49ers vs. Bengals: 5 Biggest Matchup Concerns for San Francisco

If you are still unhappy about the San Francisco 49ers blowing a 10-point lead against the Dallas Cowboys last week, this won't make you feel better: The Cincinnati Bengals are actually favored against San Francisco this week.

While I don't agree with the odds, there are some matchup concerns we have to take a look at this week heading into Cincinnati. 

After seven quarters of crisp football, the 49ers imploded against Dallas in the fourth quarter last week. They couldn't get the running game going, gave up some big plays and a couple crucial sacks on Alex Smith. These are areas that San Francisco needs to improve on in order to be considered favorites to win the NFC West. 

These are also issues that I know head coach Jim Harbaugh has been pressing to his team in practice this week. Expect the 49ers to make the necessary changes and fix those issues.

Still, the Cincinnati Bengals are surprising a lot of people with their play so far this season and this game will not be a walk in the park. Road games never are in the NFL. 

Today, I am going to give you five matchup concerns that I have heading into what is considered a must-win game for San Francisco. 

5. A.J. Green Against Carlos Rogers

Thus far in 2011, Carlos Rogers has looked like a major upgrade over Nate Clements. He is doing much better in man-to-man coverage and seems to be reading offenses extremely well at this point. 

This doesn't mean that Rogers has not had his struggles. He did give up a couple long passes to Miles Austin when the two were actually lined up against one another. Some of that had to do with the expectation of safety help (see inserted photo), but some of it also had to do with him just getting beat. 

The San Francisco 49ers will not be going up against Austin this week, but Rogers will be looked upon to cover a really good rookie receiver, A.J. Green. After only coming up with one reception in his debut against the Cleveland Browns, Green compiled 10 catches for more than 100 yards against Denver last week. It seems that Andy Dalton and Green are really in sync at this point. Granted, last week's performance was against a Denver Broncos secondary that was one of the worst in the NFL last season and was missing Champ Bailey for a large part of the game. 

Dalton did target Green 14 times in his 41 pass attempts last week. This may work in college, but NFL defensive backs will catch onto that quick. Rogers is good at anticipating the pass and making a play on it. Hopefully Dalton will show his hand against San Francisco this week like he did against the anemic Denver Broncos secondary. 

Still, this is a matchup that Carlos Rogers needs to win in order for the Bengals to shut down a surprisingly good Cincinnati Bengals offense. 

4. Andrew Whitworth Against Justin Smith

The San Francisco 49ers are a pressure- and blitz-orientated defense at this point and they need to get pressure on Andy Dalton to shut down the timing of the Bengals offense. Ray McDonald should be able to do that on the other end against a slow Andre Smith. However, Andrew Whitworth is one of the better pass-protecting offensive tackles in the entire NFL.

Justin Smith comes at you with 100 percent of his energy every single time he plays a snap, so I am not concerned about a let-down for the star defensive end. What I am concerned about is this matchup. It seems that Whitworth has the skills and frame that Smith can struggle against. He is quick on the outside, barely gets beat straight up and is a strong force one on one. 

On the other hand, Justin Smith is relentless in his pass-rushing moves and will make it a long day for the star offensive tackle. 

This is a matchup that San Francisco would normally be favored in, but Whitworth could limit Smith's impact on the game, which could cause major issues for San Francisco's pass defense. I am sure the former Cincinnati Bengal wants to show his old city exactly what it is missing out on.

Let's hope he can. 

3. Michael Johnson Against Joe Staley

This is an area of utmost importance for the San Francisco 49ers this weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals. They need to do a better job protecting Alex Smith—it really is that simple. 

After not allowing a sack in the season-opener against Seattle, the 49ers yielded six sacks and nine quarterback hits against Dallas last week. Two of those sacks came courtesy of DeMarcus Ware, who beat Joe Staley off the edge all day long. Now, the offensive tackles' primary concern is against the defensive end, but San Francisco mixed up its defense a great deal to allow for both Staley and Vernon Davis to block Ware. 

