The
San Francisco 49ers will look to start their march towards another deep postseason run on Sunday when they open up the 2014 season against the
Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers are coming off a regular season that saw them post 12 wins and a wildcard berth in the NFC playoffs. The Super Bowl drive ultimately fell 6 inches short.
The Cowboys are coming off an 8-8 season which saw them once again miss the playoffs with a loss on the final week of the regular season. In 2013 the Cowboys had one of the worst defenses that the NFL has seen in a long time, giving up 30 points or more on 6 occasions.
The rivalry between the 49ers and Cowboys has been one of the best in the NFL for many years and the series record is currently deadlocked at 16-16-1.
With that as a backdrop here are 5 burning questions to which the answers will be key to the outcome of the game.
1) Will Ray McDonald play? - The 49ers defensive end was arrested Sunday morning after police received a domestic violence call. Many have called for the 49ers to sit McDonald, however NFL commissioner
Roger Goodell,
Jim Harbaugh and
Trent Baalke have all stated that they believe in due process which leads me to believe that we will see McDonald on the field Sunday afternoon.
2) How will the 49ers defensive front seven hold up? - The 49ers defense will feature a front seven that will be without
Aldon Smith and
Navorro Bowman. If last season is any indication the 49ers should be able to manage just fine. With Smith out of the lineup they won five straight, and two of those victories came with
Patrick Willis out as well. In fact, with Smith and Willis out of the lineup the 49ers defense gave up a combined total of 14 points in those two games.
3) Can the 49ers secondary keep up? - Three of the five members of the 49ers secondary have changed since the end of last season. Gone are
Donte Whitner,
Tarell Brown and
Carlos Rogers. Stepping in to fill their roles will be
Antoine Bethea,
Chris Culliver and rookie
Jimmie Ward. This group will have their hands full trying to cover
Dez Bryant,
Terrance Williams and
Jason Witten. It will be especially interesting to see how the 49ers try to cover Witten. Will they use their linebackers or will it be an extra safety or cornerback charged with that task?
4) Will the right side of the 49ers offensive line show improvement? - Everything is pointing towards the 49ers starting
Jonathan Martin at right tackle on Sunday. Martin did a good job for most of the preseason in pass protection, but struggled to get push in the run game. The good news is Cowboys defensive end
George Selvie doesn't strike fear in the hearts of anyone in the NFL and this is a matchup Martin should win.
The picture at right guard is a little less clear. After missing all offseason team activities as the result of a contract dispute
Alex Boone signed a new deal on Monday and has been participating in practice. If Boone isn't ready to go the 49ers will turn to
Joe Looney who played with the starting unit throughout the preseason.
Regardless of who the starter is, they will be matched up with
Nick Hayden. In 2013 Hayden earned the second worse grade among all defensive tackles in the NFL from ProFootballFocus with a -34.1.
5) Can the 49ers offense put it together? - The bad news is the 49ers starting offense did not score a touchdown during any of the possessions they were involved in during the first three preseason games.
The good news is the 49ers have a history of being very conservative and vanilla until the games that count start.
With
Michael Crabtree set to play a full season and new weapons in
Carlos Hyde,
Brandon Lloyd and
Stevie Johnson, all signs are pointing to improved play from
Colin Kaepernick. Look for the 49ers offense to throw some new wrinkles at the Cowboys defense, but also continue with the balance approach that has served them so well since Jim Harbaugh and
Greg Roman took over. A slow and steady approach could go a long way toward helping the defense get it's footing with the new additions against what can be an explosive offense.
Prediction Time: 49ers 26 Cowboys 23
The first wave of free agency has come and gone, and the 49ers have had to say goodbye to a number of familiar faces while welcoming a few new ones. There's been a good amount of shuffling over the past week, but one thing remains clear -- the 49ers still have one of the best rosters in the NFL.
There's still more players to be added in the weeks ahead, both in the draft and in free agency. The 49ers still need depth and competition in a few areas, and maybe a new starter in a key spot on special teams. But with the way things look now, the 49ers could be looking at a fairly complete roster with very few weaknesses once they're done with their offseason moves.
Here's a look at where things stand by position as of March 17, along with some thoughts on where the
Twenty San Francisco 49ers players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on Wednesday. Three of them are offensive linemen. The biggest name among those linemen is tackle Mike McGlinchey, who will likely garner significant interest around the NFL.
Daniel Brunskill and Jake Brendel are also slated to become free agents. The latter is reportedly garnering interest as well. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, multiple teams are interested in pursuing Brendel in free agency, including the Houston Texans and a pair of AFC teams. Former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is the new head coach there. Former 49ers passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik is the
The San Francisco 49ers are re-signing safety Tashaun Gipson to a one-year, $2.9 million deal with $2.17 million guaranteed. The contract will include statistic and Pro Bowl incentives. Gipson was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday.
Source: The #49ers are re-signing veteran safety Tashaun Gipson to a 1-year deal. Gipson started all 17 games last season for SF and they valued him a ton. Now back for another year.— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate)
The following list tracks San Francisco 49ers signings, interests, and losses during free agency, which officially kicks off at the start of the new league year on Wednesday, March 15, at 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET). NFL teams can begin negotiations with player agents on Monday, March 13, at 9 a.m. PT (noon ET).
This list will be updated frequently throughout the early days of free agency, so please bookmark it and check back often for the latest information.
Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA): A player with an expiring contract who has four-or-more accrued seasons and is free to negotiate with any team at the start of the new league year.
Restricted Free Agent (RFA): A player with an expiring contract who has three accrued
