Week 15: Best and Worst Case Scenarios
The San Francisco 49ers are back at Levi’s Stadium for a Week 15 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. The 49ers are coming off a shaky victory in Week 14 against an ascending Bengals team. They must play a mistake-free game this week to ensure they make a strong push to the postseason. Here’s what to watch for:
Best Case Scenario: The 49ers play mistake-free football and avoid any further injuries en route to a convincing victory in all phases.
Jimmy Garoppolo had his “stinker” game a couple of weeks ago against the Seattle Seahawks and one can imagine it would be a couple of weeks before showing up again. The 49ers simply match up well on offense versus the Falcons, including advantages in the skill position groups. The Falcons defense is not impressive and I could see the 49ers getting the run game going in this contest even with the absence of Elijah Mitchell. George Kittle has been on a tear in back to back weeks and he will shine again today with at least 8 catches and 1 touchdown. The 49ers are simply too much on offense for the Falcons.
The 49ers defense will have to find a way to shut down Kyle Pitts and Cordarrelle Patterson. The good thing is the 49ers have their safeties healthy and they will play a big part in shutting both down. Jimmie Ward plays well against tight ends in the middle of the field, and the tandem of Jaquiski Tartt and Talanoa Hufanga has limited big gains out of the backfield in the latter part of the season.
The Falcons are simply outmatched on both sides of the ball.
Worst Case Scenario: The 49ers go back to turning the ball over and lose the turnover battle by more than two.
Let’s be real here. The only shot the Falcons have is to limit the 49ers possessions. As long as the odds seem, it's actually a possibility. The 49ers team as a whole was a turnover machine early in the season and this was the main factor causing inconsistency. This cannot be attributed to any one player as we’ve seen instances where all of their key offensive contributors have chipped in. Hopefully for the 49ers, the coaching staff was smart enough to realize this is the only way they can lose this game and made it a point of emphasis throughout the week.
The only way the 49ers lose this game is if they beat themselves. Sorry, Falcons fans.
Chuy’s Prediction: The 49ers know they have to win two of their next four to secure a playoff spot and they will be ready to play. The result will be a thrashing of the Atlanta Falcons in dominant fashion on both sides of the ball.
Look for Kyle Shanahan to call a few deep shots early to loosen up the defense then allow Garoppolo to play to his strengths the rest of the way. This will be a slow, plodding offensive game plan all day long that focuses on the run and short/intermediate passing game. Garoppolo will really have an easy day as long as he can convert on 50 percent of the team's third downs.
The 49ers defense will completely shut down the Falcons offense and they will struggle to get to double digit points this week. It's just a bad matchup for the Falcons as they have literally no advantages on the field.
Final Score: 49ers 41 - Falcons - 13
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