The San Francisco 49ers will be going into Denver to take on the Broncos on Sunday night. It’s a matchup between two of the top teams in the league and should be an exciting game. The 49ers sit at 4-2 and are looking to go into their bye week at 5-2. The Broncos are 4-1 and need a win to keep up with the San Diego Chargers in their division. Here’s a preview of their game on Sunday night:
Peyton Manning vs. 49ers’ Secondary
Peyton Manning is aging, but you would never be able to tell looking at his stats and watching him shred up secondaries. While he’s losing arm strength as he ages, he makes up for it with his preparedness and experience. Sometimes it seems as though he knows what defenses are going to do before the defense even knows. However, Sunday night he’s going up against the top passing defense in the NFL. It’s not a secondary filled with big names but they have the best PFF (subscription) pass coverage rating, second in total defense, and second in passing yards allowed per game. Their best cornerback, Tramaine Brock, will also be playing for the first time since Week 1. In this matchup, Peyton will look to pick on the young players of the 49ers’ secondary. Their secondary consists of relatively young players; Chris Culliver (26), Brock (26), Perrish Cox (27), Eric Reid (22), Chris Cook (27), and Dontae Johnson (22). Luckily for the 49ers’ secondary, their most experienced player, Antoine Bethea, knows a thing or two about Manning. After all, he went against him in practice everyday for five seasons. This could be the edge the 49ers need in this matchup.
Frank Gore vs. Broncos’ Defensive Line
It’s no secret, the 49ers offense starts with their running back Frank Gore. Gore sets the tone for the offense and opens up the passing game for quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Defenses know you can’t keep six or seven players in the box and hope to stop him. Helping Frank Gore is the 49ers’ offensive line, ranked 6th by PFF in run blocking. However, the Broncos run defense is ranked fifth according to PFF. This is going to be a key matchup because if the 49ers can get their ground game going, they’ll be able to keep Manning and the Broncos offense off the field. I expect Gore to have success unless the Broncos sell out against the run like the St. Louis Rams did in Week 6. If the Broncos game plan for Gore this way, it’ll really open up the pass game for the 49ers.
Can the 49ers Overcome All Their Injuries
The 49ers have been hit hard by the injury bug as well as having to deal with a key player being suspended. On defense they’ll be without All-Pro inside backers NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis, All-Pro outside linebacker Aldon Smith, starting nickel cornerback Jimmie Ward, and nose tackle Glenn Dorsey. On offense they’ll also be missing All-Pro left guard Mike Iupati and could potentially be without right tackle Anthony Davis as well. Are the 49ers able to win without all of this talent on the field? If they do win it’s going to be extremely difficult under these circumstances. However, the 49ers have done an outstanding job at building depth on their roster and believe in the “next man up” philosophy. Peyton Manning must certainly be looking forward to testing all the young players the 49ers will be forced to put out there on defense.
The 49ers play well in primetime. However, going into Denver on a short week with all the injuries they have might be a little too much for them to handle. They will be playing with a little bit of desperation because they don’t want to go into their bye at 4-3 and two games behind the division leading Arizona Cardinals (assuming the Cardinals are able to beat the Oakland Raiders of course). With the relatively inexperienced secondary, I expect the 49ers to lose by about a touchdown. It should be a very hard fought game for both teams.