The 49ers will need a player to step up in the secondary again

The San Francisco 49ers have a crucial game this weekend, facing the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football at Levi’s Stadium as they look to continue their push for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

San Francisco had a nice 49-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday, getting the victory without a couple of starters, as wide receiver Ricky Pearsall and cornerback Renardo Green were both out.

The offense didn’t skip a beat, scoring seven touchdowns and not punting for the second consecutive game. The defense, on the other hand, had its ups and downs, as Indianapolis’s offense was able to move the ball in the air. But, the complementary football led to a clear win for San Francisco, improving the team’s record to 11-4.

In Green’s absence, reserve cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. made his second start of the year, playing 100 percent of the defensive snaps at outside corner. He finished with six tackles and a pass breakup, seeing his ups and downs as he was targeted often.

Green will miss another game this weekend with a neck injury, despite being limited in practice all week. So, Luter is expected to make another start this weekend against a strong Bears offense.

What did head coach Kyle Shanahan think of his performance last weekend?

“I thought he had done a really good job,” Shanahan said on Friday. “I thought he played really well. You know, I know they got him on those PI calls. I probably disagreed with one of them. I thought it was pretty good coverage.

“And I thought he did really well in the run game. He has two big runs that got to the corner that if he don’t make that tackle, we had a really good run night, but just two runs get past him they probably have two more carries for about 55-yards and that changes the whole game. So, I thought he was a stud and very similar how he played versus Jacksonville when he came in.”

The Bears have a quality wide receiver core, but will be without Rome Odunze this weekend. They will have rookie Luther Burden III to join D.J. Moore, as well as a talented run game that could give the 49ers fits.

Head coach Ben Johnson will likely try to target Luter like the Colts did, so the 49ers defensive back will have another challenge this weekend in coverage, as well as in the run game.

The 49ers secondary hasn’t been great this year, as the cornerbacks have been inconsistent, while the safeties have seen their ups and downs as well. It hasn’t hampered the team yet, thanks to a quality offense that continues to produce at a high level. But, they’ll need to be better down the stretch, and could be tasked with some high-leverage situations against a Bears team that has thrived in close games this year.

So, Luter will have to step up once again opposite Deommodore Lenoir as San Francisco’s other boundary cornerback.