Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game: 49ers WR Demarcus Robinson 🏆
The New York Giants take on a San Francisco 49ers defense this week that has been decimated by injuries to their starting lineup.
The 49ers will be without edge rusher Bryce Huff, their leading pass rusher so far this season, due to an injury.
Rookie Mykel Williams will likely take on a larger role than he’s already played so far. More help will be required from Sam Okuayinonu, Trevis Gipson, and Robert Beal Jr.on the edge.
Outside of Huff, who’s out injured and expected to miss this week’s game, Nick Bosa, who’s out for the season, and Yetur Gross-Matos, who’s questionable for Sunday, this 49ers edge room has been nothing short of underwhelming this year.
The injuries to the top three edge rushers have led to players who are generally quality depth to play significant roles.
As far as pass-rushing goes, there have been few units worse than the 49ers off the edge, and the interior hasn’t been much better.
The interior of the defensive line features heavy rotation depending on the situation, but has not been particularly impressive this year.
Starting defensive tackle Jordan Elliott suffered an injury against the Houston Texans, and his status is still up in the air for this game.
Elliot hasn’t exactly been good this year, but he was the best of a bad bunch for this defensive line that just added Keion White from the New England Patriots in a trade.
It’s unclear how much of a role White will be able to play this week, considering he just joined the defense, but he should provide rushing upside on the interior if he can play.
Alfred Collins, Kalia Davis, and Kevin Givens will make up most of the snaps on the interior, which isn’t a good sign for the 49ers.
The 49ers have also sustained injuries at linebacker, with Fred Warner ruled out for the remainder of the season and starting linebacker Dee Winters leaving the Texans game early and questionable for this Sunday.
Tatum Bethune was the starter who took over for Warner when he got injured, and it’s expected that Curtis Robinson or Luke Gifford will take over for Winters’ snaps.
Just like the defensive front, because of injuries, the 49ers’ linebacker room is significantly worse than it would be if they were healthy.
Bethune can still make an impact due to his athleticism and versatility, but he’s a second-year player finding his place.
In the secondary, Demmodore Lenoir and Renardo Green will be the starters on the outside with Upton Stout in the nickel, and Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown at safety.
Defensive back play hasn’t been strong for the 49ers either this year, but a large part of that is having no pass rush in front of them to help.
It doesn’t matter how talented a secondary is; they can only play in coverage for so long before they break down. On film, Lenoir is consistent, and Green has shown flashes, but they’re still being set up to fail.
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh isn’t a big fan of blitzing often, as the 49ers have one of the lowest blitz rates in the NFL.
Unfortunately, when rushing four, this defense has been completely unable to generate pressure, with a pressure rate of 25.9%, the lowest in the NFL.
Saleh is much more interested in playing bend-don’t-break defense with cover three and variations of quarters before making the shift to cover one robber on third down.
The 49ers will play both cover four in quarters and cover six, the latter being cover four to the strong side and cover two to the weak side.
Cover one robber with man coverage across the board, one safety playing deep coverage over the top, and one safety coming down in an underneath zone.
The Giants’ defense also often plays cover one robber; however, with a respectable pass rush, they can get away with it.
When the 49ers do choose to blitz, it’s mostly been with Winters or Stout, but with Winters out, I expect Bethune to be the blitzer.
When healthy, this 49ers defense is much more respectable, but the simple fact is that they aren’t healthy.
This should be one of the easiest tests of the season for the Giants’ offensive line, and Dart should have more time than just about any other game.
Depending on who’s available and who isn’t, the Giants’ offensive game plan could shift to attack depth players who are playing significant roles.
Look for the Giants to attack this linebacker room with tight ends and running backs, as well as run to the edges against depth.
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San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle finished a bottle of top-shelf tequila after tearing his Achilles in the 49ers’ eventual 23-19 wild-card victory in Philadelphia Sunday night, according to The Athletic.
Kittle, who popped his Achilles in the second quarter, requested it after the injury, and a San Francisco employee was seen delivering a bottle of Patron to the 49ers’ locker room.
The bottle reportedly was sent from the owners’ suite at Lincoln Financial Field.
49ers owner Jed York personally visited Kittle in the locker room and asked if he could get him anything — and that’s when the bottle of tequila was delivered a few minutes later, according to The San Francisco Standard.
Kittle was pushed out of bounds on a 6-yard reception and immediately grabbed his leg.
The All-Pro tight end was carted off the field and hobbled on one leg into the locker room, as seen in videos online.
He was ruled out for the rest of the game.
York and Kittle’s wife, Claire Kittle, both appeared visibly somber as they entered the locker room, according to The Athletic.
The Niners were the underdogs heading into the wild-card clash with the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles.
San Francisco was already down two key players in defensive end Nick Bosa (knee) and linebacker Fred Warner (ankle).
The Eagles’ offense was a mess.
They committed four drops on third down, the most in a playoff game since 2006, per ESPN stats.
The 49ers visit the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks in an NFC divisional playoff game on Saturday.
