Five reasons 49ers will circle wagons against upstart Bills
The 49ers got back on track with a win over the Los Angeles Rams last week, snapping a three-game losing streak and keeping San Francisco in the thick of the NFC playoff picture.The road doesn’t get any easier for coach Kyle Shanahan’s group in Week 13, as the 49ers will take on the 8-3 Buffalo Bills. Buffalo stands atop the AFC East standings, and Josh Allen has developed into one of the league’s best dual-threat quarterbacks.Desperately needing a win to try and salvage a wild-card spot in the playoffs, this will feel like a postseason game. The 49ers will be the “home” team, although the game will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona due to Santa Clara County’s ban on contact sports.Adversity has been the theme of the 49ers’ 2020 season, and here are five reasons why they’ll defy the odds and vanquish the Bills in primetime.
The 49ers will be looking to make history in Monday night’s game, as San Francisco currently is tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most wins by any franchise on “Monday Night Football” with 49. The Steelers also will play Monday after their game was pushed back due to COVID-19 issues around Pittsburgh's Thanksgiving game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Pittsburgh tied things up by beating the New York Giants in Week 1 of this season, and they could be the first to 50 wins if they beat Washington on Monday. But if the Steelers lose their first game of the season, a 49ers win over the Bills could make San Francisco the first franchise to reach 50 victories in the date/time slot.
On the other side, Buffalo hasn’t won on a Monday night since 2014, and has lost each of its last four appearances, including one earlier this season against the Kansas City Chiefs.
San Francisco makes history and hands the Bills their fifth-straight MNF loss in the desert.
Josh Allen looked a bit hobbled at the end of the Bills’ win over the Los Angeles Chargers and was listed with knee and ankle ailments on Buffalo’s injury report early in the week. He carries no injury designation going into Monday night’s game, but as 49ers fans know well, lower-body injuries can linger, especially for quarterbacks.
Allen is a player whose game revolves around his ability to move around the pocket and scramble to make plays in the open field. He has shown an impressive amount of toughness throughout his NFL career, but he was knocked down hard quite a few times by the Chargers' defense.
Perhaps Allen won’t be as inclined to run around if he’s still feeling some residual effects, and with the 49ers making him the focal point of their defensive gameplan this week, coordinator Robert Saleh’s group will be ready for Allen’s athleticism.
If the 49ers keep him contained throughout the game, their chances of getting the win will skyrocket.
Although Allen never has played against the 49ers in his NFL career, he has some history going up against one of the 49ers’ top defenders. Middle linebacker Fred Warner got the chance to line up against Allen in the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl, which pitted Warner’s BYU Cougars against Allen’s Wyoming Cowboys.
Warner finished with 10 tackles in a winning effort, while Allen completed just 53.1 percent of his passes and tossed two interceptions along with two touchdowns.
Kai Nacua, who the 49ers brought up from the practice squad this week, was Warner’s teammate in that game, and sealed the victory for BYU by intercepting an Allen pass on Wyoming’s final offensive drive.
Warner and the 49ers spoke very highly of Allen throughout the week of practice, but he and Nacua will be eager to once again try and deliver a similar result against Allen.
The Bills’ defense ranks in the bottom third of the NFL in rushing yards allowed per attempt and touchdowns. Although the 49ers’ last three games going into the Week 11 bye were an anomaly, the 49ers feature one of the strongest overall rushing attacks in the NFL.
Raheem Mostert’s return has helped play a major role in that, as San Francisco topped 100 yards rushing in last week’s win over the Rams after not eclipsing 55 yards rushing in each of the three games prior.
As long as Nick Mullens can limit his mistakes and the offensive line performs up to their potential, the 49ers should be able to run the ball early and often Monday.
This one will be a theme of each of the 49ers’ remaining five games, but in a fiercely competitive NFC West, the 49ers will need to win just about every contest from here on out to earn a spot in the postseason.
San Francisco currently is on the outside looking in, but with matchups looming against several of the teams currently ahead of them in the wild-card standings, the 49ers can make up ground by simply finding a way to win each week down the stretch.
The Bills are atop their division and have much less incentive to get a win, and sometimes the difference in the NFL simply comes down to which team wants it more.
