A few weeks ago the 49ers were an undisciplined mess that looked like they lacked leadership capped off by an inexcusable loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals without Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins. What happened next were wins against the LA Rams followed up by wins against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings. The 49ers now sit in Wildcard position for the playoffs, 6th place in the NFC. There are 6 games left in the season so let’s look at a few things that have happened and what to look forward to.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED
- Brandon Aiyuk is no longer on the missing person’s report. Aiyuk is a talented receiver and whatever took place during his sit down meeting with Kyle Shanahan worked because Aiyuk has been getting more snaps at the WR position than the other wide receivers on the roster and has become a very willing blocker on running plays.
- The 49ers running game has put in work during this winning streak. Shanahan is still stubbornly running against stacked boxes but it’s worked the last 3 games because the run defenses of the Rams, Jaguars and Vikings are either below average or bad.
- The 49ers are converting 3rd downs. During their 3-5 start to the season converting 3rd downs was a major problem. Now whether it’s Garoppolo throwing short passes or a RB (including Deebo Samuel) picking up tough yards, the chains are moving and drives are kept alive.
- Elijah Mitchell is the 49ers bell cow. This wasn’t expected when the 49ers selected him in the 6th round of this year’s draft but he’s the best RB on this roster right now. Mitchell looks like a great fit and is a much better runner than Trey Sermon in this offense. When Trey Sermon gets carries there’s an obvious difference between him and Mitchell. Jeff Wilson is more of a pass-catching RB but he is used now to give Mitchell a break.
- The 49ers formula to win games is simple. Run the ball as much as possible and consistently convert 3rd downs to keep the opposing team’s offense on the sideline and keep Mr. Man-To-Man Coverage Penalty Josh Norman and the rest of the defense off the field.
- When Deebo Samuel is lined up in the backfield and gets the ball usually good things happen. Ideally you want a second true RB to give the ball to such as Dallas Cowboys RB Tony Pollard, but the 49ers don’t have this player on the roster (it was supposed to be Trey Sermon) so Deebo is playing the role of the other RB.
- Trey Lance isn’t getting any game snaps. Shanahan admitted inserting Lance into games earlier this season for Jimmy G threw off his play-calling rhythm. Translation = Trey Lance is staying on the sideline for the rest of the season as long as Jimmy G is healthy.
WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO
- More running the football. Shanahan figured out this isn’t 2019 so he can’t rely on the defense to shut down teams. Playing ball control offense is the best way to keep the defense off the field. The 49ers play the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans later this season, both have good run defenses so hopefully Jimmy G can air it out downfield a little more like he did against the Vikings.
- George Kittle still looks a little bothered by his calf injury. Kittle will be needed in the passing game especially with Deebo out for a short period of time. If the calf starts feeling good the complete version of Kittle will be back.
- More Tom Compton. Jaylen Moore must be worse than Compton and hasn’t done enough to overtake him at the RT position because he’s still on the bench. Compton is ranked #52 of all NFL tackles in pass blocking according to PFF. He is the #2 weakness on offense.
- More Daniel Brunskill who is one of the worst lineman in the NFL and the #1 weakness on offense. Brunskill is currently ranked #60 of all NFL guards in pass blocking according to PFF. I spoke about Jaylen Moore earlier, Aaron Banks must be bad as well if he can’t beat out Brunskill.
- More usage of Deebo and Elijah Mitchell. I honestly expected both players to get hurt at some point due do so much usage in the run game but the 49ers don’t have options in the run games, these guys are it.
THESE NEXT FEW THINGS ARE THINGS I HOPE TO SEE
- The 49ers pass rush is Nick Bosa, can someone step up and create consistent pressure on the opposing team’s QB.
- Can Deommodore Lenoir get some snaps at CB. Something tells me if he can get going and get comfortable this will benefit the secondary as a whole.
- Shanahan does not want to put any game in the hands of Jimmy G but it was nice to see Jimmy throw passes more than 5 yards downfield against the Minnesota Vikings and it started in the 1st quarter. Eventually there will be a game Jimmy will have to win with his arm. Hopefully Shanahan will let him get comfortable throwing the ball early in games.
My 49er content is exclusively for 49erscap.com. Follow me on Twitter @peerless1sports.
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