Could 49ers duo of DeForest Buckner and Nick Bosa unleash a Jeffery Simmons-like effect? (Paywall)
“The new-look line will face a challenge. Raiders QB Kirk Cousins isn’t mobile, but the 15-year veteran’s quick release is a major reason why Las Vegas has allowed 11 sacks, matching the fourth fewest in the NFL.”
49ers activate wide receiver Demarcus Robinson off IR after five-game absence “The 49ers also elevated veteran receiver KhaDarel Hodge from the practice squad. Hodge serves as one of the team’s
top special-teams players. He was active for the first two games of the season before sustaining a knee injury. The 49ers released him with an injury settlement and re-signed him after he was healthy enough to play.”
49ers Week 7 Trench Grades: The right time for Buckner to step in (paywall)
“This is as good a place as any to talk about Connor Colby. I said it on the show yesterday. He is not a good player. I don’t mean to keep hammering a point home or seem like I’m pouring it him for the sake of it. This isn’t to say he’s a fundamentally useless player. He makes positive plays. He’s a very athletic player who moves well in space and can certainly create some displacement in the run game at times.
But he consistently gets his assignment wrong, and doesn’t have the talent to make up for mental mistakes. Even when he has the assignment right, he flat-out loses far more often than any other lineman. He is a soft-handed player who struggles with leverage.
Could that improve? Sure. But as it stands, he is objectively a negative player. We should not pretend for the sake of niceness or a nebulous deference in the 49ers’ #vision for him that he’s a positive player. That is not accurate. He makes some positive plays. He has some positive games. But he is more prone to disaster than anyone else, by a large margin.”
5 questions with Silver and Black Pride: Is there any hope for the Raiders’ defense against the 49ers?
“Kyle Shanahan’s game plan can be pretty simple this week: line up in 12 or 13 personnel (or technically 21/22 personnel with Kyle Juszczyk) and pound the rock. Shanahan doesn’t even need Evans because Las Vegas’ defense can’t stop the run out of those formations.
Even the Jets had success with that, as Braelon Allen averaged 7.0 yards per carry and set a career-high rushing yardage total in the first half. New York is just poorly coached and only ran the ball four times in the second half despite playing with a lead, allowing Vegas to come back in the fourth quarter.
Also, the Raiders’ defense doesn’t have a legitimate answer for George Kittle. Not that tight ends have necessarily hurt them in the passing game all year, but Kittle is the best one the Raiders’ defense has faced, and the unit doesn’t have someone who I think can match up with him.”
