By: Andy Davies

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. Only the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers (both 6) have more Super Bowl wins than the 49ers (5). The 49ers’ five Super Bowls all came between the years of 1981 and 1994. They have lost two since, in the 2012 and 2019 seasons. The quarterbacks that led the 49ers to the Lombardi Trophy were Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young. Three of those five wins saw Montana as the starter and Young as the backup.

Young is seen by many as the best backup quarterback in history, considering the gold jacket that he earned despite many years as the backup to Montana. He would win a Super Bowl as the starter after the franchise moved on from Montana. Ever since Young decided to hang up his cleats, the 49ers have struggled to find his replacement. Have they found the guy in Trey Lance?

Perhaps, but here is why the quarterback situation involving Lance and current starter Jimmy Garoppolo could prevent the 49ers from winning the NFC West during the 2021 season.

Struggles Since Young

Jeff Garcia was the man to come in for Young. During his five seasons in the Bay, he threw for 113 touchdowns and 56 interceptions as well as 16,408 passing yards. He had a 35-36 record as a starter for the 49ers in the regular season and a 1-2 record in the postseason, meaning he never hit the heights of his predecessor.

Alex Smith was the number one overall pick in 2005, shattering Aaron Rodgers’ dreams. However, he was a good quarterback, not a great quarterback. Colin Kaepernick replaced Smith and took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. They ended up losing to the Baltimore Ravens in a game often called the ”˜Blackout Bowl’. Kaepernick failed to live up to the standards he set that season.

He would be kicked out of the league for taking the knee in a protest against police brutality in 2016. He has not played a snap in the NFL since. Jimmy Garoppolo was traded from the Patriots to the 49ers midway through the 2017 season. He gave hope to the organization after winning all five of the games he started in 2017. The fanbase had hope going into the 2018 season.

Many non-49ers fans had San Francisco down as their dark horse for the season. A season-ending injury to Garoppolo in Week 3 saw the starting role shared between Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard. However, the 49ers finished 4-12 as they went into 2019 with the second overall pick. Nick Bosa was selected and transformed the defense of San Francisco and Jimmy G had the best season of his career. He threw for 3,978 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Despite these stats, Garoppolo saw his production limited in the NFC Championship game as the coaching staff decided to use more of their running game. This led to many questions leading to the Super Bowl. The 49ers threw away a ten-point lead in the fourth quarter as they would end up losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 54.

Garoppolo was criticized heavily for an overthrown pass to Emmanuel Sanders that would have given San Francisco back the lead. His 2020 season saw a mixture of poor form and injury. During the 2021 offseason, the 49ers traded up with the Miami Dolphins to gain the number three overall pick. They took Lance with the pick, showcasing their intentions to eventually move off from Garoppolo. There is now talk of whether San Francisco and head coach Kyle Shanahan will start Lance in week one. The other scenarios discussed are either Lance coming in mid-season or sitting out the whole campaign as the backup to Garoppolo. The uncertainty will have a significant impact on the 49ers’ season.

The Strength of the NFC West

This is a problem that will affect all four teams in the best division in the NFL. There is a chance that all four teams can make the playoffs. Los Angeles has an exciting new quarterback in 2009 first overall pick Matthew Stafford. Both the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals have quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray that they would never dream of trading away. Meanwhile, the 49ers’ starting quarterback is largely unpopular by fans, due to a mixture of the overthrown pass in the Super Bowl, his poor 2020 campaign and his injury record.

San Francisco has the least trusted quarterback in the division. With the position being one of the most crucial in all sports, it does not bode well for a team when there is uncertainty in the position. Garoppolo may be benched at some point during the season for Lance. However, the 49ers would be putting a rookie that will still be learning the system into the toughest division in the NFL.

Learning From Mahomes, Jackson, Tua and Burrow

If San Francisco are to help Lance succeed, they will need to take some lessons from recent draft classes. Patrick Mahomes, widely seen as the best quarterback in the league, spent all but one game of his 2017 rookie season as a backup to Alex Smith. The Chiefs then traded Smith the following offseason and Mahomes has never looked back. In his first three full seasons as a starter in the NFL, he has reached two Super Bowls, winning one. He has also been crowned MVP and Super Bowl MVP and reached three successive AFC Championship games. All three have been at home. On the flip side, 2020 first overall pick Joe Burrow started in week one of his rookie year. He wouldn’t last the season, only playing ten games before injury curtailed his first NFL campaign. He was impressive before his injury but there are no guarantees he will be the same player when he returns.

