The San Francisco 49ers did not suffer a lot of injuries in their 16-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but the one injury they did suffer caused them severe distress throughout the game. Right guard Adam Snyder suffered a hamstring strain in the second quarter and was replaced by Chilo Rachal. Snyder attempted to return to the game, but eventually he had to leave for good.
The 49ers had plenty of issues outside of just the right guard position, but boy is it easy to focus in on Chilo. At times it seemed like he was a human turnstile as defenders were blowing past him time and again. But in reality, the entire offensive line struggled through their worst performance since arguably the preseason.
Matt Maiocco made an interesting comment in one of his recap pieces when discussing the offensive line struggles:
Coincidence or not, the 49ers offense struggled as they reverted back mostly to their lineup of the first two-and-a-half games of the season when Chilo Rachal played right guard and Moran Norris was at fullback. Guard Adam Snyder sustained a hamstring strain that knocked him out of action in the first half. And rookie fullback Bruce Miller was not active due to a concussion he sustained Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
Do you think it was more than just the return of Chilo Rachal and Moran Norris that contributed to this? The 49ers pass protection seemed to fall off when Miller went down last week against the Arizona Cardinals and it continued this week as Alex Smith never had a chance against the Ravens pass rush.
Ideally the team can get 100% healthy over the next nine days as they get ready to host the St. Louis Rams. Do you see the problem last night coming from general offensive line issues, more specific to the injuries, or just getting whipped by a very good pass rush? Or maybe it's a combination of all three.