The 49ers will head into next weekend’s Wild Card matchup with no shortage of confidence having reeled off 10 successive wins to end the regular season.
San Francisco is the second seed in the NFC and the 38-13 thumping of the Cardinals in Week 18 was another demonstration of how dangerous the Niners can be in the postseason.
Yet the 49ers’ coaching staff will be eager to avoid confidence turning into complacency and San Francisco, despite the emphatic nature of its win in the regular-season finale, does have things to clean up.
The Niners are a team without any significant holes, but, as we detail here, there are some emerging issues that will need to be addressed if they are to go deep into the postseason as many expect.
Right side of the offensive line
The 49ers initially struggled to get into a rhythm on offense in the first half in part because J.J. Watt, playing in his final NFL game, had success generating pressure against the right side of the offensive line.
Rookie right guard Spencer Burford struggled to handle Watt and, with a knee injury to left guard Aaron Banks meaning Daniel Brunskill had to fill in at that spot, the Niners were prevented from rotating Burford and Brunskill as they have done for most of the season.
Though the 49ers eventually found their offensive groove, they will hope Banks can recover from his MCL sprain in time for the Wild Card round to give them two options on the right-hand side.
Should he do so, the 49ers may need to decide whether to stick with the rotational policy or pick a definitive starting right guard for the postseason, in which the experience of Brunskill may appeal over the ups and downs Burford has often brought in his rookie year.
Slow starts on defense
San Francisco outscored the Cardinals 38-7 after Arizona’s opening touchdown on a double pass, but Niners defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans may be preaching the importance of starting fast after a frustrating first half.
It is the Cardinals’ second scoring drive that is likely to be Ryans’ main source of irritation. The 49ers twice had the Cardinals in third and long but allowed them to convert on both occasions before they found the endzone on a one-yard Corey Clement.
San Francisco cannot afford to give better teams life in the same fashion in the postseason.
The 49ers’ vastly superior talent and ability to create turnovers meant the Cardinals could not sustain the offensive success they enjoyed early on but, having also allowed the Raiders to get off to a hot start a week earlier, Ryans and the Niner defense will be keen to ensure they do not facilitate more dangerous opponents doing the same in elimination games.
The secondary surrendering explosives
While Charvarius Ward and Jimmie Ward continue to impressive at outside and nickel corner respectively, there is reason for concern regarding several other members of a San Francisco secondary that is showing a worrying tendency for conceding explosive plays of late.
Deommodore Lenoir continued a theme of losing the battle for the ball at the catch point on A.J. Green’s opening touchdown on the double pass, a play that saw safety Tashaun Gipson miss a tackle and allow Green to surge into the endzone.
Gipson, to his credit, snared two interceptions and has been one of the more underrated stories of a tremendous 49er season, having signed in August following injuries at safety and kept the starting free safety spot for the entire year.
It is at the other safety spot, occupied by Talanoa Hufanga, where there may be greater anxiety. Ryans has openly criticised Hufanga for displaying poor eye discipline in recent weeks as he has conceded several big plays on coverage busts.
There were no such problems for Hufanga in the regular-season finale, though, and Ryans will hope his public rebuke will fuel a postseason campaign in which the upside of the second-year safety’s boom-bust style of play comes to the fore.
