Dolphins Opponent Breakdown: San Francisco 49ers
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The Miami Dolphins will look to make it four in a row and improve to 9-3 on the season when they face the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
This is the so-called "17th game," which matches one team from the opposite conference that finished in the same place in their division standing the previous year.
The 49ers will go into the game with a 7-4 record following their 13-0 victory against the New Orleans Saints in Week 12. San Francisco is riding a streak of four consecutive games without allowing a second-half point.
To get some answers on five major questions related to the 49ers, we turned to Publisher Grant Cohn of SI Fan Nation sister site All 49ers.
1. How significant among 49ers fans, players and coach is the return of Mike McDaniel to San Francisco?
GC: It's the biggest game of the season primarily because of McDaniel. Since he left for Miami, the 49ers offense has looked stale and unimaginative and has struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone. Lots of people suspect McDaniel took the offensive creativity with him to Florida, so it will be interesting to see which offense looks more creative and explosive this Sunday. Kyle Shanahan must feel pressure not to get shown up by his protege.
2. How has the running game changed with Christian McCaffrey, and do the 49ers regret at all trading Jeff Wilson Jr. to the Dolphins now that backup Elijah Mitchell is injured?
GC: The running game hasn't changed much with the addition of Christian McCaffrey, and that's a problem. He was supposed to supercharge a stagnant rushing attack, but the 49ers currently rank 18th in yards per carry. In addition, McCaffrey is averaging just 4.2 yards per attempt, plus he left last week's game with knee irritation, and Mitchell is out for the rest of the regular season. So the 49ers have to regret trading Wilson, although they have an undrafted rookie running back named Jordan Mason, who's quite talented. But the running backs haven't been the problem. The offensive line is the reason the run game is so inconsistent. A good defensive line can give the 49ers major problems.
3. What is it about Jimmy Garoppolo that made the 49ers want to move on from him when he's clearly a better option at this time than Trey Lance?
GC: Garoppolo had to take a massive pay cut this offseason and accept a job as a backup quarterback because the league is down on him — not just the 49ers. And that's because he's inconsistent, he gets injured frequently, he doesn't move well, doesn't throw downfield well, doesn't play well in the red zone and hasn't had a good playoff performance in six tries. His record with the 49ers is 40-19, but his biggest win came in the NFC Championship Game when he completed six passes. His most memorable performances by far are his losses. And although his record is impressive, it's a team stat that indicates how good the rest of the roster has been since 2019. Kyle Shanahan's dad Mike Shanahan had a similar quarterback in Jake Plummer, whose record with the Broncos was 40-18. But they decided he wasn't good enough to win a Super Bowl, so they drafted Jay Cutler, who had a much higher ceiling. That's the same reason the 49ers drafted Lance. They hope he can become a Super-Bowl caliber quarterback once he gets healthy and gains some experience.
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4. What makes the 49ers defense so successful? Is it more scheme or players?
GC: The 49ers have impact players at all three levels of their defense, plus a coordinator in DeMeco Ryans who generally makes excellent game plans and even better halftime adjustments — the 49ers haven't given up a point after halftime in four straight games. It's a talented, experienced, confident group that plays fast, but it hasn't faced a good offense since it took on Kansas City, which scored 44 points. Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir is a weak link, as is safety Jimmie Ward, only because the 49ers are playing him at nickel back, which is not his position.
5. How do you see the 49ers trying to deal with the speed of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle?
GC: The 49ers want to take away the quick throws so their four-man pass rush has time to hit Tua, so look for the 49ers to play lots of bump-and-run coverage with two deep safeties to protect against the deep passes..
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