49ers Need To Open Up Offense Vs. Dallas

The 49ers were able to win last Sunday with a very conservative offensive approach. They totaled under 300 yards of offense and failed to get either their passing game nor their running game in good rhythm.

Take away those returns by Ted Ginn and you have yourself a completely different ballgame. Now, some people are saying the 49ers didn't really open up the playbook Sunday cause they didn't need to and didn't want to expose any packages they may use in this upcoming match-up vs. Dallas. I think a wise move for them would be to come out gunning at Dallas early. I remember way beck when Jerry Rice and Steve Young were playing together and on the first play from scrimmage in a huge game in Dallas (believe regular season in mid-90's) when Young hit Rice on that quick slant and Rice took it to the house right down the middle of the field. It set the tone for the afternoon and the 49ers rolled into big D and whooped 'em all around their own house. That's the kind of strike I'd like to see them make early on in this game to show Dallas they can keep up with them offensively. I know Smith is a far cry from Young, and he has no Jerry Rice on this roster, but I'd really like to see them take some shots down field early in the game to Braylon or Vernon and back the defense off Alex Smith a little. I think Dallas will be totally preparing for Frank Gore and will make Alex Smith beat them, and Smith will be relied on much more heavily in week 2.

This 49er defense can make some stops and should do OK vs. Dallas, though their secondary could get picked apart a bit if Tony Romo is on his game. I expect them to give up the yards and probably a few touchdowns, so the 49ers offense has to enter this game with the mindset that they need to score 21-28 points to even have a shot in this one, and they can't rely on 14 of those coming from Ted Ginn kick returns. They'll need the defense to rush Romo into some bad decisions, which is when he can be exposed and throw picks. If you put the heat on him, and get into his head, he seems to come apart, especially late in games. Now this is a tough week for me because I have Romo on one of my fantasy teams and he's going up against the 49ers, so it's going to be a tough one to watch. If the 49ers want to have any hope of containing this offense though, they need to game plan for 4 players in particular besides Romo: DE DeMarcus Ware and WR's Dez Bryant and Miles Austin and TE Jason Whitten could all pose problems for the 49ers in their weakest spots of their team. They're offensive line is still growing, and had trouble opening up holes for Frank Gore against a sub-par Seattle D-Line, so they'll have their hands full with a hawk like Ware on the other side. He alone could change the pace of a game and I can definitely see 3-4 sacks by him alone if the 49ers are not prepared. As far as Bryant and Austin go, they're just two of the best receivers in the game period and Whitten is like the Cowboys version of Vernon Davis, do they have an aerial attack.

We'll have a little more on this game and a Raiders preview when we do our previews this weekend, but however you slice it, this is a huge game for the 49ers, and it's a huge game for Dallas. The 49ers get a real test, kind of like their first "real" game of the year, and an excellent measuring stick in Dallas. And the Cowboys are desperate to keep from falling to 0-2 and head towards another disappointing year. The one positive the 49ers have going for them is it's a home game, cause in Dallas, they'd really little chance! To betting tips on this or any other game this weekend, check out 11th hour review and results!