Washington vs San Francisco Week 14: Five Questions with Niners Nation
Kyle Posey (@KP_Show) of Niners Nation
Tony Avelar/AP
It’s week 14 of the NFL season and the 5-7 Washington Football Team will be facing a 5-7 49ers team on the road at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Sunday. Although the teams have identical season-long records, Washington is 3-1 over the last 4 weeks while the 49ers are 1-3 over the same timeframe. A win this week (and a loss by the Giants to the Cardinals) would propel Washington to the top of the NFC East.
Although the 49ers were in the Super Bowl last year, this year’s 49ers haven’t played up to the same level. One of the biggest reasons for this regression is injury, described in more detail below. The 49ers have been bit by the injury bug hard this year, seemingly from the beginning of the season (losing Nick Bosa in their week 2 matchup against the Browns). The 49ers have also lost starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo to injury and are being lead by undrafted backup Nick Mullens, who reminds me of a young Colt McCoy. Despite these problems, the 49ers have pulled out some unexpected wins due to coaching. They blew out the Giants 36-9 in week 3 and upset the Rams 23-20 two weeks ago. They may not have racked up many wins recently, but they are a well-coached team that has shown an ability to outperform expectations.