San Francisco @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 20, 2015 ) Cincinnati 24, San Francisco 14

Forcing turnovers was a big problem for the San Francisco 49ers while going 4-12 last season, but one game into 2019 it appears the problem is resolved. The 49ers will try to keep the interceptions coming when they visit Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

San Francisco was last in the NFL - by a wide margin - with just two interceptions last season but recorded three in a 31-17 victory over Tampa Bay in Week 1 while totaling four turnovers, and the defense believes it can play better. "You know, we played sloppy today, but it's the first game, we've got to knock out some of the wrinkles," veteran cornerback Richard Sherman told reporters. "... We've gotta find a way to play a more mistake-free football game, myself included. I had a couple penalties that I shouldn't have had. Just ticky-tack, I've got to put myself in better position and we've got to hold ourselves to a standard. It was a decent game for us, but we have to get better." That defense will be going up against a new-look Cincinnati offense under first-year head coach Zac Taylor that stalled in the red zone in a 21-20 loss at Seattle to open the season. "We know what the errors were," Taylor told reporters. "We missed a field goal, had a turnover and they stopped us on fourth-and-one. We feel like those were self-inflicted plays to be exact. ... Those are all things we felt like we could have done a better job controlling."

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Bengals -1.5. O/U: 45.5.

ABOUT THE 49ERS (1-0): San Francisco recorded three sacks in the opener - including one each from first-round pick Joey Bosa and trade acquisition Dee Ford - and the upgraded defensive unit is hyping up offense as well. "I mean watching (Nick) Bosa get sacks, and watching the Dee Ford strip and get fumbles, it gets the offense going," tight end George Kittle told the team's website. "When your defense is playing like that, and (Richard) Sherman gets a pick-six, and Akhello (Witherspoon) with the pick-six. It just gets you fired up. ... When your defense makes those big plays, it just gets everyone excited. It gets the offense moving, it’s just good vibes really, it just gets you going." Kittle's eight catches for 54 yards led the receiving corps as quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (18-of-27, 166 yards, one TD, one INT) had an uneven season debut in his return from an ACL tear in his left knee.

ABOUT THE BENGALS (0-1): Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton threw the ball 51 times and finished with a career-best 418 yards to go with two touchdowns in his first game running Taylor's offense, and he feels good about where the offense is going. "We know what we're capable of, and then to go out and be productive in a game, especially our first one, it's big," Dalton told reporters. "It's big for confidence. What we're going to do here is going to work. Guys were pleased with the production; obviously we weren’t pleased with the result. With all the things we were able to do, I thought guys were happy with a lot of the stuff we did. It definitely gave us confidence." Wide receiver John Ross was Dalton's main target in Week 1 and established career bests of 158 yards and a pair of TDs on seven catches.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Bengals waived backup QB Jeff Driskel on Wednesday.

2. San Francisco RB Tevin Coleman (high ankle sprain) was ruled out for Sunday.

3. Cincinnati WR A.J. Green (ankle) is continuing his rehab from surgery and is not expected to play in Week 2.

PREDICTION: Bengals 31, 49ers 28