The star outside linebacker didn't just have those two sacks, but had two more quarterback hits as well. 

This week San Francisco will be going up against a traditional 4-3 defense, which means something entirely different. Smith will be going up against Michael Johnson with a rare blitz from Manny Lawson—remember him? 

Johnson only had 2.5 sacks for the Cincinnati Bengals last season, but he is the type of defensive end that has given Staley a lot of trouble in the past. At 267 pounds, Johnson will not beat you with a bull-rush, instead he will beat you from the outside. This could cause San Francisco issues if he beats Staley on the outside and from Alex Smith's blindside. 

The 49ers signal caller has been really good in protecting the ball in these situations but it does throw off the timing of the offense and can lead to forced fumbles. Staley needs to be more aware of this against Cincinnati than he was against Dallas. 

2. Jermaine Gresham Against Donte Whitner

As much as Donte Whitner shut down Zach Miller in the opener, he struggled against Jason Witten last week versus the Dallas Cowboys. The star tight end had seven receptions for more than 100 yards. Still, Whitner seemed to play him pretty well for most of the game. 

Tony Romo targeted Witten 14 times and only came away with seven receptions; that isn't a bad percentage of incomplete passes. Moreover, I have been extremely impressed by Whitner's leadership in the 49ers secondary, which needs it. 

Jermaine Gresham is a big target who works as a safety valve for the Bengals' rookie quarterback.  The first-round pick from the 2010 draft caught 55 passes his rookie season. This year, Gresham has eight catches, including a touchdown, in two games. 

If Whitner is able to defend Gresham, it will open up Patrick Willis to do other things and take away one of Andy Dalton's favorite targets. This is an important matchup because it will severely limit Cincinnati's ability to work the middle of the field against San Francisco. 

1. Carlos Dunlap Against Anthony Davis

There is a reason why two of the top-five matchups that trouble me have to do with the 49ers offensive line: They played horribly last week against Dallas in every possible aspect. This unit has been unable to open up holes for Frank Gore and almost got Alex Smith killed last week. 

Needless to say, the 49ers need to fix these issues immediately. 

Carlos Dunlap had 9.5 sacks last season as a rookie pass-rush specialist for the Cincinnati Bengals. He is extremely quick off the ball and harasses even the best offensive tackles in the NFL. Additionally, Robert Geathers did not practice on Wednesday and might not play this weekend. That means that Anthony Davis is going to see a whole lot more of Dunlap. 

The bookends of San Francisco's offensive line need to start playing better at the point of contact. Both Joe Staley and Anthony Davis have been beaten off the line numerous times in the first two games. A lot of this with Davis has to do with lack of professional technique and lateral movements. This is also something the 49ers coaches were unable to work with him on during the lockout. 

So, he needs to learn on the run and fix these glaring issues in order to be a consistent tackle for the remainder of the 2011 season. If this doesn't happen against Cincinnati on Sunday, Alex Smith will see a lot of pressure from Carlos Dunlap. 

Final Analysis

This is a game that San Francisco must have and should win. In order to become a consistent winner in the NFL you need to beat inferior teams, even on the road. There is no doubt that Cincinnati doesn't have the talent that the 49ers have at this point. 

Last week's lost to the Dallas Cowboys still stings a little bit and 49ers players have not hidden this fact. Still, there were a nice amount of positives to take out of that game. It is now up to the coaches to play up those positives and not let the loss affect the team.

The matchup concerns that I listed in this article can be won by San Francisco. Every single player I am questioning heading into the Cincinnati game has the ability to make a difference in this game. Additionally, some of them (Carlos Rogers, Donte Whitner and Justin Smith) have played exceptionally well thus far this season. 

If San Francisco is able to take it to the Bengals in these matchups, we are probably looking at a double-digit 49ers victory. 

Follow me on Twitter at Nocal81 for more insightful musings.