The San Francisco 49ers suffered another devastating injury on Sunday. But, thanks to a strong supporting cast, they found a way to prevail once again.
San Francisco pulled off the biggest playoff upset so far in what’s been a wild wild-card round, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-19, on the road. Unheralded wide receiver Demarcus Robinson was a major reason behind Sunday’s upset as he hauled in six receptions for a game-high 111 yards and a touchdown en route to winning Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game.
When Robinson spoke with Brady after the game, it didn’t take long for him to find the one word to describe the 49ers.
“If it was one word, I’d say resiliency. Resilient,” Robinson said of his team. “These guys play with resiliency. We’ve got a lot of injuries throughout the year. Even tonight, like you said, losing Kittle, guys stepped up and knew they had to make plays. That’s what we were able to do today, go out and make plays.”
Sunday’s victory also came in comeback fashion for the Niners, who rallied from a 16-10 fourth-quarter deficit despite losing tight end George Kittle in the first half to a torn Achilles.
Robinson’s resiliency was on full display on the 49ers’ opening possession. He turned an intermediate pass from Brock Purdy over the middle into a 61-yard gain, zigzagging through the Eagles’ secondary on his way to Philly’s 16-yard line. He then caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to end the drive.
There was possibly no greater sign of the team’s resiliency, however, than the play that gave them a 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter. After their offense seemed stuck in the mud for most of the game, the 49ers found the end zone when wide receiver Jauan Jennings threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey on a trick play.
Robinson was just one of a few supporting characters who contributed to the 49ers’ win. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk had a season-high four receptions for 49 yards, making a pair of big grabs that helped set up touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Defensively, linebacker Garret Wallow had a game-high 11 total tackles after recording just nine total tackles in the regular season.
The 49ers’ top player in McCaffrey also showed his resilience in the win. McCaffrey turned 21 touches into 114 yards and two touchdowns, with the second TD coming via a 4-yard grab with 2:54 remaining to give the 49ers a decisive 23-19 lead.
“I think the guys are just playing with resiliency, man,” Robinson said of his team. “Everybody knew what we had at stake. Everybody came out there and did their part. So, that helped us get the dub.”
The injury to Kittle was his second serious injury of the season after he missed time earlier in the year due to a hamstring tear. San Francisco has also seen some of its other stars get sidelined for the majority of the year, such as edge rusher Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner.
Warner could potentially return later in the postseason, but another key piece in wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who missed Sunday’s game, remains in limbo as he battles a knee injury. Of course, Purdy missed time this year due to shoulder and toe injuries that cost him eight games.
Despite all of that, the 49ers will now move on to play for a spot in the NFC Championship Game when they take on the Seahawks in Seattle next weekend. They nearly hosted the divisional round game, but lost to the Seahawks at home, 13-3, in the regular-season finale to give Seattle the NFC West and the conference’s No. 1 seed.
Robinson is optimistic, however, that there will be a different result this time around.
“Hopefully, we get the dub, obviously,” Robinson said. “We’ve just got to lock in, man. We’ve got to lock in and put more points on the board than we did last week at home. Just put more points on the board. The defense played lights out tonight. Hopefully, we keep playing that same way, man, and it leads to more dubs.”
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The San Francisco 49ers (12-5) visit the Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia for a Wild Card round showdown as the NFL playoffs get underway. USA TODAY’s panel of NFL experts have locked in their picks and predictions for the action. Here’s everything you need to know before kickoff on Sunday, January 11, including live updated odds and injury report news.
Name
Week 18
2025 Season
Blake Schuster
11-5
141-111-7
Jon Hoefling
11-5
137-128-7
Tyler Dragon
6-10
128-137-7
Chris Bumbaca
7-9
115-121-6
Lorenzo Reyes
8-8
119-131-6
Jordan Mendoza
8-8
113-123-6
Richard Morin
N/A
47-34-3
Opening Lines
Get the edge with our exclusive NFL betting picks
The Eagles feel like a lesser version of the Seattle Seahawks, and SF had several opportunities to win against Seattle in Week 18.
San Francisco has too many injuries. The 49ers will compete, but the Eagles are the best team in the tournament.
This season, it was San Francisco’s defense that let it down. The lack of a pass rush and lack of turnovers kept games closer. The thing is, Philadelphia’s offense was also underwhelming, which was surprising given the talent on the roster. I think this is a case where the Niner offense carries the day, though injuries on defense are a concern. Either way, this line feels too big.
This is a “go with the best unit on the field” play. The one I’m talking about? The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense. Kyle Shanahan vs. Vic Fangio should be a treat though.
The defending champions have been up-and-down this season, and that gives San Francisco to catch the Eagles off guard. Brock Purdy finds his form to deliver a stunner.
All San Francisco had to do was beat Seattle in Week 18 and it wouldn’t have had to leave home once during the postseason. Now the Niners have to go to Philly and face an Eagles team that’s probably furious after their season finale letdown. The Bay is about to experience some intense whiplash.
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