The 49ers and Patriots haven’t met all that many times, but when they have, it’s been San Francisco that has dominated the series. The Niners have an 8-4 all-time edge against New England.
To make that 9-4, however, the 49ers will need a miracle. If they don’t get it, Chip Kelly will become the first head coach in franchise history to lose nine straight games.
The 1-8 49ers have been made 14-point underdogs against the 7-2 Patriots Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The Patriots, coming off a loss last week to the Seattle Seahawks, will want to get back on track and should be motivated. That’s likely bad news for a 49ers team that has lost eight straight and has the 29th-ranked offense and 32nd-ranked defense in the NFL.
The Patriots have the eighth-best passing offense in the league, but Tom Brady may not need to throw the ball that often if New England can pound the ball on the ground with LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis.
The 49ers stopped the Cardinals’ terrific running attack last week in a close loss at Arizona, and will be equally challenged by Blount, the 6-foot, 250-pound tank who already has 678 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns this season. Coach Bill Belichick’s team is likely to keep handing the ball to Blount until the Niners prove they can stop him. And, if the Pats do put the ball in the air, Brady is having a sensational season and has a terrific corps of receivers.
“We’re going against one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game,” said Kelly this week. “It’s a huge challenge. Our guys were talking about it. … It obviously has their attention.”
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This will be just the second time in 21 years the Patriots have faced the 49ers in California.
The 49ers also will need to be more efficient on offense to take some of the pressure off their defense. Over the past two games, quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been more effective, but the running game will need to produce more yards against a complex, versatile and blitzing New England defense that is giving up just 18.1 points per game.
Kelly, however, believes his team is excited, not intimidated, by the challenge.
“I think you always have hope,” Kelly said at his news conference this week. “You don’t think of it as, ‘Oh my God, we don’t have any hope.’ You get a chance to play against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. It that doesn’t get your blood boiling, then you’re in the wrong sport.”
Kickoff is set for 1:25 p.m. Sunday.
