Giants game an exercise in avoiding more injuries
This is a pivot point in the 49ers’ season.
When they return to MetLife Stadium and its trap- door field, the 49ers will be missing a parade of A-listers against the New York Giants.
Absent from their depth chart: QB1; RB1; RB2; TE1; WR1; DE1; DE2; DT1; LB3; CB1.
Names? None is bigger than Nick Bosa, their top defender, and the NFL’s reigning Rookie of the Year, who sustained a seasonending knee injury on the same field last Sunday in a 31-13 rout of the Jets.
No position looms bigger in the NFL than quarterback, and Jimmy Garoppolo’s high- ankle sprain last Sunday will sideline him in favor of Nick Mullens’ first start since 2018.
No captain means more to the 49ers’ overall vibe than George Kittle, and even though he’s practiced this week, his Week 1 knee injury warrants an extra game off than expose it to MetLife’s synthetic surface, which got inspected and cleared since last Sunday’s leg-injury pileup.
The 49ers (1-1) insist their backups are ready, capable of repeating last year’s fill-in work that
galvanized them en route to the Super Bowl.
It should help that the Giants (0-2) are far from full strength, that they lost their best player to a season- ending knee injury, too. And soon after running back Saquon Barkley hit injured reserve, so did wide receiver Sterling Shepard. The 49ers should bear no sympathy.
Lose, and only then can the 49ers’ excuses flow: Injuries, field conditions, injuries, officiating, injuries, and maybe even homesickness, because they’ve holed up in the West Virginia mountains between this New York-New York act.
A coached-up skeleton crew still should be enough for a 49ers win, and here are five secrets to their success:
1. Quarterback capabilities
The run-first 49ers will not flinch as Mullens starts in place of Garoppolo, nor will coach Kyle Shanahan overhaul his mismatch-oriented game plan.
Mullens’ moxie won over teammates and fans when he went 3- 5 to close a hellacious 2018. He was their third QB after Garoppolo tore an ACL and C. J. Beathard went 0-5.
Kittle said of Mullens: “He’s locked in. He’s got the game plan down. He’s got a rocket for an arm. He’s slinging it. He’s confident.”
He should be. Mullens is in his fourth year in Shanahan’s complex system. He has the competitive fire needed to elevate teammates amid a storm of injuries.
Does the Giants’ Daniel Jones offer that? Drafted sixth overall last year, Jones is just 3-12 as a starter. He has lost 11 of his past 12. “Jones, he’s a good player. He is,” 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said with a convincing plea. “He knows how to play quarterback.”
Saleh respects Jones’ toughness, pocket presence and mobility, the latter of which is worth noting in terms of a historical mile marker. In Week 3 last year, he won his starting debut and NFC Player of the Week honors, pass
ing for two touchdowns before running for his second score to top Tampa Bay 32
31.
2. Rebuilt defensive front Losing Bosa’s relentless drive and top-tier talent is crushing. He was the star attraction to one of the NFL’s best defensive fronts, which also lost defensive tackle Solomon Thomas to a knee injury two snaps after Bosa. Add in Dee Ford’s vanishing act because of a back injury and the 49ers need to re- establish their potential.
Defensive ends Ziggy Ansah and Dion Jordan joined the roster and have the opportunity to show what made them 2013 topfive draft picks elsewhere. Both should have chances to flash off the edge and get to Jones, along with Kerry Hyder.
When Arik Armstead is not inside and manning an end spot, keep a lookout for rookie Javon Kinlaw, the 49ers’ top pick this year who could be a strong interior force with D. J. Jones, Kentavius Street and Kevin Givens.
3. Tight end tale- of-tape One of the NFL’s best tight ends will be on display, and we’re not talking about whether Jordan Reed can excel like last Sunday’s two-touchdown outburst.
The Giants’ top offensive threat is Evan Engram.
“Engram is just as good as a (wide) receiver. He can be a matchup problem,” safety Jaquiski Tartt said.
With linebacker Dre Greenlaw (quadriceps) out, that will impact how the team covers the Giants tight ends.
Jones targeted Engram 15 times this season for eight receptions. Tight ends always make for kind friends to young quarterbacks, and the Giants’ next-best two are former 49ers Kaden Smith and Levine Toilolo.
With Richard Sherman out at least two more games, perhaps Jones would prefer looking for wide receiver Darius Slayton, who had 135 yards and two touchdowns in their Week 1 loss. (The Giants are the NFL’s lowestscoring team, with losses of 26-16 to Pittsburgh and 1713 last Sunday at Chicago.)
4. Must-see McKinnon Knee injuries took out Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman last Sunday on this field, and so the 49ers
likely will turn most of their carries over to the running back who missed the previous two seasons with a knee injury, Jerick McKinnon.
McKinnon has scored in each game, so far, and he’s shown the burst and versatility that attracted Shanahan to him on the 2018 market. Shanahan pointed out that McKinnon has “earned” a bigger role, and this is no time to be bluffing.
That said, the 49ers always have options, and that includes hard-charging Jeff Wilson Jr., who could take over Coleman’s role as a bruiser. Undrafted rookie JaMycal Hasty offers shifty speed and an X-factor that will be unleashed at some point this year, and perhaps this game.
Keep in mind, the 49ers offensive line is healthy, so is fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and so is the coaching staff’s creativity ready to summon a synchronized blocking scheme.
5. MetLife mind trick Never has a field – at least a brand new, synthetic one – drawn so much scorn from the 49ers, and understandably so after so many players sustained leg injuries on it.
Adjectives used to describe it: sticky, spongy, thick, terrible and trash. The NFL offered its own description Thursday: “The field meets all applicable standards and protocols.”
The 49ers need to block from their collective psyche all the bad juju about the surface and just play on it.
“When we strap it up,” Saleh said, “you’ve got to think about the things you’ve got control over, dominate your controlables. go play to play, and trust that the good Lord is watching over you, and you’re going to have a heck of a day.”
History bodes well for teams that win on back-toback Sundays on the road against the New York teams. Buffalo did it to open last year, and it’s a feat previously pulled off by Washington in 1999 and Chicago in 2006, according to The Associated Press’ Josh Dubow.
All three teams made the playoffs. The Super Bowlbound Bears’ kicker on that New York-New York sweep: Robbie Gould, who was perfect on his kicks back then and has made his past 20 field-goal attempts for the 49ers.