The San Francisco 49ers are back from their Week 9 bye and face a difficult matchup on their return as they welcome the Los Angeles Chargers to Levi’s Stadium for a primetime clash.
Having had a week to rest up, focus on matters away from the field and perhaps, like owner Jed York, celebrate Leeds United’s recent improvements in the Premier League, the Niners are now preparing to try to engineer a surge during the second half of the season.
The 49ers entered their bye week 4-4 having routed defending Super Bowl champions the Los Angeles Rams 31-14 in Week 8. That result marked a fourth successive regular-season sweep of the Rams for San Francisco.
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However, having seen another of their division rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, continue their winning streak during the 49ers’ week off, Kyle Shanahan’s team find themselves trailing 6-3 Seattle by a game and a half in the race for the NFC West title.
Yet, for a team that has once again had to deal with a plethora of injuries, the 49ers are coming out of the bye the healthiest they have been since the beginning of the campaign. And, while the 5-3 Chargers appear a formidable opponent on paper, they are a team with plenty of vulnerabilities a roster of San Francisco’s calibre can exploit.
As many as nine 49er players could return from injury in Week 10, the headliner being wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who missed the win over the Rams because of a hamstring problem.
Samuel was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, as were fellow wideout Jauan Jennings (hamstring) and fullback Kyle Juszczyk (finger) after they were also absent in Week 8.
Linebacker Dre Greenlaw (calf) and cornerback Jason Verrett were limited participants. San Francisco may continue to be cautious with veteran Verrett, a former Pro Bowler with the Chargers who look destined for stardom before being struck by a succession of serious injuries. He revived his career with a stellar 2020 season for the 49ers before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in Week 1 of the 2021 campaign.
But Greenlaw’s status suggests he will be available to play, along with another starting linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who has been on injured reserve since injuring his knee in Week 3.
Al-Shaair, running back Elijah Mitchell – out since spraining a knee ligament in the season opener – and backup tackle Colton McKivitz (knee) have yet to be activated from injured reserve, but Shanahan said on Wednesday that all three are expected to be full participants in practice, indicating they will make their respective comebacks.
Defensive end Jordan Willis has also had his practice window opened, setting the stage for the pass rusher to return from injured reserve and make a 2022 debut in the near future.
It is the presence of Samuel and, to a lesser extent, Mitchell that is most intriguing as the 49ers get ready for their third game since acquiring running back Christian McCaffrey in a blockbuster trade with the Carolina Panthers.
After a cameo role in his Week 7 debut, McCaffrey was the star of the win over the Rams, becoming only the fourth player since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 to throw for a touchdown, run for a touchdown and catch a receiving touchdown in the same game.
He has unquestionably displaced Mitchell as the starting running back but the 49ers having both of their top two backs and Samuel healthy should facilitate extremely creative gameplans from Shanahan, who is renowned for his status as arguably the pre-eminent play-caller of the modern NFL.
Samuel is the 49ers’ self-titled ‘wide back’ whose proficiency in playing wide receiver and serving as a runner out of the backfield spearheaded San Francisco’s run to the NFC Championship Game last season.
Given McCaffrey’s talents as a receiver, the 49ers now have the opportunity to put severe stress on defenses by lining up in formations featuring both in the backfield or out in formation as receivers, with the possibility of infusing Mitchell as an extra running threat yet another wrinkle one of the most well-designed offenses in the NFL can throw at opponents.
Asked what McCaffrey and Samuel can do for each other when on the field at the same time, Shanahan replied:
“You got five guys who can touch the ball, so the more people have to worry about those five guys, the better. You got two guys who are a little bit interchangeable.
“They're different positions, but they both can play the other one's position, so it just makes it a lot easier to distribute the field. It's not like Deebo is going to do this for him or he's going to do that for Deebo. They both do it for everybody including one another and themselves. It just makes a little bit more space and, it makes a little bit more of a threat on whoever gets the ball in their hands."
