Last time we played Pittsburgh at home was the infamous ‘lights-out’ game that Irish Kevin (I think) went to. Here’s his pic of the Stick with no lights. We won that game by harassing an immobile Big Ben, and squeaking out enough offense. I see our side doing a lot more offensively this weekend.

Like I said earlier, this is a game that Teflon Mike Nolan and Aluminum Mike Singletary would puke on their shoes. A statement game that they would screw the pooch and lose whatever momentum they had built up.

So here we are with Kyle Shanahan. I guess his biggest difference is he isn’t a Mike. So he’s got that going for him. His dad was Mike though, so we need to be wary. Seriously though, this is the first major test of Shanahan and his team. Their first game this season was won by the defense. Their second was more on the offense.

Sure, the have been too many penalties and mistakes (Nick, please don’t line up offsides anymore. Look at Dee Ford for an example of what harm that can do), but the offense was clicking all game and the red zone issues were erased. For the time being.

Thing is, Pittsburgh is desperate. They are 0-2 and just lost Big Ben for the year. They can call this season a wash, but it also gives them a sense of reckless abandon. Mason Rudolph is a big dude at 6’5″ and 240. He looked pretty good in the little I saw of his highlights, but the Steelers need to see if they can back him going forward. I’d think they are going to move him around a lot, try to use him as a runner/passer, and throw a lot of TE slants, scrapes, and underneath things. He has a huge arm though, so you never know, . Our defense has to stay home on his movements and not let him break contain and get around the edges. And, as usual, pressure is the key. Get him off his marks and confuse him.

They will try to run, but they’ve had little success against Sea and NE running.

Defensively, Pittsburgh has been roasted. Tom Terrifuck scorched them for 341 and 3 TDs. RW? 300 and 3 TDs, and an astounding 82% completion rate. Due to this, Pittsburgh went out and got premier safety Minkah Fitzpatrick from Miami for Pittsburgh’s 1st round pick next year. This would be a statement game for Jimmy Garoppolo to at least throw another high 200 game, get a couple TDs, and get through a game with no picks. He doesn’t need to set the sky ablaze with an aerial assault, as long as we can get our run game going behind Brieda and Mostert.

Pittsburgh is an east coast team doing the travel thing, and we are just starting to feel our oats. If we can get on top of them quickly, I think we can take them without too too much problem. It is all about the mistakes. Our margin for error is slim, and we can’t give shit away like the TB game. That being said, the fact that we fucked up all over the place and still won means something. We used to drop those games.

33-20 Niners.

Lights Out, SF.