49ers-Steelers: Matchups to watch

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ray Horton, Arizona Cardinals first-year defensive coordinator, spent the previous seven seasons working on the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive staff.Horton's defense gave the 49ers fits a week ago. He employed a variety of pressures to harass quarterback Alex Smith with five sacks and numerous other pressures in the Cardinals' 21-19 victory.
The 49ers have struggled twice in the past three weeks against blitz packages from defenses that play a 3-4 scheme. Smith was sacked nine times in a Thanksgiving night loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
The 49ers will see more of the same until they prove they can handle it. The 49ers will be under tremendous pressure Monday night to diagnose and block everything Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LaBeau dials up."If you're playing Pittsburgh, you better be able to block blitzes up the middle because they've been doing it better than anybody for a long time -- and they still are," 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said.So, perhaps, nobody will be under more pressure to perform Monday night than the man in the middle of the 49ers' offensive line: center Jonathan Goodwin.He must be on-point mentally with his pre-snap analysis of the Pittsburgh defense. And once the ball is snapped, he'll have the physical challenge of facing one of the top nose tackles in the NFL.Tale of the tape
49ers center Jonathan Goodwin (59): 6-3, 318, Michigan, 10th season
Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton (98): 6-1, 325, Texas, 11th seasonGoodwin has a lot on his plate Monday night. The Cardinals exploited the interior of the 49ers' offensive line. Goodwin, along with guards Mike Iupati and Adam Snyder, struggled in pass protection.And you can be sure that the Steelers will use that blue print.The Steelers are known for sending inside linebackers James Farrior and Lawrence Timmons on criss-crossing blitzes up the middle. Sorting out all of the assignments along the 49ers' line will be a big part of Goodwin's evening."A lot of different things could happen," Roman said. "It depends what kind of protection you're in. Who's responsible for each blitz, each protection. A lineman might be responsible for it; a running back might be responsible for it. There might be an adjustment required pre-snap if you sense the blitz is coming. It really varies play to play."But one thing that will not vary much on the run downs is Goodwin will have one of the top nose tackles in the league lining up over him almost every play.The 49ers must stay out of third-and-long situations to slow down the Steelers' blitzes. And that can occur if running back Frank Gore has some room to run on early downs.Gore is at his best between the tackles. And Hampton is at this best when he's clogging the middle and making it difficult on inside run games. Gore has gone up against the Steelers once in his career. He was held to 39 yards on 14 carries in the third game of the 2007 season.Other matchups worth watching
49ers CB Tarell Brown (25) vs. Steelers WR Mike Wallace (17): Brown has played at a consistent level in his first season as the full-time starter. He has the speed to match up with Wallace, as long as the 49ers' pass rush does not allow Ben Roethlisberger (and, yes, we're assuming he's going to play) to create additional time to throw. Brown will remain on the right side of the 49ers' defense. On almost all of the big plays that Brown has yielded this season, he has been in position but the receiver won at the end. Brown will have to finish those plays Monday night. And he'll see plenty of Wallace, a speedster who leads the Steelers with 62 receptions for 1,034 yards and eight touchdowns. 49ers WR Michael Crabtree (15) vs. Steelers CB Ike Taylor (24): It's not just good enough to get open. Crabtree has to get open quickly against Taylor's press coverage to give quarterback Alex Smith an option to get the ball out of his hands. Crabtree has come on strong this season. He has equaled his season-high in receptions (55) with three games remaining. He also leads the 49ers with 668 receiving yards. But he has just two touchdowns, and the 49ers might want to look for him in the red zone as an antidote to their woes inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Taylor (6-2, 195) is a nine-year veteran who offers a tremendous challenge for Crabtree (6-1, 214). Look for Crabtree to work underneath and then try to use a stop-and-go or some kind of double-move to beat Taylor deep.