Barrows: Demarcus Dobbs Ends Up in Seattle

Dave Martin/Associated Press

If there’s one sign that someone still considers the 49ers contenders, it’s the Seahawks once again signing one of San Francisco’s castoffs.

The 49ers cut Demarcus Dobbs this week to make room for the impending returns of Aldon Smith, Glenn Dorsey and NaVorro Bowman, as well as to make some short-term room to help aid the ailing secondary.  Less than 24 hours later, the Seahawks snatched him off the waiver wire, as Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee reported.

The Seahawks currently have three ex-49ers on their roster:  Dobbs, Will Tukuafu and Ricardo Lockette.  The two teams also have a history of grabbing players from one another’s roster.  The list of players who have played for both Seattle and San Francisco in the Harbaugh era also includes Braylon Edwards, Devon Wylie and Perrish Cox.

Are they secretly swapping insider information on one another?  Is it part of a plot to undermine the fortunes of the other side?  Or is it just an artifact of both teams being good recently and scouting in the same circles?

It’s the latter, almost assuredly, but there’s also a bit of information you can get about schemes and calls by interviewing players who were part of the system.  The Seahawks might pick up on one or two of San Francisco’s defensive calls by having Dobbs on their roster.

We’ll see if either team is still in the race by the time Thanksgiving rolls around and if that information will actually affect the playoff race in some way.

Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers.  Follow him @BryKno on Twitter.