San Francisco’s Offensive Line Must Improve Against New England

For the San Francisco 49ers (2-2) and J.T. O’Sullivan, the question now isn’t whether the journeyman quarterback can play, but if he’ll survive the season in one piece. In four games this season, O’Sullivan has been sacked 19 times, including eight times against Seattle and six times by New Orleans on Sunday. But, there’s good news for the 49ers. They’re tied with Arizona at the top of the woefully weak NFC West. And San Francisco has found a quarterback; they just can’t keep him off the ground.

Part of the problem is O’Sullivan. He’s yet to establish that internal clock all quarterbacks develop over time. The good ones know roughly about how many seconds of time they have before the world around them crumbles. O’Sullivan simply hasn’t played enough with the group around him. Plus, he prefers to fight until a play is completely dead, which puts him in dangerous situations. He’s yet to throw the ball away or scramble out of bounds.

Even if O’Sullivan held the ball too long against the Saints or his receivers failed to get open in a timely fashion, the 49ers’ offensive line must improve or Mike Martz’s pass-oriented attack won’t work. The pass protection was so weak that tight end Vernon Davis ran few routes in the game and mostly stayed at the line to block. The Saints’ Charles Grant abused tackle Barry Sims. The defensive end recorded two sacks and two tackles for loss. He also hit O’Sullivan four times. Unfortunately, the 49ers have little depth and must rely on this group.

Conversely, the 49ers didn’t sack Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees and put zero pressure on him. He completed several long passes, tormenting a usually solid San Francisco secondary, which appeared to be either overmatched or confused. With experienced cornerbacks Nate Clements and Walt Harris as well as stud linebacker Patrick Willis, the 49ers’ secondary should be fine. But, the pass rush is a problem without any answers. Versatile defensive end Justin Smith doesn’t sack the quarterback and sack specialist Tully Banta-Cain can’t get on the field because he doesn’t do anything else well. But, head coach Mike Nolan might want to reconsider his use of Banta-Cain, especially if opposing quarterbacks continue to pick apart the team’s cornerbacks.

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The 49ers aren’t a quality team. They have too many holes and not enough impact players. But, they can hang around in the poor NFC West and entertain playoff thoughts in they can solve their offensive line problems. The defense isn’t dominating, but will play better, especially at home. If O’Sullivan doesn’t have time to throw, like any quarterback in the league, he’ll make mistakes and the 49ers’ offense will flounder.

The caveat is this, San Francisco must survive an upcoming murderous stretch of games that starts with back-to-back home contests against New England and Philadelphia and a road match-up with the New York Giants. If the 49ers can do this, if they can pull a few upsets then maybe the playoffs will be a consideration. If not, if the losses pile up and the team’s hope is crushed, then Nolan better be wary of a looming ax.

By Jim Bucci
ProFootball-fans.com San Francisco 49ers Correspondent