2011 San Francisco 49ers Predictions
The 49ers were the favorites to win the NFC West in 2010, and Mike Singletary was shown the door when they failed to do so.
Now, the proud franchise has turned to former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh. The Niners are looking for him to right the ship quickly like he did at Stanford.
Offense: San Francisco ranked 24th in the NFL in both scoring and total offense last season with 19.1 points and 313.3 yards per game. The organization has brought in Harbaugh to see that these numbers improve.
The level of improvement in 2011 will largely depend on how well Harbaugh can coach up quarterback Alex Smith, who completed under 60.0 percent of his passes for 2,370 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season.
The pressure is on Smith to deliver as the team spent a second-round pick on Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick.
There are some promising options in the receiving corps starting with tight end Vernon Davis, who led the team in receptions (56), receiving yards (914) and touchdown catches (seven) a year ago.
The team is looking for Michael Crabtree to have a breakout season. He didn’t show the type of improvement the 49ers were looking for in his sophomore campaign, catching 55 passes for 741 yards and six scores.
Josh Morgan and Tedd Ginn should be motivated as they enter the final year of their contracts. Braylon Edwards has also been brought in to bolster the unit.
Frank Gore is still the featured back, and one of the best all-around running backs in the league, but injuries the last four seasons prompted the team to go after Kendall Hunter in the draft.
Gore rushed for 853 yards and three touchdowns and caught 46 passes for 452 yards and two more scores in an injury-shortened 2010 season.
The line is young, but it shows a lot of promise because of the level of athleticism guys like Mike Iupati possess.
Defense: The stop unit ranked 13th in total defense in 2010 with 327.8 yards allowed per game. It ranked 16th in scoring defense with 21.6 points allowed per contest.
Right end Justin Smith is the leader up front. Smith, who led the team with 8.5 sacks, made his second straight trip to the Pro Bowl. He is also fantastic against the run and a big reason why the Niners ranked sixth in the league with only 96.7 rushing yards allowed per game.
The second layer of the defense is led by all-world linebacker Patrick Willis, who has led the team in tackles the last four years. He finished second on the team in sacks (6), and we could see that number go up with Vic Fangio expected to blitz him more.
The 49ers grabbed Aldon Smith with the seventh pick in the draft in hopes of giving the pass rush a boost from the outside linebacker spot. Starters Parys Haralson and Manny Lawson combined for only 6.5 sacks last year.
The secondary will be looking to bounce back from a rough year. The 49ers ranked 24th in the league against the pass and allowed opposing quarterbacks to average a 90.0 passer rating. Shawntae Spencer is the closest thing the Niners have to a shutdown corner, and he’s not quite that.
Prediction: 3rd Place NFC West – The 49ers have talent on both sides of the football, but it will be very difficult for Harbaugh to deliver the team’s first division title since 2002 in his first season on the job. NFL odds makers have listed San Francisco at +200 to win the division.
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