The malleability of McCaffrey and Samuel may be critical against a Chargers defense that is allowing 5.71 yards per carry, the most in the NFL. Three of their last four games have seen the Chargers surrender over 200 yards on the ground, including the Week 9 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Los Angeles’ run defense has also been hit by the loss of defensive tackle Austin Johnson to a knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season. In contrast to the 49ers, the Chargers enter the game extremely banged up, with another defensive lineman, Jerry Tillery, also dealing with an injury, hindering a unit that is already missing stars Joey Bosa – brother of San Francisco edge rusher Nick Bosa – and J.C. Jackson. They are each on injured reserve.
Quarterback Justin Herbert may again be minus his top two passing game weapons in Keenan Allen (hamstring) and Mike Williams (ankle), while the Chargers are dealing with additional injuries on the offensive line.
Herbert, though, can negate the impact of injuries to his pass blockers with his decisiveness and pocket movement, and the narrow win in Atlanta was a demonstration of how his remarkable upside as a thrower can elevate supporting casts limited by injury.
The stars appear to be aligning for the 49ers to replicate their outstanding form of the second half of last season, which saw them prevail in seven of their last nine games to make the playoffs before claiming a pair of postseason victories.
Still, the 49ers’ inconsistent season to this point is a scarcely needed reminder that little comes easy in the NFL.
Shanahan is 1-4 after the bye week as a head coach and, even with the significantly different injury reports for the two teams, Herbert and the Chargers promise to present a substantial obstacle to him securing a second such win. How the Niners fare in attempting to overcome that challenge will say a lot about their potential as contenders in the NFC.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Kyle Shanahan, on watching Jeff Wilson – whom the 49ers traded last week – and former Niner Raheem Mostert play for the Miami Dolphins (San Francisco face Miami in Week 13 next month) :
“I told Jeff make sure that he doesn't play against us. He smiled. I don't think he'll stick with that. He can miss one game though. I've seen Raheem throughout the year. I've watched those guys a lot and then watching Sunday on the Red Zone network, I was happy for Jeff. I don't like seeing him making plays in another uniform that's not a Niner. So you kind of take that a little personal, but then you think of Jeff and Jeff always wanted to be here, but he also knew this opportunity was best for him and his family.”
MVP OF THE WEEK: Returning players
It’s difficult to hand out an MVP for a week in which the 49ers did not play a game.
But going by the definition of the award, there are players who qualify as the ‘most valuable’ of the week, and it is that group who are poised to return from injury against the Chargers.
Samuel and Juszczyk each bring different degrees of playmaking versatility to the offense, with the return of the former and Mitchell set to raise the ceiling of an attack already bolstered by the arrival of McCaffrey.
Jennings was a crucial third-down option for Garoppolo last year, while the 49ers’ defensive back seven will look substantially stronger with Greenlaw and Al-Shaair joining Fred Warner at linebacker and Verrett bringing duplicity and depth to the cornerback spot.
STAT OF THE WEEK: 44.4
It is not good practice in the NFL to have your offense face third down and long on a consistent basis, but the 49ers are thriving when they are put in that situation.
Indeed, they are tied for first in conversion rate on third down with 10 or more yards to go. They have converted for a new set of downs 44.4 percent of time, tied for first in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs. However, they have also done an impressive job of avoiding third and long. The 49ers have faced third and 10+ just 18 times, the second-fewest in the NFL behind the Buffalo Bills (16), and converted eight times.
In other words, the Niners are excelling at staying out of unfavourable down and distance and at escaping to keep drives alive when they do have at least 10 yards to gain.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
The Exit Interview
Each week Leeds Live poses five questions to a 49er player. This week, we put our exit interview to edge-rusher Kemeko Turay. Want your question added to the exit survey? Let us know in the comments section below.
Favourite musical artist? Burna Boy, Lil Baby, Eric Church... and Lil Wayne back in the day
Favourite movie (movie seen the most)?Happy Feet!
Favourite non-football athlete? Kobe Bryant (not the Seahawks CB!)
Funniest guy in the locker room? (Center Jason) Poe... oh, and (George) Kittle, he's goofy!
Most famous person in your cellphone? Robert Mathis, JT... there's a lot. Oh yeah, and my team-mates!
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