Lamar Jackson was a backup to Joe Flacco during his 2018 rookie year but won the starting role midseason. He has since gone on to win an MVP award and is the future of the franchise. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins brought Tua Tagovailoa in mid-season but he struggled in his rookie season. He is seen to already be on the hot seat, with many feeling the Dolphins rushed him in. These examples all show there are reasons for the 49ers to be hasty when it comes to choosing when to bring Lance into the starting role.

Lance Or Garoppolo In 2021?

The 49ers will have to decide soon who their starter will be in 2021. Considering Lance has only played one full season (2019), he is likely to start the season as the backup. He only threw for a combined total of 31 passing attempts, two touchdowns and 1 interception across the 2018 and 2020 seasons, albeit the latter campaign being disrupted by the pandemic. He is likely to be a work in progress but his 28 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in 2019 mean that he is one for the future.

Garoppolo will likely start in week one but it was clear from the NFC Championship game that Shanahan doesn’t completely trust him.

Jimmy G is a capable quarterback but his health is a concern. Expect Garoppolo to remain as the starter provided the 49ers are winning games but for Lance to come in should Garoppolo either be injured or start the season poorly.

Should this happen, this will be the end of Garoppolo’s time in San Francisco. Depending on timing, he will then be traded either before the deadline or in the 2022 offseason.

Can The 49ers Returning Players Avoid A Repeat Of 2020?

This is key if the 49ers are to challenge for both the NFC West and the NFC. After earning the number one seed and reaching Super Bowl 54 during the 2019 campaign, San Francisco finished 6-10 in 2020 and bottom of the division. A ”˜Super Bowl Hangover’ played its part but the main cause of such a decline was down to a colossal amount of injuries the team suffered. Along with the aforementioned Garoppolo, the 49ers also saw Bosa, Dee Ford, George Kittle, Raheem Mostert, Deebo Samuel and Solomon Thomas miss large chunks of the 2020 season due to injury.

San Francisco had 33 players reported questionable and there were 186 occasions when the 49ers reported a player on injured reserve. They had the second-most injuries of any team in the NFL over the past twenty years. Should all these players come back, then this 49ers roster will be one of the best in the league. This will make life much easier for whoever the San Francisco starting quarterback is.

However, from the strength of the division to the uncertainty at quarterback, San Francisco will find it tough to win the NFC West.

The post Why the QB situation may prevent the 49ers from winning the NFC West appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Will Baptist

The Cincinnati Bengals finally have hope going into the season for the first time in a long time. The city is starved for a winner, and they may finally have the personnel and coaching staff to end the 31-year drought of not winning a playoff game.

First and foremost, the Bengals need to make the playoffs. That is a daunting task in the AFC North, which is arguably the toughest division in the NFL. The other three teams in the division all won at least 11 games and made the playoffs last season. The Bengals were 1-5 in the division last year, with their lone win coming against the Steelers in week 15 with Ryan Finley under center.

Joe Burrow was 0-4 in the division before suffering his season-ending knee injury last year, but he showed why he was the number one overall pick despite the losses. He struggled against the Steelers and Ravens, but he was outstanding against the Browns. In the two games against the Browns he completed 72 of 108 passes, 722 yards, six touchdowns and just one interception. Both of those games were a shootout, and showed the potential of the Bengals offense when they are fully healthy.

If the Bengals want to make a playoff push, being more competitive in the division is imperative. They have to win at least three games, or their division alone could knock them out of playoff contention. With how well Burrow played against the Browns last year, coupled with the question marks surrounding the Steelers, the Bengals have a legitimate chance to win at least three games in the AFC North.

They have made dramatic improvements to their roster on both sides of the ball, and with the development of their young budding stars: Burrow, Jessie Bates and Tee Higgins, they are poised to make a massive leap this year.

Defensive improvements

The Bengals defense was a major concern last year, and was a bottom-10 defense in rush yards allowed per game and total yards allowed per game. They showed signs of improvement as the season went on, but the new players in the building should have a major impact and will have to contribute immediately for the Bengals to make the playoffs.

