Sunday Night Football comes to Levi’s Stadium as the Atlanta Falcons travel to Santa Clara following a huge win over the Buffalo Bills to face the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are coming off a loss to Tampa Bay and the loss of defensive leader Fred Warner. The good news for the 49ers is the return of George Kittle to practice this week. Brock Purdy returned to practice on Wednesday in a limited fashion. However, according to Ian Rapaport, Mac Jones is in line to start again on Sunday.
Atlanta is riding a two-game winning streak after beating Washington and Buffalo in back-to-back weeks. Bijan Robinson is having a phenomenal season, and former 49er linebacker Jeff Ulbrich has Atlanta’s defense playing some of their best football in recent memory as the defensive coordinator.
Here are three things to watch on Sunday:
Atlanta’s blitzes vs the 49ers’ pass protection
On Monday night, Atlanta blitzed Josh Allen 56% of the time. Without natural separators on the outside, Allen was under fire as the Falcons weren’t afraid of being beaten over the top. On the season, Ulbrich sends five-plus rushers 40% of the time, and their pressure rate is 49.3%. Atlanta’s defense has gone from 21st in EPA per play allowed last season to fifth. Also, Atlanta has forced a negative play at the eighth-highest rate.
The 49ers have faced the lowest blitz rate in the NFL at 20.8%. When the 49ers are under pressure, their EPA per play drops to 27th in the NFL at -0.71. Atlanta’s defense creates overall pressure at the fifth-highest rate (36.1%). On the other hand, the 49ers allow pressures at 23.9%, which is good for third-best in the NFL.
Drake London vs the 49ers secondary
Well, it’s safe to say the 49ers can’t afford to allow Drake London to have nearly 150 yards at halftime to be successful on Sunday night. Buffalo’s secondary and defense struggled mightily against motion, and London and Robinson were the main beneficiaries. The Falcons rank third in motion, and the 49ers rank first in motion on offense. London in the last two games has totaled 18 catches, 268 yards, and two touchdowns.
The biggest obstacle for the secondary against London will be how he is utilized. On passing snaps, London has run 54 of his 178 routes from the slot. In Week 4, London had an even split of 14/14 with the slot and out wide, and last week was a 27 out wide and 11 in the slot split. Depending on Darnell Mooney’s availability for Sunday night, London could see similar utilization, which is a challenge for Upton Stout and the secondary.
The 49ers’ run game vs Atlanta’s defense
Unlike last week, this week provides an opportunity for the 49ers’ rushing offense to get on track. Atlanta’s defense allows 114 rushing yards per game and has the sixth-worst yards per carry at 4.8. The Falcons have the best passing defense in the NFL and a -7.17 expected points contributed by rushing defense, according to Pro Football Reference.
Remaining balanced on offense is the way to back off Atlanta’s pass rush. The 49ers must finally run the football consistently to keep the Falcons off balance. James Cook rushed for 87 yards on 17 rushes Monday night. Christian McCaffrey and Brian Robinson have a chance to get the 49ers’ rushing attack going again.
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