6 Burning Questions Facing the San Francisco 49ers Week 4

Burning question No. 1: Can the San Francisco 49ers pressure Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers without blitzing?

The Niners have beaten Rodgers the past four times they’ve faced him, partly because they pressured him with only four defenders while dropping seven other defenders into coverage. Even the greatest quarterbacks struggle when they face a good four-man pass rush.

Do the 49ers still have a good four-man pass rush? The answer seems to be “no” through the first three weeks of the season. San Francisco has had to blitz to generate pressure.

That may change in Week 4. The Niners get to face two of the worst offensive tackles in the NFL—David Bakhtiari and Don Barclay. Can outside linebackers Ahmad Brooks and Aaron Lynch exploit them?

Here are five more burning questions facing the Niners in Week 4.

Will Defensive Coordinator Eric Mangini Mostly Use Sub-Packages?

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In Week 3, the 49ers faced the Arizona Cardinals, who mostly use three-wide-receiver sets on offense. For some reason, 49ers defensive coordinator Eric Mangini decided to counter these sets with his base defense, which has only two cornerbacks.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Niners used their base defense 63 percent of the time against the Cardinals. This allowed Arizona frequently to match up one of their receivers against one of the 49ers’ outside linebackers—a big reason Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer posted a passer rating of 102.5.

The Niners will face another team that likes to use three-receiver sets in Week 4. The Packers used them 90 percent of the time in Week 3, per Pro Football Focus.

Will Mangini actually try to match up with the opposing offense by using three cornerbacks, or will he continue to let his base defense get shredded?

Can CB Tramaine Brock Cover WR Randall Cobb?

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Aside from Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Niners’ No. 2 cornerback Kenneth Acker and No. 3 cornerback Dontae Johnson have played well enough. It’s the Niners’ No. 1 cornerback, Tramaine Brock, who has gotten roasted.

According to Pro Football Focus, Brock has been targeted 18 times and given up 14 catches—almost an 80 percent completion percentage. He also has given up 202 receiving yards—almost 15 yards per catch.

Not good.

Brock is the 49ers’ primary slot cornerback in their sub-packages. That means he should be covering Packers’ No. 1 receiver Randall Cobb quite often. Cobb runs 92.2 percent of his routes from the slot, per Pro Football Focus.

Can Brock cover Cobb, or will the Niners have to bench Brock and replace him with second-year cornerback Keith Reaser?

Can RB Carlos Hyde Get Back on Track?

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On one hand, the Packers have the NFL’s worst run defense—they’re giving up 5.0 yards per carry. On the other hand, they have a 3-4 defense, which gives Carlos Hyde problems.

Hyde likes to run stretch zone plays that outflank the opposing defense around the edge—that’s how he averaged 6.46 yards per carry in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings’ 4-3 defense.

But it’s much harder to outflank a 3-4. Hyde has faced two 3-4s the past two weeks and averaged only 3.4 yards per carry. Can he outflank the Packers this Sunday, or will he have to run between the tackles?

How Often Will the 49ers Use the Read Option?

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An offensive game plan featuring the read option would make sense against the Packers for two reasons.

Reason No. 1: Instead of forcing Hyde to run outside the tackles against a 3-4 defense, the read-option would let Carlos Hyde run up the middle. Most of the Niners’ zone-read plays involve Hyde running behind one of the guards while Colin Kaepernick threatens to keep the ball and run around the edge.

Reason No. 2: The Packers defense usually struggles against the read-option. Their linebackers are slow, and their defensive coordinator, Dom Capers, apparently hasn’t figured out how to stop the play.

In Kaepernick’s career, he is averaging 10.26 yards per carry against Capers and the Packers. Will Niners offensive coordinator Geep Chryst exploit this weakness in Green Bay’s defense, or will he let them off the hook?

Will QB Colin Kaepernick Bounce Back, or Will He Sink Deeper in the Tank?

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In three career starts against the Packers (one during the regular season, two during the playoffs), Colin Kaepernick has posted a passer rating of 101.3. He owns Green Bay.

But he’s coming off the worst start of his career. The man threw two pick-sixes on the first two drives of Week 3. A couple more pick-sixes, and he could become the next Matt Schaub.

The Niners can’t allow that to happen. Will they protect their quarterback this Sunday and have him throw only easy passes? Or will they have him come out firing, hoping he regains his confidence against a team he has dominated in the past?

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