Scouting the San Francisco 49ers

A look at the San Francisco 49ers, who play the Ravens in Week 13, from a tendency point of view.

In one of the games of the week, if not the entire 2019 season, the red hot Baltimore Ravens take on the San Francisco 49ers at M&T Bank Stadium in Week 13. The Ravens have won their last six games and sit atop the AFC North at 9-2. The 49ers also lead their division and if the season ended today would have the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the back of their 10-1 record. These teams have met five times in the regular season since 1996. Baltimore has a 3-2 advantage. They also met in the Super Bowl following the 2012 season, with John Harbaugh emerging victorious over his brother Jim who was 49ers head coach at the time.

Let’s take a closer look at San Francisco to give us a better look at what we can expect to see from them on offense and defense.

Offense

Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has long been thought of as one of the better offensive coaches in the NFL. His team has certainly lived up to his billing this season as they trail only the Ravens in points scored. They sit at sixth in total yards. The 49ers, in another similarity to the Ravens, have found most of their offensive success on the ground so far this season. Their 1,602 rushing yards are the second-most in the NFL, while they are close to the middle of the pack in terms of passing. The 49ers have 2,603 passing yards this season, which ranks 14th.

From a formation point of view, the 49ers are one of the more versatile in the NFL. They line up in 11 personnel (one back, one tight end, three wide receivers) on 40% of their offensive plays, a long way below the league average and more than only two teams. They predominantly pass out of this formation, doing so on 70% of their plays. San Francisco averages 7.6 yards per passing attempt out of the 11 formation, but also average 5.4 yards per rushing attempt.

The 49ers use 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends, two wide receivers) on a quarter of their plays and tend to run out of this formation despite only averaging 3.4 yards per attempt.

The 49ers use 21 personnel (two backs, one tight end, two wide receivers at the second-highest rate in the league, lining up this way on 22% of their plays. They have a pass:run rate of 42%:58% with two backs on the field, averaging 9 yards per pass attempt and 4.9 yards per rush.

In a shotgun league, the 49ers put their quarterback under center at one of the highest rates in the NFL — 59% of their offensive plays are run with Jimmy Garoppolo under center. They run the ball on 69% of their plays when this happens. When Garoppolo has lined up in the gun, it has been a pass on 77% of the plays. In neutral situations (when the 49ers are up or down by seven points or less), the 49ers have a pass:run rate of 54%:46%. But their overall pass to run ratio of 0.83 is the second-lowest in the NFL this season.

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5 reasons Giants could upset Packers in Week 13

The New York Giants and Green Bay Packers square off in Week 13, and here are five reasons Big Blue could come away with the win.

The New York Giants are coming off their seventh straight loss and have now gone winless in the months of October and November for the first time in franchise history.

They face a tough task this week against the 8-3 Green Bay Packers, who will be seeking revenge after the San Francisco 49ers crushed them by 29 points on Sunday night.

Although unlikely, let’s look at five reasons why the Giants can pull off the upset of the Packers.

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Offensive rhythm

The Giants struggled to find any rhythm on their offense last week against the Chicago Bears, scoring only seven points until the final 10 minutes of the game. They also had minus-two total yards in the second half up until the fourth quarter when they switched to a fast tempo offense. After this change was made, Daniel Jones and the Giants offense racked up 131 yards and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate, which cut the deficit to five points.

The Giants had several opportunities to win this game and despite giving up 335 total yards, the defense did their job holding the Bears to only 19 points. It’s time for the stagnant, unbalanced and inconsistently designed offense to step up. Instead of waiting until their final two possessions this week, Pat Shurmur must make the necessary adjustments to break out of the frequent offensive slump Big Blue endures each week.

5 matchups to watch in Cardinals vs. Rams

How do the Cardinals stack up against the Rams in these important individual matchups?

The Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles play each other on Sunday. It is a big game for both teams. The Cardinals want to finish the season strong after their bye week and end their four-game losing streak, while the Rams want to stay relevant in the playoff race and stay over .500.

Which matchups in the game are worth watching?

Rams DT Aaron Donald vs. Cardinals LG Justin Pugh

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Donald is the difference-maker on the Rams defense. Pugh is having a fine season at guard. Donald is not having the other-worldly season he had last year but still leads the team with eight sacks. Pugh will have to hold his own to contain Donald and get the running game started.

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