ESPN Insider Scouting Report: Bengals/49ers

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Why To Watch
While this isn't the most exciting matchup of the week, it is the only NFL game on Saturday night, which is ample reason to watch. San Francisco is at the bottom of the league by a substantial margin with a minus-141 point differential and was dominated at home last week by the Vikings. Needless to say, the 49ers have not lived up to expectations this year.

The same can be said for Cincinnati, who has been riddled with injuries throughout the season, but injuries alone do not excuse the Bengals' 5-8 record. However the Bengals did win last week over the Rams and remain a very dangerous passing offense. The 49ers only have one win at home and the Bengals only have won once on the road, so something has to give.




When the Bengals have the ball
Rushing: The Bengals controlled the clock last week in their victory over St. Louis. RBs Rudi Johnson and DeDe Dorsey combined for a whopping 173 rushing yards, but Johnson was the workhorse with 23 carries compared to Dorsey's four. But, Dorsey showed some explosiveness, averaging 20.3 yards per carry. While the 49ers amazingly limited Vikings RB Adrian Peterson to just three yards on 14 rushing attempts, they did allow Chester Taylor to rush for 101 yards on eight carries. However, one of Taylor's runs was an 83-yard touchdown. While that cannot be ignored, if you eliminate that particular run, the 49ers would have held Peterson and Taylor to 30 yards on 16 carries, which are awfully impressive numbers against a great Minnesota rushing attack.

Expect Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate MLB Patrick Willis and company to put the clamps on Cincinnati's rushing attack this week as well. Willis is a great player in the making. He is aggressive, very quick to read his keys for a rookie and has blazing speed. His three-man defensive line should be able to keep him pretty clean and Willis will be difficult for Cincinnati's linemen to get to. Johnson is no longer an upper-tier runner and has lost a lot of quickness and burst, which are two traits that he never had in abundance to begin with. Cincinnati should struggle on the ground on the road this week.



Passing: QB Carson Palmer is an extremely accurate quarterback who, if given time, will pick apart this defense by finding matchups to his liking with the Bengals' outstanding trio of wide receivers. Chad Johnson demands a lot of attention from opposing secondaries and while his numbers are a little below his norm, his presence cannot be understated and the receivers around him greatly benefit from the attention he receives. T.J. Houshmandzadeh is having his best season of his career and does his best work near the end zone. He is extremely competitive, reliable, has a very good understanding of the position and he sets up defensive backs well. Chris Henry is a tall wide out with great long speed, overall playmaking abilities and a tremendous ability to stretch the field.

The Bengals' pass protection is not nearly as strong as it once was, but they only allowed one sack a week ago and shouldn't have a whole lot of difficulty in keeping Palmer upright in San Francisco. Since LB Manny Lawson was lost for the year, the 49ers have really lacked any sort of consistent edge presence. Opposing quarterbacks are having a lot of success against the 49ers and that trend should continue this week.



When the 49ers have the ball
Rushing: It doesn't matter if it is Shaun Hill or Trent Dilfer behind center this week for the 49ers, the signal caller must absolutely get help from his running game and RB Frank Gore is certainly capable. He is a special talent who has battled injury this year and really has gotten very little support from San Francisco's offensive line and passing game. Gore has been without two of his top linemen because Jonas Jennings and Justin Smiley are on injured reserve. Larry Allen has also been a shell of the great player he once was.

Like every defense that faces the 49ers, Cincinnati will dedicate an extra defender to the box on early downs. Rams RB Steven Jackson was pretty productive a week ago, but overall the Bengals' run defense has done a complete turn around from early in the season. With their performance over the last five weeks, the Bengals should be considered pretty stingy versus opposing running games. This week should be no different and running room will be tough for Gore to come by.



Passing: In the understatement of the century, San Francisco has quarterback problems. Dilfer (concussion) started last week and was replaced by Hill. Former first-overall selection Alex Smith (shoulder) should miss the remainder of the season. That probably leaves Hill to start this game. While he didn't stretch the field, he also didn't play badly last week.

The Bengals have a talented pair of first-round cornerbacks in Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph. There have clearly been growing pains with these two and opposing wide receivers have had a lot of success against Cincinnati, but the Bengals might choose to be very aggressive and play a fair amount of man coverage on the outside since San Francisco's WRs Darrell Jackson and Arnaz Battle are not all that threatening. This strategy would allow the Bengals to dedicate more coverage resources to keeping ultra-talented TE Vernon Davis under wraps. Davis is still very raw, but is a good safety valve for an inexperienced quarterback. This aggressive strategy would also allow the Bengals to come after Hill and test him to see how he deals with pressure.

Cincinnati did not record a sack against St. Louis' porous offensive line last week and have struggled to get to quarterbacks all year long, but San Francisco doesn't protect well at all and the receivers struggle to gain separation. The Bengals should get to the quarterback on several occasions this week and will blitz more than usual. DE Robert Geathers is Cincinnati's best pass rusher and someone who San Francisco will need to be aware of, as he could demand extra attention from a running back or tight end to keep him at bay. Making matters worse for the 49ers, LT Adam Snyder (neck) was injured last week. The 49ers would be wise to use Gore on safe dump off routes to take pressure off their quarterback and get the ball in the hands of their best offensive player. Gore had eight catches last week and could easily match that number against the Bengals.



Special Teams

While San Francisco is clearly one of the very worst teams in the NFL, its special teams have been quite strong overall. Punter Andy Lee, in particular, has been outstanding. Of course he gets a ton of opportunities to show just how good he is with San Francisco's awful offense, but he gets the ball off quickly, is a good athlete for the position. Plus, he adjusts to poor snaps well and has the ability to run the occasional trick play. He has a big leg, is consistent, shows good directional skills and also has very good hang time. San Francisco has the clear edge in this phase of the game and Lee is deserving of Pro Bowl honors this year. However, if this game comes down to the wire and into a place kicker's hands to win it, the Bengals' Shayne Graham gets the slight edge over Joe Nedney, although both kickers are having excellent seasons.