The San Francisco 49ers will take on the New York Giants in Week 9, looking to bounce back from a 26-15 loss to the Houston Texans last weekend.
The 49ers had one of their worst defensive performances of the year, as they couldn’t get any pressure on C.J. Stroud, who had his best day of the year with 318 passing yards and two touchdowns.
They also couldn’t get much momentum offensively against a tough Houston front, falling to 5-3 and losing control of the NFC West.
San Francisco will start Mac Jones
once again, though it’s possible that Brock Purdy could be the backup for the 49ers on Sunday as he continues to heal from a toe injury. How can they get back on track on Sunday ahead of the NFL trade deadline?
Here are three keys to a 49ers win over the Giants in Week 9.
Ride CMC
The Giants have been awful against the run this year, despite having good players up front, due to a lack of discipline among other issues.
They’ve allowed 148.9 rushing yards per game, which ranks 30th in the NFL, and are dead last, allowing 5.7 yards per carry. That bodes well for a 49ers team that saw its run game break out two weeks ago against the Atlanta Falcons before a tough game script forced them to shy away from the ground game last weekend.
The return of tight end George Kittle has done wonders for the 49ers run game, and they should look to ride Christian McCaffrey on Sunday against the Giants front. San Francisco wins when it controls the pace of the game, and Kyle Shanahan should look to have a physical approach up front for the 49ers.
Different looks defensively
This is a game that defensive coordinator Robert Saleh should be waiting for. The Giants have done a great job with Jaxson Dart’s development, throwing him in a situation of comfort with RPOs and throws meant to get the ball out quickly. His sneaky dual-threat ability has helped the offense out as well, but the 49ers have fared well against this style of offense with how they swarm to the ball defensively.
The 49ers have struggled to get pressure since Nick Bosa got hurt, and they’ll be without Bryce Huff once again this weekend. So, to account for that, Saleh needs to make Dart think and question the looks he’s getting defensively.
Maybe that means more post-snap rotations to confuse looks. Maybe that means a mixture of simulated pressures and blitzes. Regardless, the 49ers’ best chance defensively is making Jaxson Dart uncomfortable. Saleh will have to find a way to do that with his personnel.
Third downs
The 49ers have been an elite third down team this season, ranking third in the NFL with a 46.4 percent conversion rate.
However, they struggled last weekend against the Texans, getting into too many long situations and having only a 33.3 percent success rate on third downs. Winning on early downs with the run game should help the 49ers big in this one, but staying on the field on third downs will be crucial as well.
The Giants have been middle-of-the-pack on third downs this year, ranking 13th with a 37.1 percent opponent conversion rate. But, they’ve been elite in their last three games, allowing only a 23.3 percent conversion rate in those contests.
Since the change to Dart, the Giants have been a better team, but they’ve allowed 30+ points in both of their last two games against the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles. The 49ers need to get their offense back on track and it starts with an area they’ve been elite at this season: third downs.
