What to Watch For: Patriots at 49ers

No Sheard

If you watched or went to the Celtics game on Friday night against Golden State, you may have seen defensive lineman Jabaal Sheard in the crowd.

Sheard did not travel with the team to San Fran due to a team decision, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Sheard only played 16 snaps in the Patriots last game against Seattle and was ineffective in those snaps, even getting beat on a few of them. 

Trey Flowers will see the majority of the snaps in his place this week. 

Brady Returns to San Fran

Tom Brady returns to play in his hometown of San Francisco for the first time in his career and after not throwing a touchdown pass last week, he will be looking to light up the team of his childhood. 

"I'm excited. It will be nice to see my parents and my sisters, but hopefully we can go out there and win. It will be a special weekend to go out there and play great for our team, and then to have everyone watching is pretty cool for the first time ever, so I'm excited about that," said Tom Brady in his final press conference.  

Brady and the Patriots offense are facing a 49ers defense that has gives up an average of 31 points per game and allows teams to convert on third down 47% of the time. 

LeGarrette Blount

Blount has rushed for over 100 yards twice so far this season and against the 49ers, he could do it again. 

The 49ers give up an average of 180 yards rushing per game, a big reason why they have lost eight straight games. 

With that said, the 49ers held the Cardinals to only 80 yards rushing in tier last game. 

Blount is coming off a three touchdown performance in the Patriots last game against Seattle and has 12 touchdowns on the season. He is just three touchdowns shy of Curtis Martin's franchise record. 

Martellus Bennett

Rob Gronkowski is not playing in the game meaning there will be plenty of opportunities for Bennett. 

So far this season, Bennett has 38 catches for 504 yards and four touchdowns, three of which came against Cleveland. 

"He's been so productive for us and I really enjoy playing with him. You talk about a guy that's been out at practice every day. I mean, he's fought through a lot of stuff over the course of the year to be out there, trying to get better and improve. I think it shows a lot of mental toughness but it's showing up with his ability to produce on the field. He's been tremendous so we've got to keep it going," said Brady.

In the last game against Seattle, Bennett was targeted seven times and had seven receptions, the most he has had in a game all season. 

Patriots Defense

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick surely watched the Patriots game last week and must be eager to get out there after the Patriots gave up 400 yards of offense to Seattle. 

While San Fran's offensive weapons are not as good as what the Seahawks had, Kaepernick has the ability to make plays with his feet as well has his arm. 

"He's fast, led the team in rushing three of the last four weeks so he's very dangerous out of the pocket but he's a good, accurate passer as well," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in his press conference earlier this week. 

Against Arizona, Kaepernick ran for 55 yards on ten carries. 

His go to receiver is former New York Jet Jeremy Kerley, who has hauled in 40 catches for 421 yards and three touchdowns.