Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers are taking on the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, looking to stack consecutive wins for the first time since Week 3 and keep their place in the NFC Playoff Picture.
San Francisco is coming off a dominant 41-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals, where they controlled the game from the start and never trailed in Brock Purdy’s return from injury.
Purdy led an efficient offense, throwing for 200 yards and three touchdowns, while Christian McCaffrey had 81 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries and caught five passes for 40 yards and another score.
Defensively, the 49ers did allow Jacoby Brissett to throw for 452 yards, but that was more so due to the game script and the team tiring out at the end. They forced three turnovers, which was a big sign of improvement.
Now, they face a Panthers team that has gone 6-5 this season, starting the year 1-3 before winning four of their next five games, including a 16-13 win over the Green Bay Packers. Carolina is trying to stay in the playoff race with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sliding in the NFC South, but it has a tough test on Monday on the road.
The 49ers are 7.5-point favorites at home on Monday. How can they pull off the victory on Monday?
Tackle well
Carolina’s passing attack has wavered this season, as Bryce Young has seen some strong games (448 yards, 3 touchdowns vs. Atlanta) and some weaker games this year.
The Panthers haven’t pushed the ball down the field as much, with Young averaging only 6.4 yards per attempt and 7.1 air yards per attempt, which is one of the lower figures in the NFL. That’s well down from the 8.7 air yards per attempt he had a season ago.
The 49ers need to keep things in front of them in the passing game, but also tackle well when the ball gets out of Young’s hands quickly. Their defense swarms to the ball, which will be crucial on Monday. They’ve got to finish plays and force Carolina into later down situations.
That also applies to the run game, where Rico Dowdle has averaged five yards per carry this season and has been the catalyst of Carolina’s offense recently. The team has run-blocked well, but the 49ers will need to limit the explosive plays from Dowdle as well.
Build on last week
The 49ers run game opened up well last week, as McCaffrey had his most efficient game of the season from a yards per carry standpoint.
San Francisco faces a Carolina defense that is around the middle of the pack against both the run and the pass, but the latter is the scarier part of its defense. At home, the 49ers need to find a balance and work off McCaffrey and Brian Robinson as they continue to develop their run game.
Carolina has seen some shaky performances against top backs, notably James Cook (216 yards, 2 TDs on 19 carries),...
