The San Francisco 49ers have fired offensive co-ordinator Jimmy Raye and they have replaced him with QB Coach Mike Johnson.  The 49ers were only averaging 12.7 points per game this year so this move comes as no surprise.  The 49ers are averaging 78.0 yards rushing (3.9 ypc) and 232.3 yards passing per game this year.  49ers QBs only have a 66.2 QB Rating so it will be up to Coach Johnson to get Alex Smith back on course like he was last season.  This was a move that had to made because of the utter lack of faith the team had in Raye leading the offense.

The Chiefs dominated this game as they were up 31-3 before letting the Niners get a mercy score at the end of the game.  Alex Smith had another sub-par game as he completed 23 of 42 passes for 232 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Frank Gore only could muster 43 yards rushing on 15 carries (2.9 ypc) but he also caught 9 passes for 102 yards (11.3 avg).  Josh Morgan caught 1 pass for 12 yards but it went for a TD with 1:23 left in the game.  The 49ers finished up with 43 yards rushing on 15 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 42 passes for 208 yards in this game.

The defense was also awful for the Niners yesterday.  CB Nate Clements (9 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss) and linebacker Patrick Willis (8 tackles) led the way for the 49ers on D yesterday.  The Chiefs finished up with 207 yards rushing on 39 carries (5.3 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 27 passes for 250 yards yesterday.  The 49ers are now a very disappointing 0-3 to start the year.

The 49ers almost pulled out a win against the Saints on Monday Night but they left Drew Brees with too much time on the clock.  The Chiefs are 2-0 on the season which is a huge surprise.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the 49ers have the ball:  The 49ers are going to come out running the ball in this game with Frank Gore.  The Chiefs are only allowing 91.0 yards rushing and 3.3 yards per carry so far this year but they have not faced a back of Gore’s quality this year.  I think the 49ers’ O-Line is going to get a good push in the running game meaning Frank Gore will have a big day.  The Chiefs also don’t have much of a pass rush so Alex Smith will have time to throw the ball.  Rookie FS Eric Berry has had some issues in coverage with both Antonio Gates and Ben Watson catching quite a few passes against him.  That has to have Vernon Davis excited about Sunday’s game. 

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The 49ers are only giving up 63.5 yards rushing per game and 2.7 ypc so far this season but that won’t likely stop the Chiefs from trying to run the ball.  Jamaal Charles & Thomas Jones are the two best backs the 49ers have faced this year so Patrick Willis will be tested.  Willis usually comes out on top against RBs.  Chiefs’ QB Matt Cassel has been awful so far this year as he has a 55.8 QB Rating and the Chiefs are only averaging 117.0 yards passing per game this year.  Cassel likes throwing to rookie TE Tony Moeaki so the Niners’ safeties better keep an eye on him.  WRs Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers are good players so the Niners will have to deal with them on the outside.

PREDICTION:  49ERS 27, CHIEFS 17

Sure, Frank Gore had a rough time against the Seattle Seahawks in the season opener but he rebounded big time against the Saints last Monday Night.  Gore has carried the ball 37 times for 150 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this season.  He has also caught 13 passes for 101 yards (7.8 avg) with 1 TD grab this year.  That means the Niners have placed the ball in Frank Gore’s hands 53 times out of 122 offensive plays (43.4%).  The Niners have to make sure they don’t overwork Gore because they need him all year long if they are going to rebound from their rough start to the 2010 season.

The 49ers looked a lot better last night than in week #1 but in the end it was still a loss.  The defense played pretty well most of the game last night before giving up a long drive in the last minute and a half which set up Garrett Hartley of the Saints for a walk off 37-yard field goal.  This is a real shame because Alex Smith took the Niners on a long TD drive complete with a 2-point conversion to tie the game right before the Saints’ game winning drive.  Alex Smith looked pretty good in this game as he completed 23 of 32 passes for 275 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 28 yards (7.0 ypc) last night.  Frank Gore had a heavy workload and he was very successful against the Saints.  He carried the ball 20 times for 112 yards (5.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 7 passes for 56 yards (8.0 avg) with a TD grab.  Rookie Anthony Dixon only had 1 carry last night and it went for a 2-yard TD.  TE Vernon Davis (4 rec, 78 yards) and WR Josh Morgan (6 rec, 70 yards) were making a lot of tough grabs over the middle of the field last night.  The 49ers finished up with 142 yards on 26 carries (5.5 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 32 passes for 275 yards on Monday Night.

LB Patrick Willis (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) and DE Justin Smith (6 tackles) led the way for the Niners’ D last night.  The Saints finished up with 50 yards rushing on 24 carries (2.1 ypc) and they completed 28 of 38 passes for 237 yards last night.  The 49ers are now 0-2 on the season.

