Although the 49ers offense showed up against the Rams on Thursday night, it was not enough as San Francisco fell to 0-3 with their 41-39 loss.
“Thursday obviously wasn’t good enough for anyone who’s a Niners fan or employee or anything,” defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said. “But, trying to get to that and trying to find opportunities to get on the field, that’s always on our thoughts.”
Now, the 49ers are looking to hold off a winless start through four games with a victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, delivering Kyle Shanahan his first win as a head coach.
A key contributor to San Francisco’s devastating loss on Thursday was their lack of defense, particularly on third down. Thus far, the 49ers have allowed 52% of their third down conversions this season, including eight against the Rams.
Saleh claims the short rest should not have been a factor, but the extended rest is sure to do the 49ers some good before the defense takes on the Cardinals.
“It’s mindset. It’s mind over matter. It’s the will to just drive and grind. It’s a grind. Every team is exposed to Thursday Night Football,” Saleh said. “The week before, Houston and Cincinnati had a defensive slug fest. So, there’s no excuses. We didn’t play well enough on defense at all. I do have great faith in the defense and I cannot wait, I cannot wait for Sunday to see what we’re made of.”
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are now 2-1 after losing to the Dallas Cowboys 28-17 on Monday, in which Arizona’s quarterback Carson Palmer recorded two touchdowns and 325 yards.
Although Palmer appears to have tightened up his passes, throwing only one interception allowing three on Opening Day, Saleh is hesitant to blitz the Cardinals. Palmer is prone to being sacked, having been taken down 11 times this season, but Saleh understands how intelligent of a quarterback the 49ers are facing.
“You’d love to say bringing five is the answer, but if bringing five was the answer everyone would do it. Just understand the flaws of if you bring five, now you’re losing one in coverage and there’s a hole,” Saleh said. “So, you play a guy who’s really smart, a guy like [Arizona Cardinals QB] Carson Palmer who knows his offense inside and out. The question is, is that fifth guy worth him recognizing where that hole is voided?”
Another Cardinal the 49ers need to keep in check is wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Since his career began in 2004, Fitzgerald brags 154 career receptions for 2,091 yards and scored 16 touchdowns against the 49ers. Despite his consistent success against his team, Saleh only praises Fitzgerald.
“I’ve never worked with Larry. I’ve been with coaches who have worked with him. From everything I gather, he’s the definition of professional, in terms of his approach to the game, his work ethic, the way he approaches practice, studies film, takes care of his body, mentors the younger guys,” Saleh said. “Everything I’ve heard about Larry Fitzgerald is so much more than what he does on the football field.”
On the 49ers side, Brian Hoyer needs to prove that last week was the start of a turnaround and not merely a fluke. Entering last Thursday, Hoyer was 39-62 in completed passes, but only posted 292 passing yards. Not to mention, his two interceptions only emphasized his lack of touchdowns as the 49ers were held to only four field goals through the first games of the season.
Yet, Hoyer put up better numbers against the Rams than in the first two weeks combined. Although the Rams handed the 49ers a loss, Hoyer showed drastic improvement, passing for 332 yards with two touch downs and only one interception. At the very least, if the 49ers hope to beat the Cardinals, Hoyer needs to be the version of himself against the Rams instead of what he was through the first two games of the season.
All the facts and figures used in this piece were gathered using the analytics platform called Looker. Make sure to check them out for user friendly dashboards, visualizations, and data analysis. Seriously, it’s super dope and you should check it out.