© Orlando Ramirez | 2019 Oct 13
In the lead-up to the biggest game in the history of Levi’s Stadium, the 49ers are the healthiest they’ve been since the start of the season. Three key defensive players: DE Dee Ford (quadricep, hamstring), LB Kwon Alexander (pec) and S Jaquiski Tartt (ribs) are all scheduled to return from injury.
San Francisco’s pass rush was arguably the best in the NFL with Ford in the lineup, averaging 3.9 sacks per game for the first 11 weeks of the season. In the six weeks since he’s been out, the team has just nine sacks total.
Though Ford has just 6.5 to his name, it’s clear that his presence on the edge has a positive affect on the entire defensive line and defense as a whole, as the team can get pressure by just rushing four.
49ers beat writer Matt Barrows joined Murph & Mac on Wednesday morning and predicted how much of a workload Ford will receive in his return for the Divisional Playoff game vs. the Vikings at Levi’s on Saturday.
“It sort of depends how often they are in third and long,” Barrows said. “He’s the third down specialist so it’ll be a nose tackle out there on traditional downs. The Vikings game plan is to keep Dee Ford off the field as much as possible.
“From a health standpoint, Dee Ford’s point when he aggravated the injury last month was that he wasn’t starting from square one. He didn’t have to start the rehab over. He was better off after the aggravation than he was after the original injury. I think the fact he’s been out this long, out of practice this long is just an abundance of caution.
“He thinks that he’s going to be 100 percent. Now, they were wrong the first time obviously so we have to see, but to me if he’s in uniform on game day and it looks like he will be, he’s going to get his regular allotment of snaps which is every obvious passing down. I don’t know what that’s going to be. 20 snaps? 25 snaps? I think the 49ers hope it’s on the higher end of the spectrum.”
Barrows also touched on Alexander, who is shockingly expected to return from a torn pectoral injury that usually takes six months to heal.
“If Kwon were to go back to his regular starting spot, that’s an every down role. He might end up playing 70 snaps there. I’m not sure whether they want him to do that, whether they want him to play the strong side role which is more of a part time position. I don’t know if that’s been decided yet but today’s practice will go a long way to determining that.”
