By: Joe Lami

The San Francisco 49ers kick-off their two-game road trip on Sunday with a contest against the Miami Dolphins. They have elected to stay in Florida, instead of flying back to the Bay Area before next week’s game in Chicago. The benefit might not be immediate for the contest against Miami, but the adaption to the time zone might pay off in Chicago.

Once again, to no one’s surprise, the 49ers are underdogs heading into the contest against Miami. They are coming off a decent game against the Patriots, in which they surprisingly kept it close, losing 30-17. Once again, it was the second half that was the downfall of the loss, as they were outscored 17-7 in the final frame.

According to ESPN Stats, Colin Kaepernick just can’t perform for a full 60-minutes. In the first half, he is the most accurate quarterback in the NFL, but once the third quarter rolls around, he is ranked dead last in completion percentage, off-target percentage, and yards per attempt.

Chip Kelly has a theory about not being able to move the ball in the second half in the fact, that the team gets behind and is forced to throw the ball on nearly every down to catch up. This is correct to some extent, but the problem doesn’t stem from there.

The problem stems on the defensive side of the football. The 49ers are a decent first half team, but because of Kelly’s high-tempo offense and the lack of time of possession, the defense eventually gets worn out and gets torn up in the second half. When you combine this with not being able to move the ball, it leads to a 1-9 record.

San Francisco once again has the lowest chance of winning according to ESPN’s FPI and is beginning to become a common occurrence.

The 6-4 Dolphins have run off a five-game winning streak and have become a contender in the AFC Wild Card race. Much of this is thanks to Jay Ajayi. The fifth-leading rusher in the NFL has rushed for 802 yards on the year and six touchdowns in his breakout sophomore season. He’s geared up for a field day against the worst rushing defense in the league. If San Francisco has any chance of snapping their nine-game losing streak, it begins with stopping Ajayi.