The San Francisco 49ers came into the 2013 season as a Super Bowl favorite and now after losing two straight games they might not even win their division and they will try to get back on track on Monday night football in Week 12 as they take on the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field in a game that will be live at 8:30 pm on ESPN and streaming from the WatchESPN website online.
The 49ers have not been as balanced as they were last season and Colin Kaepernick is not having the year everyone expected and despite that, the team is still in good position to make a deep playoff run, but that must include a win on Monday night against the Redskins. The Niners play in the toughest division in football and currently they are not even in second place, as the Arizona Cardinals have won their fourth straight game and unless the Niners win to tie them in the standings, they will be in third place ahead of the St. Louis Rams and heading into the back stretch of the season, that is something they need to make sure doesn't happen. The team is chasing the 10-1 Seattle Seahawks and while they have a home matchup with the team, they still need to win a number of games to make up ground and after playing the Redskins the team has a divisional game with the St. Louis Rams at home. Kaepernick comes in with under 1,900 yards this season and just 11 touchdowns and he has not been running as much as last season, going for 335 yards and three touchdowns to rank second on the team.
Check here for the Washington and San Francisco Monday night coverage.
Frank Gore has been very solid for the Niners and he has helped the team rank fourth in the league in rushing yards per game with over 140, but even he needs to do more, as the passing offense is ranked last in the league with less than 170 yards per game. Kaepernick needs more help from Anquan Boldin, Vernon Davis and his other receivers and while Davis has eight touchdowns, Boldin has 47 catches for 630 yards and while that is solid, he has the potential and the expectations of doing better than that, especially after putting up amazing numbers in the season opener.
The Rams are 5-6 at the bottom of the division and they are just behind the Niners at 6-4 and ahead of them and behind the Seahawks are the surprising Arizona Cardinals, who are now in layoff contention at 7-4 on the season. The defense for the Niners has been up to the task this season, with the secondary holding opponents to 220 yards per game, ranked eighth in the league, while the rushing defense is ranked 12th with 103 yards allowed per game and they will have their hands full on Monday night, as the Redskins have the top ranked rushing offense in the league by yards per game behind second year men Alfred Morris and Griffin, while Roy Helu has also been solid in spots for the team on the ground in the backfield this season.
The 49ers and the Redskins both have tough schedules to finish the season and San Francisco will need to play well going over the back stretch, as they have three of their final five games after the Redskins against divisional opponents and losing those games could play the team right out of the wild card race after many felt they would threaten the division from the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers play against the St. Louis Rams after dealing with the Redskins and that game will be at home, as will the Seattle Seahawks in week 14 after the team was totally beaten in Washington back in Week 2 by the score of 29-3 at CenturyLink Field. The team then plays the resurgent Buccaneers before hosting the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night and then the team ends the season with a tough road game against the Arizona Cardinals that could have playoff and divisional implications.