The San Francisco 49ers (6-4) return home after consecutive victories on the road. Both wins came in closely contested games against the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants, respectively. This week they will host the Washington Redskins (3-7) who haven’t been able to get a win in their two games since Robert Griffin III returned. These two will match up in the newly opened Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Redskins left tackle Trent Williams has been one of the best tackles in the league over the past few years, and finished as the top overall tackle in 2013. In 2013, Williams’ best rating came in pass blocking (+17.1), which has also been his strong point so far this season. Although he is not atop the league rankings this year, he has improved in his pass blocking. His pass blocking efficiency of 96.6 is the highest of his career, and currently ranks him seventh among tackles. Williams has allowed pressure on just 15 of the 336 plays he has been asked to pass block.
Aldon Smith has been a Top-5 3-4 outside linebacker since entering the league in 2011 excelling at rushing the quarterback. He returned from a 10-week suspension to make an immediate impact last week against the Giants. Smith was able to get pressure on Eli Manning eight times on 39 snaps that he was asked to rush the passer. No other player was able to generate pressure more times in Week 11. Smith finished the game with a Pass Rushing Productivity of 15.4, which was behind only teammate Aaron Lynch for the week.
Here are some other players to watch in this game:
San Francisco 49ers
Steve Johnson – Johnson has made the most of his limited snaps. He has an 80% catch rate on his 40 targets with only one dropped pass while averaging 12.7 yards per catch.
Vance McDonald – Playing the role as primarily a run blocking tight end helped McDonald earn his highest single-game rating of his career last week even though he played fewer than half of the team’s snaps.
Chris Borland – Borland has played in only five games this season, but in those five weeks he has been the best inside linebacker in the league overall (+15.7), and in run defense (+11.7).
Washington Redskins
Jason Hatcher – Putting pressure on the quarterback 35 times on 271 pass rushing snaps has put Hatcher at second in the league in Pass Rushing Productivity.
Trent Murphy – The rookie outside linebacker played a part-time role until Week 8, but has shown he can hold his own with an overall rating of +3.7 during the three games he has started.
Kory Lichtensteiger – The Redskins center has allowed only eight quarterback hurries on 384 pass blocking snaps, and is yet to give up a hit to the quarterback or a sack.
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