What to watch during the 49ers’ next loss

Here’s what to monitor when the 49ers receive their weekly beat-down — this time against the Arizona Cardinals.

1. Will Cardinals RB David Johnson become the first NFL player to rush for 300 yards in one game?

The record is attainable. Partially because Johnson is fantastic — he’s the fourth-leading rusher in the NFL. And partially because the 49ers’ coaching staff doesn’t know how to stop the run.

Have you noticed where teams usually run against San Francisco’s defense? They almost always run between the tackles. And here’s why:

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This article has 66 Comments

  1. Irony in Jed York battling to build cabana at his house is too much

    Fans that sit in the east grand stand at Levi’s Stadium regularly complain about the lack of shade in the $1.3 billion venue. The majority of seats face directly into the Silicon Valley sun with no respite.
    There’s been no indication from the 49ers they’re considering building any sort of canopy structure for their 2-year-old stadium to provide shade for fans, despite regular complaints.

    The Miami Dolphins last offseason renovated Hard Rock Stadium with a canopy. The entire renovation, which took two years to complete, cost $500 million.

    The Los Altos Town Crier reported this week York has been battling neighbors and to build a 756-square foot cabana at his house –

    Former coach Jim Harbaugh recognized the difference between the shady west side of the stadium and the sun-soaked east sideline before a game was ever played in Levi’s. The initial plan was to have the 49ers on the east sideline, but Harbaugh determined he didn’t want his team in the sun for the majority of games. So Harbaugh decided to take the west sideline instead – which was the right decision…..By Niners Wire.com

    @timkawakami
    I heard most of it, too. None of this is surprising. The struggles are just beginning inside 49ers HQ. The knives are out.

    trudy gonzales ‏@trudygonzales · Nov 8

    @timkawakami As you have reported they have built a culture of distrust now it is falling apart

    Thomas ‏@TizzleTrizzle · Nov 8

    @timkawakami always the most interesting part of the season for them. If only they worried about winning.

  2. “For some reason, he starts dancing in the backfield and bouncing inside runs to the outside during the second half of games.”

    He has done that all throughout his career. Its my biggest complaint with the guy.

  3. What was supposed to be a season of optimism where the team took positive steps towards contending again has turned into a nightmare.

    they’re on their way to being one of the worst 49ers teams in the franchise’s 70-year history.

    Perhaps the biggest issue in all of this is that York asked to be held directly accountable for the future of the 49ers. Yet, he has done and said nothing.

    Every move this team has made since right around York’s infamous Thanksgiving Night tweet has been wrong. The series of organizational blunders has all led to this. Seven straight losses, and what looks to be at least three more coming to set a franchise record for consecutive losses. How fitting.

    The 49ers will follow the Patriots out the Levi’s Stadium doors to fly to Miami. If you’ve not been following the NFL very closely, Ajayi has been setting the league on fire, rushing for 529 yards the last three games They travel to Arizona this week to face the Cardinals…Ninerswire.
    to Miami, where the Dolphins and their running back Jay Ajayi wait.

  4. .

    Despite having billions of dollars, a massive PR arm and bankrolling several city council members, the Forty Niners recently lost their bid to pave over some youth soccer fields adjacent to Levi’s. What could possibly have been their undoing? A 60 second video of a bunch of kids singing a terrible parody of the “Beverly Hillbillies” theme song about Jed York.

    Jed York is so hated he was defeated by the portion of a school’s talent show you’d intentionally miss.

    Not that Jed York gives a sh-t about any of this. I’m not exaggerating when I say I think the Niners implosion is one of the great crimes in sports history.

    The Niners have let everything go to sh-t simply because they can. They give no f-cks. York will show up at games this year in a bathrobe and slippers and p-ss down your leg. What difference does it make? The Niners are the full and glorious realization of the NFL’s most bloodless ambitions. They force fans to pay the most money possible to go to the least convenient stadium possible, all in service of a team that is now so wealthy, it can afford to s-ck in perpetuity. They don’t even feel obligated to take care of the field anymore. Look at this f-cking sandlot:….(Supposedly, Santa Clara Mayor is currenly requesting field maintenance documents , but the 49ers have refused her)

    Why your team S-cks, the 2015 SF 49ers.

  5. Kaepernick is starting, so that already puts him at a disadvantage.
    I also want to know if Patton is finally breaking out or not. I lean towards the latter. Another thing I want to know is if the 49ers can take advantage of Mathieu being out.

    Cardinals 46
    49ers 17

  6. I’m a 49ers fan now 25 years running. Do I really have to watch another train wreck tomorrow afternoon? Can I take a mulligan?
    Cards:32
    Niners:16

        1. Nah, it is not that bad. Unless you are watching and rooting for the Seahawks or Cowboys on the side.

        2. Prime-

          Just remind yourself, ownership clearly doesn’t care-why should you?

          9ers aren’t required for the York’s to make a very large buck. So why put thought and money into something that isn’t required?

      1. I raked leaves last week and checked the NFL app for updates. Fortunately I have work all day tomorrow in Minneapolis with no coverage of the game.

        1. I hate raking leaves, but I’m surrounded by Oaks and Maples that bitch about them taking up all the sun…;>)

  7. I’m still waiting for Kelly’s genius to show. Will we see it in this game? I doubt it. Against his own philosophy, Baalke has not made the NT position a point of emphasis. Putting a stud like a Poe in between the Twin Towers, would allow them to play the run the way they want. This will also help protect your new, inside linebackers. For me, this game is about mental toughness and intestinal fortitude. Arians is a tough SOB, and his team reflects that. Kelly is as soft as his white underbelly, and his team seems very similar….

