5 Burning Questions For The 49ers in Week 14

Dec 7, 2014 at 8:27 AM


The San Francisco 49ers are coming off the most embarrassing home loss in recent memory and travelling across the bay to take on the Oakland Raiders. The 49ers playoff hopes are hanging by a thread as a result of their 19-3 loss on Thanksgiving night to Seattle, a loss which has hung around a few extra days as a result of playing on a Thursday night, and was punctuated by the owner sending out a tweet about the poor performance in the late stages of the game which only served to fuel speculation around the future of the coaching staff.

On the other side of this matchup, the Oakland Raiders come into this game on the heels of a 52-0 whitewashing at the hands of the St Louis Rams. Nothing has seemed to go right for Oakland this season, but their lone win over Kansas City came at home under circumstances similar to today's game. Kansas City has an offense that is struggling to move the ball through the air and found themselves against a team looking to not be embarrassed in prime time.

With that as a backdrop here are 5 burning questions to which the answers will be key to the outcome of the game.

1) Can Colin Kaepernick bounce back? - Kaepernick had one of the worst games of his career last week against Seattle, and past history shows that he will struggle again today. A season ago Kaepernick followed up poor performances in losses to Seattle and Carolina with poor performances the following week and he has done the same thing again this season.

2) Can the 49ers get the running game going? - The 49ers have seen their yards per rush attempt drop from 4.2 yards per carry to 3.6 yards per carry in the five games since Daniel Kilgore was lost to injury for the season. With Kaepernick struggling, the offense needs to get back the ground game working.

3) Which wide receiver will step up? - A week ago the 49ers wide receivers finished with a combined total of 8 receptions for 62 yards. Those numbers look even worse when you factor in that the highest total, 28 yards from Stevie Johnson, were mostly in garbage time.

4) Can the offensive line protect Kaepernick? - The 49ers offensive line has given up 38 sacks this season which puts them behind only Jacksonville, Washington and the New York Jets in that category. They may catch a bit of a break today because the Raiders defense is last in the league with only 13 sacks on the season.

5) Can the 49ers defense force Derek Carr to beat them? - The Raiders ground game has been almost non-existent this season. They come into this game averaging 3.7 yards per attempt on the ground, a number that is helped out by Latavius Murray's 90 yard run against Kansas City.

The last time the 49ers were in this type of situation they allowed Washington to average 5.0 yards per carry which allowed them to hang around in the game despite holding Robert Griffin III to only 106 yards passing on the day.

Prediction: 49ers 16 Raiders 3

The feeling going into this game is that the first team to score a touchdown will win, and since the 49ers have shown the ability to score touchdowns on their first drive at a high rate this season I'm giving them the nod.
The opinions within this article are those of the writer and, while just as important, are not necessarily those of the site as a whole.


5 Comments

  • Bilal
    This is the of the Krappernick experiment. Our offense is trash and we need a complete offensive make over, starting at QB.......... We will lose the next 3 games no debate , putting us at 7-9 and last in the West. It's time to start scouting pocket passers and move pass Kapp! And yes, I've been a Niner fan for over 30 years and Kapp reminds me of a younger JT O'Sullivan!
    Dec 8, 2014 at 6:30 AM
    0
  • Al Seyford
    I predicted 9-7 at the start of the year. remember, we could not score in the preseason. The faithful have been in denial. We can't score TD's. I have followed this team since 1962 but follow with my eyes, not heart. I expect to finish out the season with three more losses and three more smart ass press conferences by Kap and JIm. You may think I'm crazy but I hate to think what Pete has in mind in Seattle. That could get real ugly!!!
    Dec 7, 2014 at 8:21 PM
    0
  • rjpbobp
    Well - we have Bochey and Kerr that can lead teams - this will now leave Roman the chance to interview for all those top coaching jobs that are awaiting him
    Dec 7, 2014 at 5:05 PM
    0
  • lee vogt
    Wtf guys? What was that?! Im a born and raised 9er fan. That was truly one of the worst games that I've seen. Not sure what is going on, but you guys need to work on it. Sincerly, very disappointed.
    Dec 7, 2014 at 4:44 PM
    0
  • Razoreater
    Mr. Crabs is that receiver. Now's the time to drop that chip he's been carrying in his claw on the team that passed him by for DHB....
    Dec 7, 2014 at 10:00 AM
    0

Facebook Comments



More San Francisco 49ers News



2024 NFL Free Agency Questions and Answers

By Site Staff
Mar 10

NFL Communications provided the following information regarding the 2024 NFL Free Agency signing period. When does the 2024 free agency signing period begin? At 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 13.​ When is the two-day negotiating period for potential unrestricted free agents? From 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, March 11 until 3:59:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 13, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents upon expiration of their 2023 player contracts at 4:00 p.m. ET on March 13. The two-day negotiating period applies only to prospective unrestricted free agents. It



Did the 49ers get better in the first week of free agency?

By Marc Adams
Mar 16

It's been less than one week since the free agency rumors started swirling. The San Francisco 49ers have been busy, from restructuring contracts to seeing some of their own sign elsewhere to bringing aboard new players. They even pulled off a trade. But have they improved their roster this first week of NFL free agency? Let's take a look at which additions and returning players help, and which losses hurt. Additions that help The addition that helped the most is likely edge rusher Leonard Floyd. The veteran pass rusher played in all 17 games last season and hasn't missed a game since 2017. The 49ers have been searching for that edge rusher opposite of Nick Bosa since Dee Ford. Floyd very well could be that guy, finishing with at least nine sacks



5 free agents the 49ers should sign or bring back

By Marc Adams
Mar 9

Hope will soon be reborn for NFL fans everywhere. In only a couple of days, the pain of a long and disappointing season will have fallen out of sight, and a new energy will emerge. I'm speaking, of course, of the start of NFL free agency, when even fans of bad teams can feel optimistic again. It's a time of excitement as your team can begin working toward getting better. The San Francisco 49ers came within one play of winning Super Bowl LVIII. And even though they still have perhaps the best roster in football, they do have some holes to fill, especially with several scheduled free agents of their own. And when you factor in what looks to be a tight salary cap situation a year from now, the 49ers have to be smart about what moves they make this offseason. Next



Will the 49ers painful losses catch up with them in 2024?

By Marc Adams
Mar 9

Sooner or later, those heartbreaking losses catch up to you, right? That's the concern as the San Francisco 49ers head into free agency and look to retool the roster of the NFC Champions. Can the gut-wrenching pain of two Super Bowl losses and two NFC Championship Game losses in five years start to take its toll on the players? Deep postseason runs, season after season, can have physical impacts. And deep postseason losses, year after year, can have emotional impacts. When you look at teams like the '70s Pittsburgh Steelers, '80s 49ers, '90s Dallas Cowboys, the most recent dynasty of the New England Patriots, and even the recent success of the Kansas City Chiefs, they were all able to forge ahead even after making deep postseason runs year after year. The difference? Those


Latest

More by Jack Hamilton

More Articles

Share 49ersWebzone