Road trip at Redskins no cakewalk for 49ers

Posted By on October 19, 2019

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo throws during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)

SANTA CLARA — The experts consider this game a glorified bye week for the 49ers. An easy win.

The 49ers are undefeated. The Washington Redskins, their opponent Sunday, are 1-5. End of analysis. The 49ers are supposed to fly across the country, show up to the game, win by a couple of touchdowns and fly home without breaking a sweat. The 49ers are 10-point road favorites. New ground for them.

The experts may come to realize what the 49ers already understand: The Redskins are no pushovers. They will put up a fight.

The 49ers should win, but there are five reasons the game could be much closer than many of the experts think.

This article has 29 Comments

    1. I really don’t think Jimmy Garoppolo is having issues with his knee. He’s been fearless in the pocket, which is something you wouldn’t expect from a QB who doesn’t trust his surgically repaired knee. I do think he’s lost just a bit of velocity, but I suspect he’ll get that back before long. He hasn’t put up big numbers, mostly because he hasn’t had to. Kyle is leaning on his defense right now, as he should, and is limiting the number of downfield shots, knowing that turnovers is about the only thing that can stop his team, with the way the defense is playing. Jimmy is being asked to stand strong in the pocket, and deliver short to intermediate passes, in more of a game managing role than we’ve seen in the past. If this team needs him to do more, I am confident in his ability to deliver, as he has done just about everything Kyle has asked of him up to this point.

      49ers – 30
      Redskins – 16

  2. Dear Friends,

    A gentle reminder, I predicted 16 – 0. Just saying.

    Also, I like bacon.

    2. And I, 23-1 :) Oh, what scorn that produced from Seb.

      (I had bacon for breakfast for this morning.)

  3. Reminder to all to please ignore any ‘sebnynah’ posts on this blog entry.
    .
    There is a catfish among us and he has stolen my avatar. Almost makes me blush a little bit.
    .
    Almost.

    1. I hope Grant can get rid of these catfishes and burner accounts
      .
      They all know who the real seb is. I am kinda verbose. Lets see you write a 1000 word dissertation.

      1. First and foremost, the real ‘sebnynah’ would not have erred in forgetting an apostrophe in the word “let’s.”
        .
        Nice try, prime. Notice I do not capitalize your name on purpose. I am no longer engaging in your worthless drivel. Enjoy being me, many are envious of your newfound status. That probably says more about me than you and your boondoggle efforts.

        1. Yup, short and not in character. Nice try.
          .
          No, I have made grammatical errors and have been corrected, many times. That is no tip off. Actually I have been very lax about spelling, lately, when the implication can be derived even with a misspelling. Quibbling about an apostrophe is not worth correction. I mainly correct the spelling of hate filled screeds, to blunt their message, not inadvertent spelling errors.
          .
          However, your babbling about Prime is a dead giveaway.
          .
          Now, to get back to what I wanted to say, I want to respond to every one of Grant’s points.
          .
          1. The Niners have not been front runners before. With the defense’s last 2 performances, they have earned the right to swagger. Like Brent Jones said, the Niners came, and the other team knew what was coming at them, and it is almost as if they were defeated before the snap of the ball. Not allowing any third down conversions and also not allowing four 4th down conversions, is probably keeping their green OC up at night.
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          2. There will be an early kickoff. Bill Walsh instilled an-‘Us against the world’ attitude. JL should emulate Bill. Sherman will fire up the troops, so there will be no complacency. I hope the Niners become road warriors. Last season, they were 0-8 on the road. This is quite the turnaround.
          .
          3. The Skins have a new identity. Yes, but they want to install a FB driven offense, with a FB signed off the street. Maybe the Niners just need to play disciplined and in control, and let the Skins beat themselves, because they are trying something unfamiliar. The Niners should first shut down the run, because that is what Callahan will try.
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          4. No juice. No problem. The Niners plan to run the ball, since the Skins are 28th against the run. They should put Kittle in at FB, because he is the best blocker. However, they should also put in Dwelley, at times as FB. In order to run the ball, the Niners should use the 2 TE sets. They can also help the new tackles.
          .
          5. JG isn’t himself? He should hand off the ball 40 times. However, Washington is giving up 250 yards per game in the air, so I hope JG tests their defensive backs. JG should just concentrate on scoring TDs, every chance he gets, and aim for scoring 7 times. Once they establish the run, play action will be effective. JG should concentrate on facing one way, while looking in another direction, in order to look off the safety. He also needs to have better ball security, and make sure they score, if they get into the red zone.
          .
          Above all, the Niners should not beat themselves, so they should stay focused, play disciplined and reduce the unforced errors.

  4. Eh, this is a new team a different team who already has demonstrated a penchant for not only winning but winning on the road. When the Niners come home they will be 6 – 0 with four victories on the road. They will do what good teams are suppose to do against a much weaker opponent – destroy them.

  6. On Wednesday, Kyle played film to all the players of all the bad plays from the Rams game. Just to keep things in perspective, and not to get too full of themselves after hearing all the praise in the media.
    Niners will win comfortably (by 2 scores or more) and Grant will be wrong once again.

  7. The Redskins are a hot mess. Lots of behind the scenes issues. After firing their head coach they barely eked out a win against a team intentionally tanking last week, for their first win of the season. There is no excuse for the 49ers not to win this game. The only reason they could lose is if they beat themselves.

  8. We spend a lot of time on this blog discussing the strength and weakness of individual players and in the NFL having good players is a prime prerequisite. However, in my opinion, equally important is how a team develops cohesiveness. Shanahan and Lynch deserve much credit for drafting and signing players of high football character. No, they are not all angels, but for the most part they are team players who have the ability and strength of character to be part of a team. Also, Shanahan and Lynch have put together a staff that can teach and lead. We often devolve into a shouting match regarding which players is letting other players down or which coach is the “best” coach. One of my greatest joys this season, besides the wins, is watching my Niners team become a true team playing together and for each other. What fun!

    I am going to make myself a bacon sandwich.

  9. The big reason (not mentioned for some unknown reason) is that it will be raining. The Niners have not played in the rain this season. How will this effect our pass rush, our running and our passing? We don’t know.

  10. Update from Redskins fandom…

    NCOriolesFan • 5 hours ago • edited

    The Redskins will spring the ‘trap’ with an upset win and Shanahan will go back to San Fran with his head in his hands and ask what did we do wrong. HTTR 2020.

  12. Yeah, the up-and-coming Skins just beat the Dolphins 17-16. A new era is upon us. Chuckle. COL
    Niners started the season with back to back East coast games and won both -Bucs Bengals. COL
    Is there a Niner WR who could start for another NFL team ? Which WR? Which team?

    Niners 33 -6

  13. Grant…

    Jeff Brohm’s Purdue Boilermakers are 2 and 5. Who knows, Jeff might be available late this year…

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