Patriots-49ers What To Watch For: Does Pats offensive line have any chance against Nick Bosa?
FOXBORO -- The Patriots are looking to bounce back in Week 4 following two straight losses. They pay a visit to the San Francisco 49ers, who are also looking to bounce back in Week 4 following two straight losses.
Both teams are 1-2 on the season. While that was somewhat expected for the Patriots, the 49ers can't afford to fall any further behind the 3-0 Seahawks in the NFC West. They'll be looking to reestablish themselves as one of the top teams in the NFL, and head into Sunday's matchup as a double-digit favorite over New England.
But the Patriots will be catching an injury-riddled 49ers team on Sunday. Christian McCaffery is on IR, and Deebo Samuel will likely miss his second straight game with a calf injury. Tight end George Kittle is dealing with a hamstring issue that sidelined him in Week 3, and on defense, nose tackle Javon Hargrave has likely been lost for the season with a torn right tricep.
That's a lot for Brian Shanahan's squad to be dealing with this early in the season. Can the Patriots take advantage?
Probably not. That's why Vegas has them as 10.5-point underdogs. But they play the games for a reason, so here's what we'll be watching for when the Pats and 49ers kick off at Levi Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
New England's offensive line vs. Nick Bosa
The health issues continue for the New England offensive line, which doesn't make anyone feel any better about the most questionable unit on the team. While it looks like starting left guard Sidy Sow will make his season debut after missing the first three games with an ankle injury he suffered in the preseason, the Patriots may be on their fourth left tackle in as many games on Sunday.
Week 2 starter Vederian Lowe was missing from practice on Wednesday. Rookie Caedan Wallace, who started at left tackle last week, was limited with a knee injury he suffered late in last week's loss to the Jets. If neither can go on Sunday, the Patriots would have to turn to Demontrey Jacobs, whom they claimed off waivers from the Broncos a month ago.
Whether it's Lowe, Wallace, or Jacobs, no scenario is ideal for the Patriots with Nick Bosa lining up on the other side. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt referred to the San Francisco Pro Bowler as a "nightmare" on Thursday.
"We have to make sure he doesn't ruin the game," said Van Pelt.
That ain't easy with Bosa. He has only two sacks so far this season, but he leads San Fran with 10 quarterback pressures. He's a guy that New England has to have at least one body on at all times.
But the 49ers are going to send a lot more than Bosa at Brissett, much like the Jets did last weekend when they sacked him five times. It could be another long (and painful) day for New England's starting quarterback unless the offensive line gets its act together. Maybe version No. 4 of the O-line will have more success than the previous three iterations.
Pats need to pound the ground -- and Rhamondre needs to hold onto the ball
San Francisco hasn't been good at defending the pass, allowing 217.7 yards per game through the air. But we all know how well the Patriots have passed the ball through three weeks, so let's not entertain the idea of them getting things going through the air.
But the Patriots should be able to run the ball this week. Yes, we said that last week before New England's rush attack disappeared, as Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson mustered a measly 52 yards on their 11 combined carries against the Jets. Stevenson also lost a fumble for the first time, the third time he's put the ball on the ground this season.
The Niners will be looking to exploit Stevenson's ball security woes this weekend, but he could be in line for a nice bounce-back effort. The San Francisco defense is giving up just 104 rushing yards per game, but the unit is vulnerable on the ground, allowing 4.5 yards per carry.
Last week when the 49ers lost to the Rams, San Francisco let Kyren Williams put on a show. After rushing for 75 yards over the first two weeks, the running back ran for 89 yards and a pair of touchdown against the Niners. He also caught two passes for 27 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown.
If the Patriots can get Stevenson and Gibson going on the ground -- and maybe even catch a few passes out of the backfield -- the New England offense might actually find the red zone and put up some points on Sunday. Be ready for Demario Douglas to see a few end-arounds as well.
Can Patriots keep Brock Purdy from picking apart their secondary?
While the Patriots do have to worry about San Fran's run game featuring Jordan Mason (averaging 4.8 yards per carry for 324 yards and two touchdowns), they also have to make sure Brock Purdy doesn't pick them apart. Aaron Rodger was a surgical 27-for-35 against the New England secondary last week, and the Pats cannot let that happen again.
Despite the absence of playmakers McCaffery and Samuel, Purdy has been incredibly efficient, completing 72.6 percent of his passes this season. He had just four touchdowns -- three of which came last week -- but he's moving the ball for San Fran.
New England's game plan should be to stop the run and get the Niners in some third-and-long situations. Then they can get creative with their pass rush to try and speed up Purdy.
But then they have to make sure that someone locks down Brandon Aiyuk -- likely Christian Gonzalez -- while also hoping that Jauan Jennings doesn't go off for another three-touchdown afternoon. Jennings is a big receiver at 6-foot-3, so the Niners will likely look to exploit that size advantage if the 6-foot-1 Gonzalez does line up against Aiyuk.
Another Drake Maye appearance?
The rookie quarterback made his NFL debut last Thursday night, playing the final drive of New England's 24-3 loss in New Jersey. The game was well out of New England's reach at that point, and Mayo said that he wanted to see what the 22-year-old could do in some real game action.
Given the lopsided spread heading into this one, the bookmakers seem to think this one is going to get out of hand as well. If that's the case, will Mayo send Maye out for some more on-the-job learning? It'd be a nice silver lining in another New England loss.
If Maye does see the field, we'll be watching to see if the rookie is a little less rookie-like. He televised his first NFL pass and was nearly picked off, but he did make some nice reads -- and runs -- and led the Patriots on their only red zone drive last Thursday.
IF Maye makes another appearance, and IF the Patriots offense looks better with the rookie under center, the Patriots would have to give some serious consideration toward making a change at quarterback going forward.
A solid performance from Brissett and crew would make sure that doesn't yet, but we've yet to see that from the New England offense through 12 quarters of football.
We'll get you ready for Sunday's Patriots-49ers game with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m. on WBZ and streaming online at CBS Boston. After the game, switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!