The New York Giants (2-6) and San Francisco 49ers (5-3) will square off on Sunday afternoon in a Week 9 matchup at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Opening the week, the Giants were listed as 2.5-point home underdogs, which is where the spread remains as of this writing.
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With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Niners Wire managing editor Kyle Madson.
With Fred Warner on IR, how are the 49ers reshuffling the linebacker room — does rookie Nick Martin get a bigger role?
Madson: There’s not much reshuffling. Martin has, to the chagrin of some fans, not played a role in the linebacking corps. He was a healthy scratch until Warner’s injury. At that point, he moved into an active special teams role. The change at Warner’s position has been the insertion of second-year seventh-round pick Tatum Bethune into the starting Mike LB spot. He had a really strong debut vs. the Falcons at home. It wasn’t as good on the road last week vs. the Texans. Bethune is a talented player, but it’s his first real NFL action, so there’s a learning curve that’s extra steep because the shoes he’s filling are so big.
Christian McCaffrey has handled quite a workload this season, but his YPC is down. Will Kyle Shanahan script even more runs designed to attack the Giants’ porous run defense?
My guess is the 49ers commit more to the run game than they did against Houston. McCaffrey had a huge game against the Falcons and went over 100 yards after having no more than 69 in a game all season. The 49ers backed that up by giving him only eight carries against Houston. If there’s a way head coach Kyle Shanahan believes he can exploit a team’s run defense, he’s going to aim to do so until they figure out a way to stop it. I’m definitely expecting more work for McCaffrey.
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How will the 49ers combat the Giants’ front 7, led by Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Abdul Carter?
So far, the answer to the 49ers combating good pass rushes is that they don’t. Mac Jones has been better than serviceable as a backup, but his lack of mobility exposes a 49ers offensive line that does not excel in pass protection. I’m expecting more runs from San Francisco in an effort to put themselves ahead of the sticks and not allow the Giants’ pass rush to pin its ears back. If they get into second and third-and-long, it’ll be a long day for Jones and the 49ers offense.
Both teams are banged up, but the 49ers’ injury report is a CVS receipt — how has the bye week and cross-country travel prep helped stabilize depth for this game?
The 49ers don’t have a bye week until Week 14. Their injury situation isn’t improving much, although they look primed to bring back a handful of defensive linemen who were injured during the Week 8 loss in Houston. Brock Purdy is also trending toward playing in Week 10 with the potential of being an emergency third QB this week at MetLife Stadium.
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How do you see Sunday’s game playing out, who wins, and what’s the final score?
I’m expecting Sunday’s game to become a little bit of a shootout. If that’s the case, New York’s pass rush will play a major role. I don’t think this iteration of the 49ers is that much better than this iteration of the Giants — and a turnover or two caused by New York’s defensive line on a third-and-long will flip the game in their favor. Giants 24, 49ers 20.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers: Behind Enemy Lines
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