49ers Keys and Dangers Facing Tennessee

Looks like an easy win, but there are a few concerns

Dec 7, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard (20) runs for a thirty-two yard touchdown against Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit (9) during the third quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Niners come out of their bye hosting 2-11 Tennessee. The Titans got their 2nd win last week off a 161-yard rushing game from Tony Pollard. The blueprint in this matchup is to build an early lead to force Tennessee out of the run.

49ers on offense

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Christian McCaffrey is questionable with a back injury from the team’s practice on Thursday. If he sits out, Brian Robinson can deliver on the ground, but the passing game will need to focus on the receivers. Robinson only has seven catches for 19 yards on the season.

Brock Purdy will probably look to target George Kittle and Jauan Jennings more often. A key question is what the Niners will get from Ricky Pearsall, who has just five catches for 20 yards in his last three games.

Purdy faces a Tennessee defense ranked 26th in the league, with only six interceptions on the year. Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is having an All-Pro season with eight sacks. Linebacker Cedric Gray is their leading tackler. The Titans are vulnerable to pre-snap motion, are 26th in red zone touchdown percentage and 27th in wide receiver passing yards against.

Given the importance of building an early lead, the Niners will hope to continue their success on the opening script drive and convert opportunities in the red zone.

Tennessee hasn’t won back-to-back games in three years.

Titans on offense

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Tony Pollard had his career-high rushing game last week with 161 yards and two touchdowns against Cleveland. The Niners held Pollard in check in the 2023 playoffs against Dallas at Levi’s. Pollard had 33 yards of total offense before he went down with an ankle injury late in the first half.

The Titans committed to the run against the Browns, giving Pollard 25 carries. Robert Saleh cited poor tackling as a concern in the Cleveland game. The Niners will need to wrap up Pollard, who broke a run for 65 yards last week. Swarm tackling will be important in this one.

Cam Ward is the most sacked quarterback in the league, at 4.4 per game. The Titans will be starting their backup center and could be vulnerable to an inside pass rush.

Tennessee has two capable tight ends in leading receiver Chig Okonkwo and Gunnar Helm. Titans offensive coordinator Nick Holz will look to challenge the Niner defense with multiple TE sets, as the league looks to copy Sean McVay’s success. Okonkwo has 41 receptions for 426 yards, over half of it in YAC, but no touchdowns.

The leading wide receiver is Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor, but he has caught less than half of his targets with 30 catches on 67 targets for 353 yards and three TDs.

Ward’s accuracy has improved as the season has gone on, over 62% in his last six games. He can run but prefers to stay in the pocket, 30 rushes for 127 yards with a long of 20.

The Titans have this year’s best kick returner in rookie Chimere Dike, who has two punt return touchdowns and over 1,300 yards in kickoff returns with a long of 71. 49ers kick coverage will need to stay disciplined.

Prediction (6-7)

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I have not been able to get a handle on the Niners this year, picking them to lose the tough games and win the rebounds when it’s often been the reverse.

This matchup is straightforward - build a lead and force Ward to throw behind a porous line. While the Niners are last in sacks, they’ll get an opportunity against Tennessee as Ward has been sacked 49 times.

This should be a productive day for Kittle, likely to get more targets, and Robinson at the goal line against Tennessee’s weak red zone defense.

Since stopping Pollard is the game, I’d look for Saleh to stack the box. Sound tackling and more swarm stops will be needed this week. The Titans will hope to play keep away and dominate the clock.

Dike is a legit threat. The Niners will need to keep him contained. They can’t afford to give Ward and Pollard short fields to keep the game close.

I think the Niners will eventually pull away, but expect Tennessee to stick to the run as long as they can.

49ers 27 Titans 17