The San Francisco 49ers suffered another tough loss last week to the Buffalo Bills. Colin Kaepernick’s debut at quarterback yielded poor results as the team once again struggled to find an offensive rhythm. Week seven of the NFL season offers up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers are off to a rough start to their season at 2-5 and need a win, as do the 49ers.
This battle of the bottom feeders is a must win situation for both teams. Talk has already begun to surface about what collegiate team Chip Kelly will be leaving for at the end of this season. There are many attractive jobs opening up after this season at that level, such as LSU, and possibly even Oregon. To keep the focus of this season alive the 49ers have to pull out a win. There are three key things the 49ers must achieve against Tampa Bay in order to obtain this win.
San Francisco 49ers Week Seven Keys to Victory
Force Turnovers on Defense
The best way that San Francisco can demoralize and therefore slow down Tampa Bay’s offense is to force turnovers. Jameis Winston has eight interceptions this season and has fumbled twice. One knock on Winston throughout his career is that he try’s too hard, or seems to press the ball down field trying to force big plays. This temperament leaves him vulnerable to wild throws and interceptions. Yet, the last few weeks Winston has seemed to settle a bit in the pocket and came away with decent performances. Early game pressure and blitz’s however will make Winston regress mentally and keeping him pushing. Keeping Winston on edge will lead to turnovers for the 49ers.
Stifle Tampa’s Rushing Attack
Shutting down Doug Martin and Jacquizz Rodgers is going to be a monumental task for San Francisco’s defense. After giving up over 300 yards last week to Buffalo, the 49ers are now ranked last in the league in rushing defense. Unfortunately for the 49ers, this key could be the one that does them in. Rodgers is averaging four yards per carry this season, and Martin is a bruising compliment to Rodgers elusiveness.
The best hope San Francisco has of stopping Tampa’s run game is to load the box and be gap disciplined. Put eight men at the line of scrimmage. It will be important for the 49ers defensive line to hold their positions and shed blocks quickly. The goal is to be standing at the point of attack waiting for the running back or lead blocker. This effectively will blow up the run in the back field before it gets going. The 49ers defense cannot allow the Buccaneers to control the tempo and clock with Rodgers and Martin. This happening will lead to a long day for San Francisco.
Let Kaepernick Run!
Colin Kaepernick has proved enough times in his career that his biggest asset as a quarterback is not his arm, it’s his legs. Kaepernick’s biggest successes of his career have come while he was a constant threat to run. This threat at times kept the linebackers eyes pinned to the backfield, and in fact helped open up receivers on crossing routes and over the middle. In turn, once the opposing defense was scorned by a few short completions they would again switch focus to the pass. This is when Kaepernick could run a draw or play action fake and burn teams.
Though the read option is considered a fad in the league that was figured out years ago, it is what Kaepernicks does best. The team needs to stop trying force Kaepernick to show he can win from the pocket and be that player. He can’t. Kaepernick’s biggest strength on the football field is his athletic ability, not his arm. If the team is forced to play him at this point they might as well use him properly. Play to Kaepernick’s strengths, not his weaknesses.
