Its SHOWTIME In Pittsburgh

Talk Time is Over It's Time For Action

When the 49ers roll into three Rivers Stadium to face the 5-1 Steelers, anyway you look at it it will be a must win for the Niners. Even if they get past a solid Kansas City team, they still will need a win against Pittsburgh to keep them from falling to 5-3. A loss to both K.C. and Pittsburgh could mean a 4-4 start, the worst in franchise history. Nevertheless, San Francisco is a solid team and still one of the teams to beat in the AFC. But if they are going to challenge for the AFC title, and home field advantage, they cannot afford to fall too many games behind a well oiled Green Bay machine that is just eating up its opponents. The Pack are resting at 5-1 with an easy venue vs. Oakland, and probably a cakewalk against Jacksonville, a team the Pack has yet to loose to. Could it be that by the end of this weekend that Green Bay can be sitting at 7-1, the Chiefs at 6-2 and Allen and the 49ers at 4-4? It is very much a possibility, BUT, I don't think so. If the Niners can put as much pressure on Kordell Stewart as they put on Troy Aikman, they can slow down the potent Steeler attack and this would be a key for a 49er victory. Offensively, Steve Young must find Jerry Rice, for a big day. The Niners will use Jones, Hearst and Floyd effectively I'm sure, but they must be able to connect with rice deep. Stokes will be a big key here as well. Brown like to run a 3-4 man under moving his weak safety up to protect the underneath stuff. This leaves Stokes in man coverage deep against the left corner. Allen should consider moving Rice to the weak side in different sets and wait for Brown to show this one on one coverage for an instant touchdown. These are the kind of deep plays that Allen must find to top the Steelers. A second key is the ability to score in the red zone and not commit the crucial turnovers, ala last week vs. Green Bay. Not only did the Niners not convert the Green Bay turnovers into scores, in several instances, they gave the ball right back. Allen can't afford for this to happen vs. Brown or else he see similar results to last week.

Look for Brown to direct Stewart to go to his two main weapons, Bettis on the screens in the near formation and Thigpen on the Post Drags. In between these big plays, Brown will use Lester, Johnson, and other wide outs sparingly. But the big plays will go to either of these two players. I expect this to be a high scoring game with lots of great defensive plays and big offensive plays. But for now, all the talk is over, and Allen will face another big test, and if he can't pass this one, the Niners could loose the little credibility they have left.