SANTA CLARA — It’s early October and the soul searching has already begun for the 2016 San Francisco 49ers. A 1-3 record will do that to any team.
Stunningly, the Arizona Cardinals are in a similar boat to start the season. Bruce Arians is trying to salvage a season of his own.
At the end of the day, it’ll coms down to football players making football plays. Especially with Carson Palmer out, the equation is that simple. These are five 49ers players who’ll have to make it happen on Thursday Night Football.
- Torrey Smith — To no ones surprise, the passing offense ranks 32nd in the league. Smith wore his frustrations on the field and in the locker room this week, noting the 49ers could’ve beaten Dallas had Blaine Gabbert hit the wide out for a 55-yard touchdown. Speaking the truth won’t help, Torrey. The 49ers have asked him to play the role of a No. 1 receiver while surrounding him with little help. It’s like showing up to a street fight with a water gun. Smith’s 106 yards through four games rank him 120th in the league. That’s completely unacceptable from both him, the play calling and the quarterback. Things will get even tougher this week with Patrick Peterson, but Smith’s blunt commentary is right: this team is going nowhere if they don’t get him more involved in the offense.
2. Arik Armstead — The run defense would be a lot stronger if Armstead was playing at a high level. The defensive end had a strong training camp and was expected to make a leap in his second season. Instead, a nagging shoulder injury is hurting both him and this defense. The 49ers desperately need Armstead to start making plays at the point of attack to improve their 32nd ranked run defense. It’s not all on him, of course, but with DeForest Buckner out on Thursday (foot), Armstead will see a lion’s share of snaps. If he can make the most out of them and slow down running back David Johnson, the 49ers will have a chance. But if the defensive struggles continue for the fourth straight week, having Armstead opt for surgery on that shoulder might not be the worst idea.
3. Eric Reid — Here’s a theory we tossed out earlier this week: play Reid some at inside linebacker. You have two other talented safeties in Antoine Bethea and Jaquiski Tartt. And without NaVorro Bowman, the 49ers have to get creative when game planning. Reid is a tremendous coverage defender in short space, can shed blockers to make tackles in the run game and can deliver big hits, causing turnovers and flips in momentum. Playing him deep off the ball is not the best utilization of his skill set. Last week Reid played some snaps at nickel back and even outside linebacker. It’s time to further his evolution as multi-purposed chess piece.
4. Aaron Lynch — Ever since the Week 1 shutout, the 49ers’ pass rush has been muted. Is that because defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil used all his creative juice against Los Angeles? Or is this unit is lacking talent? We’ll get more of a sense tonight with Lynch back on the football field. The 23-year-old had 6.5 sacks a year ago but ballooned to 300 pounds in the offseason. It wouldn’t be wise to predict a sack party from Lynch, but this defense is in need of any kind of boost. Pushing the pocket would be considered a success for Lynch in his first 2016 game.
5. Colin Kaepernick — If this game isn’t competitive and Blaine Gabbert is struggling, why the hell wouldn’t Chip Kelly play Kaepernick? A theory we suggested earlier this week on my podcast was that Kelly could be on the hook for Kaepernick’s $14.5 million salary — should he get injured. In other words, GM Trent Baalke can harp in a meeting after the season that Kelly cost the organization a hefty chunk of change by playing a fragile quarterback. It’s very possible Kaepernick has found himself caught in a game of cat and mouse. But how much longer can this team ignore Gabbert’s shortcomings?
