5 Players to Watch in the 49ers Battle of Rebounds at Cincinnati

San Francisco looks to create some breathing room in the playoff race on Sunday with a 1:25 p.m. (PT) road game against another team looking to bounce back.

The San Francisco 49ers (6-6) dropped a disappointing game in Seattle last week to fall even with the Washington Football Team for the NFC’s final two Wild Card spots. 

Fortunately for the 49ers, they remain a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles (6-7) and Minnesota Vikings (6-7), both of whom the 49ers downed earlier this season. 

San Francisco looks to create some breathing room in the playoff race on Sunday with a 1:25 p.m. (PT) road game against another team looking to bounce back, the Cincinnati Bengals (7-5). 

Here are Five Players to Watch: 

Riley Reiff, Right Tackle, #71 — Cincinnati Bengals 

This one’s pretty simple. 

Defensive end Nick Bosa is unlikely to win Defensive Player of the Year, but he’s in the race thanks to a dominant season. 

He has 39 tackles, 12 sacks, 16 tackles-for-loss, 26 QB hits, 15 hurries, 14 knockdowns and 41 pressures on 576 defensive snaps. 

Trying to prevent Bosa from improving those numbers is veteran right tackle Riley Reiff. 

Despite a respectable 69.4 PFF grade, Reiff has allowed 4.0 sacks, his most since 2018. 

The Bengals average 2.8 turnovers per loss and .71 per win. 

Quarterback Joe Burrow looked visibly hindered by his finger injury sustained last week against the Chargers. 

Reiff needs to keep Bosa off Burrow to limit turnovers and drive-killing sacks. 

Joe Bachie, Linebacker, #49 — Cincinnati Bengals 

Already with two linebackers on injured reserve, the Bengals are down starting linebacker Logan Wilson (shoulder) and backup Markus Bailey (neck). 

This thrusts second-year linebacker Joe Bachie into a starting role. Bachie has zero starts in 11 career games and 103 career defensive snaps. 

Down running back Elijah Mitchell (concussion), and possibly with a limited Deebo Samuel (groin), the 49ers must once again center their passing game through tight end George Kittle. 

Kittle was excellent last week with nine catches on 12 targets for 181 yards and two touchdowns. 

He is averaging five catches, 75.8 yards and a touchdown per game since returning from injury Week 9. 

Head coach Kyle Shanahan must exploit the Bengals’ deficiency in the middle with Kittle, Samuel, fullback Kyle Juszczyk and a power run game. 

If Bachie gets picked on in pass defense, it would force the Bengals to play more dime, which would give Kittle and Samuel a physical edge. 

Josh Norman, Cornerback, #26 — San Francisco 49ers 

Eyes will be focused on young phenom Ja’Marr Chase, who is 42 receiving yards away from a 1,000-yard rookie season. 

But it’s the Bengals’ other young star receiver, Tee Higgins, who’s on a hot streak. 

Higgins missed two games at the beginning of the season, and took a while to get going, but during his past five games he is averaging 5.4 catches and 88.4 yards. 

The 6’4" Higgins has really taken over the last two games, with 15 catches on 22 targets for 252 yards and two touchdowns. 

No. 1 corner Emmanuel Moseley (ankle) is out and veteran backup Dontae Johnson (personal matter) is uncertain. 

One of the 49ers’ two rookies, Deommodore Lenoir or Ambry Thomas, would start opposite Josh Norman. 

Neither Thomas nor Lenoir have shown they’re ready to be a starting NFL corner. They’ll likely need a lot of help directed toward their side in man coverage, which could leave Norman on an island. 

One of Higgins or Chase is in line for a big game. It just depends on which side they line up on. 

Arik Armstead, Defensive Line, #91 — San Francisco 49ers 

Just like the 49ers, the Bengals want to run the ball. 

Heading into last week, the Bengals were on a two-game win streak with two impressive performances on the ground from running back Joe Mixon. 

A quick 24-0 deficit to the Chargers erased any chance of consistently running the ball. 

The Bengals need to keep Mixon involved. He is averaging 103.6 rushing yards in the Bengals’ seven wins and 50.6 yards in their five losses. If they can get him going early, the play-action will burn the 49ers’ secondary. 

The 49ers’ two-time Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee Arik Armstead (74.5 PFF grade) will have an important role helping stuff outside runs to the right on first and second down. 

Jeff Wilson Jr., Running Back, #22 — San Francisco 49ers 

The 49ers are 1-4 with fewer than 28 rushes in a game. They are 5-2 with more than 28 rushes. Simply put, the 49ers are a great team when they can run the ball. They are a bad team when they can’t. 

San Francisco could be without its best two running backs depending on how Samuel is feeling, which puts tons of pressure on Jeff Wilson Jr. to produce against a strong run defense. 

The Bengals have allowed 1,110 rushing yards, which is fourth fewest in the NFL, possibly due to the fact that they’re often in blowouts or shootouts. They still allow 4.1 yards per carry. 

There won’t be a lot of gashing runs, unless Samuel is at full strength. 

The offensive game plan will likely look similar to Wilson’s last start, when the 49ers played keep away in the Week 11 win over Jacksonville. San Francisco ran the ball 42 times for 171 yards to take control of the game. 

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