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

The San Francisco 49ers face their last scheduled road trip outside of the Pacific Time Zone this week, as they travel to MetLife Stadium to take on the fading New York Giants.

The 49ers may have saved their season last week when Colin Kaepernick hit Michael Crabtree with a 51-yard bomb on 4th-and-10 to eventually beat the New Orleans Saints in overtime.  They sit eighth in the NFC at the moment, looking up at the Cardinals, Seahawks, Lions, Packers, Cowboys and Eagles.  While they are in a disadvantaged position, the schedule does open up for them nicely to make a run at the playoffs with a little bit of luck.

Meanwhile, the Giants are floundering.  They are on a four-game losing streak, losing each game by double digits.  While they played the Seattle Seahawks close until the closing minutes last week, the other three have been pretty substantial drubbings.  They are essentially out of contention, and their focus turns to who and what will be around in 2015.

The 49ers badly need a win in this game to keep pace in the playoff hunt—a loss here would essentially mean they’d have to run the table in the rest of their games to have legitimate playoff hopes.  With a win, and a little bit of help with an Eagles loss, the 49ers could regain control of their playoff fate entering the final stretch of the season.

Before this game can kick off, let’s take a quick whip pan around the Internet to see what some of the experts are talking about leading up to Week 11.

Eric Adelson: Police Ties to 49ers in McDonald Case Prove Problematic for NFL

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

It was a big week for off-field news for the 49ers, but the biggest might have been the resolution of the Ray McDonald domestic violence charges.  On Monday, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office announced that due to a lack of evidence and a lack of cooperation from the alleged victim, McDonald will not be charged with anything for the altercation on the night of August 31.

"I'm not Ray Rice," McDonald told Steve Corkran of the San Jose Mercury News. "I'm not these other guys. I'm just not. I know what kind of person I am. They know what kind of person I am. That's why they let me play all the way up to this point."

One of the more controversial aspects of the case, however, is that the first officer on the scene the night of the incident was not dispatched by the police but rather by the 49ers’ director of security.  The on-duty officer also served as security for 49ers games.

Yahoo Sports' Eric Adelson points out the potential conflict of interest here—how can the officer both protect and serve the public and operate in the best interests of his other employer, the football team, when an incident involving a player comes up?

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This doesn't mean the case was mishandled; it doesn't mean a crime occurred, or even that [Sgt. Sean] Pritchard did something wrong. It shows, however, a clear example of how the relationship between football teams and law enforcement can be too cozy, and that the NFL's domestic violence problem will not be fixed until possible victims can trust both teams and the police to help them instead of protecting and serving sports heroes.

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Even if you believe the lack of evidence is a result of no crime being committed, the presence of Sgt. Pritchard at the scene before the normally dispatched officers could arrive is concerning.

While the 49ers have maintained a presence in Santa Clara for years with their team headquarters, this season is the first they’ve needed a notable security presence, thanks to Levi’s Stadium.  That means the relationship between the team and the local police is still evolving—and needs to change.  The San Jose police have banned officers from working as security guards, and that’s a positive step.

It’s bad for there to be a potential conflict of interest in a situation like this for both parties.  The alleged victim can’t be sure that her rights are being treated fairly.  Any decision in favor of the alleged perpetrator will be colored by the presence of the officer, even if it’s the correct decision.  These sorts of things can’t be allowed to happen, and the ban of police officers working as security is the correct decision on the SJPD’s part.

Matt Maiocco: Boldin’s Words Resonate with 49ers on Playoff Push

Bill Haber/Associated Press

After the win over the Saints on Sunday, Jim Harbaugh let the media in on Anquan Boldin’s philosophy at this point in the season:

"Anquan Boldin talked about this last week to the team about treating these weeks as one-game seasons.  That’s what we have to do. Every game is a big game."

This is probably the healthiest attitude that the 49ers can take. You can get bogged down trying to figure out all the various scenarios with seven weeks left in the season. It’s a much tougher mental hurdle to climb when you think you need to be 6-1 rather than thinking that you have to win this game and deal with the next game next week. According to Matt Maiocco of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Boldin said: 

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If we have a down week, we’re able to come back and work that much harder. It shows the resiliency of the guys we have. We have a group of guys who want to win it all. We’re on the same page when it comes to that. We’re all about winning and willing to do whatever it takes to do that.

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Maiocco wisely points out, however, that that’s also the sign of a team that has not played consistently well.  This is a team that has managed to beat Dallas, Philadelphia and New Orleans while losing to Chicago and St. Louis—that’s an incredibly up-and-down season so far.  It makes it hard to assume anything; it’s a team capable of pulling off incredible upsets and failing relatively easy challenges.

Yes, the 49ers can bounce back after down weeks, but they don’t have much margin for error on down weeks left in the year.  They need to stop bouncing back and just remain good from here on out.  In this one-week season, they need to simply focus on beating the New York Giants and maybe hope that they get some help with a loss by one of the wild-card contenders.  Next week can wait for next week.

