The 49ers secondary was picked apart last week by the Steelers in a big way.
The starting unit of cornerbacks Kenneth Acker and Tramaine Brock and safeties Eric Reid and Antoine Bethea, along with nickel corner Jimmie Ward, is under the microscope this week – and tasked with getting better in a hurry – after Ben Roethlisberger threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns, with wide receiver Antonio Brown accounting for 195 of those yards while averaging 21.7 yards per catch.
The 49ers looked especially vulnerable to deep balls.
Head coach Jim Tomsula, however, said this week that there will be no changes in the starting lineup of the secondary against the Cardinals in Arizona this Sunday afternoon (1:05 kickoff).
But if San Francisco is going to clamp down on the Carson Palmer-led passing attack, it’s going to have to stop another Brown: second-year receiver John Brown.
Though Brown isn’t off to a great start statistically, with nine catches for 91 yards in two games, Brown is a key for the Arizona offense, and either Brock or Acker will have to provide tight coverage. That will be a tall order, because Brown – a speedy rookie in 2014 from little Pittsburg State – had four game-winning touchdown catches in his first year among his 48 receptions.
In two games against the 49ers last season, Brown had a big impact. He caught four passes, two for TDs, in a 23-14 Arizona victory in September, then had four catches for 51 yards in a 20-17 49ers win to end the regular season.
Sports
And, as Chris Wesseling of NFL.com noted this week, the attention Brown draws from opposing defenses this season is opening up other avenues for the Arizona offense, including veteran wideout Larry Fitzgerald (14 catches, 199 yards, three TDs) and tight end Darren Fells (four catches, 82 yards, 1 TD).
Wesseling wrote that one analytic website has shown that Brown has created more scoring opportunities for his teammates this season than any other wide receiver in the NFL.
Brown already has drawn five pass interference penalties in two games, three of them in the red zone that set up touchdowns. Plus, wrote Wesseling, his routes have opened up areas for other Arizona receivers to make catches.
“Through two weeks, John Brown has been one of the NFL’s most effective skill-position players,” Wesseling wrote.
Brown, Fitzgerald and Co. will be a big challenge for a 49ers pass defense that ranks 26th in the NFL so far, allowing 273 yards per game.
One key to slow down the Cardinals attack will be to mount a pass rush. The 49ers put up five sacks in the season-opening win over Minnesota, but didn’t get to Roethlisberger once. It may not be easy. Palmer hasn’t been sacked in two games. But head coach Jim Tomsula believes the 49ers have the players to get to the quarterback this Sunday.
“We have a lot of work to do, but we’ve go guys that are willing to work and we’re working,” said Tomsula.
