The 49ers head into Atlanta with a familiar mix of confidence and caution, and this time the spotlight lands on a defense that has quietly turned sharp while the offense tries to navigate life without a full receiver room.
Atlanta has a way of making this matchup weird for San Francisco, no matter how the Falcons are playing. Right now, their defense is the part that jumps off the page.
The line is active, disruptive and built around an “attack-style defense” under d-line coach Nate Ollie, who tells his players that if “they think, they stink”. That mindset has helped the interior get after quarterbacks in a big way, with Brandon Dorlus tied for the league lead in most QB pressures from an interior defensive lineman.
That pressure up front changes everything behind it. Atlanta’s back seven is being asked to cover more ground, and while Divine Deablo stands out as one of the better linebackers in the league, there are still openings if the 49ers can get their linemen climbing to the second level.
The big question is how Kyle Shanahan attacks that without any wide receivers to work with. The finish to last game left at least a little bit of concern, even if confidence in the preseason prediction remains intact.
San Francisco also has to keep watching the injury situation on defense. Nick Bosa missed Wednesday’s practice, though Shanahan said he is hopeful Bosa returns on Thursday.
Since the 49ers played on Monday, Wednesday’s session was only a walkthrough. Dre Greenlaw is back at practice, and Shanahan also said Christian Kirk had “a good week of practice last week.
He’ll be out there again today. Hopefully, he feels good at the end of the week.”
Shanahan also fielded a question about the communication issues that pop up through the headset, and he explained that what happens isn’t really about hurrying the call along. “It’s actually not call the play faster.
It’s, ‘I need it again.’ It gets cut off at 15, so sometimes no one can hear and a lot of the quarterbacks do it because I always call a play and then I just walk and think.
I don’t always watch the huddle and a lot of times [QB] Mac [Jones] or someone, because they’ll be like, ‘Hey, we didn’t get it. It was choppy.’
Or someone will yell, ‘Brock’s yelling at you,’ which I can’t always hear. I did hear him a couple of times in this game, so I look up and then I try to do it again as long as it’s not past 15 seconds.
Sometimes he’ll do it and I don’t get a heads up to like 16 and I start to do it again and he hears half the play call because it shuts off at 15….. I don’t remember what the play was.
Probably happened five times in the game, so that’s something that happens a lot. Headsets do that.”
One of the more encouraging signs for San Francisco came in the work of the young defenders. In the run-up to the game, Halton talked about “building a cage” against the elusive Daniels, who ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns a week earlier.
Halton backed that up by getting to Daniels for a sack in the second quarter as Daniels tried to escape, with Fred Warner blitzing on the play. Daniels would have had room to run had Halton not taken him down.
The 49ers hit Daniels a season-high 10 times, which stands out even more when compared with the eight quarterback hits they finished with against Sam Darnold last week, despite that game producing five sacks.
Raheem Morris also returns to Atlanta with a defense that is starting to hum. His group is using more “match” coverage, where defenders begin in zone, read the quarterback and break on routes to close throwing windows.
When a receiver enters their area, the defender takes him, which often leaves the offense settling for checkdowns and shorter gains. That approach has helped limit explosive plays and has also let the secondary play with more punch.
Shanahan pointed to Green’s two-interception game in Seattle and Mustapha’s hard hits that helped finish off Monday night’s win over Washington.
“Those guys aren’t counting on linebackers, so they have to be more aggressive in coverage,” Shanahan said. “Those guys are playing concepts to stop plays without any help and that’s been their edge.
I think it’s made them better. It’s given them more confidence in practice, and I think that’s what we’re all seeing in games.”
There’s also an injury note worth watching on Mike Evans. A surgeon’s perspective on his Achilles tendinitis described it as an overuse injury that can bring pain and tightness, with serious cases involving microscopic degeneration or small tears that can raise the risk of rupture.
Given Evans’ age and history with Achilles tendinitis, Jung said he is likely dealing with “wear and tear,” minor tissue degeneration that may have become severe enough to cause a flare-up. Evans hadn’t missed a game because of an Achilles issue in his first 12 seasons.
Treatment often centers on rest, icing and supportive footwear, and many cases settle in a few weeks. If Evans didn’t make the condition much worse by playing Monday, it’s possible he could miss only one game.
“If it’s just some (Achilles) wear and tear, then you’re probably in a situation where you’re managing it,” Jung said. “You try to get it to a point where it settles down, it doesn’t flare up and you just kind of keep managing it.”
In Other News...
Brock Purdy Just Backed Up What 49ers Fans Have Been Seeing
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What makes Purdys latest step forward matter is the larger backdrop around it. The 49ers have leaned on him to keep the offense on schedule and make the most of the talent around him, and the grade only adds to the sense that he is backing up the eye test with production and consistency. The bigger question now is how far that level of play can carry San Francisco as the season keeps tightening, especially with the supporting cast around him still dealing with the usual weekly wear and tear. [Read more 🡒]
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Among the names getting floated, the options range from familiar to purely speculative, with the kind of short-list discussion that usually follows a team with big expectations and a clear sense of urgency. The challenge for San Francisco is finding a move that actually fits the price and the need, and for now the debate is still centered on which direction the front office would prioritize if it decides to be aggressive. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Fans Want A Receiver Trade But One Problem Keeps Looming
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Even so, the path to a meaningful deal is not as simple as fans might hope. Some of the injured pass catchers are expected back soon, which gives San Francisco reason to wait before paying a premium, and the market itself does not offer many obvious upgrades. The one name who could really move the needle would come with a much steeper price, especially with other teams also in the mix, leaving the 49ers in a familiar spot of balancing urgency against patience. [Read more 🡒]