49ers vs Broncos: Keys to victory for the Niners on Sunday Night Football
Jesse Reed • September 22, 2022
The San Francisco 49ers face their first true test of the season in Week 3 with a road game against the Denver Broncos in primetime onSunday Night Football.
The San Francisco 49ers get their first taste of primetime action Sunday night when they take on the Denver Broncos onSunday Night Football. Both teams enter Week 3 with one win and one loss, and both have something to prove in this highly anticipated, nationally televised game.
Despite Denver's questionable start to the season (awful loss to Seattle and an ugly win against Houston), the Broncos feature dangerous playmakers on both sides of the ball and will have the rowdy backing of Broncos Nation to spur them on. The thin air the 49ers will be subjected to at Empower Field at Mile High will certainly have an impact as well.
What I'm saying is that it's going to be a tough game. regardless of what the Broncos have looked like so far. That old saying "any given Sunday" applies in a major way, too.
Looking ahead to this big matchup, I've identified three keys to victory for the 49ers onSunday Night Footballin Week 3.
49ers must shut down the Broncos' run game
The most impactful thing San Francisco's defense can possibly do Sunday night is to force the Broncos into becoming one-dimensional on offense. The 49ers can do this by shutting down Denver's run game early and often.
The Broncos feature two excellent backs in Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams. These two talented runners have split carries evenly through two games, toting the rock 22 times each while averaging just over five yards per carry (223 yards total). Denver will attempt to control the pace and momentum of the game by running the ball early.
Williams is also a monster after the catch and has become Russell Wilson's favorite security blanket. His abilities as a receiver are an extension of the run game. Keeping him from running wild in the open field is a huge task.
The last thing the Broncos want is Nick Bosa and the rest of San Francisco's front seven pinning their ears back and attacking Russell Wilson. If the 49ers can consistently stifle the Broncos' run game, that's exactly what will happen.
Third-and-longs are what we're hoping to see all night long.
This means Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw and Kevin Givens need to continue balling out inside so that the team's linebackers can fly to the ball like we've seen during the first two weeks.
Should they accomplish this goal, the 49ers will have an excellent chance to give Wilson fits and create game-changing turnovers like we've seen them do the first two weeks of the season.
49ers offensive line must dominate the LOS
Much like the 49ers, the Broncos have thus far been able to not only run the ball well in 2022 but have also shut down opposing teams' rushing attacks. Denver has allowed just 78 rushing yards per contest, which is good for fifth-best in the league.
Former Niner D.J. Jones has been phemonenal for the Broncos and leads a defensive line that can both stuff the run and get after quarterbacks. Dre'Mont Jones and Bradley Chubb both enter Week 3 with two sacks apiece.
On the other side, the 49ers were outstanding up front in Week 2. Both Aaron Banks and rookie Spencer Burford sparkled in their second-career starts, while Trent Williams rebounded from a rough Week 1 outing to look like his dominant self once more.
Kyle Shanahan loves to control the game with a relentless rushing attack. The 49ers won the time-of-possession battle against Seattle by nearly doubling up the Seahawks. They would love to follow that same formula in Week 3, but if the Broncos are able to get penetration up front and force San Francisco's running backs out of their lanes that will be hard to achieve.
Time to unleash Jimmy Garoppolo
Following Week 2's dominant victory over the Seahawks, Jimmy Garoppolo gave us an incredibly insightful quote to chew on. During his time at the podium, he talked about how he was able to let it rip on Sunday.
Jim tells 'em who's BOSS! “Ecstatic… Felt good..It kinda felt like 2017 where it was go throw and make plays. That’s what I like to do. It’s different than what we usually do around here but sometimes you need to do that.” 👀 #FeelsGreatBaby
🥰 @JimmyG_10#TeamGaroppolo10pic.twitter.com/lB5zQ7FA30
The most interesting part of this quote from Garoppolo is him saying, "It's different than what we usually do around here..." which seems to be a not-so-subtle message to his head coach.
Essentially, Garoppolo appears to be implying that he's been held back a bit by Shanahan in the passing game. That perhaps the coach has not wanted to let his quarterback take as many shots downfield as he would like. That, just maybe, Garoppolo is sick and tired of simply managing games.
Based onwhat we saw from Garoppolo in Week 2against the Seahawks, I'd love to see Shanahan unleash Jimmy a bit more than what we've seen the past few years.
Now, I'm not advocating for the 49ers to abandon their tried-and-true formula of dominating time of possession by running the ball down teams' throats. What I would love to see, however, is a passing game that does not limit itself to dink-and-dunk plays that rely exclusively on yards after the catch.
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