Giants, 49ers meet in historically futile matchup
Teams with one combined win battered with injuries in 2017
By Josh Dubow SANTA CLARA » The New York Giants are coming off a 34-point loss at home, have several key players on injured reserve, and have won one game in a rough first half of the season.
As bad as things are for the Giants, they are even worse for the San Francisco 49ers (0-9), who are still seeking their first win under coach Kyle Shanahan. They lost three more players to season-ending injuries this week to raise their total to a league-high 18 players on injured reserve.
The game Sunday between these former NFC powers isn’t exactly a marquee matchup. In fact, this is the first time since 1984 that teams with only one combined win have met this late in the season.
“Go out there, get a win and just change the mentality, the feel, the vibe in the whole building,” Giants offensive lineman Justin Pugh said. “If you come in and the woman at the front desk, she’ll be smiling, everyone will be a little bit happier. So it’s definitely a thing that we need. We need to go out and get a win and just have that onegame mentality.”
In that last game between inept teams, Cleveland (1-8) beat Buffalo (0-9) to give interim coach Marty Schottenheimer his first win as an NFL coach. The 13-10 game wasn’t exactly a barn-burner as the only TDs were scored on fumble returns, with the winning points coming when Ernest Byner picked up teammate Willis Adams’ fumble and raced 55 yards for the score.
Right now, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan would take that kind of win for the first in his career and help validate owner Jed York’s decision to hire him last offseason.
“It’s hard after each game to look at the owners and say we’re sorry. I know we didn’t do it again. That is very tough on me,” Shanahan said. “I wish I could make this look better for him right now. I know it isn’t there right now, but I know it will be. He’s been great with that and understanding of that too. They’ve really let us do our job.”
Here are some things to watch: other tackle Joe Staley, the 49ers have been facing lots of pressure. No quarterback has been blitzed on more pass plays the past three weeks than Beathard, according to SportRadar, as defenses are testing the rookie quarterback playing behind the suspect line. He has completed 16 of 39 passes for 173 yards against the blitz in those games, while getting sacked four times. He has been sacked 14 times in three starts.
“You have to make people pay and that’s the only way to scare people out of stuff, and I think we’ve struggled to make people pay,” Shanahan said. do it well and get wins and if you don’t, everybody’s job is up for grabs in this league.”