D.J. Reader and Trae Waynes are two of the Bengals best players on defense but injuries derailed their first year in Cincinnati. Those two will act as additional free agent signings this year since Waynes didn’t play a single snap, and Reader had his season cut short in week 5 last year. Reader recorded a PFF grade of 69.6 in his limited snaps in 2020, but the Bengals expect him to play like the 2019 version of himself, when he recorded a PFF grade of 86.7, and was dominant in the middle of the defensive line.

Waynes will be the top corner on the roster with the departure of William Jackson, and he will have two new faces alongside him to secure the cornerback position. Mike Hilton and Chidobe Awuzie are massive upgrades over Mackensie Alexander and LeShaun Sims. They still have Darius Phillips, and signed Eli Apple for additional depth. With Vonn Bell coming off a strong first season in Cincinnati, and Bates emerging as one of the best safeties in football, the Bengals secondary could be one of the best in the AFC.

Trey Hendrickson was the biggest offseason addition for the defense, and replacing Carl Lawson will be a challenge. Letting Lawson go to bring in Hendrickson was a questionable decision, and it remains to be seen how that will play out. Nonetheless, Hendrickson is the best pass rusher on the roster, and his 13.5 sacks last year were tied for second in the NFL with Aaron Donald. That is elite company to be in, and Hendrickson will have to prove why he was worth the $60-million-dollar contract that he signed from day one.

The Bengals linebackers are all young, but extremely talented. Logan Wilson seems primed to be the leader and standout of the group. Overall, the Bengals defense looks completely different, and they are much more talented than the lackluster defense they had last season. They could be a borderline top-10 defense if the new faces they signed can produce up to their abilities.

Offensive improvements

The Bengals offense was decimated by injuries in 2020. Burrow, Joe Mixon, A.J. Green, Jonah Williams and C.J. Uzomah all missed multiple games last season, which led to their offense looking like a shell of what it could have been.

With a clean slate and clean bill of health coming in 2021, the Bengals offense will almost be unrecognizable. Mixon and Burrow are the leaders of the offense and they are on track to play week 1, and they should be much improved as they have another offseason to learn Taylor’s offense.

The offensive line has been the biggest concern for this franchise since week 11 of last season when Burrow got injured. There seems to be a misconception with how much they improved this group in the offseason.

The addition of OL coach Frank Pollack will do wonders for the line, Mixon and Burrow. Getting rid of former OL coach Jim Turner is probably the most important move of the entire offseason. He did not put the players in position to succeed, and that is the main focus of what a position coach is supposed to do. He made the line look much worse than it actually was, and he is now out of the NFL and is the OL coach at Texas State.

The Bengals also brought in veteran Riley Reiff to shore up their RT position. Last season, their worst offensive lineman was RT Bobby Hart. In his 3-year career with the Bengals he committed 22 penalties and allowed 20 sacks, and was a momentum killer for this offense. Second round pick Jackson Carman is set to become the starting RG next season, and could potentially be the starting RT of the future. Those two players, along with better coaching, will make the line formidable enough to show the potential of this offense.

Last but certainly not least, Ja’Marr Chase is a Cincinnati Bengal. There was a lot of criticism thrown the Bengals way after passing on Penei Sewell, and selecting a WR. Despite the Bengals needing a lineman, adding a WR was just as critical. Burrow was among the worst QBs at completing the deep ball, and Chase excels in this area. Chase and Burrow connected on 20 touchdowns in 2019 at LSU, and Chase averaged 21.2 yards per reception. The Bengals have one of the most talented and young WR corps in the league, led by Tyler Boyd, Higgins and Chase.

All signs point to the Bengals offense firing on all cylinders, as long as Burrow can remain healthy. They have all of the pieces in place to make a playoff push, and the coaching staff will be on the hot seat if they do not perform.

Almost every player from the Marvin Lewis regime is gone, which means Zac Taylor has no more excuses if the team plays poorly. These are the players and coaches that Taylor hand-picked, and the expectation to win games begins this season while Burrow is still on his rookie contract.

The post Can the Bengals make the playoffs this season? appeared first on Pro Football Mania.