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The San Francisco 49ers head into Sunday Night Football with nine days off between games. They defeated the St. Louis Rams on Thursday Night Football, and had a few days off before getting back into the swing of things for their Sunday matchup with the Houston Texans.
Earlier this week, Tim Kawakami had a few thoughts on how the 49ers have performed with extra prep time. He added in record information for the 49ers recent slew of coaches on extra rest. Jim Harbaugh is 8-1-1, with the loss coming in the Super Bowl, and the tie coming when the Rams also had a bye week. Those eight wins include three season-opening wins.
Prior to Coach Harbaugh, Mike Singletary was 2-5 with extra prep time, and Mike Nolan was 2-6. After byes and Thursday night games (thus excluding season openers), Singletary was 1-4 and Nolan was 0-4. Remember the good ol' days?!
Greg Roman said the coaching staff got Saturday off, but then was back in working on Sunday. The coaching staff is gonna need those extra days considering the talent they are facing on Sunday. J.J. Watt, Brian Cushing, Johnathan Joseph and Ed Reed? How about Arian Foster and Ben Tate, Andre Johnson, and Owen Daniels? This is most definitely a winnable game for the 49ers, but the extra preparation will be a nice little boost. That's more time to check film, and it means the 49ers coaching staff very well might have watched Texans-Seahawks live.
Beyond just that, it's a matter of getting a little healthier. A player won't necessarily get to 100 percent on an extra couple days rest, but every little bit helps. Guys like Anthony Davis, Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis are all trying to work themselves back from injury. Willis sat out last Thursday's game, while Anthony and Vernon both played under a questionable tag. A couple extra days won't be significant, but it is a nice little boost for the recovery process.