    1. You have a meal being prepared by monkeys but you’re blaming the guy who picked the menu.

    1. Cassie are you old enough to remember Dave Scofield? He always said the scores backwards.

        1. Well he was the 49ers stadium announcer from 1946 through 1989 and he always announced all of the scores around the league starting with the losing team score first. It was kind of his trademark. In those days the scoreboard was tiny and at Kezar it was only in one end zone so the only way to know the score of other games was when Dave announced them. This was before technology made all of our lives so much better. You know like how you can insult people on the internet whereas if you said it to their face back in the day one of you would go to the hospital.

    1. With Armstead being out, I think you’ll see the 49ers playing the run better against a better runner. Will they stop him from reaching 100 yards? Very unlikely, but I don’t think the score balloons out of control. I think it remains close.

  8. Bryce Petty gets the start tomorrow. He’s had enough time holding the clipboard. Not expecting much. If the team thought more of him we would have seen him before now.

  9. Okay Niners, lets go get em. I can not bring myself to pick them to lose, so this week I am not picking. :) I will once again look at WR/TE and see if they are continuing their elusiveness.

      1. I hope they turn him loose. If Kaep rolls out more than 10 times, he may score with his legs, especially since TM is out.

              1. Well, I predict with 2 DBs out, Kaep will redeem himself. With that horrendous defense, Kaep should just concentrate on scoring at least 7 TDs.

                Niners will have to out score the Cards.

                With 2 O linemen out, maybe the Niners will get a pass rush going. If the Niners can win the turnover battle, they have a smidgen of hope.

      2. To be clear I wasn’t implying that the QB was going to see them or accurately throw the football.

  10. The 49ers have no one on offense or defense that scares anybody. There are no impact players. The Raiders have three: David Carr, Amari Cooper, and Kalil Mack to build around and build they did. Balke has to go.

        1. That’s where everything starts, Seb. The Three Amigos had a great offensive line as well….

  11. S.F. 9
    Ari. 30

    This will not be a game for the faint of heart. QP will be covered. Forget about good pass protection. Harris and or Hyde will be limited once we fall behind.

    The Cards will get their yards on the ground. Fitz will use double moves to get open, we won’t.

    Bad day for Kap and the Niners. The only silver lining will be Dawson.

    1. LOL, he mentions that Frank Gore did not attain 1000 yards, but he made 967. Just missed it by 33, with no QB and poor O line for most of the season.

      Good call,80. ;p

  12. This team is sick because its owner and most of management are sick. Dud Dork is probably the sickest of them all, but like with most forms of mental illness everyone can see it but the person who is sick. If the 49ers are ever going to recover this sickness has to be purged out, just like any other bad smelling and festering sore. Until then the smell of self-inflicted sickness will continue to taint the entire Bay Area.

  13. Elliott accounts for 32% of the Cowboys offense, while Johnson accounts for 37% of the Cardinals offense….

  14. Another Sunday, another slaughter unfortunately…

    Cards 54
    Niners 10

    Followed by more articles suggesting Baalke will be back because he’s Jed’s buddy… Who cares about winning right Jed?

      1. We’ll be lucky to hold the Cards to 24 with Carson playing… They put up 33 on us in SC with Drew freakin’ Stanton… Crazier things have happened though I suppose.

  15. Jack made a point fairly recently about the over-hyped, over-saturated NFL; feeling it.
    Tv has OBJ bloviating about…..(guess)….himself. The guy is good, real good, but I’m sick of him.
    Last year Cam had that fabulous run for himself and his team. He absolutely deserved the acclaim. How could the press ignore his accomplishments? But, even keeping that in mind, I got sick of him too.
    I never felt that with Brady or Marshall Faulk or Emmitt Smith. Sure, Sherman ticks me off sometimes, but that’s kind of tribal; Seattle vs SF.
    Who likes divas in the workplace? These folks love the acclaim, but few realize that media scrutiny is a two edged sword. See media vs Colin K.

  16. Would love to have Lon Simmons call one of these farcical 9er games. Wonder where his many barbs would go…

  17. Beautiful play and call by the Jets. Why can’t the offensive genius design a simple, yet creative play like that?

  18. Arians needs his quarterback to “get right”. He will use 9ers to give his offense a chance to destroy and dominate. I predict foot will be on throat and he will keep pressing to give his guys chances for “career days”. 9ers will throw in towel mid 2nd quarter. This should be a real bloodbath. Tom Brady will watch with interest….

  19. Other prediction. IF Hyde suits up, couple carries, no holes , looms.ime tough day ahead….and he will invoke his standard tagline “Shut ‘eR Down”

  20. Hmmm, on KNBR, Lynch said that Chip took the whole blame for O’Neil’s failures. Just perused what he said, and I see a lot of excuses, but he never pulled a Tomsula, who poked a thumb in his chest and took full blame for everything.

    Now we hear of Trent deflecting shade on Jed for saying Jed is not to blame. Too bad he shot himself in the foot again. Now he has admitted that he is the main person responsible for the 7 game losing streak with historic records in failure. Honest assessment is the first step in finding a solution. Accountability follows.

    Baalke, is not only become the walking dead, he has become the Invisible Man.

  21. For 70 years ive been a fan, saw the first game in 46 at kesaar and this team is digusting, but with the no 1 draft pick in sight maybe there is hope. There are some good QB’s to be drafted.

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