Defense great, offense not, for 49ers in Week 13

By Richard Brear  |   Wednesday, December 03, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

San Francisco 49ers
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To say the least, the play of San Francisco’s defense was impressive in Sunday's 10-3 upset win over the Buffalo Bills. But each team limited its opponent to no more than a dime’s worth of points, so Buffalo’s 'D' was quite solid in its own right.

It was also impressive to see the 49ers’ opening possession culminate with quarterback Shaun Hill’s touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce.

It took that to awaken the Bills' defense, which surrendered just a field goal for the remaining 52 minutes after the Niners burned eight on their first march.

The question is: Are the 49ers, now 4-8, likely to manhandle the four teams remaining on their schedule after going East to handle the Bills? The first test over the final four games is the 8-4 New York Jets, who bring their potent offense to Candlestick Park this Sunday. The Jets are second in the NFL in points scored, so holding them to 10 points would be an almost miraculous accomplishment. Fact is, the Jets are more accustomed to scoring dozens of points in games this season rather than as few as San Francisco amassed against Buffalo.

However, the 49ers' other opponents -- the Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams and Washington Redskins -- currently inhabit the bottom 10 positions in total points for the 2008 season, so there’s bona fide room for hope for San Francisco's defense to close the year well.

The problem: Can the 49ers' offense actually score some points? Of the Niners’ remaining opponents, stats say Washington will be the toughest team against which to score, followed by Miami (a unit about as stingy as Buffalo’s defense), and then the Jets. The Rams, second in the league in most offensive points allowed, may just roll over and play dead for the San Francisco offense.

The 49ers are all but dead when it comes to winning the NFC West (7-5 Arizona can clinch with a victory), but they'll need both units to operate on full cylinders if they're to keep hope alive.
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About Richard Brear

My first newspaper article of many appeared in print in the 1960's, but my fascination with journalism never got too serious until roughly twenty years later. In the 80's, I became a certified teacher of English Language Arts, got degrees from the University of Houston, and began teaching writing ...
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