49ers vs. Steelers: What's the Game Plan for San Francisco?

The San Francisco 49ers are getting ready for their second contest of the 2015 NFL season when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers.

San Francisco (1-0) has to be feeling pretty good after downing the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football last week 20-3. Meanwhile, the Steelers (0-1) are coming off a disappointing 28-21 loss to the New England Patriots to kick off the regular season.

One of the primary reasons behind the 49ers' victory was the breakout performance of running back Carlos Hyde—168 rushing yards and two touchdowns. 

The 49ers defense was also remarkable in an effort that shut down running back Adrian Peterson and an improved Vikings offense.

Such a task, especially on defense, may not be so easy for San Francisco in Week 2. The short week—combined with Pittsburgh's additional time off—makes the challenge all the more difficult.

So how are the 49ers planning for this game on short notice?

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Offensive Game Plan

The 49ers' Week 1 victory called for frequent and effective doses of Hyde combined with smart, if not dynamic, passes from quarterback Colin Kaepernick. San Francisco's zone-blocking scheme worked well against the Vikings. And the offense will look to replicate the same sort of approach versus the Steelers in Week 2. 

Part of the success was from San Francisco's frequent use of three-tight end sets.

According to Jeff Deeney of Pro Football Focus, the 49ers utilized such sets in 34 of their 73 offensive plays in Week 1. By comparison, San Francisco did this only 10 times all of last season.

Doing so gives, essentially, the 49ers three additional linemen to help create lanes for Hyde. By looking at some of his impressive runs Monday night, one can see how this can considerably benefit the 49ers ground game.

This tweet from Jon Ledyard of Pro Football Spot points out how this can be so effective:

Such an approach clearly helped open up the running game and allowed Hyde to exploit the exterior portions of Minnesota's front seven. It shouldn't be much of a surprise to see offensive coordinator Geep Chryst apply a similar approach in Pittsburgh.

Chryst did hint, via David Fucillo of Niners Nation, the 49ers might not necessarily return to this same approach, though:

"

I think that the way we started the game, not just with that [three-tight end] group but having success out of it, maybe you didn't have to get to other parts, other corners of the call-sheet because we were having success with that. So, moving forward, it's a long season and each week is a different test.

"

Tight ends were a big part of the Patriots' success over the Steelers in Week 1, and none more than Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Gronk pulled off three touchdowns on 94 receiving yards during the contest. Pittsburgh's questionable secondary was consistently struggling to find adequate coverage here.

Creating mismatches in the secondary will be a primary goal of Chryst and the offense. While tight end Vernon Davis no longer is seen at the same level as Gronkowski, look for San Francisco to put its long-time receiving threat into the game plan early.

All this will also force Kaepernick to build upon some of the more positive aspects of his Week 1 efforts. While not necessarily lighting up the stat sheet, Kaepernick looked far more poised within the pocket. 

Credit: B/R Insights

Scanning his receivers, maintaining presence and stepping up when the pocket begins to collapse will be important to Kaepernick's success on Sunday.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Defensive Game Plan

Overcoming Pittsburgh's defense may be the easier task in comparison to halting its offense.

Despite the suspension absences of running back Le'Veon Bell and wide receiver Martavis Bryant, the Steelers will look to make plays against San Francisco's secondary—a unit Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin didn't think was challenged enough in Week 1, per Eric Branch of SFGate.com.

Part of the reason behind the lack of challenge from Minnesota was due to the effectiveness of the 49ers' pass rush.

San Francisco recorded five sacks of Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater looked out of sync nearly the entire contest and never found much rhythm throughout four quarters of play.

Doing the same to Roethlisberger won't be as easy. The veteran signal-caller has a knack for evading pressure within the pocket, and he is as difficult as any to bring down under pressure.

David Neumann of Niners Nation describes this in further detail:

"

In case it’s not obvious, Ben Roethlisberger is not Teddy Bridgewater. Roethlisberger’s calling card is his unflappability from the pocket in the face of pressure. Every quarterback on the planet is worse under pressure, but the difference between Roethlisberger’s performance with and without pressure is consistently one of the lowest in football.

"

If the 49ers do have an advantage here, it may be from ongoing interior blitzes—an aspect that was used by defensive coordinator Eric Mangini to great effect.

Just take a look at rookie safety Jaquiski Tartt on this specific play:

With Steelers veteran center Maurkice Pouncey out for the year, Pittsburgh's offensive line has been forced to turn to backup center Cody Wallace—an obvious downgrade.

Look for the 49ers to apply pressure here.

But they'll have to do so in consideration of Roethlisberger's likely efforts to target wide receiver Antonio Brown, especially in one-on-one coverage during blitz situations. And the quarterback will also look to create mismatches with veteran tight end Heath Miller against San Francisco's linebacker crop.

Credit: B/R Insights

This may be the area in which the 49ers are vulnerable. So Mangini's blitzes will have to be timed well and executed quickly and effectively.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Key Players and Matchups

Stopping Roethlisberger is, obviously, one goal pf note during the contest, although it's worth pointing out the veteran QB has a passer rating of just 69.1 over his career versus San Francisco.

Finding Brown will be one of Roethlisberger's primary objectives. This puts increased pressure on the 49ers' No. 1 cornerback Tramaine Brock to hold his ground in what frequently may be single-man coverage.

The risk here could be negated by the pass-rushing abilities of players like Tartt and linebackers NaVorro Bowman and Aaron Lynch. Lynch will look to exploit edge gaps and may work frequently against right guard David DeCastro—a lineman known more for his run-blocking abilities than pass protection.

San Francisco's defensive front seven will also look to solidify their play against 32-year-old running back DeAngelo Williams and the Steelers ground game. Forcing Roethlisberger to be one-dimensional on offense is another factor for this group.

On the flip side, Kaepernick may be asked to prove a little more through the air compared to what was asked in Week 1, especially if Pittsburgh stacks the box against Hyde.

And the Steelers understand how Kaepernick is looking more poised in 2015.

"He was more patient in the pocket looking for the pass," Steelers linebacker Jarvis Jones said of Kaepernick's performance in Week 1, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. "He got out on some runs, but it wasn’t the old Kaepernick that you see that, just when he gets on a run, he’s trying to break tackles and stuff like that."

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One of Kaepernick's primary options to expose a questionable Pittsburgh defense should be Davis.

Yet Davis recognized, via Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News, how the Steelers will likely adjust after their Week 1 mistakes against Gronkowski:

"They could play me totally different," Davis said. "Any time there's a situation where a team lets something like that happen, they tend to address it. I can't put those guys down. They look good on film."

Still, the 49ers would be wise to use their tight ends to create mismatches. So look for this to be a critical factor.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Prediction

The short week obviously works against head coach Jim Tomsula and the 49ers. Combine that with the extended eastern travel, and it's easy to see how San Francisco could come out flat in this performance.

And the Steelers enjoyed a much longer break after opening up the season on September 10, which gives Tomlin, his coaches and players added time to rest and prepare.

Tomlin is also 8-1 in home openers, and the Steelers will be looking to capitalize on their home-field advantage. Hostile environments are a part of the game, but there may be too many uncontrollable factors working against San Francisco.

The 49ers may not come away with a win here. And, as long as they put forth a strong, gritty effort, the final outcome won't necessarily be a true indication of San Francisco's real abilities this season.

We would be thrilled if this prediction is wrong, so let's hope it is. But a 24-17 victory for Pittsburgh seems to be likely.

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.

Peter Panacy is a featured columnist covering the San Francisco 49ers for Bleacher Report. Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.