David Fucillo: Updating the Return Dates for Injured Stars

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The 49ers have an above-average number of players on the various exempt for injury lists, and it can be a little confusing trying to keep track of who can return when.  David Fucillo over at Niners Nation has put together a handy synopsis of the various statuses of all injured players.

The last day to activate people on the PUP list is this upcoming Monday.  Then, they’ll have up to three weeks to practice before they must be put on the active roster or placed on injured reserve.

That list includes Kaleb Ramsey, Garrett Celek and, most importantly, NaVorro Bowman.  Ramsey’s already back to practice, so a decision on him has to be made by December 2, but the other two haven’t returned yet.  Bowman's MRI was clear, so he should return to practice next week.  They’ll have until December 9 to make the final decision on his eligibility this season.

Another player still in his practice window is nose tackle Glenn Dorsey, who was on injured reserve with a designation to return.  The last day he can return is this coming Tuesday. 

Similarly, Aldon Smith has to be activated no later than this Monday, though all signs point to him playing against the Giants this weekend.

That just leaves the injured rookies. Trey Millard, Keith Reaser and Brandon Thomas are all on the non-football injury list.  Millard is practicing but probably will go back on injured reserve after December 2.  Reaser and Thomas can return to practice before this Tuesday, but there’s no guarantee that the 49ers will use that time.  There’s zero chance either of them will play this season.

Joe Levitt: Why Antonie Bethea Is San Francisco’s First-Half MVP

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

One of the other featured columnists here on Bleacher Report, Joe Levitt, makes a strong argument for Antoine Bethea being the most valuable 49er throughout the first nine games of the season.  He considers Colin Kaepernick, Anquan Boldin, Aaron Lynch and Perrish Cox but instead goes with the 30-year-old free-agent acquisition.

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Here’s a bullet-point breakdown of Bethea’s superlative rankings, in order of impressive to most impressive, among 85 safeties graded by PFF:

• Eighth overall grade in pass-rushing
• Fifth in solo tackles
• Fourth in pass breakups
• Third overall score in run-stop percentage
• Third overall score in pass coverage
• Second-fewest touchdowns allowed (one)
• Second-most interceptions (three)
• Second overall ranking

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It’s very hard to argue with the choice of Bethea.  It’s hard to imagine what the 49ers would be like this season without him; he’s done a fantastic job filling the hole left by the departure of Donte Whitner.  Bethea deserves to go to the Pro Bowl for the work he’s done in the secondary.

If I had to hand out the award myself, however, I’d go with another player Levitt mentioned: Justin Smith.  Considering the turmoil in the front seven—only Smith, Ray McDonald and Ahmad Brooks have remained active and healthy all season long among starters—the fact that the 49ers haven’t crumbled defensively is amazing.  Smith has soaked up running backs and won at the line of scrimmage.  His work has been integral to the 49ers run defense, which has allowed only 821 yards this season, fifth-best in the NFL.

Smith’s always among the leaders for MVP, however, as Levitt points out, and it’s entirely understandable to pick the player who "produces in more tangible ways."  Either way, it’s the defense that has kept the 49ers alive this season.

Cam Inman: Can 49ers Run Wild Against Giants Defense?

Don Feria/Associated Press

Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News takes a look at where the Giants might be vulnerable leading up to the game this weekend.  He points out that the Seattle Seahawks ran for 350 yards against them, which is the most by any team in a single game this year by a wide margin. 

Both Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson topped the 100-yard mark against the Giants last Sunday, and Christine Michael added 71 yards of his own.

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The Giants have allowed running backs to run wild three of the past four games. Marshawn Lynch's 140-yard, four-touchdown dominance Sunday followed those of the Dallas Cowboys' DeMarco Murray (128 yards, one TD; Oct. 19) and the Houston Texans' Arian Foster (151 yards, two TDs; Oct. 26).

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Inman’s only scratching the surface here, too.  The Giants have allowed 10 rushers to top 50 yards against them in only nine games.  This is a defense that can be shredded on the ground.

Against the Saints, the 49ers went back to the run game in the first half as they built up their huge early lead.  In the first half, they ran the ball 20 times for 88 yards, compared to only 15 pass attempts.  In the second half, however, they abandoned the run game.  They ran only 13 times for 56 yards, as opposed to 20 pass attempts.

It’s not that the running game got significantly less efficient; it’s that the team stopped pounding the rock.  It’s that kind of schizophrenic play-calling that has put a lot of criticism on offensive coordinator Greg Roman.  Surely, against a run defense as poor as the Giants' has been, he’ll lean on the rush—right?

If he does, I think the 49ers should win this game going away.  The Giants have allowed teams to rush for 100 or more yards in five of their nine games, so the weakness is there.  I’m just concerned that Roman might get away from the run game early—that’s the biggest chance the Giants have to win this game.

The 49ers seem determined to do things the hard way this season.  Against the St. Louis Rams, the worst rush defense the 49ers have faced to this point, they failed to break 100 yards rushing in two attempts.  I fear a repeat of that this week—it may not be rational, but then, what has been in this topsy-turvy season for San Francisco?

Prediction: NY Giants 23, San Francisco 20

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