5 49ers who must step up to beat the Titans

The players have to be at their best on Sunday.

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The San Francisco 49ers are expected to dominate the Tennessee Titans in Week 15. However, the NFL can be crazy, and upsets happen every week, so the 49ers still need to bring a strong performance to win. A few players in particular may be under the spotlight. 

Dominick Puni 

The Tennessee Titans' clear strength on the entire roster is their interior defensive line. Between Jeffrey Simmons, T’Vondre Sweat, and Sebastian Joseph-Day, they have a legitimate star in his prime, an ascending young player, and a relied-on veteran. 

The 49ers' offensive line is weakest along the interior. Their best player is Dominick Puni, who cannot let the group down this week. Puni started the season with issues, but has been excellent since Week 8. He seems fully recovered from the injury he suffered in the preseason, and the week off should allow him to ascend for the final four games. Watch Puni closely against these talented linemen. 

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Ricky Pearsall 

Pearsall has 20 yards in three games since returning from his PCL injury. His 14 yards against Cleveland was his best game, and now that he has a week off, he needs to be their explosive weapon.

The Titans' starting cornerbacks are not good, and it will be a pick-your-poison situation for who the passing game picks on. Pearsall needs to get back on track, and if he does not, we cannot keep blaming the injury. 

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Jason Pinnock 

The Titans run two tight end sets a good portion of their offensive snaps, and in the last four weeks, their two tight ends are their top two receivers in yards. They are going to force the 49ers to play Jason Pinnock and Luke Gifford more often. Both have been questionable in coverage.

The only way that this game gets away is a few big passing gains by the tight ends on Tennessee. Pinnock has to make sure that does not happen. 

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Bryce Huff

At left tackle, Dan Moore is banged up and has been a dud of a free agent signing. At right tackle, JC Latham is coming into his own in year two, but there are still major ups and downs. When you look at Cam Ward, not many quarterbacks take more unnecessary sacks, and he has nine fumbles, with six being lost to the other team, both lead the league. 

All of this adds up to say that Huff should get a strip sack this week. At the very least, he should get a sack to snap his four-game cold streak, after four sacks in the first seven games.

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Brock Purdy 

The play of Purdy has been up-and-down, and it almost looks like he is still shaking off rust, or going through a preseason of sorts, where he gets back into NFL form. He got a few games to get into a groove, and the bye week should have him healthy and ready to roll. 

Against the Tennessee Titans, the key to beating them is throwing the football. There is no reason Purdy should not have a massive day throwing the ball, showing fans that he is back on track.