The Saints will be very well rested for this game and that could be very bad for the Niners.  The Niners are still licking their wounds after the Seahawks took them behind the woodshed and kicked their butts!   Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the 49ers have the ball:  The 49ers have to get the running game going this week.  Frank Gore could have some success against a Saints’ D that didn’t really do a good job against Adrian Peterson last week.  The 49ers must be able to protect Alex Smith against a Saints’ D that has a couple of solid DEs.  Smith needs to find a way to get the ball to WRs Josh Morgan and Michael Crabtree.  Because it the Niners are just throwing to Vernon Davis and Frank Gore the safeties are going to cheat up making it hard for the Niners to move the ball.

When the Saints have the ball:  The 49ers are going to have to get after Drew Brees because if he has time to throw the it’s going to be a very long night.  The Saints had 8 different receivers catch at least two passes in the season opener so it will be hard for the Niners to double team anyone.  The Saints will likely want to keep Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush involved in the running game so Patrick Willis will likely be meeting up with them early and often in this game.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 30, 49ERs 17

The Niners have signed 25-year old WR Jason Hill.  Hill played in 11 games for the Niners last season and he caught 9 passes for 90 yards (10.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He has played in 32 games in his NFL career (3 years with Niners) and he has caught 40 passes for 413 yards (10.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Hill will battle 25-year old Dominique Zeigler for the #3 WR spot until Ted Ginn returns to action.  Zeigler caught 2 passes for 10 yards against the Seahawks last Sunday.

The San Francisco 49ers will be without WR/KR/PR Ted Ginn for a couple of weeks due to a sprained MCL.  Ginn caught 2 passes for 19 yards and he returned 3 kickoffs for 54 yards in the season opener against the Seahawks.  Josh Morgan will replace Ginn as the kickoff returner.  He returned 1 kickoff for 13 yards last Sunday.  Morgan returned 13 kickoffs for 367 yards (28.2 avg) last season so I expect that he will do a good job while Ginn is out of action.  Rookie cornerback Phillip Adams will return punts until Ginn is ready to return.  He had 1 tackle in his NFL debut last Sunday.

The 49ers need to get the license plate of the bus than ran over them yesterday.  Most of the problem was with the offense which made a lot of mistakes giving the Seahawks very short fields to work with.  Alex Smith completed 26 of 45 passes for 225 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 interceptions (one was returned 32-yards for a TD by Seahawks’ corner Marcus Trufant).  Frank Gore just couldn’t get going yesterday as the Seahawks were keying on him.  Gore carried the ball 17 times for 38 yards (2.2 ypc) but he did catch 6 passes for 45 yards (7.5 avg).  Vernon Davis led the way in the passing game for the Niners yesterday with 8 grabs for 73 yards (9.1 avg).  The 49ers finished up with 49 yards rushing on 19 carries (2.6 ypc) and they completed 26 of 45 passes for 214 yards yesterday.

The defense didn’t play that badly yesterday despite the Seahawks scoring 31 points.  Linebacker Patrick Willis led the way for the 49ers yesterday with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit.  OLB Travis LaBoy pitched in with 5 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 QB hit.  The Seahawks finished up with 77 yards rushing on 23 carries (3.3 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 23 passes for 165 yards.  This was a rough way for the 49ers to start the season.

These two teams split last season with each team winning on their home field.  If the 49ers are going to make a legit run at the playoffs they need to win games like this one on Sunday no matter where it is played.  Here is a look at the match-ups this Sunday:

When the 49ers have the ball:  The 49ers might surprise the Seahawks and come out throwing the ball a bit, before pounding the ball on the ground with Frank Gore which makes perfect sense.  The Seahawks don’t have much of a pass rush so Alex Smith should have a lot of time to throw the ball.  The Niners would like to get more veritcal with the passing game and they will need improvement out of Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan and Ted Ginn if that is going to work.  TE Vernon Davis is also going to get a lot of work as the Niners want to challenge the Seahawks’ safeties.  But make no mistake, Frank Gore is going to touch the football at least 25 times on Sunday.

When the Seahawks have the football:  The Seahawks have injury issues along the O-Line so look for the Niners to bring the heat early and often against Matt Hasselbeck.  I’m thinking that he’s going to use TE John Carlson a lot so Niners’ safeties Dashon Goldson and Michael Lewis better be ready to deal with him.  The Niners should have little trouble stopping Justin Forsett and Leon Washington when the attempt to run the football.

PREDICTION:  49ERS 27, SEAHAWKS 10