49ers' New-Look Offensive Line Looks For Rebound
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One week after having a single player on the injury report, the San Francisco 49ers approach their Week 3 road contest against the Arizona Cardinals with seven players on the weekly list. Good health doesn't last forever in the NFL, and the 49ers will need all the bodies they can get on Sunday against the NFC West division leaders.
The first two weeks of the NFL season have produced opposite results for the San Francisco 49ers, and in Week 3, the team faces a stiff challenge on the road against the Arizona Cardinals.
After a humbling trip to Pittsburgh in Week 2, the San Francisco 49ers now face another tough road test in Week 3: the first-place Arizona Cardinals. Toss in the potential of a very hot Sunday afternoon in the Valley of the Sun, and the 49ers could be in trouble against Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald. Arizona is 2-0 with dominant wins over the New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Bears. They are for real, and with the Seattle Seahawks off to an 0-2 start, the NFC West could already be in the Cardinals' hands unless the 49ers can pull an upset.
So much for the nice Week 1 win for the San Francisco 49ers. It took just one road trip to knock the team back down to earth. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the 49ers, 43-18, in a game that wasn't even that close. San Francisco didn't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter when the game was already out of hand, and defensively, the team gave up four TDs in the first half to fall behind, 29-3. Yes, it was that kind of day for the 49ers, and it raises a lot of questions for Week 3.
Running back Reggie Bush is listed as questionable for the San Francisco 49ers' Week 2 matchup on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a calf injury suffered early in the Week 1 win over the Minnesota Vikings. That's literally the only injury the team is reporting this week to the NFL, and that's an amazing sign of good luck for the 49ers. To come out of Week 1 with a win and no major injury concerns is miraculous in this day and age of professional football.
Regardless of rankings on those highlight-reel turns, Hyde has instantly shown the San Francisco 49ers they have a reliable power runner to replace departed franchise rushing leader Frank Gore.
Coming off a stunning performance in a 20-3 win over the Minnesota Vikings at home in Monday Night Football's doubleheader in Week 1, the San Francisco 49ers seem to have rebuilt themselves a little bit in the transition from Jim Harbaugh to Jim Tomsula. As the team prepares to take the show on the road for Week 2 in Pittsburgh, it's clear that running back Carlos Hyde will be the focus of the offense, and the defense is every bit as feisty as it was during the deep playoff runs of 2011-13.
