The San Francisco 49ers' Week 2 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals was seen as a very winnable game before last weekend. The Bengals appear to be a more formidable opponent now, after going toe-to-toe with the Seattle Seahawks and nearly escaping CenturyLink Field with the win.
The Bengals defensive front looked solid, putting a lot of pressure on Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. On offense, Andy Dalton threw for 418 yards with two touchdowns and did so without seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green at his disposal.
Meanwhile, in Tampa, the 49ers offense struggled, but the defense managed to carry the team past the Buccaneers. The offense will need to top its 98 total rushing yards against Tampa Bay if the team hopes to head back to the West Coast with a 2-0 record, says Greg Cosell. A lot of that is because the NFL Films producer and ESPN analyst doesn't believe quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is ready to win a game alone just yet.
"I think they need to be able to run to some degree," Cosell told Greg Papa and John Lund during a Friday KNBR interview. "Obviously, the play-action pass game is not dependent on your ability to run the ball effectively because that's not the way defenses are taught. But they need to run because that's a significant part of what they do.
"I don't know if Garoppolo is ready to really put a game on his shoulders. I mean, this will be his 12th NFL start, so I think sometimes people forget that, but he's going to have to be better all around for this offense to work."
It's worth also noting that Sunday against the Buccaneers was Garoppolo's first full game in nearly a year after suffering a torn ACL in Week 3 of the 2018 season.
The quarterback's performance against the Buccaneers has been analyzed and scrutinized all week. He went 18-of-27 for 166 yards with a touchdown, an interception, and an 80.2 passer rating, his second-lowest as a starter (45.1 vs. Min in 2018).
The 49ers kick off against the Bengals on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT) and a solid performance from Garoppolo will do a lot to quiet his critics.
You can listen to the entire interview with Cosell below.
