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Niners take on the Chargers
By Scary Barry Rodriguez December 14, 2010 |
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San Francisco- This last sunday was certainly an uplifting experience for the struggling San Francisco 49ers. The 40-21 beatdown administered to the Seattle Seahawks certainly felt good I'm sure but on thursday the Niners travel to San Diego to play the talented unacheiving San Diego Chargers. This 2010 season has been a mixed one for the Bolts. Sometimes they look terrible like in their recent loss to the Oakland Raiders and than the next game they put away the Kansas City Chiefs 31-0. Which one will the 49ers get this week ! Alex Smith started against the Seahawks and had a no turnover game and the rest of the team played up to the expectations everyone had at the start of the season. Yet as dismal as it has seemed at times ,the Niners are 4-1 against their NFC west opponents. Even with Frank Gore out for the rest of the season the team can make it happen if runners Brian Westbrook and rookie Anthony Dixon have a few more good games. The Chargers have a top rated defense but the Raiders made them look bad so its possible for the 49ers . San Diego quarterback Phillip Rivers is probably the best in the NFL at throwing the deep ball if he gets enough time. His top receiver Antonia Gates is banged up now but the return of Vincent Jackson helps make up for that. Ryan Matthews and rookie runner Mike Tolbert can do the job. The 49er defensive secondary has to step up because Rivers is a very accurate thrower. The Niners don't want to get behind early in this game. For the 49ers it breaks down to Alex Smith being able to move the offense to take the pressure off the defense. Unlike what the late Bill Walsh believed in, the present version of the Niners emphasizes the run first to open up things for the pass. This places tremendous pressure on the defense and if the team falls behind the offense has to do something it is not geared to do, which is to rely on the pass to score quickly. So the offensive line for the 49ers must have a good game in order for the team to be victorious. Coach Norv Turner is great at offensive strategy but seems stymied if his game plan starts going awry. Even though this game is not against a division opponent the Niners need to win to keep the momentum going. Just as Takeo Spikes stated to me in a postgame interview, the 49ers must treat every game now the same as a playoff game. |
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